Chapter 63: The Curtain of the Past

Chen Yuezhou stared blankly at Qi An for a moment, and just as he was about to speak, a voice rang out: "Chen... Yuezhou! What are you doing?"

Chen Yuezhou turned around, caught sight of Yang Yuning, and his expression instantly cooled. "Chatting with Dr. Xiao Qi, what about it?"

Though he called it a chat, he was standing squarely between Qi An and the window.

Given the stark difference in their builds, it looked almost as if he were bullying Qi An.

Half of the alcohol in Yang Yuning's system evaporated instantly. With a gloomy expression, he strode over, intending to push Chen Yuezhou aside and pull Qi An toward him.

However, Qi An stepped out from in front of Chen Yuezhou first. "It's going to rain soon. How is everyone doing inside? Shall we call it a day and wrap this up?"

Yang Yuning halted his steps. Outside the window, the sky was pitch-black, and the wind blowing in carried a biting, damp chill.

He and Chen Yuezhou exchanged a glance, sparks seemingly flying where their gazes met!

Once again feeling as though needles were pricking her back, Qi An bypassed the two of them and walked straight into the room, saying to Yu Shuang, "Captain, it's going to rain."

The private room was a scene of utter wreckage; even the scallions used as hotpot garnishes had been eaten clean.

Yu Shuang was half-lying across the table, chatting with Qin Tianxuo and Xu Le.

Qin Tianxuo said glumly, "I have an ability too—electromagnetic induction... and... and what else? Anyway, it's just... completely useless against parasitic worms!"

Hearing this, Chen Yuezhou, who had just stepped back inside, froze slightly and cast a careful look at Qin Tianxuo.

"Having one is better than having none! If you ever get tired of running outside, wouldn't it be nice to retire and become a security officer?" Yu Shuang tapped the rim of her bowl with her chopsticks. "It's about to rain, let's break up for the day."

One by one, the others stood up. Sun Yiran asked Xu Le, "When are you guys heading back to the New Birth Base?"

Xu Le glanced at Sun Yiran's blazing, man-eating gaze, coughed, and answered cautiously, "In the next two or three days, very soon."

In truth, they weren't returning to the New Birth Base; they were heading north of Hualin County for battlefield reconnaissance.

"Oh..." Sun Yiran sighed in disappointment. "We have to stay here and wait for orders."

"We're heading back to North Base 1," Jia Wenxuan said. He hadn't made much of a fuss during the meal, but he had drunk a great deal of alcohol.

The remaining members of their squad would inevitably be broken up and assigned to other teams, and he wasn't even sure if he, as the vice-captain, would be demoted.

Yang Yuning glanced at Qi An. "I'm leaving in a few days as well."

Qi An looked back at him. "Back to the base?"

Yang Yuning shook his head, mouthing the words: "To the north."

He was heading to the grasslands.

In the upcoming major battle, the theater assigned to him was in the northern grasslands—the destination of his last mission, and the place where he needed to settle old scores.

Qi An silently nodded.

"Let's go," Yu Shuang said at last.

No banquet lasts forever.

Yet this time, everyone else was heading back to the East Camp, leaving only Qi An to return to her small apartment.

Yang Yuning offered to walk her back, but she politely declined. Instead, she stopped by a nearby grocery store to buy an umbrella and set off alone.

The rain finally began to fall.

Muffled thunder rumbled in the distance. This spring storm had brought the sudden, heavy downpour usually reserved for summer, and within moments, the raindrops dripping from the eaves along the street had linked into strings.

Rather than heading straight back to her apartment, Qi An took a detour that cut across half the base, arriving at the small commercial street near the East Camp.

The street was deserted. Right outside the entrance of the small bar where she had once seen Su Qingran late at night, a scarred man poked his head out from beneath the eaves. "Damn it! Out in the Northwest, this rain just decides to fall whenever it pleases!"

As soon as he spoke, a young man beside him spotted Qi An on the street and hurriedly said to the scarred man, "Brother Xiang! Brother Xiang! Look over there, is that..."

Qi An lifted her head from beneath the umbrella and met the scarred man's gaze.

Teacher Tang had said that her "father's friend" was named Xiang Shiyang.

She had no recollection of the name whatsoever, but looking closely at this face, it did indeed seem somewhat familiar.

Xiang Shiyang smiled, flicking the curtain aside and putting on the air of a welcoming proprietor. "Beauty, please come in, please come in! We have hot water inside, and wine too. Come in and have a drink."

Without hesitation or retreat, Qi An stepped across the threshold.

Smiling, Xiang Shiyang led Qi An all the way into a small private room at the back of the hall.

The lighting was dim, the leather seats somewhat worn, and the face of the person opposite her appeared dark and blurred.

"I heard you came out of Southeast Base 4?" Qi An prompted.

The extremely skinny young man brought over a kettle, a wine bottle, and glasses, his overly nimble eyes darting back and forth across their faces, lingering in particular curiosity on Qi An.

After taking a couple of looks, he retreated to the doorway, crossing his arms to stand guard.

Xiang Shiyang poured a glass of liquor only for himself.

"Yes. The base was destroyed, and I fled into the mountains. It took me many years to walk out, and then I went to another small base in the Central Plains, and well... anyway, it was full of hardships, hardly comparable to Dr. Qi." Xiang Shiyang squinted and took a sip of the synthetic liquor, sounding somewhat sentimental.

Qi An remained silent. Xiang Shiyang looked at her closely. "You're much sturdier than when you were a child, and your complexion is much better. It's clear you've had a really good life these past few years at this base."

As Xiang Shiyang leaned in closer, Qi An's gaze swept over his face inch by inch until she finally remembered:

"You're a laboratory guard!"

Xiang Shiyang started, then suddenly slapped his thigh and laughed aloud:

"You actually remember me! What's that expression? Ah, right—an honor! I am damn well honored!"

The fresh-faced, vibrant young woman before him had once been the sole, most precious experimental subject in that underground laboratory beneath Southeast Base 4!

Back then, whenever she simply walked from her bedroom to the medical room, she had to be protected by four or five guards.

And he, naturally, was no friend of Qi An's father; he had merely been one of those guards, a man who back then didn't even have the qualification to utter a single word to her!

"How did you manage to hide the fact that you wouldn't be contaminated? Can you be contaminated now? Can you mutate?" Xiang Shiyang was utterly puzzled, consumed by curiosity.

When he caught sight of Qi An on the street a month ago, he had been profoundly shocked.

Naturally, he remembered what Qi An looked like; back then, the entire massive underground laboratory revolved solely around that frail little girl, and it was impossible for him not to have a deep impression of her.

Even after a lapse of eight years, and even though Qi An had grown up, the contours of her facial features remained largely unchanged. At a glance, he felt she looked familiar, and after feigning a stumble to get closer and take a few more looks, he had become entirely certain.

Xiang Shiyang had entered the underground laboratory as a guard in the spring of 2043. Through the idle chatter of his colleagues and what he saw and heard while on sentry duty and patrol, he learned that the little girl named Qi An had originally been just an ordinary child in the base.

Yet when she was seven years old, her father had sent her to the research department.

Her father had said she seemed to have no reaction whatsoever to pollution sources and asked the scientists to check on her.

The scientists had acted as if they had stumbled upon a rare treasure! They quickly transferred Qi An to the underground secret laboratory.

Until the destruction of the base, she had never stepped outside again.