Chapter 602: Just Who Is He?
Lu Siya shut her eyes.
A circle of complicated, red spirit tattoos appeared around her eyes and traveled above her temples, as if a brand new pair of spirit energy eyes had manifested, left her body, and now existed independently.
She touched the walls and floor of the vertical shaft for a while before she unhesitantly chose the path that Meng Chao and A’Ji had taken when they snuck into Mutual Gold Coliseum.
When they reached a crossroad, she did not take the path Meng Chao and A’Ji took. Instead, she turned into a tunnel that grew narrower and darker by the moment. They had no idea where it led.
Lu Siya reached out and touched the wall gently.
Semi-transparent liquid smeared her fingertip.
The liquid held red crystal powder that was even finer than gravel. If they did not look closely, they would not even be able to see it.
It was Red Radiance Jade crystal powder.
“It’s here,” Meng Chao mumbled. “The boy ran this way.”
“I say, aren’t you a little too insidious?” Lu Siya glared at him and pouted. “Based on what you said, this A’Ji is a boy of no more than ten, and he even saved you when you were under the ruins of Leprosy Village. He also helped you complete your tasks, but you’re so paranoid and on your guard against him that you even smeared Red Radiance Jade powder on him while he wasn’t looking?”
“A’Ji isn’t any normal boy,” Meng Chao said seriously. “If we’re unlucky, he might be something even more terrifying than Red Brows Su Lun and the Vortex.”
“What?” Lu Siya was shocked. “Why did you say that?”
Meng Chao naturally could not tell her that he saw the tattoo of the X-shaped eye on A’Ji’s chest.
Up to this date, he had only seen that tattoo on the back of his sister’s hand after she awakened to her Night Demon Blood and became the Dark Witch in his previous life, the notebook his mother left behind more than twenty years ago and could not remember, and the Demonic Abyss Eye’s memories when it was dying.
Aside from his mother, the Dark Witch Bai Jiacao and the Demonic Abyss Eye were both terrifying existences.
So, why was the same picture on A’Ji’s chest if he was just a boy from Leprosy Village and seemed unrelated to everything?
This was something Meng Chao had to figure out.
He did not want to tell Lu Siya about his previous life’s memories and his sister, so he could only say, “First, based on the standards of a boy who is less than ten years old, many of the things A’Ji says are too mature and seem to contain an underlying meaning.
“Even if poor people’s children become independent early and are forced to start fumbling around in the brutal society as well as live through the trials and tribulations of life, he seems a little too much like an adult.
“Second, he coincidentally saved me near the ruins of the explosion site in Leprosy Village. He also received Ms. Mulian’s treatment before. That’s how he got me connected to Su Mulian and Wild Wolf, and that’s also how he helped me temporarily solve the crisis in Leprosy Village.
“After that, he coincidentally had gone out of the village to steal all the time, so he was familiar with the environment in the lair, making him a tiny, living map.
“Last, and the most ridiculous thing is he coincidentally knew a secret tunnel that led straight to the depths of Mutual Gold Coliseum. Don’t you think that there’re too many coincidences? Isn’t this too strange?”
Lu Siya was slightly stunned, then nodded slowly and said, “Now that you put it like that, you’re right. This boy seems to have been leading you by the nose and helping you complete your mission.”
“There’s one more thing, it’s his astonishing luck and physical const.i.tution,” Meng Chao said. “While we were by the river of trash around Leprosy Village, we were attacked by the defenders across the river. Even as we faced a shower of bullets, the boy wasn’t hurt at all.
“After we snuck into the lair, we were also surrounded by the defenders multiple times. At one point, the boy was even separated from us, but he managed to avoid the pursuers and return to our side unscathed.
“I don’t think that this is something a normal thief could do. I mean, let’s say that he’s really talented and nimble, but then how are you going to explain why he fell down the vertical shaft under Mutual Gold Coliseum?
“I admit that the vertical shaft is tall, straight and doesn’t have many handholds, which makes it hard for normal children to climb up, but based on the skills he displayed when he shook off the pursuers, he should have no problem handling it.
“If he really was hurt or something, I had suggested at the start that I could carry him up. He knew my abilities. Even if I was injured and couldn’t use maglev, I could still easily climb up while carrying a child on my back.
“But he rejected my offer and insisted on climbing up himself. When he was halfway up, he fell down and, coincidentally, twisted his ankle, which made him unable to move and allowed him to leave my line of sight.
“If I still couldn’t figure out that there was something fishy about him after that, then I’d be a real idiot!”
Lu Siya’s mind worked rapidly, and her expression became stern. “It’s as you said, there are indeed too many suspicious points about the boy. You think that he’s also the Vortex’s puppet and will cause harm to us and the lair?”
“No. If I suspected that he would cause harm to us and the lair, I would have attacked him immediately.” Meng Chao thought over his words. “In truth, not only did he not cause us harm, he actually helped us deal with the Vortex’s scheme.
“If A’Ji weren’t around, it would have been impossible for me to have contacted Su Mulian and Wild Wolf so easily. It would have also been impossible for me to shake off the lair’s pursuers so easily, then take down Red Brows Su Lun in one go in Mutual Gold Coliseum.
“Now that I think about it, I’m starting to get scared. If it weren’t for A’Ji’s guidance, Wild Wolf might have already led the Wild Wolves and all the villagers out to fight against the gang members, and the fire in the lair would have been ten times greater than it is now. We would have lost control of the whole situation.
“Based on A’ji’s performance, I think that he’s on the same side as us when it comes to fighting against the abnormal beast and protecting the lair. He’s helping us in secret.”
“Since we’re on the same side, why didn’t he tell us the truth?” Lu Siya frowned a little. “Being a thief from Leprosy Village might not be a n.o.ble profession, but the lair is a chaotic place with all kinds of people in it. For an orphan with no one to rely on, working as a thief isn’t an unforgivable crime! No matter what secret or burden he has, won’t telling you make it easier to solve?”
“Heh. He’s not some thief. In fact, I think that he has no relationship whatsoever with Three Fingers Feng. He has never received treatment from Su Mulian either,” Meng Chao said. “Three Fingers Feng and the thieves under him died an untimely death in the explosion of the Deification Capsule pharmacy, so no one can verify his ident.i.ty.
“And Su Mulian is the living Buddha of Leprosy Village. She heals more than one hundred people in the village every day. The children in the village are each dirtier than the other. Su Mulian couldn’t possibly remember whether she treated him before or not.
“Right from the start, he was the only one who could provide an account to his ident.i.ty. I was surrounded by chaos at that time, and everyone didn’t have the time to suspect anything, but now that I think about it carefully, there are just too many loopholes in what he said!”
Lu Siya was shocked. “If A’Ji isn’t a thief, then what is he?”
“I don’t know. I just have a vague feeling that he used me to attract Red Brows Su Lun and the Vortex’s attention.”
Meng Chao looked at the dark tunnel and mumbled, “He guided me to the depths of Mutual Gold Coliseum. Whether I managed to reveal Red Brows Su Lun’s true colors or not didn’t matter. Either way, I would attract the attention and manpower of the abnormal beast.
“As long as Red Brows Su Lun and the Vortex believed that I am the one who is most likely to destroy their scheme, they would do everything in their power to kill me. Then, A’Ji could sneakily go off and execute his own plan.
“I might have been curious about A’Ji’s true self and his goal, but Red Brows Su Lun and the Vortex’s scheme were the imminent threats. It didn’t matter whether A’Ji had any ill will or not. It was impossible for me to just declare him as my enemy straightaway. After thinking about it, I used monster liquid and mixed it with some Red Radiance Jade powder and slapped it on his shoulder. He didn’t notice, of course.
“It’s just a few grams of Red Radiance Jade powder, and they’re wrapped up in monster liquid. This wouldn’t attract any normal superhuman’s attention.
“It’s only us who were attacked by a spirit energy tsunami before and whose limbs and spirit meridians were refined by Red Radiance Jade that are naturally more sensitive toward Red Radiance Jades.
“I originally wanted to wait until everything had settled before doing anything else. If the boy hadn’t shown up by then, I’d use the unique fluctuations from the Red Radiance Jade powder to find him and see what exactly he’s doing.
“But since you’re here, you’ll definitely be faster and more accurate than I am!”
Lu Siya cast a deep glance at Meng Chao.
She then bowed her head and started thinking seriously.
When she did not say anything even after a long time, Meng Chao asked curiously, “Big Sis Ya, what are you thinking about?”
“I’m thinking about whether I’ve offended you before,” Lu Siya said. “If I really offended you accidentally, I might end up dead without even knowing about it.”
Meng Chao scratched his head and said, “If it’s you, small offenses are fine.”
Lu Siya snorted. “If that’s the case, do we need to mobilize more people to come here and track down this A’Ji boy?”
“I don’t think so, not for the time being?” Meng Chao pondered over it for a while. “Right now, the surface is still in a mess. The fire at the borders has just been extinguished, and there are still dozens of important facilities in danger. The villagers in Leprosy Village need to be evacuated, and the fire in the area needs to be put out too. These aren’t problems that can be solved easily. We lack manpower, resources, and s.p.a.ce!
“Besides, it’s just my suspicions against A’Ji. I’m not certain whether he is connected to the Vortex.
“If my guess is wrong and the Vortex’s real goal is some other place, we’ll end up doing something stupid if we recklessly mobilize a lot of manpower here.
“Besides, this tunnel is narrow. People armed to the teeth and in motorized armor couldn’t get in. Normal gang members will just be a burden in this advanced battlefield. The more people we have in this situation, the more likely it’ll be that we’ll alert the enemy.
“It would be better for us to sneak in first to take a look at what is the situation inside. If we can find A’Ji’s general location, it won’t be too late for us to call for backup then.”