Skinwalker Belle – Chapter 546 – How Did You Know?

When Xiao Yao pushed open the ward door the next morning, the tray in her hands wobbled.

Lin Li was standing by the window, one hand resting on the frame, tilting her head as she looked down at the street below.

Her white hair cascaded from her shoulders all the way to her ankles, pooling in a circle on the floor. Morning light caught the side of her face.

“How did you get out of bed?”

Xiao Yao rushed over in three quick steps.

Lin Li turned to look at her and blinked.

“My body feels fine now, so I wanted to stand up and walk around a bit.”

“Last night you couldn’t even turn over!”

Xiao Yao crouched down and squeezed Lin Li’s knees and ankles. The skin felt smooth and cool, but the muscle underneath was surprisingly firm.

“Your recovery speed isn’t normal.”

“Not normal?”

“An ordinary person who’s been in a coma for four days would be doing well just to sit up. You look like nothing ever happened to you.”

“Maybe I’m just tougher than most.”

Xiao Yao rolled her eyes and pulled out a penlight to check her pupils.

The pupillary light reflex was much more responsive than last night.

“Open your mouth.”

Lin Li obediently opened wide.

“Ahh~”

Xiao Yao examined her with a tongue depressor, then pressed the stethoscope to her chest.

Still that strange echo. Her heart rate was much closer to normal now, but the sound waves coming back from her internal organs didn’t resemble what a living person should sound like.

She pulled off the stethoscope and ran a hand through her hair.

“I’ll try drawing blood again.”

“Go ahead.”

Xiao Yao had learned her lesson this time—she pulled out a reinforced military-grade puncture needle.

She positioned the tip over the vein in the crook of Lin Li’s elbow and pressed down hard.

Crack.

The needle bent.

Xiao Yao tossed the bent needle into the trash bin. Counting yesterday’s, that made five.

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“What exactly is under your skin?”

“How should I know?” Lin Li looked down at her arm, where not even a red mark had been left behind.

Xiao Yao scribbled a line in her notebook: [Day 5 follow-up: subject recovering at an extraordinary rate. Needle loss ×5. Recommend switching to a power drill.]

She looked up when she finished writing.

Lin Li was watching her.

Her gaze was gentle, carrying a hint of something strangely familiar.

“Xiao Yao.”

“Hm?”

“Do you usually like wearing… those short-skirted school uniforms with the little bow ties?”

The pen in Xiao Yao’s hand rolled onto the floor.

“What did you say?”

“I don’t know why.” Lin Li thought for a moment. “When I look at you, an image pops into my head. You’re wearing that kind of outfit, and you’re pretty short.”

Xiao Yao froze.

She did own a JK uniform. She’d bought it before the apocalypse, planning to wear it to a comic convention. It had been sitting in her closet for years.

No one knew about it except Lei Jie and a few others.

“How do you know about that?”

“I don’t know.” Lin Li shook her head. “It just suddenly appeared in my mind. Your name too—when I woke up and saw you, I just felt like I should call you Xiao Yao.”

Xiao Yao stared at her for several long seconds.

A chill ran down her spine.

But the confusion on Lin Li’s face didn’t look faked.

“Are you sure you really don’t remember anything?”

“I’m sure.” Lin Li glanced out the window again. “But this building feels very familiar to me.”

“Familiar how?”

“Like… I know the floor below is for storage. And the one below that seems to be a bathing area.”

Xiao Yao said nothing.

Fifth floor, storage. Fourth floor, bathhouse.

All correct.

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“Stay right there. Don’t move.”

Xiao Yao bolted for the door, nearly colliding with a nurse bringing in breakfast.

“Sister Xiao Yao, what’s the rush?”

“I need to find Lei Jie!”

Twenty minutes later, Lei Li arrived.

She was dressed in her signature black leather jacket and pants, with knee-high leather boots.

Seeing Lin Li already standing by the window, she glanced over.

“Recovering pretty fast.”

“Mm.” Lin Li smiled at her.

Lei Li didn’t respond.

Xiao Yao coughed dryly from the side and recounted what had just happened.

After listening, Lei Li turned to Lin Li.

“Do you know how many floors this building has?”

“Eighteen.”

“What’s the top floor used for?”

“An observation deck.”

Lei Li and Xiao Yao exchanged a look.

“Where’s the command center?”

“Sixth floor.” Lin Li answered instantly. After saying it, she froze too, tapping her head. “Strange… how do I know that?”

Lei Li stayed silent.

“Hungry?”

“A little.”

“Come on, let’s go to the cafeteria.”

The three of them stepped into the elevator. Lei Li reached out and pressed the button for the second floor.

Lin Li stood beside her and suddenly spoke up.

“There wasn’t an elevator here before, was there?”

Lei Li stopped mid-motion.

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“What did you say?”

“I feel like… people used to take the stairs up and down. The elevator was only opened later.”

Xiao Yao behind them didn’t dare to breathe.

The elevator at Fragrant Hills International indeed hadn’t been used at first.

Before the entire building was cleared out, everyone had climbed the stairs for months.

Lei Li turned her head back.

Lin Li flinched back under her gaze.

“Did I say something wrong again?”

“No.” Lei Li turned her face away. “Everything you said is right.”

The elevator doors opened, and the smell of food drifted in.

The cafeteria wasn’t large—there were over twenty folding tables. It was breakfast time, and about seventy or eighty percent of the seats were occupied.

Lei Li stepped out first, with Lin Li following behind.

The moment she walked in, the chatter in the cafeteria quieted down.

The people at the tables near the door stopped their chopsticks mid-air.

A burly man who was bragging shut his mouth.

Those with their backs to the door turned around as well.

Soon, there was no sound in the cafeteria at all.

In the corner, Ah Hu was gnawing on a steamed bun. The bun was in his hand, but he forgot to take a bite.

At the soup window, a young man’s ladle slipped into the pot. The person beside him tugged at his sleeve.

“The soup spilled.”

“…Huh?”

“It spilled on your crotch, can’t you feel it?”

The young man looked down at his steaming pants, showed no reaction, then looked up toward the door again.

Lin Li shrank back behind Lei Li and tugged at her sleeve.

“Why are they all staring at me?”

“Because you’re good-looking.” Lei Li’s tone was flat.

“Good-looking enough for this?”

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“Look in the mirror yourself and you’ll know.”

Xiao Yao came over carrying two bowls of congee and jutted her chin toward the whole room.

“Alright everyone, seen enough? She still needs to eat.”

Only then did the crowd snap out of it, but they still couldn’t help glancing over at that table.

The three of them sat down. Lin Li picked up her spoon and took a sip of congee, then suddenly looked up.

“The taste is a bit different from what I remember.”

Lei Li paused.

“What does it taste like in your memory?”

“It seems a little saltier than this.”

Xiao Yao slumped onto the table, staring at her.

A burly man hauling supplies at the next table leaned over.

“Um… Lei Jie, what’s the relationship between this girl and Brother Lin Fan?”

“No relationship.”

“But she’s also surnamed Lin, and she was brought back on the same day as Brother Lin Fan…”

“Her name is Lin Li. She has no relationship with Lin Fan whatsoever.” Lei Li set down her bowl and glanced at the man. “Anything else?”

The man shrank his neck back.

Xiao Yao lowered her head, poking at the pickled vegetables, her voice very quiet.

“Lei Jie, the more you say that, the more people think there’s a connection.”

“Shut up and drink your congee.”

Lin Li didn’t quite follow what the two of them were saying, so she lowered her head and continued drinking her congee. After two more sips, her movements stopped.

Lin Li’s gaze fell upon a wall in the corner of the restaurant.

On that wall hung a photograph.

In the photo, a group of people stood at the main entrance of a building, posing for a group picture.

At the very center was a woman in a black leather jacket, and beside her, a man with short black hair, smiling as he wrapped his arm around the woman’s shoulder.

Lin Li stared at the man in the photograph, and a headache began to throb in her head.

“Ahhh… ahh…”