Amnesiac Yandere Ex-Wife Always Wants to Remarry - Chapter 26
Chapter 26
“…Qiao Guan’s death is also Ming Chunshan’s responsibility. Now that you’ve taken over, it has nothing to do with you. Is that what you mean to say?” Qiao Lang pressed the “Start” button on the examination bed, her voice cooling.
“No.” Xia Pingwu stared at the closing examination cover and replied, “You can only blame Chu Yu for this, not Chunshan.”
Qiao Lang chuckled without speaking.
Xia Pingwu felt that she hadn’t taken her words to heart.
So, when she got off the examination bed and sat in front of Qiao Lang waiting for the bl00d draw, she couldn’t help but say: “The order to temporarily suspend the search and rescue was also given by Chu Yu. It has nothing to do with Chunshan.”
“Why are you so worried? It’s not like I can do anything to Ming Chunshan.” Qiao Lang secured Xia Pingwu’s bl00d collection tube, labeled it, and was about to call the next person in. At this moment, Xia Pingwu suddenly reached out and grabbed Qiao Lang’s wrist.
Qiao Lang looked up and heard Xia Pingwu say: “Chunshan might have an Esper power disorder. I don’t trust anyone else. It’s better for you, who constantly deals with mutated people, to go.”
“You’re afraid she’ll mutate?” Qiao Lang pulled her hand back. “Don’t worry, the Superior is even more afraid than you are.”
“Please come.” Xia Pingwu lowered her voice. “Qiao Guan went missing for the combat team. You don’t want the team she desperately protected to suffer an accident, do you?”
These words were quite demanding. Xia Pingwu knew they weren’t pleasant to hear, but she was genuinely worried about Ming Chunshan, and… this was also the best way to test Qiao Lang.
Qiao Lang looked back at Xia Pingwu, a half-smile in her eyes that resembled a sneer more than a laugh, laced with a hint of contempt. She spoke: “Xia Pingwu, do you even believe what you’re saying?”
Xia Pingwu stood up, lightly adjusting her clothes, and shrugged: “Honestly, I thought you and Qiao Guan would have a water-and-fire relationship.”
The current environment was too harsh. Even siblings found it difficult to maintain any special affection within the Ability Bureau.
Although Qiao Lang and Qiao Guan were both healers, they had completely different career paths even while studying. Qiao Lang was not part of the faction strictly loyal to Chu Yu—
Although she acted obedient now, Xia Pingwu remembered that she had also repeatedly contacted her Shimu.
Anyone who had interacted with her Shimu was easily captivated by the “Utopia-like” vision the Shimu had proposed back then.
Thinking this, Xia Pingwu had finished adjusting her clothes and turned to leave. Just as she stepped out, she simply left a parting message: “If you feel uncomfortable, you can wear a protective suit. I won’t tell Ming Chunshan that you came.”
“…You’re absolutely crazy.”
As the door closed, Xia Pingwu heard Qiao Lang’s muffled voice drift out.
The Swap
But Qiao Lang was a woman of her word. That evening, she put on a thick protective suit and arrived at Xia Pingwu and Ming Chunshan’s home.
Ming Chunshan had already heard that a healer was coming. Seeing the person enter, she didn’t ask many questions, only said: “Healers generally can’t leave their posts without authorization. If the Superior makes trouble for you because of this, just tell me.”
Qiao Lang smiled without speaking, only taking a piece of paper from her pocket.
Xia Pingwu subconsciously looked over and saw that it was a temporary mission application form. Qiao Lang deliberately pinched the part showing the applicant’s name, but the exposed corner was signed with a bold, flowing name.
Chu Yu’s.
Ming Chunshan paused, her gaze resting on the pair of eyes revealed by the protective suit. She inexplicably recalled a time before Ji Jie lost her memory when she had seen a familiar pair of eyes at home.
She knew they belonged to Ruan Zhuyun, but in that moment, she had a strange feeling they weren’t hers.
Were they these eyes? Of course not.
Ming Chunshan let her thoughts wander but answered clearly: “Thank you for making this trip. The Superior must have taken a lot of convincing to sign this.”
Qiao Lang said nothing. The reason she was so heavily equipped was that she didn’t want to reveal her identity to Ming Chunshan.
Perhaps Ming Chunshan could guess, but that’s fine. Her sister was missing because of the combat team, and she didn’t want to see Ming Chunshan and have some awkward small talk.
She tightly gripped her medical box and followed the two into the bedroom, then expertly began her work.
The examination required a bl00d draw. Ming Chunshan leaned against the headboard, her eyes intensely watching her bl00d slowly fill the syringe, not making a sound.
Xia Pingwu stood beside her, watched quietly for a moment, and then suddenly raised her hand to cover Ming Chunshan’s eyes.
Ming Chunshan instinctively tried to turn her head to look at her, but Xia Pingwu exerted a gentle pressure, like coaxing: “Don’t look. It will be over soon.”
Ji Jie hadn’t done this in a long time.
And she hadn’t been in this dynamic with Ji Jie for a long time either.
She had once again become Ji Jie’s charge.
Her eyes were covered, but she could still feel the sensation of bl00d leaving her body. The warmth of Ji Jie’s palm continuously transferred through her eyelids. Ming Chunshan instinctively felt a hint of drowsiness. Simultaneously, Xia Pingwu also put an arm around Ming Chunshan’s shoulder. In a hazy state, Ming Chunshan actually felt herself drifting off to sleep.
She truly fell asleep.
Qiao Lang frowned, slowly withdrew the needle, and looked at Xia Pingwu suspiciously.
Xia Pingwu didn’t look at her, only lowered her head, gently laid Ming Chunshan down, and then spoke in a very soft voice: “Did you apply a sleeping agent to the needle?”
Qiao Lang frowned deeper: “I did not.”
“Ah, then it must be me.” Xia Pingwu straightened up, looked up at Qiao Lang, then opened her hand and displayed her palm to Qiao Lang.
Her palm was coated with fine sleeping powder.
Qiao Lang was about to speak, but Xia Pingwu put her index finger gently to her lips, signaling silence: “Shh, she’s already asleep.”
Then, just like every time she comforted Chunshan to sleep ten years ago, she lowered her eyes and gently stroked Ming Chunshan’s forehead: “Good Chunshan, just take a good long sleep like this.”
“You are utterly… insane!” Qiao Lang glared at Xia Pingwu, her eyes filled with complex emotions, perhaps mixed with anger. “Why are you knocking Ming Chunshan out?”
Xia Pingwu raised her chin: “You came over wearing a protective suit. You naturally know what I want to do.”
Qiao Lang efficiently packed up her tools, not forgetting to retort: “I certainly don’t know. You were the one who suggested I wear it.”
“Fine, then I suggest now,” Xia Pingwu slightly curved her eyes, “you swap places with me, just like Yunyun and I used to.”
Into the Underground
Since Ji Shuo took over, the dungeon was surrounded by people, but Xia Pingwu’s figure, hidden under the protective suit, walked with an unhurried composure.
Everyone knew that Ji Shuo was checking on Ming Chunshan today, so no one questioned her. Only when she was about to enter the dungeon was she stopped for a routine identity check:
“Healer Ji Shuo, please open your protective suit.”
The surrounding people merely glanced over before returning to their own work. Unexpectedly, Xia Pingwu stood perfectly still at the back entrance, staring intensely at the person in front of her, showing no intention of unzipping the suit.
At this point, the attention of the surrounding people began to gather, but Xia Pingwu just stood there, watching as the person in front of her firmly gripped her arm, their other hand already reaching for a weapon.
It was then that Xia Pingwu moved.
She simply reached out, slowly but firmly pushed the person’s hand away, and then said nothing, walking directly towards the staircase.
No one stopped her from behind, and she didn’t quicken her pace. It wasn’t until her figure was about to be swallowed by the staircase that she heard Ji Shuo’s voice from behind—
“Who just went in?”
“It was Healer Ji Shuo. She was just ordered by the Superior to examine Captain Ming.”
An unknown team member replied. Ji Shuo paused, correcting them sharply: “Ming Chunshan is no longer the Captain. Don’t call her Captain Ming anymore.”
Xia Pingwu didn’t delay, immediately walking down quickly.
The dungeon still consisted of small, individual cells. Due to long-standing regulations, there were no guards stationed inside.
Xia Pingwu casually flipped through the logbook, then pushed a small cart filled with medical supplies and walked straight towards the end of the dungeon.
She pushed open the door to the innermost compartment. The person inside was still fast asleep. She closed the door casually, leaned in, took off the layers of her protective suit, bit her finger until it bled, and then placed her fingertip into the other person’s mouth.
The person on the bed remained unresponsive, only sucking on Xia Pingwu’s fingertip for a few seconds, then suddenly opened their eyes, staring directly at Xia Pingwu.
Xia Pingwu held the cart handle, staring back motionlessly, her voice steady: “Put on my clothes, open the secret passage here. I need to see Auntie Ming.”
The tunnel was long and winding, even darker than the environment Xia Pingwu had entered during her Shimu’s high-intensity training sessions.
It was pitch black all around. Xia Pingwu could only move forward slowly by feeling the tunnel walls.
Along the way, her fingertips touched rough, uneven stone walls, which made her involuntarily wonder if there was enough oxygen to allow her to reach her destination.
But just now, in that last cell, the person had indeed decisively opened the secret passage for her.
This meant her test hadn’t been wrong.
There was indeed a tunnel in the dungeon that led to Auntie Ming. But where exactly did this tunnel end?
Xia Pingwu had a pressing suspicion forming in her mind. She slowly calculated the possibilities, but her fingertips suddenly touched something cold and damp.
She stopped, frowned, and meticulously felt around.
Judging by the texture, it seemed to be bamboo.
Since the pollution descended, the habits of plants had long changed. It wasn’t surprising that bamboo could grow underground.
However, seeing it here, and if she hadn’t mistaken it, the plant growing here seemed to be a type of Swiss Cheese Plant (Monstera, or “Turtle Back Bamboo” in Chinese).
Searching her current memory, the only place she could recall this kind of Swiss Cheese Plant was in the memorial hall where her Shimu’s plaque was enshrined.
Was she below the memorial hall? Or just another place where the Swiss Cheese Plant grew?
But the damp feeling didn’t last long. Soon, it was the rough, uneven stone wall again. Xia Pingwu continued to move forward. Since she could only use counting to estimate the approximate time, she cautiously quickened her pace, while also worrying that the sleeping pill given to Chunshan would wear off soon.
In this state of mind, her fingertips once again encountered a damp sensation.
More Swiss Cheese Plant?
This time, Xia Pingwu immediately stopped, quickly thinking.
Are there many places on the surface where the Swiss Cheese Plant grows? The Swiss Cheese Plant certainly had a significant effect in clearing pollution. In the early stages of pollution, many places did start cultivating it.
But, as the pollution expanded again and again, the power of a tiny Swiss Cheese Plant could hardly counteract this pollution that seemed to come from nowhere. Logically, there shouldn’t be so many Swiss Cheese Plants on the surface.
Perhaps the underground is less polluted? No, the pollution clearly rises more from underground…
As her thoughts churned, Xia Pingwu’s eyes suddenly paused.
She noticed a cyan silhouette not far away from her.
It was light.
Where was the light coming from?
Xia Pingwu immediately raised her eyes and saw that amidst the dense black and gray, a faint pattern of interwoven cyan bamboo leaves was revealed, and the light was spilling down from those leaves.
She didn’t know where this place was, but at least, there was a passage!
Xia Pingwu didn’t dare to reach out and pull immediately. She slowly followed the vines on the stone wall, gently separating the tangled leaves.
Peeling back layer after layer, Xia Pingwu softly held her breath. Just as she was about to reach up and check the stone wall above her head, she suddenly heard a rustling sound.