Chapter 46

Chapter 46

"One, two, three, one, two, three."

The soldiers pushed the lead military vehicle together, finally freeing it from the mud. Jin Gao sat inside the vehicle and said to Gu Lin beside him, "This road always turns to mud whenever it rains."

Gu Lin leaned back in his seat with his eyes closed, his gloved hands crossed over his chest. "Has the town been sealed off all this time?"

"Yes, since the search began, no one has been allowed to enter or leave."

After rounding Keke Mountain and proceeding for a while, Keke Town gradually came into view. The town was surrounded by high walls, with dull, dilapidated rooftops visible above them. In the thick fog, a clock tower could be seen faintly, making the entire town look more like a prison than a settlement.

Two teams of soldiers stood guard at the town entrance. Upon seeing the convoy approach, they immediately pressed a switch, and the heavy metal gate slowly opened.

Once the convoy entered Keke Town, the gate closed again.

The convoy moved through the potholed streets, with no other vehicles or pedestrians in sight. Occasionally, a person or two would walk by, glancing briefly at the convoy before losing interest and turning away.

Gu Lin's gaze swept over the low houses, finally settling on a three-story building.

"Ahhh..." A long, agonizing scream suddenly echoed from that building, not sounding like anything a normal human could produce, but rather like an animal's howl.

The screams continued to drift out from an open window, but the people on the street acted as if they heard nothing, continuing their business without turning their heads.

Gu Lin glanced down at his forearm, where a bandage covered part of his wrist. He stared at the bandage silently, his face darkening, and a black snake emerged on his shoulder, raising its head uneasily and hissing.

Jin Gao hurried to close the car window, but Gu Lin raised his hand to stop him.

"Gu Lin," Jin Gao said, somewhat uneasy.

"I'm fine," Gu Lin replied.

A nurse in a uniform appeared at the small window of the building. Although they couldn't hear what he was saying, his mouth movements and expression suggested he was cursing, and he closed the window firmly, silencing the screams that had been echoing over the town.

The convoy continued forward, and the black snake slithered down the chair back and coiled around Jin Gao's knee. Gu Lin calmly withdrew his gaze, and Jin Gao, stroking the snake's head, slowly relaxed.

The convoy stopped at the parking lot of the local government military headquarters. The local sheriff ran out of a small building to greet Gu Lin, who had just stepped out of the military vehicle.

"It's so cold here in Keke Town, yet you, Colonel Gu, have come personally. Please, please, the room is prepared with hot tea—"

Gu Lin raised his hand to stop the sheriff, standing in front of the military vehicle and adjusting his coat. "I'm here for a routine inspection. I'll just take a quick look and then leave. No need to go inside."

"Yes, yes, the armory is ready. I'll accompany you there right away."

Gu Lin nodded noncommittally, but Jin Gao asked, "Have you found any suspicious individuals in the town during your searches these past few days?"

The sheriff looked troubled. "We've searched thoroughly, again and again, but we haven't found any suspicious individuals."

"Did you check secret rooms and cellars?"

"We used detectors to search every house, checking all spaces."

"Personnel verification?"

"We verified everyone, requiring identification."

"The town's sewers?"

"We searched them, every inch of them." Despite the cold, the sheriff was sweating profusely.

"But the person is clearly in Keke Town. How could you not find them?" Jin Gao was about to get angry, but Gu Lin said, "It's fine, don't make it difficult for him." Then he turned and walked toward the car.

Jin Gao gave the sheriff a cold look before following Gu Lin. As Gu Lin bent to get into the car, he turned back and said to the sheriff, "Don't let up; keep searching."

"Yes, understood, certainly." The sheriff responded repeatedly.

Gu Lin did not inspect the armory and the convoy left the town directly. Jin Gao watched the slowly closing town gate in the rearview mirror and asked, "How could they just disappear like that?"

"Have you also searched other places, such as the mine and the welfare home?" Gu Lin asked.

"All those places have been searched."

Gu Lin gazed into the distance, his eyes flickering. After a moment, he said, "I've been busy these days. When I have time, you should go to those two landing fields and bring the pilots of those ships to White Castle. I want to question them myself."

He thought for a moment. "Not just the ships that took off during Yun Tuo's shift, but all the ships that were at the landing fields that day. Bring all their pilots."

"All the ships at the landing fields?"

"Yes."

Thanks to his robust sentinel constitution, Chu Ya's broken bone had healed well. He went to the hospital and got a crutch, starting to practice walking.

He had tidied up the small courtyard, polishing the chipped furniture until it gleamed and sewing the torn sofa cushions. Beside the sofa, he had cordoned off a space with two large cardboard boxes. One contained Shen Juanjuan's treasures, and the other held Black Wolf's.

Seeing these two boxes made Chu Ya's head ache. Initially, there was only Shen Juanjuan's treasure box, but one day, another box appeared next to it, placed parallel but at a distance, filled with dirty scraps of metal.

He assumed Shen Juanjuan had brought it home and wondered why the child had suddenly become interested in such things. But while cleaning Shen Juanjuan's newly found treasure, Black Wolf suddenly appeared beside him, dropping something into the sink with a clang.

Chu Ya looked at the rusty old faucet, examining it from all angles, and asked, "Did you bring this back?"

Black Wolf's gaze shifted to Chu Ya's other hand, which held a foam-covered sponge.

"You want me to clean it for you?"

Black Wolf turned arrogantly and lay under the eaves, seemingly resting with closed eyes, but a sharp glint in his eyes kept watch on Chu Ya.

Chu Ya understood immediately, carefully washed the faucet, and placed it in the newly added treasure box inside the house.

The Black Wolf remained sprawled at the door without moving, but the moment he entered the room, it suddenly lifted its head. Upon seeing him place the faucet into the cardboard box, it lay back down, seemingly indifferent, yet its tail tip wagged happily.

Since Shen Juanjuan delivered the message, there had been no response from the welfare home, nor did they send any messages back through Shen Juanjuan. However, they filled his satchel with enough food every day.

Chu Ya understood that Director Liu represented the entire welfare home, and if he got involved, any trouble Chu Ya encountered could drag the welfare home into it as well. But through Shen Juanjuan's warning last time, Director Liu would certainly be more alert, achieving the purpose of delivering the message.

Over the past two days, Chu Ya had sewn the teddy bear's ear back on and made a long cylinder out of the leftover surgical gown fabric, stuffing it with cotton to create a new arm for the bear.

Shen Juanjuan seemed unsatisfied with the new arm. When he received it, he looked at the bear and then at Chu Ya, giving a dry laugh: "It has a different hand, how funny."

"Do you think it doesn't look good?"

Shen Juanjuan replied, "If its hand could be the same as this one. Yes, the same color, also fluffy, and with white fists." He balled his own hand into a fist for Chu Ya to see: "See, it's a fist, but with connected fingers."

After a moment of silence, Chu Ya said, "I can't find the original plush material, so you'll have to make do."

"Um, it's still very nice, very nice... having a hand is better than not having one." Shen Juanjuan kept nodding, then touched Chu Ya's leg: "Just like your feet, even if you can't walk with them, having feet still looks better."

In the afternoon, the Black Wolf was absent; it often wandered around, coming and going without a trace. Chu Ya wasn't worried and took Shen Juanjuan to the cultural center building in town, where they stood on the tenth-floor platform overlooking the distant road.

"What are you looking at?" Shen Juanjuan hugged the bear and stood beside him, also gazing into the distance.

The gray sky and earth merged into a single hazy horizon, reflected in Chu Ya's misty eyes. After a moment of silence, he replied, "Looking for Dad and Mom, looking for Yun Tuo."

Shen Juanjuan, who had been fiddling with the bear's arm, suddenly froze, turned to look at him with some panic, then lowered his head and tugged hard on the bear's ear.

Chu Ya remained lost in thought, but Shen Juanjuan slowly moved to the side, blocking his view. He adjusted his position until he felt he had shielded Chu Ya's line of sight.

"What are you doing standing here?" Chu Ya asked.

Shen Juanjuan pushed his wheelchair: "It's not fun up here, let's go back."

"So soon? You want to go back already?"

"Yes, go back, I want to go back." Shen Juanjuan turned Chu Ya's wheelchair around, then climbed into his lap, urging, "Let's go, hurry."

Chu Ya took him downstairs, and Shen Juanjuan, pursing his lips, stared ahead. Suddenly, he blurted out, "You only have a younger brother."

"Huh?" Chu Ya's thoughts were still elsewhere.

Shen Juanjuan was silent for a while, but after turning a corner, he slapped Chu Ya's hand, somewhat angrily saying, "You're Shen Miaomiao, you only have a younger brother, Shen Juanjuan."

Although Chu Ya didn't feel pain, he frowned, "I've told you many times, don't hit people."

As the wheelchair jolted, the ear flaps of the cotton cap brushed against Shen Juanjuan's face, but he sat straight, his back stiffening.

On the next floor down, he suddenly shouted angrily, "I'm going to hit people, I'm going to."

Chu Ya's voice remained calm but carried a hint of sternness, "You need to control your temper. It's not good to lose your temper all the time."

"I will lose my temper, I will get angry!" Shen Juanjuan retorted, turning his face away.

Chu Ya stopped the wheelchair, "Get down, walk yourself, I don't want to carry you."

Shen Juanjuan puffed up his chest and jumped off the wheelchair, striding forward, "Fine, I'll walk myself, I don't want to carry you either."

He swung his arms as he walked ahead, and Chu Ya followed in his wheelchair. But Shen Juanjuan grew angrier and suddenly took off the bear from his back, raising his arm to throw it out of the building.

"You can't throw the bear away," Chu Ya said sternly.

Shen Juanjuan raised the bear, hesitating to throw it but not putting it down either. From Chu Ya's angle, he could only see Shen Juanjuan's puffed-up side face.

"Tell me, why did you suddenly start getting angry?" Chu Ya asked.

Shen Juanjuan's chest heaved rapidly, and he suddenly bent his arm, about to throw the bear again.

"No!" Chu Ya said.

Shen Juanjuan didn't throw the bear but stubbornly held it up, his breathing becoming more rapid. Suddenly, he burst into tears.

He cried heartbreakingly, as if he had suffered a great injustice, looking at Chu Ya with an open mouth, tears streaming down his face.

Usually, Chu Ya would comfort him, but now he remained seated in his wheelchair, unmoving. Shen Juanjuan continued crying, staring at him, and when Chu Ya didn't come to comfort him, his cries grew louder.

But Chu Ya remained unmoved, watching him quietly. Though his gaze was calm, it made Shen Juanjuan feel inexplicably uneasy, so he took a few steps closer and reached out to grab Chu Ya's arm.

Chu Ya took the bear from his hands, placed it under the wheelchair, and pulled Shen Juanjuan onto his lap.

"Wah... wah..."

Shen Juanjuan sobbed sadly, and Chu Ya, whose anger had dissipated upon seeing him like this, took out a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe away his tears.

"Alright, stop crying," Chu Ya whispered as he wiped the tears, "Are you trying to act reasonable? Crying as if you've been wronged. The one who should be crying is the bear, it's the one who's been wronged. You took your anger out on it and were about to throw it downstairs. What did it do wrong?"

Shen Juanjuan's crying subsided, and he sniffled, hugging Chu Ya's waist. Seeing his emotions calming down, Chu Ya released the wheelchair brake and slowly descended the stairs.

"If I suddenly got upset and dismantled your steel ball car, tore your colorful paper, and threw away your treasures, would that be okay?"

Shen Juanjuan slowly shook his head.

"You can't keep your anger bottled up; you need to tell me why you're upset. Otherwise, I won't know what I did to upset you, right? And you can't hit people or take your anger out on other things."

Shen Juanjuan remained silent, hugging Chu Ya sideways, his eyes fixed on the side. As the wheelchair jolted, his cheek rubbed against Chu Ya's chest, but he didn't let go.

"Are you a bad-tempered kid?" Chu Ya asked, leaning down.

Shen Juanjuan shook his head again.

"How dare you shake your head?" Chu Ya nudged his head up and down, imitating his voice, "I'm clearly an unreasonable little kid, I'm very unreasonable."

Chu Ya saw Shen Juanjuan secretly smiling and asked, "Why did you suddenly get angry just now?"

Shen Juanjuan still didn't speak but when the wheelchair hit the street, he suddenly whispered, "You only have a younger brother, named Shen Juanjuan."

Chu Ya was taken aback for a moment, then Shen Juanjuan spoke louder, "You won't follow others around. You love your brother so much that no matter what they give you, you won't go with them. Give you a big bun, give you marbles, no matter how many marbles, you won't follow them."

As Shen Juanjuan said this, he kept looking up at Chu Ya. Although he wasn't crying, tears slowly welled up in his eyes.

"Am I right? Am I right? Did I say it right?" Shen Juanjuan repeated his question insistently.

Chu Ya raised his hand to wipe away the tears on his face and said softly, "Are you getting angry over this? Bad temper, you don't even like being called bad-tempered."

Shen Juanjuan's voice lowered, "I didn't want to throw the teddy bear, I didn't want to hit anyone. I don't know, I just suddenly felt very upset, couldn't help it."

"If you can't help it, think about the coat hanger we hung by the window."

"Why think about the coat hanger?" Shen Juanjuan asked.

Chu Ya said seriously, "Because I'll use that coat hanger to beat you."

"Oh." Shen Juanjuan responded sullenly.

Chu Ya pushed the wheelchair through the street and into an alley. Shen Juanjuan remained silent all the way, only lowering his head, his long lashes drooping over his lower eyelids.

When the wheelchair entered the passage leading to the backyard, the light instantly dimmed. Shen Juanjuan subconsciously grabbed Chu Ya's arm but heard him say, "Even if I were to leave, I would take you with me."

Shen Juanjuan turned his head abruptly, slightly open-mouthed, his eyes shining even in the dim light.

"Did you say you'd take me with you? What did you say just now? Did you say you'd take me with you? Did you? Did you?"

Chu Ya didn't answer immediately, so Shen Juanjuan raised his hand as if to hit someone again. But he immediately remembered Chu Ya's warning and withdrew his hand, only shaking the wheelchair armrest: "Did you? Did you?"

Chu Ya only asked, "So will you follow me?"

"Yes!" Shen Juanjuan replied without hesitation.

"But then you can't go back to the orphanage, can't see your friends every day, can't see the caretakers either," Chu Ya's low voice sounded almost like a whisper.

Shen Juanjuan hadn't thought of these things before, and hearing this, he was stunned. Chu Ya observed his expression and continued, "Do you still want to follow me?"

Shen Juanjuan opened his mouth but didn't immediately speak. Chu Ya pushed the wheelchair forward, the light from the gaps in the passage making his face flicker between light and shadow, his gaze gradually turning colder.

"If not seeing them every day, can I see them sometimes?" Shen Juanjuan asked cautiously, "I want to follow you, but I also want to see them sometimes. Can I?"

"Do you still want to follow me?" Chu Ya stopped the wheelchair and looked down at him.

Shen Juanjuan turned to look at him, his face full of disbelief, "I'm your favorite little brother, of course I want to follow you... Don't stop, let's go home quickly."

Chu Ya continued pushing the wheelchair, and the moment they emerged from the passage, the light illuminated his soft expression, the coldness in his eyes completely gone.

At night, after cleaning Shen Juanjuan up and putting him to bed, Chu Ya took a hot water pot to the bathroom to shower.

In the cramped space, steam rose, and he sat in a large tub he had found elsewhere, his thin back arched, staring blankly at his legs.

"The bone injury has healed, but I don't know how long my mental domain can hold up, whether it can last until Yun Tuo finds me. If it collapses completely, will I fall into eternal sleep..."

The sound of water splashing, Chu Ya lifted his right hand, pale skin covered in water droplets, the black mark on his wrist had crept up a bit more.

"It's growing, but it's not a birthmark, nor a scar. How did it appear? Could it be something Gu Lin did to me?"

After finishing his shower, Chu Ya stepped out of the bathroom, and the door to the main room opened, Shen Juanjuan came out.

Shen Juanjuan was only wearing pajamas, shuffling his feet, hugging himself and looking around. Seeing Chu Ya, he angrily asked, "Shen Miaomiao, why haven't you come back for so long?"

"I was taking a shower."

"But you've been in there for so long, I've been waiting for such a long time." Shen Juanjuan's teeth chattered, yet his anger didn't diminish, "Do you know how many minutes I waited? It must have been one two three one two three minutes."

Chu Ya frowned, "Go back inside quickly, running out without a coat, do you want to get sick?"

Shen Juanjuan turned back into the room, pointing at the coat hanger on the window, "If you take so long again, I'll hit you with the coat hanger."

Shen Juanjuan burrowed under the covers, still grumbling angrily. Chu Ya didn't respond, only pursing his lips tightly, carefully closing the door, checking the windows, and finally turning off the lights.

He felt that Shen Juanjuan had been very irritable these days, always getting angry for no reason, like a small firecracker ready to ignite. The previous Shen Juanjuan had some temper too, but not to this extent.

What could make someone's temper worse?

Chu Ya slowly pondered, suddenly thinking of something.

During the differentiation period, sentinels and guides form their mental domains, producing a substance called pheromones. Pheromones can cause unstable emotions, uncontrollable irritability, or sudden feelings of heat and agitation until they successfully break through, after which the symptoms disappear. Therefore, those entering the differentiation period take inhibitors to control their emotions.

Could Shen Juanjuan be entering the differentiation period?

Chu Ya turned his head to look beside him; Shen Juanjuan was cuddling the teddy bear, lovingly kissing its head and gently touching its arm, looking very obedient.

"Ha ha, do you like your new arm? This new arm is so pretty."

He's only six years old, wouldn't it be too early for him to enter the differentiation period...

Chu Ya really couldn't associate Shen Juanjuan with sentinels and guides, thinking he might just be a child raised in the orphanage, where caretakers were scarce, thus lacking proper guidance. He decided that he would need to correct his behavior more often in the future.