A hurried sound of footsteps echoed in the secret passage. Yan Hao quickened his pace, finding another secret door in the original laboratory with practiced ease.
Shi Xinxin's eyes darkened. Sheng Chenjin also raised his eyebrows in confusion, his mind already grasping at something.
She finally couldn't suppress her inner doubts and slowly asked, "Senior Brother, how did you know there was a switch here?"
Shi Xinxin glanced to the side. The switch for the secret room in front of them was originally behind this cabinet, but as soon as Yan Hao entered the laboratory, he headed directly for this secret room with a clear purpose.
Yan Hao's movements instantly stopped.
He tightened his grip on the iron door with his fingers, then calmly shook his head, turned, preventing the two behind him from seeing the expression on his face at that moment.
"I discovered something was wrong in the laboratory earlier. Knowing about the switch here was just a coincidence."
Coincidence. Where did so many coincidences come from in this world? Watching Yan Hao lead the fleeing figures into the secret passage, Shi Xinxin had almost confirmed her suspicions.
She sighed inwardly and, looking at the figure still moving forward, decided to temporarily suppress her doubts.
Just as she was about to follow them into the secret passage, Shi Xinxin's hand, hanging by her side, was grasped. She turned her head, seeing Sheng Chenjin's meaningful gaze.
Then, he slightly tilted his head, his eyes fixing directly on the only table in the laboratory.
Sensing that he was pointing out that the table was not simple, Shi Xinxin's heart tightened. Before Yan Hao could notice, she carefully observed the table a few times.
"Junior Sister, why are you still over there? Hurry up and come down, there's no danger in here." Yan Hao paused about a meter away from them, half of his body swallowed by the shadow of the secret passage, making the expression on his face vague and indistinguishable.
Shi Xinxin withdrew her gaze and silently entered the secret passage.
She felt that Yan Hao's words earlier were somewhat off, though she couldn't pinpoint exactly what was wrong. It was as if he was not surprised by anything here.
Shi Xinxin was preoccupied all the way, constantly thinking about Yan Hao's strangeness. Sheng Chenjin held her hand, offering timely reminders for her to avoid the pits.
He was not surprised by Yan Hao's abnormality.
The secret passage wound and turned, several times longer than the entrance passage, likely a dedicated escape route prepared by the owner.
However, Shi Xinxin had no intention of paying attention to the secret passage. She lowered her eyes, her gaze fixed on a certain spot.
She recalled the table she had only glanced at earlier, and raising her eyes, looked at Sheng Chenjin in the dimly lit corridor.
Noticing Yan Hao, who was not far ahead, Shi Xinxin lowered her voice. "Sheng Chenjin, you told me to look at that table earlier. Did you discover something?"
Sheng Chenjin's lips curved slightly, his tone carrying a hint of amusement. "I gave you such a clear hint earlier, and your reaction time is quite slow. You're asking me this now after such a long time."
Even though she couldn't see his expression in the dark, Shi Xinxin could almost imagine his smiling face. She retorted, "I'm talking about something serious right now, don't be so flippant!"
Sheng Chenjin's tone became serious. "I'm not teasing you anymore. I saw many chemical traces on that table."
Shi Xinxin furrowed her brow slightly. "This is Elder Feng's laboratory. Isn't it normal to conduct experiments on the table? Leaving some traces is no big deal."
Thinking of the traces he had seen, Sheng Chenjin's smile flattened, and he shook his head. "The traces left on the table were not ordinary chemical traces."
His tone deepened. "If I'm not mistaken, this table used to be a tool for human experimentation."
Upon hearing the four words he emphasized, Shi Xinxin's eyes widened instantly, the light in them clearly visible in the darkness.
"What? What did you just say?" Shi Xinxin asked again in disbelief.
Sheng Chenjin understood her state of mind. He sighed, tightened his grip on her hand, and quietly repeated what he had just said.
"Human experimentation."
These four words echoed in her ears like a curse. Shi Xinxin took a deep breath.
The literal meaning alone was enough to make her feel an unbelievable sensation spreading through her nerves, down to her bones, chilling her to the point of trembling.
Shi Xinxin tried hard to calm herself, but her voice still carried a tremor.
"How did you find out? Could you have been mistaken, or perhaps it wasn't..." Shi Xinxin didn't even want to utter those four cruel words.
It wasn't that she was overly kind or fragile. It was just that she had a deep-seated phobia of experiments involving humans.
Even a skeleton made of a mannequin would make Shi Xinxin feel as if insects were crawling all over her body, densely corroding her skin until nothing was left.
This phobia might not be strange for an ordinary person, but Shi Xinxin had majored in medicine at a foreign university. Therefore, she had always avoided any experiments involving the human body.
People in the medical field often had some quirks, but never concerning the human body.
Shi Xinxin was the only exception.
Sheng Chenjin noticed her emotional shift and his heart softened. He opened his mouth to say something, but Shi Xinxin stopped him.
Her expression was serious, though tinged with fear.
"You don't have to lie to me. I only want the truth. Are the traces on that table what I think they are?"
She knew very well that if Sheng Chenjin lied, his arm would twitch.
Sheng Chenjin couldn't refuse her. He heard himself speak the cruel words with reluctance. "I wasn't mistaken. The vials of chemicals placed on the table are part of the process for human experimentation."
Shi Xinxin opened her mouth, wanting to say something to confirm that Sheng Chenjin was not telling the truth.
But soon, she gave up the idea.
She closed her eyes, clearly hearing her own strong heartbeat and feeling her hands and feet turn cold.
That's right, Elder Feng was a heartless, inhuman lunatic. He could endure planning that insane scheme for years; what else couldn't he do?
Shi Xinxin could only accept this cruel reality.
She exhaled. "I understand. For him, this kind of thing is just a small matter."
The person she referred to was clearly Elder Feng. But Shi Xinxin despised him so much now that she didn't even want to utter his name, finding it sickening.
Not wanting her to be affected by such a person, Sheng Chenjin said gently, "He's not worth your concern."
Shi Xinxin smiled disdainfully. "For someone like that scum to be worth my concern? How ridiculous."
As they spoke, Shi Xinxin saw Yan Hao's retreating figure stop ahead.