74 Research Center

Chen Mu, you have no way out now. Hurry up and kill me.

When Fang Qinghe said those words, my mind went completely blank.

What did he mean? Had he lost his mind? Why was he asking me to kill him?

I looked at him in bewilderment, not understanding what he was planning.

Fang Qinghe stood before the table and made a strangling motion at me, as if he wanted me to choke him to death.

I still did not understand what he was up to, so he asked, “Chen Mu, do you understand what I mean?”

I shook my head, and he went on, “Don’t you want to get out of here?”

At that, my head suddenly cleared. In an instant I understood: Fang Qinghe was not telling me to truly kill him. He was telling me to restrain him, then use him to get out of here, to escape the police station.

It seemed Fang Qinghe had truly made up his mind to force me onto a one-way road and make me go undercover.

Before I could even nod, he went over and turned on the surveillance recording. Clearly, he wanted everything captured. He must have already seen from my eyes that I had understood him.

At first I could not figure out why he was turning on the cameras. Was he not afraid our act would be exposed? But soon I realized there might still be a mole in the police station. Only by making the performance convincing enough, making everyone believe I had truly turned into a vicious man, could the mole relay the situation to White Night and make White Night trust me more.

So this scene between Fang Qinghe and me had to be played flawlessly. I took a deep breath, ready to face the challenge, because as Fang Qinghe had said, I truly had no way back. I had no choice but to do as he said.

Then Fang Qinghe quickly returned to the interrogation table and said directly to me, “Chen Mu, do you admit to your crimes or not?”

I looked up at him, deliberately revealing a strange smile, but I said nothing.

Fang Qinghe slammed the table and stood, barking at me in a low voice, “Chen Mu, speak up. Where are your accomplices? Do you really think the police can do nothing to you? I always thought you could still turn back to the right path. Now it seems I was terribly wrong. You never changed for the better. You were always the most evil one of all, only you hid it too well, so well that even my own eyes were deceived by you!”

As soon as he finished, he suddenly hooked a fist into my jaw. It was an extremely hard blow; I felt as though my teeth were about to be knocked out. My mouth filled with a bloody, metallic saltiness. He had drawn blood. Damn, he was ruthless. This acting was far too convincing.

Then Fang Qinghe said, “Will you talk or not? If not, I’ll beat it out of you!”

After speaking, he sprang over the interrogation table. He moved with such agility that, once he landed, he swept my legs out from under me in a single move, toppling me over with the chair. The pain was excruciating. It felt like Fang Qinghe was not merely acting, but also taking out his anger on me.

Still, I had no choice but to grit my teeth and face him. I kept that strange smile on my face and said, “If you have the guts, then kill me. Hahaha...”

The moment I finished, Fang Qinghe abruptly drew his service pistol. He chambered a round, then actually shoved the muzzle into my mouth.

At that instant, I really did panic for a second. I was afraid that if his finger slipped, he would blow my head open.

But I had no retreat. I knew this was the chance. A normal person in this situation would not dare move at all, but for a deranged madman, this was an opportunity.

I knew Fang Qinghe would not fire, so I gathered my nerve and bit down hard on the barrel, then suddenly launched myself upward like a carp leaping from the water, pouncing on him.

Somehow, fighting instincts I could not explain seemed to burst forth from nowhere. In that instant, everything felt natural. After slamming Fang Qinghe to the ground, I raised both arms in one swift motion and, with a speed too fast to follow, trapped his head inside the circle formed by my arms and chest. Then I used the chain of the handcuffs to cinch around Fang Qinghe’s neck.

My sequence of movements was so overwhelming that even I was startled. I almost could not believe I lacked real combat experience, because these actions felt carved into my bones.

To keep others from noticing, I put all my strength into it. I could feel Fang Qinghe’s neck being strangled red. Fang Qinghe instinctively tried to lift the gun and strike me with the butt, but he had already lost most of his strength. I snatched the gun from him and pressed the muzzle to his temple.

The struggle between Fang Qinghe and me had all happened in mere seconds. Only when I had him under control with the gun did the interrogation room door finally get shoved open by the police officers rushing in. They all immediately pointed their guns at me, but none dared fire.

“If you don’t want Fang Qinghe to die, get the hell out of here,” I shouted at them.

Then I controlled Fang Qinghe and forced him outside. Perhaps I really did carry a hint of murderous danger about me, because the officers seemed terrified of me; one by one, they backed away, though more likely they were worried about Fang Qinghe’s safety.

To be honest, as I watched the police hesitate before me, I actually felt a strange surge of delight from deep in my heart. My whole body seemed to boil with heat, every combative instinct burning. It was as if the perverse version of myself was gradually awakening.

At that moment, Jin Ze also hurried over. When he saw me now, his first expression was not anger, nor disappointment, but calmness, and within that calmness there was a trace of understanding.

Jin Ze said directly to me, “Chen Mu, I understand you, but you can’t destroy yourself completely because of one moment of impulse. Have you forgotten our agreement? Or do you not trust me?”

Hearing his words, my heart suddenly softened. My face felt hot, almost embarrassed. This time, in front of him, I was truly a criminal.

But I had no choice but to harden my heart and say, “Trust you? You really think I’d trust you? Who do you think you are? What right do you have to talk to me?”

After that, I continued forcing Fang Qinghe outside and never looked at Jin Ze again, because I did not dare meet his eyes.

In the end, I coerced Fang Qinghe out of the police station, where a car had already been prepared.

I kept the gun trained on Fang Qinghe and made him drive, while threatening the police not to follow, or I would shoot Fang Qinghe at once.

Then Fang Qinghe drove off. I actually had no idea where we were going, so I let him drive as he pleased, because he must already have arranged everything.

As we drove on, I felt we had even left the city. Fang Qinghe took many detours; he really had arranged everything. Along the way we even switched cars twice. In the end, he brought me to an old house whose location I could not have named if I tried.

I believed that with Fang Qinghe’s ability, he must have shaken off the police already, but until I got out of the car, I still kept the gun pointed at him.

Though it was an old house, it still had a coded door. Fang Qinghe gave me the code and told me to open it, and then we went inside.

The room was pitch black. I was still wondering what kind of place this was when a red light suddenly ignited in the darkness above and not far away. It lit up a face, a crimson face hanging in midair, and it startled me so badly I thought it was a human head suspended from the ceiling.

But soon all the lights came on, and I saw that it was actually a man hanging in the air. He had not been hung by anyone else; he had done it himself. Very quickly, he slid down the rope and stood not far in front of us.

He was a man in his fifties, with white at his temples and gold-rimmed glasses, yet he looked remarkably vigorous and had the bearing of a scholar. I did not know why he had to go to such bizarre lengths to frighten people the moment we arrived.

Why had Fang Qinghe brought me to meet this odd man?

The man looked at me directly and said, “Chen Mu, we meet again.”

I was sure I did not know him, so why had he used the word again?

While I was still puzzled, Fang Qinghe called out, “Professor He.”

Fang Qinghe seemed to want to say more but stopped himself, as if reminding this strange Professor He of something. Professor He merely smiled and said he understood.

Then he turned and walked deeper into the house. Fang Qinghe and I followed.

He reached the depths of the house and felt under a table, as though searching for a switch. Then, astonishingly, a section of wall split apart, revealing an iron door like an elevator.

The iron door opened, and we stepped inside. It really was an elevator.

We descended quickly. It seemed to be a basement or something similar. This place was certainly hidden enough; I did not know whether it belonged to the police.

Soon the elevator opened. I estimated that it was not very deep, maybe only about two and a half ordinary basement levels. In theory, stairs would have sufficed. I did not know why they had to use an elevator. With Professor He looking so agile, there was no way he could not climb stairs.

But soon I understood. The things beneath the basement must have been important. This might not be a simple elevator at all. If someone were to stumble upon this place by accident, the elevator might be fitted with a self-destruct mechanism. It might even be able to blow up the whole basement.

So what exactly was down here?

The moment I stepped out of the elevator, I froze completely.

I saw a room with a sign on it: Chen Mu Research Center.