Yu Yili looked up at Pei Xiangjin in the crowd, and Pei Xiangjin immediately understood and said, "Is there an empty house? Let's isolate him there first, and then deal with him later."
A group of people immediately made room for them.
Seeing that Yi Heye had quickly carried the person back into the house, Pei Xiangjin asked Qian Kun, "How did you handle this situation before?"
"Get them out," Qian Kun said blankly. "Kill those who can't be driven out."
"You just killed him like that?" Pei Xiangjin asked incredulously. "Aren't you afraid of infection?"
“Anyone who has been in contact with him will be expelled and never allowed to return,” Qian Kun said. “Everyone is very clear about the relative importance of the individual versus the collective.”
This sounds like everyone is putting the greater good first and sacrificing themselves for others, but Pei Xiangjin clearly saw that the person whose face had just been splattered with blood was now crying and trying to defend himself, but he couldn't be stopped and was being poked with a long pole—what a "clear-headed" person.
“But you shouldn’t have to leave.” Qian Kun glanced at their protective suits and laughed. “I didn’t expect you to be so well prepared.”
Pei Xiangjin had no interest in anything else. She quickly bypassed Qian Kun, secretly changed into protective clothing in a secluded spot, and immediately joined the others.
The people vacated the nearest empty room, a small space resembling a cage for imprisoning wild animals. The three men surrounded the man, and Pei Xiangjin could only hear his painful howls.
As soon as I walked over, I heard Yu Yili trying to reassure me, "Don't move, we won't do anything to you..."
The man was clearly unmoved by any words of comfort, only exclaiming in terror, "Please don't send me away! I beg you!!"
Whether or not to send him away wasn't up to the four of them to decide, so Pei Xiangjin could only change the subject: "Why did you suddenly come back?"
At this moment, the man was being violently pinned to the ground by Yi Heye, his face covered in tears, sticky blood, and dirt, looking extremely miserable: "There...there are monsters outside..."
Monster? Just as the group was wondering what was going on, the creature suddenly curled up into a ball and began to writhe in pain.
While pulling them back, Yu Yili quickly bent down to check on them: "What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
"My stomach hurts... my body is burning up..." the man groaned in pain. Before he could say more than a few words, his face twitched, and he hurriedly collapsed to the ground and vomited.
What came out of his mouth was not something else, but a torrent of fresh blood. Upon closer inspection, it became clear that his nose was also bleeding uncontrollably.
The horrific scene caused the others to instinctively take a step back, except for Yu Yili, who remained rooted to the spot. The man grabbed Yu Yili's wrist as if he had found a savior, tears streaming down his face amidst the blood, crying, "Save me, save me..."
Just as Pei Xiangjin was about to come over and pry the man's hand away, Yu Yili gently pushed her away.
Pei Xiangjin glanced down at Yu Yili and asked softly, "Is there any hope?"
Upon hearing this, the man also gave a pleading look.
"Don't move, let me take a look." Yu Yili gently comforted the man, and while he was barely calming down, she reached out and opened his eyes, and then checked his mouth.
After a long while, he sighed softly, stood up, and whispered in Pei Xiangjin's ear, "There's no hope... but I want to give him a painkiller injection..."
Pei Xiangjin glanced at him and spoke with her usual icy tone: "Why do all this when there's no hope? Our medicine is all prescribed for each person and is planned out in advance."
Because the items they could carry were extremely limited, their medicines, food, and so on were carefully calculated according to the number of people. Upon reflection, there was indeed no extra to give to the dying.
As if guessing what he would say, Yu Yili pursed his lips sadly. He, who was usually not afraid of bloodshed, did not dare to look at the suffering person any longer.
Seeing this, Yi Heye, who was hiding from the blood, looked up and said, "Give him the blood, just deduct it from my share. I never use that kind of stuff."
Pei Xiangjin narrowed her eyes and looked at Yi Heye, but remained silent.
Yi Heye spread his hands: "I'm not as kind as Doctor Yu. My idea is very simple: if I can calm him down before he dies, get more information out of him, and give him a shot of brain-deceiving medicine, it won't be a loss."
Talking to Pei Xiangjin about feelings is pointless; talking about interests, however, will work. Intelligence is extremely important to them, and since Yi Heye has offered his share, he naturally has no reason to object.
Seeing Pei Xiangjin nod, Yu Yili quickly took a dose and, together with the two of them, injected a fast-acting pain reliever into the man's skin.
Only when he saw the pain on the man's face slowly fade did Yu Yili breathe a sigh of relief and whisper to Yi Heye, "Thank you, this injection is on me..."
"What are you thanking me for?" Yi Heye waved his hand. "It's best if no one needs to use this needle."
As the man gradually calmed down, the fear and panic on his face disappeared, leaving him lying exhausted on the ground, his chest heaving like a dying fish thrown onto a boat.
After a long pause, he finally managed to move his eyes and look at Yu Yili: "Thank you..."
Seeing that he could speak properly, Yu Yili didn't dare to slack off and quickly gave up his seat to Pei Xiangjin: "We have a few questions to ask you."
The man was deeply grateful for the painkiller injection. He could only nod breathlessly, indicating that he would answer any question he was asked without reservation.
Pei Xiangjin asked, "Where did you go? What did you see? Why did you suddenly come back?"
At the mention of this, the man's eyes filled with terror again, but he tried his best to remain calm and replied, "I walked about five kilometers outside the protected area... I saw monsters there... and felt very unwell, afraid I had been infected by them, so..."
Pei Xiangjin frowned: "What monster? What does it look like? Did they do anything to you?"
At this point, the man finally broke down, shaking his head repeatedly and coughing up a mouthful of blood in pain.
Yu Yili quickly turned him onto his side and tried to calm him down. Pei Xiangjin knew that this question wouldn't get an answer, so while the man was still conscious, she quickly continued to ask, "Why did you leave in the first place?"
“I thought this place was already terrible enough, with people eating each other and you could be killed if someone didn’t like you…” The man gasped for breath, then continued, “Later I heard that the rumors about disease contamination were all lies, and that there was actually a ‘new world’ on the other side of the barbed wire. I was really driven to the brink, so I believed the rumors…”
"A new world?" Pei Xiangjin became alert and asked, "Who said that?"
The man shook his head: "This is something that's been passed down by word of mouth for a long time. There was this saying before I came. Although many people, like me, came back in a terrible state, some people always say it's because they didn't go far enough..."
Pei Xiangjin frowned, exchanged glances with her companions, nodded, and then took out two photos: "Do you recognize the people in these pictures?"
The first photo was of Zhao Qiangqiang, who had been killed a few days earlier after escaping. The man nodded and said, "I know him. He also wanted to get out of here. He set off about a month earlier than me."
The second photo is of the "male college student" that Yi Heye caught on the street in District C.
The man looked at her, but didn't say anything. Instead, he cautiously glanced at Pei Xiangjin's expression.
Pei Xiangjin was a professional at interrogation, and he could tell something was up just by looking at that look. Without time for beating around the bush, he went straight to the point: "How did you meet? Why would an AI like him want to run away?"
Under those sharp eyes, the man knew there was no point in arguing. He could only say, "He's a service robot from the other side of the city wall. I worked as an engineer before I came here, and I spent several months secretly modifying his program. I wanted him to scout ahead for me before I left, and also to lend Zhao Qiangqiang a hand. It was because I knew they had successfully escaped that I..."
The AI was working on the other side of the city wall, so it was much easier to bring Zhao Qiangqiang in and out of the city wall. However, they were spotted shortly after they got inside the wall.
Pei Xiangjin nodded, asked a few more questions, and after confirming that he had asked enough, he prepared to leave.
Yu Yili turned around, squatted down next to the man, and said to Pei Xiangjin, "You guys go back first, I'll take another look at him."
Pei Xiangjin wanted to say something, but seeing his expression, she only said, "No rush, I'll wait for you in the corridor. Call me immediately if there are any problems."
Yu Yili nodded and said nothing more.
LOPO stayed behind to keep Yu Yili company. Yi Heye was feeling stifled inside and didn't want to go out alone to face the questions and harassment from others, so he could only grit his teeth and wait outside.
He really had nothing to talk about with Pei Xiangjin, but the long silence made him feel uncomfortably awkward, so he forced a topic: "I never expected that forensic doctor Yu would go to such lengths..."
Pei Xiangjin glanced at him, then glanced towards the door before slowly saying, "He's just a soft-hearted person."
Yi Heye asked, "Isn't he a medical student? He should have seen this kind of thing many times before, right?"
Pei Xiangjin shook his head and said, "It's precisely because I've seen so much that I can't bear to see anyone suffer, and I feel that I should help as many people as I can."
This delicate and wonderful thought was beyond Yi Heye's comprehension. He looked up at the pale white moon outside the window, his gaze somewhat weary.
“He started by studying clinical medicine, and went straight through his bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral studies. He’s really impressive,” Pei Xiangjin said. “But later he said that he couldn’t bear to see his patients die, so he temporarily switched to studying forensic medicine. He said that when he saw the body, the person was already dead, so he wasn’t sad anymore. He originally went there with the intention of escaping, but he didn’t expect to learn it so well. I can only say that he is indeed a genius in this field.”
For once, Yi Heye detected a hint of appreciation in Pei Xiangjin's tone, so he asked, "Don't you feel it's a bit of a waste of your talents? I always feel that treating patients and saving lives is more important."
"Isn't it a great thing to clear the name of the dead and give the living an explanation?" Pei Xiangjin said. "Moreover, the profession of forensic medicine can bring him achievement and happiness, which is enough for him. He just accidentally became a genius, and no one has the right to force him to become a great person."
After they finished talking, they fell silent again. This time, Yi Heye didn't feel awkward. He just looked at the distant moon, lost in thought.
About ten minutes later, a commotion came from inside the room. Pei Xiangjin had just turned around to go in when Yu Yili creaked open the door.
"He's dead," Yu Yili said with some regret.
Pei Xiangjin patted him, offering a silent gesture of comfort.
They all looked inside simultaneously. The man's life had already been miserable, and now, with blood splattered all over the room, it looked even more terrifying.
Pei Xiangjin asked, "What's the cause? Can you tell?"
“I have a rough guess in mind, but I still need a simple autopsy to corroborate it,” Yu Yili said. “Could you please bring me my knife?”
When he turned back, the pity and sorrow in Yu Yili's eyes had disappeared, replaced by the calm and decisive chief forensic doctor facing the corpse.
Yi Heye couldn't bear to see the person being chopped up, so he pinched his nose and went outside to wait. This time, the result came out quickly.
When he came out, his expression was very serious. Upon seeing this, Pei Xiangjin immediately asked, "Is it contagious?"
“Strictly speaking, this cannot be called a contagion…” Yu Yili said, “but I think that after he’s been out there for so long, it shouldn’t have any impact on us anymore.”
"What do you mean?" Pei Xiangjin was confused.
Yu Yili said, "If I'm not mistaken, it's radiation infection."
Upon hearing this, everyone gasped in shock—how could there be radiation infection outside?
"The world beyond the iron fence might be even more dangerous than we imagine," Yu Yili asked. "Are you sure you want to continue going forward?"
Author's Note:
There should be a second update later tonight.
Chapter 172 (Number 172)
As Yu Yili finished speaking, Yi Heye and Pei Xiangjin held their breath in unison.
They made many plans before they came, but they never considered the possibility of "radiation infection".
In fact, it's not too late to call for foreign aid now. But now, they are suddenly faced with radiation. So how can we guarantee that their next step out will not encounter even more unexpected troubles?
Yi Heye had some so-called "obsession" about things, and he wasn't the kind of person who liked to consider the consequences or think things through before acting. After hesitating for a moment, he made up his mind to continue.
But before he could respond, Pei Xiangjin seemed to already know his thoughts and turned to Yu Yili, saying, "If you want to go back, I'll call someone from outside to pick you up right now..."
Having discerned his attitude, Yu Yili smiled again: "If you decide to continue, I'll go with you. Although I'm not very good at fighting, the team can't do without me."
Yu Yili's words made sense. He wasn't in a position to deliver the most powerful blows, but without him, today's situation would have been completely unsolvable. If similar emergencies were to occur again in the future, things would be even more chaotic.
“Okay,” Pei Xiangjin said. “Let’s leave it at that for today. I’ll have LOPO contact someone outside tonight to deliver radiation protection equipment and draft a targeted plan. We shouldn’t stay here any longer. We’ll leave as soon as the equipment arrives.”
As they walked out the door, Little Cloud was dutifully standing guard at the entrance. Anyone who dared to take a step closer would be met with those ram's horns that could pierce a person's belly.
Seeing that Yi Heye had finally come out, the door god Xiaoyunduo immediately jumped up and down happily to stick close to him.
Qian Kun and his men also rushed forward, wanting to see what was inside, but also wary of the ferocious fat sheep and the infectious disease that might permeate the entire room.
Upon seeing this, Pei Xiangjin waved his hand to shoo the people away, and then together with Yu Yili, they carried out the wrapped-up corpse.
"Dead?" Qian Kun asked, somewhat surprised.
"Yes." Pei Xiangjin's two casual words immediately startled the people on the roadside, who scattered in a panic.