Chapter 82.1 Ghost Market
They came in an aggressive manner and retreated in embarrassment. Lin Banxia originally thought that this would be the biggest setback Song Qingluo had encountered in his life, but then he thought about it. Compared to buying the apple jade pendant and Peppa Pig jar this small thing seemed insignificant.
Li Su, who was guarding the door, was happily munching on popsicles. He saw Song Qingluo from a distance. He wanted to laugh, but fortunately his strong desire to survive forced him to suppress his smile and with a concerned expression, he asked: “Luoluo, are you okay?”
Song Qingluo was expressionless and said in a disgusted tone: “Disgusting.”
Li Su: “Pfft.”
Song Qingluo said impatiently: “Lend me your car.”
Li Su said, “Where is your own car?”
Song Qingluo lied without blinking: “I took a taxi. Do you think I look like I can get a taxi?”
Li Su thought for a while and felt that as a logistics worker this time, he couldn’t be so stingy, so he handed over his car keys. Of course, he didn’t hand it to Song Qingluo, but gave it to Lin Banxia, saying that he should let Song Qingluo sit in the trunk. His car had leather seats, which were not easy to wash…
Of course, he just said this casually. If Song Qingluo really listened to him, there would be something wrong.
Lin Banxia drove quickly, planning to go home and let Song Qingluo take a good bath. Zhou Zhixiang and Li Xinyu also sat in the back seat. Neither of them made a sound. Needless to say, Zhou Zhixiang suffered a blow, while Li Xinyu very dedicatedly took out her black leather notebook again, lowered her head and started writing carefully.
Along the way, Song Qingluo was silent. His expression was like that of a spoiled young girl. Lin Banxia was really afraid that he would say “I’m dirty” as soon as he opened his mouth.
After a long drive, they finally arrived at home. Song Qingluo took a change of clothes and went straight to the bathroom. His anxious look made Lin Banxia laugh.
After about half an hour, Song Qingluo came out of the bathroom wiping his wet hair. Zhou Zhixiang rushed into the bathroom as if he had been granted amnesty.
After taking a shower, Song Qingluo and Lin Banxia discussed what they had just seen in the old city. Lin Banxia recounted what he and Li Xinyu had encountered.
Song Qingluo frowned after hearing this: “Become them?”
Lin Banxia said: “Yes, I just don’t know what this sentence means.”
Song Qingluo tapped his fingers on the table and pondered: “Do you have to be a companion of that thing in order to see it?” If that were the case, it would be really troublesome.
The discussion was reaching an impasse. Zhou Zhixiang had also finished taking a bath. What Lin Banxia didn’t understand was that he was still in a very low mood even after taking a bath. He hung his head when he came out of the bathroom. Lin Banxia asked him strangely. “What’s wrong?”
Zhou Zhixiang smiled bitterly: “It just… feels quite disgusting.”
Lin Banxia: “What’s disgusting?”
Zhou Zhixiang: “Well… You all know that this liquid comes from humans.”
Lin Banxia said: “Yes, so what?”
Zhou Zhixiang was speechless for a moment, and looked at Li Xinyu, both seeing helplessness in the other’s eyes. For a normal person, if something like this was splashed all over their body, even if they washed it off, it would leave a deep psychological shadow, but it was obvious that Song Qingluo just disliked being dirty and did not show any discomfort after taking a shower. Lin Banxia was even more… It seemed that the words disgusting and fear were not in his dictionary.
Lin Banxia thought about it carefully and found that his and Song Qingluo’s reactions were a bit wrong. He tried hard to make up for it and said, “Is it…a bit scary?”
Li Xinyu fell silent, thinking. Mr. Lin, your fear is so perfunctory.
Song Qingluo did not have Lin Banxia’s delicate thoughts, and was not in the mood to comfort Zhou Zhixiang. He continued to discuss with Lin Banxia. It was now completely certain that almost all the residents in the residential area had become companions. As for the formation of the companions, the conditions were still uncertain, and may have something to do with the liquid.
“Then why don’t we go and take a look at night?” Lin Banxia asked, “Would the heretics be more active at night?”
“It’s possible.” Song Qingluo said, “Wait a minute, I just need to take a call.” He went to the corridor.
When he came back again, Song Qingluo’s expression was slightly solemn, and he said: “The hospital has caught someone who wanted to contact Lu Yinyin.”
Lin Banxia said: “Oh? Did you find anything?”
Song Qingluo said: “Not sure yet. We are currently testing for infection and we’ll wait for the results to come out.”
The rest of the time was just waiting.
Lin Banxia habitually picked up the hair dryer and waved to Song Qingluo. Song Qingluo held his phone and walked to the edge of the sofa, lowering his head and facing away from Lin Banxia. Lin Banxia leaned over, pressed the switch, and began to help Song Qingluo blow-dry his hair seriously. Ever since he found out that Song Qingluo didn’t like blow-drying his hair, he was honored to take over the job. Song Qingluo’s soft and moist black hair passed through his fingers, a little itchy. Lin Banxia remembered something and pursed his lips a little uncomfortably.
Song Qingluo held his chin with his head lowered and fiddled with his phone in a leisurely manner. The atmosphere between the two of them was exceptionally harmonious, and they completely forgot that there were two outsiders at home.
Li Xinyu and Zhou Zhixiang were both dumbfounded. They knew that the relationship between the monitors who partnered with each other was usually very good, but they were not usually close enough to be like this. It looked as if… they were in love, no, not even in love. Are the two of them so sweet?
Lin Banxia didn’t notice Li Xinyu’s fidgeting. Song Qingluo might have noticed it, but he didn’t care. Seeing that his hair was almost dry, Lin Banxia asked: “I’m a little hungry, why don’t we order takeaway? What do you want to eat?”
“Anything is fine.” Song Qingluo didn’t have high requirements for takeout, as long as he could eat it.
Lin Banxia asked Li Xinyu and Zhou Zhixiang for their opinions. They were in other people’s homes so they didn’t have the nerve to pick and choose. They said anything was fine, so Lin Banxia ordered a set of four pizzas then added another one.
When the takeaway arrived, so did the test report. Song Qingluo connected his phone to the TV and they watched it while eating.
This was the first time that Lin Banxia saw this kind of report. There were some test values in it which he couldn’t understand very well, so he continued eating the pizza obediently. However, Li Xinyu and Zhou Zhixiang’s expressions became increasingly ugly. It seemed that the values were not good.
“What’s wrong?” Lin Banxia asked, “Is it bad?”
Song Qingluo said: “Well, it’s not good. Regarding the infection of normal people by heretical things, it is divided into five levels from D to S. S is the highest level, which means that the person has had direct or close contact with the heretical object.”
Lin Banxia took a look and found that there was a bright red S+ written in the test report.
“What’s S+?” Lin Ban asked confused.
“S+ means that the person’s body was once completely occupied by a heretical object.” Song Qingluo said, “For example, if Jiang Ruonan can still be considered a human being, then the person who was tested as S+ is no longer a human being. Yes, even if it looks like a human being, it’s something else inside.”
Lin Banxia: “…Then if this person is caught, wouldn’t he also be caught with the heretical object?”
Song Qingluo said: “This is the worst part of the whole incident.” He casually took a bite out of the pizza, “The heretical object has disappeared, or in other words, it has been transferred.”
Lin Banxia: “…”
“It only took about five minutes from the time the person was discovered to the time he was arrested, but it was still moved.” Song Qingluo said, “Who knows where it is now, maybe it’s waiting downstairs.”
Although they knew he was joking, Li Xinyu and Zhou Zhixiang really couldn’t laugh. Lin Banxia, on the other hand, curled his lips in cooperation: “Hahahaha.”
Li Xinyu listened to the laughter and thought with a headache that these two people really matched well.
“How is the man who was caught now?” Lin Banxia asked, “Is he still alive?”
Song Qingluo said: “I don’t know. Fortunately, at least he was still alive when the report was sent.”
Lin Banxia said: “This is a good thing.”
Song Qingluo raised his eyebrows.
“At least it proves that even if this thing invades a person’s body, he or she will not necessarily die.” Lin Banxia muttered, “Speaking of which, those people who blew themselves up in front of you must have been manipulated by the heretical object, right? Then would it have been nearby? Also, was there nothing in Building 18?”
Song Qingluo said: “I searched again and again, but couldn’t find anything special. Time was tight as well, so I didn’t search too carefully.”
Lin Banxia said: “Well…then we can have a look again.”
Song Qingluo looked at the time and prepared to rest for two hours before going back. This matter seemed to be more serious than they thought, and the blockade would not last long, so it would be best to deal with it as soon as possible.
After a day of hard work, everyone was a little tired. Lin Banxia and Song Qingluo went to the bedroom and gave up the sofa to Li Xinyu and Zhou Zhixiang. They took a short nap and then set off again.
At this time, night had fallen, and the whole world was shrouded in darkness. The lights of the traffic flow merged into two bright rivers of light, running along the road.
The infrastructure in the old city was not that good, so there were not many street lights, and most of the lights were dim.
The roads that were crowded with people during the day had become deserted at this time, and only a few police officers on duty could be seen still working hard.
Lin Banxia saw Li Su from a distance. He had taken off his mask and sunglasses. His snow-white complexion was extremely eye-catching in the dark night. He was holding a lunch box in his hand and eating while talking to Li Ye next to him. What was Li Su talking about? Li Ye stood beside him with a rice bucket, his head slightly lowered, but his back straight. From Lin Banxia’s angle, he could just see his green eyes staring at Li Su with a gentle expression while eating.
“Li Su.” Song Qingluo called Li Su’s name.
The next moment, Lin Banxia saw with his own eyes that the tenderness in Li Ye’s eyes disappeared, and his green eyes returned to the alienation and indifference most commonly seen in the past.
Before Li Su realized what was happening, he turned his head, with rice still on his mouth, and said, “Eh? You’re here so soon?”
Song Qingluo: “Well, how is the situation inside?”
Li Su said: “There is no movement, but it is not normal. No one has come out and no one went in. It feels like everything is dead.”
Song Qingluo: “No one came out?”
Li Su said: “I know what you want to ask, but it is true. You have also seen the whereabouts of the person who went to find Lu Yinyin. He is not from the residential area, so the infection may have spread long ago.” It’s just that they had discovered it now.
Song Qingluo said: “Okay.” He turned and walked towards the community.
Lin Banxia glanced at Li Su’s bowl and joked with a smile: “It’s a good meal.”
Li Su chuckled and glanced in Li Ye’s direction. The look in his eyes was self-evident. It was obvious that the food in his hand was sent by Li Ye.
If possible please consider supporting me on Patreon or Ko-fi. I will release an extra chapter for every Ko-fi donation I receive. It might not be on that exact day, but it will be released within the week.
