It was still early, and most prisoners were still at the morning assembly and talk, so Shen Yue did not see many people as she walked along the path.
Tang Yi had been chattering nonstop, saying how many times he had opened the door in the past few days, and how many new arrivals had come in, describing what those new arrivals looked like, blah blah blah, endlessly. Then his tone of voice suddenly changed as he asked, "I heard that Si Chengyou hasn't supervised you at all recently. It really was just a passing fancy of his to play with you, and once he got bored he just threw you away. Hmph, I told you back then that you'd be better off sticking with me, but you just wouldn't believe me."
As Shen Yue listened to Tang Yi's seemingly casual nonsense, she suddenly noticed an inconsistency.
Si Chengyou had always told her that there were no secrets in Flightless Bird. As long as you did something here, other people would find out about it very quickly.
But why did Tang Yi seem completely unaware of the agreement she had made with Si Chengyou?
This was clearly a very ordinary matter. After all, even if there were no secrets in Flightless Bird, information still required money. If you didn't have money, then you were trapped at the bottom of a well, and all you could see was everything.
But for Tang Yi to be ignorant about this, especially since it involved Si Chengyou, was abnormal.
From Tang Yi's words just now, Shen Yue understood that he had undoubtedly purchased information about her and Si Chengyou in the past. Otherwise, as someone who was always outside the prison opening the door, there was no way he could have known that she had been in Building 8 these past few days, and no way to know that Si Chengyou had not seen her for many days...
Shen Yue's mind raced back through everything Tang Yi had said since he appeared earlier, and she realized that all the information he had related to her was very accurate, yet he was quite vague about Si Chengyou.
In fact, Tang Yi had been unable to ascertain the reason why Si Chengyou had not shown up recently.
In other words, Tang Yi had not obtained any information about Si Chengyou.
Information about Si Chengyou came from Building 3, but not just anyone could get information about him.
As far as she knew, only the person in charge of Building 3 had this capability.
Shen Yue thought of that unfortunate woman who she had interrogated for several days until she confessed everything - Aipulier, the person in charge of Building 3. She suddenly realized something.
Aipulier had said that Si Chengyou was someone who could be trusted.
For an information broker to say this about someone meant that the relationship between them was quite close. Plus, there was a rule in Building 3: Prisoners from the same building could not sell the same information to different clients.
In other words, once Aipulier sold someone information about Si Chengyou, she could not sell the same information to others.
If others wanted that information, they would have to find another Building 3 prisoner to purchase it from.
This demonstrated quite well the ethos of Building 3: The same information could not allow one person to earn a lot of money, but it could allow many people to earn at least some money equally.
Thinking more simply: Assume Si Chengyou's information could only be obtained by Aipulier, or Aipulier restricted that only she could sell information about Si Chengyou. And Si Chengyou had paid her for this privilege ahead of everyone else.
Then information about Si Chengyou would be unable to circulate within the prison.
Even if he wanted to, Tang Yi would have no way to obtain information that was never put into circulation in the first place.
If the above reasoning held true, then Aipulier and Si Chengyou were on friendly terms.
Because of a single sentence from Tang Yi, Shen Yue had thought through many things. But in reality, not much time had passed. She did not answer or refute what Tang Yi had just said. Instead, she simply followed his train of thought and continued speaking, "Well, I'm following you right now."
Hearing this, Tang Yi's gaze suddenly fixed intently on Shen Yue. "For how long can you follow me?"
Shen Yue smiled. Facing Tang Yi, she felt no fear at all. "I'll follow you until we finish walking this path."
This was clearly not the response he expected. Tang Yi looked a bit stunned. Then he turned his head and laughed out loud, sounding carefree and sincere.
If one did not know he was a murderer who used killing to help him sleep, just looking at the surface, anyone would feel he was just a guileless, sunny boy.
Shen Yue felt that perhaps Tang Yi's talent for murder lay in his skill at concealing his own malice.
After Tang Yi laughed enough, he looked back at Shen Yue and said, "I thought you were going to say you'd be with me for life - that's how it always goes in TV shows."
In a rare occurrence, Shen Yue rolled her eyes at Tang Yi. "Things on TV are fake. Even if I said I'd always be with you, you wouldn't believe it anyway."
This was the first time a living person had rolled their eyes at Tang Yi. He found it very amusing. He kept staring into Shen Yue's eyes. "How do you know I wouldn't believe you if you haven't even said it? I really liked how you looked when you rolled your eyes just now. I like it!"
This sounded like it was meant as praise, but the next second, his face suddenly moved closer to Shen Yue, exuding an inauspicious aura that made one shudder involuntarily.
Number 14 had been following behind Shen Yue. Seeing Tang Yi make a move, he immediately stretched out a hand, but Shen Yue silently stopped him.
Tang Yi also completely ignored what Number 14 was trying to do. He just looked at Shen Yue and said, "Do you know, after a person dies, their heart stops beating, blood circulation ceases, the functions of the various organs stop, metabolism disappears, and the eyes also stop moving, frozen in that last instant while still alive."
Shen Yue blinked. "Is that so?"
Tang Yi smiled. "If I killed you right when you rolled your eyes earlier, your expression would be frozen like that forever."
But Shen Yue was not frightened at all. Instead, she shot back, "And be with you for life?"
Just as Tang Yi was about to speak, he suddenly realized what Shen Yue had said. He froze on the spot.
What would it feel like to be violently interrupted while madly raging?
Tang Yi: Thanks for the invite. I was on my way to Building 4, originally planning to kill someone, but then she suddenly said she'd be with me for life. My brain just went fzzt, fzzt, fzzt! Just shut right down.
Tang Yi suddenly shrank back away from Shen Yue. However fast he had approached her, now he fled just as quickly.
Not daring to look at Shen Yue, he mumbled haltingly, stuttering. Just a moment ago he had still been full of the arrogance of believing himself the craziest person in the world. But now he suddenly behaved like a pure innocent boy, hiding off to the side, staring at her with those beautiful eyes, "complaining" to Shen Yue, "You... what are you saying all of a sudden... How can you say things like that..."
Shen Yue looked at Tang Yi, now restored to a harmless state. She lightly released her restraint on Number 14, and continued walking forward. "You said I didn't even ask how I knew you wouldn't believe me, so I asked just now. Do you believe me or not?"
Tang Yi smiled. "I don't believe you."
"Oh, well neither do I."
But Tang Yi suddenly threw another little tantrum. "I didn't really not believe you. I only said that because I wanted you to coax me a little! This is called keeping things interesting! Don't you understand?"
Shen Yue's cold little face remained cold and indifferent as she coolly looked at Tang Yi's unreasonable behavior. She coolly said, "I don't understand."
But Tang Yi came closer again. "It's okay if you don't understand. I can teach you. Just now when I said I didn't believe you, you should have said you'd convince me with actual actions."
Shen Yue looked at Tang Yi again and judged, "So silly."
Tang Yi started whining, while Number 14 and Shen Yue just watched coldly on the side. Strangely enough, even without anyone playing along, Tang Yi happily continued acting out his one man show.
Only when more and more prisoners gradually appeared in the surroundings did Tang Yi finally show some restraint.
By the time the group arrived at Building 4, the Building 4 prisoners who had been at the assembly had returned. They now stood in neat rows outside the Building 4 entrance, appearing to be waiting for someone.
Seeing Tang Yi return, they all straightened their backs and shouted a phrase toward Tang Yi's group that Shen Yue did not understand.
The translation from her earpiece was: "Boss!"
Tang Yi slowly strode toward the crowd from Building 4, introducing Shen Yue to them. "This is today's guest. You all need to take good care of her."
