Chapter 126: Station 24: Dead Cat

Chapter 126: Station 24: Dead Cat

Yan Qiling returned with the food alone, but without Eddie or Steve.

Mobis watched as others stuffed bread into their mouths, discreetly tightening his grip on his own ration. He asked,

"Yan, aren't you eating?"

Yan Qiling tore open his bread and took a bite.

Mobis offered the loaf he had received, his towering figure casting a shadow as he said from above,

"I'll trade with you."

Looking at Mobis's dust-covered fingers, Yan Qiling pulled out a handkerchief from his chest pocket and silently exchanged their loaves of bread.

Relieved, Mobis bit into the spot where Yan Qiling had broken off the bread, but didn't take another bite immediately. Instead, he held his gun, vigilant for any changes in his body.

Yan Qiling didn't comment on Mobis's skepticism. It was Isabella who couldn't resist grumbling in disapproval at Mobis's paranoid demeanor.

The tension between the adults didn't affect the children sitting in the center. Patland covered his stomach and softly asked in Chinese,

"Mr. Yan, when you came over... did you see a restroom?"

Yan Qiling replied gently,

"No."

Patland's face started to flush red as he said,

"Then, could you accompany me to find it? I'm... sorry, I'm feeling a bit unwell."

Yan Qiling gazed at him warmly for a moment before whispering,

"I'll take you there."

Before standing up, he patted Hu Gaoming's shoulder and whispered something into his ear. Then, with his icy fingers, he reached out to grasp Patland's warm hand, turning back to lead the way.

A hint of glitter like diamonds shimmered in the man's deep blue eyes, creating an ethereal dream-like aura.

"Mind your step."

They left the safety of the warehouse and returned to the corrugated metal corridors illuminated only by harsh fluorescent lights.

"Have you ever tried using the elevator?"

The young man, whose hand was being held, innocently shook his head upon hearing this question.

The man smiled at his unfocused sapphire eyes.

"Then let me show you how it feels."

He pressed the concealed button to operate the hidden elevator.

A strong scent of blood assailed the senses, accompanied by the chilling dampness of congealed warmth.

The elevator was empty, just as it had been when Yan Qiling arrived, but a vivid red stain had pooled on the floor, as if something had dripped down from above.

He led the youth into this small alcove.

Amidst the creaking of turning wheels, the descent of that crimson seemed to accelerate. Through the thin ventilating window at the top, the outline of a face could barely be discerned – a face eternally closed in death, unfulfilled.

Yet, they stood in the elevator as if nothing had happened.

The rusted elevator doors distorted the two figures inside, their shapes eerily grotesque under the flickering light.

In the brief silence, the blind teenager suddenly spoke up.

"I am deeply sorry about the incident involving Minister Simon."

The man didn't look at him, gazing straight ahead.

"Why are you apologizing?"

"He wouldn't have sacrificed himself if not to protect me... But, you didn't seem surprised back then, did you?"

"How could you determine my lack of surprise when you couldn't see my expression?"

"Well, at the very least, I expected you to put his body down, to grant him some semblance of peace in his final moments."

The youth lowered his lashes like strands of gold, and Yan Qiling's pupils finally shifted, directing at him a subtle gaze.

"He disrupted the demon's plans and must pay the price for it. Simon is not an arrogant man, but he is filled with courage to sacrifice himself for the vulnerable. He was obviously aware of the ultimate 'cost,' yet he still chose to proceed."

There was no hint of regret or remorse in the man's tone.

"Whether his corpse is laid to rest or not does not diminish the virtues he possessed. And you know well, most who perish in this world, though they may have their foolishness, often carry with them a sense of justice and virtue. Yet, those who survive..."

Most of them are neither virtuous nor righteous. Take Mobis, for example.

With a gentle ding, the elevator arrived at its destination.

But then, it suddenly dropped with a jolt!

Throughout this, Yan Qiling didn't deliberately support the young man beside him, allowing him to lean unsteadily into his embrace.

The rusted door creaked open, revealing that their elevator was now half a level lower than it should be. To exit, they would have to climb up to the actual floor, squeezing out through the narrow gap between the door and the concrete.

In this process, even the slightest miscalculation could result in a catastrophic outcome for the one climbing out – a grim prospect of being severed at the waist!

In the meantime, the lifeless body that had been lying motionless in the vent suddenly let out a soft groan, as if it were about to come back to life!

Any normal person witnessing such a scene would be deeply disturbed and hurry to escape the elevator for safety.

Yan Qiling's approach, however, was straightforward and brutal.

His right eye transformed into a purple-blue cosmos, radiating with dazzling light that made the nearly reviving corpse emit a hoarse scream. Amidst the crimson mist, it dissolved rapidly like metal touched by sulfuric acid, eventually resembling a melting ice cream under the scorching summer sun.

It melted into a pool of blood-red foam covering the ground.

The entwining red thread climbed along the cable, and with a sharp "crack," the suspended elevator was forcibly lifted, resuming its normal function of opening its doors.

Patland: "..."

The sightless youth was unaware of what had transpired, and Yan Qiling seemed to harbor no intention of explaining it to him.

A man, exuding an icy chill from his core, led him out of the elevator. In the next instant, the elevator doors slammed shut violently. They then plummeted downward due to a loss of gravity, eventually thundering to a heavy halt!

The harsh metallic groans of deformation under immense impact were vividly audible to them.

Patland trembled slightly and asked,

"Mr. Yan, what's the matter?"

"Everything is fine."

Yan Qiling, his expression unchanging, tugged the young man deftly towards the left side of the corridor.

And two bodies lay quietly in the corner.

If Isabelle were here, she would recognize one of the corpses as the object of her affection, Steve.

Steve was frozen in a protective posture, as if shielding Eddie, who was in his embrace, from any harm.

Yet, the mechanisms on the wall were long and sharp, piercing through both of them.

Steve's protection proved insufficient to spare the other person from death, leaving only the resplendent glow of humanity etched upon this moment.

Yet, Yan Qiling seemed to have not seen them as he passed by the two corpses.

He didn't even bother to explain the source of the blood to Patland; instead, he continued their previous conversation as if nothing had happened:

"In the most extreme circumstances, people are more likely to lose their morality and reason, resorting to choices that resemble the instincts of beasts."

"That's understandable. For self-preservation, one can be humble. To comprehend this humility, to study it, and then discard morality in order to survive."

Patland inquired,

"But how does this relate to what we were discussing earlier?"

In Yan Qiling's downward gaze lay profound meaning.

"Greatness resides in morality, as exemplified by Simon and those virtuous individuals who selflessly sacrifice for others."

Yet, people do not live for morality; morality has never been a prerequisite for existence.

As he stepped onto the unstable steel plate with the blind youth, the iron thorns concealed within the walls bared their sharp "teeth," ready to pierce them in an instant.

Yet, as he and the youth truly stepped into the activation zone, the iron brambles were abruptly halted by some invisible force, not advancing a single inch further, let alone crushing them into pulp.

Patland couldn't help but turn his head at the sound, asking somewhat bewilderedly,

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing much, we're almost there."

Yan Qiling opened the seemingly empty tin wall.

Behind it, a long-abandoned and filthy restroom came into view.

These individual wooden stalls were mostly decayed, barely standing at half their original height. Yet, in the realm of the Underworld where toilet etiquette was hardly a concern, this was the best one could hope for. It was certainly better than having no facilities at all.

Yan Qiling, feeling that he had successfully escorted the person to their destination, was just about to take his leave when he was firmly seized by the insecure youth. The captivating-eyed boy's cheeks flushed with a delicate shade of pink.

"Mr. Yan, I'm sorry, I'm feeling a bit scared. Would you mind... staying here for a while..."

"I'll be standing guard outside for you."

"Please, I beg of you."

In Patland's grasp, tears welled up in his eyes.

Yan Qiling nonchalantly pulled away from him and was about to leave when the metal door slammed shut on its own with a loud thud. A deafening shattering sound echoed from the dusty toilet bowl!

Thick, green vines shot up from the sewer, and what was most astonishing was that their sparse leaves were made of saw blades!

It quickly locked onto its target and swooshed towards Yan Qiling and Patland!

Yan Qiling skillfully dodged the strange vine's three consecutive slashes with Patland. The sharpness of those saw blades was terrifying; they sliced through the bathroom wall right down the middle!

The unsuspecting toilet tank exploded, spurting water everywhere with a sizzling sound.

Yan Qiling tried to open the metal door, but it seemed to be firmly locked from the outside and wouldn't budge no matter how hard he tried.

And at that moment, the saw blades swung back towards them once more!

This time, Yan Qiling didn't dodge. Instead, he deliberately crouched low, hoping the saw blades would crash straight through the metal door behind him.

However, as if the saw blades could read his mind, they suddenly halted just before hitting the door, then shot towards Yan Qiling at an alarming speed!

Yan Qiling leapt aside, only to be met with a series of shattering porcelain sounds. Suddenly, three more vines burst from the drain, virtually sealing off all escape routes within the restroom.

Restless, Patland nestled deeper into the man's cold embrace, seeking solace in the scent of his medicinal aroma.

As he wished, the other party embraced him with one arm, while their other icy hand traced the path of his soft golden hair to the nape of his neck, whispering into his ear.

"Let them return."

Patland's face was filled with confusion.

"Mr. Yan?"

Their conversation was cut short as the vines simultaneously moved, swirling around them in a 360-degree, unobstructed assault!

The man's sigh was like a snowflake condensed in the cold air, melting upon contact with a palm.

There was no time for further words. With a crisp snap, Patland's perspective rotated ninety degrees.

The man held the back of his neck, as if he were grasping a lifeless cat.

The irises bore no trace of emotions that one would expect to find in a "human."