Perhaps it was the tense atmosphere, but everyone subconsciously held their breath and stared intently at the light screen.
Only Lu Ren was sweating, his face pale. He kept glancing fearfully at Gu Xi out of the corner of his eye, fidgeting as he lifted one foot, then put it down, only to lift it again...
Just then, the call connected.
Lu Ren closed his eyes in resignation. ’Well, that’s it,’ he thought. ’No point in struggling anymore.’
On the light screen, the old woman, Chen Lu, was smiling gently. "Xiaoyu, you..."
The gentle curve of her lips hadn’t fully ford before she saw Gu Xi on the other side. Her expression stiffened for a mont, but she quickly composed herself and greeted Gu Xi as if nothing was amiss.
"Xiaoxi, it’s you..."
"Chen," Gu Xi cut her off calmly, getting straight to the point. "Where is he?"
Chen Lu frowned slightly but kept her tone warm. "Xiaoxi, I don’t quite understand. Who are you talking about? You went to the Superpower Union, so you must be looking for soone, right?"
The old woman put on a look of feigned sympathy. "What a sha, I’m out of town on business for the next couple of days. How about this? I’ll have Lu Ren help you search..."
Gu Xi stared at Chen Lu. Rage flared in her heart, but her gaze only grew calr.
Li Ming once taught her that in monts like these, you must not rush. ’You have to stay composed and not let them get a hold over you.’
’Otherwise, you lose.’
’And in the apocalypse, losing once often ans losing everything, with no chance of a coback.’
’Because in the apocalypse, human life is the cheapest thing there is.’
"Chen," Gu Xi sighed, her eyes downcast as she casually fiddled with the small green sprout on her fingertip. "You know I don’t like to kill..."
At these words, the faces of the surrounding superpower users paled in unison, terrified Gu Xi would use their lives to threaten Chen Lu.
Only Chen Lu’s expression remained unchanged.
She was about to nod in agreent when she heard Gu Xi slowly add, "...but over the years, I’ve never been soft-handed when it cos to killing."
But Chen Lu paid her words no mind.
The two sisters knew better than anyone what kind of person Gu Xi was.
’The girl never kills the innocent indiscriminately.’
’And she would never stoop to threatening soone with innocent lives.’
So, she didn’t even spare a glance for the superpower users, whose faces had gone pale at Gu Xi’s words. She just smiled at Gu Xi, as if certain the girl was powerless against her and could only resort to empty threats...
She even heaved a regretful sigh, but the smug mockery in her eyes was unconcealed. ’This girl... still too soft-hearted, too sentintal. A single Wei Heng is all it takes to have her completely under control.’
’Sooner or later, she’ll obediently beco the blade in our hands once more.’
Gu Xi looked down at her hands. Slender, fair, and delicate, they didn’t look like a killer’s hands at all.
Then, she smiled.
’So people just don’t care whether others live or die.’
"Chen," Gu Xi said, looking up at Chen Lu. "I left in such a hurry last ti, I forgot to tell you sothing..."
Chen Lu froze.
But Gu Xi only glanced at her for a second before looking away.
She toyed with the two tender little leaves at the tip of the sprout on her finger, speaking in a slow, deliberate voice. "A while back, I was injured at the military cattle farm in South City... Soone took the opportunity to inject with a little... sothing..."
Chen Lu narrowed her eyes, staring at the girl on the screen. ’What does she know?’
Gu Xi didn’t look at her, continuing in that sa unhurried tone. "And then, under the guise of a dical check-up, they tricked and took my blood..."
The color drained from Chen Lu’s face. A terrible premonition suddenly took root in her heart.
But just then, Gu Xi fell silent, rely lowering her gaze to casually toy with the little green sprout on her finger.
Chen Lu stared at Gu Xi, the terrible feeling in her gut growing more intense.
After a mont’s hesitation, she began tentatively, "Xiaoxi, you..." ’...what are you trying to say?’
Just then, Gu Xi tilted her head to look at her and smiled. "But Chen, you know . I’ve always been reckless. Since soone went to the trouble of setting bait, how could I not take a little bite, just to be polite?"
At that, Chen Lu’s expression changed drastically.
She stared at Gu Xi, her throat suddenly dry, her heart pounding faster and faster. "You..." ’What did you do?’
But Gu Xi cut her off again, stating calmly, "So I secretly left a little sothing in that blood. You could call it returning the favor."
After a long mont, Chen Lu heard her own dry voice ask, "What was it?"
Gu Xi thought for a mont before describing it. "Just a little sothing... that makes blood cells exceptionally active. As for the specific effects?"
She looked up at Chen Lu. "Haven’t you experienced it firsthand, Chen? I imagine you know more about it than I do..."
Chen Lu stared at her, silent.
After a long silence.
"When did you find out?" She stared at Gu Xi, a thousand thoughts racing through her mind, but they all dissolved into shocked uncertainty.
’If Gu Xi knew all along, why didn’t she act sooner? If she only just found out, then who betrayed the two of us sisters?’
The more she thought about it, the more terrified she beca.
Gu Xi smiled, her gaze lowered. "I rember when I was a child, you and Mr. Chen looked like you were only in your thirties. Later... let think."
She actually paused to think seriously. After all, it had been many years...
Gu Xi thought for about a minute before looking up at the old woman on the screen. "Later, after I started wearing that mask, it took less than half a year for both you and Mr. Chen to advance and beco high-rank superpower users, didn’t it?"
Back then, the Chen sisters were only in their early forties and still looked quite young.
And now? How many years has it been? Yet the Chen sisters are already white-haired and elderly...
This rate of aging is clearly inconsistent with their status as high-rank superpower users.
But this was different from Li Ming’s situation. When she’d visited last ti, she had confird that there was nothing wrong with Chen Lu’s powers.
’So, that left only one possibility.’
Gu Xi rembered the day she woke up in Camp No. 9527. Ye Lin had told her that there was nothing seriously wrong with her body, just that she had symptoms of anemia...
’So that ti at the cattle farm, when I realized soone was after my blood, I was extra careful. I wanted to see if I could use the opportunity to bait a big fish.’
’I didn’t expect a fish to actually surface in the end.’
"Chen, I heard from Li Ming that your aging has accelerated quite a bit in the last few months compared to previous years."
"Oh, and by the way, I’m guessing Mr. Chen has been living in seclusion all these years, rarely seeing anyone, for the sa reason, right?"
Gu Xi tossed out these two sentences casually and looked up.
On the other side of the screen, Chen Lu’s expression was grim as she shut her eyes.
"It seems you really do know a lot..." She stared intently at Gu Xi, clearly trying to probe for more information.
’We do have a history, after all. There’s so sentint left...’ Gu Xi thought for a mont and decided to satisfy the old woman’s final bit of curiosity.
"At first, I thought my anemia was just a side effect of being in a coma for so many years. It wasn’t until my trip to the Southwest," she said, looking up at Chen Lu truthfully, "that I found sothing in that underground research lab..."
"That’s when I realized that all these years, you hadn’t just taken my Crystal Core Fragnts. You didn’t even spare my blood..."
At this, Gu Xi suddenly smiled. She gently prodded the little green sprout on her fingertip, her gaze falling as she let out a soft sigh.
"You really... squeezed every last drop out of , didn’t you."
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