Chapter 153: Your Doom Has Been Delivered (36)

Jiang Xunchu watched as the fresh blood stained his hands.

The look of disbelief in Jiang Luyun’s eyes froze in place, and then his body dissolved like mist and smoke.

The surrounding environment was invaded by a sea of blood, until the entire world was left with nothing but crimson.

He felt as though he were sinking to the bottom of the water, wrapped by the currents, which kept dragging him further and further down.

His body felt so heavy...

Jiang Xunchu felt his wrist being grabbed, and then his whole body began to float upward.

Amidst the swirling currents, he caught a blurred glimpse of a girl's figure.

The next second, the water vanished. Beneath him was a soft, large bed, and only the bed was bathed in light while everything else was cast in void.

"Brother, what are you thinking about?"

Jiang Xunchu looked up and saw the girl kneeling beside him, her cheeks slightly puffed out, her expression a mix of innocence and mild grievance.

Suddenly, Jiang Xunchu reached out and grabbed Ling Qiong's wrist.

"???"

Yanked by Jiang Xunchu, Ling Qiong fell forward toward him, crashing straight into his arms.

Everything before their eyes spun upside down as Ling Qiong was pinned down onto the soft blankets.

"What are you doing..."

The rest of her words were blocked by Jiang Xunchu's lips.

Ling Qiong's pupils widened slightly, her fingers gripping Jiang Xunchu's clothes slowly tightening.

This surprise came so unexpectedly...

This was far too thrilling!

Ling Qiong pushed Jiang Xunchu away slightly, catching her breath. "Brother, do you want to experience it here with me?"

Jiang Xunchu lowered his eyelashes and muttered, "It's a dream anyway."

Ling Qiong: "..."

Did her precious darling harbor some kind of misunderstanding?

However...

That didn't stop this from continuing.

Enjoy the happiness while it lasts!

...

Jiang Xunchu felt as though that dream had lasted for a very long time. When he finally woke up, the light overhead felt slightly blinding.

He raised a hand to block it, and a shadow suddenly fell over his vision.

Ling Qiong's face appeared in his sight.

Jiang Xunchu instinctively sat up, all his thoughts rushing back at once, including that dream.

He felt a profound sense of reality, as if it had truly happened.

"Brother, was it comfortable?" Ling Qiong cupped her cheeks, smiling brightly as she looked at him.

Jiang Xunchu's heart skipped a beat. "W-What?"

The little girl's smile instantly vanished. "You're not planning to deny it, are you?"

"..."

Jiang Xunchu had a rather ominous premonition. He hesitated before speaking, "Was that... not a dream?"

"Yes, but I knew. I could feel it, just like you did," Ling Qiong said.

Jiang Xunchu: "..."

That was just a dream!

Jiang Xunchu believed that current technology hadn't advanced to such a miraculous level yet, where it could allow her to share sensory experiences with him.

When he saw Ling Qiong in the room and realized something was amiss,

he had simply assumed she was a figment of his imagination, conjured up by his mind to wake him from his slumber.

Therefore, he had firmly believed it was all fake.

Thinking back carefully, Jiang Xunchu couldn't even fathom why he had acted that way at the time...

It was as if some voice had been bewitching him.

"Why were you able to..."

"You were hypnotized. I originally just wanted to get you out, but you were the one who made the move first, and kissed me..."

Ling Qiong could recount every single detail, down to how he had kissed her and what they had said to each other.

Listening to her describe the scene made Jiang Xunchu's face burn with embarrassment.

"I understand," Jiang Xunchu calmly interrupted her. "I will take responsibility. Let's discuss this matter later."

Buying time was everything right now.

He needed a moment to compose himself.

Ling Qiong puffed out her cheeks. "Fine."

Averting his gaze from Ling Qiong, Jiang Xunchu sat up and scanned his surroundings. "What is this place?"

"A laboratory."

"A laboratory..." Jiang Xunchu frowned. "Where is the person who was with me?"

"Outside." Ling Qiong looked rather displeased, letting out a soft huff. "He wants to interrogate you about the detailed process of meeting Jiang Luyun, to find what he's looking for."

Jiang Xunchu rubbed his head. "I can't quite remember how I got here."

He remembered being in the conference room, speaking only a few words before everything became hazy.

"You were drugged. If I hadn't brought you out, you might never have woken up."

"Hypnotized?"

"Hmph, such a cheap and dirty trick," Ling Qiong scoffed with a hint of disdain. "Lacking true skill, he had to rely on drugs. You were treated as nothing more than a tool."

Using forceful medication with only a half-baked level of skill meant Jiang Xunchu could easily have remained comatose.

It was practically murder.

Jiang Xunchu asked, "You... know a lot about hypnosis?"

Ling Qiong wagged her metaphorical little tail with pride. "I suppose so."

It was only after stepping outside that Jiang Xunchu realized just what kind of "supposing so" she meant.

Outside the room, guards surrounded the chief supervisors, holding them at gunpoint.

Everyone else had been locked into an oversized room, their plight clearly visible through the glass walls.

Those people were all deathly pale, huddled together in small groups in various corners, staring outside with looks of absolute terror.

The entire laboratory seemed to have been completely subdued.

Jiang Xunchu spotted the bespectacled man he had spoken with earlier.

His glasses were gone, and there were traces of blood on the corners of his eyes and mouth—all of his previous scholarly elegance completely vanished.

Now, he was crouching miserably in a corner, obviously having been beaten.

When the bespectacled man saw Jiang Xunchu walking out completely unscathed, his expression froze stiffly.

He was fine...

He was actually fine.

Following the man in the white lab coat's orders, as long as the information was extracted, Jiang Xunchu's life didn't matter, which was why he hadn't held back at all.

Once the information was obtained, Jiang Xunchu likely would have...

Yet not only had he woken up now, but he also looked completely unharmed.

He couldn't possibly have woken up on his own...

The only person inside with him was that young girl. How had she managed it?

The man in the white lab coat didn't look like he had been beaten, but his complexion was hardly any better.

"Is there anything you want to ask?"

Of course, Jiang Xunchu had questions.

Ling Qiong had a chair brought out for him, instantly transforming the spacious corridor into the atmosphere of a trial hall.

"Is my dad really dead?"

"...He's dead." The man in the white lab coat answered.

He wasn't lying about this; Jiang Luyun was indeed dead.

Jiang Xunchu continued, "What is this research outcome you spoke of?"

The man in the white lab coat: "..."

He probably didn't want to answer, but a guard nearby casually fired a shot into the empty space right beside him.

"If you don't answer his questions properly, the next one will hit right here," Ling Qiong said, tapping a finger against her own forehead.

Fear of death was human nature, and the man in the white lab coat was no exception.

Especially when facing Ling Qiong...

He could no longer feel any of her cuteness or docility; there was only an indescribable terror slithering up his legs and torso.

"It's..."

It was a substance extracted from something resembling a crystal, found near that 'Queen Ant' meteorite.

That substance was capable of suppressing the virus.

It was much like having an opposing army, one that the virus deeply feared.

That crystal had arrived alongside the meteorite, and they shared the exact same material composition.

"Is it a cure?"

"A cure... No, it's not a cure," the man in白色 lab coat said. "Those things can't kill the virus; they can only suppress it."