RIACMET chapter 206

 

Hearing the three words, “Gao Xuyang,” was like flipping a switch that opened the floodgates to Yang Kai’s rage.

He took a few deep drags of his cigarette until his eyes turned red and he could no longer remain calm. Then, he cursed, charged over to Qi Lao Er, and began punching and kicking him. He didn’t stop until Qi Lao Er vomited blood.

No one tried to stop him. In fact, some thought it wasn’t brutal enough.

Watching Yang Kai, Jiang Nian felt as if he were looking at an old friend from a past life.

Tch!

Yang Kai pulled out another dagger and stabbed it into Qi Lao Er’s shoulder. For a moment, his expression remained still as warm blood splashed across his face. Clenching his teeth, he said coldly,

“He permanently sealed his police number. If you want to apologize, then go tell him yourself!”

Then, he stabbed Qi Lao Er in several non-lethal places, pressed the cigarette butt into the wounds, and growled.

“So, what secret were you planning to tell me?”

Gao Xuyang had given him that dagger for self-defense.

Shortly after he started college, several students became involved in smuggling and telecom fraud. The authorities sent undercover agents to investigate.

Gao Xuyang showed up as a young, elegant, promising psychology professor who had recently returned from overseas.

Due to his family background, he was entrusted with using his student identity to help conceal things after a series of arrangements and coordination. That was the first time he met that man.

It also became an opportunity for him to join the organization. His family didn’t object too much either.

From then on, Gao Xuyang arranged all his public information according to whatever the mission required. After graduating, he “disappeared” from the public eye, blending into society with an average appearance.

Over time, he began to forget his real name and age. He couldn’t even be sure if what he told others was true.

Two years before the apocalypse, his undercover mission with other members of the organization was almost finished.

Just like in movies and TV dramas, things went wrong after they split up due to a mole.

When he received the bad news, he was mingling with beasts in human form within the entertainment industry. He couldn’t even show his grief.

The man who gave up his life to complete the mission ahead of schedule stopped the core members of the criminal group from fleeing and captured Qi Lao Er and the rest.

He also protected Yang Kai from being exposed.

They had agreed to take a quiet vacation together once it was all over. In the end, however, they hadn’t even said goodbye.

He couldn’t attend the man’s funeral, and the feelings he hadn’t confessed were lost forever.

The only way he could cope was by throwing himself into new missions. His best disguise was pretending that losing the person he loved never happened.

He had clearly fallen into the abyss yet convinced everyone that he had already climbed out.

Until he met Brother Cheng and the others, he thought he could suppress his emotions and escape, but he failed.

Only once the apocalypse arrived could he finally let his buried emotions surface.

“…”

Cough, cough, cough.

“Ugh…”

Qi Lao Er knelt on the ground, his face twisted in pain and his body drenched in cold sweat. Blood poured to the ground as his chest heaved violently. It took him a long time to catch his breath.

“That’s right…that was his name. The face and name match—there’s no mistake.”

Yang Kai pressed the blood-stained blade to Qi Lao Er’s exposed neck.

“What do you mean?”

“…”

Qi Lao Er gasped and said with difficulty,

“The informant wasn’t strong enough back then. At the time, we only found out that he was a cop. We didn’t know his real name—including yours. We only got to ‘really’ know each other after I was captured, right?”

“If you keep circling around, I’ll slice your flesh off piece by piece, grill it right here, and feed it to you!”

Yang Kai barked fiercely, though he had already calmed down. The truth was that even in death, they would remain nameless monuments. To protect the people around them, they would still conceal the truth.

After Gao Xuyang died and Qi Lao Er was captured, how had he found out the real name later, while locked inside a heavily guarded prison?

With the blade at his throat, Qi Lao Er knew that Yang Kai had kept his promise. He swallowed quickly and said,

“Gao Xuyang isn’t dead. He’s the illusionist—the one who created the illusions inside Guanshan Prison. He’s currently in the basement. He’s already become a rational zombie—the one the outside world calls the Zombie King.”

“…”

Qi Lao Er’s words were like a bolt from the blue. Not only was Yang Kai stunned, but everyone else was too.

Permanently sealing a police number meant that Gao Xuyang had died in the line of duty. It wasn’t a mistake the authorities would make lightly.

“…”

Yang Kai’s pupils trembled. His breath halted, then turned ragged. His body and hands trembled, and sweat the size of beans poured from his face and temples.

“Ugh…”

Afraid his trembling hand would cut his throat, Qi Lao Er leaned slightly away and added with a twisted grin,

“I’m telling the truth… unless there’s someone else in the world with the same name, surname, and appearance.”

If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he never would’ve dared to bring this up—unless he was in a hurry to die.

Seeing that Yang Kai wasn’t doing well, Cheng Jing stepped forward and shouted at Qi Lao Er.

“Explain clearly, from the beginning!”

This wasn’t a small matter. Forget the official records—Gao Xuyang supposedly died at the hands of Qi Lao Er and the others. If that information was incorrect, then the secret buried beneath it must be enormous.

“All right, I’ll talk.”

Qi Lao Er nodded, then continued after a pause:

“You know, Guanshan Prison only holds high-risk or special criminals. Aside from anything else, its security is airtight. There wasn’t anyone in the neighboring cell when I was brought in. That was about half a month before the apocalypse. Gao Xuyang was transferred there late one night…”

“At first, I didn’t know it was him. After all, he didn’t join us for meals or exercise. We only met after the apocalypse began. I thought I had seen wrong, especially since he didn’t remember me and clearly had memory issues, so I got closer to investigate.”

“…”

Beside him, Yang Kai turned his head; his face was covered in sweat. Chu Yi tried to help him move aside, but Yang Kai refused.

“I’m fine. Let him talk!”

He wanted to hear it. He was scared that the flicker of light he saw in the darkness was just his own hallucination.

Cheng Jing kicked Qi Lao Er.

“Keep talking!”

Qi Lao Er shivered and licked his dry lips. Then, he asked shamelessly:

“Give me some water.”

Zhao Lei pulled out a water bottle and stepped forward, letting him take a few sips.

After drinking, Qi Lao Er continued:

“Later, I found out that Gao Xuyang was secretly sent to Guanshan Prison for temporary detention because he caused a serious incident at his previous post. He never said what kind of incident it was. After a while, they moved him. I didn’t expect the apocalypse to come.”

Cheng Jing asked,

“Where was he before that?”

“The name’s a bit tricky…something like…”

After thinking for a while, Qi Lao Er finally remembered.

“Oh! It was called the ‘Experimental Research Base for Special Phenomena Management’—it sounded really mysterious.”

“… ”