Chapter 141
Chapter 141
When the door opened, Wen Lianfeng was leaning against the wall, lost in thought. The three of them had been tied up in this empty room for a long time, and everything they had on them had been taken away.
“Want to talk?”
The Director’s casual tone made it sound as though she were inviting an old friend to tea.
Wen Lianfeng didn’t move. Beside her, Chu Jingchu sat up, her entire body tensing. In the corner, Meng Rui also raised her head and stared at the doorway.
The Director walked in.
The door closed behind her, plunging the room back into gloom. She didn’t speak right away. She simply stood there, slowly sweeping her gaze over the three women.
“I’m sure you have plenty of questions,” she said. “Go ahead. Ask.”
Silence.
Then Meng Rui spoke, her voice hoarse with barely suppressed fury. “That girl… Did you raise her?”
“Yes.”
“How many people has she eaten? Did she eat Zhang Xiaoxiao? Did she eat Zhou Sufen and the others too?” Meng Rui glared at her. “You crazy bitch! You raised a Madman… You let her eat your own kind! You’ve lost your goddamn mind!”
The Director looked at her with a calmness that was almost terrifying.
“What’s wrong with that?” she asked.
Meng Rui froze.
“Pork. Beef. Chicken,” the Director continued. “Have you eaten them?”
“They’re weaker than humans, so humans eat them. You’re weaker than Madmen, so Madmen eat you.” Not a ripple of emotion disturbed her voice. “I have a child. She’s stronger than the Madmen, and stronger than all of you. She protects me. She kills for me, and she eats for me. What’s wrong with that?”
A lunatic.
Chu Jingchu stared into the Director’s eyes, unable to utter a word. A chill crawled up her spine.
That usually placid face now held an indescribable horror. Her eyes were smiling. Her lips were smiling. Every inch of her face wore a gentle smile, yet there was no warmth whatsoever in her eyes. She regarded them with the same indifference one might show a slab of meat waiting to be butchered.
She was the one who was rotten with madness to her very core.
She was just like all those people who seemed perfectly normal in everyday life. You could never know how thoroughly their minds had already decayed.
Wen Lianfeng finally spoke, her voice perfectly steady.
“What are you planning to do with us?”
She was too calm, far too calm for a prisoner at someone else’s mercy.
“I haven’t decided yet,” the Director replied with what sounded like genuine sincerity. “You’re useful. You’re good shots, and you know how to think. Better than those who…”
She glanced at Meng Rui. “…only know how to scream.”
Meng Rui’s face flushed red, but she kept her temper in check.
“But you’re dangerous too,” the Director continued. “That Madman who came here with you… It isn’t dead yet, is it?”
Wen Lianfeng’s pupils contracted slightly.
The Director smiled.
“I know what you’ve been thinking about all this time. You want to leave this place and head north.” She shook her head. “But out there… those things are all you’ll find.”
She stepped forward, lowered her head, and looked Wen Lianfeng directly in the eye.
“Stay. Help me.” Her voice softened. “I need people like you.”
Wen Lianfeng said nothing.
The Director waited a few seconds, then straightened.
“Think it over.” She turned and walked toward the door. “I’ll come back at this time tomorrow for your answer.”
The door opened, then closed again.
“Sister Wen…” Chu Jingchu began.
“Don’t talk,” Wen Lianfeng cut her off.
She leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes. Her thoughts were in complete disarray, but she knew she couldn’t afford to lose her composure now.
They had to escape. They had to find a way out!
On the rooftop, Ye Que stood at the edge.
The familiar spot and familiar posture left her dazed for a moment.
The struggle just now felt like nothing more than a dream, as though she had merely dozed off while standing watch. Yet the rain of flesh that had erupted from the grenade remained so vivid, she could almost see it splattering before her eyes all over again.
The cloying stench of blood lingered in her nose, churning her stomach until she nearly vomited.
A noise came from behind her, and she whipped around.
Qi Zhi stood before her. There was only a single step between them, yet it felt as though an uncrossable chasm lay in the way.
“The Director plans to transform those patients tomorrow night.”
Ye Que’s expression changed sharply. “Transform them? Who? Transform them into Madmen?!”
“You already knew?”
Qi Zhi did not answer.
“That Madman, and the Director’s plan.” Ye Que’s voice began to tremble. “You knew all along, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
Ye Que shuddered violently. She stumbled back a step and glared at Qi Zhi, her eyes roiling with disbelief, fear, and fury.
Even she did not understand why she had lost control like this. All she knew was that something she had always held fast to deep inside had come crashing down at that moment.
“You… how could you… Sister Wenlie, she-”
“You think she didn’t know?”
Ye Que froze.
Qi Zhi bent slightly until his eyes were level with hers, his voice utterly devoid of warmth. “You think she never saw that girl while she was alive?”
Ye Que’s lips began to tremble.
Qi Zhi took a step forward, closing the distance between them. They were so close that Ye Que could see her own expression reflected in his lightless eyes.
It was hideous.
“If you don’t want to be locked up, you have to endure it,” he said, lowering his voice even further. “You can’t deny that the Madman has protected you every day you’ve lived here.”
Ye Que opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out.
Qi Zhi watched her, taking in her deathly pale face and the light gradually fading from her eyes.
“Besides…” He paused. “Xu Wenlie was the Director’s staunchest supporter.”
Those final words shattered Ye Que completely. All the strength seemed to drain from her as she sank to her knees.
Qi Zhi said, “Don’t make that face.”
“They were patients to begin with. Without the Director, without us, they wouldn’t be able to survive in this world at all.”
“But once they become Madmen, the Director can put them to use. We’re giving them a chance to survive.”
He crouched and gripped Ye Que’s shoulders, squeezing so hard he nearly crushed them.
“This world has already gone mad! Only Madmen can fight Madmen!” His voice rose abruptly as his long-suppressed emotions burst free. “Ordinary people like us will only be slaughtered if we stay here! But if we had countless Madmen like that girl, all of them absolutely obedient, we’d have an undying army! That’s the only way we can survive!”
Ye Que slowly raised her head and stared at him with empty eyes, as though she were looking at a completely unfamiliar monster.
“How can you be sure every one of them will turn out like her?”
“You and the Director… you’re just gambling, aren’t you?”
“And if you lose, won’t everyone still die?”
Qi Zhi slowly released her and stood. “But if we win… we’ll be in an unassailable position.”
Ye Que lowered her head, unable to answer. Qi Zhi’s words filled her mind.
“You can’t deny that the Madman has protected you every day you’ve lived here.”
“Xu Wenlie was the Director’s staunchest supporter.”
She thought of Xu Wenlie. Of her smile, and the care she had shown. How much of it had been real, and how much had been false?
She did not know. She only knew she had nothing to say.