Chapter 184: Being Targeted
“It’s good to be young, Uncle envies you too!” Ling Zhongwen returned to normal, looking at Xia Chenge and Ling Hanmu with doting eyes, “But Xiao Mu, boys should let girls have their way more, you can’t be so calculative about everything.”
“Did you hear that? Uncle is on my side.” Xia Chenge snorted, looking triumphantly at Ling Hanmu.
Ling Hanmu pouted, “Understood, Uncle.”
“Alright, let’s eat quickly. You’ve been filming all day, you must be starving?” Ling Zhongwen said with concern.
“Starving, the boxed meals on set aren’t good,” Xia Chenge said.
“Then starting tomorrow, let the family send meals over for you? Filming is filming, but you’re still growing, your nutrition needs to keep up,” Ling Zhongwen said.
Xia Chenge shook her head, “Mmm~ No need, everyone eats like this, it’s not good to be special.”
Ling Zhongwen smiled upon hearing this and didn’t pursue the topic further.
The meal passed with a seemingly harmonious atmosphere, but with everyone harboring their own thoughts.
Ling Zhongwen repeatedly urged Ling Hanmu to ensure Xia Chenge arrived home safely before driving away.
Upon returning to Rende Hospital, he avoided others and quietly entered the morgue.
The morgue was pitch black and extremely eerie.
Ling Zhongwen skillfully made his way to the very back of the morgue. No one would have guessed that behind an ordinary wall, a brightly lit world lay hidden, starkly different from the morgue’s gloom.
The setup here was similar to the laboratory where Xia Chenge was brought last time, just much smaller. There were very few experimental subjects here, and only three researchers.
Seeing Ling Zhongwen arrive, all three stopped their work.
“How is it?” Ling Zhongwen asked, “Any progress?”
The three shook their heads, clearly still at a standstill.
“Ling Hanmu’s episodes have been more frequent lately. I plan to contact the other side to proceed with the second stage of the experiment. Prepare yourselves, it could start at any moment,” Ling Zhongwen said, his usual gentleness replaced by a cold and sinister expression.
“Didn’t we have to wait until he’s twenty to start?” the three were somewhat taken aback, “If we start early, will there be any problems?”
“Are you in charge, or am I?” Ling Zhongwen glared at them sternly.
The three lowered their heads, not daring to speak.
“When the opportunity arises, I will bring Xia Chenge here too. This little girl holds many secrets, perhaps we can find a breakthrough from her,” Ling Zhongwen added sinisterly.
“She doesn’t seem to have undergone any experiments, she should just be a normal person,” one of them said.
“Don’t you question why those two old men from the Xia family can stand up? Current medical technology cannot restore them to normal. From the moment Xia Chenge’s consciousness returned to normal, things concerning the Xia family began to deviate from the expected course,” Ling Zhongwen said.
“Perhaps the answers we seek lie with Xia Chenge. Don’t easily dismiss anomalies; sometimes, they might be exactly what we’re pursuing.”
The three remained silent.
“How are they?” Ling Zhongwen pointed to the person submerged in liquid inside a large glass tube.
“Not successful, the rejection reaction is severe. The data from the previous laboratory was destroyed, and we cannot restore it.”
Upon hearing this, Ling Zhongwen clenched his fist and slammed it onto a nearby iron bed, “Damn it!”
What kind of accident happened that day for Ling Hanmu to suddenly wake up, destroy the laboratory, but leave Xia Chenge behind? Under normal circumstances, Ling Hanmu shouldn’t have been able to unleash such potential!
“You all continue,” Ling Zhongwen, with a furrowed brow, walked past them and entered the laboratory’s office.
As soon as the office door closed, the three breathed a sigh of relief, wiping sweat from their foreheads.
Ling Zhongwen opened his computer, feeling somewhat agitated.
If not for that accident, everything would have gone smoothly.
Now, due to the lost data, everything had to start from scratch. Because, in order to prevent others from obtaining all the data on human experimentation, the laboratory’s division of labor was extremely strict, with no room for overstepping. Now, it felt like lifting a rock only to drop it on his own feet.
He had been researching the human body since he was sixteen, and it had been 21 years. Back then, unable to find living subjects, he had designed the children of his own family. All the others perished, and only Ling Hanmu survived.
Apart from the uncontrollable bursts of potential, everything else was quite satisfactory.
“Ling Hanmu is my research, I will not, and cannot, hand him over to you!” Ling Zhongwen’s eyes turned cold as he thought of the people behind him, “The world is so big, haven’t you succeeded with even one case?”
As long as Ling Hanmu’s second stage experiment was successful, Ling Hanmu would be the perfect experimental subject.
This meant that all human diseases would be conquered, human combat power could be qualitatively improved, and humans could even break through natural laws, with no more old age…
“This will be the greatest milestone in human history!” Ling Zhongwen’s smile, illuminated by the computer screen, was both sinister and ferocious.
Meanwhile, Ling Hanmu, whom he was thinking of, had just sent Xia Chenge home. As he was about to bid her farewell, he suddenly sneezed.
“Are you catching a cold?” Xia Chenge’s nerves tensed, “Are you too tired from filming? How about you rest for a couple of days!”
“I’m fine, I’m not catching a cold, don’t worry.” Ling Hanmu held her arm and smiled slightly, “But I’m very happy that little brother cares about me so much.”
“Silly, still smiling!” Xia Chenge pushed him lightly, now certain he wasn’t sick.
It wasn’t that she was being overly cautious; when you like someone, you naturally don’t want to see them in any trouble. Moreover, Ling Hanmu was a ticking time bomb, and the slightest disturbance would make her anxious.
“Little brother, I promised you I would live well, so no matter what, I will grit my teeth and persevere,” Ling Hanmu hugged Xia Chenge, murmuring his promise in her ear.
“Mmm, I believe you,” Xia Chenge wrapped her arms around his waist, “Anytime.”
Ling Hanmu chuckled and tightened his embrace.
“Xiao Mu, I’ll be heading back now. Be careful on your way,” Xia Chenge pulled away from his embrace and looked up at him.
She really wished she could turn eighteen soon and get her driver’s license, then she could drive Ling Hanmu.
“Okay,” Ling Hanmu’s eyes were full of smiles as he nodded.
Xia Chenge turned and walked inside. Ling Hanmu watched her with a smile until she disappeared behind the flower trellis, then he withdrew his smile, resumed his usual expression, and got into the car to leave.
Hearing the car engine, Xia Chenge quietly emerged from behind the flower trellis.
In the dark night, her figure was well hidden in the shadows of the flower trellis. Her bright eyes were like the most dazzling star in the sky. Only after Ling Hanmu’s car disappeared did she turn and slowly walk towards the house.
The thought of Ling Zhongwen inviting them to dinner that evening made Xia Chenge’s mood turn heavy.
She had tested him; was he planning to make another move?
