Chapter 224: The Balance of Two Extremes 05
“My son has actually been home for two days, busy playing basketball and hanging out with friends, so he hasn’t stayed home for dinner,” Teacher Wang said. “His dad is eating at work today, so it’s just the two of us left.”
Kui Xin quietly responded with a soft “hmm,” focusing on his meal.
Teacher Wang continued chatting, “Isn’t it too rushed to leave tomorrow? Your uncle is available tomorrow and the day after; he’s starting his vacation then. He can take you guys on the highway to school. It’s crowded on the train, and after getting off at the station, you’ll need to take a taxi or a bus.”
“Let’s go tomorrow,” Kui Xin said. “I want to get to school early; I have a friend in the provincial capital who is sick, and I want to visit her a day early.”
“What illness? Is it serious?”
“There was a fire at her home; she has burn injuries and had to amputate. It was on the local news a couple of weeks ago, the fire incident at the vegetable market in the northern district.”
Teacher Wang was momentarily taken aback and said sympathetically, “Then you should go take a look.”
“Do you have any plans for university?” Teacher Wang asked.
Kui Xin shook her head. “I’m not sure yet; I’ll see how it goes.”
In the past, she would clearly articulate her plans for university, but now, she couldn’t be certain about her future, so she couldn’t say anything.
“Are you thinking about taking postgraduate exams?” Teacher Wang probed.
“If I do, it will be after graduation, while working and studying,” Kui Xin smiled slightly.
Teacher Wang immediately replied, “If it’s a money issue, I can help…”
“It’s not a money issue; I’m just in an exploratory phase, wanting to experience more and know more before planning for the future,” Kui Xin explained. “I won’t start preparing for exams until my junior or senior year; it’s still early.”
Teacher Wang said, “That’s true; you have two years. Take your time to think it through, and if you have any uncertain ideas, just ask me.”
“Okay,” Kui Xin said. “Have you been watching the science channel these days? There was an expert talking about mirages in the sky.”
Teacher Wang barely acknowledged it. “I watched it; it was quite strange…”
Aside from finding it strange, she had no further thoughts. Most ordinary people, like Teacher Wang, felt strange about it—so what? Even if they questioned it, they still had to get back to living their lives. After a few weeks of novelty wore off, even the discussions about mirages online diminished.
After finishing her meal, Kui Xin said goodbye to Teacher Wang, arranging a time to go to school the next day, and then left.
It was a bright sunny day; the sky in Tonglin City was a clean, bright blue, and clouds were rare.
Fortunately, Kui Xin had brought an umbrella when she went out. She opened it and wandered around the nearby commercial street, buying a pair of ordinary-looking non-prescription glasses. Kui Xin used to be slightly nearsighted and needed glasses for studying, but she hadn’t worn them since her vision improved.
Glasses can enhance one’s facial appearance, and as Kui Xin stood in the store, she put on the glasses, lowered her eyebrows to let her eyelids droop, and slightly relaxed her straight shoulders. She finally regained a bit of the student vibe, looking less like a cold-blooded killer.
After paying, she wore the glasses and set off to shop for some casual clothes.
At this moment, her mobile phone vibrated, and she picked it up to see a message from Yu Qiwen.
“Any plans regarding accommodation after starting university?” he asked.
Kui Xin frowned; the hacker trio usually respected her privacy and wouldn’t pry into her personal matters. What was he trying to imply by asking about her accommodation plans?
“Don’t misunderstand! I mean no harm. I just thought that people with our backgrounds might not suit living in a communal dorm where privacy is hard to guarantee,” Yu Qiwen explained. “Sister Lu has invested in a cat café in the university town and is short on staff. She also bought a place in the university community that can serve as an employee dormitory, single rooms.”
With this, Kui Xin understood.
The hacker trio knew about her family’s difficulties; when Xie Gankqing transferred her 100,000 yuan before, it was not only to apologize but also to provide support. They genuinely wanted to maintain a relationship with her. What was this? Mutual help among peers?
After thinking for a moment, she did not refuse. “Thank you; I’ll think about it properly.”
“You’re welcome, it’s nothing,” Yu Qiwen replied.
When Kui Xin thanked Li Wanran, he said, “It’s nothing.” When it came to Yu Qiwen, he also replied with, “It’s nothing.”
As Kui Xin was purchasing items, the Old Industrial Zone in Tonglin City began to stir.
Li Wanran and Song Tingshuan were standing on a small road less than a hundred meters from the tobacco factory, surrounded by a group of alert teammates. Several remotely controlled delivery robots were placed nearby. These machines had become quite common at delivery sorting centers, and they had adapted the robots temporarily, affixing a wire cage to each, which contained a bewildered experimental monkey. A specially designed high-strength rope was tied to the robot’s wheeled base, connected to a heavy winch that could retract the robots if they lost power.
Li Wanran didn’t feel too good but maintained a calm expression. “Let’s begin.”
A nearby technician immediately took control of the joystick, and the robot carrying the cage slowly approached the tobacco factory.
Under the tense gaze of the crowd, one side of the cage touched the illusory wall of the tobacco factory, and the monkey inside emitted a terrified screech.
Animals are often the most sensitive; it sensed the great danger within the tobacco factory and became extremely frightened.
However, the robot continued forward, and the monkey pressed itself against the cage wall, being sent into the tobacco factory; the living creature slowly became engulfed by the wall, just as the cage containing it seemed to be suddenly yanked, producing a loud clang.
Watching this from a distance, Li Wanran and the others felt a chill run down their spines.
The cage was welded to the robot with wire and a welding gun to prevent the monkey from thrashing around and dislodging it.
Under their horrified gaze, the cage seemed to be tugged again, this time with an even louder noise. The whole robot, along with its iron cage and the monkey inside, was pulled into the tobacco factory, like a swift snake snapping up a passing mouse, tightly gripping its prey’s body.
The elastic rope connected to the robot stretched violently, taut like a rubber band, with one end attached to a heavy winch and the other connected to the illusory wall of the tobacco factory.
Li Wanran swiftly pressed the recovery button on the winch, and it began rotating to recover the rope.
However, what was even more shocking was the winch, capable of pulling several tons of cargo, emitted a terrible creaking noise. The base shifted slightly, as if it would be pulled away by an invisible monster at any moment.
There was a living creature inside the tobacco factory engaged in a tug-of-war with the winch!
Song Tingshuan clearly enunciated, “Secure the winch!”
The winch stabilized for just an instant before it was yanked upward by the rope and, with a thud, fell from above at an alarming speed, being drawn toward the tobacco factory. A few people were nearly struck by the winch but narrowly avoided injury thanks to timely dodging.
Song Tingshuan sprinted forward, skillfully leaping onto the winch, her body propelled several meters forward by its movement.
She pressed a button, and with a clang, the rope buckle fixed to the cylindrical turntable was released while the winch stayed in place, the rope whipping into the tobacco factory under the influence of a mysterious force.
Soaked in sweat, Song Tingshuan felt weak in her legs as she stepped down from the winch, belatedly aware of her fear.
Li Wanran ran over, still shaken. “You’re risking your life! What if you got pulled in?”
Song Tingshuan looked up at the tobacco factory, shivering, and said with regret, “I won’t dare do that again… That winch is borrowed; it’s quite expensive; if it’s pulled in, that’s a loss.”
“Human life is more valuable than machines,” Li Wanran replied.
A group of people stared at the tobacco factory, some feeling a chill of fear.
What was inside? A living creature? Did that creature pull the monkey and the robot into the tobacco factory?
“That monkey must be dead for sure, right?” Song Tingshuan said.
Li Wanran answered, “Probably.”
Song Tingshuan said, “That monkey was an experimental animal we purchased from nearby universities; we also prepared chickens, ducks, dogs, little white mice, goats, and rabbits. Should we continue? The winch is still here; we can fix it and use it.”
“No… let’s not continue for now,” Li Wanran said with difficulty. “I’m afraid that thing inside will come out…”
“We don’t know what it is inside the tobacco factory. It took the monkey but hasn’t emerged… Is it bound by some constraint, unable to come to the outside world from the Dark Realm?” Song Tingshuan analyzed. “What could it be? A more advanced xenomorph?”
“No one knows what it is inside,” Li Wanran replied. “Let’s continue to seal it off and think of some new experimental ideas.”
Song Tingshuan nodded heavily, deep in thought.
……
The night before Kui Xin’s departure, she contacted He Kangshi, Su Rong, and Li Wanran.
He Kangshi’s activities remained normal, allowing for some free movement and communication with players. He frequently performed night patrols and had formed camaraderie with several players who had also been detained previously, often teaming up at night.
Su Rong’s school was also starting soon, so she had slowed her actions, only releasing her Shadow Double for reconnaissance patrol when necessary.
Li Wanran briefed Kui Xin about the tobacco factory experiment, saying, “We can confirm that there’s a highly aggressive monster hidden in the tobacco factory. For some reason, it seems unwilling to come out, but I don’t know how long this can last. Every week, our world undergoes new changes. Unfortunately, it seems that we can only wait and watch these changes.”
Li Wanran and Song Tingshuan also joined the Black Snake personal sector, having interacted a few times. Kui Xin now had some understanding of them, and during her departure from Tonglin City, the investigation task regarding the tobacco factory had to be entrusted to them.
As Kui Xin got on the bus heading to university, she found that aside from worry, she felt no other emotions, not even a shred of joy or anticipation.
“You’re way too calm. I was so excited when I went to university that I could hardly sit still; no wonder my mom says you don’t seem like a fresh high school graduate,” Teacher Wang’s son—Kui Xin’s senior in the same major—remarked. “What’s wrong? Are you reluctant to leave your hometown?”
“Yeah,” Kui Xin replied. “It just feels like it’s not quite time to leave, so I’m not very comfortable about it.”
As the car drove onto the elevated highway, Kui Xin looked back through the rear window at the city where she had lived for many years, feeling a profound silence within her heart.
The issues were not yet resolved, and before long, she would have to return again.
