Chapter 35: Lu Min Arrives

Sooyoung’s body trembled, her thin frame shivering under her oversized shirt.

Yu was also stunned, his body stiff as he slowly turned around. “Dad, didn’t you go to work? Why are you back so soon?”

The door to the house opened, and the honest, simple-faced old man walked in with a gentle smile. “Wife, what were you just saying?”

Sooyoung only snapped back to reality when she saw Jian come in. She didn’t know how much he’d overheard, so she became more cautious.

Yu stared at him, while Sooyoung pointed toward the room, letting her tears stream down her face. “Husband, Ah… Ah Ping is gone.”

Jian hurried forward, grabbing Sooyoung’s shoulders, his eyes scanning the empty room anxiously. “Don’t worry, honey, maybe he sobered up and went out for a walk. Yu, go out and look for your brother.”

Seeing his father like this, Yu started to wonder if he’d made a mistake—was his father really not involved?

If not his father, then… could it have been his second uncle, taking advantage of everyone being drunk…?

Alcohol?

He’d always felt something was off, and now he realized what it was.

This was the apocalypse—where would anyone get alcohol? Even if his father had found a job, with all those powerful people lording over them, how could they possibly spare any alcohol for him?

Thinking of this, he suddenly knew where to look for his brother. He quickly said, “I know where he is. I’ll go out and find him right away. Don’t worry, just wait for me at home.”

With that, he turned and ran out.

Sooyoung lowered her head, her hands trembling as she clung to Jian. But she knew—the man before her was terrifying, perhaps even more so than his brother.

She had awakened both psychic and spatial abilities, but she didn’t dare say a word.

When she awakened her psychic power, she realized her husband might not be the man she’d always thought he was.

That suffocating fear made her want to escape.

But when she thought of her husband, who had always protected her before and after the apocalypse, she couldn’t bring herself to leave.

She never expected that this embrace, once her haven, would now be her doom.

She could only wait in silent despair.

...

On the deserted road, Lu Min finally arrived at the agreed meeting spot.

When he approached, he found her healing herself.

“Ah Chu, what’s going on?”

“That level-five psychic can control people. I couldn’t resist at all. All these wounds are from Little Bunny’s people. The pain snapped me out of his control, and I used my ability to escape. Barely made it out alive.”

Sang Chu’s voice was weak. She’d been healing for a long time with little improvement—it was clear just how strong that psychic’s control was.

“So what do we do now?”

Timing was everything. Before the enemy had fully secured the area, escaping was the best option.

Sang Chu said, “First, check the footage I recorded. I feel like there’s something off, but I watched it all night and couldn’t spot anything.”

“Okay.”

Little A started playing the surveillance footage from last night, showing the group entering the villa. The more Lu Min watched, the deeper his frown became.

He couldn’t imagine just how depraved these people were, using living humans as test subjects.

Suddenly—

He caught a fleeting figure on the screen.

“Little A, stop. Rewind to three seconds earlier. Zoom in on the door, enhance the contrast to maximum, and sharpen the image. Extract the reflection from the glass!”

Little A replied, “Okay, one moment.”

Sang Chu came over to look where Lu Min was pointing. “Ah Chu, you see something?”

“Someone’s holding something.”

The image was blurry—even with the reflection, it was hard to make out the person’s features.

“Judging by the shape, it looks like a wine bottle. Not many people can get their hands on alcohol these days.”

Sang Chu nodded.

After Little A finished extracting the image, Sang Chu finally realized what had been bothering her about the footage—she just hadn’t been able to pinpoint it until now.

“There are plants reflected in the glass, but I haven’t seen them anywhere else in the city. And that villa is in the city center!”

Lu Min said, “So, people in the city are secretly cultivating mutant plants?”

Sang Chu nodded. “That’s probably it. It’s too dangerous for the plants to be out in the open. That so-called Doctor, the level-five psychic, can see through everything. He’s already suspicious of me and is probably searching the whole city for me. Lu Min, I’m counting on you to help my brother.”

“No need to be so formal. Even without Mu Xue’s request, we’re friends. We’ve survived so much together since the apocalypse—‘life and death brothers’ wouldn’t be an exaggeration. Besides, you’ve given me so many supplies. Sang Chu, you can trust me.”

“I know, so I’m not being formal. Still, I had to say it. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Get some rest. I’m going to check out the rich district.”

“Okay. Be careful.”

Lu Min left immediately. He knew the city well, even though it had changed a lot.

As he headed toward the rich district, he spotted a sneaky-looking teenage boy, about seventeen or eighteen years old.

Yu didn’t notice Lu Min, so he had no idea his suspicious behavior had caught Lu Min’s attention.

Lu Min followed Yu all the way to a villa that gave him a bad feeling.

Suddenly—

He seemed to see something terrifying and quickly ducked out of sight.

Looking over, he saw a middle-aged man whose back looked oddly familiar.

Lu Min quickly took out the photo in his hand and compared it.

The photo was blurry, but the resemblance was there.

He didn’t linger. Instead, he sent Sang Chu a message, updating her on the situation, then followed the middle-aged man into the villa.

Yu moved a stone aside and climbed over the courtyard wall.

Jian headed deeper into the villa.

Once inside, he looked around to make sure no one was there, then moved a floor tile aside.

Underneath was a dark, deep pit!

Lu Min quietly activated his recording device, synchronizing the situation to Sang Chu.

He saw Jian grab a rope and slide down, so he quickly followed.

The place was incredibly deep.

If he hadn’t followed Jian, he’d never have found this place, not even if he died trying.

Yi Ping, who had lost his abilities, was lying on a bed, with a masked doctor constantly drawing his blood and injecting it into a golden, sealed vessel.

“Dr. Liao, I’ve done everything you asked. I don’t know if you can send someone to bring my son back…”

Dr. Liao looked up impatiently, not even bothering to glance at him. “I’ve already sent someone to handle it. Didn’t you want to keep this from your wife? Since you’re so anxious, just keep doing your job and keep your mouth shut. As for your son, I’ll make arrangements.”

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