The next second, the barrier behind him shattered, and the whole world collapsed. Pei Xiangjin protected Yu Yili and LOPO while drawing his pistol and attempting to aim at Jian Yunxian.
Yi Heye heard the sound of him cocking his gun, and at the same time, Jian Yunxian gently released his hand and gestured to him.
In his hand lay the "silver key" that Jian Yunxian had indirectly given him. Now, as if by fate, the gun that had once dragged him into the vortex was pointed directly at the person who had brought it to his side.
Yi Heye closed his eyes in sorrow—
A muffled thud.
The bullet pierced Jian Yunxian's heart.
Hit the bullseye.
Chapter 161 (Number 161)
Although the Silver Key was equipped with a silencer, Yi Heye was still shocked by the sharp ringing in his ears the moment the bullet was fired, and his emotions and thoughts were also shattered.
His vision began to turn white, and his whole body felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar, chilling him to the bone.
Pei Xiangjin's voice lingered on the other end of the tinnitus, sounding as distant as if one were listening from underwater to the shore, even though it was right beside them.
"Yu Yili, go and support Yi Heye!!" Pei Xiangjin said, "I'll go check the situation!!"
Yi Heye raised his head, trembling.
The moment the bullet was fired, the surrounding illusion vanished as if a screen had been turned off, but his pupils seemed to have lost their ability to adjust themselves, staring blankly at his surroundings, a blurry mess that could not be focused at all.
All that remained in my field of vision was a continuously spreading crimson expanse.
"Yi Heye! Yi Heye!!" Yu Yili caught Yi Heye, who was about to fall, and quickly checked him over. "You have multiple fractures and external injuries. Let me stop the bleeding and do some simple immobilization. Captain Pei has already contacted rescue teams..."
Yi Heye's brain was still in a prolonged state of malfunction, unable to process any information. He could only ask instinctively, "He...he..."
Yu Yili didn't answer, but turned him around and shifted his gaze away: "Don't talk yet, your brain-computer interface seems to be damaged as well, this is no small matter..."
Yi Heye pondered this sentence for a long time, and it seemed that he was just a little bit away from figuring it out.
Finally, he couldn't suppress it any longer, and a "buzz" sound rang in his mind.
A strong urge to vomit surged up, and the last bit of strength in his body was drained away. His legs seemed to have disappeared, and Yi Heye knelt on the ground, barely managing to keep himself from retching with only the strength of his upper limbs.
Perhaps vomiting something would make me feel better, but I feel like I've been trapped here for too long. My stomach is empty, and all that's left is a painful spasm.
The pain, briefly masked by adrenaline, finally gathered and retaliated against him in one go. This time, he felt no pleasure or enjoyment whatsoever—although his brain couldn't process any information or emotions, his physical state told him that he seemed to have been thrown into hell.
Physiological tears and cold sweat kept flowing out, and the wound behind his ear, which had been simply bandaged by Jian Yunxian, was once again stained with blood.
He didn't know how Yu Yili transported him out, nor did he know how many times he woke up or lost consciousness along the way.
He only remembered the overwhelming calls when he returned to the other side of the wall; at that time, people seemed to have forgotten their exploration and longing for Area A.
"A great victory for humanity!!"
"That bastard is finally in hell!!"
"That's awesome, I heard the bullet blew his heart out."
"Look! He's the hero who killed SHEEP!!"
...
At this moment, Yi Heye finally recognized this reality—
Yes, it was him. He killed Jian Yunxian.
The medical staff who rushed to the scene were also puzzled. Although Yi Heye's injuries looked horrific, there were actually no signs of life-threatening injuries. However, during the actual rescue, the hero's blood pressure dropped to extremely dangerous levels several times.
Judging from his condition, he didn't seem to have the same strong will to live as other patients.
He spent nearly half a month in the ICU, only waking up a few times, and spending the rest of the time in a long coma.
At first, the media surrounded the ward door in layers, waiting to interview the hero whenever they could. But Director Li forcibly drove them away several times. As the heat of the matter subsided, they gradually lost interest, leaving a peaceful place for them.
It took half a month for Yi Heye's condition to barely stabilize. Director Li begged the doctor for a long time before he was finally allowed to enter the ward to check on Yi Heye's condition.
Currently, the child's external injuries have all healed, and the fractures are gradually healing. On the surface, everything looks good, but various indicators remain on the verge of danger.
Director Li carefully stood beside him, looked at his noticeably thinner face, and sighed with heartache.
He tidied his hair, tucked the blanket around him, and sat silently beside him until the doctor urged him to leave, then said helplessly:
"My child, life must go on..."
That evening, Yi Heye finally woke up from his long coma, but he was still in a bad mood, unwilling to speak, and not very cooperative with the doctor's treatment.
Yi Heye had a very long nightmare in which he personally killed Jian Yunxian, and everyone called him a hero who killed the villain.
He tried countless times to wake up from the dream, but found that no matter what he did, he seemed unable to escape this terrifying cycle. It wasn't until Director Li's voice entered his mind that he realized he could no longer deceive himself.
When he tried to speak, he could only utter half a syllable in a hoarse voice before hugging Director Li and crying. He could only hear fragmented words of the old man's words of advice, but they still made him break down.
Only then did he realize that everyone in his workplace knew he liked Jian Yunxian, but now no one would doubt his stance for that reason anymore.
“But he didn’t do anything wrong…” Yi Heye finally managed to utter a complete sentence, “Those things were clearly not done by him…”
After saying that, he realized he had really gone too far.
These resentful words seem to be blaming the organization and the leaders, but in reality, it is he who believes Jian Yunxian is innocent, he who is incapable of proving Jian Yunxian's innocence, and he who shot Jian Yunxian.
How dare he blame others?
Director Li, who had been a leader his whole life, never learned how to comfort people. He could only pat him on the shoulder and say, "Get your emotions in order. I'm always waiting for you to come back. You are the best hunter, and no one can replace you in your position."
Yi Heye then remembered that he was a working person and still alive. After the gunshot, life continued to move forward.
After speaking this time, Yi Heye was able to communicate with the outside world with some difficulty. The hospital immediately arranged for psychological counseling to follow up and helped him with treatment whenever possible.
About three days later, Yi Heye finally got out of bed and started walking. He was no longer injured, and the brain-computer interface was basically repaired. However, because he had been bedridden for so long, even walking felt so unfamiliar to him.
That afternoon, supported by a mechanic, he struggled to walk into the hospital corridor. He intended to get some fresh air, but instead saw patients being helped back and forth by their families.
Each of them has someone to care for and accompany them; some have parents, some have husbands and wives, and there are also several same-sex couples. Each of them looks pained and suffering from illness, but they do not seem lonely because of the companionship of those around them.
Yi Heye stood there watching the passersby, and his long-lost aversion and fear of hospitals began to resurface.
This time, he didn't think about the hospitalization when his mother was absent; his mind was filled with the little lamb that used to make him happy in the hospital.
He, who used to be bad at expressing his emotions, squatted down on the ground and burst into tears, and all his previous efforts in psychological rehabilitation were in vain.
After enduring this back and forth for a long time, Yi Heye finally couldn't bear the psychological pressure from the hospital and chose to be discharged early.
In fact, his mental state was far from meeting the criteria for discharge, but he managed to pass the doctor's test by deceiving the system.
This test, based on the principles of 熙 (Xi), 彖 (Tuan), 对 (Du), 读 (Jia), and 嘉 (Jia), is theoretically similar to the mechanism of emotional testing. Just as Jian Yunxian said, as long as you understand what kind of answers the examiner and doctor want, passing the test is completely effortless.
After packing his luggage, he didn't wait for Director Li to pick him up and rode his bike back to his home in District D by himself.
This time, no one helped with the secret cleaning at home, and the house, without smart machines, was covered in dust.
It took Yi Heye a long time to clean the house. The simple work restored his energy a little, and he sat down in front of the computer.
During this time, fearing that his emotions would be disturbed, the doctors confiscated his mobile phone and wristband, and even temporarily installed a jammer on his brain-computer chip, completely isolating him from the online world. During this time, he also got used to burying himself in pain every day, and didn't even think about following up on the information or finding out what happened next.
He looked at the computer screen that lit up in response, feeling somewhat nervous—he knew he would definitely see something that would make him uncomfortable, but he also knew that even if he avoided it now, he would have to face it in the future.
The moment the computer was turned on and the desktop appeared, Yi Heye's eyes reddened again.
He was a person with little appreciation for life; he used the system default wallpaper, and his files and pictures were scattered haphazardly on the desktop. At this moment, the screen was filled with densely packed files that hadn't been categorized yet, but there was a small blank space.
This was a spot he specially cleared out for the little lamb. The little guy always liked to lie down here and look at him. He was afraid the icon would block the little lamb's face, so he simply made room for him to move around.
Now that he's turned on the computer, there's no longer that desktop pet that used to chat with him. Yi Heye reached out to fill the empty space, but his finger trembled and he pulled it back as he swiped over it.
Leaving that piece intact seems to offer some solace, but once it's filled in, it's as if you have to admit that it's truly gone.
Yi Heye knew that deceiving himself like this was pointless, but he couldn't control himself; he needed some fantasy to numb himself.
He rubbed his eyes and clicked on the webpage. Perhaps because so much time had passed, the hype had mostly died down, and there was hardly anyone discussing SHEEP online anymore. The top trending topics were mostly gossip about unfamiliar celebrities, and everything seemed peaceful and serene.
Yi Heye, clinging to a sliver of hope, opened the Yangzhi Ganlu forum again, only to find that the webpage had long been completely banned for violating relevant laws and regulations. The once active fans were nowhere to be found, and his level 7 advanced sheep alias account was now useless.
Having already experienced an emotional upheaval, Yi Heye was somewhat numb when he saw these things again. He decisively closed the inaccessible website and used a search engine to find news updates from shortly after the incident.
The moment he clicked on it, Yi Heye's mind went blank for a long time.
On the day they scaled the wall, public opinion was initially focused on the so-called "truth" in Area A. However, due to some unknown twist, everyone eventually united in their condemnation of SHEEP.
What started as a massive campaign to bypass the Great Firewall turned into a major attack on SHEEP. Fortunately, the two issues did not conflict, and the outcome was as expected.
Admittedly, there is an absolute causal relationship between the search for Area A and the killing of SHEEP, but Yi Heye felt a strong sense of strangeness as he looked at the sudden change in public opinion.
He suppressed his frustration with the difficulty of reading and followed the discussions to find the turning point in this public opinion battle—
An anonymous account posted an analysis detailing "evidence" of SHEEP's involvement in serious crimes, claiming that SHEEP was behind the recent worrying Lost Lamb drug scandal and ISSAC Entertainment's alleged human trafficking.
Such posts that stir up trouble are everywhere, but this one, because it presents many real details of the case, has led this netizen to believe that the author is an insider of the case, or even that the authorities are manipulating public opinion.
Therefore, SHEEP's "crime" instantly became an indisputable fact.
Then public resentment boiled over, and the people put tremendous pressure on the higher authorities. Taking advantage of this, the cyber security forces mobilized all their resources to break through SHEEP's defense network. With the help of Yi Heye from within and without, they successfully killed the criminal on the spot.
No wonder Jian Yunxian insisted that he fire the gun; he must have known that he really couldn't escape this time.
Yi Heye stared at the bloody words on the page, yet showed no emotion whatsoever.
His pain seemed to have been completely exhausted; he simply picked up the phone silently and calmly dialed a number.
Yi Heye: "Hello?"
"You've been discharged?" Pei Xiangjin's voice sounded somewhat surprised. "Are you alright? I wanted to visit you a few days ago, but the hospital wouldn't allow it..."
Ignoring his polite words, Yi Heye coldly interrupted, "Did you have those posts about SHEEP published?"
Pei Xiangjin was stunned for a moment: "...What?"
“They say SHEEP is a serious criminal,” Yi Heye said. “Only insiders would know those details.”
Pei Xiangjin thought for a moment before understanding what Yi Heye meant, and quickly said, "No, we never make statements about things that are not yet settled."
Yi Heye remained silent for a moment, seemingly considering whether or not to believe him.
“We also noticed that post. We conducted a thorough self-examination as soon as the case was closed, and we can guarantee that it was not posted by an internal staff member of the security department,” Pei Xiangjin said confidently. “As for other departments, I do not have the authority to manage them, so I will not make any conclusions.”
Yi Heye frowned. He didn't doubt the truthfulness of Pei Xiangjin's words, but he couldn't understand why anyone present would risk leaking information by posting a message and lying about the truth just to drag SHEEP into the mess.