Chapter 53
Chapter 53
Doctor Song stared at her, dumbfounded. For a moment, he couldn’t even comprehend what Yu Lingling meant. “What do you mean, take me with you?”
Yu Lingling noticed the phone in Doctor Song’s hand was still connected to a call, but she paid it no mind. “You’ll stay with me from now on, until my brother comes back.”
“Hold on.” Yu Lingling nearly made Doctor Song leap out of his hospital bed. “What does the business between you and your brother have to do with me? I’m only your therapist.”
Yu Lingling’s expression showed no hint that she was joking. “Before my brother left, he said he would bring me to visit you and one other person. So until he comes back and takes me to see both of you, neither of you is allowed to die.”
Doctor Song was so amused by her logic that he laughed. “Yu Lingling, were you and your brother just messing with me when you came to my office to have your mental health assessed? Was I nothing more than part of some sibling bonding activity?”
Yu Lingling regarded him calmly. “Why are you getting so worked up? Aren’t I part of your job too?”
Doctor Song’s professional facade finally cracked. “What the fuck.”
Yu Lingling got straight to the point. “Come with me. We’ll team up from now on.”
Doctor Song felt a headache coming on, and his injuries hurt too. “Could you please have some awareness of how terrible your luck is? You entered the three easiest Novice Instances and got the most hellish version of every single one. If I team up with you, I’ll die even faster.”
“Then I’ll turn you into a puppet,” Yu Lingling said as if she were discussing something utterly trivial. “I only need to make sure that when my brother returns, you’re lying in a hospital bed so we can visit you.”
Doctor Song fell silent.
So did Wen Ling and the young man in the baseball cap, both of whom had heard their conversation.
The young man adjusted the brim of his cap. Yu Lingling really was a vicious hound.
Yu Lingling was growing impatient. “Either you come with me, and I’ll do my best to keep you safe until you’re actually about to die, at which point I’ll turn you into a puppet… or I’ll turn you into one right now.”
At the latter option, Yu Lingling sank into thought. Wouldn’t turning Doctor Song into a puppet and putting him directly inside the Princess Dollhouse be a better way to guarantee the item’s preservation?
A chill ran down Doctor Song’s spine. “What are you thinking?” Before Yu Lingling could answer, he hurriedly waved his hands. “I don’t want to know. Don’t tell me. I have a feeling you’re contemplating something extremely dangerous.”
Yu Lingling stared at him.
Doctor Song sighed. “Fine. I’ll go with you.”
In truth, even if Yu Lingling hadn’t come, Doctor Song could never have simply abandoned her. Neither he nor Yu Huan was willing to admit it, but their relationship really wasn’t that bad.
Right in front of Yu Lingling, Doctor Song spoke into the phone to Wen Ling. “Chief Commander, Yu Lingling is still within controllable limits.”
His assessment was the complete opposite of the young man in the baseball cap’s.
Doctor Song eased himself off the hospital bed. “It seems the tether restraining her hasn’t snapped yet.”
Everyone claimed Yu Huan was dead, but Doctor Song didn’t believe Yu Lingling would joke about whether Yu Huan was alive or dead.
As long as Yu Huan was still alive, Yu Lingling wouldn’t truly lose control.
After a moment of silence, Wen Ling had Doctor Song switch the call to speakerphone. “Yu Lingling, that driver was at fault first, but you could have reported him to the police instead of using the Horror Game. Do you know what the consequences would be if the situation spiraled out of control?”
“No,” Yu Lingling said, though the look on her face claimed otherwise. “He threatened me, insulted me, and tried to hurt me. I got scared, so naturally I let the monsters out to protect me. That was self-defense. What did I do wrong?”
Wen Ling’s expression turned grave.
Yu Lingling, however, had no intention of backing down. “Chief Commander, shouldn’t your Special Department be dealing with the Horror Game Instance and the driver who harmed ordinary passengers? What good does coming after me do? Are you going to accuse me of using excessive force in self-defense? I never laid a finger on him from start to finish.”
Doctor Song spoke up from the side. “There really is no way to prove that Yu Lingling was behind his entering the Horror Game Instance.”
Wen Ling snapped through gritted teeth, “Song Siyuan!”
Yu Lingling noticed that the Chief Commander’s tone when she called Doctor Song’s name was not how someone would address an ordinary subordinate.
Song Siyuan answered, “Yeah?”
Wen Ling suppressed the anger rising inside her. “Yu Lingling, I won’t interfere with what you choose to do, but don’t break the rules again. I’m about to say something you’ll probably consider moral and emotional blackmail, but this is the place your brother and people like him gave their lives to protect.
“I know you have ways to protect yourself, but don’t toy with the Horror Game Instance. It is far greedier than you think. It will awaken every desire buried deep inside you.
“Yu Lingling, do not test the boundaries of the Horror Game or the boundaries of the Special Department. We can never coexist with the Horror Game Instance in the real world!”
Wen Ling’s voice was stern. Even if Yu Lingling had killed that driver with her own hands, she would not have been this angry.
Killing someone was against the law, but that alone would not have enraged Wen Ling to this extent.
Song Siyuan studied Yu Lingling’s expression, only to find that she looked as though she were listening to some stranger talk about something that had nothing to do with her.
Yu Lingling carefully committed every detail of the hospital room to memory, then lifted her eyes and asked, “Now that my brother is gone, can you guarantee with absolute certainty that you’ll be able to sever the connection between the Horror Game Instance and reality?”
The other end of the call fell silent for a long time. When Wen Ling finally spoke, exhaustion weighed on her voice. “Yu Lingling, take good care of yourself.”
With that, Wen Ling hung up.
Song Siyuan shrugged. “Wait here. I’m going to change.”
Yu Lingling found a chair and sat down.
Just before entering the bathroom, Song Siyuan paused. “Yu Lingling, you don’t have to be a torchbearer, but don’t mock those who are. More importantly, don’t toy with human nature or human life. That isn’t what your brother would have wanted.”
Yu Lingling found that laughable. She had merely asked a perfectly reasonable question. “Doctor Song, I think you’re biased against me.”
Song Siyuan entered the bathroom. After a moment, an ambiguous answer came from inside. “Maybe.”
When Song Siyuan emerged again, he had resumed the refined air of a mild-mannered psychologist. “Let’s go.”
“There’s one more person.” Her brother had mentioned another boy around her age. Before coming here, Yu Lingling had already gathered intelligence about him from the forum on the Horror Game app, and she had formed a plan.
But Yu Lingling had no intention of telling Song Siyuan about it. She did not trust him. “On my brother’s last mission before Grand Slaughter, he encountered a very unusual boy.”
Song Siyuan thought for a moment and immediately realized whom she meant. He looked at Yu Lingling. “You may not be able to take him with you. Unlike me, his Exclusive Skill is highly unusual – and extremely important.”
Yu Lingling recalled the descriptions she had read about the boy. “When did the Special Department become a sweatshop? Employing child labor is bad enough, but now people are only allowed in and never allowed to leave?”
Sometimes, even Song Siyuan could not tell what Yu Lingling truly thought. He merely gathered his belongings. “Come on. I’ll take you to him, and you can ask whether he’s willing to leave with you.”