4.6 Third Blue Star - Short Peace

Xie Ye didn't know how he got back to meet Xu Lun. But one can see through the way he walks while avoiding most adults on the way, that something was wrong with him. He bumped on the grumpy looking adult whom Gui Lan met before. This man was standing outside the office where he left Xu Lun. It is the secret agent whose name is called Ke Lou. Obviously this adult recognizes him.

Ke Lou smirked at him, "Kid, finally awake huh?"

Xie Ye looked up at the owner of that teasing voice only to see that the adult before him wears the same white robes as those scientists from his memories. Gui Lan hasn't informed him about those two adults' identity yet. Which is why his reaction towards him and with that event he just saw on that dark floor just now, his vigilance against adults working in the institute is quite high. Ke Lou noticed his guards specially up towards him but he doesn't remember doing anything against the child. He then remembered where this kid just returned from.

Ke Lou's thoughts as he looked at the direction where Xie Ye came from. It was the location for the experimental laboratory of the institute. Thinking that today is supposed to be cleaning day, his expression darkens. He finally understood the reason for the kids heightened vigilance.

Ke Lou stared down on the boy, "Get used to it. You will die if you give up living. Accept your fears and fight for the future. The plan was moved ahead of time. You only need to suffer for a few days thanks to the young master." whispered Agent K to Xie Ye.

Of course the recordings around the office of the two agents were long tampered. They've been working in this place more than a year after all.

Xie Ye only then understood that this adult before him seems to be an acquaintance of Gui Lan. Within their group only Gui Lan's identity could be equated to a young master of a certain clan. Though the latter didn't give him information about his family, it is enough to know that as someone from a high class family that Gui Lan is different from the rest of them.

"Lan'er must have changed the details of the plan if you guys are involve. He had long told me that if there's an adult to help us with the plan, it could be done within a month unlike the original setting of waiting for half a year at least with just us children." said Xie Ye.

"Tsk! If not for you guys I think the young master would have left this place already. Him being kidnapped in the first place is an impossible feat." said Ke Lou before finishing his cigarette and entering the office of Lin Ye.

As he entered the room, an ugly wearing expression Xu Lun went out of the office before him. Xu Lun's expression is that of disbelief and anger. The information he got from Lin Ye about him is absurd enough for him to believe but the proofs were laid before them. Unlike what he remembered, he doesn't have siblings. He didn't have a family. He is an orphan sold to this place by his aunt for money. He was treated as a bastard child. All of his original memories were replaced by the illusions of family this place had given him. Now he isn't even sure if his name is really Xu Lun.

Xie Ye acted like he didn't see his depression and anger. His face remained emotionless when he looked at him. This child's expression only changes in front of Gui Lan while it remains as blank as it is towards everyone else.

"The cafeteria is closing soon. Let's get our food and return to the room." said Xie Ye before walking away.

His small figure walking in front had no intention of waiting for Xu Lun. Xu Lun only clicked his tongue once before following the latter to get their dinner. He could only consult the rest of his problem to Yun Li or Gui Lan after eating.

After dinner the people inside room 0373 gathered in a small circle. Though most of them were in pairs, seated at the side of the person with closest relationship to them. Li Xing sat beside the sleepy Yi Zheng. This child has always ended up sleepy after eating a heavy meal.

Li Xing sighed, "Don't sleep yet, A'Zhe."

"Um~ I will... listen." replied Yi Zheng while rubbing his heavy eyelids.

Gui Lan is seated in front of Xie Ye who is hugging him from behind. Ever since he felt unease this morning plus that nightmarish scene before dinner, Xie Ye had become even more clingy towards Gui Lan. The former on the other hand had let him do whatever he wanted. He was willing to indulge him with everything.

Xu Lun and Yun Li sat together. Though they weren't as sticky as the two pairs, one could obviously see that Xu Lun leans more in Yun Li's direction than the others in the group. Gui Lan took the lead in the conversation even though he is the youngest among the rest.

Gui Lan smiled, "Before everything else. Introduction is a must. I already did it before so let's start with A'Ye." he said as he looked up to peek at Xie Ye.

"Xie Ye. 9 years old. Ability: Mind Reading."

"Li Xing. 7 years old. My ability is Photographic Deduction."

Li Xing like everyone who was waiting for Yi Zheng's introduction waited for him to speak only to see the latter half asleep with his head tilting left to right about to fall.

"A'ZHE!" called Li Xing, his voice this time is obviously stern unlike before.

The sleepy Yi Zheng flinched in astonishment.

"Y-Yes! I'm 8 years old. Yi Zheng is my name. Ability is Mortality Viewing!" It is apparent that the half asleep child was jolted awake by his friend's voice.

"Yun Li. 8 years old. Rhythm Intuition, that's what my ability is called. It pertains to sounds."

"Ability: Survival Intuition. Some Intuitive type ability like Li'er. My name is Xu Lun. 9 years old."

"Everyone. These are Lun-ge and Li-ge. They were the ones who helped to protect you when you all suddenly fainted in the gymnasium. Li-ge is my distant cousin and his friend Lun-ge are close. So they should be considered as our new friends. They will also help with our escape plan. A'Ye, A'Xing and Zheng-ge haven't met the other two people who will help us with our plan. The names were Lin Ye and Ke Lou. These guys are adults who work for my family. They are secret agents." said Gui Lan.

Xie Ye spoke, "The adult Lan'er is talking about, are they a kind looking man in his mid-twenties and a grumpy looking adult with an old man temperament?"

"Yes. Uncle Ke said through a telepathic message that you've spoken to him a while ago." replied Gui Lan.

Bewildered Xie Ye asked, "How did he?"

Xie Ye showed a small frown on his young face as if he heard something that annoys him. According to his memories, Gui Lan's temporary mental link using his ability only has the duration of a day and once it was cut off, Gui Lan needs to create a new link. Even if the link was made this morning, it should have been cut off when Gui Lan had fallen asleep. After all, telepathy is an ability whose activated duration is according to what kind of link the core had created. A temporary link can last a whole day unless the esper cuts off the link himself. On the other hand, a permanent link is made with connection through souls. Though the one in the dominant position is the caster, the connection between the two can last as long as the caster has this ability. It will only end if the caster cut it off himself.

Moreover Temporary link has one downfall, it gets deactivated once the caster has fallen asleep or lost consciousness. Obviously Xie Ye remembered Gui Lan waking up just a few hours ago. In short he had fallen asleep and the supposed temporary link was cut. But just now Gui Lan said that he heard from that old man, they've met. So Xie Ye is a bit confused with how things are. Seeing the weird expression on Xie Ye made him chuckles, he could guess what is going around this little guy's mind.

"I know what A'Ye is thinking. Don't worry, their case is different from yours~" said Gui Lan as he held the warm arms cuddling him.

His voice had a hint of playfulness and the tone is an obvious teasing. Knowing that he is being teased, Xie Ye's face redden in embarrassment. He couldn't openly refute the one laughing in his arms and could only squeeze him in response to his teasing.

"Too tight. C-Can't breath. Stop squeezing me A'Ye!" complains Gui Lan who started struggling from the arms around him.

Xie Ye ignores his struggles and instead moves his hands, locking Gui Lan and placing it on his side. Then he started tickling him with a small smile on his face. This is the only punishment he could give this person.

Laughing uncontrollably, "HIHIHI~ S-STOP! HAHAHAHA~ A'YE!" screamed Gui Lan while giggling in between his words.

After a few minutes, Gui Lan was finally freed from that laughing hell. He is currently panting in between his breath. Giving only a tear-filled eyes glared at Xie Ye before he started pouting. Seeing that he is about to get ignored by Gui Lan, Xie Ye had no other choice but to coax the boy in forgiving him.

Xie Ye, "Lan'er don't be angry. I'm sorry okay?" he said with a coaxing tone of voice.

"Hump! A'Ye is bad. That was too much." replied Gui Lan with puff cheeks obvious sign of a childish pouting.

"Yes. yes. It's my fault. I will help Lan'er eat his green peas and carrots in tomorrow's breakfast." said Xie Ye. The breakfast meal scheduled for tomorrow is omelet with peas and carrots as garnish.

Gui Lan who is known for hating his greens and carrots was successfully coaxed. He leans back on Xie Ye as a sign of his forgiveness. Xie Ye happily hugs him as always.

"As for A'Ye's question the reason why my link with the uncles isn't cut off is because I gave them a medium for it. It's an origami with a hair strand. As long as he has that on them I can recreate a temporary link with them at a certain distance. The range is only within this institute. The distance of my range expanded when my abilities upgraded this morning because of the sudden backlash from your ability." explained Gui Lan.

Everyone who heard his explanation showed surprise on their faces but their points differed from each other. Only Xie Ye showed worry in his eyes when he heard that Gui Lan got affected by his abilities suddenly going out of control. Xie Ye also didn't expect that the memories he will see from that child is that terrible that he himself got affected by it. Since his consciousness at that time is connected to their group mental link, those traumatic memories overflow to their connection incurring backlash from both his and Gui Lan's ability. Thankfully Gui Lan didn't faint like the rest and was able to create a diversion. The three of them suddenly losing consciousness are as bad as those scientists would definitely hypothesize the reason for their faint. Things like them guessing that he might have achieved a special ability is one. If they think in these directions their group would certainly become a focused experimental subject. With more eyes on them, it would be harder to escape from this place.

"Are you hurting somewhere Lan'er?" asked Xie Ye.

"I'm okay, A'Ye. It's not hurting anywhere." replied Gui Lan with a smile.

Xie Ye murmured, "That's good."

Gui Lan moved his eyes from Xie Ye to everyone in the room.

"So thanks to Uncle Lin and Uncle Ke our escape plan can be done ahead of time. According to our original plan, we need to gather everything about this institute on our own. This usually will take half a year after estimating the advantages and disadvantages like being unable to move free and being taken as a target that I thought things would need more time. But it's different now, according to Uncle Lin they, the scientists, were allowed to leave this institute at every end of the month." said Gui Lan.

"End of the month. 7 days from now. With the result of chaos postponing the classes for 3 days then..." muttered Li Xing as he raised his head to meet Gui Lan's eyes.

Gui Lan gave him a sly smile. "Yes. We should be safe for three days. We got time to prepare ourselves for the incoming experiments and only have to suffer for four days at most." he said.

"If it's just for four days then... the result percentage of us dying would decrease." said Xie Ye.

His word's mean that they could avoid those terrible experiments, but they only need to suffer for four days at most. As long as they survive, escaping would not be a dream. Despite that , the expressions on Li Xing, Yi Zheng and Xie Ye were still ugly and fearful. Those memories they saw from Gui Lan and Xie Ye's abilities were both inhumane and full of agony. It was a nightmare that will become their reality soon. Thinking of those scenes Li Xing and Yi Zheng couldn't stop trembling even the arm that was wrapped around Gui Lan shivered for a short moment.

Looking at the fear the three boys are showing, Xu Lun, as someone who had experienced it himself, couldn't help but click his tongue. He wanted to speak a few words but he was stopped by his friend, Yun Li beside him.

Xu Lun, "You guys!?"

Yun Li, "Stop, A'Lun!" he grabbed his clothes and pulled him back at a distance.

Xu Lun struggles at the beginning, "Don't stop me, Li'er. I'm going to tell these brats to open their eyes in reality!"

"Are you a fool?! Look at Gui Lan." whispered Yun Li to his friend.

Xu Lun looked at Gui Lan as he was told to, only to receive an icy warning from that supposed youngest child among them. His current expression doesn't fit his age. Those aquamarine orbs stared at him with warning. He could even feel the coldness within those blue green eyes. A threatening feeling that he would regret it if he spoke a few more comments of condemnation. Xu Lun felt shivers climbing up from behind him as he hurriedly averted his eyes from that gaze. Except for Li Xing and Yi Zheng wallowing in their fears, the rest saw Gui Lan's sudden change of expression.

A mischievous smile which feels made of fakery. Eyes that show indifference and aloofness that a child shouldn't possess and that overwhelming pressure from being started at. Xu Lun could even imagine an icy cold knife placed on his neck, something that could halt his life from continuing. There are no emotions except for a cold warning and threats. They felt something looming over them despite trying their hardest to run away. There is no way of escape.

Seeing that expression on Gui Lan's face, Xu Lun's words were left shut inside his mouth. Yun Li even gestured for apology in his friend's instead, but even then Gui Lan can see that Yun Li is trying his best not to avoid his eyes. Xie Ye on the other hand forgot his fear all together and remained silent the whole time. After a short silence, Gui Lan decided to comfort the two scared children.

"Didn't you guys want to leave this place?"

"W-Want. I want to leave... with A'Xing and everyone too." replied Yi Zheng.

"Me too. I want to get outside this place and be free with everyone." said Li Xing.

"Of course. I want to leave this hellish place as soon as possible!" said Xu Lun.

"I don't want to stay here. I want to read more books." replied Yun Li.

"I want to live outside with Lan'er." said Xie Ye.

Only at Xie Ye's words that Gui Lan paused his words for a moment. No one knew what he became silent like that. But it didn't take long for Gui Lan to react normally. He looked at Xie Ye and smiled.

"I wish for that too, A'Ye." replied Gui Lan. "So let's do our best to survive for 4 more days okay? After that won't we be free from this place. Let's do our best for a few more days and then everything will change after that."

Hearing his words the children were convinced and held back all their fears with determination and expectation for the future. This time what can be seen from these children's eyes was not that of despair and fear but hope for a new life and freedom.

Once Gui Lan finished calming these children, he suddenly moved his gaze and stared coldly at some corner of his room. His eyes looked so dangerous and threatening before giving away an angelic smile.

Xie Ye who noticed his movement asked, "Is something wrong, Lan'er?"

Gui Lan moved his gaze and looked at Xie Ye. "It's nothing. Just a bug. I'm sleepy, A'Ye."

"Then let's go to sleep and rest for today." replied Xie Ye while others agreed to this idea as a whole.

Room 0373 had entered in silent slumber.

Meanwhile somewhere in the institute, an adult man wearing white robes with a system like screen in front of him stood up in shock when he saw the young boy called Gui Lan looked at his direction and smiled at him. That child's appearance is extremely beautiful but according to the script his system gave him this child is supposed to be a cannon fodder.

"What the... hell is happening here? System!!"