Experiment

"Bug..."

This low whisper drifted into the prison cell through the small window used for delivering food.

Suddenly, the cell door was violently slammed, making a "clang" sound. The mole, who was already disoriented, could no longer distinguish between Yang Ning's voice and that of their instructor, "Scorpion." However, the word "bug," etched into his bones, still awakened a primal fear deep within his blood.

At this moment, he was at the other end of the cell, repeatedly banging his forehead against the door, producing dull thuds.

Yang Ning cleared his throat, unfurled the small, dark red pill in his palm, and held it up to the food slot. He lowered his voice as much as possible: "Take this."

The mole's trembling hand slowly reached out from the darkness. His fingers were already rotten from days of interrogation, the places where his nails had fallen off forming dark red scabs. He carefully picked up the pill with his fingertips and slowly retracted his hand.

"Bug, in two days, take what I just gave you."

Yang Ning deliberately set the time for two days later. This way, the mole's death would occur on the evening of the third day. Such a timing would greatly reduce suspicion of his visit today. Coupled with the testimony of Xu Yinyin, a direct disciple of the Law Enforcement Hall, he should be able to avoid suspicion.

Just as Yang Ning was about to relax, thinking his mission was accomplished, and was about to close the partition, he suddenly realized that it was pitch black in the cell, and the mole had no way of keeping track of the days.

Yang Ning frowned and immediately changed his words: "From now on, take it after you eat the meal. If you understand, tap once with your finger. If you don't, tap twice."

The scarred finger slowly extended again and tapped once. Yang Ning's brow was about to relax when he saw it tap again.

"Tsk—" Yang Ning gasped, contemplating how to make the disoriented mole understand the concept of time. Suddenly, the rumbling sound of a secret tunnel door opening echoed from a distance.

Yang Ning's heart tightened: Xu Yinyin was back!

As he frantically thought of a plan, footsteps sounded in the descending passage, at an extremely rapid pace. Clearly, Xu Yinyin was eager to return the spirit fruit.

After Xu Yinyin left the morgue, she had rushed out of the basement at full speed. After opening the secret tunnel door, she even channeled her true qi to rush back to Ziyun Pavilion as quickly as possible.

In her room, she hastily lit a candlestick, grabbed a cloth bag in one hand, and held the candle in the other, carefully selecting the unripe green spirit fruits. Soon, she had collected a full bag and then rushed to Zhaoyu Tower without delay.

She dared not delay for a moment along the way. When she returned to Zhaoyu Tower, the disciples on duty had already been waiting for her with tokens as she had instructed when she left. Xu Yinyin ran while unfastening a token from her waist and shouted, "Three, two, one!"

Two tokens were simultaneously placed on the screen, and the secret tunnel door opened with a click. Xu Yinyin flashed inside.

As the secret tunnel door slowly closed, the two disciples on duty exchanged glances.

"What's wrong with Senior Sister Xu? Could it be an important mission from the Hall Master?"

Another disciple shook his head: "Don't ask what you shouldn't. I've never seen Senior Sister Xu in such a hurry. It must be something extraordinary that we ordinary disciples can't imagine!"

"Yes, you're right! Then we absolutely cannot doze off tonight!"

"Mm, it seems you're quite sharp too."

The two nodded at each other and immediately sat up straight, no longer daring to slack off in the slightest.

However, despite their words, the next morning, when other disciples came to relieve them, the two were already sleeping like logs.

Xu Yinyin hurried down the steps of the passage, the spirit fruits in her arms jingling in the cloth bag. Seeing only ten steps left, she executed a beautiful front flip, drawing an elegant arc in the air, and landed steadily with the spirit fruits.

She frowned slightly and turned to look at the corridor beside her. Apart from the dim corridor and the flickering candlelight, there was nothing unusual. She frowned: "Is no one here... Did I misjudge..."

Xu Yinyin shook her head and continued running towards the morgue.

The moment Xu Yinyin pushed open the door, she saw Yang Ning sitting on the stool she had occupied earlier, a kettle hanging around his neck, holding the lid in one hand and the kettle in the other.

Yang Ning glanced at Xu Yinyin, picked up the kettle, and took another sip, feigning confusion: "Uh... I'm done drinking."

Xu Yinyin reached out and felt the weight of the kettle hanging on Yang Ning's neck. Without any impatience, her tone was full of concern: "Do you want more? I can get you some more water."

Yang Ning quickly waved his hands in refusal: "No, no need." He joked, "If I drink any more, I'll turn into a frog."

Xu Yinyin smiled faintly, placed the cloth bag containing the spirit fruits aside, and reached out to take the kettle's strap off Yang Ning's neck: "Alright then, tell me anytime if you're thirsty."

Yang Ning nodded, reached out, untied the rope of the cloth bag, and took out a green spirit fruit.

Xu Yinyin explained from the side: "This is a spirit fruit that we in the Law Enforcement Hall grow ourselves in the back mountains. Every harvest, there are always a few in a basket that don't ripen. The last time I accidentally ate one, it made my teeth ache so much."