The same kind of blast as before. The three exchanged a glance and, without a word of nonsense, ran for the exit.
The corridor held nothing but the alarm and one explosion after another, let alone any other people.
“Out of the lab first.”
Zhang Xiangyi ran at the very front, the whip always gripped in her hand.
There were too many chemical reagents in the lab. Who knew what would happen if it blew again?
Hearing a sound, all three stopped and looked up toward the top of the wall. Zhong Ziqian had poked his head out from a skylight, wearing a blue work uniform, grimy all over, waving at them, but his eyes were bright and there was a smile at the corner of his mouth.
“Up here!”
Seeing the three of them unmoved, he yelled in a panic, “What are you doing?! Hurry up and climb up, or it’ll be too late to run, this place is about to collapse.”
“Let’s follow him up and take a look.” Xi Zirui pushed up his glasses, which were about to slide off, and headed for that wall first, gauging the height before pushing over a nearby table.
Seeing this, Xiao Xingzhi gave a hard slap to a wooden crate beside him, confirmed it was sturdy enough, and immediately dragged it over to Xi Zirui. The two of them lifted it up together, and Zhang Xiangyi, seeing this, went to fetch a smaller crate to stack on top.
Zhang Xiangyi climbed up by stepping onto Xiao Xingzhi’s shoulders. Zhong Ziqian reached down and pulled her up, and once everyone was up, Zhong Ziqian scrambled excitedly to the very front. “Stay close. It’s really dark in here.”
At the word “dark,” Zhang Xiangyi turned to glance back at Xiao Xingzhi, and seeing his dazed expression, said, “Xiao Xingzhi, you stay right behind me.”
Xiao Xingzhi agreed in a flash, which left Xi Zirui to bring up the rear.
The whole way, Xiao Xingzhi stuck close behind Zhang Xiangyi, every so often even grabbing her ankle, only settling down once she’d kicked him off.
Following Zhong Ziqian, they crawled through the passage, listening to the footsteps below, feeling the earth-shaking tremors.
None of the four said a word, all of them just crawled forward as hard as they could.
Suddenly they reached a fork. Watching Zhong Ziqian lead them toward the darker depths, Zhang Xiangyi stopped, and the others behind her naturally stopped too.
She’d felt something was off from the very start, and now even more so.
One way had light, the other was dark.
And going by the terrain, the way they should take really was the one with light.
“Zhong Ziqian, are you sure you didn’t remember it wrong?”
Zhong Ziqian halted and turned back. “No way. I searched this place for so long, how could I remember it wrong?!”
“It’s not that we don’t trust you. It’s mainly, well, you know us, we’re the cautious type.” Xiao Xingzhi wriggled his backside and started backing up after Xi Zirui, hand still resting on Zhang Xiangyi’s ankle for a sense of security. “Right now they could be lying in wait for us anywhere. The route you found might already be known to them. Let’s catch them off guard and switch to another path.”
“But that way’s a dead end.” Zhong Ziqian’s voice came from up ahead.
“Then where does this way go?”
Xiao Xingzhi pointed at the lit side. Zhang Xiangyi silently watched the two of them talk, and just as they were at a standstill, a sound suddenly came from the lit side.
Zhong Ziqian abruptly panicked. “Run! They’re coming after us!”
Zhang Xiangyi didn’t move, and Xiao Xingzhi and the rest moved even less.
There was only one set of sounds, proof that whoever was coming was alone.
Even if it was an enemy, four against one was no problem.
Zhong Ziqian wanted to run, and Zhang Xiangyi happened to be the one closest to him. Bracing against the ground, she leaned forward, reached out, and seized him in one grab. “Where do you think you’re going?”
Caught by the hem, it could have run.
But with that sharp thing jabbed against its waist, it didn’t dare.
“Ahhhhhh!!!!!”
“Shut up!”
Zhang Xiangyi turned her head and at the same time yanked the fake Zhong Ziqian into the middle of the group. Xi Zirui naturally took the thing off her hands, laying the scalpel, still stained with the previous one’s blood, against “Zhong Ziqian’s” neck. He smiled and stroked its face with the blade. “Be good now.”
The real Zhong Ziqian crawled over from the lit side. The moment he saw a face identical to his own, he was so frightened he scrambled backward, only stopping when he heard the familiar tone of voice. Catching sight of Zhang Xiangyi and the others, he couldn’t help bursting into tears. “Boohoohoo… I finally found you guys…”
“Where did you go just now?”
“I don’t know. I just woke up in here out of nowhere, then I heard voices and crawled this way, and then I saw you, and then…”
Zhong Ziqian wiped at the tears he couldn’t stop. Heaven only knew how terrified he’d just been, worse than being molested by men.
“What was on your side?”
“A holding cell, with a girl in it. Looked like she was about to die, though. I couldn’t save anyone, so all I could do was run.” Zhong Ziqian recounted what had just happened, jumpy and frantic, talking enough now to nearly rival Xiao Xingzhi, clearly he’d been scared out of his wits.
“That’s Yuan Sheng.” Listening, Zhang Xiangyi recalled what she knew, and added, “And it should be the real Yuan Sheng.”
The one she’d seen earlier had probably been fake, a test subject too, just with the face swapped.
Specially prepared for her.
Their every move in here was under someone else’s watch.
“Take us over there.”
“Then what do we do with it?” Zhong Ziqian pointed at the face identical to his own. The other put on a frightened look, trembling and forcing out an ingratiating expression that left Zhong Ziqian gagging.
So creepy!
Calmly, Xi Zirui drew the scalpel across it, and the “person” instantly collapsed and reverted to its normal face.
Zhong Ziqian: ???
How did these people stay so straight-faced through all this?
“Lead the way.”
Zhong Ziqian looked at Zhang Xiangyi, perfectly calm.
Then looked at Xiao Xingzhi, a smile still at the corner of his mouth.
The lowest link in the food chain quietly crawled along at the very front, and soon led them to the holding cell.
Just as Zhong Ziqian had said, Yuan Sheng was in terrible shape. Only at the sound of their arrival did she crack her eyes open, and seeing it was Zhang Xiangyi, she cried out in agitation.
Her voice was very faint, the words too slurred to make out.
But Zhang Xiangyi knew she was calling for her. She walked over and helped the girl up.
“Xiang… Xiangyi…”
“Mm, don’t talk for now.” Zhang Xiangyi let her lean against her, not even sure where to put her hands, because everywhere was wounded.
“Where is this?”
“1… 1…”
Zhang Xiangyi ventured, “The first basement?”
Yuan Sheng nodded slowly, looking at Zhang Xiangyi with eyes brimming with tears. “I… I went to find you… you weren’t there…”
Newly arrived at the apartment, Yuan Sheng had no acquaintances. The only person she knew was Zhang Xiangyi, so after buying groceries, wanting to cook a meal and liven things up, she’d gone up to the fourth floor to find her.
She knocked for a long time, and no one answered, but the door to 4-2 opened.
Only a tiny crack was left, half a face peering out, cautiously watching the outside. Yuan Sheng immediately smiled at her. “Do you know where this family went?”
Only then did the 4-2 girl pull the door open a little wider, revealing herself fully, both hands gripping her own skirt for dear life. “Are you here to see that older sister?”
“Yes!”
Seeing the girl recognized her, Yuan Sheng grew warmer still, but afraid of startling her, added, “I came to invite her to my place for dinner.”
The girl glanced again at the door of 4-4, lowered her head bashfully, playing a timid, stranger-shy little girl to the hilt. “They seem to have gone out very early. Probably to school, they do this a lot.”
At that Yuan Sheng felt a little dejected. She had no friends here. She’d taken a few steps when something occurred to her and she turned right back. “Would you like to come have dinner at my place?”
The girl flinched, and Yuan Sheng, figuring she had a read on her personality, quickly explained.
After a while the girl agreed.
Warmly, Yuan Sheng invited her over to her home, and then…
Yuan Sheng’s face was ghastly pale, the tears unstoppable. She’d never imagined that a socially anxious little girl could turn into a fully formidable big-shot woman.
Zhang Xiangyi pressed her lips together, not knowing what to say. “We have to leave first. We can’t bring you…”
“I want to come along.”
Yuan Sheng’s tone was firm. Afraid Zhang Xiangyi and the others would abandon her, she forced herself upright, and no amount of pulling could stop her. “I… I know the way out.”
“When they brought me in, I made a point of memorizing it.”
“None of us can look after you.”
Zhang Xiangyi spoke ruthlessly. There was no telling how many “people” outside were lying in wait for them, and everyone knew in their hearts what they’d be facing. Each of them would be straining with everything they had just to buy time. Yuan Sheng staying here to wait for rescue was the best choice.
“I know. Don’t worry.” Yuan Sheng’s legs were shaking even as she stood, her lips twitching from the pain. “I… I’ll take care of myself.”
Xiao Xingzhi shrugged. Xi Zirui went so far as to turn away, out of sight, out of mind, while Zhong Ziqian’s eyes wandered evasively.
What use was looking at him?
He had no say in this.
“Can you wait ten minutes for me?” Yuan Sheng looked at Zhang Xiangyi pleadingly. She’d clearly worked out that, of all of them, Zhang Xiangyi’s word carried the most weight.
“Three minutes.”
Zhang Xiangyi didn’t want to bring anyone along, but if Yuan Sheng insisted on coming, that was fine too, as long as she could bear the consequences herself. They’d only lend her a hand when they could keep themselves safe and had something to spare.
The moment three minutes were up, Yuan Sheng said through the pain, “Out this way is a small storeroom. Past the storeroom is the assembly-line hall. The ceiling in the dead center of the hall opens up, that’s the way out.”
“How do you know that?” Zhang Xiangyi stood behind her. The cell door had been opened, but no one had moved.
“I want to get out too. I didn’t know if anyone would come to save me, so I could only count on myself.” Yuan Sheng’s hand on the doorknob was clenched so tight the fingertips went white. “These wounds of mine are from the last time I tried to escape and got caught and beaten.”
“You go in front.” Zhang Xiangyi lifted her chin slightly, commanding her in cold blood.
No one else spoke up. Yuan Sheng nodded and walked at the very front.
The whole winding way, they didn’t run into a single soul. The hall was empty, the assembly-line machinery had stopped running, and they found the exit Yuan Sheng had described, with Yuan Sheng still leading.
Only after she’d gone up and nothing happened did the group climb up after her.
They’d just gotten out when, rounding a corner, all five of them slowly came to a stop and tightened their grips on their weapons.
All around them stood a crowd in white lab coats, each holding a long sword, standing perfectly upright, waiting only for a single command to charge at them.
Behind the white coats were several rows of people in black bodysuits, well armed, gun barrels leveled straight at the group.
Further back still sat a chair, beside it a little table, on the table even a transparent teacup filled with a red liquid, and next to the cup a plate of pastries, though the pastries were somewhat revolting.
Thinking back to the fat man who’d been the first to drop out, the source of that plate of pastries became instantly clear.
Surrounded by a ring of enforcers, Zou Yue sat with her legs crossed, still in red clothes and red shoes, smiling at them.
“Have you all been having fun these past few days?”