Plague Doctor

Chapter 293: The Word Lai

After attending the opening ceremony at Phecda University, Gu Jun returned to the Spell Department. He denied an appearance for a singing performance at a charity event that night, he’d leave that to the professional. Gu Jun had something else more important to deal with. In the maritime warfare, 3 Spell Department members were heavily injured by the Deep Ones but thankfully they were all recovering. There were still many mysteries around that battle, namely the Deep Ones, the ghost ships, the Seagull, the space distortion ritual... and that Lai Hwa Tree.

Due to the lockdown, the Lai Hwa Tree seeding had been left on the ship. A few days ago, it finally went through layers of inspection and was being shipped back to the base. It was now planted at the Spell Department’s garden. It was heavily guarded with radar around it and Ancient Seal stones buried under the ground. Ever since the tree returned to the base, Gu Jun would go and visit it whenever he was free.

This afternoon, he used the limited spare time to come and visit the plant. He encountered Wu Siyu there. They both stood there and observed the green sprout that grew from the seedling. The plant was definitely growing but its growth was very stunted compared to the growth pattern of normal plants. One theory suggested it was caused by the exhaustion during the battle on the ship. Of course, it could be due to other reasons like the difference of soil and air composition on earth compared to the foreign world. In any case, at least it was still alive, something that could not be said for the Golden Aloe. The wilted young stalks failed to resuscitate and the plant tissues were sent to a team of biologists to study and dissect. The government valued this golden aloe greatly for its miraculous effect that was most evident on Gu Jun’s face.

Similarly, they valued tactical cooperation with the Zoogs. In the bigger picture, it would benefit the entire humanity but if the bond was forged, it would enable China to gain a closer monitoring of Dreamlands, pushing GOA ahead of WMO. For that, even 10000000 fowls were worth it. After all, China was the world’s greatest production country, 10000000 fowls was nothing.

Gu Jun enquired from Lucky about the latest update in the sweet dream, to which the reply was, “The tribe leader is still considering!” Whether they were considering the possibility of cooperation or the nature of the ‘very luxurious gifts’, Gu Jun was not told.

“I can feel that it is very hungry.” Wu Siyu commented, pulling Gu Jun out of his reverie. She pointed at the young sprout. “It’s hungrier today compared to yesterday.” As someone who had connected with the tree through its shadow, even she could sense nothing more than that. However, Gu Jun had his own opinion regarding this mysterious plant. The name Lai Hwa Tree was a translation provided by the system, the term ‘Lai’ referring to barrenness. ‘Lai’ Hwa Tree, After ‘Life’ Cult, R’y ‘Leh’ Cult... the syllables were homophonous, was that a coincidence? Gu Jun thought not.

“I’m afraid it’ll die from hunger.” Wu Siyu continued, “Do you think we need to feed it mental power?”

“Well, we can try and find out.” Gu Jun squatted down and pressed his right finger on the sapling. He channelled his mental power... and nothing. ‘What kind of plant is this, that it can support super long distance, even cross-dimensional astral projection?’

“I got nothing, why don’t you try?” Gu Jun stood up. Wu Siyu mimicked him. She sensed an openness, like the sky or the sea. ‘Openness?’ Gu Jun was reminded of the big banyan tree at Jiang Xin Municipal, the levelled lighthouse and the old man in the lighthouse...’Is there a connection among them? What we need now is an opening in the investigation to get at the people behind the voices... Although, technically we might be on the verge of one...’ Gu Jun was given an update recently that both worried and excited him.

Gu Jun turned towards Wu Siyu and began, “Dirty-minded Yu, have I told you about my background?” The girl turned to him and answered, “You’ve told me some and I’ve heard some from the others.” Wu Siyu patted him on his shoulders, “Care to share more?”

Gu Jun gave a long sigh and said, “I was once a Spirit Child cultivated by the Afterlife Cult. To be honest, I do not remember much from that part of my life. What I remembered was helping them with the translation of the vocabulary from the foreign world, and there was a ritual where they used me as a vessel for divinity.” Wu Siyu listened quietly. Gu Jun shrugged and continued, “Well, there is more than one Spirit Child cultivated by the Afterlife Cult but I do not remember them nor would I be able to recognize them now. I do not know whether any of them are still alive... Except for the one who is currently in custody at Eastern State Phecda Division. And I wish to meet that person.”

It was the information provided by this Spirit Child that the Action Department ambushed the Lai Sheng Company’s base. Instead they were ambushed and 444 people died in that mission. At the time, Phecda still had reservations regarding Gu Jun’s loyalty so they had been preventing the encounter of the two Spirit Children. Phecda kept their basic information secret from each other but now, the sanction was lifted.

Regardless, Gu Jun still did not know much about this other Spirit Child, other than they existed.

“I believe it’s a girl.” Wu Siyu twitched her brows as a surprising thought came into her mind, “Dirty-minded Jun, have you considered the possibility that you two might be siblings?”

“Nah, Phecda has made a DNA comparison, we are not related by blood.” Gu Jun said. “And the person might not even be a girl.”

“Hmm... By the way, has a DNA comparison been done between the two of us?” Wu Siyu turned her mischievous eyes on him. “Maybe I’m your real sister.”

“I’ll send in a request to have the test conducted immediately.” Gu Jun nudged her head. “And I will also order a measurement of your head size, to ensure that there is nothing wrong with it.”

“There’s no need for that, I already know the result.” Wu Siyu shrugged, “I’ve always suffered from psychological disorders.”

“Then you should come to me for treatment.” Gu Jun chuckled. He then took out his phone to call Elder Tong and made the request to meet the other Spirit Child.

“Ah Jun, actually even if you did not make this call, I was already planning for the two of you to meet.” Elder Tong said on the phone. “The Spirit Child is still imprisoned at Eastern State, I will request for them to release the child and send them over here now. You’ll meet up with them tonight. I need you to help me determine their loyalty and nature of their thoughts. I want to see if we can recruit them into the Spell Department, after all, Spirit Children, like yourself, are uniquely talented individuals.”

Gu Jun agreed. The meeting was to happen that night. He was nervous, it felt like he was going to meet his other self.

Who could it be? Would it be someone suppressed in his memory? Would the meeting bring up more memories from his past?

...

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