Chapter 13

Chapter 13

"Boom—"

A deafening roar reverberated from the sky.

Outside the clear blue glass window, flashes of terrifying lightning lit up the sky, causing the lights above the corridor to flicker.

Not far from Ye Jishu, the other three individuals, who had been acting perfectly normal, now behaved strangely and unnaturally.

Lin Lin was talking to the other two. From behind, he couldn't hear their conversation or see their expressions, but the occasional low, buzzing tones mingled with the dense, oppressive clouds. The two being spoken to would occasionally glance up at him, then quickly look away.

Ye Jishu's hand, hanging at his side, twitched slightly.

For a while now...

What are they up to?

This scene really looked like a small group talking behind his back.

Even if he didn't care about others' thoughts at first, their behavior, the oppressive atmosphere, and his sense of being out of place stirred up an indescribable anxiety.

What are they up to?

Why are they acting like he's missed something?

Outside, the clouds were thick and oppressive.

The situation before him hit him like a heavy blow.

Just as all the negative emotions were about to reach their peak—

"Ding-dong."

His jacket pocket suddenly vibrated.

Ye Jishu was taken aback.

He blinked, startled.

He was jolted back to reality.

He let out a barely audible sigh of relief, took out the vibrating phone, and lowered his head, his eyes inadvertently falling on the lit screen.

However—

At the top of the screen, an incoming call was in progress.

At the bottom, several unread messages, marked by small red dots, sent a chill down his spine.

The phone icon showed 7 missed calls, and the screen was filled with at least twenty unread WeChat messages that had automatically opened.

As if to add to the pressure.

The incoming call flashed by.

The moment Ye Jishu saw it, the latest call was quickly hung up by the other party.

What... is going on?

He was really on edge, even his rarely used facial muscles twitched.

Ye Jishu took a moment to pull himself together, unlocked his phone, swiped, and started scrolling through the unread messages.

These messages.

All the messages were from just one person.

— Yan Mei.

"..." Ye Jishu.

10:00 PM

"Jishu, I'm back at the dorm."

10:04 PM

"You there yet? Let me know when you are."

10:20 PM

"I checked, looks like it's gonna rain soon. I remember you didn't grab an umbrella. If it rains, just wait at the nearest building or some cover. I'll come get you. Don't go walking in the rain like last time, you'll catch a cold."

10:40 PM

"You busy?"

[Missed Call]

11:00 PM

"You gaming?"

"If you are, I won't bug you. Have fun, no worries if you don't reply."

11:30 PM

"Is the game really that good, Jishu? At least hit me back once."

[Missed Call]

11:35 PM

"Why aren't you picking up?"

...

"Did you run into someone? Or is something bugging you while I'm not there? I know you hate drama, need me to come find you? I'll help Jishu handle any trouble. I'm so worried about Jishu, it's killing me."

11:40 PM

"What's going on? Are you giving me the cold shoulder and trying to break up, Jishu?"

11:45 PM

"Did I mess up?"

[Missed Call]

23:46

"You made me a promise."

[Missed call]

[Missed call]

23:50

"Did someone say something to you...? Don't."

"Don't, don't."

...

He took a deep breath.

There are way too many messages to get through.

Messages are flooding in, making it impossible to handle everything quickly.

But if he waits too long, things will just get worse, and Yan Mei will definitely get even angrier.

Ye Jishu quickly scrolled to the latest message.

Just one sentence.

24:00

"I won't let anyone ruin this."

"..." Ye Jishu.

Alarm bells went off in his head.

No, this is really bad.

Even the most clueless person would feel a twitch in their eyelids and a strong sense of unease upon seeing this flood of missed calls and messages. Especially now, with that last sentence... Ye Jishu couldn't help but silently stare at his phone screen.

Why hadn't he noticed the messages earlier?

Was it because he was in game mode?

But now, it's not about answering the phone. It's about what Yan Mei had been thinking over the past hour.

How did it go from... missing messages to breaking up?

Yan Mei is upset again.

Is it because of those nameless background characters again?

No matter what he does, it seems like he can't make Yan Mei happy.

But even as a nominal boyfriend, he should try to make it up to her.

"What is this...?"

Suddenly, a voice full of surprise came from beside him.

At these words, Ye Jishu looked up.

It was Lin Lin.

He finally worked up the nerve and walked nervously to Ye Jishu's side.

As he was about to speak, his eyes were drawn to the screen.

He hadn’t meant to look at Ye Jishu’s phone.

But with so many message notifications flooding the screen, it was hard not to notice.

At that moment, his mind went blank again: "..."

No... is this normal?

"The emotions feel so intense."

"It’s only been an hour since the last message. Is this really necessary?"

An odd look crossed his face.

Ye Jishu stared at him and said abruptly, "You saw it, didn’t you?"

"Uh... yeah."

This was definitely an invasion of privacy.

Lin Lin apologized awkwardly, "Sorry, I didn’t mean to... It’s just a professional habit—I tend to pick up on things around me."

But the person in front of him didn’t seem bothered, just staring intently at his face.

"The cold shoulder was my fault, not Yan Mei’s."

"..."

"Don’t think badly of him."

Lin Lin fell silent.

"Their relationship must be strong if they can brush it off so easily—! But wait, what was Ye Jishu doing then?... Was he talking to me? Does that mean I’m the one who stirred things up...?"

"..."

His shoulders slumped.

For some reason, a chill ran through him.

Ignoring the stiffness of the person beside him, Ye Jishu put away his phone and asked, "Are you done talking?"

At this, Lin Lin’s expression shifted abruptly.

He quickly snapped back to focus and switched to work mode.

Ah—how could he let his mind wander during work?

Probably because tonight had been so overwhelming, defying all logic.

His thoughts were all over the place...

That's why I had to lean towards thinking about less serious matters.

"Mm." Lin Lin shook his head, suppressing the strange feeling in his heart, and said, "Then we'll head out first. There are still some things we need to take care of."

Even though he said "we," from the context, it probably didn't include Ye Jishu.

The fact that "you weren't invited" was something Ye Jishu was already used to.

Even if he were asked to go along, he wouldn't.

There were more important things to do.

So, Ye Jishu quietly watched as the girl and Yan Mei's hapless admirer left in despair, then raised his hand to respond to Lin Lin, who hesitated and waved goodbye, before indifferently looking away and picking up the phone that had been put back in his jacket.

...This.

How can I fix this—.

……

The air became less stifling and more breathable.

Finally, Lin Lin left the dorm.

And... left the mysterious "Ye Jishu" behind.

Lin Lin's fingers trembled slightly, barely visible in the night.

He had just exerted a lot of self-control to keep his calm facade intact.

Because the girl who had been infected and then recovered, as well as Bo Zhehan, had both shown uneasy expressions at that moment, watching his every move intently. If he had panicked in response to Ye Jishu, things would have gotten much worse.

"......"

Lin Lin drew a deep breath.

After all, this was a situation he had never encountered before.

Think positively.

At least the personnel arrangements had been communicated.

The girl who had been infected needed to be taken to the nearest containment center for isolation and observation.

As for the other witness—

Although they were also being taken back, it was just following the standard procedure.

First, they would be isolated for seven days to check for any secondary infection.

Once they were confirmed safe.

Then they would proceed with memory processing.

In this world, at least among humans, no one has the ability to arbitrarily alter others' memories.

In other words, to prevent the leak of information and avoid causing panic, the Bureau of Infection Management and Control would have to intervene with threats, appeasement, and persuasion, followed by the necessary hypnosis procedures. This would not only erase the witness's mental trauma but also stop them from spreading the existence of the 'source of infection' throughout society.

Although it would be nice to imagine, as in the comic settings, that the employees of the Bureau possess some kind of innate abilities—in reality, they’re just a bunch of regular people with slightly better physical fitness and the ability to use special weapons.

Lin Lin looked down and double-checked the message.

"It's been half an hour already. He should be here by now."

Just as another wave of anxiety was about to hit him, a car emerged from the darkness and came to a silent stop in front of him.

Then, the window slid down.

A face, tired and worn out, appeared inside.

Even in the dead of night, the guy was rocking sunglasses, hiding most of his face.

"This is a good school. If only I'd hit the books harder for the college entrance exams, maybe I could've snagged a cushy office job after graduation, instead of this crazy life where I'm stuck pulling unpaid overtime past midnight."

Lin Lin shot him a resentful glare. "You're late."

But the guy just brushed him off and clicked his tongue in annoyance.

"Get in the car."

"..."

A few seconds later.

Bao Zhehan and the girl hesitantly climbed into the car.

The car sped off into the night.

Bao Zhehan sneaked a peek at the girl in the passenger seat. Feeling reassured with Lin Lin by his side, he finally worked up the nerve to ask, "What was that back there? Was that really...?"

He carefully avoided saying the word "monster."

"Yes," the man with sunglasses said.

"..."

Hearing the confirmation, Bao Zhehan's face went pale.

"I shouldn't have come back... Our dorm's had deaths before, and usually, it's just Ye Jishu living there. It's already spooky enough as it is. Why did I have to go back tonight..."

He buried his head in his hands, muttering as his emotions unraveled.

Lin Lin felt a pang of sympathy. "He's just a student."

"So what? He saw it. He's not gonna blab about it."

The tone was one of complete indifference.

Once again, Lin Lin was reminded of just how cold the guy in front of him was.

Even with Ye Jishu in danger, because he wanted to report back to headquarters ASAP, he'd pulled Lin Lin off 24-hour surveillance duty, leaving the guy alone in the dorm.

Each district typically has two top-tier enforcers.

Rumor has it that his partner, who'd been with him day in and day out, had an accident. Just because there was a risk of infection, he didn't hesitate to kill the conscious person to save his own skin.

After that, he just jotted down "mission accident" in his phone notes.

The sunglasses were not for show.

They were carried as a weapon due to their ability to kill humans and act as a source of infection.

Rumor has it that once worn, they can melt a target's flesh just by looking at them.

Up ahead, the man wearing sunglasses glanced at the girl in the passenger seat, her head hanging low.

"How did you return to normal? Do you still have memories?"

"N-no, I don't recall."

"And you?"

Bao Zhehan looked up, his voice faltering, "I don't know either..."

"Hmm. Not surprising," the man with sunglasses said. "Lin Lin, you were at the scene. Did you notice anything unusual?"

When called out, Lin Lin snapped to attention and hesitated briefly.

The thing about Ye Jishu...

It was just his speculation.

Honestly, even now, looking back, he might have just been overthinking.

In every conversation, he saw no threat; instead, the other seemed like an ordinary college student just looking for a good relationship.

Maybe not very expressive.

But surprisingly easy to get along with.

If he spoke up, "Ye Jishu" would be dealt with immediately.

Just like that 'at-risk' partner.

Even if he had doubts, he should observe for a while before judging.

As long as "Source of Infection 3301," Chen Heming, was around, Lin Lin would return after his report and keep operating near the university.

Since "Ye Jishu" was the target, he could monitor him without delaying the mission.

He would do that.

Until he made a final decision.

"...Nothing out of the ordinary."

"Oh," the man with sunglasses said, bored, "Then you're useless. We'll just check the containment facility."

Lin Lin paid him no mind.

He reached into his pocket, gripping the necklace digging into his palm, feeling the pain.

"I'm not like this sunglasses guy."

"If something happens... I'll take responsibility for hiding this, not abuse my authority to clean up infections."

Having made up his mind. Lin Lin looked up and gazed out the window.

The next moment.

"A loud thunderclap—"

The entire scene, both inside and outside the car, seemed to tremble from the thunder.

"Tsk," the guy in sunglasses muttered, "it's raining."

But Lin Lin was too engrossed in the scene before him to care.

The dense night was split open by a sudden flash of purple-blue light, illuminating the narrow street lamp by the road, where a figure stood silently.

He was nearly indistinguishable from the surrounding darkness.

But his breathtakingly beautiful face was enough to leave anyone speechless at a single glance.

He stared at Lin Lin with an expressionless face.

In an instant, Lin Lin's composure shattered, his pupils trembling uncontrollably.

Under that piercing gaze.

His heart clenched in an instant, and his limbs twisted involuntarily in fear.

His mind went completely blank.

He silently opened his mouth, breaking down, unsure of whom he was confessing to.

"I didn't... I didn't say anything."

The shadowy figure averted his gaze.

The oppressive heat that had filled the car seemed to dissipate.

The sound of rain poured into his ears.

The car sped past that stretch of road.

The seemingly endless, suffocating moment of holding his breath turned out to be just a few seconds.

Lin Lin finally managed to catch his breath.

He quickly looked away, staring down at his knees, his fingertips still trembling uncontrollably.

A look of confusion crossed his eyes: "..."

Huh...? What was he doing?

Why did he say that? Just because some good-looking guy looked at him...

Yeah.

The psychological pressure of hiding the truth from a first-level enforcer was overwhelming.

His fingers clenched tightly on his knees.

But the chill that rose from his heart, like raindrops hitting the window, lingered on his spine.

It felt like he had narrowly escaped death.