Volume 6 Chapter 1 (1/2)
Editing: Krisaia
The widened eyes of the middle-aged woman at the cash register trailed Li Yiming as he walked out of the supermarket with two grocery bags full of snacks. He walked through the metal fence gate of at the entrance to the residential neighborhood, then through the little alleys he had pa.s.sed by so many times before. It seemed like it had been ages since he last did take this path.
Li Yiming noticed a familiar scent as he pushed open the door to his apartment. He was not quite sure what it was, but he knew that it was the smell of home. It was why despite being able to afford a bigger apartment, Li Yiming stuck to his old one.
Li Yiming threw the grocery bags onto the sofa and gulped down a cup of cold water. He had bought some drinks from the supermarket, but Li Yiming had the habit of drinking from the tap whenever he came home. The faint odor of chlorine and the cold sensation as the liquid traveled down his throat made him somewhat nostalgic for his nor.
Li Yiming removed his clothes and walked toward the shower. His plans for the day were to take a cold shower and sleep in until the next day.
Knock! Knock!
Someone knocked at Li Yiming's door.
Li Yiming peeked out from the shower room, his hair still covered with foam.
Knock! Knock!
The knocking continued.
Li Yiming frowned. Since he was not in a position to answer the door, he extended his senses and found the visitor to be Lin Lu.
'It's her?'
”I'm coming!” Li Yiming said loudly and wiped away the foam on his hair. He did not have time to properly wash his hair so he wrapped a towel around his head and hurried to get dressed.
Li Yiming took a deep breath as he put his hand on the door handle and hesitated. 'Why is she…?'
Li Yiming found Lin Lu, looking sharp as ever and standing upright when he opened the door. Instead of her usual combat outfit, she wore a military uniform. The formal attire made her seem more reserved and polished, but the light frown she wore suggested that she was not at ease.
”You…” Li Yiming was unsure of what to say to her.
”Can I come inside?” Lin Lu said.
'Oh no…' Judging from her tone of voice, Li Yiming knew it to be bad news.
After leading Lin Lu into his home, Li Yiming offered her a can of soft drink.
”Thank you!” Lin Lu gulped down her drink without being overly courteous. She ended her long sip with a light burp.
”I'm here to give you something.” Lin Lu took out an envelope from her pocket.
”My driver's license?” Li Yiming looked at his license. He could finally drive legally now, but he wasn't exactly happy about it. He put down the license on the table, and the room once again sank into a long, awkward silence.
”Shen Jianming retired…”
”What?” Li Yiming knew that Lin Lu shared that information with him for a purpose.
”He went to Xianyun Abbey after we came down the mountains.” Lin Lu glanced at the thread of silver hair which was protruding from the towel around Li Yiming's head.
Li Yiming stayed expressionless, but what Lin Lu said definitely shocked him. 'She remembers? But I thought Eyegla.s.ses and Qing Qiaoqiao cleaned up? After so many times, you'd think they'd be able to do their jobs well enough…'
”I've received orders from my superiors to never talk about it again, but…” Lin Lu rubbed the callus between her thumb and her index finger.
Li Yiming opted to stay silent, unsure of what to say.
”But something tells me that I need to talk about it with you…”
”Talk about what?” Li Yiming looked at Lin Lu, alerted by her question. He did not know what were the consequences for him if someone figured out his true ident.i.ty.
”We went into the mountain ranges, found the remnants of the corpses of the previous teams, who died at the claws of wild beasts. After losing all communications with the outside world due to a strong local magnetic field, most of us were poisoned, but Chen Quan managed to save us with his home-made medicine… Is this really what happened?” Lin Lu looked straight into Li Yiming's eyes.
Li Yiming let out a long sigh of relief. Li Yiming adjusted his posture and settled down on the sofa.
”But I remember that…” Lin Lu seemed to be confused and in pain.
”You need a therapist. I don't think that you should have trouble finding one.” Li Yiming rushed to stop Lin Lu from pressing him.
”I…” Lin Lu looked back.
Li Yiming frowned, opened a bag of chips, and started to munch on it rather loudly and impolitely.
”I should leave.” Lin Lu sighed and turned toward the door. Before leaving the apartment, she turned around and saluted Li Yiming. It was quite obvious to her that Li Yiming did not want to talk with her, most likely due to a confidentiality act or something of the kind.
After closing the door, Li Yiming unwrapped the towel and started wiping his hair.
'Well, looks like Eyegla.s.ses didn't do a perfect job..' He thought alarmingly before removing his clothes and headed toward the bathroom.
Knock! Knock!