Chapter 15 Part2 (1/2)
Birthday week day 6 of 7.
Has Cheng Muyun found the mole?
Chapter 15.2 — From h.e.l.l it Came, as h.e.l.l it shall Stay (2)
This story was translated with the express permission of the author for hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. All forms of reproduction, redistribution, or reposting are not authorized, except by linking to hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. If you are not reading this from hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com, the copy is unauthorized and has been taken without consent of the translator.
Picture after picture flashed across Cheng Jiayi's mind. Incidents, speculations—all of them began to link up together.
Tests. They were all tests. Each one appeared to be a very direct and effective test.
Would you, knowing that Cheng Muyun at any minute might want to take your life, dare calmly and undauntedly eat something that he handed to you?
Would you, knowing that he suspected you and did not trust you, still risk your life and rush in to save him, exchanging your life for his to bring him out alive?
So long as you were the mole, you would hesitate. The more cautious you were, the more he would suspect you.
Because you could not guess what Cheng Muyun would do, you were afraid at all times that you would be killed, and so you would tread as if on thin ice, being careful in absolutely everything.
With each action of his, you did not know, was it a test? Or was he using this to kill you off?<>Copyright of Fanatical, hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. Translated with the express permission of the author for hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. If you are not reading this from hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com, the translation has been taken without consent of the translator.
Perverse tests.
But in the Moscow operations team, everyone was perverse.
Here, there were people all around who were the same type as Cheng Muyun and Zhou Ke, all of them carrying the creed-like att.i.tude of ”those who are my brothers must all die after me.”
Here, there was only absolute trust, the trust where one would give one's own life in exchange for another's life.
This almost mad, ruthless, senseless method of using one's own life as a way to test others was most suitable for this ”h.e.l.l's Ops Team”… Only a madman could come up with this method. And only madmen who genuinely followed him with all their hearts could get through this type of perverse trap.
The shackles on her disappeared.<>Please support this translation at hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com instead
Slowly, powerlessly, Cheng Jiayi turned around and pushed her back against the wall, trying desperately to find something she could lean upon, rely upon. Spates of heat flooded her body, yet cold sweat broke out on her.
Ice and fire both seemed to explode in her body, devouring away her consciousness, her mind, and her courage.
He pulled out a black gun from behind his back and tossed it onto the floor.
”You should be grateful to Zhou Ke.” With the tip of his boot, Cheng Muyun kicked the gun to her. ”It is because of him that you have been granted the right to point a gun at your own head.” Otherwise, the punishment absolutely would not be that easy.
Cheng Jiayi pressed herself into the wall. The cold draft in the corridor poured relentlessly into the openings at the cuffs of her sleeves and neckline. She helplessly tried, in this dimness, to get a clear look at Cheng Muyun's face. Even if there was the slightest hint of a hope at life…
She did not want to die, not at all…<>Please support this translation at hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com instead
In the darkness that surrounded her, the continual echoes of the safety catch being switched to ”on” incited her nerves.
This was telling her, ”With just this gun, you do not even need to think of trying to escape. Letting you end your own life is already the greatest kindness in the world that can be bestowed on you.”
Her fingers slowly unfurled, and bit by bit, they extended toward that gun. When contact was made, she swiftly picked it up and, summoning all her courage, grasped the gun grip forcefully. ”Could you let me, in a quiet place…”
Her voice was barely audible. She was pleading with him.<>Please read this at hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com
”Regrettably, I cannot.” When Cheng Muyun spoke this sentence, his voice was flat and devoid of emotion. Word by word, he told her, ”You know, my dear, that I am a person who is most skilled in faking his own death. For people like us, we should not be merciful with our enemies. Watching them die with our own eyes and confirming that the body has grown completely cold is the safest way. This is common knowledge.”
This is common knowledge…<>This UNAUTHORIZED copy was taken from hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com
In such a short period of time, her back was already drenched with cold sweat.
The fear of death was very real, so real that she did not even dare believe that all this was true. She needed only to finish this final mission, find leads, and locate that relic with the image of Buddha…
”Cheng Muyun, do you not even want to know why I betrayed you?”
Cheng Muyun remained silent, not answering.<>Please read this at hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com instead
He did not want to know. Every betrayal in this world has its own reason behind it, especially when the betrayal is against one's own brothers and comrades. But he did not want to hear it. After tonight, there would be someone responsible for pulling the records and investigating every detail of every day, every minute, every second of the life of this woman before him. That meant there would be yet another great purge that was bound to implicate many people.
The final report would tell everyone what had actually happened.
But what Cheng Muyun wanted to do was simply to find the person who was the source of the problem and do away with her.<>Copyright of Fanatical, hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. Translated with the express permission of the author for hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. If you are not reading this from hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com, the translation has been taken without consent of the translator.
”Tell my mom,” Cheng Jiayi sobbingly begged him, ”you must tell her that I…”
”I will tell her that you betrayed me and our entire family clan.”
A shudder went through her whole body. Practically on the verge of breakdown, she leaned forcefully against the wall, sobbing, ”Cheng Muyun, you're my older brother! You cannot do this to me…”
”Is that so? Why can I not do this to you?”<>Please read this at hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com instead
Those eyes were cast downward—cold, penetrating, judging.
She even had a sense that Cheng Muyun had returned—the he of ten years ago had wholly, completely returned.
Those were not eyes that belonged to a person. Behind those pitch-black eyes, there seemed to be concealed another icy set of eyes, deep amber, with a narrow slit running vertically through them, like the cruelest venomous snake that never saw light. What was mercy? What was forgiveness?
He did not know, did not comprehend those things.<>Please read this at hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com instead
……<>Copyright of Fanatical, hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. Translated with the express permission of the author for hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. If you are not reading this from hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com, the translation has been taken without consent of the translator.
The endless, stifling wait finally brought about the single sound of a gunshot.
The man who had been standing in the darkness stepped forward. His icy fingers brushed over Cheng Jiayi's neck and also several other places. Only after unemotionally verifying that this body held no signs of life did he slowly crouch down. His hand stroked over the top of her head, feeling on his palm and the pads of his fingers her soft hairs that had been soaked with the cold sweat of fear before she died.
Cheng Muyun half-crouched in front of Cheng Jiayi's corpse, his body displaying an eerie posture. It was as if the ground before him was strewn with corpses. Each face was so distinct, just as before.