Chapter 109. To See Shen Ji
Yasuo, dressed in plain clothes, followed closely at her side, his eyes vigilantly scanning the surroundings.
When they reached the door of the confinement room, the Team 2 Sentinels guarding it immediately stood up straight.
Seeing Su Tang approach, the lead Sentinel took a proactive step forward, his tone respectful.
“Guide Su Tang, Captain Shen Ji is waiting for you inside.”
Su Tang nodded to the Sentinel, her voice airy and lacking strength.
“Please open the door.”
“You’re very kind.”
The Sentinel opened the door. Su Tang and Yasuo exchanged a glance, and then Su Tang took the lead and walked inside.
Yasuo was about to follow when he was stopped by the Sentinel on the side.
“Pardon me, Captain Yasuo, please stay back. Our Captain instructed that this is a private matter with Guide Su, and no one else is allowed inside.”
“Private matter? I think he has a guilty conscience and doesn’t dare let me go in with her.”
Yasuo immediately flared up, shoving away the arm blocking him. He grabbed Su Tang’s wrist and pulled her back toward the exit.
“Su Tang, let’s go. This madman has no good intentions. We don’t need to see him today.”
As he spoke, he turned to take Su Tang away.
“Yasuo.”
Su Tang pulled him back and looked inside the door, her voice calm.
“I’ll be fine. Just wait outside; I’ll be out soon.”
“Don’t forget what we agreed on before we came. If I haven’t come out after half an hour, I’ll have to trouble Captain Yasuo to help.”
Su Tang said this intentionally in front of the Team 2 Sentinels, telling them they had come prepared.
“Give me Xiao Yu.”
Su Tang took the little black cat from Yasuo’s shoulder.
“Since it’s just a private chat, it shouldn’t be a problem to bring a pet inside, right?”
Su Tang had a smile on her face, appearing gentle and easy to handle, but the determination in her eyes was undeniable. The Team 2 Sentinel pursed his lips and raised his hand in an inviting gesture, not stopping the little black cat.
The iron door slammed shut behind her, the sound of the lock echoing sharply in the empty corridor.
In the corridor, the last sliver of light was completely blocked out. Su Tang turned around; the confinement room was even darker than she’d imagined.
Click—
The lights flared bright. Su Tang squeezed her eyes shut, wait for her eyes to gradually adjust before slowly opening them.
Shen Ji stood in the middle of the room, wearing a sharp, black dress-style uniform with an exquisite silver-grey bow tie at his collar. His wolf-cut hair was long enough to cover his shoulders and was meticulously groomed. This overly formal attire was clearly something he’d put effort into. In this simple, cold confinement room, it didn’t look impressive; instead, the man seemed to exude a sense of eerie madness.
“You’ve finally come. I’ve been waiting for you for a long time.”
Shen Ji turned around slowly, a large smile on his face, his eyes frighteningly bright.
“I knew you’d come. Su Tang, you truly understood my meaning.”
Su Tang’s arm holding Xiao Yu tightened. The kitten seemed to sense that the atmosphere was wrong and rubbed uneasily against her neck.
“Where’s Mo Xiao?” Su Tang’s voice was calm, and she didn’t give him another look. “Where have you taken him?”
“Mo Xiao?”
Shen Ji acted as if he’d heard a funny joke and suddenly let out a low laugh that echoed in the confinement room.
“In front of me, you should probably avoid mentioning him.”
He took two steps forward, the obsession in his eyes nearly overflowing.
“I know you’re still blaming me for putting the collar on Mo Xiao, but Su Tang, don’t you think you’re being a bit excessive?”
“I’m being excessive?”
Su Tang acted as if she’d heard something unbelievable. She raised an eyebrow slightly, a hint of cold mockery appearing in her eyes.
“Shen Ji, let’s get this straight—between the two of us, who exactly is being more excessive?”
“You are the one being excessive, of course.”
Shen Ji turned and poured a glass of red wine on the nearby metal table, setting it aside to let it breathe.
“Su Tang, your bias makes me want to strangle you. You can soothe Mo Xiao, Zhan Ye, and even Yasuo without asking for anything in return. But when it came to me, I was willing to give you half of Team 2’s resources, yet you didn’t even give me a word of rejection and just brushed off my application. Su Tang, are you not being excessive?”
Su Tang frowned.
“I heard about that. Team 1 has already checked; we were out on a mission during that time and there was no one to handle team affairs. The inexperienced Sentinels simply rejected everything with a single click. It wasn’t just you; all of Team 1’s external affairs during that time were rejected. If you don’t believe it, you’re free to use your intelligence network to probe.”
Shen Ji’s finger paused almost imperceptibly, but a moment later, he reacted.
“An excuse. It’s just an excuse to brush me off.”
Su Tang waved her hand helplessly.
“Think whatever you want. Leaving that aside, isn’t the way you’re treating Mo Xiao a bit excessive?”
He had worn a collar himself for years; he knew what it felt like. There was still a sense of camaraderie between him and Mo Xiao. Putting a collar on him so indiscriminately was truly excessive of Shen Ji.
“If I didn’t do this, would you have come to see me?”
Shen Ji turned around suddenly, the emotions in his eyes faintly covered by a layer of grievance. He stared fixedly at Su Tang as if making an accusation.
“If I didn’t do this, would you have stepped through this door? Would you even look me in the eye? Su Tang, speak with your conscience—if I didn’t do this, would you give me a soothing?”
“I wouldn’t.”
The girl’s decisive words didn’t contain a shred of hesitation. A cold sneer appeared on Shen Ji’s face.
“So you see, Su Tang, I don’t think what I’ve done is excessive. I just want to live.”
“To live?”
Su Tang’s voice was as cold as ice.
“Living by insulting a comrade and threatening a Guide? Shen Ji, you’re not seeking survival; you’re going mad!”
Shen Ji acted as if he’d been stung and suddenly shifted his gaze away.
“So what? In this White Tower, the weak don’t even have the right to survive. Do you think Mo Xiao is really so noble? He’s just relying on the fact that he met you first. Based on that privilege, he’s forcibly keeping you by his side. If I had met you first, would you…”
“No.”
Su Tang interrupted him.
“He is different from you. He wouldn’t hurt others for his own benefit, much less threaten me to make me do something I don’t want to do.”
She paused, seeing the madness surging in Shen Ji’s eyes. Her tone took on a bit of exhaustion.
“I can understand your desire to live, but Shen Ji, I must tell you bluntly—I dislike your behavior. I can even use the word ‘disgusting’ to express what I’m feeling right now.”
“Disgusting?”
Shen Ji acted as if he’d been pierced by those words. He snapped his head up, the obsession in his eyes exploding. His expression was frighteningly dark, yet his lips still pulled into a forced smile.
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