Author: 梦溪石 / Meng Xi Shi
Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/
Chapter 159
From the door’s crack in a compartment, a middle-aged woman was seen holding a struggling child who seemed to be trying to wake up. However, a man next to her gave the child something to drink, and in a blink, the child fell back into a deep sleep.
Kan Chaosheng narrowed his eyes.
The people inside were very alert. Almost the moment Kan Chaosheng stopped to look, another man noticed his silhouette outside the door and swiftly approached to open it. Kan Chaosheng didn’t plan on running; he stood his ground, looked up, and gave a smile that he thought was foolishly naive but which others might interpret as innocent and pure. “Hello, Uncle.”
Glancing around and seeing only a child, the man’s guard dropped significantly.
He said absent-mindedly, “Go find your parents; this isn’t a place for kids!”
Kan Chaosheng pointed to the sleeping boy inside. “That little brother is so cute. Can I play with him?”
The man, now annoyed, warned, “Whose annoying kid is this? If you don’t leave, I’ll call the police!”
Kan Chaosheng, on the verge of tears, pleaded, “But my parents didn’t come with me. Please don’t let the police take me away!”
The man hesitated, and his stern expression softened immediately, becoming more cordial.
“Little friend, you say your parents didn’t come with you? Who brought you on the train?”
Kan Chaosheng shook his head. “I came by myself, going to my grandparents’. My parents got divorced.”
The man’s heart leapt with opportunity, suppressing his excitement. “Then, would you like to come in and play with the little brother?”
Kan Chaosheng feigned hesitation. “Isn’t he sleeping?”
The man reached out, trying to coax him. “When he wakes up, he can play with you. I have delicious candy here.”
Kan Chaosheng did indeed come in with great enthusiasm. The man took out a large bag of candies from his bag and gave it to him, and he also lent him a phone to play with.
“Little friend, where are you from?” the man asked.
Kan Chaosheng mentioned a place name, which was a suburb next to the capital city.
The man confirmed again, “Did you really come here by train alone? How could your parents be at ease?”
With candy stuffed in his mouth, his cheeks puffing with each chew, Kan Chaosheng frowned and said, “My parents are divorced. They have to work and don’t have time to accompany me, so they let me go by myself.”
The woman holding the child also asked, “Wasn’t there someone with you on the way?”
Kan Chaosheng rolled his eyes. “I’m a grownup; I don’t need someone with me!”
The man laughed. “Yes, yes, you’re a grownup!”
He turned to his companion and said, “I think he’s a runaway.”
To prevent the child from understanding, their conversation was conducted entirely in a tricky and hard-to-understand dialect.
However, Kan Chaosheng didn’t need to listen; he could guess what they were probably saying.
The woman said, “Maybe we should forget it. What we have now is enough. Any more and we might overextend ourselves.”
“Women are always so timid!” Another accomplice sneered disdainfully. “One more means more money. Look at his fair and delicate face; he’s definitely well-raised. Most likely, he sneaked out without his parents knowing. Kids like him are top-notch merchandise; once kidnapped, they’re hard to find!”
The third accomplice appeared uneasy. “But when he got on, someone must’ve seen him. What if the passengers in the same car notice he’s missing and call the police?”
Another accomplice thoughtfully said, “So, we should wait for about half an hour. If no one comes looking for him by then, we’ll get off at the next stop. At that time, we’ll hand this kid to Lao Lei. If anyone asks, we’ll say he got sick, the hospital in Beijing couldn’t treat him, so we’re taking him back to his hometown.”
There was continuous rustling from the other end. The man who had opened the door for Kan Chaosheng turned around and was dumbstruck.
“How the hell can you eat so much?!”
He snatched the bag from Kan Chaosheng’s hands, then picked up the snack wrappers from the bunk, pinching a few to confirm that all the snacks inside had been eaten.
“Damn, it’s all gone! Are you the fucking reincarnation of a starved ghost? How can you eat so much from such a big bag?”
Kan Chaosheng looked aggrieved. “Uncle, if you scold me, I won’t play with the little brother. I’m leaving!”
Saying so, he tried to jump off the bed.
The man hurriedly stopped him. “No, no, no, I was just joking with you. There’s still food!”
He then motioned to his companions. “Quick, whatever snacks you have on you, take them out!”
The man quickly handed another bag of snacks to Kan Chaosheng. “Here, eat these for now. Uncle will go buy you a drink, okay?”
“Okay!” Kan Chaosheng happily started opening the snacks without lifting his head. “I’ve already bought a Coke. Get me two bottles of Sprite!”
“Alright, alright!” The man gave a signal to one of his companions, who immediately got up and left.
The man stared at the empty snack wrappers in disbelief. “How did he eat so quickly? Did any of you see him eating? Is he some sort of eating machine?”
One of the accomplices teased him, “He was sitting right behind you eating, and you didn’t even notice! How would we know?”
The man turned his head to see Kan Chaosheng eating and his greasy fingers typing on his phone simultaneously. Despite his nonchalant demeanor, he was eating at an astonishing speed. In no time, he finished a chicken wing and picked up another.
Looking at the greasy fingerprints covering the phone, the man resisted the urge to lash out at Kan Chaosheng.
“This damned kid. Before selling him off, I really want to beat him up,” he muttered furiously in his dialect.
The accomplice returned with drinks. Meeting the man’s inquisitive gaze, he silently nodded and handed over the drinks.
“Kid, you must be thirsty. Have a drink. Uncle went out especially to buy it for you!”
Kan Chaosheng took it and gulped down a big sip.
The only woman among the traffickers tried to make conversation. “Little friend, what’s your name?”
Kan Chaosheng glanced at her, curled his lip, and arrogantly replied, “My parents told me not to tell my name to ugly women!”
The middle-aged woman, holding back her anger, gave a fake smile. “Didn’t your parents teach you to be polite when speaking to adults?”
Kan Chaosheng giggled. “Why should I be polite to someone as ugly as you?”
He finished the last chicken bone and tossed it onto the bed.
“I’m done eating. Is there more?”
The man: …
“None left!” He replied irritatedly, staring at Kan Chaosheng. Seeing the boy still full of energy, he suspiciously asked his companion. “Was the drink ‘fresh’?”
The accomplice replied with discontent, “Of course it was ‘fresh’. I even added a bit extra!”
The man was puzzled. “Then why didn’t he faint?”
Kan Chaosheng wiped his mouth nonchalantly. “My elder told me never to ask others for snacks, but if they offer, it’s fine. You guys won’t snitch, right?”
The man, seeing the boy hadn’t fainted, snapped impatiently, “What are you babbling about? Here, drink this Sprite as well!”
Kan Chaosheng grinned, showing an innocent smile. “Since you don’t have any more food, I guess it’s my turn.”
……
Deng Po waited for a long time without seeing Kan Chaosheng return with the cola. Feeling uneasy and regretting letting the boy go alone, he followed the directions to the dining car. From the staff, he learned that Kan Chaosheng had returned. Deng Po hurriedly searched each compartment, ready to call the police. But then he saw a compartment door open, and Kan Chaosheng’s head peeked out, waving at him.
“What are you doing?” Deng Po rushed over and peeked inside, his jaw dropping.
Inside the compartment, there were five people: three men, one woman, and one unconscious child.
One man clung to the bedpost, screaming in terror, “Stay away, or I’ll call the police!”
Another sat on the small table by the bed, laughing maniacally and pretending to gather something. “Gold, so much gold! I’m rich!”
The other two burly men were strangling each other. One spat out angrily, “You traitor, daring to cheat behind my back!” while the other sobbed, “I didn’t! I didn’t kill anyone.”
Deng Po: …What just happened here?
He slowly looked at Kan Chaosheng. “Is this a group of mentally ill patients on their way to a mental hospital?”
Kan Chaosheng rolled his eyes. “What are you thinking? These are human traffickers, and that kid was kidnapped by them!”
Deng Po was shocked. “What?! And you…?”
Kan Chaosheng shrugged. “Thankfully, I’m clever and skillful. Otherwise, they would’ve succeeded. The boy seems to be another one of their victims.”
Deng Po struggled to reconcile the bizarre behavior of the people with the idea of them being traffickers. As he was still processing, Kan Chaosheng frowned. “Why are you standing there in a daze? Quickly call the police!”
Deng Po didn’t think much about it and turned to look for the train police. Halfway there, he realized a problem: How did Kan Chaosheng, having just fallen into the hands of those people, manage to do this to them?
He dared not think about it deeply. A shiver ran down Deng Po’s spine, with a vague realization that perhaps the kid wasn’t as simple as he seemed on the surface.
……
When Dong Zhi received a call from Kan Chaosheng, he was on his way back from a commendation ceremony.
This commendation ceremony was also a memorial service.
The battle began and ended with the stone tablet. Che Bai, Zong Ling, Ding Lan, and others had sacrificed their precious lives. Long Shen, Dong Zhi, Yu Buhui, Liu Si, and others almost didn’t make it back from the abyss. Wu Bingtian, Tang Jing, and their peers were seriously injured, and they paid a heavy price for a pyrrhic victory.
Although the abyssal channel had been sealed and almost all of Otowa Yasuhiko’s side had been wiped out, with only insignificant figures left who couldn’t cause any more trouble, it was still a profoundly painful experience for the Special Administration Bureau.
Everyone, dressed in black Chinese tunic suits, stood in the cemetery. The summary of the battle and the eulogy for the deceased by Song Zhicun echoed in their ears. The heavens seemed moved, sending a light drizzle as if mourning the heroes.
Under such circumstances, even when Dong Zhi was informed that he had been awarded a second-class individual merit and promoted to assistant director of the Yangcheng branch, he couldn’t feel any happier.
Only when he sat side by side with Long Shen on the way back and received a call from Kan Chaosheng did he begin to shake off the sadness, replaced by a mix of laughter and tears.
“You’re saying you used an illusion technique to turn those four traffickers into lunatics?” Dong Zhi asked.
“I had to do something! By the time the police arrived, everything would’ve been over! They’re perfectly fine now; they’re just pretending to be mad to avoid police interrogation. Anyway, I’ve handed them over to the police, so it’s out of my hands now!” Kan Chaosheng ranted.
Dong Zhi smirked. “Since the situation is resolved, you wouldn’t specifically call unless something else happened, right?”
As expected, there was a pause on the other end. Kan Chaosheng hesitated for a moment. “It’s not a big deal! I just plan to take on a disciple and was wondering if you guys are free to come and witness the ceremony?”
Dong Zhi: …
Without needing to relay the message, Kan Chaosheng’s voice was loud enough for Long Shen to hear.
Long Shen couldn’t help but rub his temples. “We really shouldn’t have let him go out alone.”
He thought that after all this time at the Special Administration Bureau, Kan Chaosheng deserved a chance to go out on his own. Little did he expect that he would find himself a disciple while delivering an octopus.
Long Shen took the phone from Dong Zhi. “You’re not ready to have a disciple yet.”
Upon hearing Long Shen’s voice, Kan Chaosheng’s tone softened. “Boss, his name is Deng Po. I met him on the way. He seems to have a good nature. Without knowing who I am, he still took care of me when he knew I was traveling alone.”
Long Shen calmly replied, “Choosing a disciple is not only about their nature but also their potential. And being a master is not just about the master’s abilities. Besides magic, what else do you think you can teach him?”
Kan Chaosheng: “Eat… eat faster than others?”
Long Shen was silent. Dong Zhi tried to hold back his laughter. Long Shen glanced at him and saw him leaning in to listen, stretching his neck like a giraffe, so he just turned on the speakerphone.
Kan Chaosheng’s dejected voice came through. “Alright, I understand.”
Still, he wanted to try one more time. “But I really want to take on a disciple. Ever since you guys left the capital, I’ve been so bored. Zhong Yuyi is so slow to respond. Sometimes it takes him forever to reply.”
Long Shen patiently explained, “A disciple is not a playmate to keep you entertained. You have to be responsible for their future.”
Kan Chaosheng: “I can do it! Like you do with Dong Zhi, isn’t it just sleeping in the same bed? I can do that too!”
Dong Zhi: ……
Without a word, Dong Zhi hung up the phone.
But it was already too late.
The driver was from the Special Administration Bureau and wasn’t a practitioner but a logistical staff member. He was relatively familiar with the affairs within the bureau. This commendation ceremony was an official outing. Originally, Long Shen and Wu Bingtian were in the same car, but on the way back, Wu Bingtian and Song Zhicun had matters to discuss. Meanwhile, Dong Zhi had to go back directly to pack up to catch a flight to Yangcheng early the next morning. Long Shen accompanied him, so they shared a car. Although Long Shen’s resignation wasn’t approved, the higher-ups allowed him to take an indefinite sick leave, only requiring him to report in urgent situations when needed.
The reason Long Shen wanted to resign was partly that he felt a bit exhausted and wanted to spend more time with his apprentice. On the other hand, it was due to the lingering demonic qi. He didn’t want to have any accidents while in the position of deputy director, which would cause even more trouble. But now that he was allowed to take sick leave, he didn’t insist on leaving. Unlike Tang Jing, who loved freedom, the word “responsibility” was deeply ingrained in him. The Special Administration Bureau, and the people within it had long become a part of his life, and he was reluctant to leave casually.
During Kan Chaosheng’s rant, the car happened to stop at a red light at a crossroads ahead. The driver took a sip from his water bottle, and, caught off guard by the overheard conversation, he spit the water directly onto the windshield.
He coughed a few times and sneaked a glance at the two of them through the rearview mirror. Trying to cover up his embarrassment, he coughed a few more times and loudly mumbled to himself, “Ah, the weather is so conducive to catching a cold. I’ve been having a runny nose lately and even ringing in my ears. I can’t hear anything; what should I do about this?”
A deathly silence pervaded the car’s interior.
Kinky Thoughts:
That’s treading dangerous waters there Kan Chaosheng. In your case, your new disciple might go directly to jail.
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