Chapter 508: Chapter 508: Furnace (13)_1 Chapter 508: Chapter 508: Furnace (13)_1 “Rescue your secret admirer who’s in peril, or pretend you’ve seen nothing and complete the test—it’s time to make your choice.”
“Is it that much of a hassle?”
Hearing Brother Vertical Saw’s words from the TV, Fu Qian immediately furrowed his brow.
“What’s the matter? You seem to be hesitating?”
By now, Brother Vertical Saw’s raspy voice took on a mocking tone.
“It appears that your resolve isn’t as firm as you imagined.”
“Of course, for ordinary people, being fickle is in their nature.”
“But you, who fancy yourself a superhero—doesn’t this make you no different from the rest?”
“Just as superficial, just as hypocritical, and just as absurdly laughable.”
“In this series of mental shifts, where exactly does the uniqueness you pride yourself on manifest?”
“Good point.”
In the face of Brother Vertical Saw’s soul-searching interrogation, Fu Qian casually responded, apparently feeling none of the torment.
After a glance at the antidote inside the bottle, he didn’t step forward to take it but instead turned around and descended the rope ladder.
In the room below, the admirer Telika remained still in the same position, silently facing her impending death.
Without hesitation, Fu Qian moved forward two steps, dragging her and the bed to one side, away from the range of the death net overhead.
After dealing with that, Fu Qian quickly returned upstairs.
This time he didn’t delay, directly taking the antidote bottle in his hand.
“Are you actually prepared to sacrifice yourself?”
Seeing that Fu Qian hadn’t hurried to open and drink it, Brother Vertical Saw sounded quite surprised.
“If my words just now stung you, please believe it wasn’t intentional.”
“But don’t blame me for not warning you—you’re risking your life to save a species you deem inferior.”
“Or does her fondness for you elevate her worthiness in some way?”
“Who said I was going to save anyone?”
Facing the taunting voice, Fu Qian just snorted in response.
The next moment, holding the antidote, he leapt straight down from the upper floor without using the rope ladder.
After landing firmly, Fu Qian ran straight to the kitchen to get a clear glass.
Faced with such an odd behavior, Brother Vertical Saw on the TV seemed to be taken aback, silent for a moment.
This one keeping silent, Fu Qian naturally paid no heed.
The net from the ceiling had truly fallen to the ground by this time, showing its pressure sensors to be quite sensitive.
Fu Qian directly dragged a chair over and sat next to the bed that had been moved under the window.
Pop!
With a taut snap, Fu Qian used one hand to open the bottle, pouring the pale blue liquid inside into the glass.
Bathed in the last ray of sunset, he carefully swirled the glass, giving it the attention of a connoisseur, then lifted his head and downed it in one go.
After this display, Fu Qian held the empty glass, watching as the last streaks of the sunset disappeared outside the window.
At the same time, the person on the bed suddenly flipped over.
“When did you know it was me?”
Telika, the high school student who was supposed to be dead, looked emotionless as she stared straight at Fu Qian and asked.
“Just now, to be precise—when you flipped over from the bed.”
In the face of her bewilderment, Fu Qian replied casually.
“Just now?”
Telika’s body stiffened suddenly.
“You mean you didn’t perform the actions you just did because you confirmed I was the designer, by not saving the person and deliberately drinking the antidote in front of me?”
“Half and half, I suppose. I’ve had my suspicions, but the confirmation was indeed just now.”
Fu Qian gestured with his hand, signaling for her to calm down.
At this moment, everything was clear—the Telika on the bed was none other than Brother Vertical Saw, the one who had set up the test.
“During our exchange just now, I did have my suspicions, but I must say, you planned it all quite thoroughly.”
“The most perfect part was that during the transition from the recorded message to the live connection, you were already on the scene.”
“This could undoubtedly eliminate your suspicion to the greatest extent.”
“Those words were prerecorded too, weren’t they?”
Fu Qian pointed at the puppet in the TV that had completely stopped.
“It’s obvious that you have a sophisticated controller in your hand that allows you to choose at will from a multitude of voices to create the illusion of a normal conversation.”
Hmph!
Facing Fu Qian’s question, Telika just hmphed and looked away without denying.
“Your performance was spot-on until I asked that question—’Who are you?'”
“So that really was a test!”
Telika clenched her teeth slightly.
“How could you possibly not know me? Such an illogical question; I really shouldn’t have entertained it.”
“No, no, no.”
To her surprise, Fu Qian was shaking his head continuously.
“That question was a test, true, but I wasn’t lying; I genuinely don’t know you.”
“In fact, I am still not sure about the authenticity of the name Telika.”
Upon hearing this, Telika nearly petrified on the spot.
“There are indeed anomalies, but not on that note.”
Fu Qian appeared indifferent to this.
“The focus isn’t on whether I know your name or not, but rather that I would ask despite not knowing it, which is clearly not in line with my style.”
…
“In short, faced with an unexpected question that threw you off, you had to speak up directly in order to keep the conversation going naturally.”
“Of course, my attention was mainly on the TV at the time, and you did a good job of covering it up, so I couldn’t be entirely sure.”
“But whatever the case, I had my suspicions then.”
“Just having some suspicion makes you feel justified in your subsequent actions, does it?”
Telika laughed softly, her face showing disdain.
“The naivety of youth.”
Unexpectedly, Fu Qian shook his head again.
“When you grow a bit older, you’ll realize that the luxury of feeling justified is too extravagant to pursue all the time.”
“In fact, whether you are the mastermind behind this or not won’t change my choice.”
“After all, if we’re speaking logically, I am a victim just like you; I have no duty to risk my life for you, and you have no right to blame me.”
“Besides, now it’s my turn to ask.”
“Sure, go ahead and ask.”
Telika seemed utterly unbothered.
Fu Qian pointed around the room.
“Can I know what motivated you to design all of this?”
“Haven’t I told you? I am an admirer of yours!”
After the initial shock, Telika seemed to regain her composure, facing Fu Qian’s question with a strange smile.
“Your style has been much debated within the school.”
She said with a laugh and a shake of her head.
“And I wanted to help you prove that you’re not pretentious but truly one of a kind.”
To prove it for me.
Fu Qian rubbed his temples.
“So, you didn’t really get poisoned, did you?”
“Of course not.”
Telika admitted honestly.
“And what about the poison on me?”
“That’s real; if you don’t drink the antidote within an hour, you will indeed die.”