When she heard Gu Xi’s phrase, "make the best use of everything," Chen Lu’s expression shifted drastically.
After a long mont, she spoke.
"Xiaoxi, since you’ve already figured it out, then last ti... why didn’t you kill ?" she asked, staring intently at Gu Xi.
Gu Xi t her gaze calmly and said seriously, "Because you’re the first fish I’ve hooked since I returned."
Chen Lu stared at her for a long mont, then suddenly gave a strange smile.
"Then as your first fish, do I get so sort of special treatnt?" she even asked with a smile.
"Of course." Gu Xi nodded without hesitation, giving the old woman due respect.
"And so?" The old woman raised an eyebrow, her gaze fixed on Gu Xi.
Gu Xi said seriously, her voice cold, "As the first fish, I will permit you... a natural death."
At that mont, Chen Lu felt as if she were seeing the Blood-colored Asura of old once more.
After a long pause, she looked at Gu Xi and sighed softly. "But Xiaoxi, don’t forget, my sister and I raised you..."
And Gu Xi always kept a clear ledger of debts and favors.
’Now that she knows the problems with her and her sister’s bodies are because of Gu Xi’s blood, then by the sa token, as long as Gu Xi is willing to help, she and her sister can still be saved!’
"Are you referring to the ti before I was three?" Gu Xi thought for a mont, then began to seriously calculate the debt. "You and your sister raised for three years, but you’ve drunk my blood for thirty. Isn’t that enough?"
A debt of gratitude repaid tenfold. Gu Xi felt that was more than enough.
Besides, strictly speaking, it wasn’t the Chen sisters who raised her during those three years. It was the Abnormal Ability Research Institute that provided the food she needed to survive.
The ones who truly took care of her were Li Ming and Ye Xin.
Chen Lu had completely cald down by now.
She narrowed her eyes at Gu Xi and said, almost word by word, "What if... we add Wei Heng’s life to the equation?"
’Gu Xi secretly breathed a sigh of relief.’
’Since Chen Lu brought up Wei Heng herself, she had already won more than half the battle.’
’The upper hand in the negotiation was now back in her hands.’
"But Wei Heng only has one life," Gu Xi said, her expression unchanging, clearly well-versed in the art of bargaining.
Chen Lu stared at her for a long mont, her expression complicated. "Xiaoxi, you’ve changed."
’Maybe I have.’ Gu Xi t her gaze calmly, saying nothing.
Chen Lu looked at the girl before her, who she now found sowhat inscrutable. After a long silence, she finally stated her bottom line:
"The item Li Ming had Xiao Yu deliver a few days ago—my sister and I will return it intact," she said, staring at Gu Xi.
’What did Xiao Yu deliver?’ Gu Xi was surprised, but she didn’t let it show on her face. She simply raised an eyebrow slightly. "Sothing so important, entrusted to a third party..."
"Wei Heng will deliver it personally," Chen Lu said, staring at her, her voice heavy. "Is that acceptable?"
Just then, off-cara, Shen Yue suddenly put a fist to his mouth and coughed loudly.
Gu Xi looked up, confused.
Shen Yue gave her a look, signaling for her to remain calm.
He walked to Gu Xi’s side, looked at the old woman on the light screen, and politely reminded her, "You drank our Gu Xi’s blood for thirty years. Don’t you think you owe her sothing for that?"
Beside him, Gu Xi looked up at him with a surprised glance.
’Shen Yue clearly wanted to get so justice for her.’
’Wei Heng is still in their hands; this isn’t the ti for a pointless squabble over pride. Besides, she couldn’t care less about an "I’m sorry" from the Chen sisters.’
But Gu Xi said nothing.
’She trusted that Shen Yue wasn’t the type of person who couldn’t grasp the situation.’
Chen Lu narrowed her eyes at Shen Yue. "You’re Shen Zhennan’s son?"
Shen Yue nodded, but he was watching Chen Lu’s expression out of the corner of his eye.
But Chen Lu suddenly burst out laughing. ’Shen Zhennan’s son, actually sticking up for the Blood-colored Asura?’
’This was... the funniest joke she had heard in her entire life.’
Shen Yue frowned imperceptibly. ’Sothing feels wrong.’
Just then, Chen Lu’s laughter abruptly stopped.
She stared at Shen Yue and said, "Go back and tell Shen Zhennan he has a good son."
Before Shen Yue could ask, she turned to Gu Xi. "I’ll have Wei Heng bring the item back. Xiaoxi, I’ll be waiting for you in City A."
As she finished speaking, the light screen before them went completely dark.
The connection was cut. When they tried calling back, there was no answer.
Gu Xi and Shen Yue exchanged a look. They both felt that Chen Lu’s attitude just now had been strange.
On the way back, Gu Xi was unusually silent.
With one hand on the steering wheel, Shen Yue kept glancing at her, looking like he wanted to say sothing but stopping himself each ti.
It wasn’t until Gu Xi looked over and asked calmly, "What do you want to say?"
Shen Yue’s hand on the steering wheel tapped lightly as he gathered his thoughts. "Just now, you said... the Chen sisters drank your blood for thirty years..."
This was the first ti Shen Yue had taken the initiative to touch upon Gu Xi’s secrets.
Gu Xi fell silent for a mont, then turned her head to look out the window. "When I was very young, soone told that humanity is built on rules and order. Once the rules are gone and order collapses, humanity ceases to exist..."
Shen Yue frowned slightly.
He couldn’t refute that.
In fact... over the years, even though humanity had rebuilt civilization and order, the dark side of human nature was more terrifying than the mutated beasts deep in the mountains.
But human nature was also complex and varied; it couldn’t be generalized.
"Gu Xi, you..." Shen Yue keenly sensed that sothing was off with Gu Xi’s mood, but he didn’t know how to comfort her.
Gu Xi looked back at him. "I’m fine. I was just thinking about so things from the past..."
Three years into the apocalypse, she walked out of the Abnormal Ability Research Institute for the first ti. She saw that nearly everyone outside was in rags and starving, struggling desperately and numbly to survive, just barely clinging to life...
At that ti, the Chen sisters told her that only she could save them.
That year, Gu Xi was three years old.
The Chen sisters took her by the hand, led her on a tour of the base’s refugee area, and then sent her back to the laboratory. Blood draws, training, fighting to the death, day and night...
By the ti Li Ming found her, Gu Xi had already forgotten how to speak.
Later, for reasons unknown, the Chen sisters finally let her go back to train with Li Ming and the others.
Li Ming and the others watched over her day and night, afraid she wouldn’t survive, afraid that even if she did, she would no longer be a person...
Later still, Li Ming and the others poured countless efforts into turning her back into a normal person.
During those years, Li Ming told her again and again, tirelessly:
"Xiaoxi, you are a person, a living, breathing person. And humanity is the most resilient existence in this world. As long as a single breath remains, we can endure."
"So don’t be discouraged by how bad the world looks now. As long as there’s a sliver of hope, our species will erupt with an unyielding will and survive with strength."
"So don’t put so much pressure on yourself. You’re still young, you don’t need to think about so much. Just like the other children at the institute, you only need to try your best to live..."
"In the apocalypse, there is no right or wrong, only life and death. Xiaoxi, don’t have any psychological burden. In this world, the most important thing is to survive."
"Xiaoxi, you must survive."
"Survive... as a human."
Gu Xi shook her head, pushing these terrible mories to the back of her mind for the ti being.
She turned her head and asked Shen Yue, "Just now, you..."
Shen Yue tapped his hand on the steering wheel, a thoughtful look flashing in his lowered eyes. He took the initiative to speak. "I just wanted to confirm sothing."
Gu Xi thought for a mont. "Related to your ability?"
Shen Yue looked up, and a flash of purple light flickered deep in his eyes.
He said suddenly, "Gu Xi, have I ever told you that I had an illness when I was a child and forgot so things..."
He looked steadily at Gu Xi. "To be precise, I lost a period of my mory. I don’t rember anything that happened between the ages of five and eight."
Gu Xi ntally calculated the tiline. ’It does line up with the G01 Project.’
She suddenly thought of what Chen Lu had just said and frowned, asking Shen Yue, "What does your father say about this?"
"Only that I had a serious illness that damaged my brain," Shen Yue said, tapping the steering wheel, his eyes dark. "But over the years, I’ve actually been investigating it on my own..."
Gu Xi understood. She tilted her head to look at him. "So, you suspect this has sothing to do with the Chen sisters, and just now... you were also trying to test Chen Lu’s reaction?"
Shen Yue nodded silently. ’He even suspected now that his grandfather sending him to Gu Xi’s side back then was likely related to this matter as well.’
Gu Xi thought for a mont and comforted him, "Your timing for that test... was pretty good." It was right when Chen Lu was worried for her life and ntally unstable.
Shen Yue: "..."
Shen Yue grew even more silent.
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