Black Sky - Chapter 30

When Bai Zi voluntarily put on the mask and electric shock collar, it was equivalent to handing over her life completely.

She was very clear about this.

However, when she saw Mao Mao being kicked to the ground by the tall man, the uncontrollable anger made Bai Zi rush forward, as expected, she was immediately tormented by the electric shock collar.

At the moment she knelt on the ground, Bai Zi’s heart was immediately overwhelmed by an unfamiliar sense of shame.

During the year she was imprisoned, even though she was as docile as puppy, she was shocked with electricity no less than a hundred times.

At that time, besides pain, she didn’t have any extra emotions.

But now, being treated like livestock in front of Meng Yilan, and being powerless to do anything, the sense of shame she experienced for the first time was countless times more unbearable than the pain brought by the electric shock.

Therefore, when the electric shock stopped, and Bai Zi stood up again, confirming that Meng Yilan had protected Mao Mao, she immediately turned around and followed the freckled woman away.

She couldn’t bear to stay there for even a second longer.

Even when she heard Meng Yilan trying to stop her, Bai Zi quickened her pace, and couldn’t wait to follow the freckled woman into that five-story building.

Let it be like this.

Let their relationship stop here.

Everything about Meng Yilan had ended, and Bai Zi herself seemed to be caught in a vicious cycle.

What Bai Zi didn’t expect was that as she followed the freckled woman into the lobby on the first floor, she saw a very familiar image—three people wearing white protective suits were sitting behind the counter. Their bodies were tightly wrapped, and she couldn’t see their faces, or even tell their gender.

After seeing the freckled woman and Bai Zi, one of them picked up the walkie-talkie and said a few words in a low voice, then raised his hand, signaling the freckled woman and Bai Zi to walk to the end of the corridor behind the counter.

Looking at that long corridor, Bai Zi had a feeling that was both familiar and strange.

Familiar, because during that year, she had walked back and forth on a corridor that was just as long countless times.

Strange, because the corridor now was obviously much older. On the yellowed walls, the white paint had all fallen off, revealing the gray cement surface.

The freckled woman led Bai Zi to the end, stopping in front of a door that seemed to have a string of numbers carved on it with a knife or some sharp object. After knocking on the door twice, she opened it.

When she walked into the room, seeing all kinds of familiar instruments and another person wearing a protective suit, Bai Zi knew without needing to think that this was where she would undergo a physical examination.

The process was already deeply ingrained in her mind, and in the end, when Bai Zi couldn’t remember how many tubes of blood had been drawn, she was finally led back to the counter by the freckled woman.

Then, she involuntarily turned her head, looking at the furthest point outside the glass door of the lobby. The car that she and Meng Yilan had ridden in for almost a day was already gone.

Today would be the day that Meng Yilan reunited with the person most important to her.

With that thought, Bai Zi, disregarding the strange look that the freckled woman was giving her, curled the corners of her mouth.

About ten minutes later, the person behind the counter, holding the walkie-talkie, said: “She’s here.”

These two simple words determined Bai Zi’s fate for the rest of her life.

After nodding to the freckled woman, the person on the far right behind the counter walked to Bai Zi’s side: “Come with me.”

It was a woman’s voice.

The freckled woman didn’t look at Bai Zi again, and quickly turned around and left the lobby, while Bai Zi, following the leader’s instructions, walked into the elevator together.

Then, she saw the other party press the button leading to the second basement level, another basement.

Sure enough, it was a cycle.

Arriving at the second basement level, Bai Zi even laughed—a long corridor, with countless doors arranged on both sides.

After leading Bai Zi to a small room in the middle of the corridor, the leader turned around, left the room, and closed the door, all in one go, without saying a word.

The sound of footsteps outside the room faded away. Bai Zi looked at the layout of the room. Although it was slightly larger than the room she had stayed in that year, there was no difference in essence.

There was no window, and no clock.

Everything had truly returned to its original state.

At this time, Bai Zi, who was in the second basement level, didn’t know that above her, Meng Yilan was leading Mao Mao back to the jeep that they had ridden in together.

Of course, there was also Lin Quwei.

“Miss Meng,” Mr. Liu said with a smile after instructing the freckled woman to put Meng Yilan and Lin Quwei’s luggage in the back of the car, “I wish you a safe trip.”

The freckled woman, who had been instructed to be the driver, had already gotten into the car, while Sister Hua had thrown her luggage onto the passenger seat.

Shi Lei stood behind Mr. Liu, his face full of smiles, in a joyful state after completing his work.

Meng Yilan, however, was standing in front of the car, looking at a certain place without blinking, lost in thought.

“Yilan?” Lin Quwei called out softly in confusion.

Meng Yilan glanced at Lin Quwei, and then turned to look at Mr. Liu, asking with a firm tone: “I want to see Bai Zi.”

The smile on Mr. Liu’s face froze. He pursed his lips: “Miss Meng, that’s not convenient.”

Meng Yilan had made this request in the reception room just now.

At that time, Mr. Liu had also refused, with a firm attitude, but without giving a reasonable reason.

This ambiguous situation made a strong sense of unease rise in Meng Yilan’s heart.

That sense of unease gradually intensified as she was led to the jeep by Shi Lei.

“Why isn’t it convenient?” Meng Yilan asked with a cold face, asking repeatedly, “We just arrived, it hasn’t even been half an hour, and besides, Bai Zi isn’t a criminal, she’s just undergoing an antibody test, and she’s even doing it voluntarily, so why isn’t it convenient to meet?”

Not only that, but Meng Yilan also clearly sensed that Mr. Liu and Shi Lei were trying their best to make her leave this place as soon as possible, as if some earth-shattering secret would be discovered if she stayed for even a second longer.

Mr. Liu’s expression visibly turned ugly. Seeing that the atmosphere was wrong, Shi Lei immediately persuaded: “Miss Meng, that’s really not appropriate. According to the rules, people undergoing antibody tests can’t have any contact with the outside world.”

“Miss Meng,” Mr. Liu simply put away his smile, and said in a deep voice, “The deal is over.”

The implication was that from now on, everything about Bai Zi had nothing to do with Meng Yilan.

Mao Mao seemed to be frightened by Mr. Liu’s tone, and quickly hid behind Meng Yilan, grabbing her pants.

But Meng Yilan didn’t back down. Instead, she even smiled slightly, as if she didn’t care about the other party’s threat at all. Coupled with her height advantage, when the two made eye contact, her aura didn’t decrease but increased.

Under the stalemate, Lin Quwei quietly stepped forward, reaching out to grab Meng Yilan’s arm: “Yilan.”

Having known each other for many years, Lin Quwei was very clear about Meng Yilan’s personality. On the surface, she seemed cold and indifferent, but in reality, she would become extremely assertive when she encountered people and things that she cared about.

Although he didn’t know who the “Bai Zi” that Meng Yilan was talking about was, he knew that Mr. Liu’s background wasn’t simple, and that if they insisted on going against Mr. Liu, he and Meng Yilan would suffer.

Meng Yilan turned her head to look at Lin Quwei, and under the other party’s eye signal, reluctantly suppressed the stubbornness in her heart, and lowered her head slightly.

“Miss Meng, Mr. Lin,” Mr. Liu, who had regained control of the situation, smiled again with satisfaction. “You’ll be able to return to Bei City in about four days. Have a safe trip.”

Lin Quwei gave Mr. Liu a stiff smile, pulled Meng Yilan to sit in the back seat, and Mao Mao also followed, squeezing next to Meng Yilan.

Mr. Liu patted the window of the driver’s seat, and then, the freckled woman immediately drove the car away from the courtyard, heading towards the prison gate.

Seeing herself getting further and further away from the building where Bai Zi was staying, Mao Mao finally reacted. It suddenly raised its hand in a panic, baring its teeth and grabbing the iron mesh on the window, shaking it hard, wanting to jump out of the car.

“Be careful!” Lin Quwei was worried that Meng Yilan would be scratched by the red-haired orangutan, and was about to lean over to hold the animal that had suddenly gone crazy, but was stopped by Meng Yilan.

Then, Meng Yilan raised her hand, and gently rubbed the back of Mao Mao’s head.

Mao Mao stopped shaking, and turned its head to look at Meng Yilan.

Although there were no tears, looking at Mao Mao’s eyes, which were full of anxiety and grievance, Meng Yilan actually felt that the little furry child who couldn’t speak was crying.

A feeling of sadness welled up in Meng Yilan’s heart. Without saying a word, she pulled Mao Mao into her arms, gently stroking its back, just like she had comforted Bai Zi before.

Mao Mao quickly calmed down, although it still looked wronged, it no longer made a fuss.

“Yilan,” Lin Quwei, seeing this scene, couldn’t help but ask, “Can you tell me, who is Bai Zi?”

Meng Yilan was slightly stunned, but didn’t reply.

For some reason, Meng Yilan resisted talking about Bai Zi to others. Even with Lin Quwei, she couldn’t share everything that she and Bai Zi had experienced without reservation.

It seemed that Bai Zi had become a secret that she couldn’t tell.

Just like now, although Meng Yilan wasn’t wearing a mask, and hadn’t been fitted with an electric shock collar, just sitting in the back seat of the jeep, in the place where Bai Zi had sat before—looking at the iron bars separating the front and back seats, and the iron mesh on the windows, her heart couldn’t help but feel sad.

Lin Quwei wouldn’t understand Meng Yilan’s feelings at this time, and Meng Yilan didn’t plan to tell anyone about those feelings.

Seeing Meng Yilan remain silent, Lin Quwei couldn’t help but feel even more confused: “Yilan?”

In fact, since their reunion, in just a short while, he had already sensed the changes in Meng Yilan.

The two hadn’t seen each other for many years, and it was understandable that there were changes, but for some reason, Lin Quwei felt a sense of “crisis” from those changes.

“Quwei,” Meng Yilan didn’t notice Lin Quwei’s unhappiness. She lowered her head, stroking Mao Mao’s back, and asked, “Can you tell me what happened after you were locked up in that place for the past year?”

Lin Quwei was stunned, and immediately noticed a wary gaze looking at him. He raised his head, and saw that in the rearview mirror, the freckled woman, who should have been focused on driving, was staring intently at him with sharp eyes.

Lin Quwei frowned, stiffened his body, turned away from the freckled woman’s gaze, and smiled softly at Meng Yilan: “What could have happened? It was just…being in prison.”

“Is that so…” Meng Yilan looked at Mao Mao in her arms, and replied casually as if she didn’t care, then turned her head, looking out the dark window through the iron mesh.

Still unable to see anything clearly, Meng Yilan simply closed her eyes, but couldn’t help but think of that right eye that had looked at her with tears, and the other party’s extremely pious confession—

‘Because, you are my ‘light’.’

Uncontrollably, Meng Yilan quietly said that name in her heart.

Bai Zi.

Then, Meng Yilan couldn’t help but take a deep breath, and after a long while, slowly exhaled.

…

As if hearing her call, Bai Zi, who was lying on the bed, suddenly opened her eyes.

It was already the third day since she had been locked up in the basement again.

In these few days, no one had come to take her for a physical examination, no one had come in to talk to her, and no one had thoughtfully sent her what Bai Zi needed most at this time—human blood.

Therefore, a certain indescribable desire in her body began to emerge again.

The increasingly strong sense of irritability and depression constantly enveloped Bai Zi, but she could only lie on the bed, with nowhere to escape.

And at this time, the sound of footsteps suddenly rang out, approaching from far away, and finally, stopping outside the door.

Then, the door opened.

It was still a person wearing a protective suit. The other party didn’t speak after opening the door, but only stood silently by the door, looking at Bai Zi.

Bai Zi sat up from the bed. As if sensing something, she knew what she should do—walk out of the door, and follow the leader to a room at the end of the corridor.

It was an operating room. The instruments in the corner were turned on, and the electronic screen next to them displayed a lot of data that Bai Zi couldn’t understand.

Next to the operating table, there was another person wearing a protective suit. Since the door had opened, his head had been facing Bai Zi, as if there was a pair of eyes under that protective suit that were tightly fixed on Bai Zi.

For some reason, Bai Zi had an extremely ominous premonition, so she stood by the door, unwilling to go in, but the person behind her forcefully pushed Bai Zi into the operating room, and quickly closed the door.

The person standing by the bed opened his mouth: “Lie down.”

It was a man’s voice, and Bai Zi thought it sounded a little familiar.

Before she could think too much, the person behind her pushed her again.

Bai Zi staggered to the side of the bed, took a deep breath, and climbed onto the bed.

She knew that even if she didn’t follow the orders, she would eventually be tortured by electric shocks or other means, and thus submit.

After she lay down on the bed, the two people cuffed Bai Zi’s hands to the side of the bed.

“I heard,” the person said again, “That you don’t need anesthesia to perform surgery on those people?”

At the same time, Bai Zi’s heart sank—she recognized the person in front of her.

“Anesthesia will affect the central nervous system, which is not conducive to the operation.” The person who had led Bai Zi in replied, it was a middle-aged woman’s voice.

The man wearing the protective suit leaned close to Bai Zi, and under the light of the operating lamp, he looked like some kind of monster: “Then, will they feel pain?”

“Of course,” the woman was organizing the surgical instruments on the table. “Their pain perception is no different from ours.”

“Is that so,” the man stood up, and suddenly raised his hand to take off the hood of the protective suit, and also took off his mask. “Then, the more pain—the better.”

Shi Lei, who was standing by the bed, bent down, and showed Bai Zi, who was lying on the bed, a sinister smile.