The moment the door closed, Yi Heye saw Pei Xiangjin's eyes instantly redden. He seemed to lower his head to wipe away his tears, but quickly looked up again: "I'll hide in that broken cage in a bit and try to contact the outside again. Get ready, we'll be at the next stop soon."
Yi Heye opened his mouth, wanting to speak, but found that it felt like a huge rock was pressing on his chest, making him unable to utter a sound.
He thought of Jian Yunxian, and the immense trauma he had suffered from witnessing death. He looked out the porthole at the pitch-black night sky, feeling utterly exhausted and on the verge of collapse.
Yu Yili, who had just finished his second injection after returning from the second stop with "goods," seemed to be in a much calmer mood. He sat on the ground preparing a lot of medicine.
Seeing this, Yi Heye simply winked at Pei Xiangjin, who was standing to the side: "Is he alright?"
Pei Xiangjin simply shook his head and said no more.
During dinner, Yu Yili only drank a few sips of soup and didn't touch the remaining canned braised meat. Sure enough, after eating for a short while, he couldn't help but lock himself in the cage again.
A moment later, another painful struggle could be heard from inside. It seemed to be in great pain, and the person was groaning and crying.
Pei Xiangjin couldn't bear to watch any longer and anxiously knocked on the cage from the outside, saying, "Should we give them some painkillers?"
The cage fell silent for a moment, then a weak voice finally rang out in refusal: "No... I'm not suited to that kind of medicine in my condition..."
During the several days they floated intermittently in the air, Yu Yili barely managed to stay afloat with the medication he had prepared himself, Yi Heye dutifully played his role, and Pei Xiangjin kept trying to contact the outside world.
His physical condition was deteriorating, but his emotions seemed to be gradually stabilizing.
Every day when he wakes up, he prepares his own medicine while writing something down in his notebook. After getting his injection, he lies back down exhausted, but he suffers from insomnia and can't fall asleep at all.
On the third day at noon, Pei Xiangjin excitedly said that they had received the message from LOPO and were on their way to provide support. If they held on for a few more days, someone would come to pick up Yu Yili and take him back.
Yu Yili forced a smile and remained silent. Yi Heye tried to lighten the mood, pretending to be relaxed, and said, "Then we have to celebrate! Let's finish the last can of braised meat! I can eat meat now."
Pei Xiangjin nodded, "Eat! I can't stand eating vegetarian food for so many days. Yu Yili, try some too, since you ordered it."
Yu Yili smiled and glanced at them, but said, "You guys eat... I can't eat anymore..."
After saying that, he opened his mouth slightly and smiled wearily, "My mouth is full of ulcers, but thankfully they are symmetrical."
Their mouths were covered in ulcers, which were symmetrical, and the two of them became depressed and lost their appetite.
Fearing they wouldn't eat because of him, Yu Yili opened the cans for them without saying a word:
"You need to eat, there's still a decisive battle ahead, so replenish your protein."
That night, no one could sleep.
Yu Yili suffered repeated attacks of excruciating pain, and his protective suit was soiled from vomiting blood, causing him to nearly break down emotionally. Pei Xiangjin and Yi Heye were busy taking care of him while coordinating with the outside location—it would be quick, at the earliest by tomorrow morning, they would be able to find him.
Around midnight, Yu Yili unusually climbed out of the cage. Pei Xiangjin was afraid that he would feel uncomfortable because the space inside was too small, so she let him sleep with her as a pillow.
This was the first time Pei Xiangjin had heard this person breathe so faintly, like a wisp of wind carrying the smell of alcohol, which was there one second and disappeared the next.
These symptoms frightened Pei Xiangjin. He kept an eye on Yu Yili's temperature while preparing medicine for him, ready to provide emergency care at any time.
But Yu Yili slightly opened his eyes and said, "Captain Pei... sometimes, I really regret it..."
Pei Xiangjin suddenly came to her senses, leaned closer, but didn't know what to say.
“I couldn’t bear to see anyone suffer, which is why I chose to study medicine. But after studying medicine, I realized that this profession brought me even more pain.” Yu Yili sighed and said, “I couldn’t accept that I had mastered medicine to the highest level, yet I still couldn’t save the patients in my care and had to watch them suffer unbearable pain. This made me feel extremely desperate. During my year in clinical practice, I felt like my world was gray…”
Pei Xiangjin had only heard a little about what happened before he came to the safety department. He had heard that this medical school student almost developed depression during his first year of internship, and that some people in the industry even mocked him, saying that he was a bookworm and had no talent to be a doctor.
“But this time, I saved that child’s life. In that instant, I rediscovered the sense of accomplishment I felt when I cured my first patient.” Yu Yili gently grasped Pei Xiangjin’s fingers. “Captain Pei, promise me you won’t blame him. I have the ability, and therefore the responsibility.”
Pei Xiangjin trembled, gently enveloping his burning fingers in her palm, her eyes already bloodshot.
Yu Yili comforted her, "You and Xiao Yi shouldn't blame yourselves. It was my own choice to come along, and it was my own choice to save that person..."
“Actually… that time in Area A, what I dreamed of wasn’t just a perfectly symmetrical world,” Yu Yili said. “I saw all the people who died under my command come back. I dreamed that their illnesses were cured, but I was very clear-headed. I knew that medicine is not magic, and the dead would not come back, so when Xiao Yi called me, I woke up easily.”
"So being a forensic doctor is really great." He chuckled self-deprecatingly. "You don't feel powerless, you don't feel pain or regret, because once someone is dead, they are dead and can never come back to life."
After saying that, it seemed like another attack was about to occur. Yu Yili just frowned. In the past, he would have struggled violently, but this time, he didn't even have the strength to curl up.
"It hurts so much... Captain Pei... It really hurts so much..." Yu Yili weakly gripped Pei Xiangjin's fingers, tears streaming down her face uncontrollably. "Why did this happen...?"
He had tried for so many days, constantly telling himself to let go and face death with equanimity, but at this moment, he could no longer deceive himself.
"I...I don't want to die yet..."
Pei Xiangjin finally broke down and said, "Just hang in there a little longer... reinforcements are coming soon. Wait for them to take you back, get treatment outside, and come back to work when you're better, okay?"
But Yu Yili seemed to have deafened; his gaze was unfocused as he stared into the distance, only softly murmuring one sentence—
"I regret it so much, I wish I hadn't come..."
There was no light left in his eyes.
Author's Note:
Goodbye, Yu Yili.
Chapter 177 (Number 177)
Yu Yili is dead.
He died more respectably and gracefully than the man in the protected area; at least he looked peaceful and untroubled, without much of a frightening gruesome death.
As Pei Xiangjin straightened his clothes, making them neat and symmetrical, she joked, "He's been giving himself so many injections every day these past few days, probably so he can leave looking his best."
Yi Heye didn't say anything, but silently came to Pei Xiangjin's side and handed him a stack of notes he had found in the cage.
Pei Xiangjin paused for a moment, then opened the notebook and saw a page with neat handwriting—
This is a medical notebook that Yu Yili wrote before he left.
The first part is the autopsy report of the man in the protected area, which describes in detail the characteristics and changes of the various organs he observed and makes some summaries. The second part is his own clinical observation notes during this period, which record the different reactions of his body under different dosages of medication and provide some medication suggestions and references. The third part is a user manual left for Pei Xiangjin and Yi Heye, which details the usage, dosage and applicable situations of the medicine sent from outside the wall, and also explains in detail how to perform emergency self-rescue in different emergencies.
There were no superfluous sentimental words, and he didn't even bother to make a mirror copy of his notes to ensure symmetry, as he usually does. It was clear that he was completely exhausted by the end, and his pen strokes became lighter and more ethereal.
But at the very end of the notebook, he solemnly wrote down four words—
"Please stay safe."
When he reached the very end, Pei Xiangjin couldn't hold back any longer and broke down, hugging Yu Yili tightly in his arms.
This was the first time Yi Heye had seen Pei Xiangjin break down emotionally. This usually calm, cunning, and unpredictable old fox was now crying without any warning.
But since they were inside the cabin, he didn't even dare to cry loudly. He just hugged the cold body and sobbed in a suppressed voice. The low sobs seemed to be frantically hitting his body, smashing him into a shattered mess, and finally causing him to fall helplessly to the ground.
"If only I hadn't brought him..." Pei Xiangjin cried, blaming herself. "If only I had stopped him..."
Yi Heye's eyes also reddened with sadness. He thought of Jian Yunxian's matter, just like how he had regretted countless times that he had never been to Area A—he understood Pei Xiangjin's feelings all too well.
At this moment, Yu Yili lay quietly in Pei Xiangjin's arms, his expression seemingly uneasy and sad. Compared to the gruesome deaths in battle, his departure appeared exceptionally peaceful and serene.
Before they arrived, everyone thought that crossing this wall would mean facing a raging war and merciless slaughter. They even thought that some of them would die from stray bullets and artillery fire. But unexpectedly, there were no vicious enemies, no hail of bullets, and such heavy deaths came peacefully in this small cabin.
The calm only amplified the sorrow.
Pei Xiangjin stayed by Yu Yili's side all night. After crying, he just sat there in a daze. It wasn't until dawn, when the train whistle sounded, that Yi Heye had to whisper to him, "We've arrived."
Several seconds later, Pei Xiangjin finally snapped out of her daze, nodded slightly, and slowly carried Yu Yili into the cage.
At the moment Yu Yili died, it seemed that the capable and ruthless Pei Xiangjin also perished.
We've arrived at our destination. After a long journey, this time it's no longer a temporary stop along the way, but the final stop—the so-called headquarters.
As the horn stopped abruptly, Yi Heye checked his equipment and forced himself to stay alert.
The moment the warehouse door in front of him slowly opened, he knew that the final battle was about to begin.
Pei Xiangjin has already made contact with the people inside the wall. Soon, someone will pick up Yu Yili and the others in the car. At this moment, he will step through the door that holds the truth.
Perhaps his emotions from the journey had been completely exhausted, for as he looked out at the vast expanse of space, he felt incredibly calm and at peace.
Having reached this point, he had forgotten whether it was worth it or not, and he had completely forgotten why he had insisted on coming here in the first place.
"That's it," he thought helplessly, but this actually relieved him of much pressure.
The platform wasn't much different from the previous ones, and it wasn't as peculiar as he had imagined the headquarters to be. Yi Heye even wondered if he had misheard the station and if this was not his final destination.
Behind him, the divine messengers continuously carried cages out of the spaceship. Yi Heye dared not delay and quickly carried his companions down. Just as he put their cages on the ground, his vision suddenly blurred.
Yi Heye thought he was just seeing things because he was too tired, but when he looked up again, he found that the spaceship and the divine messengers behind him had suddenly disappeared. The platform in front of him was just a vast expanse of white. The ground was white, the ceiling was white, and the snow-white space had no boundaries. His vision stretched infinitely in all directions, with no end in sight and nothing else in sight.
At this moment, the only things existing in this space besides the cage containing his companions are himself.
Yi Heye had weathered many storms, and in the face of this situation, he could barely maintain his composure. He immediately gripped the hilt of his knife, remaining on high alert.
Such a scenario, in theory, would not exist in nature, which made Yi Heye think of Area A, those illusions that had deceived his eyes.
Has my brain-computer interface been hacked again? Why is it that this supposedly most secure technology is always so easily cracked at the most critical moments?
Yi Heye irritably touched the back of his ear, looking around warily, paying attention to the slightest movement around him.
Fortunately, having experienced something similar in Area A, Yi Heye was somewhat prepared for any unexpected situations that might arise.
Just then, a highly threatening, synthesized electronic voice suddenly rang out from all around: "Finally delivered."
Yi Heye immediately turned around and looked, but couldn't find where the sound was coming from.
What was delivered? Does it refer to the cage he was carrying?
He cautiously moved closer to the cage, seemingly instinctively wanting to protect them with his body.
Immediately afterwards, although he didn't see anything, he inexplicably felt something suddenly approaching and staring intently at his face for a long time.
Yi Heye tensed up, not daring to make any rash moves because he couldn't see the other person.
"Is this the most popular 'body'?" the electronic voice seemed to be pondering something, saying, "So this is what human aesthetics are like."
It was only then that Yi Heye realized that the thing he was talking about delivering wasn't other cages, but himself.
The most popular thing he mentioned was probably the time during the ISSAC selection process, when he relied on his looks to overcome all obstacles and even create a small sensation.
"I heard you're difficult to handle, and I was afraid of damaging your body if I didn't take care of you. It really took a lot of effort to get you here," the electronic voice said.
It turned out that he had been targeted by these people all along. No wonder some people kept popping up to target him. No wonder he was able to reach the so-called headquarters almost without any obstacles or difficulties.
Yi Heye didn't speak, but just listened attentively.
"From now on, your body belongs to me," the voice said.
The voice was devoid of emotion, neither cold nor warm. Yi Heye thought for a moment, then asked, "Why did you choose me?"
The voice didn't seem to be in a hurry to do anything to him, and even chatted with him slowly: "Because according to our data calculations, your face is very popular among humans, and all your physiological parameters are normal, which fully meets my requirements for your body."