kingnovel Chapter 1404 Yunrui's Sincere Devotion: Azure Eagle & Assistant Zhou
Chapter 1404 Yunrui's Sincere Devotion: Azure Eagle & Assistant Zhou
A restless excitement permeated the air in Black Rock Village. The smell of alcohol and tobacco drifted into the main laboratory on the wind, mixing with the pungent odor of chemical reagents to create a suffocating and bizarre atmosphere.
Assistant Zhou carried a bowl of warm porridge and pushed open the door to the underground cell. The metal hinges made a jarring creaking sound as they turned, which was particularly jarring in the quiet corridor.
This was his eighth year entering this prison as "Shen Chengyu's confidant," but it was the first time he had seriously examined Gu Yunxi, who was imprisoned here, from the perspective of an undercover police officer known as "Eagle."
Gu Yunxi sat on the bed in the corner of the cell, her back against the cold wall, her knees bent, and her arms wrapped around her calves.
She was wearing a faded prison uniform with a torn collar, and faint bruises remained on her exposed neck—marks left a few days ago when Shen Chengyu had been shoved by guards because of the slow progress of his experiment.
Her hair was somewhat disheveled, with a few stray strands clinging to her sweaty forehead. Her face was almost translucent with paleness, and her lips were chapped and peeling, clearly the result of long-term dehydration and lack of sleep.
But what made the eagle's heart clench most was her eyes.
Gone was the anger and resistance of the previous interrogation, and the emptiness of despair. Now her eyes were as calm as a deep pool as she looked down at her hands.
Those were the hands of a scientific researcher, with long, slender fingers covered in tiny scars. The fingertips bore indelible traces of chemical reagents, and in some places, thin scabs of blood remained—the marks left from when she deliberately cut herself with shards of glass to create an "accident" in order to delay her experiment.
"Mr. Shen asked me to bring some food over." Cangying deliberately lowered his voice, maintaining the usual indifferent tone of "Assistant Zhou," but his gaze couldn't help but linger on her for a few more seconds.
As a police officer, he had seen too many victims—some crying out, some collapsing, some numb—but he rarely saw someone like Gu Yunxi, who maintained a sliver of clarity and restraint even in dire straits.
Gu Yunxi raised her head, her eyes devoid of any emotion. She merely glanced at him indifferently, without replying or moving.
Cangying placed the bowl of porridge on the small table by the cell door. His fingertips touched the warmth of the bowl, and a complex emotion welled up inside him. He had specially asked the kitchen to cook this porridge, adding brown sugar and red dates, hoping to provide her with some nutrition.
As "Assistant Zhou," he was supposed to follow Shen Chengyu's orders and only provide her with food to sustain her life; but as an undercover police officer named Cangying, he couldn't stand by and watch an innocent woman be tortured like this.
"Eat something." His voice was a few decibels lower than usual, with a hint of barely perceptible gentleness. "After the celebration banquet, Mr. Shen will ask you to speed up the experiment. You won't be able to keep going without eating something."
Gu Yunxi's eyes flickered, as if she was pondering the meaning behind his words. She remained silent for a moment, then slowly stood up and walked to the small table to sit down. Her movements were very light, but her weakness was still evident; every step she took seemed to require a great deal of effort.
The eagle stood at the cell door, not leaving, its gaze fixed on her profile. The dim light cast a faint shadow on her face, outlining her delicate yet haggard features. She picked up a spoon and sipped her porridge slowly and gracefully, her dignity intact even in such dire straits.
“Mr. Shen has high expectations for you.” Eagle suddenly spoke, breaking the silence. His tone remained as calm as “Assistant Zhou,” but he was subtly conveying the message: “He said that if ‘Nightingale’ succeeds, you will be free.”
Gu Yunxi paused in her porridge-drinking motion, looked up, and a hint of wariness flashed in her eyes: "What do you want to say?"
“It’s nothing.” Eagle avoided her gaze and looked towards the corridor outside the cell. “Just reminding you that discretion is the better part of valor. Mr. Shen’s patience is limited, so stop making futile resistance.” His voice was low. “Sometimes, learning to ‘cooperate’ is the only way to get the desired result.”
"Cooperate?" Gu Yunxi's lips curled into a self-deprecating smile. "Do you think I'm a naive and innocent girl?"
Eagle's heart skipped a beat. Looking at the unwavering determination in her eyes, he suddenly remembered his original intention as a policeman—to uphold justice and protect the innocent. Now, however, he could only lurk in the shadows, disguised as "Assistant Zhou," watching helplessly as justice was trampled upon.
“Some things aren’t as they seem.” He lowered his voice, so that only the two of them could hear him. “Mr. Shen’s celebration banquet will have many ‘guests’ coming. With so many people around, chaos can sometimes be an opportunity.”
Gu Yunxi's eyes sharpened instantly as she stared intently at him: "What exactly do you mean?"
The Eagle didn't answer directly, but instead gave her a deep look, his eyes filled with complex emotions—guilt, determination, and a subtle hint. He knew he couldn't be too explicit; revealing his identity as "The Eagle" would not only prevent him from rescuing Gu Yunxi, but would also ruin eight years of infiltration.
"Eat well and conserve your energy." He resumed his "Assistant Zhou" cold tone, turned to leave, and said, "I will deliver the food on time. If you need anything, just let me know."
"Wait a minute." Gu Yunxi called out to him, her eyes full of doubt. "You and Shen Chengyu are different."
The eagle paused, straightening its back even more—a posture befitting a policeman, utterly different from the humility of "Assistant Zhou." It didn't turn around, but simply said, "In Black Rock Village, no one is different."
After saying that, he quickly walked out of the cell and closed the metal door.
The moment the door closed, he leaned against the cold wall and took a deep breath. Those few minutes alone with Gu Yunxi had been torture for "The Eagle"...
Inside the cell, Gu Yunxi stared at the steaming porridge on the table, her eyes filled with confusion. She pondered Zhou's words repeatedly: "Chaos can also be an opportunity."
The unspoken message in those words, "Only by learning to cooperate can we achieve the desired results," stirred something within her.
She could sense that this seemingly gloomy and cold "Assistant Zhou," who always followed Shen Chengyu, was indeed different from Shen Chengyu.
There was no greed or cruelty in his eyes when he looked at her; in fact, just now, she had caught a glimpse of a subtle tenderness and compassion.
Was he also coerced by Shen Chengyu? Or does he have another identity and a different purpose?
Gu Yunxi's fingers tightened slightly as she gripped the spoon, her gaze fixed on the bowl of steaming porridge.
The red dates in the porridge floated on the surface, emitting a faint sweet aroma, completely out of place in this dark and damp cell—this wasn't the kind of "treatment" Shen Chengyu would allow; it was more like a subtle form of care. She looked up at the tightly closed metal door, as if she could see the figure in the black suit and gold-rimmed glasses through the door, and her doubts deepened.
In the corridor outside the door, the eagle was still leaning against the cold wall, its fingertips still feeling the warmth of the bowl of porridge it had just held.
The sensation was like a faint electric current, spreading from his fingertips throughout his body, disrupting his eight-year-old "Assistant Zhou" thought process...