Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 151 Under the Dome (Part Two)
"I’m quite nostalgic, after all, you’ve been with me," Cheng Long said lightly, pointing to the dark building outside the window. "Once you go in there, there’s no chance of coming back out."
The wind and sand howled outside, creating a vast, desolate scene. The palm-sized window only allowed a glimpse of one corner of the building, which appeared extremely eerie under the dim sky.
"Do you want to go outside for a walk? Experience the vast Gobi?" Cheng Long continued to speak to himself, taking a sip from his thermos. He glanced at Su Lan, who was sitting by the window, and said, "Still unwilling to talk? You really don’t need to be so afraid of me."
"I'm not afraid of you," Su Lan replied flatly. She was wrapped in an oversized military green coat, curled up on a simple folding bed, with a glaring handcuff visible on her left wrist, the other end secured to the bed frame.
She was not in a prison cell or a hospital room but inside a container on one of the Nine Heavy Trucks. Five trucks had driven directly into the distant building while the other four stopped here in the windbreak. Several cranes emerged from the building to unload the containers, and many men in black began to set up camp.
Su Lan had been in a daze for several days. On that day, she and Zeng Yadong were taken by Cheng Long to another vehicle. When she regained consciousness, she found herself under rolling clouds with the desolate Gobi Desert beneath her feet. Coarse sand and gravel covered the hard ground; as strong winds blew, clusters of Red Willows and Camel Thorns swayed in the breeze, while sand and gravel hit her face painfully.
In the distance stood a towering structure over seventy meters high, its sign shining brightly through the howling sandstorm.
Su Lan stood on the hard ground against the wind, arms crossed, gazing at the massive complex enclosed by walls. A myriad of emotions surged within her. She smiled—a smile filled with bitterness and sorrow.
In the following days, Su Lan ceased to speak. Cheng Long had placed her in a container equipped with basic living facilities; someone delivered simple meals daily. She could move freely during the day under watchful eyes, but at night, Cheng Long would personally secure her to the bed frame with handcuffs. Su Lan showed no reaction to this treatment; she appeared completely resigned as if indifferent to whether she lived or died.
Just moments ago marked her first spoken words since arriving in the Gobi Desert—no questions asked, no complaints made—just a bland statement: "I’m not afraid of you."
Cheng Long seemed surprised and watched her with interest for a while before saying with a smile, "Not afraid? Then why not chat with me? I bet you have many questions."
Su Lan remained silent, lowering her head to look at the handcuffs on her wrists. "You’re afraid I’ll run away, aren’t you?"
"Run?" Cheng Long laughed as if he had heard a hilarious joke. "Ha ha ha, in the vast Gobi Desert, where do you think you could run to? Aso, you’re a smart person; you wouldn’t do something like that."
"Is that so? Then why am I handcuffed? Why am I left here? What about my companions? Where’s Dong Dong?" Su Lan fired off questions in rapid succession, her emotions fluctuating slightly with each inquiry, but she quickly suppressed them.
"You’ve held back for so long before asking," Cheng Long said as he stood up and opened a simple ventilation window on the side of the Container. He stood at the window and let out a few long howls into the wind before turning back to her. "I can give you the answers you want, but first, you need to answer some questions for me."
"What do you want to ask?" Su Lan raised her head to meet the gaze of this smiling tiger, her heart racing. She vaguely sensed something but wasn’t quite sure.
"What kind of person are you?" Cheng Long's lips curled into a playful smile as he paced around the bed. "Don’t try to deceive me with the same old lies."
"I don’t understand what you mean," Su Lan replied defiantly, throwing the question back at him.
Cheng Long raised an eyebrow and pulled over a chair to sit in front of Su Lan. After organizing his thoughts for a moment, he spoke slowly, "Since the first day you arrived in Nantang Township, I’ve been watching you. Not just because of your beauty. I had Zhao Zhou keep an eye on you, but you were always very careful and didn’t show any flaws. Even someone as meticulous as Zhao Zhou didn’t notice anything unusual about you."
Su Lan remained silent, pondering Cheng Long’s meaning.
"You came back with Dong Dong; do you remember the day we met?" Cheng Long reminisced, a hint of amusement flashing in his eyes. "On that night at the end of September, you were dressed very lightly and wearing high heels while getting into a BMW with Dong Dong? Ha ha, that memory is still fresh. You didn’t say much; all the key questions were answered by Dong Dong for you. What were you trying to hide?" Cheng Long spoke slowly, his questions somewhat disjointed. Su Lan didn’t interrupt or explain; she simply listened quietly.
"I didn’t ask too many questions at that time; later I had a private chat with Dong Dong. He said he ran into you on the highway late at night."
"You alone, a woman dressed for the office, walking on the highway… doesn’t that seem strange? Where did you come from? How much of what you told Dong Dong was true and how much was false? What kind of woman walks alone in high heels on a highway teeming with Zombies at midnight? Were you really so confident that you'd encounter passing Survivors? And did you really think they would help you?"
Upon hearing this, Su Lan's eyes flickered for a moment as she glanced at Cheng Long but remained silent.
"Don't you want to explain?" Cheng Long lit a cigarette and took a gentle puff. Noticing that Su Lan had no intention of speaking, he continued, "That's fine; I'll give you time to gather your thoughts. What I mentioned earlier is not that serious. I'm curious, but there's no need to dig deeper. After all, the world is different, and everyone has their own way of surviving. But later on, perhaps you couldn't hold back anymore? You saw Gu Yan's equipment at my place, and then through Dong Dong, you indicated that you could operate it. You were cautious, saying you only understood a bit about communication engineering and that I could reach out to you if needed, right? Well, I'm giving you that opportunity. I'll let you work with Gu Yan without hiding the source of this equipment and allow you free access to Gu Yan's residence."
"Dong Dong might have told you that before this, Gu Yan's place was off-limits. No one was allowed near except for my people." Cheng Long noticed Su Lan's evasive gaze and felt more confident, smiling as he said, "You're smart; you never directly interacted with the equipment but had Gu Yan help you look up some information... Don't be surprised; Gu Yan is someone I rescued. Your little secret is public knowledge to me. Gu Yan doesn't understand the codes you provided, and I don't either. But I know that's not something an ordinary office secretary should know, right? At that time, I had some judgments about you but wasn't sure until Daliugou suddenly showed up. You took advantage of the chaos to take Gu Yan and Dong Dong away and even rescued those Daliugou captives."
Cheng Long paused for a moment, his eyes filled with inquiry. "What I want to know is whether Gu Yan left with you willingly or if she was taken by force."
"Neither; it was an accident." Su Lan didn't lie; meeting Gu Yan was indeed a coincidence, but Cheng Long clearly didn't believe her explanation.
"Heh,"
Comment 0 Comment Count