Chapter 148: Your Doom Has Arrived (31)

Jiang Xunchu had said he would be back later, and in the end, he returned only late at night.
The base’s power supply only lasted until nine o'clock in the evening, and it was already past nine.
The house was as desolate and lifeless as if no one lived there.
Jiang Xunchu took out a lighting tool and first looked toward the sofa.
Not seeing anyone, he went upstairs to check.
The room was empty too.
Did she go out?
A faint sense of unease welled up in Jiang Xunchu's heart. So late as it was...
Just as Jiang Xunchu was about to head back downstairs, he passed his own room and noticed the door was ajar.
He was certain he had closed the door when he left...
Jiang Xunchu pressed down on the doorknob, pushed the door open, and had only taken two steps when his foot bumped into something.
The light from his hand shone downward, revealing the object on the floor.
It was a square metal box, marked with a hazardous materials symbol.
Some small snacks were scattered on the ground, as if someone had been sitting here eating.
What on earth was this metal box?
Jiang Xunchu swept the flashlight further into the room.
A dark figure was curled up on the bed, with its back to the doorway.
Jiang Xunchu let out a sigh of relief.
Why did she run into his room?
Jiang Xunchu walked around, and when the light hit the person on the bed, she moved, perhaps because the glare was too bright.
Jiang Xunchu immediately turned off the light.
Yet the person still woke up.
She propped herself up on the mattress with her hands and rubbed her eyes, saying, "You're back."
"Why are you sleeping in my room?"
"Can't I?" The young girl dropped her hands from her eyes, looking quite justified. "You didn't say I couldn't."
"..."
Jiang Xunchu turned the flashlight back on, placed it on the nearby table, and said, "Go back to your own room."
"No."
The young girl lay back down, spreading her limbs wide to occupy as much space as possible.
"I'm willing to pay the fee with my body." Ling Qiong tilted her head. "Is big brother going to charge me?"
"..."
Jiang Xunchu felt he shouldn't have understood her words.
"Then you sleep here, and I'll go next door." Pretending not to understand, Jiang Xunchu prepared to leave.
The young girl sprang up like a carp, grabbing him first. "The room next door isn't fit for sleeping anymore."
"???"
Ling Qiong nodded very solemnly. Really.
Jiang Xunchu: "..."
Jiang Xunchu went over to take a look.
The room was in complete disarray; it was indeed hardly habitable.
However... in just a single day, what on earth had she been up to? How did she manage to wreck the room like this?
"I told you it couldn't be lived in," Ling Qiong muttered softly, following right behind him like a little tail.

Jiang Xunchu closed the door, looking utterly ruthless. "I'm going to sleep on the sofa."
Ling Qiong: "..."
...
Even with his eyes closed, Jiang Xunchu couldn't fall asleep, tossing and turning on the sofa like a pancake.
Just as he finally managed to drum up a sliver of sleep in the dead of night, he suddenly felt someone climb up and forcibly wedge herself into the crook of his arm.
"..."
Jiang Xunchu didn't even need to look to know who it was.
"Miss Xu."
"Big brother, I'm scared." The young girl's voice was soft and delicate, soaked in the darkness and inexplicably tinged with a hint of grievance.
Jiang Xunchu endured it. "What are you scared of?" You can take down zombies and beat up people, what on earth is there for you to be afraid of?
"I'm scared of big brother not being around."
"..."
Jiang Xunchu was left speechless, his heart skipping a beat.
He rolled over to get up, but Ling Qiong grabbed the hem of his shirt, which Jiang Xunchu promptly pulled out of her grip.
Ling Qiong stared at him with wide open eyes.
In the dim light, Jiang Xunchu could almost picture the young girl's wronged expression.
He bent down, picked her up, carried her upstairs, and laid her on the bed.
The young girl seemed angry, turning over to present him with her back.
"Aren't you scared?" Jiang Xunchu sat down on the edge. "Don't you want me to keep you company?"
Ling Qiong rolled back over to look at him.
Jiang Xunchu reminded her, "Scoot in a bit."
Ling Qiong immediately scooted inward, and Jiang Xunchu smoothly lay down beside her, pulling her into his arms.
Holding someone in his arms made Jiang Xunchu even less inclined to sleep.
Sensing that Ling Qiong wasn't asleep either, Jiang Xunchu wanted to say something, but after turning it over in his mind, the only topic left was Jiang Luyun.
"My dad might have..."
Jiang Luyun had been forcibly taken away from home by people.
To put it more bluntly, he had been abducted.
The people from the laboratory believed that Jiang Luyun had taken the most crucial research results and hidden them away.
They had originally intended to bring Jiang Luyun back to the lab.
However, they encountered a full-scale virus outbreak on the way.
An accident happened, and Jiang Luyun...
"So that research achievement is the thing that was injected into your body?"
Jiang Xunchu: "It's possible."
"Then do they know?"
Jiang Xunchu: "I didn't tell them."
Although that person claimed to be his father's colleague, he had never seen him before and had no way of knowing whether it was true or not.
He wasn't that foolish.
Ling Qiong pondered for a moment. "Let's assume that thing is indeed what was injected into your body. Then why would your dad steal the research results? Isn't this thing supposed to resolve the virus crisis?"
Jiang Xunchu: "..."
Jiang Xunchu had no idea and naturally couldn't answer.
Ling Qiong sat up, pressed her hands against Jiang Xunchu's chest, and straddled across his body.

Jiang Xunchu: "???"
Ling Qiong grabbed the metal box from the floor, placed it by the bedside, and prepared to step across the bed again.
Jiang Xunchu wanted to make room for her, but they both moved at the same time, causing Ling Qiong to slip and stumble headfirst into his arms.
With Ling Qiong kneeling astride him, the two of them were in a rather ambiguous posture.
Ling Qiong covered her forehead, which had bumped into Jiang Xunchu's chest, and complained, "Why did you move?"
Jiang Xunchu: "I just wanted to let you..."
Rubbing her forehead with one hand, Ling Qiong braced her other hand against his chest.
"Get down first," Jiang Xunchu said, his voice dropping slightly.
Ling Qiong: "I'm not heavy."
"..."
This wasn't a matter of whether she was heavy or not.
Perhaps sensing something, Ling Qiong lowered her body further, leaned close to his ear, and whispered, "Big brother, I won't charge you. Want to experience the greatest joy in life?"
The night was thick, and their breaths were warm.
The faint fragrance of the young girl drifted into every corner of the room, continually fueling the ambiguous atmosphere in the air.
"Xu Wuyan, get down." Jiang Xunchu called her by her full name, his voice laced with helplessness and a hoarse undertone.
Ling Qiong pouted and climbed off him.
Fearing awkwardness, Jiang Xunchu looked straight at the metal box she had placed by the bed. "What is this?"
"I want to know too."
"..."
Jiang Xunchu reached for the flashlight on the bedside table and shone it on the box.
Aside from the hazardous materials symbol, there was nothing else on the box. It had no seams—a completely sealed container.
Jiang Xunchu tested its weight; it was quite heavy.
"Where did you get this?"
"From that building we went to yesterday. Someone was moving it, so I casually grabbed one."
"..." Casually? Grabbed?
Yesterday, Jiang Xunchu had just learned the news about Jiang Luyun and hadn't paid any attention to his surroundings at all.
Today, he hadn't seen anyone moving any boxes.
Yet, given the security surrounding that building, how could she have just "casually grabbed" one?
Jiang Xunchu inspected the box more thoroughly and found a very small serial number on the lower right side of the bottom.
"Did anyone see you when you took this?"
"Nope."
"This thing has a serial number. If it's something important, they'll definitely notice it's missing."
"I checked, that's not a serial number."
"?"
Ling Qiong added, "At least, not a quantity number."
Every box there had one, but some of them were identical.
Therefore, they merely represented a certain type of item, rather than standing for a quantity.