SIATOWITF Chapter 39
by Volare“No, there’s a difference between reality and movies.” Amidst the bewildered gazes of the two movie-ignorant elders, Lin Mo provided an answer.
“Do all branch offices look like this?” Ji Mo An surveyed his surroundings; the stark white expanse seemed no different from a movie set.
“Of course not.” Old Master Mu shook his head. “That’s because Lao Lin is rich.”
“When we moved here five years ago, Mr. Lin gave us a large sum of money. We ultimately voted for this construction plan. It’s super cool!” Gu Sheng did a flip in the air, his tone excited.
“Five years ago?”
“Yes.”
“Is it… related to me?” A premonition suddenly arose in Ji Mo An’s heart.
“Yes.” Old Master Lin nodded slightly. “Ji Mo An, this base was built for you.”
“Ji Cheng Yu has been acting sneaky for the past few days, trying to inquire about the car accident six years ago. Of course, he couldn’t find out anything. But Grandpa thinks it’s time to tell you the truth.”
“Come with me.”
Ji Mo Lin led Ji Mo An towards the spiral staircase. After several complex authentication procedures, they entered another room.
This room was exactly the same as the Old Master’s study, except for a map on the wall dotted with red marks.
“Come.” Old Master Lin sat in the main seat, and Lin Mo went to the bookshelf to retrieve a blue file box.
“Child, when you were studying in the United States, you had a very serious car accident.”
“I was in the ICU for two months.” Ji Mo An rubbed his brow.
“Yes… Actually…” Ji Mo Lin’s voice suddenly trembled slightly as he took Ji Mo An’s hand and gently stroked it.
“Child, at the time… the doctor had already declared you dead on the spot.”
“Dead on the spot?” Ji Mo An was somewhat bewildered, but skepticism came faster than fear.
“Listen to me,” Ji Mo Lin sighed.
“After the car accident that year, the paramedics arrived at the scene and declared you dead on the spot. The windshield shattered, piercing through your chest and into your heart.”
“Resuscitation was meaningless… but Grandpa didn’t agree. At least… at least they should stitch up the wound, right? I stubbornly insisted that they treat you as if you were being resuscitated and send you to the emergency room to cover up this desperate truth.”
“But, child,” Ji Mo Lin held Ji Mo An’s hands in his own, “when the doctors opened your chest cavity, there was a snake coiled around your damaged heart.”
“A snake…”
“Yes, a snake, a live snake. No one knows why there was a snake there, but after the chief surgeon removed the snake, it died unnaturally within five minutes, and your heart started beating again.”
“Grandpa, what you’re saying… sounds like a movie.” Ji Mo An covered the location of his heart with his hand. He could feel his heart beating steadily and powerfully.
For twenty-six years, he had never felt anything abnormal about his heart.
“That’s why Grandpa didn’t dare to show you those medical reports. Not even your parents have seen them.” Old Master Lin opened the blue file box, taking out a thick stack of papers.
“These are copies. The originals have been sealed in the archives at the Seventh Bureau headquarters.” The Old Master felt around the bottom of the box and pulled out a photograph. The photograph was slightly yellowed, clearly having been picked up and looked at repeatedly.
Ji Mo An silently looked at the medical records, at the lines of English declaring him dead on the spot, and at the countless dense small characters and the flatlined ECG.
Bewilderment…
He should be afraid, he should be questioning, but now he just felt bewildered, light and airy as if he were dreaming.
For a moment, he even wanted to get up and leave, forget everything, and go back to his ordinary life.
But what had happened had already happened, and he had to face it.
“You should be familiar with this snake.”
Ji Mo An took the photo, his pupils shrinking.
Golden eyes, black scales.
The blood-covered little snake was coiled on the sterile operating table, baring its two fangs at the camera.
It was Xuan Bai.
It definitely was Xuan Bai.
“Look at this one too.” The old man handed over another photo.
The snake was dead.
Broken into eight pieces, still on the operating table.
“It only took a moment to turn around, and the snake was dead. Moreover, its broken surface was very smooth, definitely caused by external force.”
“But your heart started beating again, and the ECG showed activity again. The medical staff cleaned up the glass shards in your chest cavity and stitched it back together.”
“But my heart wasn’t injured.” Ji Mo An unconsciously clenched the photo, but he knew that the skin on his chest was not damaged in the slightest.
“Grandpa urgently silenced all the medical staff, and your maternal grandfather rushed to the United States overnight with troops to bring you back to the military research institute. Fortunately, we were fast enough. If we had been any later, they… wouldn’t have let you go.”
“In the following two months, all your wounds miraculously improved, even recovering as before. Except for not waking up, everything else was the same as a normal person.”
“We hoped it was a miracle, but it would never be a miracle.” Mu Nanyuan picked up the conversation.
“At the time, we had two speculations.”
“First, that the snake saved you, because survival was impossible in that situation.”
“Second, that the snake killed you. Because after the snake left your heart, you regained life. Moreover, no normal person would suddenly have a snake in their chest cavity.”
“Your grandpa and I both hoped it was the first speculation, but it was quickly overturned.”
Lin Mo brought over another blue box, this time for Ji Mo An to open himself.
It contained photos of the car accident scene.
“Child, you were the only victim of this car accident. It was an empty car.”
“The car that crashed into you had no one in it. Speeding, driving in the wrong direction. There was no self-driving back then.”
“Look at this photo again. This was captured from the surveillance footage at exactly twelve o’clock in the morning, the day before your car accident. He only appeared for a few frames. If Lin Mo hadn’t had sharp eyes, we would have missed it.”
“Xuan Bai?” Ji Mo An took the photo.
It seemed to be a surveillance screenshot. Even after being clarified, it was still a bit blurry.
But he would never mistake the figure standing under the streetlight.
It definitely was Xuan Bai, but he seemed to be wearing a strange outfit, looking like something from Greece, barefoot with long flowing hair.
“The position he was standing in was exactly where the car accident happened.” Ji Mo Lin pointed at the photo. “Now all the existing evidence indicates that this person is suspicious.”
“What’s more… six years later, we have verified that this person and this snake are the same individual. This is worse than all our previous assumptions.”
“But child, don’t be afraid. Has he threatened you? Has he used abnormal means on you? Don’t be afraid, we are all protecting you.”
“…” Ji Mo An was silent for a moment, then raised his hand and gestured the length of chopsticks.
“He likes to turn into this size and then act cute and play pitiful.”
“Play pitiful?” The two elders simultaneously showed confused expressions.
Ji Mo An pulled out the photo of the chopstick snake with the handkerchief on its head.
“Give it to me.” Mu Nanyuan took the phone, gradually frowning after looking at it for a moment.
“Is something wrong?” Looking at his expression, Ji Mo An was a little nervous.
“It’s kind of cute, are there any other photos?” Mu Nanyuan said in a deep voice.
“Get out of here.” Ji Mo Lin glared at him.
“Cough.” Mu Nanyuan coughed and returned the phone to Ji Mo An.
“We don’t know the snake’s purpose, but we have some one-sided understanding of where he belongs.”
“Come on, it’s time for Lin Mo to introduce you to it.” Mu Nanyuan beckoned to Ji Mo An. “Do you need time to calm down?”
“…”
“No need.” Ji Mo An shook his head.
“Good.” Mu Nanyuan nodded slightly. “Actually, his current appearance makes us feel a little fortunate.”
“Because we are still alive and can still hold down the others. Old Lin and I are getting old… never mind, I won’t say it, Lin Mo.”
“President Ji, please come this way.” Lin Mo opened the door.
“The Seventh Bureau’s research object is only one, we call it…”
“…Star Moon.”
Lin Mo strode to a spacious platform and pressed the button on the wall. A huge curtain spread down.
Light lit up, and a beautiful totem gradually appeared on the curtain.
Countless stars slowly revolved around a crescent moon, the silver-white trail mysterious and sacred.
“This is Xuan Bai’s tattoo… how did you?” Ji Mo An looked at the familiar pattern, taking two steps forward in surprise.
Exactly the same.
“This is also one of the important clues for us to determine where he comes from, President Ji, good evening.”
A door next to the curtain suddenly opened, and an unexpected figure walked out.
“You are… Ye Zi’s assistant?”
The assistant who used to follow the stylist Ye Zi so cautiously was now also wearing a uniform, standing tall.
“Hello, I am Tang Lin, a… regular researcher at the Seventh Bureau.”