She hadn’t run more than a few dozen meters before a bullet struck her and she was captured.
Crimson spread through the trickling snow, blooming across Ye Shu’s shoulder. The searing pain twisted her brow. She was dragged before Lin Qingyue.
"Pah! Don’t think catching me means you’re safe now."
Lin Qingyue stared in confusion at the strange smile curling on the woman’s lips. He gestured to his men, who leveled their guns at Ye Shu’s temple.
Ye Shu spat a mouthful of blood, her smile sharpening.
Truly, karma spares no one. She hadn’t expected retribution to come so swiftly. A moment ago, it was her pressing a pistol to Bai Chacha’s head. Now, she was the fish on the butcher’s block, helpless under everyone’s knife.
As the trigger was about to be pulled, Ye Shu’s gaze flicked to the glowing panel. The "Obedience Talisman" still hadn’t faded.
Her eyes widened with sudden delight, the corners of her mouth lifting.
Didn’t this mean—Lin Qingyue was still her dog?
"Wait, I have something to say."
Ye Shu hastily interrupted. The save-point was useful, but each death was real enough. Staying alive was more desirable, always.
The bodyguards shot questioning glances at the man surrounded in the center.
Lin Qingyue’s elegant features stiffened. With a gesture, he replied in his cold, distant voice, "Speak. Last words."
Ye Shu paid his words no mind. Her grin only grew more dazzling.
If their roles were reversed, she’d not give Lin Qingyue even a sliver of hope.
Her beaming demeanor sent shivers down every bodyguard’s spine. Smirking viciously at the man, she commanded: "Lin Qingyue! Don’t let anyone lay a hand on me. If I die—you’re coming to the grave with me. And you’re going to kneel, kowtow, and apologize to your old man here—loud and clear! You don’t stop until I say so."
Lin Qingyue’s fists clenched, hard as iron.
Remembering something, he glared hatefully at Ye Shu... Then, with a look of deep reluctance—he kowtowed. Apologized.
"I was wrong... forgive me... it’s all my fault..."
Under a pall of horror, everyone watched as their superior did exactly as the woman commanded—down on his knees, kowtowing, apologizing.
"That’s more like it. Lin Qingyue—tell these people to back off."
Ye Shu waited, only letting him stop when his smooth forehead bore several red marks.
Lin Qingyue’s face was livid, his teeth grinding audibly. "All of you—out!"
The entourage departed in black waves.
Watching Lin Qingyue flush a furious green, steam nearly rising from his ears, Ye Shu’s mood soared. She threatened, "Take me to your place. And tell someone to get this wound properly treated. If you dare lie to me again, I’ll make you strip and dance in front of every survivor. Oh—and go fetch my teammates from Zone A..."
Then, rethinking, considering a man like Lin Qingyue—with those undying abilities—probably wasn’t afraid of death. The words changed just before they left her lips.
Zone Q.
A golden five-story villa soon loomed into view.
Unlike ordinary homes, this one was filled with smart appliances; rare fresh vegetables and fruit stocked the fridge, and even a robotic housekeeper swapped her slippers at the door.
Ye Shu clicked her tongue. The shelter sure played favorites. Lin Qingyue lived very well indeed. She’d thought she had it good—but compared to this, it was enough to drive anyone mad.
Careless of appearances, she collapsed onto the bed, a splash of red staining the ivory-white sheets, her pale face now fragile as porcelain.
The doctor removed two bullets from her shoulder, disinfected the wounds, applied medicine. Not a sound from Ye Shu, though she bit down hard to endure the pain.
That bloodstained, disheveled face seemed to cast a spell—Lin Qingyue could only stand frozen in place, wooden and silent, for a long while before he finally stirred.
None of this was seen by Ye Shu, her back turned to the door.
After her wounds were tended, Ye Shu slowly regained a shred of strength.
"From this moment forward, Lin Qingyue—you are to never harm or lie to me. You will answer my questions honestly. I clearly killed you, stabbed you twice for good measure—how are you still alive?"
Lin Qingyue’s face was a mask of cold stone; he ground out each word: "I... did... die... Undying, deathless—it’s real."
Ye Shu glanced at him. She knew he was still hiding things. She threatened again: "Striptease."
Lin Qingyue’s expression went black as soot.
"I’m not lying to you."
"But in each game, I have two lives..."
"Can you pick another trick...?"
Ye Shu laughed, biting into a strawberry, its sweetness lingering. She retorted, "Nope. If it works, why change? Now tell me, what are they doing with those espers in the shelter?"
Level-one espers weren’t much use—top-tier fire-users could barely form a usable fireball. At best, they were walking lighters; water-users, mere faucets; wood-users... perhaps only good for growth, which mattered under torrential rain.
"Human experimentation."
Lin Qingyue responded flatly, calm as iron.
As long as it didn’t concern himself, he remained a man of self-preservation and honest disclosures.
To use awakened espers as lab rats—Ye Shu could not claim surprise. Had she not posed as a rare dual-attribute esper, she’d likely have been parcelled up for the lab herself by now.
"Lin-gou, do you remember anything from your time as a monster?"
Given Lin Qingyue’s previous burst of nonsense code, Ye Shu decided to phrase it differently.
Lin Qingyue’s face darkened, but he admitted: "Yes."
Ye Shu assumed his memories only ran up to the last save point.
"Anything else to confess? If not..."
The man shut his eyes, despair settling in. Then he told her everything in painstaking detail: all the secret decisions of the shelter—even his participation in some of the lab work.
Knock, knock—
A knock on the door interrupted Ye Shu’s thoughts. She opened it to see the very bodyguard who’d shot her, grinning sheepishly. "Ma’am, I’ve brought the people you asked for."
In the middle of several men stood Pang Pangzi. All confusion left his face the moment he saw Ye Shu.
"Heroine Ye! You scared me—I thought I was kidnapped. Turns out it was you~"
"Get inside," she told him.
"Right away, right away."
Just a moment ago, Pang Pangzi had thought the gold-plated house looked tacky. But seeing the humanoid robot housekeeper inside, his expression changed immediately—like Grandma Liu entering the Grand View Gardens, he marveled, "Ye-dage, this is incredible! Are we living here now? There’s even food ready!"
"We’ll stay here for now," Ye Shu replied.
Unless something big happened, they’d be lying low here for the time being.
She had just learned from Lin Qingyue that he was, in fact, the real master of the shelter—and her plans to leave melted away at once.
Not far off, Lin Qingyue’s brow twitched, his fingers drumming on the sofa in agitation.