113: Chapter 113: Great-Grandpa is not allowed to hit Sister Qingcheng again!

Inside the freezing interrogation room, Su Qingcheng was firmly secured to a specialized metal chair.

Her wrists and ankles were marked with deep purple bruises from the high-strength restraints, and the intense overhead light shone directly into her pupils, forcing her to squint.

"Fifth interrogation session. Begin recording."

Su Han's voice drifted from the shadows.

He stepped slowly into the light, twirling a syringe that glinted coldly in his hand.

Behind him, Monkey was calibrating a sophisticated EEG monitor; the fluctuating curves on the screen displayed Su Qingcheng's currently disordered neural activity.

"Name?" Su Han's voice suddenly became unusually gentle, a stark contrast to his usual coldness.

Su Qingcheng's eyelashes fluttered.

She had already answered this simple question four times, but every time, the tone and rhythm of the inquiry were meticulously designed, like a dull knife slowly carving through her nerves.

"Peoples Liberation Army of Huaxia..." Her voice was as dry as rubbing sandpaper.

"Wrong." Su Han suddenly leaned in, the needle of the syringe swaying before her eyes. "I want your real name. What is the name of that little girl who knelt in the ancestral hall reciting the family rules?"

This unexpected question hit her like a heavy blow to the chest.

Su Qingcheng's pupils constricted sharply, and the curves on the monitor spiked instantly.

She saw the figure of her Great-grandfather overlapping in the harsh light—Su Han in his military uniform and the old man from her memories holding a Ferule in the ancestral hall gradually merged into one.

The entire interrogation room fell into a dead silence.

Su Qingcheng heard her own heartbeat pounding against her eardrums, and the monitor's alarm suddenly became piercing—her adrenaline was secreting wildly.

"Prepare Plan B." Su Han's voice was as cold as polar ice. "Notify the medical team to inject Subject 5 with a double dose of Nerve Enhancer."

"But Chief Instructor!" Zhou Mo looked up abruptly. "This has already exceeded the safety threshold!"

Su Han snatched the file, the pages snapping sharply in the air. "Do you think the enemy will talk to you about safety thresholds?"

He turned to look at Su Qingcheng, his gaze as sharp as a blade. "Every extra minute she endures now is an extra chance for her to survive on the battlefield in the future."

As the cold needle pierced her carotid artery, Su Qingcheng felt a surge of fire sweep through her entire body along her blood vessels.

The walls of the interrogation room began to warp and distort, and the incandescent lights exploded into countless pinpoints of light before her eyes. In a daze, she saw her father standing in the corner wearing a blood-stained police uniform, his lips moving but making no sound.

"Look into my eyes!" Su Han suddenly grabbed her chin, forcing her to focus. "Tell me, what were the last words your father said before he sacrificed himself?"

This question hit her like a bullet between the eyes.

Su Qingcheng's vision was instantly flooded with a bloody hue; she saw that rainy night, her father lying in a pool of blood, his lips moving as he said...

"He... he said..."

The curves on the monitor jumped frantically, and the alarm was so shrill it nearly pierced her eardrums.

Su Qingcheng's temples throbbed violently, and blood seeped from the corner of her mouth—she had bitten her tongue once again.

"He said... rather die... than surrender..."

This roar exhausted the last of her strength.

In the final moment before sinking into darkness, she saw the corners of Su Han's mouth curl up slightly—a fleeting, almost relieved expression.

...

The lights in the infirmary were so soft they were almost hazy.

Su Qingcheng slowly opened her eyes, and the first thing she saw was a snow-white ceiling.

She tried to move her fingers, and a sharp pain immediately shot from her wrists—they were wrapped in thick bandages, with faint traces of blood still visible.

"Sister Qingcheng..."

A childish voice suddenly came from the bedside, carrying suppressed sobs.

Su Qingcheng turned her head with difficulty and saw Xiao Budian standing on tiptoe by the bed, her small hands cautiously touching the bandages on her wrist, tears falling like pearls from a broken string.

"Xiao Budian?" Su Qingcheng's voice was hoarse beyond recognition, her throat burning as if it had been scorched by fire.

Xiao Budian looked up sharply at the sound, her red and swollen eyes instantly lighting up. "Sister Qingcheng is awake!"

She wanted to pounce forward for a hug but stopped herself at the last moment, fearing she might hurt Su Qingcheng's wounds.

"Does it hurt?" Xiao Budian gently blew on the bandages on Su Qingcheng's wrist, just as Great-grandfather used to do when she fell and hurt herself. "Xiao Budian will blow on it, then it won't hurt anymore..."

Su Qingcheng's eyes suddenly grew moist.

She looked at this usually mischievous little girl, now covered in tear stains, her pink dress stained with dust from who-knows-where, clearly having run all the way here.

"It doesn't hurt." Su Qingcheng forced a smile, only to find that her facial muscles were terrifyingly stiff. "Why is Xiao Budian here?"

"I snuck here." Xiao Budian lowered her voice and glanced warily at the door. "Great-grandfather wouldn't let me come, saying you were training... but I saw them carrying you, and you were covered in blood..."

Her voice took on a crying tone again, her small hands tightly clutching the edge of Su Qingcheng's hospital gown. "Great-grandfather is a bad man! He beat Sister Qingcheng like this!"

Su Qingcheng's heart jolted.

She thought of her father as she had seen him in the hallucination, of that heart-wrenching pain, and of Su Han's fleeting look of relief at the end.

"No, he's not." She raised her hand with difficulty and gently wiped the tears from Xiao Budian's face. "Great-grandfather was..."

The door was suddenly pushed open, and Su Han's tall figure appeared in the doorway.

His military uniform was as crisp as ever, but there was an unmistakable exhaustion deep in his eyes.

"Xiao Budian." Su Han's voice was much softer than usual. "How did you sneak out again?"

Xiao Budian jumped like a startled rabbit but stubbornly stood in front of Su Qingcheng's bed. "I won't let Great-grandfather hit Sister Qingcheng again!"

Su Han crouched down and looked Xiao Budian in the eye. "Great-grandfather didn't hit her; he was teaching her how to become strong."

"Liar!" Xiao Budian pointed at the bandages on Su Qingcheng's wrist. "She's bleeding!"

Su Han's gaze moved past Xiao Budian and met Su Qingcheng's eyes.

In that instant, Su Qingcheng felt as if she were seeing that cold interrogator from the hallucination again, and her body tensed up involuntarily.

"Sister Qingcheng is scared!" Xiao Budian keenly sensed the change in atmosphere and turned to throw herself onto Su Qingcheng. "Great-grandfather, go away!"

Su Han sighed and pulled a piece of candy from his pocket. "Xiao Budian, go see if the other sisters are awake for Great-grandfather, okay?"

Xiao Budian looked at the candy, then at Su Qingcheng, her small face filled with struggle.

"Go on." Su Qingcheng pushed her gently. "I'm fine."

After Xiao Budian left, looking back every few steps, the infirmary fell into a brief silence.

Su Han walked to the bedside and picked up the medical chart to look through it.

"Adrenaline levels over the limit, arrhythmia, mild concussion."

He recited a string of medical terms in a calm voice. "But there is no permanent damage to the nervous system."

Su Qingcheng didn't speak, just watched him quietly.

"Do you hate me?" Su Han asked suddenly.