Amnesiac Yandere Ex-Wife Always Wants to Remarry - Chapter 5
Chapter 5: Let’s Go See My Mother.
The back entrance of the Bureau of Anomalies was sparsely used, and when the car stopped, it was immediately enveloped by the dim night.
Xia Pingwu got out of the car and stood by it, silently waiting for Gu Ce to lead the way. Just then, someone suddenly patted her shoulder.
She turned her head, only faintly able to make out the image of the Bureau of Anomalies emblem, but judging by the figure, it wasn’t Qiao Lang, who was supposed to meet them.
She lightly leaned against the car door, waiting silently for the person to speak.
She was currently “Ruan Zhujun.” Although she was hidden inside the heavy protective suit, the difference in voice could still be detected.
At this moment, Gu Ce had also walked around and recognized the newcomer: “Ji Jie, what are you doing here?”
“Team Leader Ming sent me here to ask about Deputy Xia’s situation. After all, Team Leader Ruan always stops by the dungeon after taking care of Deputy Xia.”
The person called “Ji Jie” looked at Xia Pingwu. Her expression was unclear in the darkness.
“Is Deputy Xia awake?”
“Please tell Team Leader Ming that we have serious work to do, and there’s no need to trouble Team Leader Ruan with questions you already know the answer to.”
Gu Ce stood in front of Xia Pingwu, clearly not being polite to Ji Jie.
Xia Pingwu didn’t answer. She simply walked forward, not even sparing a glance for Ji Jie.
Ji Jie subconsciously tried to block her path. Xia Pingwu merely reached out and brushed her shoulder aside. Gu Ce followed closely, pulling Ji Jie and coldly snorting:
“Don’t block the way. Be careful, or your Elder Sister will come over and make things unpleasant for you.”
Xia Pingwu, hidden behind Gu Ce, glanced at Ji Jie again.
She remembered that Ji Jie’s older sister was Ji Shuo.
Ji Shuo and Ming Chunshan had a poor relationship, and Ji Shuo had always hoped Ji Jie would join the Logistics Team to work with her. But Ji Jie went straight to serve under Ming Chunshan after graduation, and the relationship between the two sisters immediately became subtle.
Sure enough, being mentioned like that made Ji Jie hesitate for a moment. She looked around warily, then stepped back half a pace:
“It’s fine if she’s alright. If our Team Leader didn’t care, I wouldn’t be willing to come.”
She paused, then added:
“She’s nothing but a sickly burden.”
Ha, she really is Ji Shuo’s sister. The resemblance is striking.
Xia Pingwu unconsciously curved her eyebrows. Watching Ji Jie’s retreating figure, she turned to speak to Gu Ce, but saw that Gu Ce also looked furious and ready to chase after her and curse her out again. Only then did Xia Pingwu reach out and pull her back.
Gu Ce snorted again and stepped back, then called out into the darkness: “Qiao Lang, Team Leader Ruan is here.”
Then, the familiar “creak” of a door opening sounded. Qiao Lang opened the back door, and a faint light spilled out from the doorway, illuminating the empty space in front of Qiao Lang.
Xia Pingwu walked over, waved to Gu Ce, and followed the light into the back door.
Inside the back door was a narrow stairwell. Straight ahead was a vertical door leading to the interior of the Bureau of Anomalies, a left turn led to a seemingly endless staircase, and to the right was a dead end.
However, there was a manhole cover on the floor to the right. Qiao Lang silently crouched down, unlocked it, and lifted it, revealing a winding passage descending inside. Only then did she turn back and signal to Xia Pingwu.
The two walked down together. After an unknown number of turns, they finally came to a closed door.
Qiao Lang quickly walked up and verified her retinal scan. The large door quickly slid open to both sides, revealing the scene inside.
Inside was a corridor stretching as far as the eye could see. On both sides were tiny, square cells partitioned by wire mesh, securely welded shut with no gaps left.
Qiao Lang quietly walked ahead, took a record sheet from a high platform, and showed it to Xia Pingwu:
“This is the physical status of each person.
“The condition of these few medium-risk individuals is well maintained. Their pollution value has stayed at 8% since admission and hasn’t risen, so they can be released after completing the one-month isolation period.
“Although these individuals are low-risk, they should theoretically only need half a month of isolation. However, they’ve been slightly agitated recently. I’m about to administer their medication, so I’d appreciate Team Leader Ruan confirming their status with me.”
Due to the sturdy and hidden nature of the dungeon, there were no dedicated combat personnel. Only Qiao Lang served as the specialized therapist managing the dungeon.
As the leader of the Logistics Team, Ruan Zhujun regularly entered the dungeon to verify everyone’s status.
However, the dungeon’s surveillance system was directly linked to the higher-ups’ top floor. When releasing personnel, a random small group also needed to be formed to verify the relevant data.
After a brief explanation of the general situation, Qiao Lang led Xia Pingwu into the rooms in order.
The cubicles were empty, containing only a single, thin bed.
On the bed was a person securely bound by chains, eyes tightly closed, deep in sleep.
This was a medium-risk individual with a pollution value of 12%. Although continuously injected with inhibitor, the rate of reduction was not optimistic.
As soon as Qiao Lang entered the cubicle, she locked the door and turned to the person approaching the bedside, calling out:
“Pingwu, the check-up time for each cubicle is only three minutes. Save as many as you can; don’t push yourself.”
“I know,” Xia Pingwu replied, unzipping the outermost protective suit to expose her fingers.
Then, she reached out and placed her palm on the person’s forehead on the bed.
A blue light spread from her palm, instantly enveloping the entire person on the bed.
Qiao Lang kept track of the time while intently staring at the detector by the bed.
Under the effect of the inhibitor, the pollution value could drop by about 2% a week. As Xia Pingwu’s Anomaly power wrapped around the person, the pollution value visibly and quickly dropped by 1%.
Although she had witnessed it countless times, Qiao Lang still sighed with lingering fear: “Pingwu, your Anomaly power is too potent. Treating medium-risk individuals is a bit too conspicuous.”
The Anomaly powers of Anomaly specialists were primarily used for combat, but now, combat relied on external technology. This was even more true for therapists and the logistics team.
No one knew that Xia Pingwu, the combat prodigy, was actually a true Therapist.
Her Anomaly power possessed the ability to purify pollution.
Furthermore, her purification ability increased with the polluter’s pollution level. That is, the higher the opponent’s pollution level, the higher her purification efficiency.
Unfortunately, by the time Xia Pingwu discovered this, the Second Great War had already begun.
Afterward, she suffered the side effect of being unable to touch Anomaly power. If the Bureau of Anomalies hadn’t replaced her bl00d, she likely wouldn’t be able to use this ability again.
…But if it weren’t for the Bureau of Anomalies’ arbitrary policies, she wouldn’t have to risk using this ability.
Thinking this, Qiao Lang gently tugged at Xia Pingwu’s removed sleeve, reminding her: “That’s enough. We have several other rooms to go to.”
Only then did Xia Pingwu stop, following her out of the cubicle.
The subsequent check-ups also went smoothly. Although the reduction was increased, it wasn’t overly obvious, allowing Qiao Lang to find excuses to cover it up.
Seeing the last name that required a “check-up” on the record book crossed off, Xia Pingwu paused in the cubicle and didn’t immediately step out:
“Ning Cong was also sent out from here, right?”
She turned, her gaze falling on the medical bag at Qiao Lang’s waist:
“I always left a full emergency tube of Anomaly power. I never heard you mention Ning Cong before. Why would…”
Why would her pollution value be allowed to rise so high that she had to be discarded?
And why wouldn’t they just let her die rather than give her a chance to become an Anomaly, which could now threaten Chunshan?
“This happened too fast. Even the check-up values right before the Anomaly transformation were stable,” Qiao Lang frowned when mentioning the matter, her tone equally puzzled.
There were precedents of people who couldn’t be saved, but by then, all parties were generally psychologically prepared, and Qiao Lang would prepare euthanasia drugs in advance on the orders of the Bureau of Anomalies. But this time…
Xia Pingwu silently put on her protective suit, subtly pointed to the floor with her finger, and asked Qiao Lang:
“Was it Aunt Ming’s doing?”
Qiao Lang met Xia Pingwu’s eyes, and after a few breaths, slowly shook her head: “I don’t know.”
She paused, then continued:
“If Ning Cong can be successfully recovered and disposed of, then the next time we go to the Ice Fire Cave, you can ask her yourself.”
Xia Pingwu was escorted to the door by Qiao Lang, then waved goodbye and walked out of the tunnel alone.
When she pushed open the ground cover on the first floor, she could vaguely see light shining outside the door. Xia Pingwu subconsciously frowned, then heard the person outside seem to notice the movement and call out: “Team Leader Ruan, the Bureau of Anomalies is off duty. Let me drive you home.”
“The Bureau of Anomalies is off duty,” which likely meant Chunshan was also about to leave.
Since Gu Ce hadn’t come inside to call her, Chunshan had probably just left a short while ago.
Xia Pingwu quickly pushed open the back door, didn’t let Gu Ce drive, and sat in the driver’s seat herself. She waved to Gu Ce as a farewell, and the car sped off in a rush—
She pushed the speed to the maximum.
Although Chunshan had just left, that girl was always eager to get home, so she wasn’t sure if she could actually catch up.
When she rushed to the basement, Ming Chunshan’s parking spot was empty. Xia Pingwu breathed a sigh of relief, jumped out of the car, and slipped straight into the elevator.
At the same time, Ming Chunshan’s car had just parked. She rolled down the window, about to call out to Ruan Zhujun, when she saw the figure completely vanish, leaving the spot as if fleeing.
Ming Chunshan pounded the steering wheel in annoyance, clicking her tongue. She muttered to herself: “I rushed today wanting to apologize to her. Why did she run so fast…”
She pulled off her seatbelt, locked the car, and while waiting for the elevator to come back down, a thought suddenly struck her.
The eyes inside that protective suit just now felt somewhat familiar…
To be honest, it wasn’t the first time she’d had this feeling of familiarity.
When was the last time, she wondered?
Ming Chunshan didn’t finish her thought. She was already at her front door. Just as she pulled it open, a familiar figure appeared before her:
“Ruan Zhujun, what are you doing in my house?”
Ruan Zhujun was still wearing the protective suit, arms crossed, and she sneered at her:
“What did you send that girl Ji Jie to look for me for today? If Ji Shuo had come to pick me up, you’d be deliberately making trouble for me.”
The doubt in Ming Chunshan’s heart eased, and she instinctively replied:
“Ji Shuo and you have such a bad relationship; how could she possibly come to pick you up.”
She entered and changed her shoes, then reached out to push Ruan Zhujun aside:
“Alright, you ignored me at the elevator too, and you stole my elevator. Just do me a favor and stop badmouthing me in front of Elder Sister.”
“You two have been busy all day. How do you still have the energy to argue?”
The bedroom door opened. Xia Pingwu, wrapped in a sleeping gown, walked out, her gaze circling the two people by the door, an expression of helplessness on her face.
“How about I get you two some nutritional supplements? You can drink them while you argue.”
“It’s all Ruan Zhujun deliberately arguing with me. All I thought about was rushing back to see you,” Ming Chunshan quickly walked over, looped her arm through Xia Pingwu’s, then turned to glare at Ruan Zhujun. “Alright, hurry up and leave. Don’t leave the door open and freeze my Elder Sister.”
“How dare you get so close to Pingwu? You don’t even know if you have any of the Anomaly’s filth on you,” Ruan Zhujun retorted, waved at Xia Pingwu, and pulled the door shut.
Ming Chunshan “humphed,” but still let go of Xia Pingwu’s arm, meeting Xia Pingwu’s eyes:
“Elder Sister, I’m going to take a shower first. Wait for me in the room.”
As she spoke, her gaze fell into Xia Pingwu’s calm eyes, and she was suddenly startled.
Xia Pingwu immediately became alert, deliberately looked away, turned around while nodding, and hadn’t walked far when her arm was suddenly grabbed by Ming Chunshan.
Her heart instantly skipped a beat, but from behind her came Ming Chunshan’s muffled voice:
“Elder Sister, have I been too busy lately… How about tomorrow, we go see her?
“Go see… my mother.”