They stopped talking and An Zhe picked up the glass of water and walked out the tearoom. The moment he looked up, he saw Seraing’s figure flashing down the corridor, opening the door and entering the room that belonged to the doctor and An Zhe. He quickened his pace, wanting to say hello to Seraing.

The door wasn’t closed and a glimmer of light came out. An Zhe held the doorknob and was about to push the door when he heard Seraing asking, “Where is An Zhe?”

The doctor answered, “He transferred with me. Are you looking for him?”

“He has been following you? I just received a call from the emergency response department. The important sample from the D1344 laboratory that was preparing to be transferred has disappeared.”

“Disappeared?” The doctor wondered. “The sample related to Lu Feng? That weird thing, I wouldn’t be surprised if it died and evaporated into thin air.”

An Zhe’s heart beat quickly as his fingers trembled and he quickly turned to the other side of the corridor.

“No,” Seraing told him. “The reason the emergency response department came to me was that the instrument recorded some usage at 6 in the morning. The operator was the colonel. Where is An Zhe? I have to find him.”

“He went to get some water.”

“Thank you.” There was the sound of a door opening and Seraing went out.

An Zhe stood behind the wall around the corner and gripped the glass of water in his hand. He knew that he would be found one day but he hadn’t expected it to be so soon. The two researchers in the tearoom had seen him and soon, Seraing would come here to find him. He couldn’t be found.

An Zhe clearly recognized this and looked around the corridor to find an available vent. Then he realized that once he became a mushroom, his clothes and ID card would be left here as conclusive evidence.

His chest heaved a few times before he made a decision in a second. He turned and ran toward the utility room at the end of the auxiliary corridor. There was a small half-open door leading to the emergency stairwell that wouldn’t be found anytime soon. This stairwell had another exit on the 22nd floor. He and Lily had been here once. As long as An Zhe found the original terrace, he could leave the building or find another place to hide. It didn’t matter as long as he left the sixth floor as soon as possible.

An Zhe successfully found the small door and went in. He entered the dark stairwell and started to climb the stairs. This place seemed to be close to the building’s outer wall. The wind was loud and there were long echoes. The air was hot and it was full of a suffocating, damp heat.