lcionline Chapter 1390 Yunrui's Sincere Dedication: Little Apprentice
Chapter 1390 Yunrui's Sincere Dedication: Little Apprentice
Three days later, at dawn, Frog, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, tossed a black backpack in front of Qi Ruixiang: "Shen Chengyu's core stronghold is in Black Rock Village. There are three layers of armed guards outside, and ordinary people can't even get close to the village gate. I'll have Atai take you in. He delivers 'goods' to the village, so you'll be his apprentice. This is your first time coming along, so you'll learn the way."
He pointed to the backpack, “Inside are samples and delivery slips. Don’t open them or ask any questions. When you get to the village gate, just listen to whatever Atai says. Don’t look at things you shouldn’t look at, and don’t ask questions you shouldn’t ask—in Black Rock Village, curiosity can kill ten people.”
Qi Ruixiang took the backpack, his fingertips touching the hard packaging inside, and his heart tightened. He knew what was inside, but he didn't even have the courage to open it and take a look—he had never touched these things before, but now, to save Gu Yunxi, he could only suppress his fear.
He checked his outfit again: his camouflage T-shirt was deliberately smeared with oil, his work pants were rolled up to his knees, and his exposed calves were covered with fresh mud spots—he had deliberately walked in the rice paddies that morning. The laces of his rubber shoes were loosely tied, and his baseball cap was pressed down so low that it almost covered his eyes.
Before setting off, Frog patted him on the shoulder, the smell of smoke mixed with the dust on his body hitting him: "Once you're inside, take your time to find your way around, don't force it. I've arranged for someone outside the village; once you find her, use this to contact me."
He handed me a small, modified lighter. “Press the flint three times and I’ll get a signal. Remember, in there, staying alive is the most important thing. Even if you can’t find anyone, you have to get yourself out first—if something happens to you, I won’t be able to face your newborn daughter.”
Qi Ruixiang took the lighter, clutching it in his hand. The cool metal casing calmed him slightly. He nodded without speaking—any words of thanks seemed inadequate at this moment. He could only tell himself that he had to live, and he had to get Gu Yunxi out of there.
When we followed Atai out of the guesthouse, the morning mist had not yet dissipated. The sunlight shone through the mist but could not penetrate the darkness of the border.
The two walked on the muddy path, their rubber boots sinking into the mud with a "plop" sound.
On the roadside, ragged children squatted on the ground playing with pebbles, their eyes blank; armed men carrying guns sped past on motorcycles, and when they saw Atai, they merely nodded, clearly acquaintances.
Qi Ruixiang kept his head down, closely following Atai's footsteps, but his ears were carefully listening to the sounds around him—the distant barking of dogs, the faint sound of gunfire, the sounds of people talking in dialects. Every sound reminded him that he was in the center of a dangerous vortex.
As he approached the entrance to Black Rock Village, two guards in camouflage uniforms, carrying assault rifles, immediately blocked his way. The dark muzzles of their guns were pointed at Qi Ruixiang, and he could clearly feel the coldness of the gun barrels and the ferocity in the guards' eyes—a gaze devoid of warmth, a gaze accustomed to death.
Atai quickly stepped forward, pulled out a delivery slip from his pocket, and spoke to the guard in fluent dialect. He then opened his backpack, took out a small sample packet, and handed it over. The guard held the sample, smelled it, and then looked Qi Ruixiang up and down, his gaze sweeping over his mud-stained clothes and rubber shoes. Finally, he asked gruffly in dialect, "Is this your apprentice?"
"Yes, yes, it's my first time here, I don't know the rules, please bear with me, brother." Qi Ruixiang quickly lowered his head, deliberately making his voice sound a little timid, and answered in the tone of a young man from the border.
The guard snorted and waved his hand: "Go in, don't wander around, finish your delivery and leave quickly."
The moment Qi Ruixiang stepped through the village gate, his heart nearly leaped out of his chest. The village was more chaotic than he had imagined—low, mud-brick houses were crammed together crookedly, the walls riddled with bullet holes and graffiti, some reading "Long live Boss Shen," others depicting grotesque skulls.
Armed men were everywhere; some leaned against the wall smoking, while others patrolled with guns, their eyes scanning every passerby warily.
A strange smell filled the air—the acrid smell of burning drugs, the smell of gunpowder, and the sour stench of rotting food. It made him want to cough, but he had to force it back down.
He followed closely behind Atai, head down, footsteps as quietly as possible, but his eyes were secretly observing his surroundings—the sound of machines running came from the house on the left, like a factory;
Several vicious dogs were chained up in the yard to the right, barking wildly at anyone who passed by; not far ahead, several people in white lab coats were being led forward by guards, their faces pale and their eyes blank. Qi Ruixiang's heart clenched—could Yunxi also be imprisoned in a place like this?
Atai seemed to notice his distraction, nudged him with his elbow, and whispered, "Don't look around, or you'll be mistaken for a spy and killed."
Qi Ruixiang quickly averted his gaze, gripping the lighter tightly in his hand. He knew he had finally stepped into Shen Chengyu's border territory, and every step from now on would be fraught with danger. He might be discovered at any moment, he might face a life-or-death crisis, and he might never see his wife, daughter, and newborn daughter again.
But he didn't regret it—from the moment he left the hospital, he had prepared for the worst. As long as he could find Gu Yunxi and get her out of there safely, he was willing to pay any price.
The two continued deeper into the village, the muddy path stretching beneath their feet, leading into the unknown darkness...
Before the morning mist had completely dissipated over Black Rock Village, Gu Yunxi was already sitting in front of that dilapidated experimental table.
Her fingertips traced the scratched glassware, her movements much more practiced than when she first arrived, yet her eyes still held a barely perceptible hint of wariness.
When she was first brought here, she resisted almost instinctively.
Shen Chengyu's men pushed her into the makeshift laboratory filled with a pungent smell, threw her a bunch of messy experimental data and several pieces of equipment that were on the verge of being scrapped, and ordered her to complete the stability optimization of the "Nightingale Project" within a week.
At that time, she was wearing a mud-stained "prison uniform" and looked at the numb lab technicians and armed guards around her. Her heart was filled with despair and anger. She was a chemistry professor standing at the top of academia, not a tool of crime to be manipulated.
Three days was enough for her to see reality clearly. This was Shen Chengyu's kingdom; resistance meant death, while obedience might offer a glimmer of hope.
She began to outwardly cooperate, appearing in the lab on time every day, writing and drawing on the data, occasionally discussing things with the lab technicians around her, and even proactively reporting her "progress" to the person supervising her.
But only she knew that those so-called "progresses" were all just excuses for delaying the experiment—she deliberately slowed down the calculations, used complex formulas to cover up data loopholes, and even secretly modified several key parameters, keeping the experiment stuck in the preparation stage.
To outsiders, her transformation appeared as "recognizing reality," but in reality, it was a facade to save her life. She knew Shen Chengyu needed her talent, and as long as she remained "useful," he wouldn't kill her easily.
She was waiting, waiting for her brother to rescue her, waiting for any chance to escape.
In the past few days, the people supervising her only urged her occasionally and did not make things too difficult. After all, the "Nightingale Project" was complicated and they did not have the professional knowledge, so they could only let her "follow the steps".