Huo Qiyuan waited outside for a full hour before Su Muqing emerged from the space. Accompanying her were sealed, pale arms and legs, nestled at her feet!
If Huo Qiyuan had watched horror films, Su Muqing would have been the perfect embodiment of a deranged serial killer.
"Let's go! I'll take the ones with suitable data first," Su Muqing, oblivious to Huo Qiyuan's gaze, pushed the limbs toward the medical tent.
Three days had passed since the bombardment of Chehe City. With the tireless work of robots, the severely injured citizens had mostly received treatment. However, many had still succumbed to their wounds during the process.
Su Muqing had been preoccupied with the injured for the past few days. It was only when she smelled the pervasive stench in the air that she remembered the unaddressed corpses of the deceased.
Some bodies had been taken out of the city and buried by their families, but many unclaimed ones were already beyond recognition. Blood, maggots, and decaying flesh piled together, a gruesome sight.
With so many bodies in such a state of decay, proper burial was difficult, but leaving them any longer was out of the question. The weather was hot, and the outbreak of plague would be catastrophic.
Su Muqing decisively had diesel brought and ordered all the bodies to be cremated. This was both convenient and environmentally friendly.
The area where the bodies were piled was already a ruin, so there was no need to find another location. A torch was thrown onto the pyre of diesel-soaked corpses, and the flames erupted high into the sky.
Su Muqing dispatched two teams to guard the area, along with ample water for firefighting, to prevent any unforeseen spread of the blaze.
As the black and red flames ignited, someone in the crowd of onlookers began to cry. Soon after, others could no longer suppress their grief and wept loudly.
The fire raged for three days and three nights, leaving behind a heap of black ash and small chunks of charcoal. These were the last remnants of those people in the world, and the proof of their existence.
Chehe City was transforming day by day, but the horrors it had endured would never be forgotten by the world, even with the rise of new skyscrapers.
On the fourth night, after finishing her work, Su Muqing followed Huo Qiyuan into a dimly lit room. Two pure steel cages stood on either side, containing Zhao Chenggong and Huo Qixiao.
Zhao Chenggong was covered in bloody gashes from Leng Si's lashing. He had not received any medication for days, and his body was feverish, his wounds severely suppurating and inflamed, emitting a foul odor.
Seeing someone enter, Zhao Chenggong tried to open his mouth. His body ached terribly these past few days. They only gave him a bowl of thin congee and a bowl of clear water daily to sustain his life, and such a life was agonizing.
He had wanted to be defiant and have them kill him, but they completely ignored him. Later, he tried to bite off his tongue to commit suicide, but he lacked strength. After managing to bite off a piece, he was discovered. In the end, he only sustained more wounds and still failed to die.
Without a second glance, they took Huo Qixiao, who was sitting slumped in another cage. They had received reports from their subordinates that Zhao Chenggong wished to die.
Hah! To wish for death? That would be too easy for him! The difficult days were yet to come. After he had suffered enough, they would not let him live an extra day when it was time for him to die.
Huo Qixiao was escorted to the interrogation room. Su Muqing and Huo Qiyuan sat at the head. Xu Fu had also arrived! Huo Qiyuan had been worried that he would be angered to the point of fainting again, but Xu Fu insisted on coming to hear it himself.
Although Huo Qixiao had become useless later, Xu Fu could never believe that he would harm his own uncle! Seeing his unwavering determination, Huo Qiyuan did not insist otherwise.
"Huo Qixiao, do you know why I haven't killed you yet?" Huo Qiyuan sat at the head, his gaze calmly fixed on the person kneeling below.
After years of reflection, he could now face those connected to his parents' deaths with a sense of calm. Even if his heart seethed with rage, he could still appear composed.
Huo Qixiao lifted his eyelids. He had not spoken a word since his capture. During the days he was confined in the steel cage, people had force-fed him water and congee, otherwise, he wouldn't even eat.
He opened his mouth, his dry lips cracking and bleeding. "Don't you just want to know about what happened four years ago?"
Huo Qiyuan took a sip of his tea, saying indifferently, "Yes and no. Besides what happened four years ago, I'm more interested in when you started to be reborn, and when you colluded with Emperor Rui."
Huo Qixiao's pupils contracted sharply. His previously expressionless face began to crack, like parched earth under the sun. He trembled as he pointed a finger at Huo Qiyuan, his voice laced with urgency and fear.
"You... How did you know? Could it be that you are also..."
Huo Qiyuan placed his teacup heavily on the table, a flicker of anger appearing in his calm eyes. "If only that were the case, then my parents would not have met such an end!"
Madam Zhou and Xu Fu exchanged glances, confused by their conversation. Reborn? Su Muqing quietly offered a brief explanation to the two, who widened their eyes in disbelief. To return from the dead! To live again after dying?
Huo Qixiao fell silent again. What was the use of talking about this now?
"Bring him in!" Seeing his renewed lack of cooperation, Huo Qiyuan shouted to the outside.
Before the two could voice their doubts, Huo Qixiao roared at Huo Qiyuan, "Then how did you know about rebirth? I am the chosen one, I am the most special, how could you possibly know?"
Although Huo Qiyuan claimed he was not reborn, Huo Qixiao refused to believe it. Such an unbelievable event as rebirth, how could someone know without experiencing it firsthand?
Chosen one, special! Hah! This man truly elevated himself!
"You are not the only one reborn. Three years ago, we eliminated one, whom you also met! The Saintess of the Thousand Poisons Sect... Chu Ruo Qiao's biological mother."
"She, she was also? Impossible! If she was reborn, why haven't I heard about her? Tell me quickly..." Huo Qixiao had always considered himself the most special person in the world, but now someone claimed he wasn't, the disparity was immense.
"If you want to ask how I know, then answer my questions. When were you reborn, and when did you collude with Emperor Rui to frame our Prince's Estate?"
Huo Qixiao was silent for a while, then lowered his head weakly. "When I was twenty-one, the year you made your victorious triumphant return on your first expedition..." He slowly began to recount his rebirth and how he colluded with Emperor Rui...
However, his account only provided a timeline of events, without divulging the reasons for his actions.