Chapter 25 Do you believe me?
“Missick asked me to give this box to Merck.”
Li Nai gestured to the man guarding the gate with the aluminum box in his hand, managing to speak coherently.
The man was tall and strong. He stood up abruptly, his eyes fixed on the aluminum box in her hand, seemingly filled with rage.
The box couldn't help but shake three times.
She glanced down at the box guiltily. "This box can't be opened. Missy said it's confidential."
The dark shadow overhead suddenly moved away, and the sound of beeping passwords could be heard.
"Go in."
ah?
She blinked in surprise, then breathed a sigh of relief, the draft she had prepared instantly digested.
Looking back at the burly gatekeeper, she couldn't help but sigh at how smoothly things had gone. She had thought it would be full of twists and turns.
Once she was sure the gatekeeper couldn't see her, she pressed herself against the cold, hard wall.
"It's really exciting to fake an imperial edict."
She shook the empty box in her hand, then looked around the cell. She had no idea where Qi Shuihan was being held. She hoped nothing bad had happened to him.
She looked around, walking from one end to the other, and from the other to the other, but apart from a few howling zombies, she couldn't smell a trace of human presence.
Returning to the dimly lit corridor, the cells were empty. A glance at the overhead light revealed its age and yellowish tint, suggesting it hadn't been repaired in years.
Snap!
The sound, resembling a pebble hitting the ground, echoed eerily in the silent corridor.
I shuffled my feet, held my breath, and turned to look at both ends of the corridor.
Thump!
Something lightly tapped my head.
Her eyes darted around suspiciously when another small, hard object slammed into the back of her collar.
He reached behind him to check his collar, then turned around and saw a woman sitting vaguely in the cell behind him.
Qi Shuihan? That woman! Just one shout and she'll start throwing pebbles at me.
"Qi Shuihan," she called in a low voice.
There was no response from the other party.
Why pretend to be asleep?
She glanced at the small stone in her hand—she didn't know which wall Qi Shuihan had pried it off from. She threw it backhand, and it hit the other person right on the head.
The stone bounced off and landed.
Qi Shuihan remained motionless, appearing to be unconscious.
She suddenly remembered the recent rumors about the laboratory, saying that Merck was torturing Qi Shuihan, constantly drawing blood, injecting her, and cutting her to conduct live experiments.
I couldn't help but tremble.
"Qi Shuihan, how are you? Say something! Qi Shuihan!"
She gripped the iron bars and shook them, making a clanging sound. She had long since forgotten about whether this would attract the attention of the guards.
The shout seemed to have an effect, as the woman in the dimly lit corner moved. She shook her head, steadied herself, stood up, and took a few steps into the area illuminated by the corridor lights.
"Li Nai." The weak voice held a hint of surprise.
Then, her slender and beautiful body leaned against the railing, and she sat down weakly, revealing a pale and sickly face.
Li Nai stared at the other person's bloodless lips, then quickly scanned the two bluish-gray patches under his eyes.
"Are you alright?" His brows furrowed.
Qi Shuihan smiled sadly and then joked to comfort her.
“I won’t die, I can live for a while longer. But,” he said, his tone shifting with deep remorse, “I can’t help you complete your mission. It seems you need to find a new partner soon.”
A strand of hair fell down, and she raised her hand to brush it away, revealing her swollen, bruised hand with several large needle marks that were truly horrifying.
"Your hand!—"
Li Nai opened her eyes wide in shock, her heart aching with sorrow.
Qi Shuihan glanced at her hands, then silently put them behind her back. "They forced me to reveal Sister Hong's whereabouts. I didn't know, so they used me as an experiment." Her deathly pale face showed no concern, as if she were already used to it.
"You and Sister Hong?" Li Nai's gaze seemed to be both puzzled and suspicious.
"Yes," Qi Shuihan calmly admitted. "I came here to help Sister Hong deal with Mixic."
Li Nai was stunned!
She just blurted out her undercover identity so sweetly?
Qi Shuihan suddenly lowered his head and laughed, seemingly amused by her expression.
"No need to be so nervous." He waved his hand casually. "This is no secret. Besides, I can't get out now. If I can't find out where Sister Hong is, I'm afraid I'll die here."
As she spoke, she lowered her head, gently pressing her bruised wrist, her eyes dim, and a nonchalant smile playing on her lips.
For some reason, Li Nai felt sad for the woman in front of him. The cunning and despicable Qi Shuihan was far more interesting.
"Sigh, death is inevitable everywhere, whether it's here or back at the company."
Qi Shuihan seemed to have come to a realization, and she lay back, her body hunched over, revealing bruises of all sizes on her limbs. Some were even severely swollen, and from her angle, her wrists appeared somewhat deformed.
"I won't let you die."
In the silent cell and corridor, she couldn't help but mutter to herself with crystal clarity.
"What?" Qi Shuihan looked up at her.
"Oh, I mean, how can I save you? Finding another partner is too much trouble, and it's better to use someone you know than someone new."
Qi Shuihan lay his head back down on the ground, pondered for a few seconds, then slowly sat up, approached the iron bars, and beckoned Li Nai to listen.
As she leaned in to listen, a vague idea flashed through her mind.
"Aren't you a system? Do you have any powerful location tracking capabilities? Help me find Sister Hong and the others. Once I get their exact location, I can use it as leverage to save my life."
"Yes," she answered readily.
Qi Shuihan excitedly moved closer, so close that she could see into the depths of his collar, where a thin, blood-stained cut had just been sewn up.
Merck, you're a real jerk!
As if by association, I felt a sharp pain in the same spot in my chest.
Before Qi Shuihan could ask any further questions, she closed her eyes and hurriedly said, "Keep an eye on the outside, I'll be back in a few minutes." Then, her entire consciousness was sucked into the bottle opening.
The dizziness on my forehead was still spinning when a gust of cold wind suddenly blew by.
It's so cold!
She held the child's chubby arms in both hands.
The dizziness subsided, and I slowly opened my eyes, revealing a pair of innocent, grape-like eyes that darted around in the dim light.
Where is this place? It's cold and dark.
The little one carefully climbed down the spring stretcher, looked around, and saw a dark shadow that looked like a wall. He stretched out his hands and slowly walked over until he touched something cold and smooth before stopping.
Upon closer inspection, a musty smell was detected, along with a faint, almost imperceptible, glue-like odor.
I gently rubbed the wall surface with my fingertips. There was no powdery residue; it was very smooth, suggesting a waterproof coating had been applied.
call--
A light, cold wind blew in from the left.
She leaned against the wall and walked towards the windy spot. Her hand reached forward and bumped into the iron door frame with a thud.
Ouch, that hurts!
Shake your hands vigorously.
Crunch, crunch...
Crunch, crunch...
The sound of the door moving echoed incessantly.
A ring of dim light was lit overhead, and the light reflected off the wall in two or three ways.
Using the reflected light, she could roughly see the environment in which she was standing.
Ahead was an old basement passage, with a straight corridor to the left and right. They were about the width of an adult's outstretched arms, and everywhere you looked was covered in cobwebs and black mold.
Is it the basement of a large supermarket? Where did Aunt Hong take Mimi? It's so cold and dark.
Looking around and up at the ceiling, the densely laid-out, crisscrossing keel frame reflects a cold, eerie light, resembling fish scales from a distance.
He took a few steps forward, then suddenly stopped.
She's not familiar with this place. What if she gets lost and can't find her way back? What if someone from Qi Shuihan's place comes? What will happen to Mimi after she loses consciousness?
Hesitating—
"Mimi?! What are you doing out here?!"
A shrill female voice echoed through the corridor.
Looking up, at the end of the dark and deep passage, a beautiful woman was running wildly towards them, baring her teeth and brandishing her claws, which was quite frightening.
Aaaaaaah!
She jumped high, turned and ran, slamming the door shut before the woman could reach it. Then she scrambled onto the bed and pulled the covers over her head.
Just before returning to her original body, the dim light from the doorway shone onto the bed.
"call--"
The adult woman's breasts rose and fell, dispelling the tense and stimulating feeling in her chest.
Qi Shuihan looked her up and down: "What's wrong? Why are you so scared?"
She shook her head, refusing to discuss the "female ghost" episode. Qi Shuihan gestured for her to lean closer to her ear. She then recounted in detail what she had seen and encountered.
A pair of fox-like eyes, almost touching, narrowed slightly as they murmured to themselves, "So far away, yet so close at hand." Their smile deepened.
"You know?" Li Nai asked.
"Yes, thank you, Li Nai." Qi Shuihan smiled gently at her, like a small white flower swaying in a breeze.
"I'm saved!"
My heart is soft and yielding, but when I heard the last four words, I suddenly trembled.
Hmm? A hand quietly pressed against her chest. What a strange feeling.
"Now that you're saved, I'll be going." She propped herself up with her hands on the ground. "I've stayed too long."
The moment she stood up, a slender yet strong hand, covered in needle marks, reached out and tightly grasped her wrist.
"Hmm?" She looked down at Qi Shuihan. "What?"
Qi Shuihan's smile faded slightly, her peach-blossom-shaped eyes lifted, the long corners of her eyes slanted upwards, her bright and moist fox eyes held a smile, revealing a deep tranquility.
"Li Nai, do you believe me?"
Li Nai was speechless for a moment, his brows furrowed as he pondered the meaning behind the other person's words, but before he could think for more than a few seconds...
"Having lived for 28 years, you seem to be the only person I would trust." Qi Shuihan released her wrist, his gaze tracing her face as if he were seeing her off.
"I am truly flattered to have your trust."
After finishing his dry, rambling speech, Li Nai ran to the end of the passage without looking back.
After turning a corner, she slowed down, touching the wall and staring blankly at her feet: "So cheesy, you stupid woman."
She looked up again and saw a figure hurrying towards her. She quickly ducked into a corner, peeking out with one eye to observe the person.
The man didn't reach her hiding place; instead, he staggered and turned into another passage.
The tall, thin, hunched figure looked very familiar.
Merck?
She followed and quickly caught up with the other person.
At this moment, Merck stopped in place, his right side leaning against the wall, his head hanging low as if he were very heavy. In the silent passage, his breathing was unusually loud, interspersed with a few coughs, sounding like he was having difficulty breathing.
Is she sick? She hesitated for a moment, then decided to go up and ask what was wrong. If they asked why she was there, she could just lie and say it was Missy.
After taking a few steps forward, Merck got up and walked away, not too slow, his unsteady figure revealing a certain fear.
She continued to follow, passing the spot where Merck had stopped, glancing sideways at the few tiny drops of blood splattered on the wall.
Is it that serious?
A bad feeling crept over me, so I quickened my pace to catch up, but then I lost sight of the person.
They chose one passage and ran in, but didn't see anyone, so they turned back and ran into another passage. After two attempts, they finally saw Merck slumped against the wall.
"Merck, Merck."
She squatted down beside the man, whose face was pale, lips were bright red, and his temples were soaked with water, making him look as if he had been pulled out of the water.
He gently patted the other person's damp face and continued to call out, "Merck, what's wrong? Do you have a fever? Merck, Merck, wake up."
After being called by name several times, Merck slowly awoke, his lifeless, shallow eyes gradually focusing.
Upon recognizing Li Nai, he pushed her away, turned his head, and shouted, "Don't come near me, don't come near me, I'm infected!" He then rolled over and crawled forward.
Li Nai's eyes were glazed over, and his body froze on the spot. His mind kept replaying the other person's words.
Infected? Infected by what?
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