Hello, Arknights

Chapter 143 Infected Person

"Sir! Sir! Wait a minute... Ouch!" The homeless man slipped in the rain. Ling Dengxian did not move, but did not go forward to help him either.

"Sir... Thank you for saving me, but... Alas, I am shameless. Please, come with me to settle Old Xu down, please!" The homeless man was about to kneel down, but Ling Dengxian kicked his knee to stop him. After hesitating for a moment, he sighed and said, "Let's go."

The homeless man thanked him profusely and took him to the crossroads.

Ling Dengxian was silent in the rain. Just like what the homeless man said, this Old Xu was also one of the people he had rescued within a safe range. In his impression, he was a poor man who was very good at observing people's words and expressions. But now this poor man's body had both his feet cut off, leaving thick bloodstains faintly visible on the ground, and finally he was killed by a knife piercing his heart from the back.

"Old Xu was infected with oripathy and came to the slums. He has been doing his job there ever since. He has some handicrafts and can pick up scraps and piece them together to make some small gadgets for people at the crossroads that can be used in daily life... Sorry, sir, please don't blame me for being a nagging person. It's just that Old Xu has always taken good care of me, and I'm a little..."

The tramp wiped away his tears, which mixed with the rain. Ling Dengxian slowly shook his head and helped him lift up Old Xu's body. Old Xu's hands were dragging on the ground, and there was mud in the gaps between his fingernails.

"Where are you going?" Ling Dengxian asked softly.

"There is a cemetery in the south of the city... No, I mean there is a burial ground a little south of the slums. It is connected to the cemetery in the center of Longmen City. We need to bury the bodies of our infected people deeper, otherwise we will have to leave the city behind..."

"Let's go." Ling Dengxian didn't say much, just thought about things silently.

The white sword used to dig the soil worked tirelessly and was a little faster than the homeless man using his half-defective shovel. Half of Ling Dengxian's clothes were covered with mud, but he didn't feel anything. The homeless man was about to put Lao Xu into the deep grave, but Ling Dengxian raised his hand to stop him.

"Give me some time." Ling Dengxian looked around and made a simple wooden coffin using local materials. "This is better."

After burying Old Xu, the two men silently said "Rest in peace", and then looked at the simple wooden tombstone in silence.

"You don't know his name either?" The wooden sign read "Old Xu's Tomb".

"How can an infected person have a name... Old Xu never talks about the past with us." The homeless man shook his head, "As long as I'm alive, tomorrow is the next day."

"..." Ling Dengxian looked up at the sky. The rain made it almost impossible for him to open his eyes. He then looked at the homeless man and the Originium crystal on his arm. He realized that he and he seemed to be caught in a different rain.

"Sir... I know you are not very old, but please allow me to address you as such. I think I still have to tell you this. Others will not believe me, and I can no longer believe the Rat King of Longmen." The tramp seemed to have made up his mind and said softly, "Old Xu got into trouble because he heard something. I didn't want to take risks, but I didn't want Old Xu to die like this. I was there at the time... The traitor and the bastard from Ursus were discussing... seizing Longmen and expanding Ursus's territory. They said, 'If we succeed, we can provoke Da Yan to go to war, and then we will have a reason to tear down more cities...' And next, they want to take action against Chief Wei."

Ling Dengxian nodded: "Wei Yanwu can guess it."

Judging from Wei Yanwu's performance in the plot, it is impossible that he was unprepared, otherwise the Longmen struggle would not have ended with his victory.

"Probably. I don't have any other intentions. I just hope that Lao Xu's death can have some meaning."

Ling Dengxian looked at the depressed man in front of him, an infected person, and asked softly: "Will you hate me?"

"What are you talking about, sir?!"

"I gave you hope without permission, and made you believe that you were not infected..."

"Sir, I think you made a mistake." The homeless man couldn't help but stop him, but then he felt that he had offended Ling Dengxian and apologized quickly.

"It's okay, just tell me."

"I, Old Xu, Sister Li from the shabby shop, and everyone at the crossroads have always trusted you, not anyone else. We have been through so much over the years. The fate of the infected cannot be changed by just one or two people. Hope lies not in others, but in ourselves... However, this land is too cruel, and we are already covered in wounds."

Ling Dengxian looked at him with mixed feelings. He didn't care much about these people before, but he just couldn't stand it. Even though there was a plot foreshadowing, he just knew that "the infected are miserable" and he stayed out of it and watched from the sidelines.

Now, he seemed to have become a part of this world.

"What's your name?" Ling Dengxian asked suddenly.

"... Jiang Sa."

"My name is Ling Dengxian, if it's hard to remember...

"Just call me 'White Dove'."

Penguin Logistics.

I haven't seen any white pigeons today. Rupert shook his ears and felt that he was in a much better state. His feelings were his own feelings and his thoughts were his own thoughts.

Texas touched Chi Yu's little head in his arms, feeling a little bothered by his previous abnormal condition.

If this abnormal condition had been brought into the previous battle, she could easily have died in an alley.

She had sensed the atmosphere in the room that day, and it was somewhat familiar, but since Bai Ge said it was okay, she did not intervene. After all, he was still alive and well...

Exia went to bake apple pies, Croissant took his equipment to Mr. Is to report for repair, and after participating in today's operation, Kong went back to work on his own album.

She was surprisingly free, and had nothing to do today, so she just sat in the office and stared blankly...

So when Ling Dengxian walked in covered in injuries, the two of them were a little surprised when their eyes met.

"…What's wrong with you?" Texas pricked up his ears.

"It's okay, I fell on the way." Ling Dengxian shook his head: "It turned out to be the third floor, I went the wrong way."

"...You also make stupid mistakes?"

"I'm not a saint. Besides, saints also make stupid mistakes sometimes." Ling Dengxian shook his head. He had lost a lot of blood, and going to the wrong floor was an accident, but he was reacting and guessed that someone was here.

Hide from that lunatic outside...

Yes, Ling Dengxian was in this state now because of a certain white-haired Rupert. At the next intersection after saying goodbye to Jiang Sa, he bumped into Lappland. This guy had obviously been following him all the way and was waiting to chop him down with a knife...

His mental energy was greatly depleted today. Bai Yan's activity level was already very low when he faced Lappland. In addition, this madman had already recovered. Under normal circumstances, he was indeed no match for her.

So he shamelessly resisted for a while and then ran away, leaving Lappland to mock him from behind. Today he could only leave three sword wounds on Lappland.

Even at this moment, Ling Dengxian was very clear that this bastard must be waiting for him in his room. Chen was still busy with the affairs of the Guard Bureau, and Mostima had not come back yet, so he didn't know what to do later.

“…That bastard shouldn’t do anything to my room, right? She’d better do this…otherwise…” Ling Dengxian’s expression darkened. If he was so tired today and still couldn’t get a bed, he wouldn’t mind fighting with Lappland at all.