Chapter 39: What Kind of Place is Lime Men?
“What place can we find him?”
He Laoye’s expression was hesitant. After a moment of contemplation, he sighed silently, “At the military hospital, in the old building next to the Eastern Medical Supplies Store, there’s a cancer support group that meets every afternoon, organized by that kid.”
“However, he isn’t always there! My spouse has gone a few times before but has only run into that kid once.”
Hearing this, Luxianbei and Jiang Li exchanged glances and nodded to each other.
“Thank you for letting us know, He Laoye. It’s getting late. Shall we take you back first?”
Though going to the cancer support group did not guarantee they would find Tan Qiuming, at least they had a direction now, much better than wandering around aimlessly like headless flies.
He Laoye glanced left and right at Jiang Li and Luxianbei, sighed silently, nodded, and, with their support, got up, heading towards the hospital rooms.
When they reached the stairs at the Tumor Department inpatient unit, He Laoye suddenly stopped, as if recalling something, and looked at Luxianbei seriously.
“Although I don’t know what you’re asking about Tan that kid for, I still want to say a word: that kid is very dangerous. He truly is a master of healing, just as some rumors say. If you don’t have enough ability to protect yourselves, don’t get involved with him!”
He knew Luxianbei and Jiang Li were likely going to the cancer support group to find Tan Qiuming, but he felt it was necessary to give them a warning.
“Alright, let’s end it here. If those people in the hospital see you, they might give you a cold shoulder.”
With that, he waved goodbye and slowly walked towards room 202, his back resembling a lone warrior heading onto the battlefield.
Watching He Laoye’s figure disappear at the door of room 202, Luxianbei retracted her gaze and said expressionlessly, “Things are getting tricky.”
She had read a science fiction novel that described a world where a person’s knowledge and memories could be traded as commodities, resulting in the rich monopolizing knowledge and truth while the majority of the poor lived like domesticated livestock, muddling through their days.
However, a small number of people could not bear to be treated like livestock, leading to contradictions that deepened over time, eventually evolving into a catastrophic conclusion.
From a certain perspective, someone who could easily transfer a deadly disease like cancer from a patient to a healthy individual could be seen as treating health like a commodity, potentially leading to an ending similar to that in the science fiction novel.
When someone is suddenly told they have cancer and not long to live, emotions become unstable. If they also find out their illness originally belonged to someone else, it would undoubtedly worsen the situation.
With more such individuals, especially mixed with some spiritual ability users or those resorting to urban legends in desperation, it could spell disaster.
“Yeah, very troublesome.” Jiang Li nodded.
Although not knowing the full situation yet, it was impossible to jump to conclusions.
But from the current information at hand, what Tan Qiuming was doing posed a threat equal to the imminent birth of an offspring by the X Sky God, and there was an intricate connection between the two events.
“Then now…” Luxianbei tilted her head. “Shall we head to that cancer support group and try our luck?”
“Sure, no problem.” Jiang Li took out the Gray Owl Badge from her pocket and waved it in front of Luxianbei. “I’ll contact Lin Kule first.”
“Are we giving up on acting at all?” Luxianbei thought to herself, nodding in agreement.
She fully supported Jiang Li contacting Lin Kule in advance since they were heading to a place that could possibly be a lair of extremely dangerous spiritual ability users. No one knew what they would encounter there.
Notifying the Shancheng Siye Society in advance could still provide some backup.
Otherwise, if something unexpected happened, and no one knew where they were heading, it would be like disappearing from the face of the earth.
Isn’t there always that kind of story where someone runs off alone to trek the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, tells no one, and calls it a pilgrimage or soul-searching, only to never return, vanishing without a trace?
She really could not understand how someone could be so reckless to commit such foolish acts, Luxianbei thought, pouting.
Watching Jiang Li move aside to activate the Gray Owl Badge, Luxianbei was about to pull out her phone for a few minutes of tense and thrilling “Love and Magic Girl” when suddenly, it felt like a finger had lightly brushed against a nerve, triggering her spiritual perception.
Zhipianxian? Is it Dorethea? Has that important negotiation concluded?
Coming back to her senses, Luxianbei glanced at Jiang Li and gently pushed her aside. Seeing half of her body conceal itself behind the corner of the staircase, she took out a Zhipianxian, infused it with spirit energy, and established a subtle connection with the one in Dorethea’s hand.
Wow, such a strong sense of déjà vu!
The person who made the Gray Owl Badge couldn’t have also been inspired by similar spiritual energy items, could they?
In a train of thoughts without any connection, the next moment, Dorethea’s voice echoed in her ears.
“Teacher? Is that you, Teacher?”
“Yes, it’s me.”
“Whew!” Hearing Luxianbei’s voice, Dorethea sighed in relief. “You have no idea, today’s negotiation was so intense, I was almost scared out of my wits. At first…”
Dorethea began recounting her experience at the negotiation site between the two factions of the Solar Eclipse Society, the entire process highlighting its illogical chaos, causing Luxianbei to experience a headache.
However, even so, she still picked up on some unusual elements.
“Wait! Did you just say Yunshen Machine Lu Ming?” Luxianbei interrupted Dorethea, who was still heavily emphasizing the tense atmosphere of the moment, taking a deep breath to ask as calmly as possible, “Is that one person or two? What sort of place is Lime Men?”
“One person!” Dorethea answered, not noticing the oddness in her teacher’s tone. “Seems like a super powerful spiritual ability user, as for…”
“It’s the Solar Eclipse Society’s numbered outpost 3. I heard Mr. Phoenix say that’s where the Solar Eclipse Society keeps prisoners, and also the place where the leader often conducts business.”
Upon hearing this, Luxianbei silently clenched her fist, swearing under her breath, “d*mn it, what a dead-end worker!”
“Huh? Dead-end worker? Teacher, what are you talking about? I don’t understand.”
Luxianbei said calmly, “Never mind. Do you have time later? Like we agreed before, when we meet, I’ll analyze what leverage Zhang Yu and Zhang Shuisheng have.”
“I do! I have the whole evening!”
“That’s good. I’ll contact you later.”
With that, she cut off the connection with the Zhipianxian, looking at the slightly deformed paper cicada in her hand, and after a few seconds of contemplation, frowned.
She initially thought that when she finally found the place her father was held, she would be infuriated and immediately rush to rescue him, but now, she seemed less angry than she had imagined.
Clearly, she felt a fire burning fiercely in her chest, yet that flame had no warmth at all.
Is it because of mundane human affairs?
Speaking of which,
To avoid corruption and decay over the passage of time, engulfing worldly matters and purifying the core of urban legends, as a result, experiencing the most basic feelings of joy, anger, and sorrow became impossible. Could this be considered a form of alternative corruption?
Luxianbei thought, letting out a helpless sigh.
(I’ve made the characters Zhang Yu and Tan Qiuming too complicated; now that I’ve reached a critical point, it’s so difficult to present it perfectly! I got stuck badly today; it’s a bit less than usual.
I’m too weak, waah!)
