Su Qing didn’t know whether Chen Lin had been taking aphrodisiacs like vitamins or whether he had been poisoned, leading to his body temperature being abnormally high and his behavior abnormally strange. 

The moment Chen Lin had pounced, he had really been scared. He had thought for a moment of the tragically dead big cat in the yard. Then Chen Lin began tearing at his clothes, one hand holding down his shoulder, pressing half his body firmly to the table. Su Qing narrowly avoided wrenching his back. His legs involuntarily left the ground and were roughly parted by Chen Lin as he tried to pull his pants down. 

Then Su Qing understood that he wasn’t planning to kill him, he only wanted to compel sex. 

Compelling sex—in fact, Su Qing didn’t care so much about that. Since life was just one thing after another, having reached this point, he really was just short that last millimeter to being raped and killed. 

This was known as not feeling the itch when there were enough lice and growing a thick skin after enough wounds. He wasn’t any sort of decent person to begin with. He thought that while these things ought to be done willingly on both sides, sometimes circumstances were outside of your control. It was like letting a mangy dog bite you. Anyway, you wouldn’t miss the piece of flesh. 

But…all the same, he didn’t want to let this Chen dog bite him. 

His shirt was already ruined, hanging off his body in strips like a mop. He turned his head and saw a vase on the table. The flowers were wilted, leaving bald stems and half a vase of cold water. Su Qing seized his opportunity. He jabbed at Chen Lin’s chin with his elbow, knocking Chen Lin’s face aside a little. He raised himself up and desperately shuffled back over the tabletop. He lifted the vase and brought it crashing down on Chen Lin’s head. 

Bang. Chen Lin’s head was all right, but the vase broke. Some dried twigs stuck in the hair at Chen Lin’s temples where a matchmaker would place flowers, and cold water poured all over his head and face. 

Hu Bugui, that spiritual guide, indeed never rested. While most of the time when Su Qing had been alone in the room and talked nonsense to him he hadn’t especially responded, he wouldn’t be silent when there was a need to speak. 

Su Qing heard him say, “Activate the shock ring, set it to its highest output. No matter where you hit, it can knock him out within three seconds. I’ll tell you what to do then!” 

Then…he would be exposed after only three days of being undercover. Su Qing couldn’t resist pausing, but Hu Bugui’s voice suddenly rose: “Move! What are you waiting for?” 

But when Su Qing’s thumb had just touched the shock ring’s switch, Chen Lin, having been splashed with water, stopped moving. He looked at him with a complicated expression for a while, then slowly…let go. 

Su Qing sat on the table. Feeling that the room was chilly, he gathered up his rag-like shirt. He saw Chen Lin cover his face with his hands, take two steps back, lean against the wall, and slide down. He looked wretched. Su Qing brushed away the shards of vase that had fallen onto him. His lower back had been bruised by hitting the edge of the table. It hurt. He bared his teeth and thought, Shit, he looks like he’s about to cry for his daddy, just as if someone had been having their way with him. 

Chen Lin was trembling all over, his head and face covered with the timely rain Su Qing had poured over him, like a drowned rat. Indistinct sounds came from his throat. They may have been crying or laughter. 

Su Qing shifted backwards. He saw a wooden tube hanging on the wall that may have been a transverse flute or a vertical flute. He snatched it down and held it out in front of himself like a stick to beat a dog. 

But Chen Lin didn’t even look at him. He stood up shakily, opened the door, and walked out dejectedly. 

Su Qing kept the stick held out for a while. Suddenly, Hu Bugui sighed and quietly said, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have agreed to let you…” 

Su Qing thought, We’ve reached the point where “I’m sorry” is about as much use as shit on a stick. He had been over-frightened time after time. Now, though his arms and legs still felt weak, it was as if he had worked up an immunity to fear. A reckless heroism rose in his heart. He thought, If I get torn in half, then I fucking get torn in half. Like hell I’m scared of you. Give it another eighteen years at worst and I’ll be fine. If you dare to toss me under that big pagoda tree, too, I’ll turn into a malevolent ghost the moment my eyes are closed and scratch at your door every night from dusk to dawn! 

So he took a deep breath and jumped off the table, having another attack of stupid bravery. He pushed open the half-shut door, walked to the stairs, and went down. 

Chen Lin was sitting on the living room couch with a syringe in his hand. Hearing movement, he looked up at him. His eyes or their rims were red, so red Su Qing had a mistaken impression that he was about to cry. 

Chen Lin lowered his head and stuck the syringe into his flesh in silence. Su Qing saw him convulse and take a few rapid breaths. The syringe slipped from his hand. Then his head sank lower and lower, until it had nearly plunged into the couch. 

Almost inaudibly, as though talking to himself, Su Qing said, “Oh my Lady Gaga, he’s actually doing drugs…” 

The false earring switched to another voice. Su Qing recognized this as that quack Lu Qingbai from the other day. Lu Qingbai had for some reason taken Hu Bugui’s place. He said, “It’s not drugs, it’s ‘cleaning.’” 

Su Qing stared. He heard Lu Qingbai take a gulp of water and slowly say, “Captain Hu was anxious just now. He went out to follow the proceedings. I’m taking over for him for a while.” 

Then, Chen Lin slowly calmed. He spread out his body and lay face-up on the couch, looking at the ceiling. The blood and red glare in his eyes receded. He seemed much more tranquil. Though Lu Qingbai had said it wasn’t drugs, Su Qing still thought that his greenish countenance and glazed eyes were just like those of an opium addict. 

Lu Qingbai said, “The principle of cleaning is actually very simple. Don’t think that blue seals are all that awesome. They’re actually the same as you. They can also be influenced by excessive emotions. Over time the endocrine imbalance leads to menopausal symptoms. ‘Cleaning’ is using a particular kind of drug to inhibit all his hormones relating to emotion, using an external force to calm him down.” 

Su Qing thought, Isn’t that just like a tranquilizer? Not very high-tech. 

Lu Qingbai added: “It can also alleviate psychological trauma to a certain degree, cleaning out the leftover emotions inside the energy crystal that can’t be converted—though this treats the symptoms but not the cause. Over time, it becomes easier and easier for them to lose control, and the time between needing to use drugs becomes shorter and shorter.” 

Lying on the couch, Chen Lin’s seemingly-rusted eyes suddenly turned, slowly coming to rest on Su Qing, meeting his lofty gaze. 

Chen Lin laughed feebly. In a hoarse voice, he said, “Taking pity on me?” 

Su Qing gave a cold laugh. 

Chen Lin sat up, gave two low coughs, and beckoned to him. “Come down.” 

Su Qing hesitated. Chen Lin noticed it and laughed lightly. “What, scared of me?” 

This indirect prodding actually worked on Su Qing. He came downstairs without another word. Chen Lin looked out the window, the deep and shallow shadows on his face making him look years older. Pointing out the window at the sufficiently luxurious villa estate, he said to Su Qing, “Look at that. There’s no difference between us and the little greys. We all live in cages.” 

Su Qing knew he shouldn’t speak, but he accidentally let out a stiff sentence: “There’s a big difference—we’re human.” 

Chen Lin turned to look at him. Su Qing unflinchingly made eye contact with him, demonstrating that he was undaunted. 

Perhaps because of that injection just now, Chen Lin’s attitude was very mild. He wasn’t angered. He only turned his head again and suddenly asked, “Do you know what the ‘Utopia Project’ is?”  

Su Qing stared, his eyes opening slightly wide. He dimly felt that Chen Lin was revealing internal information and couldn’t resist reaching up to twist the false earring. Lu Qingbai responded at once: “I’m listening, I’m listening, don’t interrupt, let him talk.” 

Chen Lin stood up and opened the living room window. Intermittent pleading and crying floated in through the window from somewhere. The corners of his lips twitched slightly. He quietly said, “I don’t know what these people’s background is. They have an extremely powerful scientific research institution, even weapons. They call themselves personnel of the Utopia Project. At the beginning, we were all…ordinary people who signed contracts with them.” 

Lu Qingbai became excited. “So it’s true! The blue seals’ unnatural energy system really isn’t spontaneously occurring, it’s artificially stimulated!” 

Chen Lin continued: “I don’t know what this project’s goal is. I can only roughly deduce some hints. Their core content must relate to ‘energy.’” 

“Energy?” Su Qing frowned. 

Chen Lin didn’t continue this topic. He only raised his head and unbuttoned the two topmost buttons of his shirt, revealing the half-moon blue seal that was once again bright blue. As though talking to himself, he said, “You know, sometimes this mark puts me in mind of a quality mark on a pig.” 

Su Qing crossed his arms in front of his chest, using very unfriendly body language to express—you deserve it. 

Chen Lin laughed mockingly, then continued: “Everyone here keeps pets. Shi Huizhang keeps women, Jiang Lan keeps animals, and I like to bring back a little grey or two to keep me company. The people I bring back don’t have to absorb emotional energy like ordinary little greys. You could say there’s no danger to their lives…but for some reason, perhaps because of the type of their energy crystal, even so the people I bring back end up with depression for all kinds of reasons.” 

Su Qing understood why he had been brought back—it was because he was especially callous and especially lively and seemed very unlikely to get depressed… In fact, he himself didn’t understand how he had ended up as a Type 2. 

“But it seems that you would rather return to that lunatic asylum.” Chen Lin turned to look at him. “Since I’ve explained it to you now, you can choose. Stay here, or return to that place.” 

Su Qing’s eyes opened wide. He thought that his morning nagging of everyone from Bodhisattva Guanyin to Jesus Christ had at last resulted in some immortal passing by and hearing him. It was simply like buying a five-million yuan lottery ticket.

Chen Lin continued: “Don’t think that I’m doing this out of kindness. It’s mainly because you’re the only little grey I have now. If I keep you here, it won’t be long before I’m low on power, and then they’ll… I…can’t die yet. I’m still not free.” 

Su Qing absolutely didn’t hear his final heartfelt words. He said categorically: “I’m going back!” 

Chen Lin gave him a profound look, nodded to show he understood, then leaned to one side and rested his eyes. So that very evening, Su Qing happily returned to his lunatic asylum in accordance with his own wishes and joined the assembly of the mentally ill. In view of the fact that in only a few days of undercover work, he had encountered a series of difficulties and hardships, and that the problem of his moral character was grave, Su Qing secretly resolved to change his name and call himself Su Zecheng¹. 

He was unperturbed, but Hu Bugui wasn’t. 

After returning from the last feast having successfully established a link, the RZ Unit’s members thought that their Captain Hu was a little unsettled. Hu Bugui normally spoke little, keeping himself to himself, not having extraneous conversation with anyone. He was a typical example of someone who did much and said little. His sense of responsibility was first-rate; he wouldn’t shift any responsibility that belonged to him. So he had silently taken on the blame for the major “accident” of Su Qing. 

For three days and two nights after Su Qing was taken back, Hu Bugui kept close watch from his office for three days and two nights. Only when he saw that Su Qing was asleep and in no danger would he lie on his desk and doze for a while, then immediately be startled awake if a stirring came from the communicator. Meanwhile, he had handed the work of locating the blue seals’ base over entirely to Xu Ruchong—until Chen Lin suddenly lost control. 

Xue Xiaolu, who had just come to his office to report on the progress of the work, saw Captain Hu suddenly leap up and accidentally knock over a cup of tea. He fixedly watched the image from the communicator’s nano monitoring system, nails digging into his flesh—more anxious than the interested party. 

Only when the alarm was past did he pace a few times around his office like a trapped beast and tell Xue Xiaolu to call Lu Qingbai over to “substitute.” Then he strode out without making a sound. 

The original plan had been to use technological methods to fix on the location of the blue seals’ base, then, avoiding alerting the enemy, quietly assemble a unit of special police to surround it. The ambush, the equipment, the surprise attack, it had all been planned out. At this point, Xu Ruchong had already fixed on seven potential areas, but Hu Bugui wasn’t willing to wait any longer. Ignoring Xu Ruchong’s obstruction, he gave an order and personally took people out to investigate them one by one…entirely overthrowing the original plan, deciding to use violence to curb violence. 

And thus did the idiot’s crusade dubbed the “Paramecium Operation” by Xu Ruchong begin.