143: Chapter 143 The Past of the 'Experiment'

A flash of coldness flickered in Su Wan's eyes.

That thing created by that organization... how could it appear in Rong City?

"Does the girl down there have black runes appearing on her skin?"

Lu Cheng paused his steps and looked back at her.

"How did you know?"

Su Wan did not answer this question.

She only looked at the Dragon Scale Holy Armor that hadn't faded from his body... her gaze resting on those golden-white dragon scales.

"The holy light on you is useful to her."

Lu Cheng frowned.

Su Wan continued, "The holy light you emit can help her eliminate the external pollution runes, allowing her to better absorb the energy within her body."

She paused for a moment, her voice lowering slightly.

"However, you must be careful with the concentration."

"If the concentration is too high, the holy light will burn the pollution core inside her as well..."

Lu Cheng looked at her.

He could tell that Su Wan knew something.

However, Lu Cheng did not continue to press for answers.

He nodded, lifted the manhole cover again, and jumped down the ladder into the sewer.

Below, it remained damp and cold.

The sound of water deep in the pipes struck the walls rhythmically, as if something were hiding in the darkness, breathing softly.

Lu Cheng walked back to the corner from before; Chu Xiuxiu was still huddled there.

She hugged the compressed biscuits to her chest but didn't open them, and she was merely clutching the bottled water, her fingertips turning white from the force.

Upon hearing footsteps, her body shuddered visibly, and she subconsciously buried her face even lower.

"Don't be afraid, it's me."

Lu Cheng stopped two or three steps away from her and did not approach immediately.

Chu Xiuxiu did not look up, her shoulders merely trembling slightly.

Lu Cheng slowly crouched down... The golden-white light on his Holy Dragon Armament was dimmed low, leaving only a soft halo flowing against the dragon scales.

The light was not blinding; it was like sunlight falling through a window crack in winter, carrying a hint of warmth, shining cautiously onto Chu Xiuxiu.

Feeling the light, the pulsating black markings on the back of Chu Xiuxiu's hands began to change.

The runes, which had originally been squirming under her skin like live worms, suddenly stalled as if they had been burned by something when touched by the golden-white light.

The grayish-white fluorescence dimmed bit by bit.

The tiny tentacles that had uncontrollably emerged from the edges of her skin also slowly curled back into her body, like vines encountering fire.

Chu Xiuxiu was stunned; she raised her head.

Her disheveled hair hung down from the sides of her cheeks, revealing a pair of red-rimmed eyes.

She looked at Lu Cheng, looked at that layer of warm holy light on his body, and her eyes turned red again.

"So warm..."

Lu Cheng did not speak, simply continuing to control the irradiation of his holy light...

As the black markings gradually faded, Chu Xiuxiu's body, which had been tense to the extreme, finally began to relax.

It was as if she were someone who hadn't slept soundly in a long time, waking up from a nightmare for the first time to find that beside her was not a cold iron bed... but warm light that would not hurt her.

Tears rolled silently down from her eyes.

Dripping onto the back of her hands where she held her knees.

Lu Cheng moved a little closer.

At close range, the holy light became easier to control.

He could feel that there was a very strange power within Chu Xiuxiu.

That power was not weak; one could even say... it was ridiculously strong.

But it was not complete.

It was as if it had been forcibly pieced together from countless things.

They were mixed in Chu Xiuxiu's thin, small body, tearing at each other and devouring each other.

If it weren't for something suppressing it, she likely would have collapsed long ago.

Lu Cheng's gaze darkened bit by bit.

Such a young child.

What kind of beastly organization would turn her into this?

The sewer was very quiet.

There was only the sound of sewage flowing and the faint sizzling sound made when the holy light touched the black runes.

Chu Xiuxiu lowered her head, her fingers slowly loosening from her hair.

The runes on the back of her hands grew fainter and fainter.

From the initial black, they turned gray, then into extremely thin and faint markings, and finally, they completely vanished beneath the skin.

The runes on her neck also disappeared.

The grayish-white fluorescence behind her ears extinguished.

The things that had uncontrollably emerged like small tentacles all retreated back into her body.

Lu Cheng maintained it for a while longer, and after confirming that no new pollution was emerging from her body surface, he slowly retracted the holy light.

He looked at Chu Xiuxiu.

"Do you feel better now?"

Chu Xiuxiu lowered her head and nodded gently.

Lu Cheng looked at her thin, small frame.

Under her tattered clothes, the exposed wrists were terrifyingly thin, almost just skin stretched over bone.

His chest felt as if it were blocked by something.

Chu Xiuxiu would not be the first.

And she would definitely not be the last.

In other unseen corners of the world, there might be many more children like her.

Lu Cheng was silent for a few seconds.

Finally, he simply reached out and gently ruffled Chu Xiuxiu's messy hair.

"It's alright now."

Chu Xiuxiu looked up at him.

Lu Cheng tried his best to make his voice sound lighter.

"Since you're feeling better, let's head back first and get some rest."

Chu Xiuxiu's eyes turned red, as if she wanted to nod.

But just as Lu Cheng prepared to stand up, she suddenly reached out and grabbed his sleeve.

Her hand was very small, but that grab was very forceful, as if she had mustered up courage for a long, long time.

"Brother Lu Cheng..."

Lu Cheng stopped his movement.

"Hmm?"

Chu Xiuxiu took a deep breath.

She lowered her head, her eyelashes still wet with tears, her voice so soft it was almost drowned out by the sound of the water.

"Wait..."

Lu Cheng crouched back down.

Chu Xiuxiu gripped his cuff, her fingertips trembling slightly.

It was as if she were trying hard to dig those memories hidden in the deepest parts of her body out of the darkness, bit by bit.

Every bit she dug out made her face turn pale with pain.

"I... was kidnapped when I was very young..."

Lu Cheng did not interrupt her.

Chu Xiuxiu's voice was intermittent.

"It was a very dark place."

"There were no windows, and no sun."

"Every day, people would come in and strap me to a very cold bed."

Her fingers gripped tighter.

"They gave me injections, drew my blood, and forced me to eat some rotten substances..."

"I don't know what those were..."

"But I was in so much pain every day..."

"It hurt so much that eventually, I couldn't even cry."

Lu Cheng's throat moved.

He did not speak, simply clenching his fingers tightly beneath the Holy Dragon Armament.

Chu Xiuxiu continued, "That place... they called it the Petri Dish."

"I didn't know what that meant at first."

"I found out later that in their eyes, we aren't human."

"We were just experimental subjects raised inside..."

Saying this, she paused for a long time...

The sewer wind blew from deep within the pipes, carrying a damp chill.

Chu Xiuxiu hunched her shoulders.

Lu Cheng released a bit more holy light, giving Chu Xiuxiu some warmth...

Chu Xiuxiu whispered, "I heard them say... they are an organization called Origin."

Lu Cheng's eyes narrowed slightly... this organization... wasn't it the one Chu Mu had mentioned?

Chu Xiuxiu continued, "There were also people wearing black clothes like the ones today."

"Sometimes people from Origin would come, and sometimes the black-clad people would come."

"They said I was a very precious material."

"Later, I was sent to Rong City for another experiment..."

"I was locked underground."

"There were many children there."

Her voice trembled.

"Some children could still talk and cry at first."

"Later, they stopped moving."

"Then later, they were taken away."

She looked up, her eyes filled with a hollow fear.

"They used my blood, mixed with the blood of many children, to nourish Zhou Lize's body... for the sake of a so-called Divine Body..."

Lu Cheng was silent.

Lu Cheng reached out and gently pressed his hand on top of her head.

"What happened after that?"

Chu Xiuxiu sniffled.

"Then one day, the restrictions in the place where I was locked up suddenly loosened."

"The door opened a crack."

"Many people were shouting outside."

"I didn't know what happened, I only knew that if I didn't run, I might never be able to run away again."

"So I ran."

"But the things in my body became more and more disobedient."

"I was afraid of hurting others, and afraid of them finding me."

"So I could only hide, but they kept chasing me, from behind... and then I met you..."

She looked up at Lu Cheng, and tears fell again.

Lu Cheng rubbed her head... and said...

"You are not an experimental subject; you are Chu Xiuxiu... this kind of thing will never happen again..."

According to Chu Xiuxiu's words and what happened that day... it meant that there was another force involved...

However... since they are the enemies of Origin... wouldn't they be our friends...

Chu Xiuxiu's tears finally couldn't be held back, and they all gushed out.

She didn't cry out loud, just lowered her head and desperately wiped her eyes with the back of her hands.

But no matter how she wiped, she couldn't wipe them clean.

Lu Cheng didn't say anything more.

Some wounds cannot be healed with just a few words.

She could no longer stay in Rong City... Lu Cheng quickly made a judgment in his heart.

Both Origin and the Black Seed were related to her.

Staying in Rong City was too dangerous, both for herself and for Rong City.

After this matter is handled, he would take her back to Navigator Academy.

Even if those people wanted to reach out again, it wouldn't be so easy.

Lu Cheng stood up and reached out to Chu Xiuxiu.

"Let's go."

"Let's get out first."

Chu Xiuxiu looked at his hand, hesitated for a long time, before slowly placing her hand on it.

Her hand was very cold, and when Lu Cheng held it, he clearly felt her shudder again.

But this time, she did not pull back.

The two walked back along the sewer.

The golden-white holy light shone ahead, pushing the darkness away bit by bit.

Chu Xiuxiu walked half a step behind Lu Cheng, holding his sleeve the entire time.

Like a small animal just picked up from a rainstorm.

When they reached the bottom of the manhole, Lu Cheng climbed up first, then turned around and pulled Chu Xiuxiu out.

Xia Xi had been guarding above the whole time.

Seeing Chu Xiuxiu come out, she was about to speak, but upon seeing Chu Xiuxiu's pale little face, her voice softened immediately.

"Xiuxiu..."

Chu Xiuxiu lowered her head and hid behind Lu Cheng.

Xia Xi did not force herself to get close, simply taking off her own coat and gently draping it over her.

"Don't be afraid, just wear this for now."

Chu Xiuxiu grabbed the edge of the coat and said very softly, "Thank you."

Su Wan stood to the side, her gaze sweeping over Chu Xiuxiu, her eyes cold...

The betrayal she suffered in her past life likely had them involved as well...

At the end of the street, the people from the Defense Bureau were clearing the battlefield.

The corpses of the Pollution Beasts were being dragged onto transport vehicles one by one, black blood stains still remained on the broken road, and the air was mixed with the smell of burnt matter and disinfectant.

In the distance, citizens were being helped to evacuate.

This day was destined to be anything but peaceful for Rong City.

Lu Cheng had originally planned to send Chu Xiuxiu home first, and then help with the cleanup.

However, Chu Xiuxiu didn't want to leave Lu Cheng for anything, so she stayed to help with the work...

When those soldiers watched a little girl who was only about 1.3 meters tall lift a broken wall with her bare hands, they were shocked beyond words...

About two hours later, Commander Ji Yunlan walked over from the other side of the battlefield.

Her combat uniform was soaked halfway through with the blood of the Pollution Beasts, and there was a wound on her shoulder that hadn't been treated yet; the blood had dried on the fabric, turning a dark color.

She looked at Lu Cheng, her expression somewhat complex.

From the first time she met Lu Cheng, she knew this youth was no ordinary person.

But she never expected that in such a short time, he would have already reached this level.

Meridian Opening Realm, killing a Battle General.

On the path of martial arts, the capable come first.

Commander Ji Yunlan stopped in front of Lu Cheng, was silent for a brief moment, and then spoke.

"Mr. Lu..."

"Mayor Xia requests your presence..."