Divine Oracle [Transmigration] (ORACLE)
Song Si had just fallen asleep, his body and nerves finally entering a rare state of relaxation, when Tian Li's shout jolted him awake instantly. His whole body jerked, and he sat up from the reclined chair, rubbing his forehead.
Someone nearby spoke: "What's wrong?"
Tian Li had also just woken up and was still in her pajamas. She grabbed Chu Mingyi, who had stood up, and practically dragged him towards the interrogation room. Song Si froze for a second, exchanged a look with Lin Zheng from the opposite workstation, both having the same bad premonition, and hurried after them.
Before they even reached the interrogation room, Chu Mingyi's voice shouted: "Song Si! Get over here, quick!"
Song Si's heart sank. He sprinted to the interrogation room, but the moment his left foot stepped through the doorway, he suddenly stepped on something sticky and slippery.
He looked down. The floor was covered in a crimson red, a trail of it snaking from the chair area all the way to the door, and he had stepped right in it.
Not good!
Song Si looked up to assess the situation inside the interrogation room. Zhu Hongjia was slumped face down on the table, his right hand hanging limply beside the chair, blood dripping steadily from his middle finger. Chu Mingyi was trying to lift him up, checking for a pulse and breath. As Chu Mingyi moved him, Zhu Hongjia's right hand swayed, revealing the gruesome sight on the inner side of his wrist.
The wrist was a bloody mess, flesh torn and flipped outward from what looked like a bite.
Wrist...
Blood...
Song Si's gaze fixated on that horrifying wound, as if struck by something, freezing him in the doorway.
All the blood in his body seemed to run cold, his lungs crushed by an invisible giant hand, squeezing out every last bit of oxygen. Lin Zheng asked "What happened?" from behind him, but the voice reached his ears distorted, filled with gurgling bubbles, as if heard through stagnant, bloody bathwater...
"Song Si?" Lin Zheng's left hand gripped his shoulder. "Song Si!"
Song Si's mind went completely blank, the colors before his eyes gradually fading, replaced by an overwhelming darkness.
His body went limp, collapsing backward into Lin Zheng's arms.
"Chief, Song Si fainted!" "What the hell is going on?!"
"The surveillance, the alarm!" "Yi-ge, they said the power just went out... Oh god! What's wrong with Song Si?"
"Yiming, call, quick, get an ambulance!" "It's too late for Zhu Hongjia, his heart stopped, send him to Department One!"...
His colleagues' voices seemed to come from another world. Song Si was in a strange state between unconsciousness and awareness. He clearly felt someone laying him in a chair, someone prying open his eyelids and shining a small penlight into his pupils. He wanted to wake up, but could only shiver uncontrollably.
Before his eyes was a vision of red, warm liquid. That liquid flowed gently over his skin, carrying the metallic scent of blood mixed with the smell of orange-scented body wash, seeping into his mouth, his ears, his nostrils, and then into his lungs...
Every pore on Song Si's body opened wide. It felt somewhat like an allergic reaction to anesthesia. Cold sweat poured out incessantly, as if his body was desperately trying to expel and evaporate a foreign substance within.
"Song Si, Song Si, can you hear me?"
"Song Si, breathe! Hey, are you trying to suffocate yourself?!"
"Song Si…"
Before suffocation took hold, someone forcefully pinched his cheeks and sealed his lips.
Air was transferred into his mouth through the other person’s tongue. Like a drowning man clutching at a lifeline, Song Si instinctively tilted his head back, chasing after those lips. Someone nearby exclaimed, “Chief, he’s responding!”
The lips, rough and dry, pressed against his with no gentleness, making the corners of his mouth ache. Their teeth accidentally clashed several times.
As air continued to flow into Song Si’s body, he gradually emerged from the suffocating state. His fingers twitched with effort, and he tentatively began to breathe through his nose.
He was breathing air, not water.
Song Si felt as though he had been trapped in a nightmare during an afternoon nap. Drenched in cold sweat, he reopened his eyes. In his blurred, unfocused vision, he saw Chu Mingyi leaning down, lips pressed against his, the tip of his tongue inadvertently brushing against Song Si’s as he delivered air into his mouth.
Song Si’s heart raced in panic. His consciousness swiftly returned, and as he closed his mouth, he accidentally bit Chu Mingyi’s lip.
Chu Mingyi hissed in pain, covering his mouth as he straightened up.
“He’s awake!” Tian Li cried out. “Thank goodness!”
Song Si blinked hard, struggling to piece together what had happened through the haze.
“Damn, you bit so hard,” Chu Mingyi said, his lip bleeding. “Are you part dog or something?”
Afternoon nap, Tian Li, interrogation room, blood…
Song Si propped himself up on his elbows and abruptly sat up from the chair, his voice hoarse as he asked, “How is… Zhu Hongjia?”
Chu Mingyi reached out to support his arm, adjusting the reclined chair back to its upright position. Instead of answering, he asked, “How are you feeling? Do you want some water?”
Song Si nodded. Tian Li quickly brought over a cup of water. Worried he might not hold it steady, Chu Mingyi held the cup and helped him drink most of it.
Leaning weakly against the chair, Song Si fell silent for a few seconds before saying, “I didn’t expect… PTSD.”
Tian Li looked at him, then suddenly turned away, bowing her head as she began to sob quietly.
Chu Mingyi frowned. “You mean post-traumatic stress from the bathtub suicide attempt? That doesn’t seem right. After I rescued you, you were completely fine—no insomnia, no nightmares, even asked me for a cigarette.”
Song Si shook his head. “PTSD manifests differently for everyone. I had amnesia back then… maybe it’s a delayed reaction. What about Zhu Hongjia?”
Chu Mingyi didn’t answer, only saying, “You should rest first. Xiao Li, stay with your Brother Si. Don’t leave his side for a moment, and call me immediately if anything happens.”
Tian Li nodded, wiping her tears with the back of her hand.
Song Si gripped the chair. “Chu Mingyi, take me with you.”
Without looking back, Chu Mingyi walked away.
Song Si’s legs were still trembling. He tried to stand, gripping the armrests, but Tian Li pushed him back into the chair. She pulled over another chair and sat down beside him, her eyes and nose red, glaring at Song Si while still wiping away tears.
Song Si had always been helpless in the face of Tian Li’s tears. The sight of the young woman crying left him flustered. After a moment of panic, he softened his voice and said gently, “Don’t cry, Xiao Li, don’t cry.”
“I—I’ll stay right here with you,” Tian Li said between sobs. “I won’t go anywhere.”
Song Si pulled a tissue from his workstation and gently wiped her face clean.
Tian Li cried even harder.
The office was filled only with the sound of her sniffles. Song Si turned his head to glance in the direction of the monitoring room, a cold, dark emotion welling up inside him.
He closed his eyes, and Tian Li grabbed his hand. "What's wrong with you?"
Song Si had no choice but to open his eyes again, raising his arm to pat Tian Li's back gently. "I'm fine. See? Still alive and kicking. Xiao Li, tell me, what exactly happened just now?"
Tian Li shifted closer to him, leaning against his shoulder.
"That... the suspect bit through... an artery," Tian Li struggled to hold back tears. "Our building... happened to have a blackout right then. It lasted... lasted half an hour. No surveillance, no vital signs alarm, and everyone was taking a nap... Xin Xin and Yiming took him to the First Division. They were just saying... about starting ECMO, but the chances of saving him... aren't great."
It was simply unbelievable, so unbelievable it felt surreal.
The Special Investigation Bureau, being the highest-level confidential department, actually experienced an unexplained blackout during working hours. And coincidentally, during that blackout, an important suspect died.
Li Yunan had already been captured. Could there be deeper waters here?
There must be major issues with Zhu Hongjia!
They discovered it relatively early. Zhu Hongjia's cardiac arrest couldn't have lasted too long, not yet reaching the stage of brain cell necrosis and dissolution. Immediate blood transfusion and emergency treatment, followed by connecting to ECMO—whether he could be saved was another matter, but at least he wouldn't suffer brain death in the short term.
After hearing Tian Li's words, Song Si immediately thought: They must enter the Sea of Consciousness before brain death occurs. Otherwise, it would be a dead end with no evidence, and even the entire Third Division could face trouble.
Chu Mingyi couldn't possibly not know what to do.
He looked at Tian Li and asked again, "Did the Section Chief say anything?"
Tian Li said, "The Section Chief wants to conduct an interrogation. He... he'll handle it himself, with Xin Xin and Brother Zheng covering for him."
Song Si abruptly sat up straight from his chair, his expression drastically changing. "What?!"
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