Chapter 88 – Waiting for You to Come Back

“Since yesterday morning, the city’s airport has been closed, sparking dissatisfaction among large numbers of stranded passengers…”

“The expressway from our city to Lishan Scenic Area has been shut down, reportedly due to a large-scale landslide at Lishan. One netizen claimed that his family member was also inside Lishan, but his request to go to the rescue site was rejected, leaving him furious.”

“Recent increases in grain and cooking oil prices have triggered a wave of panic buying. Wholesale vegetable markets have also been affected. This is the sharpest price plunge since the natural disaster began, and many wholesalers say they have suffered enormous losses…”

…

News reports Su Lifeng had seen during this period kept replaying in his mind without his control… Negative. Negative. Every single one was negative.

But although the public was denouncing it all, they did not think any of it was fatal. They still could not see the truth hidden behind the scenes…

And Su Lifeng? He had always understood exactly what those seemingly scattered pieces of information really meant.

But Gouzi’s despairing scream just now had struck Su Lifeng even deeper.

Gouzi was afraid to die. But once he knew survival was hopeless, he turned his fear into hatred.

He had shouted for Su Lifeng to avenge him… Even if he had to die, he would not die begging!

Yet in the same way, Gouzi’s fate was tragic. He had the will to resist, but not the ability to save himself…

Su Lifeng’s anger had reached its limit, and his fists were clenched just as tightly.

The weak had no right to survive. And to a true High-class Xenospecies, even to Ren Xiaoying, he was nothing more than weak.

“But in the biological world, even a tiny insect so weak it can be blown away with a single breath might still kill an elephant. Among weak creatures, there are still individuals capable of resistance.” To the Xenospecies, every living thing on Earth, humans included, was nothing but a feast. Once they devoured all life on this planet, perhaps they would simply leave, abandoning a dead, silent world behind.

Su Lifeng could not think that far ahead. All he knew was that the first time he faced the Xenospecies, he had survived. He had absorbed the Wisdom Species and provoked the tremendous rage of a High-class Xenospecies. This time would be the same.

“Oh, so you’re already back…”

The moment Jiang Yushi and Cheng Xiaomei came home, they saw Su Lifeng walking out from inside.

He wore only a close-fitting tank top underneath, exposing two “scars,” while a sheath specially made to hold military spikes was strapped around his waist.

He had taken out the two scalpels as well and inserted them into the sheath.

After pulling on a final trench coat, Su Lifeng picked up a peaked cap and put it on.

Only then did he raise his head and glance at the two women standing frozen in the doorway, staring at him. His eyes were terrifyingly calm. “I’m going to take care of something.”

“Huh?” Both women froze at the same time.

Su Lian also put down her computer and hurried after him, staring blankly as Su Lifeng walked out.

Just as Su Lifeng was about to step through the door, Jiang Yushi finally snapped back to herself and said, “I’m going with you!”

Even she had not expected those words to burst out of her mouth. But after startling herself, she instead looked at Su Lifeng with an even firmer gaze.

She felt she had seen something in Su Lifeng’s eyes, and because of that, she should go with him.

“I… I’ll drive for you.” Jiang Yushi finally found a reason she could use to convince Su Lifeng.

Only after the two of them had left did Cheng Xiaomei suddenly look at the tightly shut door and say, “I regret it.”

“Hm?” Su Lian asked, a little puzzled.

“I should have followed just now. But the moment Yushi-Jie spoke up, I backed down.” Cheng Xiaomei glanced at Su Lian and forced out a faint smile.

“Why?” Su Lian asked curiously.

“I’d like to know too… Maybe because they look more compatible?” Cheng Xiaomei said, completely out of nowhere.

Su Lian was just as lost, but deep down, she was still a little happy.

No matter what, it seemed a girl finally liked her brother… For a while, she’d honestly thought someone like him would end up spending his whole life with lab mice…

“Forget that. Come help me sort through these photos. The netizens are amazing. We’ve gotten hundreds of replies in no time. But damn it, what are these people thinking, sending selfies?”

…At that moment, a fire was burning in Su Lifeng’s chest. He knew he should probably act with more restraint.

But was there any need?

No matter what, the Xenospecies would keep their eyes on him.

The police were watching him now, but the end of the world was coming soon anyway.

What happened to Gouzi seemed to have shattered many of the misgivings Su Lifeng had been carrying all this time.

There was no need for so many scruples. The only real problem was that he wasn’t strong enough.

If he wasn’t strong enough, then he would steal. He would seize. He would absorb the power of the Xenospecies for himself.

Jiang Yushi drove in silence, glancing now and then at Su Lifeng beside her.

In truth, over the past few days, she had already sensed many changes in him, but none had been as intense as tonight.

She felt that in Su Lifeng’s eyes, dark and still as deep water, there was a spark hidden within, one that might set everything ablaze at any moment.

But what could she do for him?

Talk about the factory? No, there was nothing to talk about.

Then what should she say…

As the car stopped at the spot Su Lifeng had specified, he reached out and opened the door.

Click.

The instant the door opened, Jiang Yushi suddenly buried her head against the steering wheel. “I’ll wait for you here.”

Su Lifeng stepped out of the car. Hearing that, he turned back and looked at Jiang Yushi.

For some reason, the sight of her with her head lowered, too afraid to watch him leave, stirred something in Su Lifeng’s heart.

“Mm. I’ll definitely come back,” Su Lifeng said, then shut the car door.

Only after Su Lifeng had been gone for a long while did Jiang Yushi slowly lift her head and wipe the corners of her eyes.

But just then, in the rearview mirror, she suddenly saw a pair of headlights slowly approaching.

This place wasn’t exactly some remote alley, but surely every random car she saw shouldn’t be closing in like that, right?

A trace of wariness immediately rose in Jiang Yushi’s heart.

A dozen minutes earlier, when this car had passed an intersection, the figure seated in the surveillance room had suddenly reached out and hit pause.

“Target found.”

“Follow them, but don’t come into conflict with the target.”

“Notify Captain Lv and Deputy Director Wang…”

Inside the Municipal Public Security Bureau, Deputy Director Wang quickly walked out after receiving the news.

However, just as he was about to get into the car, he suddenly spotted a figure among the crowd.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, frowning at the figure.

The figure was dressed in plain clothes. When he lifted his head, he revealed a face that looked almost like a teenager’s. “Dad, just let me help you.”