Peeking into the room through the small gap of the door, Alexander could only hear movements coming from inside the room. From the dirty, blurry mirror's reflection from the left side of the room, his eyes squinted at the shadow figures coming down from the ceiling.
At first, he thought he was seeing things and rubbed his eyes to get a better view. Then, he thought those were the shadows of haunted spirits coming to kill the old man. On second thought, it was more than likely impossible, so he brushed off that idea.
With his ears moving slightly from noise sensitivity, he immediately recognized the voices. Though they were whispering, he could still distinguish their voices. Using his fingerprint, he removed the tracking alarm from the door and opened it.
Covering his mouth from the disgusting flesh rotting scent, he closed the door from behind. He could see legs dangling from the ceiling and trying to find a way to the floor without causing a huge sound.
Chen Nan: "The floor looked much closer when we looked down than when I'm actually hanging here." He swung his legs in all directions to see if he could step onto something steady.
Ariana whispered, "See? I told you we should have gone the other way."
Chen Nan replied, "But you're pregnant. I can't let you crawl through small spaces like that."
Ariana almost pinched his hand for being so cautious over crawling for five minutes. She said, "And climbing down from the ceiling won't be harmful to our child?"
"At least I can be the scapegoat and jump down first. Then, I can catch you from below." He said as he continued paddling his legs as if he was swimming in air.
Alexander facepalmed at this couple's stubbornness as he hugged the floating legs. "Let go. I'll catch you."
Chen Nan was speechless when he heard his voice. "...Alexander? When did you get here?"
Alexander smirked, "When you were paddling in midair and talking about the best way to come in. Hurry and get down. Someone could come in anytime."
Ariana slowly let Chen Nan's hand go and watched him slowly reach the floor with Alexander's help. "Okay, one down. One more to go. Don't worry, we'll catch you. Come down slowly."
Spreading their arms and stretching upwards, they waited until they got a hold of her legs. Under their careful instructions, she slowly got down and safely landed. Patting her chest in relief, she said, "Why did you leave the hospital?"
Alexander crossed his arms, "Since you guys are intruding in my territory, shouldn't I be asking why you two are here again? Didn't I already warn you for your lives?"
Ariana placed her hands on her hips, "Who said the intruders can't ask first? Besides, it's you who left us hanging first. Even if it is our wrong for sneaking in, you aren't guilt-free either. So? I asked first. Answer me."
Facing such a headstrong Ariana, Alexander gave in at the end and raised his arms. With his palms facing the couple, he said, "I had to come back. It was an order. You guys need to leave. I'll bring you guys out before anyone finds out."
"We're not leaving until we figure out everything we need to discover. I'm not afraid of telling you the truth. We are here to bring Qian Ling back with us and we won't leave until we do. Are you going to help those people and be my enemy? Or are you going to help us?"
Pausing his steps by the door, Alexander tilted his face slightly towards her direction. "Is there a difference?"
"Of course there is a difference. If you choose to help those suckers, then we don't need your help. If you stand on our side, then I will accept your kindness. Still, I will complete this mission as it is a life and death situation." Ariana's sharp tongue didn't get any smoother even when he had backed down.
Sighing, he replied, "You have my word." Taking out a token from his pocket, he flicked it towards her. The token landed flat on her palm. Her thumb glided across the token as she lifted up her head.
"Alright. I'll trust you." She said as she stuffed the token into her pocket and pulled Chen Nan along with her. The three of them got out with no problem and took the shortcut back to Alexander's room.
"Wait here. I'll get Qian Ling over. If anyone knocks or you hear any sounds, go hide somewhere in my room. I'll lock my door as well. Don't wander around." He waited until they nodded before leaving them alone in his room.
Chen Nan took the opportunity to ask, "You really believe him?"
She nodded, "He won't lie to me, especially when he gave me his token. This is a promise between us."
On his way to Qian Ling's room, Alexander overheard a conversation between his grandfather and the skinny old man.
Grandfather: "Father, don't worry. I already sent out my specialized trainees to get other people who have the psychic abilities. We'll use them as lab rats. If they disappoint us, then we'll just drain them to fill your bath tub."
Skinny old Man: "You better work on it. We've been researching this for years. I've secretly guided you for all these years only to see Shi Corps fail the first time. Luckily, you had a son who was capable of earning money. It was a pity for him to be born with such intelligence, yet stubbornness. He wouldn't follow our plans."
Grandfather: "That's why I had Huang Jie lead the company now. He may not have the talent to run the company, but he is easy to control. If I tell him to go North, he won't dare to go East. Nobody will find out about this even if they dig up the Shi family's information."
Skinny Old Man: "Hmph! You say that, but what about Alexander? He was so rude to me earlier. Even a dog knows how to be loyal to their owner. He only knows how to help outsiders destroy us. His life is on the line, yet he doesn't seem to give a bit of a care. If this research comes out right, he could extend his life."
Grandfather: "I'll talk to him about it later. He'll understand our goodness sooner or later. He's bewitched by that vixen. Anyways, he has potential so we just focus on our research for now."
Alexander's fist tightened as he found out more about the Shi family. Nobody knew he exist in this family, so he only heard of names. A part of him wondered how these researches continued with the limited resources, but now he understood. The funds came from Shi Corps and the controller of everything isn't Shi Huang Jie. The real boss was his grandfather, Shi Kow Wan.
'Grandfather, I won't let your plans succeed. I'll interrupt in my own ways. I'll make this come to an end.'