It was dark in the emergency passage, and only the slight "creaking" sound of the metal stairs at the foot when bearing the weight was infinitely amplified in absolute silence. The air is filled with the smell of dust and old rust, which is cold and pungent. Chen Mo didn't dare to turn on any light source, so she could only rely on a glimpse of the staircase direction before coming in, and the tactile sensation coming from the cold wall with her fingertips, groping her way up.
The heart is still pounding, and every beat hits the eardrum (although he can't hear, he can feel the vibration of his chest). Su yat sen villa's phrase "someone has invited you" and the chill of communication being forcibly cut off are still lingering. The word "please" is used here, full of ominous meaning. Is it a gentle invitation or a forced take-away? Combined with Su Yat-sen's warning to "hedge", the answer is self-evident.
Who is it? Examiners within the association? Suspect that he is related to "human intervention"? Or did the reformed people infiltrate in? Or ... other forces interested in "whispering earrings" or his "new contractor"?
The stairs seem endless. In the darkness, the sense of time and space become blurred. Chen Mo could only count his own steps, and climbed about four stories. A platform appeared in front of him, and a heavy sealed door with a disc valve. There is no sign on the door, only a small, dark red emergency light, which gives off a faint light and barely illuminates the outline of the door lock.
This is the exit? Where is it outside?
Chen Mo tried to turn the disc valve. It was heavy and badly rusted, and it took him a lot of effort to unscrew it. The door shaft made a harsh friction sound, which was particularly amazing in the silence. He stopped nervously, "listened" to the ear (although he couldn't hear, his body could sense the vibration of the air and the ground), and confirmed that there was no following movement below before continuing to exert himself.
The door was finally opened a gap, and an air that was colder than the passage and smelled of soil and plants poured in. It was dark outside, and the outline of the bushes and the faint halo of the distant city could be faintly seen.
This seems to be a hidden exit on the periphery of the facility, located on the back of a green belt or hillside.
Chen Mo drilled sideways, quickly closed the sealed door behind him, and tried to screw the roulette valve back to its original state. He crouched behind the dense bushes and looked around warily.
The moonlight is blocked by clouds and the stars are sparse. His position is like a hillside, with a mowed lawn at his feet and a barbed wire fence in the distance. Outside the wall is a secluded side road, and occasionally there are lights passing by. Further away, it is the vague lights of the city. This should be the back of the association facilities, near the suburban junction.
"Old place" ... Where is the "old place" that Su Yat Sen Qing said? There is no "old place" agreed between them! Is it a code word? Or did Su Yat sen villa slip of the tongue in a hurry?
Chen Mo forced himself to think calmly. Sue yat sen villa is in an extremely urgent situation to inform him, it is impossible to say irrelevant words. The "old place" must be a place that he and Su Yat Sen know, but outsiders don't know, and is relatively safe and can meet.
The place where he and Su Yat Sen have been together ... Except within the association, there is only the former site of Red Star Cinema!
It was the source of the "faceless girl" incident, the place where they first met, and the place where Su Yat-sen invited him to come. More importantly, it is deserted and remote, which ordinary people can't avoid, but for those who know the inside story and have the ability, it may be a place where they can hide temporarily and are not easy to be tracked.
Moreover, Su Yat-sen villa asked him to consult the appendix report of "faceless woman", which is probably also suggesting this direction.
There is no time to hesitate. When the people in the archives find out that he is not here, they will definitely expand the search scope. He must leave here at once.
Chen Mo checked his equipment: the terminal, the flashlight, the alloy short stick, and the lead box of ancient mirror fragments in his backpack. Everything else is left in the dormitory. He called up the simple offline map built into the terminal (the topographic map around the association facilities is pre-installed), and quickly located his approximate position and the route to the former site of the Red Star Cinema. The distance is not too close, it takes at least an hour to walk, and most of it is a lonely road.
Can't take the road, easy to be monitored or intercepted. He decided to use the night and terrain to walk through green belts, paths and remote alleys.
He took a deep breath of cold air, tightened his backpack tightly, slipped down the hillside quietly like a shadow that melted into the night, climbed over the barbed wire that was not too high (avoiding the area where there might be sensors), and fell on the auxiliary road outside.
Without stopping, he immediately got into a bungalow area to be demolished across the road. Broken walls provided excellent cover. According to the map and the direction he remembered, he began to move towards the abandoned cinema on the other side of the city.
The city at night has faded away from the hustle and bustle of the day, showing another look. Under the dim street lights, stray cats rummaged through the garbage; There was a faint music vibration from the bar in the distance (he could feel the slight resonance from the ground); People who come home at night are in a hurry. Everything seems normal.
But Chen Mo knew that under this calm surface, there was an invisible crisis. He must always be vigilant, not only to pay attention to the tracking that may come from associations or enemies, but also to guard against "anomalies" that may pop up at any time in the shadow of the city-for example, unresolved "shadow bites" or other unknown strangeness.
He tried to choose a route covered with shadows to avoid major intersections and camera-intensive areas. Ear studs are unusually quiet at the moment, and there is no extra information or early warning, which makes him feel a little relieved, but he dare not relax completely. The tingling sensation in the left ear still exists, reminding him that his own "abnormality" is also with him.
Sneaking for more than an hour, nervous and tired. When he finally saw the outline of the red star cinema like the remains of a huge monster in the night, his back was soaked with cold sweat.
The iron gate of the cinema wall is still left unlocked. He looked around warily and confirmed that there was no sign of ambush or surveillance before he quickly flicker in.
The deserted Little Square is more dilapidated than it was last time, and the fallen leaves pile up thicker. The broken windows of the cinema are like empty eyes, peeping at the intruders. The peculiar smell of dust and mildew in the air is still strong, and there is a little dew and moisture at night.
Will Su Yat Sen be in it? Or is this just a temporary meeting point indication?
Chen Mo didn't rush into the building. He hid behind a pile of construction waste, turned on the short-range scanning function of the terminal (the range is only about 10 meters), and tried to send an encrypted and extremely short positioning pulse signal to Su Yat-sen through the terminal-this is an emergency one-way contact method agreed during training, indicating "I have arrived near the designated area".
After the signal was given, he waited with bated breath.
One minute, two minutes ... No response. The night wind blew, only the rustling of dead leaves.
Just when Chen Mo began to doubt his misjudgment, or when Su Yat sen villa had suffered an accident, suddenly there was a very weak but unusually clear vibration-not an information flow, but a specific and rhythmic vibration mode!
He knew this vibration pattern, which was one of several simple "secret words" that Su Yat-sen taught him temporarily in order to cope with the extreme situation that he could not communicate by voice or text during training. It means: "safe, hidden, come with me."
The vibration came from the right rear of the cinema building, which was originally the direction of the low annex building of the boiler room or utility room!
Su yat sen villa is inside! Moreover, she used a secret language that only the two of them knew, indicating that the situation was still urgent and needed to be hidden.
Chen Mo spirit a flap, immediately shut down all the equipment that may emit light sources or signals, lower his body, along the shadow of the wall, and move quickly in the direction of vibration indication.
The door of the annex was half collapsed and it was dark inside. Chen Mo paused at the door, and there was a short vibration from the ear nail again: "Enter."
He entered sideways. It is full of abandoned tables, chairs and sundries, and the air is dirty. After his eyes adapted to the darkness, he could barely see that in the innermost corner, under the cover of a pile of worn canvas, there was extremely weak and strictly shielded light.
He walked over carefully and lifted a corner of the canvas.
Behind the canvas is a small space made of waste boards, which can just accommodate two or three people. Sue yat sen villa is sitting inside, looking unusually pale and even a little transparent in the background of emergency electro luminescent. The metal mask on her face is still there, but there seems to be two more cracks, and even a slight peeling off at the edge. One of her arms hung unnaturally, and there was a dark, dried-up stain on her sleeve, like blood.
Seeing Chen Mo, her eyes lit up behind the mask, but then they were covered with deeper fatigue. She made a gesture of silence, and then said in a very low breath (captured by Chen Mo through the bone conduction module): "Close the canvas and sit down. There is not much time. "
The silence did so, squeezed into this narrow space and sat opposite her. In the narrow space, I can smell faint blood smell and a kind of burnt smell similar to electronic components after overload, coming from Su Yat sen villa.
"What's the matter? Who wants to arrest me? Are you hurt? " Chen Mo asked eagerly in sign language.
Sue yat sen villa gently shook his head, some difficult action. "It is a person within the association, and the' inspection team' directly under the Action Department. Nominally, it is' please' to cooperate with the investigation on whether the abnormal logic fragments you perceive in the' shadow bite' incident are related to the clues of' human intervention' ... But their authorization level is very high and the timing is too opportune. I suspect that someone is behind it and the purpose is not pure. "
She took a breath and continued: "I got wind and wanted to inform you in advance, but my communication was monitored." We can only risk using encrypted physical media and emergency channels to lure you out. It took a little effort to get rid of them and suffered a little injury. " She glanced at her hanging arm. "It's just a dislocation. It's been dealt with. The main reason is that [camouflage mask] is overused, and it is a bit heavy. "
Chen Mo looked at her pale face and the broken mask, knowing that it was not just a "minor injury" or "a little heavy".
"Why? They suspect me? " Chen Mo was angry and puzzled.
"It's not necessarily personal." Sue yat sen villa eyes cold, "may just want to control you, as a bargaining chip, or through you to test me, even the people behind me. Factional struggle within the association is dirtier than you think. Some people don't want us to continue to investigate the matter of' human intervention' in depth, or ... want to make this pool more muddy. "
She paused and looked at Chen Mo: "Did you see Appendix 7 I showed you?"
Chen Mo nodded and repeated the clues about "Old Ghost" and "The Gallery on the Other Side" in sign language.
"well. The death of' old ghost' is too' clean', like professional silence. Although the line of' the other side gallery' is weak, it appears at this time and has to be checked. " Sue yat sen villa voice lower, "I suspect that JiZhaZu sudden action, may also be related to this clue. Some people don't want us to keep digging. "
"So what do we do now?" Chen Mo felt weak. There is a strange threat before, and there is an internal stab in the back. He and Su Yat sen villa seem to be trapped in an invisible net.
Su yat sen villa's eyes flashed a sharp: "since they don't want us to check, then we should check even more." Moreover, it is necessary to bypass formal channels and check privately. "
Struggling to sit up straight, she pulled out a flat, non-association old communicator and a miniature data storage from her close-fitting pocket.
"This is the backup channel I used to perform some' gray tasks', and it will not be covered by the regular monitoring of the association in theory." She handed the storage to Chen Mo. "There are public information of' The Other Side Gallery' and some marginal information that I collected privately and didn't enter into the archives of the Association. There is also a speculative map of the possible activity trajectory of the' old ghost' in the last few days before his death. "
"Your task is to make use of your identity (not officially wanted by the association for the time being, but just' invited') and the perceptual ability of' whispering earrings' to try to get close to the' other shore gallery' and find out its details to see if it is really related to the' faceless woman' incident and even the human intervention of' shadow bite'."
Chen Mo took the storage and felt heavy. This is not only a task, but also a trust and an extremely dangerous independent action.
"What about you?" He looked anxiously at Sue yat sen villa's injury.
"I need time to recover, and I have to deal with the questioning of the inspection team over there. I will try to delay and create time for you. " Sue yat sen villa breath a sigh of relief, "remember, Chen Mo, this operation without any backup, completely in the dark. Everything is on your own. Don't trust anyone, including some seemingly friendly members of the association. See with your eyes and listen with your ears. If you find anything wrong, give up immediately and save yourself. Your safety and your sister's future now depend on you. "
She untied the light dagger from her waist (it is contracting like a short stick at the moment) and handed it to Chen Mo: "Take this with you for self-defense. Energy can be used two or three times. Save it. "
Chen Mo took the light Bi, slightly heavy, with Sue yat sen villa's temperature.
"My sister ..." He couldn't let go of Chen Yu the most.
"Chen Yu in the medical department, is safe for the time being. No matter how arrogant the inspection team is, it dare not lay hands on the protected pollution victims in the open. But it's hard to say after a long time. " Sue yat sen villa looked at him, "so, you have to be quick. Find clues, or at least confirm whether the' other side gallery' is dangerous, so that we can have the next plan. "
Chen Mo nodded heavily and carefully put away the storage and light Bi. He knew that from this moment on, he really stepped into the gray area of this world, facing the double threats from human beings and strange ones alone.
"What should I do? Go directly to the' other shore gallery'? "
"No, it's too abrupt." Su yat sen villa shook his head. "The other side gallery is in a neighboring city, ostensibly for high-end art investment and exhibition. You need a suitable identity to approach. There is a contact information and a verification code in the memory. Go and find a person named' Old Cat'. He has some connections in the antique and intelligence gray areas of the two cities and owes me one. He will help you find a suitable identity and provide some initial assistance. Remember, don't trust him completely, just trade. "
She looked at the time displayed on the terminal: "You have to leave the city before dawn, otherwise the inspection team is likely to expand the search scope. The contact information and meeting place of' Old Cat' are also in the memory. Let's go and be careful. "
Chen Mo knew that it was time to part. He looked at Su Yat-sen, who was weak but with firm eyes, nodded vigorously and gestured in sign language: "Take care. Wait for my news. "
Sue yat sen villa nodded slightly, and the corners of her mouth under the mask seemed to move, trying to say something, but finally she just waved.
Chen Mo no longer hesitated, lifted the canvas, and quietly left this temporary shelter like a ghost in the night, taking the first step forward alone towards the unknown danger and truth.
The night is thick and the road ahead is uncertain.