Chapter 80.2 Savage Expansion (13)
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Huo Nanjing didn’t know what to say. He stood by, his eyes filled with pity, watching Lin Zhaohe.
Lin Zhaohe squatted down, crying as he picked up Zhuang Lao’s hand. He said, “Boss, I will definitely avenge you. It’s all my fault. When I go back, I’ll write him dead!”
Huo Nanjing whispered, “Brother Lin, my condolences.” It seemed like their love hadn’t even begun yet, and they were already rushing to the stage of sharing their innermost thoughts, only to swiftly transition to the stage of a grieving widow. From marriage to widowhood, it took Lin Zhaohe merely five minutes.
Of course, he didn’t dare say such things, afraid that even his metaphorical Xiao Xiu would be widowed.
Lin Zhaohe, tears streaming down his face, touched Zhuang Lao’s hand.
Huo Nanjing didn’t dare to interrupt, allowing Lin Zhaohe to immerse himself in this sorrowful emotion. He initially thought that Lin Zhaohe would be grieving for a long time, but then, as Lin Zhaohe continued to touch the hand, he suddenly threw it to the ground, and the sadness on his face turned into joy.
Huo Nanjing thought, “You’re moving on from a relationship at an astonishing speed. No wonder you’re a mature adult.”
Lin Zhaohe paid no attention to what Huo Nanjing was thinking. “This isn’t the boss! This isn’t his hand!”
Huo Nanjing: “You can recognize that!”
Lin Zhaohe: “The boss used to touch me every day. How could I not know what his hand looks like!” He was referring to the days when he transformed into a little dog.
Huo Nanjing: “? And you weren’t even married?”
Lin Zhaohe: “How could I get married? Can you f*cking stop interrupting?” He realized that Huo Nanjing had extremely thick skin, perhaps because he had become accustomed to being frightened.
“So, what do you think?” Huo Nanjing was scolded by Lin Zhaohe and pitifully held onto his wife.
“The boss’s hand isn’t this rough!” Lin Zhaohe said, “And there’s a small callus on the middle finger… If this isn’t the boss’s hand, then the person who died inside isn’t my friend either!!”
This reasoning was logical and convincing.
Huo Nanjing said, “Then let’s go in and take a look?”
With their emotions stabilized, Lin Zhaohe regained his spirits and entered the library.
The ground was still in chaos, scattered with body parts. Although Lin Zhaohe knew these people weren’t part of Zhuang Lao’s group, he couldn’t help but feel lingering fear when he saw their lifeless bodies. He constantly reassured himself mentally.
The administrator was responsible not only for killing but also for disposing of the bodies. Now, he rolled up his sleeves, picked up a mop, and began cleaning the corpses on the floor. Lin Zhaohe and Huo Nanjing stood nearby, trembling, afraid to make a sound.
It was well known that killing was much easier than cleaning up bodies. The blood on the floor was thick and abundant, and who knew how long it would take to clean it up. The administrator dragged the mop all the way to Huo Nanjing’s vicinity, startling him. “Do you need anything?” At this moment, his respect for the man before him was genuine, and every word he spoke was cautious.
“Your feet,” the administrator said, “lift them up.”
Huo Nanjing: “……” Momentarily, he felt as if he was at home and his mother was doing house cleaning.
Lin Zhaohe completely recovered and glanced around the floor. Taking advantage of the administrator’s inattention, he secretly took a step forward, bent down, and began searching for something he desired. Before long, he found it.
“What are you looking for?” The administrator’s voice echoed behind Lin Zhaohe, like a ghost.
Lin Zhaohe was startled and shivered all over, quickly turning his head and whispering, “N-nothing.”
“Dirty things shouldn’t be left in the library,” the administrator warned, “I hope you won’t violate the rules.”
Lin Zhaohe looked into his emerald eyes and obediently replied, while cursing himself inwardly. Why did he write this character to be so obsessed with cleanliness?
Fortunately, the administrator didn’t give him a hard time. With a frown, the administrator moved on to clean elsewhere… Lin Zhaohe finally breathed a sigh of relief.
“Brother Lin, did you find something?” Huo Nanjing leaned in and asked in a low voice.
Lin Zhaohe said, “Of course… ” as he took out his find, “a communicator.”
Huo Nanjing’s eyes lit up.
Lin Zhaohe’s own communicator had broken earlier, but on the body of the deceased Zhuang Lao, there was a perfectly intact one. If this communicator could contact the real Zhuang Lao, it would be the best outcome.
Lin Zhaohe didn’t dare to use the device in the library. He had seen the administrator’s strength. In less than a minute, several people were dismantled to the point where not even their bones remained. He didn’t want to challenge his authority here.
Outside, it was pitch-black, and the moonlight was not very bright. Lin Zhaohe found a corner outside the library, his heart pounding, and dialed Yun Yuzi’s phone number.
After a moment, Yun Yu’s voice came through with a tone of confusion, “Hello? Boss?”
Lin Zhaohe: “It’s me, Sister Yun!”
Yun Yuzi: “Xiao He, are you with the boss?”
Lin Zhaohe: “No, no, it’s a long story… Where are you guys?”
Yun Yuzi: “We followed your signal, but halfway through, your signal suddenly disappeared. Then we ran into some trouble and got separated from the boss. Are you alright?”
Lin Zhaohe: “I’m fine, but where I am right now is very dangerous. Don’t come over!”
Yun Yuzi : “What about you? Can you come back?”
Lin Zhaohe: “I’ll try my best. What about the boss? Where is he now?”
Yun Yuzi: “I don’t know. I can’t reach him either.”
Lin Zhaohe was currently using Zhuang Lao’s communicator, so he couldn’t call using the same communication code. After thinking for a moment, he cleverly opened the nearby function. This function allowed him to see nearby communicators. It was just an experiment, but unexpectedly, he saw a small red dot on the communicator’s map, moving towards his direction. Lin Zhaohe’s face lit up with joy. After carefully checking it, his smile froze on his face. He realized that the small red dot was inside the library…
Was the boss in the library? Lin Zhaohe felt that things were becoming more and more bizarre. He followed the small red dot on the communicator, walking inside until he reached the same location as the dot, but there was no one to be seen.
Could the boss be on the second floor? Lin Zhaohe couldn’t figure it out and rushed up the stairs. The previously messy second floor had been tidied up by the administrator, but the bookshelves remained empty. It seemed there was no way to replenish the burned books.
Lin Zhaohe was getting frustrated, trying to find a clue using the communicator. He looked left and right, but there was neither the boss nor even a ghostly presence.
“Boss?” Lin Zhaohe muttered softly, “Are you here?”
As Lin Zhaohe hurried upstairs, Huo Nanjing followed closely behind. When he saw Lin Zhaohe stop and look around, he also began searching. “Is your husband here?”
Lin Zhaohe: “It’s my boss!”
Huo Nanjing: “Okay.”
The library only had two floors, and there was no one on this floor either. Lin Zhaohe looked up at the ceiling, wondering if the boss was there. Huo Nanjing, who was even less reliable than Lin Zhaohe, suggested, “I think there must be a tunnel underneath this library…”
Just as Lin Zhaohe was about to speak, a book suddenly fell from the bookshelves, landing on the ground with a loud bang. The sound reverberated through the silent library.
“A book fell!” Huo Nanjing, afraid of the administrator, jumped in surprise and quickly picked it up, putting it back in place.
Lin Zhaohe initially thought that the book was not properly placed, but then several more books fell in succession. Huo Nanjing’s eyes widened. “Brother Lin, has your husband watched ‘Interstellar’?”
Lin Zhaohe: “……” That’s right, the protagonist in “Interstellar” caught the attention of his past self using this very method.
Zhuang Lao seemed to genuinely want to use this method to get Lin Zhaohe’s attention. However, he didn’t have that much patience. In the next moment, a book turned black, as if it had been burnt.
Lin Zhaohe and Huo Nanjing exchanged a glance, both wondering what this meant.
Seeing their lack of response, Zhuang Lao realized that his hint was still too subtle. He pushed down another book. Lin Zhaohe looked at it and saw that it was a novel he had written himself, titled “The Death of Li Sao.”
This novel was a piece of prose with little content. Lin Zhaohe furrowed his brow, still not understanding Zhuang Lao’s intention. Just then, he noticed that the character “sao” (emotional turmoil) in “Li Sao” turned black.
Huo Nanjing, unable to hold back, said, “Brother Lin, your husband says you’re ‘sao’ (promiscuous).”
Lin Zhaohe: “……” For a moment, he actually thought Huo Nanjing was being serious.
Imagining the scene of Zhuang Lao, with his expression devoid of desire, calling him “sao,” Lin Zhaohe shivered. He realized he couldn’t follow Huo Nanjing’s terrifying train of thought towards a dead end. With a frown, he said, “I don’t think so.” Feeling it wasn’t enough, he added, “I’m not ‘sao’.”
Huo Nanjing couldn’t help but laugh.
Lin Zhaohe angrily said, “Enough with the jokes.” He looked at the bookshelf, and several books were pushed down again. Once they hit the ground, they turned completely charred, as if they had been burned by an invisible person. Combined with the blackened words that Zhuang Lao caused… Lin Zhaohe suddenly had a moment of enlightenment. He understood what Zhuang Lao was trying to convey—he wanted him to set fire to this library.
Lin Zhaohe said, “I understand!!”
“Understand what?” someone asked softly.
Lin Zhaohe said, “He wants me to set fire to the library—” but his words halted because those piercing emerald eyes were squinting at him, scrutinizing him. The gaze felt almost tangible, as if speaking out a certain word would immediately lead to his demise.
Lin Zhaohe’s strong survival instinct saved him. He obediently closed his mouth, revealing an innocent expression.
“Who did this?” the administrator pointed at the damaged books on the ground, staring sternly at Lin Zhaohe and Huo Nanjing.
It was like being handed a death sentence. Huo Nanjing weakly said, “A ghost.”
The administrator said, “A ghost? I’m a materialist. I don’t believe in ghosts.”
Lin Zhaohe: “……” What do you mean? Are you implying that you consider yourself to be within the realm of humans?
The administrator said, “I’ll give you one more chance.” His hands were already behind his back, ready to take action. The books on the second floor were not many to begin with. He had worked hard to salvage and repair some of them, only to see them being carelessly thrown to the ground and burned. It was like dancing on his bottom line. While maintaining a seemingly friendly demeanor, a thousand cruel thoughts had already flashed through his mind.
Huo Nanjing whispered, “It really wasn’t us. It was a ghost.” Of course, he couldn’t reveal the fact that the ghost was Lin Zhaohe’s spouse.
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