Maternal and Child Health Centre.
Underground laboratory.
Luo Wencheng has been trapped here for more than two months.
When he came out of his fifteen-year-old memories, his consciousness returned to his current body, but he was still very weak and even rarely awake.
The system told him that this was because he was already dead, and the treatment that Fang Bude, that is, Professor Delang, had given him to save him was a small device implanted in his heart. It was an experimental stage thing, so it caused him to be in an unstable state of health.
When Luo Wencheng asked what the madman was trying to do to him to go to such lengths to revive him, the system told him what Professor Delang was planning and added, “Don’t worry, these methods of his will not work on you.”
If Professor Delang’s methods were above the level of this society, then the system’s methods were completely above the level of the civilised world. Luo Wencheng’s emotions had been drained by the system, so how could a half-assed old professor do anything to him in this regard?
The only thing he could do now was to mess with Luo Wencheng’s body.
However, if he found out that Luo Wencheng was not under his control at all, not to mention being a perfect experimental subject, and not responding to any of his methods, Professor Delang would definitely give up on Luo Wencheng, and then Luo Wencheng could only die.
So Luo Wencheng had to pretend, pretend to be what the old man wanted him to be. During this time, once he was in better shape, the other side would pull him in for tests.
He would put VR glasses on Luo Wencheng, showing all kinds of happy, sad, tragic, terrifying scenes with various extreme stimuli to check his reaction.
In Luo Wencheng’s current state, he couldn’t feel any emotions about the outside world, so he should have been completely indifferent, and he was indifferent indeed.
Sometimes Professor Delang would make him stand or sit there for a whole day. Emotionless and unable to feel discontent, Luo Wencheng would only feel hunger and fatigue, but at this time he was also supposed to be unable to express himself, so he often fainted when his body reached its limit.
Later on, Professor Delang would also bring him pictures of people Luo Wencheng knew, Luo Wenhao, Luo Wenjun, his university classmates, Wei Xingheng and Lu Chong.
When Luo Wencheng saw them, his brain waves remained unchanged, but if Professor Delang pointed to a photo and asked him to say who it was, he could say exactly who it was.
Day after day, with nothing but reflexes and instincts, Luo Wencheng became more and more like a robot.
Finally, one day, Professor Delang declared the experiment a success. He brought in a hypnotist to hypnotise Luo Wencheng for the final time.
Luo Wencheng’s consciousness was pulled out of his body again by the system, and he watched indifferently as the hypnotist below him instilled in him the words “you must obey all of Professor Delang’s commands”, “Professor Delang is your master, your god, your everything”, and “your life belong to Professor Delang”. It was like watching a clown perform.
When it was all over and Luo Wencheng was back in his body again, he heard the cold, icy voice of the system say, “I can only help you so far. This is the beginning of your new life. From now on it is up to you. You must remember that your current body is only temporarily maintaining normal functions. If you want to live for a long time, you must rely on the means of the other party.”
Luo Wencheng had to continue living by the same means he was resurrected.
For example, the first time he died, it was the system that used its energy to save him. That time, the system’s energy was nearly depleted at the cost of him being stripped of his memories and continuing to live according to his proper destiny path until he died.
The second time, he exchanged his love and hope for a chance to be reborn, and his memories were not erased, but the price was that he had to keep exchanging love and hope for the rest of his life in order to continue living.
In the end he did not do this, so he died again.
And the third time, it was Professor Delang who brought him back to life, and although Luo Wencheng hated the old man and was disgusted with him, it didn’t change the fact that he couldn’t live without the other man, or rather without the medicine in his hands that had saved his life.
That was the price of resurrection. The existence of the system only provided him with the possibility. If he hadn’t followed Zhang Qingsong at the time, hadn’t been taken away by him, if Professor Delang hadn’t chosen to revive him, he would be dead through and through by now. Even if there was someone else who helped him, he probably wouldn’t have survived without Professor Delang’s means.
The conditions for resurrection were harsh and the cost was huge.
After saying all this, the system did not make another sound, and Luo Wencheng knew that it had either left or gone dormant. In any case it would not appear again.
It was a pity he still didn’t know what this system was all about and why it had chosen him to help.
Luo Wencheng’s consciousness closed his eyes and the next moment his body opened them.
Professor Delang and the hypnotist were standing next to his bed.
He knew that his identity was still Luo Wencheng, he had all the memories and knowledge of Luo Wencheng, but at the same time, he had been given an overriding instruction that he had to obey Professor Delang, and under this premise, everyone else should be regarded as movable dead things in his eyes, just like NPCs in a game.
He thought for a moment, but kept his face calm and expressionless as he got up from the bed. Not even glancing at the hypnotist next to him, he bowed his head slightly in a submissive gesture to Professor Delang: “Master.”
Professor Derain laughed loudly and shouted, almost without regard to his image, “I did it! I succeeded!” He rubbed his hands in excitement, looked at Luo Wencheng with avid eyes, examining him up and down left, right and left, and asked, “Who are you?”
“Luo Wencheng.”
“Who am I?”
“Professor Delang.”
“Who are you to me?”
“I am your slave.”
“What will you do?”
“Obey all your commands.”
“Kneel.”
Luo Wencheng knelt simply.
Professor Delang laughed again, and so did Zhang Qingsong behind him. The man who had once chased after him and almost killed him was now a slave before his eyes, a dog. It was a really good feeling.
But the next moment Professor Delang pointed at Zhang Qingsong: “Who is he?”
Luo Wencheng raised his head, “The man I want to kill.”
“Why do you want to kill him?”
“Nasty.”
“So how do you feel now that you haven’t killed him?”
Luo Wencheng thought for a moment, “Angry.”
He said he was angry, but his face didn’t look angry at all, and Professor Delang said to him, “How can I not see that you’re angry? Show me anger.”
Luo Wencheng then frowned and his face darkened, his eyes became gloomy and fiery, as if he could rise up from the floor at any moment and tear Zhang Qingsong’s dog’s head off.
Zhang Qingsong couldn’t help but take two steps back in fear, his face white with fright.
Professor Delang laughed loudly, then suddenly became grim again, “How did you know the name Fang Bude?”
Luo Wencheng’s face turned kind of blank and he said indifferently, “I don’t know.”
“Oh, do you really not know, or do you pretend not to know?” Professor Delang grabbed his hair and made Luo Wencheng look up at him, “Don’t lie to me.”
Luo Wencheng looked at him with pure, clear eyes and repeated, “I don’t know, I’m not lying to you.”
Professor Delang looked at him for a moment and then said, “Smile for me.”
With that, Luo Wencheng curled his mouth. Then he was asked to show many more expressions, and he managed to do them all, only they were all a little stiff and unnatural.
The hypnotist next to him said, “His neurological reactions are still a bit sluggish now, and it takes special training to allow him to combine his current mental state with his past memories so that people can’t see flaws. But it’s impossible to fully restore his previous appearance. After all, the current him only has memories of the past and no emotions. All the emotional expressions he’s making now are just his brain controlling his body and creating an illusion.”
Professor Delang nodded, “That means that there is still a need to continue to observe, ah.”
The hypnotist said, “Shall we hand him over to the boss?”
“No, what I give to the boss has to be perfect, I need to see more.”
“But I’m afraid it’s not possible to see anything just by looking at him.”
“Then let him out into normal life. I can watch him by constant surveillance to determine if he’s qualified or not.”
“He seems to have a physical ailment?”
“Yes. It seems to be a heart condition, but no organic injuries can be found. Yet he must live entirely on the special pacemaker that I invented. This is the most troublesome bit, but, also, the most useful.” Professor Delang said triumphantly, “If I find that he is unqualified, all I have to do is to press a button from a distant place and deactivate that tiny pacemaker in his heart, and the subject’s heart will immediately stop beating like a car without oil or an air conditioner without electricity. There is no need to bother to use other means to control him. Don’t you think it’s perfect?”
The two men were discussing enthusiastically, and Luo Wencheng remained on his knees. His expression was blank, he was motionless as if he were a statue. But he was doing his best to understand the conversation between the two men. His English was not too good and the two men spoke so fast that he could only understand about a third of it, but with his own understanding pieced together, he could get the general idea.
In other words, the key wasn’t some medicine, but the pacemaker that sounded like black technology?
“You’re going to put him back in his original environment, right? I’ve heard that the people behind him are very powerful, isn’t it too risky?” the hypnotist said.
“Some risks are worth taking. The only way to really see things clearly is to put him in his most familiar environment. If this model is effective, it will be the most successful brainwashing ever. We can even change the world.” Professor Derain said with a flourish, “Hurry up and get him trained, I can’t wait to get the results.”
The end of December.
The weather was unusual this year. Winter came particularly early in Haining. It was already very cold at the end of December and there was even a light snowfall this morning.
People were either cursing the weather or rejoicing that it had finally snowed in Haining, where it was rare to snow.
The streets were bustling with activity. Tomorrow would be New Year’s Day (January 1st), and people were either rushing back to Haining from other places or leaving Haining for a short reunion with their families back home. All in all, the streets were crowded and lively.
But these lively things had nothing to do with Lu Chong’s villa.
It had been more than three months, and there was a dead silence here. Obviously there were people living here, but it felt like a city of the dead. The servants did not dare to breathe loudly when they did things. Even the small fountains in the courtyard seemed not to dare to spray joyously, and the flowers in the flower beds did not dare to bloom brightly.
It was as if something had sucked the life out of the villa.
Lu Chong hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in more than three months, and he was searching constantly.
Haining was initially blocked for travelling for two days without any result. After that Lu Chong’s search spread from inside Haining City to the outside. The only clue was Zhang Qingsong, and eighteen generations of his ancestors, all his teachers, classmates and neighbours, everyone he had a relationship with, were investigated. There was even a high-priced bounty order, but there was still no slightest gain.
It was as if Zhang Qingsong had evaporated from this world, leaving no trace.
The same was true for Luo Wencheng.
Lu Chong was still holding on, but he felt that he was about to lose it.
He was about to go mad.
And this day, this afternoon, he finally got the tangible news. The man had been found!
He was almost dumbfounded for a moment before he got to his feet. His mind was blank as he headed out the door.
Fortunately, he didn’t need to drive the car. By the time he reached his destination, he had already calmed down.
This was a fairly famous tourist attraction in Haining, called Fang Mountain. The car drove up the winding mountain path, and when it became impossible to drive, the group got out of the car and walked.
It was very windy on the mountain at an altitude of 500 metres; the air was heavy with humidity, the temperature was much lower than below and could make you shiver, and then fine snowflakes started to fall.
“Is he still up there?” Lu Chong asked as he climbed the mountain at a brisk pace.
“Yes, he’s at the top. He’s standing there, not moving, and he’s not responding when he’s called, so we don’t dare make a move.” It was Zhou Yishan who was talking. Of course he wasn’t the one who discovered Luo Wencheng but he reported to Lu Chong first after Luo Wencheng was found. As the only person who has not had a conflict with Luo Wencheng or “couldn’t get along” with him, Zhou Yishan had gained Lu Chong’s greatest trust in the search.
The winding, slippery mountain road finally reached the top, and from a distance one could see a tall, thin figure in a dark green overcoat standing there.
It was a rocky area surrounded by a chain fence, with a few stone tables and benches. It was the highest place in Fang Mountain with the best view. Many people would come here on a regular basis to take pictures or draw, but in weather like today, this place was a bit dangerous.
Lu Chong recognised the figure at first glance, and also saw that Luo Wencheng seemed to be a little different from before.
He motioned for the others to stop and walked alone along a row of chains, stepping on the slippery, moss-covered rocky ground.
Then, he stepped onto the slightly smoother ground.
“Wencheng.” He called out softly, restraining the urge to rush up and hug the man as he slowly walked over to him.
Luo Wencheng didn’t look back at him, continuing to look down at the majestic mountains, the clouds and birds in the mountains, and the white flowing water in the valley. Unhurriedly, he said, “It’s beautiful here, isn’t it?”
Lu Chong turned his head to look at the man he had not seen for more than three months. Luo Wencheng didn’t change much, was just a little thinner. A few snowflakes fell on his hair and eyebrows, melting in a moment, making him look somewhat crystal-like cold, unreal.
There were many things Lu Chong wanted to ask, but in the end he only said one sentence, “Are you back?”
Luo Wencheng turned his head slightly to look at him. His amber eyes seemed to be tinged with the snowy mist of the mountains, very near and very far at the same time. He smiled slightly, “Yes ah, I’m back.”