Immortality of the dead - Chapter 14
"Mr. Van Heller has come to Shanghai?" This answer surprised me. (This novel was first published on M and will be published by Jieli Publishing House this April. Please do not delete if you repost.)
"Yes, but it's not for anything here. My father seems to be planning to make some donations to Shanghai's medical cause, and also has some cooperation plans with major hospitals. After all, he's from Shanghai."
"A Shanghainese? Oh." I remembered.
As soon as I left Xinjingyuan and arrived at a place where my phone could work properly, I received a text message.
"Please call me immediately!"
It was Liang Yingwu.
"What's up?" I dialed immediately.
"An hour later, same place." The extremely brief reply implied two things: first, they needed to talk to me; second, it was a complicated matter that couldn't be explained over the phone.
The usual spot was a quiet coffee shop. I rushed there after showering on an empty stomach, and Liang Yingwu was already waiting in a corner seat, eating.
"I ordered braised pork rice for you," he said, looking up at me.
No sooner had I finished speaking than the food was served, which was really timely.
"Let's eat first and then talk about it."
I was very hungry, and I always eat very quickly, so we finished eating almost at the same time. After clearing the table, the coffee was served. I took a sip and said to him, "What's going on? It seems urgent."
"There are some situations we've considered, and we think it's better for you to know them. If possible, please keep an eye out for them."
"you?"
Liang Yingwu nodded.
I understand, that represents the official opinion, the opinion of Organization X.
"How have you been feeling at Xinjingyuan these past few days?" he suddenly asked a seemingly unrelated question.
"How does it feel?" I didn't understand what he meant.
"I mean... is there anything that seems strange to you, or anything that's worth noting?"
"That's not strange; what happened there was horrific. It's not something to be surprised about; anyone who's been to such a place will never forget those scenes."
"So you haven't made any special discoveries," Liang Yingwu nodded.
"Huh? What do you mean by that?"
"Do you know why you can freely enter and leave Xinjingyuan instead of staying inside 24 hours a day?"
This is indeed a question that has puzzled me. For those at the top, such a decision would undoubtedly increase many risks, and I myself never had such aspirations. I once asked Liang Yingwu about it, and now it seems there is indeed a reason for it.
I don't need to answer him; I'll wait for him to continue.
"We have some other doubts about the infectious disease outbreak at Xinjingyuan (this novel was first published on M and will be published by Jieli Publishing House this April. Please do not delete if you repost)."
"Other doubts? What do you mean?"
“There is no concrete evidence to say that. We also have experts in our organization who specialize in studying viruses, and some of them suspect that it did not happen naturally,” Liang Yingwu said in a low voice.
"What!" I exclaimed.
Liang Yingwu glared at me, but what he said was simply too much...
"My God, you mean a terrorist attack? Poisoning?" I couldn't help but shudder. Those horrific scenes, those dead people—could they have been the result of a premeditated attack?
“I didn’t say that. It’s just that the illness came on so suddenly that it’s causing some bad associations. There have been many attacks on major cities around the world this year, and it’s not impossible that they could use a virus, even though this kind of virus is not common. Your insight is well-known in our records, so we’ve secured a relatively relaxed environment for you this time. If there are any anomalies, I think you have a high chance of noticing them.”
"But...it really isn't." As I said this, I thought of the mystery surrounding He Xi. But this has nothing to do with Xin Jingyuan. Ah, and the inexplicable attack I suffered before—should I mention that?
I was still considering when Liang Yingwu said, "Take a look at this."
I took the A4-sized piece of paper he handed me, which had a crossword puzzle printed on it.
"This was a submission received by an editor in the supplement section of the Oriental Morning Post, who inadvertently discovered the problem."
"Any problems?" I frowned and started the crossword puzzle.
1. In the novel *Water Margin*, the hero nicknamed Nine-Tattooed Dragon (horizontal)
2. Zhu Di's titles before becoming emperor (Vertical)
3. A film co-directed by Cai Chusheng and Zheng Junli, inspired by a poem by Li Yu (horizontal).
4. Usually used to describe two places or two people who are very far apart (vertical).
5. Describes wanting to do something well the first time (vertical)
6. Shakespeare's famous play, also known as Hamlet (horizontal)
7. A province in China, bordering Shanghai and Jiangsu (vertical).
8. In *The Deer and the Cauldron*, the title used by Emperor Kangxi to express his admiration for Wei Xiaobao is (horizontal).
9. One of the Four Masters of the Ming Dynasty (Vertical)
10. The Uncrowned King (Vertical)
11. Famous Poems by Li Bai (Vertical)
12. Describes someone as easily fooled or taken advantage of (a term used to describe someone who is easily deceived or taken advantage of).
13. A disabled person's work that has gone down in history (in a series)
Many crossword puzzles nowadays have hundreds of entries, so this one is quite basic; I finished it very quickly.
I looked at the word game I had filled in for a long time, and it was indeed a bit strange.
"Can you tell?" Liang Yingwu asked.
"The numbering is very messy, and the horizontal and vertical lines are mixed together in the hints. It's not right. It looks like something a newbie would do."
"Then write the answers down below according to the numbers on this page."
That was easy; I copied it down in a flash.
1. Shi Jin
2. King of Yan
3. A river of spring water flows eastward.
4. Thousands of rivers and mountains
5. To achieve victory in one battle
6. The Prince's Hamlet
7. Zhejiang
8. Lucky General
9. Qiu Ying
10. Reporter
11. Offering Wine
12, Kaizi
13. Records of the Grand Historian
"Haven't you figured it out yet?" Liang Yingwu said.
"Is it... the first character?" I pondered.
"Shi Yan Yi Wan Bi Wang Zhe Fu Qiu Ji Jiang Kai Shi".
I wrote these words down, then gasped.
It's a homophone!
"The experiment is complete, and the King's Revenge is about to begin?"
Liang Yingwu nodded: "This is a very simple word game, not difficult to decipher."
"But this is most likely just a prank. Why do you think it has anything to do with Xinjingyuan?" I asked, puzzled. I was startled too, but then I remembered that this was just a submission and had nothing to do with Xinjingyuan. "Experiment" can have many interpretations.
He pointed to the creator's name next to the crossword puzzle.
“Look at this.”
"Knight Vanris, Knight Vanris, Vanris." I repeated the name to myself several times: "Virus? Virus Knight!"
"Virus Knight, this cannot be taken as a definitive basis, but it is enough to make us have bad associations."
"If this really refers to the Fan's virus (this novel was first published on M and will be published by Jieli Publishing House this April. Please do not delete if you repost)... then the King's Revenge is about to begin, which means..." I felt my lips starting to crack and become brittle.
"There will be more Xinjingyuan!"
Liang Yingwu always played the role of knocking me down with a single punch; I saw a blood-red city.
Bright red liquid spread across the streets, half an arm protruded from a half-open door, blood and flesh were smeared on the glass windows, and the city was deathly silent under the pale sunlight.
"No." I shook my head fiercely, trying to banish that scene from my eyes.
"Frankly speaking, even if the person who created this crossword puzzle is called Virus Knight, there is a high probability that it has nothing to do with Xin Jingyuan, perhaps only 10%. But in this matter, 10% is already a huge risk that no one can afford."
"Ten percent? One percent is already terrifying." For a fleeting moment, I even considered fleeing this city.
"You must be investigating this; you must find this virus knight."
Liang Yingwu shook his head slightly: "It's untraceable. It was mailed in a normal way, printed on A4 paper, with no handwriting, and the envelope was the kind you can buy at any post office. We can only focus on the clues he gave us."
"King, revenge!"
"Yes, plus experiments."
"Assuming the Virus Knight is indeed related to Xinjingyuan, I can roughly guess the meaning of the experiment."
"Oh?" Liang Yingwu raised an eyebrow: "I knew it was the right thing to do to come to you."
Now, such praise no longer helps improve my mood.
"The Fan virus has never before been transmitted from person to person (this novel was first published on M and will be published by Jieli Publishing House this April. Please do not delete if you repost). This time it is a new variant. If it is the Virus Knight's experiment, he must be testing the power of this new variant. However, I think the most crucial thing is the King and Revenge. If we can figure this out, we can guess his identity and what he will do next."
“We have conducted analysis. The virus knight calls himself a king, which may mean he has royal or noble blood, or it may be a description of his status in a certain field, or it may be his arrogant delusions. To collect data, there will be a massive amount of data that needs to be sifted. I have suggested that the police handle it, since they are much more professional. But without further intelligence, I think it will be difficult for the police to find any results.”
"But taking revenge into account would greatly narrow down the scope. Besides, his revenge was directed at the city of Shanghai, so there must be some very special reason behind it."
"However, there is no noble family in the world that has an irreconcilable hatred with Shanghai. We even considered whether it was a gang leader who was wiped out in the police's anti-gang operation. But if that were the case, his goal would have been to reclaim his territory, not to destroy the city."