Chapter Twenty-Eight: Jin Ling
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Uptown District, a luxurious apartment building.
Jin Ling had just returned home after a day’s work. She walked from the entrance to the bathroom, shedding her clothes along the way, and stepped barefoot into the bathtub. The water was just right.
Settling into a comfortable position, she let the massage jets soothe away the fatigue of the day.
The apartment was vast, extravagantly furnished, with every convenience at her fingertips. Compared to the Lower District, it was a world of excess, bordering on decadent luxury.
Yet Jin Ling felt no sense of belonging here. She had always sensed she would leave someday, venture beyond Uptown, to the wilderness and the Lower District, to feel the biting wind, the scorching sun, the extremes of temperature.
Her colleagues at the martial arts studio said she was oblivious to her good fortune, warning her that everything outside Uptown was savage, and only here did human civilization persist.
Jin Ling never argued. She carried a secret within her—a secret about the true nature of Uptown.
Uptown was never a paradise, nor the continuation of civilization. It was merely an illusion conjured by those people; its surface prosperity masked a core riddled with fractures.
Certainly, living in Uptown, Jin Ling had her own luxury apartment, a salaried job, and no need to brave the elements or fear threats from the outside.
But that was all.
Life for Uptown residents was a closed loop; their futures had already been mapped out. They lived in a greenhouse, repeating the same days, wasting time amidst apparent merriment until their lifespans ended, then they were boxed away.
For most survivors, this carefree existence after the disaster was a gift akin to heaven.
But the longer Jin Ling stayed, the more she felt like livestock penned in.
She knew how Uptown had come to be, how its residents were selected; her presence here was an accident.
Especially after she unexpectedly developed a telepathic link with Zheng Nanfang, Meng Chang, and Lorie, her rejection of Uptown grew stronger. Through the perspectives of Zheng Nanfang and Meng Chang, she gradually learned more about the world outside.
Uptown was sealed; those who entered alive could never leave alive.
Thus, Jin Ling had long suspected that the so-called Last Road Revelry Race was nothing but a scam from start to finish.
The prize for the race was entry to Uptown—yet those wild souls from outside, how could they settle peacefully in Uptown?
Did the people of the Lower District really yearn for Uptown? Could Uptown ever accept them?
Uptown and the Lower District were two utterly distinct worlds. Since their divergence, they should never, and could never, intersect.
Later, a week before the race began, a massive satellite projection screen appeared in Uptown.
That day, Jin Ling suddenly understood. The Last Road Revelry Race was merely entertainment for Uptown—a televised spectacle.
...
Jin Ling told Zheng Nanfang what she'd seen. So Zheng Nanfang set out from the west, intent on joining the race.
His thinking was simple: he'd planned to circle the island anyway, and Uptown was an unavoidable part of the route.
If all of Uptown would witness the race, he could use the event to break through its gates. Perhaps, then, people on the island would see him, would realize that the old vow made years ago was coming due—and it was time to decide.
Meng Chang tried to stop Zheng Nanfang’s straightforward plan, telling him things were far more complicated.
The forces overseeing Hive research and those organizing the race were not a single entity; there were many tangled, unknown threads. After the Hive emerged, one faction began the race for reasons hard to explain, but clearly, it was more than just a gory, adult spectacle.
Meng Chang believed the race was connected to the Hive, perhaps a battleground between two rival powers.
In the end, the three agreed: Zheng Nanfang would compete, while the others provided support.
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Winning the race didn't matter—they hoped Zheng Nanfang would uncover something unknown to Jin Ling and Meng Chang, to help them judge the true purpose behind it all.
They had no intention of confronting the powers behind the scenes; each had their own goal, simply using the race as a means.
Jin Ling wanted to leave Uptown. Meng Chang hoped to study the Hive independently, free from oversight. Zheng Nanfang, from beginning to end, had only one aim: to circle the island.
Lorie’s arrival made their alliance even stronger.
None had expected that the soft-spoken child actually lived on the island.
Unfortunately, Lorie was too young, innocent, and ignorant. She could offer no information.
...
Jin Ling once chatted with Zheng Nanfang, curious about his obsession with the island and his identity.
He was young, yet mature at times, seldom mentioning his past. Jin Ling and Meng Chang only knew he came from the west.
During early telepathic exchanges, Jin Ling had glimpsed his vision—a grove of red trees swaying in the wind, shadows dancing, beautiful scenes absent from Uptown.
She asked him where it was. He replied vaguely: "Home."
After that, Jin Ling didn't ask further. Everyone has secrets and things they'd rather not discuss. Perhaps his fixation with the island was not complicated after all.
...
Night deepened; the bathwater cooled.
Jin Ling stood, wrapped her hair in a towel, left the bathroom naked, trailing wet footprints to the bedroom.
A small night lamp glowed softly. The bed exuded the unique fragrance of a solitary woman.
She lifted a leg onto the bed, carefully massaging lotion from thigh to foot, from waist to chest, gentle and unhurried.
Finishing her nighttime routine, she dried her hair, switched off the lamp, slipped under the covers, reached toward the vanity, then withdrew her hand.
The moonlight was hazy; a cool night breeze stirred the curtains, wind chimes tinkled.
A hand grasped the wind chime, silently standing beside the bed, examining Jin Ling’s sleeping face in the watery moonlight.
After a long time, hearing Jin Ling’s steady breathing, the figure beckoned behind. More shadows emerged from the living room and kitchen, blocking the door.
The figure by the bed produced a spray bottle, aimed at Jin Ling’s face, and gave a quick spray.
Waiting a few minutes, the figure patted Jin Ling’s cheek.
She did not react, utterly unconscious.
The figure switched on the night lamp, revealing a black uniform, and said to those outside, “Leave everything as it is. Wait for the experts.” Then, bending down, he lifted Jin Ling and left.
At the apartment entrance, two more uniformed men stood guard. Seeing the man carrying Jin Ling, they nodded, waited for the elevator, and sent the pair down.
'Ding.'
The elevator stopped on the ground floor. The uniformed man carried Jin Ling out, placed her in a black SUV waiting outside.
Inside, only the driver, who glanced back and smiled, “That was easy.”
“She wasn’t prepared. We acted fast,” replied the uniformed man, settling Jin Ling in the seat and lighting a cigarette.
“Perfect,” said the driver, starting the car and speeding onto Uptown’s broadest avenue.
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The driver was young and talkative, asking endless questions, but the man in the back replied only curtly.
The car sped through the dazzling city lights, the night scenery flashing by, finally entering a tunnel.
The tunnel was long; near its end, armored vehicles lined the sides, their occupants in identical uniforms, the vehicles emblazoned with the letters RCA.
The car slowed to a stop at a row of barricades. An armed uniformed man tapped the window.
The driver lowered the glass, flashed his badge, and smiled, “Southern Laboratory, I have a pass.”
The armed man nodded, whistled to his team, then released the barricade and pressed the button to open the seamless alloy gate.
Outside, the wind howled. The night was deep, the road ahead obscured.
The car started up again, passed through the gate, and plunged into the wilderness.
Beyond the gate, the road was rough; the car jolted violently. The young driver frowned, struggling with the wheel, switched on the headlights, illuminating wild grass ahead.
Jin Ling, still unconscious, slumped against the uniformed man’s shoulder; the blanket slipped, revealing her fragrant body.
The driver ogled her pale skin in the rearview mirror, unable to help but sigh, “What a privilege.”
“Just drive,” the uniformed man grunted.
The driver grinned, probing, “No perks? We came all this way.”
The uniformed man shot him a glare, then chuckled, shaking his head, “Behave yourself. This is a mission. Don’t think about nonsense.”
“The mission’s almost done anyway,” the driver quipped, smacking his lips. “Just a touch, alright?”
“Get lost,” the uniformed man laughed, handing him a cigarette. “Focus on driving. Once this is over, you can play in Uptown as much as you like.”
“Stingy,” the driver bit his cigarette, rolling his eyes, still unwilling to let it go. “Then you touch her for me, just tell me how it feels.”
“Brat,” the uniformed man snorted, laughing. “Aren’t there women in the experimental zone? So impatient. You know what they say—desire is a blade above the head.”
“Old relic,” the driver muttered, giving up.
The uniformed man shook his head, glanced at the pale body leaning on his shoulder, his throat tightening. When the driver wasn’t looking, he quietly slid his hand between Jin Ling’s thighs.
Jin Ling lay limply, utterly unaware. After a moment, his fingers felt a warm, slick sensation.
“Heh heh,” the uniformed man chuckled.
The driver asked, “What’s funny?”
“Nothing—hmm?” The uniformed man paused. Looking down, he saw two long, beautiful legs twist together, trapping his hand.
Jin Ling’s palm flipped, pushing open the blade slot, and the razor swept across the uniformed man’s throat.
The driver felt heat behind his head, as if doused in boiling water. Hearing strange noises from the back, he turned, catching a glimpse of a pale, flat belly just as a cold blade sliced his throat.
The SUV sat motionless in the wilderness for several minutes. The door opened; two heavy objects were tossed out, and the car moved off again.
Jin Ling wiped the blood from her face, rolled down the window to let the smoky air escape, and then a gust of wind swept in—a wind called freedom.
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