“Indeed, we haven’t encountered any powerful Guiyi lately… but that’s also thanks to — Oh! Qiqian, you’re out! How did it go?”
While Li Meng was chatting with one female researcher with sea-green hair outside to pass the time, she suddenly noticed Qiu Qiqian walking out of the Containment Room.
She rushed over to show her concern.
“Mm… it was alright, no big issues. However… they said I’ve entered a three-month Observation Period. If I perform well, I might be able to become a member of your organization.”
Qiu Qiqian instinctively took a step back as she saw how close Li Meng was.
“Observation Period?” Li Meng tilted her head, looking confused.
“That’s the first time I’ve heard of that… but then again, you really are special, Qiqian. None of the Guiyi we’ve contained before have had this so-called Observation Period.”
“Mm… is that so? Then I really am… unique? Speaking of which, who is this…”
Qiu Qiqian noticed the female researcher who had remained silent the whole time and asked.
“Just call me Alisa,” the researcher with sea-green hair replied calmly.
“Yesterday, after you possessed Ms. Li Meng, I was responsible for your data collection. Did you forget?”
“I didn’t.”
“Good. By the way… you call yourself Qiu Qiqian, right?”
Alisa asked.
“Yes, why? Is there a problem?”
“Mm… it’s the first time I’ve heard of a Guiyi giving itself a name…”
Alisa adjusted her glasses and scrutinized Qiu Qiqian, who was currently forced into physical form, with a piercing gaze.
That gaze, which felt as if she were being dissected, made Qiu Qiqian feel slightly uncomfortable.
“To be honest, your performance in every aspect so far doesn’t resemble how a Guiyi should act at all…”
Alisa spoke up again, stopping her scrutiny and looking directly into Qiu Qiqian’s golden eyes.
“It’s almost as if… a normal human soul is trapped inside the shell of a Guiyi.”
“!”
The moment she heard those words, Qiu Qiqian’s entire body shuddered.
After all, the researcher in front of her had stated the exact correct answer.
Although she didn’t know what would happen if it were discovered she was actually a normal person wearing a Guiyi’s shell, the sensation of being stripped bare — down to her underwear — left her feeling a bit… uneasy.
However, Alisa didn’t take Qiu Qiqian’s momentary abnormal reaction to heart.
Primarily, in her view, while her deduction held some logic, the Association’s long-term research made such a theory difficult to sustain.
Because… besides naturally born Guiyi, the rest were the result of a soul becoming “twisted” for some reason.
How could a normal soul and a Guiyi… how could those two things possibly be combined?
From that perspective, Number 1304… no… Qiu Qiqian indeed held great research value.
Perhaps realizing that Qiu Qiqian was still bound to Li Meng and that continuing the questioning would delay Li Meng’s time, Alisa didn’t press further.
Instead, she picked up a tablet from the nearby table.
“Alright, since you’re out of the Containment Room, I won’t disturb you two any longer. I have other containment rooms to observe. We’ll talk again if there’s a chance.”
With that, Alisa turned and left.
Watching Alisa’s departing back, Li Meng suddenly remembered something.
She quietly walked over to Qiu Qiqian and tugged on her trench coat.
“Ah, right, right! I said I’d give you some compensation last night, but I forgot after I went back and took a shower… Ehe… so, what do you want, Qiqian?”
“What do I want? Well… now that you mention it, I can’t really think of anything…”
‘Asking for freedom probably won’t work… As for something else… Guh… Qiu Qiqian, Qiu Qiqian, use your super brain! Weren’t you interested in plenty of things before you reincarnated?’
Qiu Qiqian pressed her temples.
For some reason, after thinking for a long time, she still couldn’t come up with a good compensation.
Finally, in a flash of inspiration, she thought of having Li Meng take her to do things she usually enjoyed.
This would also build rapport with Li Meng.
After all, this girl was a Youxun; building a good relationship was definitely beneficial.
“Is that so? Then… how about I take you to see some other containment objects? How does that sound?”
Li Meng invited with a face full of anticipation.
It was as if sparkling special effects were shimmering beside her cheeks; she clearly wanted a companion to stroll with.
“See other containment objects… do you mean the observation rooms? I’m telling you, it would be easy to get in the way of the analysts, wouldn’t it?”
Qiu Qiqian stood with her hands on her hips, looking at Li Meng with a slight sense of speechlessness.
“Don’t worry — I’m a Youxun. My authority in the Association is very high. I can basically enter the observation room of every containment object.”
Li Meng puffed out her chest proudly.
“But… if you’re really that worried, we could go to the outskirts of some… mm… relatively less strict containment rooms.”
“Relatively less strict?”
“Oh, you’ll see when you come with me!”
Before Qiu Qiqian could react, Li Meng had already taken her hand and was leading her toward their destination.
Even though Qiu Qiqian was currently a girl as well… she couldn’t help but marvel at how soft and warm Li Meng’s hand was.
It wasn’t like her — as a Guiyi, even when manifested, she had no body temperature.
Holding the hand of a Guiyi like this probably felt similar to holding a corpse.
But Li Meng didn’t show any sign of disgust.
It was hard to tell if her physical strength was so high she could ignore the temperature difference or if she was just simple-minded.
Regardless, Qiu Qiqian felt… this girl really was adorably stupid.
“Ah, one more thing. Qiqian… how did you sleep in the other bedroom at my house last night?”
On the way, Li Meng suddenly remembered this and asked casually.
At that moment, Qiu Qiqian recalled the unforgettable scene she saw when she entered that empty bedroom in Li Meng’s house yesterday.
“You…”
Qiu Qiqian turned to Li Meng, her face slightly shadowed.
“I thought you meant a storage room was just for miscellaneous items… Why did you leave your bras and panties lying around so carelessly… Mmf!!”
Qiu Qiqian was in the middle of complaining when Li Meng’s face suddenly turned red.
She stood on her tiptoes and covered Qiu Qiqian’s mouth with her hand.
“That… don’t say it so loudly. Be quieter.”
Li Meng looked left and right, confirming there was no one else nearby before letting go.
“Phew… I’m telling you, you can’t just leave those things lying around.”
After being released, Qiu Qiqian’s first instinct was still to criticize Li Meng.
Mainly because this girl… really seemed to lack common sense!
“Ehehe… sorry~ Since I usually live alone, I got a little… ‘free’ with things~”
Li Meng smiled sheepishly but subconsciously leaned closer to Qiu Qiqian.
“That has nothing to do with living alone… there were practically spiderwebs forming in there. I spent quite a bit of time cleaning it up yesterday… You, have you never done housework before?”
“Mm… well… because when I was little, they didn’t teach me those things.”
“Daily life things like that need to be taught?”
Qiu Qiqian frowned as she looked at Li Meng.
“No, it’s just… how should I put it… I grew up in the Association. Because they found out my combat potential was high, they mainly focused on training my use of Nether Breath and combat techniques…”
Hearing this, Qiu Qiqian’s frown deepened.
Although she had guessed as much before, it seemed… was this girl really raised as a weapon?
“However, maybe they were afraid I’d be under too much pressure. Whenever I wanted to do some chores, someone would always do them first. And during leisure time, whatever I wanted to play with, the Association would arrange it. Also, probably fearing I’d ‘grow up wrong,’ the Association gave me ideological education every day.”
Li Meng continued her vivid narration without any of the negative emotions Qiu Qiqian had imagined.
“That’s unexpected… I thought they were raising you… as a weapon or something.”
“Hmm… really? But I’ve been very happy~ I heard Sister Nan say before that the reason the Association cares so much about my mental health is because there was another child with similar potential, but because of the wrong upbringing, they ended up on a path of no return.”
‘Wow… that sounds exactly like the kind of backstory for a villain with a tragic past who will definitely show up again later…’
Qiu Qiqian marveled internally.
“Ah, let’s stop talking about that. Let’s check out this sector first, okay?”
Qiu Qiqian was still thinking about what had just been said when the hand Li Meng was holding suddenly exerted force, pulling her into a quite spacious corridor.
At a glance, the sides of the corridor were full of glass and metal doors, appearing to house quite a large number of Guiyi.
“Where is this?”
“Ah, here contained are all Guiyi that have been confirmed to have low hazard and destructive levels. So, unlike the specialized high-altitude observation room we made for you, these just have an extra cubicle between the containment room and the corridor. That counts as the observation room.”
“Uh… am I very destructive? Didn’t you say yesterday that my destructive power isn’t even as good as a Baoshou?”
“Mm… that’s probably because you’re special, Qiqian. Oh, right! Since there’s glass on both the corridor side and the observation rooms, we can see the contained Guiyi even without entering. Like… this one!”
Saying that, Li Meng stopped in front of one of the glass panels along the corridor and pointed at the object inside for Qiu Qiqian.
Qiu Qiqian looked in the direction Li Meng pointed and could clearly see a large bear-shaped mechanical doll inside the Containment Room.
The soft outer parts had mostly fallen off for some reason, exposing the mechanical skeleton beneath.
“Is this… a mechanical doll? It’s not named Freddy, is it?”
“Freddy? I don’t know. Everyone calls this one Number 1087. Like you, it has the ability of Possession. However, for some reason, it’s always possessed this doll. Also, it’s aggressive toward adults but relatively friendly toward children. Oh, oh, and these over here…”
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