Long Yuehong's first reaction was to believe Shang Jianyao really hadn't seen anything, and his second reaction was to realize:
"If you didn't see anything, how do you know it'll be a sty?"
So, he ignored Shang Jianyao's words, frowned, and said to himself:
"Could this be a survivor from the 'Naturalism Church'?"
"Lacking civic virtue." Shang Jianyao commented, talking at cross purposes.
Long Yuehong shone his flashlight at the distant intersection, saying with some uncertainty:
"Could it just be a sudden mental breakdown?"
As a corporation with a large population, "Pangu Biology" always had a few people who developed mental problems every year.
And it wasn't strange for such people to do anything.
"It's also possible someone robbed him of all his clothes." Shang Jianyao proposed another possibility.
Long Yuehong glanced at him:
"Do you think this is the outside world?"
Malicious incidents within "Pangu Biology" were often crimes of passion; there was never anything like robbing someone of their clothes.
If there was, it would exist under one premise—the perpetrator suffered from a mental illness.
Shang Jianyao did not answer Long Yuehong's rhetorical question, and said with a smile:
"It's not too far from your house."
Huh? In the initial instant, Long Yuehong didn't understand what Shang Jianyao meant at all.
But soon, he figured out the focus of what the other party wanted to express:
The person suspected of being a "Naturalism Church" believer had entered a room in Zone C, not too far from his home.
--Shang Jianyao could already sense all human consciousness within thirty meters.
Long Yuehong's heart immediately hung in the air, and his spirit entered a state of high tension.
"Report the case to the 'Order Supervision Office'?" He asked, deliberating as he shone his flashlight on the dark corridor street.
Shang Jianyao patted the flashlight in his right hand with his left palm:
"Good idea."
Long Yuehong exhaled:
"Then let's go over now."
The "Order Supervision Office" on this floor was next to the "Activity Center" in Zone C.
Shang Jianyao nodded and said thoughtfully:
"I remembered something."
"What?" Long Yuehong subconsciously asked.
Shang Jianyao sighed:
"Back then, Uncle Shen was thinking of going to the 'Order Supervision Office' to report the 'Life Sacrifice' cult, but after entering, he instantly turned into a 'Mindless One'..."
This made the hairs on the back of Long Yuehong's neck stand on end, as if a shadow had descended from the sky, enveloping him.
He forced himself to say:
"This time is different from that time, right? The 'Naturalism Church' has already suffered a severe blow."
He didn't want to pretend he hadn't seen anything and return home as if nothing had happened, because the place where that person lived was really too close to his house.
It was easy for the fire at the city gate to affect the fish in the moat.
"I'm just reminding you to be careful." Shang Jianyao seemed to have returned to a normal state.
With that said, he shone his flashlight and strode towards the distant intersection.
Long Yuehong quickly followed.
During this process, he subconsciously reached for his waist, only to find that the familiar "Frost Moss" pistol and "United 202" were not there.
In the deep darkness, two flashlight beams illuminated the road ahead. The surroundings were not quiet; employees who had just gone to bed and were not yet asleep occasionally made whispering sounds.
As they walked, Long Yuehong suddenly felt that something was wrong:
"This isn't the way to the 'Order Supervision Office'..."
The roads inside the underground building were not complicated.
Shang Jianyao swung his flashlight and said with a smile:
"Let's go talk to that person first."
"That person?" While Long Yuehong asked, he had already figured out who Shang Jianyao was referring to—the person suspected of being a "Naturalism Church" member.
He asked thoughtfully:
"You want to understand why he joined the 'Naturalism Church' and whether there's any chance of saving him?"
And then decide whether to report it to the "Order Supervision Office."
"I want to ask what the 'Naturalism Church's' Eucharist is." Shang Jianyao glanced at Long Yuehong, as if it was strange for him to ask that.
As expected of you... While Long Yuehong was impressed, he still felt that Shang Jianyao meant what he thought he meant.
As they spoke, they arrived at a room.
The number on the door was "23."
495th floor, Zone C, Room 23.
The windows here were covered with thick curtains, leaving no gaps.
"Is this the place?" Long Yuehong asked, suppressing his voice.
Shang Jianyao first nodded, then stretched his body and said to Long Yuehong:
"Stay away and be ready for support."
This time, his voice was deep, with a seriousness that brooked no refusal.
"Uh, okay." Long Yuehong took a few steps back.
After he stopped, Shang Jianyao bent his fingers and lightly knocked on the door of Room 23 three times.
After a brief silence, a male voice sounded, slightly hurried:
"Who is it?"
"Shang Jianyao." Shang Jianyao politely introduced himself.
"I, I don't seem to know you." The male voice behind the door said with doubt.
"It doesn't matter, let's just say we know each other from now on." Shang Jianyao said with a smile.
The man behind the door was silent for a few seconds:
"What exactly do you want to do? I'll call the Order Supervisor!"
Shang Jianyao clapped the flashlight in his right hand with his left palm:
"Okay, okay."
After a long time, the male voice behind the door asked with a bit of trembling:
"You, what exactly do you want to do?"
"I saw you on the road just now and felt that you were not in the right state. I wanted to ask if you needed any help." Shang Jianyao put on the posture of an enthusiastic citizen.
The male voice behind the door suddenly became a little shrill:
"No, I'm fine, you can go back."
"Really?" Shang Jianyao looked like he didn't believe it.
The male voice behind the door seemed to have a bit of a sob:
"Really, I'm really fine, please go back, go back."
Listening, Shang Jianyao's flashlight beam moved down, shining on the gap at the bottom of the door.
In the yellowish light, there was no shadow at all in that gap.
A few steps away, Long Yuehong listened to Shang Jianyao's conversation with the man behind the door while quickly recalling who lived in this room.
As an old resident of Zone C, although his family hadn't lived on this side before, he wasn't too unfamiliar with it.
As his thoughts flashed, Long Yuehong's gaze suddenly froze, and he blurted out:
"No one lives in this room!"
He remembered that several rooms in this row hadn't been allocated yet!
After scaring himself, Long Yuehong quickly added:
"That's how it was before we went out last time, I don't know now."
They had been away for several months, and it was normal for the company's room allocation situation to have changed.
Shang Jianyao nodded slightly and smiled as he knocked on the door of Room 23 again:
"I heard no one lives here?"
There was silence behind the door, and no one responded again.
Shang Jianyao didn't ask any more questions. He turned around and walked back to Long Yuehong's side.
He said calmly:
"Go to the 'Order Supervision Office.'"
"Okay." Long Yuehong responded reflexively.
After walking out of this street, he suddenly reacted and asked:
"Why didn't you continue asking? Why didn't you just open the door and go in?"
Shang Jianyao swayed the flashlight, watching the yellowish light beam drift around, and said calmly:
"The human consciousness inside has disappeared."
"This..." Long Yuehong instantly felt goosebumps all over his body.
He didn't ask any more questions and followed Shang Jianyao to the "Order Supervision Office" next to the "Activity Center."
As old residents of this floor, they knew the two "Order Supervisors" on the night shift and were not unfamiliar with each other. After exchanging greetings, Shang Jianyao said:
"When we went to the toilet just now, we saw someone running naked on the road."
After describing the case, he added a comment:
"Indecent!"
"Running naked?" One of the "Order Supervisors" seemed to have remembered something, and his expression became a little serious, "Did you see him enter any room?"
Just as Long Yuehong was about to answer, Shang Jianyao shook his head:
"No."
"Then I'll contact the higher-ups to check the surveillance." The "Order Supervisor" who had just spoken nodded and said, "You guys go back first, don't worry, it's not a big deal."
"Okay." Shang Jianyao immediately turned around, left the place, and was not at all indecisive.
Long Yuehong followed at his side, asking with confusion:
"Why didn't you say it was Room 23?"
Shang Jianyao's expression was unusually calm:
"Are you telling them to go and die?"
"That's true..." Long Yuehong realized, "It's better to let them report it to the higher-ups and have them investigate."
After separating from Shang Jianyao and returning to his own home, Long Yuehong simply washed up, lay down on his younger brother's upper bunk.
He listened to the sounds of the street outside, wanting to wait for a result.
However, the night was always so peaceful.
He didn't know how long it took before Long Yuehong barely fell asleep.
…………
The next morning, Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong arrived at Room 14 on the 647th floor in a peaceful and harmonious atmosphere.
Jiang Bai Mian, who was staring at the computer screen, looked up at them and said with doubt:
"Why did the higher-ups suddenly send an email asking us to collectively do a mental state assessment?"
Although this was a process that every field team and brigade would go through after returning, under normal circumstances, no one would urge them. The team leader would make an appointment and arrange the time to do it themselves.
Jiang Bai Mian had originally planned to let Long Yuehong and the others see a psychologist after the audit was over, otherwise, she wouldn't know what to say and what not to say. Who knew she would suddenly receive such an email.
This gave her the feeling that the team's mental problems were serious and the higher-ups knew about it.
Long Yuehong thought for a moment and said before Shang Jianyao:
"It might be related to our experience last night."
He quickly gave a rough account of the "Naturalism Church" and what happened last night.
"What does this have to do with assessing our mental state?" Bai Chen felt that these two things didn't seem to be related.
Jiang Bai Mian "uh"ed and said:
"Maybe, the higher-ups checked the surveillance and found that there was no one running naked at all. Shang Jianyao was talking to the wall at the time..."
"This... Team Leader, don't scare me." Long Yuehong couldn't help but shudder.
Jiang Bai Mian smiled when she heard this:
"What's there to be afraid of? It's not like you haven't experienced hallucinations before?"
Speaking of this, she slowly exhaled:
"Why are there so many things happening after this return..."
With a swoosh, Shang Jianyao cast his gaze on Long Yuehong.
Bai Chen forcibly resisted the urge to turn his neck.
Long Yuehong quickly defended:
"It wasn't my fault that the 'Life Sacrifice' cult happened before."
As soon as he finished speaking, Shang Jianyao showed a pensive expression.
"What are you, thinking about?" Jiang Bai Mian asked tentatively.
Shang Jianyao nodded slightly and answered seriously:
"I'm thinking about what name would be better for me to change to."
ps: Asking for monthly tickets during the double period~