Qin Jiu

Knock, knock, knock——

There was suddenly knocking on the door.

Yu Wen who was passing some arrows to Old Yu looked up and asked, "Who is it?"

You Huo's voice travelled in, "Me."

"Brother?" Yu Wen stepped over the bag on the ground and leaned forward to unlock the door.

In addition to You Huo standing outside the door, there was also Qin Jiu and Chu Yue. Yu Wen was surprised for a moment, "Are we going now? Old Yu and I are still packing up."

You Huo looked past Yu Wen into the room —– Old Yu was in the middle of rolling up his sleeves and zipping up the backpack.

Perhaps it was because of the lighting, Old Yu appeared thinner than before and there was now a clear separation line between his face and his neck. Even his arms had faint muscular lines.

His current appearance finally resembled someone who was once in the army.

You Huo suddenly remembered that Yu Wen had once said jokingly, "My dad has a very reckless personality. Whenever he drinks too much, he likes to boast and would even boast about defeating a dog when he was a child but the only thing he hadn't boasted about was his army life. I guess his army life wasn't that great."

He only knew that Old Yu was in the army for a few years and, because he didn't have any ambitions and his limited education, he soon left.

Occasionally someone would ask about it and Old Yu would always wave his hand and laugh, "Haa——- Forget it, forget it. Men shouldn't talk about the past. Look at how blessed I am now."

Thinking back now, he seemed to rarely talk about it.

Old Yu stood up with the bag and asked, "Leaving now?"

You Huo returned to his senses, "No, no rush. We're going to go find Doctor Wu to ask some questions. Want to come too?"

Old Yu was stunned, "Now?"

"Mn."

"Then..." Old Yu looked around the room and placed something into his coat pocket, "Alright, let's go together. What are you asking about at a time like this?"

"Found something." You Huo waved a brown wallet he held in his hand.

Old Yu didn't doubt him and followed them out together with Yu Wen.

He originally thought it was a group meeting with everyone but as it turned out, You Huo didn't call the others over.

This made him a little puzzled.

Wu Li was the only one in the room. The other two women had gone to the bathroom together and was asked to stop by and change the dressings for the three students.

When she saw them come in, Wu Li was a little surprised.

She glanced at the old clock on the wall, "Didn't we agree to leave at 11? There's still an hour and a half."

Chu Yue went straight to the point, "It's not about leaving early. We're here to ask you a few questions."

"Ask me?" Wu Li was stunned.

Boss Chu always spoke straightforwardly and they had a good relationship so such words were rarely used between them. It meant that the questions they wanted to ask were very serious.

Wu Li motioned for them to close the door, "Sit wherever you please. What is it?"

"You mentioned something about a project before we entered the exam." You Huo reminded her.

Wu Li had said before that she had participated a project but because of the systems monitoring, it wasn't convenient for her to talk about it and they could only wait for a more convenient time first.

They had entered this exam so that they could talk about these matters.

Chu Yue said that although the hidden space wasn't found, they had received 154's help and was completely blocked from the system's monitoring. Unless they earned points or had points deducted, the system wouldn't be able to see them or hear them talk.

This was the best time for them to talk.

Wu Li is an extremely rational lady. She could always accurately judge whether it was suitable to speak.

And so, she didn't hesitate to speak,

"The project I participated in was from five years ago. It was together with my uncle, that is, your attending physician." Wu Li said, "Xiao Yang has already told you that he doesn't normally works clinically?"

You Huo nodded.

Wu Li said, "When I first heard that he had treated your head and eye injury, I was very surprised. But when I thought about your memories and that project, it was no longer surprising."

"I was still doing my PhD back then and my skills were much worse than it is now. I had never thought that I would be able to join that project team because my uncle had always been very strict. By his standards, I was certainly not qualified." Wu Li recalled, "It took me two years later to realise that what he needed at that time was an assistant that can be trusted."

Back then, Wu Li was young, and inexperienced. Although it was called 'participating', it was in fact just hovering around the edges the entire time, never coming into contact with the core of the research.

"All I had to do was some observational research and the research subject was a group of——–" She paused and tried to word it in a way that is easy for You Huo and the others to understand, "patients who have had their minds interfered with, just like the two of you."

She pointed at You Huo and then at Qin Jiu.

"Those patients include both domestic and foreign patients. The scope was very large. I thought it was a volunteer research project studying new treatment methods."

At first, Wu Li didn't have any doubts.

She would carefully record the conditions of the patients every day and would observe and note down every one of their common points and differences. Together, she managed to fill ten notebooks. Although she didn't have any access to the core of the research, she would occasionally ask about the research's progress.

Like this, she intermittently followed them along for two years until she finally noticed some problems.

"First, it was the patient's identities." Wu Li raised a finger, "The information I originally received would contain each patient's basic information; height, weight, age etc. as well as their occupations. But later, I noticed that this information was likely inaccurate. It was because most of these patients were from the army."

"At that time, I was able to convince myself that soldiers were more willing to help out, and that it was understandable that the majority of the volunteers were soldiers. But then there was a problem."

Wu Li raised a second finger, "I noticed that the research subjects have increased."

"At first, there were only six of them. Over the span of four months it increased to fourteen and then another two were added over the next six months. On the second year, it suddenly stopped and no new patients were added."

"Why is increasing research subjects a problem?" Yu Wen asked curiously.

Wu Li answered, "Because sample size is very important. During the research time frame, changing of sample size is practically taboo as it can directly affect the accuracy of the analysis, results and conclusion. If you wanted to increase or decrease the sample size, it is generally done at the end of a research time frame and after a conclusion is reached for that part of the research."

"Besides, increasing or decreasing sample size should also be planned and purposeful. Adding eight over four months and then two over six? That is too erratic and irregular."

Yu Wen let out an 'oh' and seemed to have understood her explanation.

Wu Li then raised a third finger, "And there was a last problem —– The location was changed halfway through the project."

"What do you mean?" You Huo asked.

"At about five months or so, Uncle informed me that there was a change in laboratory. At the beginning of the second year, it was changed again and when it was done the third and final time, it was moved to one in a different country."

"And after those two years, the so-called treatment program pretty much showed no progression. At the very least, I didn't see any substantial progress." Wu Li said, "I was vaguely aware at the time that there was a problem with the project. Compared to researching new treatment methods, they seemed more like they were hiding from something."

It was as if....they were avoiding something while protecting those patients.

"After they moved abroad, I stopped taking part." Wu Li said, "But because of these doubts and those problems I noticed, I had always been searching for relevant information and paying special attention to my uncle and his situation. After three years, I managed to get my hands onto some —– A little more than ten years ago, my uncle participated in a joint research project as an expert consultant in the medical field. Thinking about it now, it was probably for this examination system. The ones involved in the development of the system included experts in all fields, both domestic and foreign. I saw a group photo of them before."

"While the system operated, there were some problems. It was as if the system had gained the ability to think like a human and, for punishment or self-protection, it would interfere with people's memories. My research subjects originated from this. They didn't remember anything related to the system and this made it difficult for my uncle and the others to handle."

"I later found out that my uncle had been very anxious the past few years. It was because there would often be accidents happening to the related personnel. I have always wondered whether those people were also dragged into the system. Has Xiao Yang told you about how she and I entered the exam?"

You Huo nodded, "At your uncle's place."

"Yes, it was when we left his study." Wu Li said, "I thought about it later. Could the system have dragged the wrong people in? The person it wanted was my uncle, not Yang Shu and I, and the two of us just happened to be involved?"

"Not necessarily." You Huo said, "Perhaps it wanted you and your uncle, the two of you."

He suddenly recalled 154's words. He had said that the screening conditions for this examination system were "dangerous people". Perhaps at first its original intention was to drag troops in, but after it gained the ability to think for itself, its definition of 'dangerous' may have undergone some changes.

The person who created it would always know it best, including its strengths and weaknesses.

To the system, those people are ticking timebombs that could go off anything. They were living threats to its existence.

Wu Li thought about it and quietly let out an 'ah': "It doesn't rule out this possibility since I can after all be considered half involved. No wonder uncle advised me not to take any projects related to the army the past two years. I thought he was afraid of me finding out something but now that I think about it....he probably regretted involving me and wanted me to stay away so that I am not affected."

"I can understand him hiding it from you." You Huo frowned, "But why didn't he tell me? I was hospitalised for a long time and he had many opportunities, but he only said that I was hurt during training."

Wu Li surmised, "He probably is too afraid. He had been very vigilant the past few years and is sometimes overly sensitive. Considering how long you have been in the system; he might've suspected that you may still be under the systems influence."

You Huo remembered his eyes and immediately quietened down.

That's true.

His relationship with the system was almost something like symbiosis. Who would dare be certain that he was completely free from control?

No one would dare take this risk.

Wu Li glanced at him and added, "Don't blame him for being too vigilant. I noticed from his calls, messages and our occasional exchanges that he had always been in contact with the army's side and had organised some people. It was similar to a Dare to Die Squad or Death Squad, but it never succeeded. If it was me, I would also suspect that someone has been helping the system out."

"I met a man on my uncle's end once. He was probably from the army and we exchanged some words back then. After that....I never saw him again. I think his situation may be more ominous than it is propitious."

She stopped speaking for a while and seemed to be reminiscing.

After a while, she said in a small voice, "You should already know about the nature of the people selected to be part of the Death Squad. They are mostly those who have no attachments; no complicated relationships and no worries or regrets. In the case of something going wrong, this could also ensure that the scope of damage is reduced to a minimum."

She had worded it very tactfully.

To put it bluntly, the best candidates for the Death Squad are lone wolves with no family or close relatives. If they met unfortunate fates, no one would find out and no one would feel bad for them except for those in the know.

….Limiting the range of damage to a minimum so that only they themselves would be affected.

You Huo didn't expect to hear these words coming out of Wu Li's mouth.

He was stunned for a moment before suddenly turning to look at the person next to him.

Qin Jiu who was sitting in the sofa with his hand supporting his chin did not have any changes in his expression throughout this exchange. It was as if he was listening to something unrelated to him.

Sensing You Huo's gaze, he looked over and gave him a smile.

This kind of smile was something he often did. It carried a sense of carefreeness and comfort.

Perhaps this was something common to those from the Death Squad; this so-called lone wolf trait.

Even at a time like this, his first reaction was to appease and reassure his most important person and tell the other party ——– Don't worry about me. I'm fine.

...…

But I'm not fine.

You Huo grabbed the hand next to him, his lips flattening into a straight line.

This person called Qin Jiu would no longer limit the dangers to only involve himself because he now had You Huo by his side.

You Huo wouldn't be fine. He would be upset.

KK has something to say:

You're no longer alone now Qin Jiu!!