Chapter 194

Chapter 194

Just as the heavy door was about to close completely, Meng Ran’s phone erupted in a shrill ring, a thunderclap in the silence.

She jerked as though pricked by a needle. Instead of silencing the phone, she lunged for the closing door and clutched the frame with both hands without hesitation.

“Ran Ran!” Xu Lei barked, his face dark. The two short syllables were laden with fury.

Meng Ran had been wavering, but his rebuke transformed the hesitation in her eyes into firm resolve. She spoke one deliberate word at a time, her tone allowing no argument. “No! You can’t!”

Torment filled Xu Lei’s face as he tried to pry her fingers loose. A plea entered his voice. “Stop making a scene…”

“I’m not.” Meng Ran forced the door open and wrapped both arms around his waist. “I know! I know how desperately you want to save me. I want to stay with you forever too. But Xu Lei, we can’t kill someone!”

Tears spilled from the corners of her eyes, her heart torn by the same agony. “Even if you cure me, we’ll spend the rest of our lives bearing the pain of having killed someone. Could we ever truly be happy like that?”

“And if we aren’t happy, what would be the point of staying alive?”

She was terrified that Xu Lei would become a murderer because of her, terrified that he would spend his entire life trapped in pain and remorse because of her.

If he truly killed someone to save her, that sin would define him forever, pinning him to a pillar of shame for the rest of his life.

Meng Ran’s voice trembled through her tears. “Xu Lei, I don’t want you to become a murderer. Even more than that, I don’t want you to spend your whole life suffering and regretting what you did for me!”

“I know you aren’t cold-blooded or heartless…”

“Even if you use her to save me, we can never go back to being who we were. Every day after that, whenever you look at me, you’ll remember the nerve inside my brain. You’ll remember that you killed someone for it…”

“I’ll become the living proof of your crime, something you’ll never be able to escape.”

“Even if I stay by your side, will you truly be able to face what our love has become?”

…

Clang!

The knife slipped from Xu Lei’s hand and struck the floor with a sharp metallic crash.

===

Nan Mu slowly opened his eyes. The world before him seemed blurred and distant, and for a moment, his mind went completely blank.

He stared dazedly at the tables and chairs, at once familiar and strange. Then his scattered awareness snapped back into place, and he shot upright from the floor, lingering terror buried deep in his eyes.

He staggered to his feet. When he turned and saw Wen Miao lying on the laboratory table, his breath caught.

“W-Wen Miao…” Nan Mu’s lips were pale, his trembling voice almost pleading.

The person on the table did not move. Pressing a hand to his heart as if struggling to hold something back, he stumbled toward her on unsteady legs.

Wen Miao lay peacefully on the table. Her clothing was undisturbed, and there was no blood on the floor.

A fine sheen of sweat covered Nan Mu’s brow. Suppressing his fear, he reached out with a faintly trembling hand and touched the warm crown of her head.

Her hair was dry and soft, as smooth as the finest silk. The sensation soothed his terror, calming him in an instant.

He released a tremendous breath. His knees buckled, and he sagged to the floor like a deflated balloon.
As his emotions gradually settled, his lips curved into a relieved, grateful smile.

“Wen Miao’s all right. Thank goodness,” he murmured, his voice hoarse with exhaustion.

She was all right.

Thank goodness.

She was really all right!

===

Nan Mu did not understand why Xu Lei had suddenly abandoned his attack, but remaining in such a dangerous place was clearly unwise.

He woke Wen Miao. Perhaps she had less resistance to the sedative; although she regained consciousness, she remained groggy and disoriented. Supporting most of her weight, Nan Mu guided her to the nearest restroom and splashed cool water over her face. Only then did she become a little more alert.

“I…” Wen Miao held her spinning head. “What happened to me?”

Though her thoughts were gradually clearing, her memory remained shrouded in fog. She still could not recall what had just happened.

“We’ll talk later.” Nan Mu pulled her toward the stairs. “We need to get out of here first!”

They headed down the staircase and soon reached the third floor.

The long, shadowed corridor fell empty once more.

Then a figure in a black mask and cap-someone who had been secretly watching Nan Mu and Wen Miao all along-slipped out from behind a classroom. They hurried into the Biology Research Lab and removed both the hidden camera and the key that had been hanging from the door.

===

October 8, 2022, 7:20 p.m.

After dinner, Wen Tangtang returned to the laboratory to continue her research instead of resting or relaxing like everyone else.

She had just pulled out her chair when she noticed a phone sitting on her desk.

It clearly was not hers.

“Whose phone is this?” she muttered as she picked it up. Beneath it lay a letter, with a bold inscription across the envelope: *For Wen Tangtang’s eyes only!*

Confusion filled her face, then she burst out laughing. The whole arrangement was both amusing and painfully old-fashioned. “Who still writes letters these days?”

Could it be a love letter?

With that thought, she pulled out the page inside.

Before unfolding it, she could already see the writing through the paper. There were only two short lines.

“What a halfhearted love letter.”

Still mocking it, Wen Tangtang unfolded the note and read: “All the evidence of Director Wu’s crimes is on this phone. Turn it over to the police!”

“Shanshui Villa on the mountain in City Park is where the transactions take place. Investigate it. Zhaodi, a friend of Gu Zhishu, was seen there before Zheng Wenzhu took her away. Her life may be in danger.”

Wen Tangtang’s face changed. She instinctively covered the note and cast a wary glance around her.

But she was alone in the laboratory.

Alarmed, she lowered her head and read the message again. Then she opened the phone with trembling fingers. Sure enough, it contained the videos Cheng Jiamin had told her about.

Wen Tangtang’s heart pounded with equal parts excitement and fear, her palms slick with sweat. She hurriedly put away the phone and letter, then rushed back to her dorm.

Only after her figure vanished at the far end of the hallway did a black-clad figure emerge from the classroom opposite the laboratory. Following the direction Wen Tangtang had gone, they disappeared into the silent darkness.