161 The Butcher and the Youth (1/2)
The engineer who designed the gate would have never expected that there would be a psycho who would tear the gate apart just because he could not open it.
Stepping on the gate with gravel lying on the ground, Ye Qingxuan walked inside, but he did not see Lorenzo. As expected, the guy had escaped quickly. This was a good quality to have in downtown, otherwise he would not have survived up to this point.
”Let’s go.” Ye Qingxuan looked back at the Butcher. ”Since we’re here, let’s see what the Arkham Asylum really looks like.”
Through the long path and up the stairs, it seemed like they were entering a complex building. The air was still filled with pungent fumes of disinfectants. The smell was so strong it seemed to not only kill bacteria, but also people. The only sound in the silent hall were of echoing footsteps.
The lights from the ceiling were white and dazzling, illuminating the iron bars on both sides, as well as the exhausted shadows behind them.
The people seemed to have come from all over the place, and were different in age and appearance, but all of them had some abnormalities on their bodies. Some had bones outside the skin; some people’s limbs were so slender and thin that they could only curl up in the cage; some had thorns growing from their joints, making them extremely ferocious; some were covered in muscles and the bars were like noodles to them, but they did not want to escape. Then there were some who had fish gills behind their ears. They were similar to the marks on the late Hariti…it was the Siren transformation.
They were modified in different ways. Even if it was the same type of modification, it was done in a different direction. The only similarity they shared was their expressionless faces. Neither the distant thunder nor the strangers walking by the fences could attract their attention. No one even tried to ask for food or beg to be let out. As if indulging in their own small world, they curled up in the cages, rubbing something on the ground carefully, mumbling to themselves, spitting bubbles, giggling...
”This must be the patient’s ward,” Ye Qingxuan murmured, looking at them from top to bottom. They were all dressed in the same clothes as the skeleton in the sewer. The clothing was similar to prisoner's’ garb - a white shift designed for convenience at the surgery table.
Ten years ago, there must have been a riot that allowed some people, like Hariti, to escape. Others did not escape. Like the withered skeleton in the sewer, they could only stare at the direction of the sky as death came. Since then, they must have tightened security, just like...like this.
The butcher looked at the modified patients coldly. He held the bone saw with his guard up, but beside him, Ye Qingxuan looked calm.
”Don't be nervous. They won't react.” He casually pulled a man out of a cage. The man did not struggle and allowed Ye Qingxuan to move him around. Ye Qingxuan gripped his chin and looked at his head and ears. After seeing the abnormality in the eye, he realized something.
”I was right. Their frontal lobes have been surgically removed.” Ye Qingxuan mimed stabbing his eyes with his fingers for the Butcher. ”Stab an ice pick through the bottom of the eyes to the skull, then stir the frontal lobe into a mess by feeling… After this process, no matter how vicious a person was, he would become a good boy and be manipulated easily.
”Once you’ve mastered this surgery, it only takes a few minutes. It’s safe and harmless. What’s more, it won’t have any effect on the later modifications. It’s really safe and convenient. ”
The youth sniffed the intensifying smell of disinfectants in the wind. Illusions flashed past his eyes. The buried memory appeared again. Those broken memories had actually become unclear through the years. He was unwilling to recall what had happened to him. But for some reason, anger burned hotter and hotter in his heart. That wrath was like lava under the earth’s crust, crossing in the darkness quietly, burning people without any fire. He didn’t even know who he was supposed to be angry at.
”Hey, big guy, let’s split up here,” he suddenly said softly. ”The Shaman actually gave you another task, right?”
The Butcher did not reply.
”He knew since the beginning that the Parliament controls the asylum, right? He let me explore this place to find out what’s really happening. And he asked you to come here with me, not to protect me, but to kill his enemies. Other than the Professor, there are also people from the parliament.” The young man looked at him silently. ”Am I right?”
Under the youth’s gaze, the Butcher was silent and still did not answer.Ye Qingxuan could not help but purse his lips. ”Mr. Seton, you can’t just keep pretending, you know?”
The Butcher froze. His eyes finally changed, from ferocious to gloomy, and then to menacing. But the youth just looked at him, until an impatient sigh finally came from behind the mask. ”How did you know?”
”You can't expect me to cooperate with someone who had been hunting me, can you?” Ye Qingxuan shrugged. ”I had to investigate.”
”In one day?”
”More than that, actually,” Ye Qingxuan said. ”In fact, I started suspecting that you were being lenient after I realized that I was actually able to escape from the infallible butcher. Later, every time I thought about it, I would think it was suspicious. I don’t think I’m strong enough to escape from the butcher. So there was only one possibility: the butcher deliberately let me go.”
”The butcher,” or Seton, was speechless and did not reply.
”...As long as you connect the dots, it makes sense. After all, I don’t have that many friends and there aren’t many people with your body. I’m still grateful that you let me go. I really thought I was going to die.” Ye Qingxuan cocked his head. ”But does the boss know that you’re making extra money on the side?”