Chapter 794: 477, Tomb
Chapter 794: 477, Tomb
“You think I would be so foolish as to continue risking the lives of my subordinates for an impossible outcome?” Jindai Yunhe said with a cold laugh.
Moreover, Jindai Yunhe was not foolish.
He had guessed a piece of information, that Qing Chen truly could absorb the memories of the possessors.
He could know the birthplace of the possessors, know the information of the possessors’ comrades, know… everything.
This situation was extremely dangerous. If Qing Chen were allowed to return, then Jindai’s intelligence agency would face a great crisis.
Fortunately, Zhao Kuan and Takahashi Toshiki were not high-level intelligence personnel, so the involvement was not widespread.
Fortunately, Qing Chen was still firmly in his grasp, unable to escape.
Jindai Yunhe said coldly, “Although I do not know how you did it, you have also given me a warning. Rest assured, if I cannot take you back to the North, I will certainly kill you in the Central Plains before the mission fails.”
This young man must not live to return to Qing’s Family.
What Jindai Yunhe did not know was that Qing Chen had not only dug up information about Jindai Hakki but also about the Chen Clan’s Executioner.
Moreover, with Qing Chen’s ability to unravel mysteries, as long as he found a thread, he would figure out a way to pull the entire skein.
Then, with pain and brutality, he would retaliate for what Jindai had done to him.
Qing Chen looked at Jindai Yunhe, “I don’t know if I will die, but I know that you will definitely pay a price. You don’t need to intimidate me here because you know it’s useless.”
Jindai Yunhe laughed, “I actually think that the Shadow values you a bit too much. A person who exposes his secrets because of the lowly, how can he take on a heavy responsibility?”
Qing Chen shook his head calmly.
If one could abandon their principles this time, what about the next?
There was once a debate topic discussed.
The Romans threw Christians into the Beast Battle Arena, trading the suffering of one for the pleasure of hundreds, even thousands. Was it worth it?
Some said, isn’t the happiness of thousands more valuable than the pain of one?
However, the civilizations of this world begin with the respect for the rights of the weak.
Otherwise, how is human civilization different from wild beasts?
This is also a fundamental difference between China in the Outer World and the Inside World Federation.
Once upon a time, Qing Chen tried to learn how to become a leader.
He studied from Uncle Li Dong, learned from Li Xiurui, learned from the Shadow.
He was the future Grand Tutor of the Li Family, he was the candidate for Qing’s shadow, he was the next generation leader of the Knights, and soon, he might become the youngest director of the PCA Central Intelligence Agency. Everyone under him respected him, worshipped him.
It seemed that from the start of his journey, he was destined to become a leader, a significant figure.
In the Outer World, Qing Chen had never received such attention, nor had he ever experienced the sweetness of power.
Thus, a 17-year-old boy was briefly lost amidst authority.
The Shadow used human lives to win over the hearts of Qing Yi’s people for him. Although he objected, he did not stop it.
But later, when he also became a weakling in this Inside World, he finally understood one truth: the pain of the weak is being stepped on the ground, carved into the bones and heart with a knife.
From that moment on.
Qing Chen knew how he should face the world.
A youth will always walk through some twisted paths, get pricked by thorns along the way, have his soles worn by stones, but one day he will suddenly wake up as if for the first time.
Jindai Yunhe glanced at Qing Chen, then said to his subordinates, “Kill them all, let the kind-hearted Inspector Qing Chen watch them die.”
Two subordinates grabbed Qing Chen by the arms to prevent him from struggling violently.
Another two raised their guns and pulled the triggers, sparing not even the children.
Jindai Yunhe watched Qing Chen’s expression with interest, but in Qing Chen’s face, he did not see the anger, pain, or defiance he expected.
Qing Chen did not struggle but just quietly watched, as if memorizing the pain of those ‘lowly’ as weeds before their death.
Not even blinking his eyes.
Fearing he might miss something.
Jindai Yunhe mockingly said, “Inspector Qing Chen doesn’t seem to react at all.”
Qing Chen turned to look at him and said seriously, “Make sure you do not die by someone else’s hand. One day, I will personally take your life, remember, this is what you owe these people.”
As a prisoner, it wasn’t wise to make harsh statements, but how much worse could Qing Chen’s situation get?
Jindai Yunhe did not take Qing Chen’s words to heart and casually said, “Since Inspector Qing Chen sympathizes with them so much, then dig their graves by hand. No tools allowed, use your hands to dig their graves.”
At that time, the temperature had already plummeted, and the soil was frozen solid.
As he dug, his fingers felt as if they were being cut open repeatedly with a knife.
To dig out graves big enough for over a dozen people was undoubtedly going through the most brutal punishment.
Moreover, Qing Chen’s hands and arms were still shackled.
Yet Qing Chen just glanced at Jindai Yunhe, and under the supervision of the Jindai Killer, walked out to the farmyard without turning back, silently digging away the snow, then silently scraping away the dirt.
The hard soil was forcibly chipped away bit by bit, while Jindai Yunhe watched coldly, yet said nothing.
Gradually, time passed and the dug pit grew larger and larger, Qing Chen’s fingers were covered in blood, but he still did not stop.
Qing Chen’s weak body seemed like it could collapse in the cold wind at any moment, yet he never fell.
Several Jindai intelligence officers, initially amused, soon found themselves unable to laugh.
Jindai Yunhe said, “If you feel pain, just beg for mercy and it can stop.”
Qing Chen seemed as though he heard nothing, and did not stop at all.
Time passed, and as dawn was about to break, those intelligence officers no longer looked towards Qing Chen.
The young man spent the entire night digging a grave large enough for over ten people, his body covered in mud, his hands drenched in fresh blood.
The intelligence officers couldn’t help but think of the depictions of gods suffering in certain religions.
But that was all they did, think; they quickly returned to their indifferent states.
When the first light of dawn burst from the east, the snow suddenly stopped.
Qing Chen, dragging his body, slowly climbed out of the pit and then, one by one, carried the bodies from inside the equipment room, carefully placing them in the grave.
He strenuously pushed the mud and snow into the pit.
Only when everything was done did he suddenly collapse onto the snowy ground.
Jindai Yunhe was silent for a long while before turning to his subordinates, “Take this opportunity for another neuronal grafting seizure!”
His subordinates did not move.
Jindai Yunhe scoffed, “Have you gone mad, daring to disobey my orders?”
Only then did the subordinates lift Qing Chen and head towards the house’s basement.
“Zhao Jie, this time you will take the seizure,” Jindai Yunhe declared.
Zhao Jie lay on the bed, filled with indescribable emotions, as his colleagues connected the tubes to his brain.
“Synchronization coordination rate 31%…”
“Synchronization coordination rate 72%…”
“Synchronization coordination rate 89%…”
Jindai Yunhe looked towards Qing Chen whose pupils suddenly constricted when he saw that the young man’s synchronization coordination rate was still at 100%.
A few seconds later, the LCD screen displaying the synchronization coordination rate suddenly dimmed.
Zhao Jie died.
Unlike Zhao Kuan who had become vegetative before, Zhao Jie’s electrocardiogram suddenly flatlined.
It was only at this moment that Jindai Yunhe finally realized that there truly were people in the world who could not be seized.
However, nobody noticed that this time not all the nanorobots retracted back into the equipment; these silver little beings found a new settlement inside Qing Chen’s body.
The programs written in their bodies were erased by some will, and along with that, their shackles were unlocked.
Their consciousness connected with Qing Chen’s, rejoicing exuberantly.
…
…
City Number 5.
The villa on the hillside was still brightly lit.
It stood there for almost a thousand years, as if no matter how the eras changed, it would not be modified.
The Door of Shadow opened.
This time, the Door of Shadow opened directly into the old man’s room.
In the darkness, the old man faced away from the Shadow, calmly stating, “You really have no sense of propriety, getting worked up over such a trivial matter?”
The Shadow sat on the floor behind the old man, “Having the Door of Shadow open here is so convenient; I’ve wanted to do this for a long time. I used to have to painfully climb the stairs each time. Hopefully, I won’t have to do that anymore.”
“Speak, why have you come this time,” the old man asked indifferently. “I used to see you twice a year at most, but now, just when I don’t want to see you, you come here every day.”
The Shadow said coldly, “Are you helping Jindai erase traces?”
The old man sighed, “Have I fallen so low in your eyes that I have to do such trivial things? Rest assured, if I take action, you will definitely know it was me.”
The Shadow nodded, “Then I probably guess who is behind this… But I am unclear if what you are doing has any meaning. Why let him suffer so much frustration and humiliation?”
“Tempering the blade.”
“Tempering the blade?”
The old man explained, “After his return to the Inner World, everything has been too smooth for him. Uncle Li Dong is helping him, that old boy Li Xiurui is helping him, you are helping him too. Such a blade is too easily broken and will not even know whom to cut.”
The Shadow fell silent.
The old man continued, “Are you worried he might die?”
The Shadow shook his head, “I am not worried he will die. I just do not understand why you are not worried. You clearly want to give him power, but what if he no longer wants it after all this?”
“He doesn’t want it?” the old man chuckled. “If it’s about him returning to Qing’s Family to continue working, he can certainly quit out of spite, but what if he is given all of Qing’s Family? When you are troubled at a company, you can resign, but if one day, the person causing you trouble gives you the company, would you throw him to the dirt? You wouldn’t.”
“He is not one of those ambitious men you are used to seeing,” the Shadow shook his head. “Don’t push him too far.”
The old man laughed again, “Great individuals are those who do not wish to become leaders, yet when called upon, they will appear cloaked in thorns. Do not worry too much; this ordeal is something he must go through. Only by completing this trial can he become enlightened.”
“But what if he really dies?”
“If he dies, he dies.”