Chapter 45 Part 2
Director Shen patted his shoulder, his voice filled with a paternal concern. “There are few people I trust. After Shi Xu left, you’re the only one I can rely on. I know you’ve been working hard. It’s always difficult at the beginning. I’ll give you a long vacation once things settle down. Just bear with it for a while longer.”
With the director’s words, Lin Quan couldn’t refuse, accepting the tasks.
He slept for two hours in his office before resuming his work.
Shi Mu’s injuries were less severe than Shi Yan’s. The two bloody holes in his cheeks didn’t prevent him from speaking or expressing himself.
Shi Xu knocked him unconscious. He was taken to the hospital, regaining consciousness shortly after, refusing treatment.
His appearance shocked the doctors and nurses.
At 12 years old, he should have been innocent and carefree, but his eyes held a disturbing madness.
“These are my brother’s marks! Don’t touch them!”
He attacked those who tried to restrain him, injuring a doctor and two espers, forcing them to abandon their attempts at treatment.
When Lin Quan saw him, the bleeding had stopped, but the two wounds on his cheeks were gruesome.
Shi Mu seemed oblivious to the pain, his eyes unfocused, as if waiting for someone, something to ignite the spark within him.
Before visiting him, Lin Quan learned about the incident from Qi Yu. Seeing Shi Mu, he couldn’t help but think of his deceased brother, Lin Zhi.
Shi Mu and Lin Zhi were alike, their minds twisted, Lin Zhi obsessed with possessing Shi Xu, Shi Mu obsessed with protecting him.
Their obsessions led them down a dark path. They were both wrong.
Lin Quan pushed aside his grief, starting the questioning. As expected, Shi Mu didn’t respond to any of his questions.
Only the mention of Shi Xu’s name elicited a reaction.
He seized the opportunity, including Shi Xu’s name in every question, finally receiving answers.
“Father told me himself. Father is the strongest, then brother Shi Xu. That man was an imposter. My real father is gone, so brother Shi Xu is the strongest now. I have to obey Father. I have to obey brother Shi Xu.”
“He’s your real father? Are you joking? I could easily defeat him. That weakling, how could he be your father?”
“I don’t know how long he pretended to be Father, I don’t know where he imprisoned my real father…” Shi Mu’s eyes were vacant, his voice a murmur. “Perhaps Father was consumed by a pollutant, that’s why that weakling could replace him. I didn’t even notice. Brother Shi Xu is so clever. Thanks to him, I saw through the imposter’s disguise.”
“That imposter not only stole Father’s identity, but also used it to humiliate brother Shi Xu. I won’t allow anyone to hurt my family! I want him dead, humiliated!”
“I have to protect my brother, but I’m too weak. I can’t even touch him. I needed the pollutant’s help. I succeeded, didn’t I?”
He looked up, his eyes still vacant, a chilling smile curving his lips. “Is that imposter dead?”
Lin Quan hadn’t witnessed Lin Zhi’s madness firsthand, but he saw it in Shi Mu, imagining his brother’s descent.
Leaving the interrogation room, his steps were heavy. If not for the presence of others, he would have leaned against the wall, gasping for breath.
He was in pain.
He had often fantasized about saving his brother before it was too late.
Seeing Shi Mu’s madness, he realized it was impossible. They were already lost.
There were only two outcomes—
Imprisonment.
Or death.
Qi Yu appeared beside him silently. Lin Quan, having recovered slightly, asked, “Waiting for the results?”
“Yes, Shi Xu is waiting.” Qi Yu’s expression was indifferent, reminding Lin Quan of Shi Xu.
His throat dry, Lin Quan cleared it before speaking. “Shi Yan kept many low-level pollutants in his basement. Shi Mu released them, making them fight, the last survivor evolving into an A-class pollutant. Shi Mu willingly became its host, then somehow managed to control it.”
With Shi Xu as leverage, Shi Mu confessed everything.
Lin Quan felt a pang of self-deprecating amusement. He still needed Shi Xu’s help to complete his tasks.
Qi Yu looked incredulous. “How can someone control a pollutant after being consumed?”
Unless they possessed immense psychic power, but even Shi Xu’s siblings, despite their strength, couldn’t control the pollutants that consumed them. How could Shi Mu, so young, be stronger than them?
Lin Quan: “I asked him. He said he grew up with those pollutants, formed a bond with them, that’s why they obeyed him.”
Qi Yu was shocked, remembering the SSS-class pollutant with Shi Xu, and the half-pollutant Sui Sui.
Could pollutants form bonds?
Gu Sui and Sui Sui were living proof. He couldn’t deny it.
Lin Quan, lost in his thoughts, didn’t notice Qi Yu’s reaction, continuing, “With the pollutant’s help, he killed the espers Shi Yan trained. Without their protection, Shi Yan was helpless. You know the rest.”
They both fell silent.
After a long moment, Qi Yu said, “I understand. You have other matters to attend to, right? I’ll leave you to it.”
Lin Quan: “Yes.”
Qi Yu glanced at him before leaving. Lin Quan looked terrible, his exhaustion overshadowed by a deep despair.
He could guess his thoughts, but he couldn’t offer comfort, nor did he want to.
He was Shi Xu’s friend. He disliked those Shi Xu disliked. Even if Shi Xu no longer held a grudge against Lin Quan, he couldn’t befriend him. Civil interaction was the best he could manage.
…
Lin Quan submitted the report to Director Shen. After dinner and a brief rest, it was 1 am.
This wasn’t the ideal time for interrogation, and Shi Yan, having just undergone surgery, was still on a ventilator. He wouldn’t be able to answer any questions now.
He decided to go home, to rest before visiting Shi Yan.
Perhaps he was truly cursed. Just as he reached his apartment, his phone rang.
“Captain, there’s been an incident at the hospital.”
He rushed to the hospital, seeing a large hole in the roof of the building, several rooms on the top floor gone.
Black smoke billowed from the opening, flames leaping towards the sky. Despite the rising smoke, the stench of burning flesh and a faint metallic scent of blood reached the ground, overpowering the usual smell of disinfectant.
Qi Yu had arrived earlier, evacuating the building with his subordinates. By the time Lin Quan arrived, most people were already out.
“What happened? A pollutant? Is it related to Shi Yan?”
Bombarded with questions, Qi Yu chose the one he could answer. “It’s a pollutant. I don’t know the details yet.”
He hadn’t been to the hospital before, but he knew Shi Yan’s room: the one on the far right of the top floor. That entire section was gone. Were Shi Yan and the other patients in those rooms also gone?
Just as he was worrying, an esper returned with news.
“Vice-Captain, Captain, we found Shi Yan and a few other patients on the roof. Our team is securing them, escorting them down.”
Qi Yu and Lin Quan both sighed in relief.
“Where? I’ll go help.” Just as Lin Quan spoke, an explosion rocked the building.
Several espers, carrying patients on their backs, jumped from the middle floors, avoiding the blast.
One esper, without a patient, fell from a higher floor, caught by Lin Quan. Before he could even catch his breath, he shouted, “Captain, the pollutant took Shi Yan! I couldn’t stop it! It threw me down!”
“Captain! Vice-Captain!” More shouts from outside.
They looked in the direction the esper pointed, seeing something falling from the sky.
It landed with a thud, a cloud of dust rising, the familiar stench of a pollutant filling the air. A dead pollutant lay in the crater, beside a mangled human corpse.
Shi Xu received news of Shi Yan’s death early in the morning, rushing to the hospital.
The building, fine yesterday, was now partially destroyed. Shi Yan’s body lay in the morgue, awaiting identification.
Most of his body was burned, his face unrecognizable, but the DNA test confirmed his identity.
“I’m sorry. I failed to protect him,” Qi Yu said, his face filled with guilt.
Shi Xu casually covered Shi Yan’s face with the sheet, sneering. “Why feel guilty? He wasn’t worth protecting. Good riddance.”
His indifferent tone suggested the deceased was a mere pollutant, not a relative.
They were alone in the morgue. Qi Yu wasn’t worried about being overheard.
He pushed aside his guilt, his voice still troubled. “I know you didn’t want him to die so easily.”
Shi Yan’s crimes, especially harboring a pollutant, warranted a long prison sentence. Not witnessing his punishment must have been disappointing to Shi Xu.
“It doesn’t matter. He suffered enough before dying.”
He was tired of it.
Qi Yu: “The pollutant that attacked him was released by Shi Mu. We didn’t notice when he was brought in.”
Shi Mu was truly insane, knowing his fate, choosing to take Shi Yan with him, using the pollutant for a murder-suicide.
Qi Yu recognized the pollutant. He had seen it at Shi Yan’s house, the one controlled by Shi Mu.
He rushed back to the bureau, grabbing the still dazed Shi Mu. Shi Mu readily confessed.
“I wanted my brother to kill him, but he’s too soft-hearted, so I had to do it myself.” He smiled, unrepentant. “I know you’re his best friend. Can you tell him for me?”
“Brother, I did what you couldn’t. I’m amazing, aren’t I? Will you praise me?”
Shi Yan often used rewards to control his children.
Good behavior was rewarded, bad behavior punished.
Shi Xu never cared about his rewards, but Shi Mu craved them.
“Your brother is a lunatic,” Qi Yu said.
Shi Xu said coldly, “He’s not my brother.”
His only siblings were his older brother and sister.
Qi Yu, looking at his indifferent face, thought, Shi Mu would be heartbroken if he heard that. No one, besides his most important family members, could hurt him.
He knew that if he said this, Shi Xu would simply reply, “I don’t care.”
He was cold and ruthless towards those he didn’t care about. But once he formed an attachment, it was forever.
…
Qi Yu accompanied him out of the hospital, noticing a figure lurking near the entrance.
Before he could see the person’s face, Shi Xu strode towards him, stopping before him.
“Didn’t I tell you to stay home and watch Sui Sui?”
Despite his larger build, he seemed intimidated by Shi Xu. Qi Yu was amused.
An SSS-class pollutant, whipped by his “wife,” was a rare sight.
“I… left… my fragment… with Sui Sui… It’ll be… fine…”
“Why are you here?”
Gu Sui whispered, “I… was worried… about Wife… I have to… watch… Wife…”
Shi Xu scoffed. “Worried about what? Do you think I’ll get lost?”
“Not lost…” Unable to find another excuse, Gu Sui hugged him, nuzzling his face against Shi Xu’s. “I… just want… to be… with Wife… I’m… bored… when you’re… not home…”
“You’re not bored when you’re with me? I have things to do. I don’t have time for you.” Shi Xu stood still, letting Gu Sui cling to him like a human pendant.
Despite his cold words, Gu Sui sensed a softening in his demeanor, chuckling. “I know… Wife is busy… It’s okay… if you… ignore me… Just being… with Wife… makes me… happy…”
Shi Xu, meeting his bright, sun-like eyes, was speechless.
Gu Sui seized the opportunity, nuzzling his nose against Shi Xu’s. “Like Wife… Want to be… Wife’s… little tail~”
Shi Xu: “I don’t want such a disgusting tail.”
