There was a saying that every reunion was for the next separation.
The potential meaning of this phrase was that reunions weren’t necessarily a good thing.
For Lin Chen, he was unable to determine whether the reunion arranged by fate was good or bad. He only knew that waiting for this reunion was a difficult thing.
The sun shone silently in the dining hall, which was quiet.
The staff at the rest stop had brought brown blankets for everyone. A group of policewomen who were the first to arrive were pouring tea for the passengers. Seeing the unhurried policewoman’s movement, Lin Chen realized that Xing Conglian had found him.
“When will you be taking statements? We are in a hurry here!” A passenger held his paper cup as he spoke with slight impatience.
“That’s right. Just leave a few people back and they can talk about it!” A passenger on the other side agreed.
“Please wait a moment.” The policewoman smiled very gently. “Our colleagues at the forensic department haven’t yet finished cleaning up the scene. The highway is currently limited right now, so there’s a lot of traffic. The transfer cars that were dispatched are currently stuck in traffic.”
“Forensic department? It’s like we’re shooting a drama!”
“It’s almost been two hours. Haven’t you finished yet, huh?”
“Why make such a big deal? We’re fine. It’s just a child’s prank!”
Several older women expressed their opinions together. Lin Chen was still sitting in a corner. It was a little cold, but also quiet. He carefully observed everyone’s expressions, and a strange feeling gradually rose in his heart.
When the hijacking was mentioned, everyone’s faces were relaxed and indifferent. Not only did they not have any PTSD* reactions, but they were also blaming the police for making a fuss. His gaze finally fell on the policewoman’s face, who was currently tucking her long hair behind her ears. Unfortunately, he didn’t find any emotions belonging to tension or solemnity on the policewoman’s beautiful face.
*Post-traumatic stress disorder. A mental and behavioral disorder that can develop because of exposure to a traumatic event.
Then, the reason why everyone was still here, in addition to the orders from Xing Conglian, was probably because there really was a traffic jam.
Lin Chen gradually felt that the situation was somewhat serious.
He looked out the window, where the lime green reeds stretched endlessly. When the wind blew, the reeds rippled like the sea.
The space gradually quieted down to the point where it became too quiet.
Suddenly, Lin Chen heard some footsteps downstairs. It was the sound of typical police leather boots hitting the marble floor. The sound became denser. It seemed there were a lot of people coming downstairs. Most likely, the police bridge had arrived.
Those people stepped into the hall, walked around the corner, and went upstairs…
Realizing this, Lin Chen suddenly felt nervous. This tension wouldn’t make his hands sweaty or his body tremble, but it was enough to interrupt all his thoughts in an instant. He felt a rapid heartbeat and his mind became blank. At this moment, he couldn’t recall any psychological adjustment method he had learned.
He was nervous; nervous because of the person who was about to come.
There was a click.
When the leather boots stepped its last step, Lin Chen subconsciously raised his head.
The figure at the entrance of the stairs stood upright, like a rocky lone peak on a frosty winter night, but also very craggy.
The man’s police uniform was straight, with silver stars shining on his shoulders. His surname was Huang, the Huang that was part of the elite four families of Zhou, Wu, Chen, and Huang.
—
When he received the call from Wang Chao, Xing Conglian walked into Fengjing.
“Fuck, not good captain. Inspector Huang is going to take the consultant to the rest stop to take statements. You better hurry up. I’m afraid that my A’Chen will be murdered if you’re too late!”
On the other end of the line, Wang Chao’s words came at him like a cannonball of jumbled words. Because he pronounced it too fast, Xing Conglian didn’t hear it clearly. “What inspector are you talking about?’
“Huang Ze! Huang Ze! Huang Ze!” Wang Chao shouted as if he was about to die. “I have already sent you the best route to your phone to avoid the traffic jam. You can thank me later!”
Before Wang Chao even finished, Xing Conglian heard a message notification sound on his phone. He looked down and saw that it was a new email.
“Is something wrong, Captain Xing?” Yang Dianfeng seemed to vaguely feel that the voice on the other end of the line had extreme urgency, and he couldn’t help but ask with concern.
Xing Conglian frowned, then quickly turned around and ran towards the Jeep parked on the side of the road.
The noise carried by the spring breeze outside the school was because of the students, while the noise inside the dining hall was because of the arrival of several police officers.
The passengers in the corner of the hall stood up one after another. Sunlight streamed in from the floor-to-ceiling windows and the raised transparent ceiling. Huang Ze stood at the entrance of the stairs but could not hear any sound around him.
The sun was extremely bright, and the beige marble reflected most of its light. Huang Ze felt something pierce his eyes and fell into a daze.
He seemed to have seen Lin Chen, and it was indeed Lin Chen.
But Lin Chen’s body should be beneath that rolling river, and his soul wandering some cemetery…
But Lin Chen was standing among the passengers. His eyes were clear, and his hair was slightly moistened by the sun.
Huang Ze suddenly wanted to laugh.
He saw Lin Chen put down the paper cup in his hand, turn around and put a scarf on the old man beside him, said something that seemed to soothe his emotions, and then walked over.
Sure enough, it was Lin Chen. The Lin Chen who could tell a big lie or get punched on the spot and would still remain calm and unapologetic.
The closer Lin Chen got, the tighter Huang Ze’s fists became.
Finally, Lin Chen stopped in front of him.
He condescendingly looked into Lin Chen’s eyes, hoping to see any apology or guilt, but no. Lin Chen was still calm and indifferent, as if he was looking at a stranger.
At that moment, Huang Ze could no longer restrain his inner anger and punched Lin Chen in the cheek.
It was a punch that exhausted all his strength and staggered Lin Chen violently, but it didn’t relieve his hatred. He saw Lin Chen cover his face and take two steps back. This only made him clench his fist tighter and swing again.
Lin Chen was still shaken by the first punch. The pain was second to none. He fell into a brief darkness and lost his ability to move. He realized that Huang Ze was swinging his fist at him again. He felt he should avoid it, but his body didn’t listen to his command.
However, the second punch didn’t land as expected. Huang Ze didn’t know what was wrong with him. His fist seemed to change position in mid-air and landed on Lin Chen’s shoulder. It opened up and grabbed the man, as if it was going in for a hug.
By the time Lin Chen could react, his ears were ringing badly. His face felt like it was on fire and his mouth was full of blood.
Lin Chen felt his face being pressed against hard fabric, and he finally realized he was being hugged tightly by Huang Ze as he could feel his heartbeat.
“Why didn’t you die?” He heard Huang Ze say.
He could feel that Huang Ze’s voice was a little choked up, but why?
Lin Chen felt strange. The situation was awkward, and he didn’t know where to put his hands, and Huang Ze didn’t seem to want to let him go.
In the end, it was a question from someone next to Huang Ze that rescued him.
“Are you Lin Chen?”
The speaker had a head full of fluffy, messy, curly hair. Those hairs were so long they almost covered his eyes. Lin Chen glanced at the person in silence.
Huang Ze woke up like a dream. As if he was throwing away garbage, he abruptly pushed him away.
Lin Chen covered his face and looked up and saw a fluff of messy curly hair.
“You’re not dead yet Captain Xing has been sad for so long?” The man’s tone was very casual, as if he had expected this.
“I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Jiang Zhe.” Seeing that there was no reaction from Lin Chen, he was stunned. Jiang Zhe’s face showed a trace of mockery. “The new psychology consultant for the Hongjing Police.”
Oh, it turns out to be a colleague of Xing Conglian’s.
Lin Chen nodded and stretched out his hand naturally.
However, Jiang Zhe didn’t reach out. “In the 1111 extra-large murder case, your suspicion hasn’t been cleared. I will not shake hands with a murderer.”
Jiang Zhe’s voice was so loud that all eyes in the hall gathered towards him.
Oh, it turns out it’s Huang Ze’s friend.
Lin Chen retracted his hand and bowed politely. Since he had already greeted them and had nothing else to say, he walked back to his seat.
“Why are you here? Is this hijacking related to you? Do you still want to be famous that much?!”
Jiang Zhe’s questions came from behind him. Lin Chen stopped and turned around again. Looking at Jiang Zhe’s slightly raised brows and mocking lips, he thought for a while, then answered seriously, “No, I just happened to pass by. I’m just an unlucky victim.”
As if provoked, Jiang Zhe suddenly raised his voice. “Yes, a victim. Like last time you were also the victim of Feng Peilin’s case. I have read the file. You jumped into the river with the victim in your arms! You are so intuitive, but you didn’t know that someone was watching you for three years? You were simply helping Feng Peilin escape, but in the end, he died. The result was like that, yet that idiot policeman won’t doubt you!”
Jiang Zhe spoke very quickly. His voice was cold, and it seemed to make the glass window shake. Because he raised his voice so loudly, he ran out of breath while talking and had to pause.
At this moment, a very soft and casual voice came from downstairs. “Ah, ah, Consultant Jiang. It’s not good to say bad things about people behind their backs.”
Knowing that Lin Chen was at the rest stop and couldn’t leave, Xing Conglian wasn’t in a rush. He knew very well the ingenuity of his friend, so Lin Chen must have known that he was already exposed.
It would be quite interesting to watch a man, who was usually known for his calmness, become extremely anxious.
On the north side of Heping Road, the traffic police stopped a school bus from presumably turning onto Changping Avenue going northbound.
When Xing Conglian arrived, the school bus driver was arguing with the traffic police who had stopped him.
“Sir, you haven’t broken any laws. The police just want to ask you some questions.” The traffic police officer stood by the school bus and tried to patiently persuade.
“Students are trying to get to class!” The school bus driver slammed on the steering wheel.
Xing Conglian circled around the bright yellow school bus.
The students on the bus had already gotten out so they could inspect it. The boys and girls were all wearing private school uniforms and standing in twos and threes on the side of the road.
The girls wore sailor skirts that came to their knees. When the wind blew, it revealed the lines of their youthful, energetic legs; the boys, without the slightest air of arrogance, were quietly waiting to be questioned, despite the delay.
“Fengjing* Private School?” Xing Conglian set his gaze on the school emblem composed of a golden maple leaf and silver laurels on the left side of the school bus.
*Maple [Feng] (枫) View [Jing] (景). This is why the school’s emblem is a maple leaf.
“It’s the city’s famous private school that offers courses from kindergarten to high school. The tuition fees are quite high!” Wang Chao pointed to a little girl with a mushroom head on the side of the road. The little girl was also wearing a navy blue school uniform skirt and was being held by a tall boy.
“For such a young child, her parents are comfortable letting her go to school by herself?” Xing Conglian couldn’t help but click his tongue.
“In Fengjing, kindergarteners are picked up and dropped off one-on-one by special senior students, so how could it be unsafe?” Hearing this question, the manager of the transportation company that was standing to the side couldn’t help but speak up.
“Do you have children going to Fengjing?”
“My youngest brother. He’s a high schooler.”
“Must be rich, huh?”
Hearing what Xing Conglian said, Yang Dianfeng gave him a meaningful smile and replied, “After all, the quality of education is good, so it’s only right to spend more money. If Captain Xing also wants to send his children to it, I can introduce you to the principal.”
“We criminal investigators are very poor and can’t afford such tuition.”
While chatting with Yang Dianfeng, Xing Conglian suddenly noticed the police officer who was assisting in handling the scene had pulled something out of a girl’s schoolbag.
The police officer sealed the items in the evidence bag and handed them to Xing Conglian.
Xing Conglian glanced at the contents of the bag and walked up to the female student. “Young lady…” As soon as he opened his mouth, Wang Chao kicked him in the sides.
“Classmate, you said this thing isn’t yours?” He quickly changed his tone and held up the evidence bag in front of the female student. Inside was the tablet computer that was taken away by the teenage hijacker not long ago.
The girl nodded. “When I packed my schoolbag this morning, I didn’t have this thing.”
“Then you have never touched it?”
The girl’s eyes were clear. “You can check for fingerprints.”
“Makes sense.” Xing Conglian rubbed the stubble on his chin.
“My schoolbag has always been on me today. Unless someone put it on me when I was walking to the bus stop, but that’s not very likely.” The girl looked at her schoolbag, which was securely fastened by an iron clasp.
“Makes sense.” Xing Conglian continued to rub his stubbles. “What time did you leave the house?”
“7:35.”
“Where do you live?”
“Ruoshui Street.”
“Oh?” Xing Conglian looked at the girl but didn’t ask any other questions.
“Well, uncle, can I go now?” After she spoke, she started walking in the direction of the school bus.
“Interesting.” Xing Conglian stared at the girl’s ponytail as he said it aloud to himself.
Wang Chao found it unbearable. “Captain, quickly give me the tablet and hurry up and go to the rest stop and find A’Chen, please!”
The captain of the police criminal division, who was about to catch a turtle in a jar*, ignored the pleas of his subordinate. He handed over the tablet in a leisurely manner and waited to the side with his arms folded.
*(瓮中捉鳖) Idiom referring to a sure catch.
Wang Chao looked at Xing Conglian’s happy face and had to swallow his anger and resigned himself to work.
He quickly connected the tablet to his laptop and tapped out a bunch of dazzling codes.
A complex red path was outlined on the map, showing the specific location of the tablet after it was stolen by the hijacker.
The cobweb-like road map was completely confusing, but Wang Chao seemed to suddenly realize something. He took out his phone and entered two locations.
“What the hell…” Wang Chao looked at the phone, then at the road map on the computer. He subconsciously shouted at Xing Conglian, “Captain, there’s a problem with the GPS on this computer. This is simply impossible!”
Hearing this, the general manager of Tu’an changed his expression. “Mr. Police Officer, this on-board system is the latest equipment from our company. It’s impossible for there to be any problems!”
“Look, I just did a simple calculation using my phone navigation app. From the Shifang section of the Honjing Highway to our current location, it’s a total of 165 kilometers. That would take more than two hours to drive.” As Wang Chao spoke, he flashed his phone to Yang Dianfeng, then tapped on the estimated time in the upper right corner of the phone. “But look, it’s just 8:00. It’s only been an hour and a half since the bus was robbed, and his driving path is complicated. How can it be possible to get from there to here in such a short time.”
“Maybe he took a shortcut. Can’t you analyze these paths? Shouldn’t there be clues?”
Wang Chao wanted to refute, but after thinking about it, Xing Conglian could have a point, so he brought up the map of the surrounding area of Honjing and began to study it carefully.
Xing Conglian looked at the entire map. The roads were densely packed like blood vessels inside a human body.
“The young lady just said she went out at 7:35. She was pretty sure that this tablet wasn’t in her schoolbag before that, so focus on studying where our lovely tablet passed through and how that tablet got into that young lady’s school bag during the magical time between 7:25 to 8:00.”
Wang Chao’s eyes lit up. He started to retrieve the data according to what Xing Conglian said, but soon became depressed.
“Manager Yang, to be honest, there’s still a problem with your system.” The technician looked frustrated. “Why doesn’t your GPS system have a ‘location-time’ record?”
“What do you mean?” Xing Conglian asked.
“The system only records the location and driving path of the machine, but it doesn’t record when it passes through these places.”
Yang Dianfeng spread his hands helplessly. “For us, we only need the GPS to control and monitor the driving path of the vehicle. I’m sorry.”
“We’ll have to combine this with surveillance to investigate. I’ll ask the school bus driver to show us his daily driving map for you to compare with.” Xing Conglian was also a bit disappointed. He patted Wang Chao on the shoulder as if to soothe him.
“But it doesn’t make sense, Captain!” Wang Chao rubbed his hands together. “Even if the comparison is made, what can it prove by knowing how it got into that young lady’s schoolbag?”
“Prove what?” Xing Conglian’s tone became a little cold. “Prove that a criminal has the ability to do something that we usually can’t do? Prove that we’ve been taken for a ride by him? Prove that we don’t know what his purpose is yet? What proof do you need?”
After Xing Conglian finished speaking, he didn’t even look at Wang Chao and walked towards the driver.
Wang Chao looked at the back of his boss and felt that after the autumn full of torrential rain and blood, his captain seemed to be quietly undergoing some changes, but it was hard to say what the difference was.
“Captain Xing, please wait a moment.”
Before having walked two steps, Xing Conglian was stopped by Yang Dianfeng.
“I have the latest map of Hongjing in paper form.” Yang Dianfeng ran to his car, took out a map from the glove compartment, and trotted over to deliver it. “Let him draw directly on the map so you can see it clearly.”
The school bus driver found that the captain of the criminal division had a bad look on his face, so he surprisingly cooperated. He marked his daily route on the map and clearly marked each stop he made. Xing Conglian glanced at the map and then gave it to Wang Chao.
Wang Chao compared the route on the map and compiled the driving path on the computer. A simple and clear path in yellow began to overlap with the red route recorded by the tablet system.
“What the hell?” Looking at the map, Xing Conglian couldn’t help but repeat what Wang Chao had just said.
Because the earliest overlap between the two routes was at the entrance of Fengjing, and after that, the red and yellow lines separated and overlapped many times, which was completely baffling.
“If there was a matching timeline, this would be much easier,” Wang Chao said exasperatedly.
“I’ll go around this section of the road again.” Xing Conglian pointed to the school bus route.
“I’ll go with you,” Yang Dianfeng said with a smile.
Outside the car window, the road signs kept changing. Yang Dianfeng was sitting in the front passenger seat and saw that while Xing Conglian was looking at the map, he didn’t make a wrong turn.
“Captain Xing has a good memory.” The handsome bus company manager leaned against the window and propped up his chin with one hand, letting the spring breeze blow into his hair.
Xing Conglian took out a cigarette and didn’t bother responding.
Xing Conglian stopped the car at the intersection close to Fengjing. It was currently school hours. The boys and girls got off the bus from a place outside the intersection and walked past the school gate.
Yang Dianfeng followed Xing Conglian briskly along the tree-lined street full of camphor trees.
Xing Conglian walked slowly with his hands in his pockets.
The chilly spring breeze was loud as it passed him, but he moved without hesitation.
“What are you thinking?” Yang Dianfeng finally couldn’t help but ask.
“Once, a friend of mine told me that if there’s something I don’t understand, just feel it.” Xing Conglian closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
“Then, do you feel anything?”
The captain of the police force opened his eyes and didn’t answer.
Wang Chao slammed on the pause button at the end of the video and froze the picture on the hijacking boy who was blowing a kiss.
The young and talkative technician exclaimed excitedly, so unsurprisingly, he received a blow from the captain.
“Do you think this is funny?” Xing Conglian asked as he looked at the young boy in the video.
“Hijacking, in order to steal candy. This is ingenious, perhaps too ingenious…” Wang Chao chattered on, only to realize that the surrounding atmosphere was wrong. He raised his head, only to find that Xing Conglian’s face was livid. “Captain, are you serious? Lighten up. No one was hurt, so it’s all cool, right?”
“No one was hurt? Fortunately, no one was hurt!” Xing Conglian grabbed the mouse and dragged the progress bar. The screen stopped at the moment the young boy raised his gun to shoot. “Did you even think that if he accidently missed and caused the bullet to rebound, it’s likely that it could kill someone?!”
On the screen, the young boy’s hand that was holding the gun was very stable, like a rock.
Such a posture would never appear on an uninitiated teenager, so he was not just some ordinary teenager.
The passenger inside the bus may not have noticed it, but from the time the young boy raised his gun, his eyes never once left the security camera.
He was watching the surveillance; watching those who were monitoring him.
Wang Chao was admonished so hard that he didn’t dare argue, so he pretended to drink tea. Because he was inattentive, he accidentally drank the entire cup in one gulp.
Fortunately, the avatar in the lower right corner of the computer began to flash, saving his life. Wang Chao quickly clicked on the dialogue box and the latest picture popped up from the police investigating the scene.
In the photo was a bullet just found from the hijacked bus.
Xing Conglian leaned down and glanced at the photo. “It’s another 9mm revolver again?”
As he spoke, he brought up the video and zoomed in on the gun the teenager was holding.
“It must be the same one.” Wang Chao gritted his teeth. “This case is also very strange. Is there anything wrong with that little brat? Do you really don’t want to ask an expert to look at this?” He asked tentatively.
Since Lin Chen’s disappearance, Professor Fu Hao, the original psychological consultant for the police force, chose to return to his alma mater, Yongchuan University, to teach because he couldn’t stand the blow. The post of psychological consultant had become vacant. In order to fill the vacancy, the higher-ups had appointed an expert who was rumored to be a rising star in criminal psychology to the Hongjing Police Department for the Criminal Division.
When Xing Conglian heard this, he immediately glared at Wang Chao. “You mean go see that afro head who asked me to go see a doctor when he saw me?”
“He said that I’m hyperactive, but I didn’t know what that meant at the time.” Wang Chao slapped the table, becoming furious. “Later, I went home and checked it. Guess what, he said that I have ‘ADHD*’. How could laozi have ADHD?”
*Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. A neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by excessive amounts of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity that are pervasive, impairing in multiple contexts, and otherwise age-inappropriate.
As Wang Chao spoke, he leaned back in his chair angrily while twirling a pen with one hand and patting Xing Conglian on the shoulder with the other. A handful of ash fell from Xing Conglian’s shoulder. Wang Chao rubbed the soot and asked, “You’ve gone to A’Chen’s tomb again?”
“Can you focus on badmouthing others?” Xing Conglian stood up embarrassedly and quickly patted off the ash in Wang Chao’s hand.
It had been a long time since Lin Chen fell into the river; so long that it seemed as if he had never appeared in the city in the first place. Xing Conglian would occasionally go and sit in front of Lin Chen’s grave when he was feeling lost.
And this serial robbery case was particularly bizarre, even more mysterious than Feng Peilin’s case. An armed robber that specializes in robbing buses on the highway. He was agile and had received professional shooting training. He could often take control of a bus within thirty seconds, but the funny thing was, he was willing to take huge risks to hijack a bus, but all he asked for was candy.
The young man was so gorgeous like Skittles that the media started to call him the “Candy Bandit”. Children loved him, girls admired him, and even the business of Tu’an Transportation Corporation improved because of this hijacker, so this whole thing looked like some kind of game being played by a special interest group.
Xing Conglian felt uneasy. He couldn’t tell where this anxiety was coming from. He felt like they were playing a game of defusing a bomb. If they cut the wrong wire, the bomb would immediately explode.
His hands were covered with water stains from the cup holding iced tea. He rubbed his face with the hand covered in ice water and got ready to leave.
It was also a coincidence that his vision became blurred by the water stains, and at that time, his mind wasn’t even on Lin Chen, but his eyes inadvertently swung past the computer screen. He saw a person sitting in the backseat of the bus, and his heart started to pound uncontrollably.
The man sitting in the aisle was wearing a black cap and looked like he was sleeping soundly, but Xing Conglian knew very well he wasn’t asleep.
Just before the boy reached into his pocket to get his gun, the man raised his head and looked at the teenager’s back.
This was a very slight action, but also extremely meaningful.
Even if it was only a 0.1 second precognition, it was still precognition.
So whether it was a coincidence or not, it didn’t matter, because that person’s face was far too familiar to Xing Conglian.
He was so familiar with it that even through the low-resolution black and white surveillance video, even if he was shown just a pair of eyes, Xing Conglian would be able to recognize them.
That was Lin Chen.
Xing Conglian pressed the back button again and again then pause the screen. With white pale fingers, he drew a circle on the screen, circling a face.
Wang Chao stared at the video for a while, then asked, “Captain, are you saying there are accomplices of that little bastard in the car?”
“That’s Lin Chen!”
Wang Chao was stunned. He hurriedly took a screenshot and enlarged the picture. Even with the pixel particles enlarged to the size of a thumb’s fingernail, he couldn’t connect the person in the picture with Lin Chen.
He could only turn his head solemnly and stared at Xing Conglian’s eyes and said solemnly, “Captain, honestly, I think the expert may be right. You should go to the hospital and get checked out.”
Xing Conglian smacked Wang Chao on the head with a fierce slap, leaving the technical nerd holding his head in pain and crying without tears.
—
No matter how many times the people at the police station watched the video, the teenage hijacker that flew into the vast reed was destined to disappear. The rescued passengers were sent to the nearest rest stop canteen for food and to wait to be interviewed.
The air at the canteen was a bit greasy and the temperature was still low.
Most of the passengers were sitting on the side near the floor-to-ceiling windows, letting the warm sunlight bake their bodies. They talked among each other and didn’t seem panicked despite having experienced the hijacking just now.
On the edge of the crowd, in a somewhat dark corner, a young man was removing the scarf around his neck. He put it around an old woman who was dragging her heavy luggage next to him.
The old lady seemed very happy to have such a good-looking young man sit next to her. She touched the scarf around her neck and smiled, then took out an orange from the bag she was carrying and stuffed it into the young man’s hand.
The orange was cold.
If Wang Chao was present, he would definitely kneel and swallow back his previous words.
It was indeed Lin Chen, the one who had fallen into the rushing river with Feng Peilin, and the Lin Chen, whose body was never found.
Lin Chen touched the cold orange and looked in the direction of the exit a little inadvertently.
For the first time, he discovered that his life wasn’t very good.
Since he lied to people in order to cheat death so he could escape, including friends who cared about him, he was afraid to see those friends again whom he had deceived.
Maybe one day, he would meet his friend in the vast sea of people. This was one of the scenarios he made for their reunion.
However, in those scenarios, it didn’t include a robber who got on a bus and hijacked it right under said friend’s jurisdiction.
The setting was too outrageous and tricky.
Fate, really, was too relentless.
—
While one was lamenting fate, there was a certain police captain of the police criminal division who had been sad for more than half a year.
“Tell the guys at the scene to tell all the passengers in the bus to have a good rest at the rest stop. The police will arrange vehicles in a unified manner and send everyone off. Remember, before I arrive, let, no one, go.” Xing Conglian hooked the corners of his mouth and emphasized each word of the last sentence.
When he finished speaking, he turned his head to leave. As he reached for the door, someone opened it first and walked in.
The visitor seemed to be a business elite. He was wearing a camel windbreaker that was knee length and a smoky gray rhombic scarf around his neck.
After shaking hands with Xing Conglian, the other party took out a gold business card from his pocket and handed it to him with both hands: [Yang Dianfeng, General Manager of Tu’an Transportation Corporation]
Because of the series of bus hijackings, Xing Conglian had many dealings with the public relations of Tu’an Transportation Corporation. These groups of incompetent businessmen weren’t very cooperative with their investigation, so Xing Conglian put away the business card and sat on his desk impatiently. He lit a cigarette and stuffed it into his mouth. “Something wrong, Mr. Yang?”
“Regarding the cases on the Hongjing highway, we ask that you please pay more attention, won’t you, captain?”
Hearing his business-like tone, Xing Conglian took a puff from his cigarette and blew out a smoke ring. “Aren’t you quite happy?”
“Why would Captain Xing say that?”
“What a strange bus thief. He’s worth his weight in prime-time advertising.”
“Captain Xing believes that the serial robbery is the work of our company?”
The scarf Yang Dianfeng was wearing had a small trademark on it. It was a limited-edition scarf from a high-end specialty store. The scarf alone was worth half a year of his salary.
“No such thing,” Xing Conglian replied absent-mindedly.
“Captain Xing might think this is a game played by our company to boost business, but in fact, it’s not worthwhile to take such a big risk just to increase market share by a few percentages.”
“Manager Yang came all the way here just to say this?”
“Actually, I’m here to provide a clue to Captain Yang.” Yang Dianfeng took out a silver laptop from his handbag. “All the buses in our company are equipped with an autonomous call-for-help system based on GIS1 and MEMS accelerometers2. The on-board computer on the robbed A7645 bus was taken away by the robber today, but the bus signal remained.”
1Geographical information system is a type of database containing geographic data (that is, descriptions of phenomena for which location is relevant), combined with software tools for managing, analyzing, and visualizing those data. 2Used to measure linear motion, either movement, shock, or vibration, but without a fixed reference. They measure the linear acceleration of whatever they are attached to.
Wang Chao got up abruptly. He grabbed Yang Dianfeng’s laptop and tapped on it for a while, then suddenly said, “Captain, the direction is north of Heping Road, heading southbound.”
Yang Dianfeng crossed his arms and leaned back into his chair, raising his eyebrows at Xing Conglian with a smile.
When Dong Zhi “walked” forward out of the disordered jungle, he could “see” a small path. The road was the most rudimentary dirt road in the countryside, as if it had been formed by being trampled thousands of times by humans. It was muddy and difficult to walk, but Dong Zhi didn’t have much feeling. After all, he wasn’t an entity now. When he moved forward, he got a wider view and could “see” the smoke from the distant village, and nearby was an abrupt and conspicuous stockade.
The stockade stood by the water’s edge, just across from the village. The villagers on the other side of the river were extremely careful when drawing water. They didn’t dare cross even half a step past the river.
Dong Zhi took a few “glances” in a daze, then turned his gaze on the house in front of him. He floated into the house along with his own mind.
The light suddenly dimmed.
A dark-skinned young man was kneeling in front of a middle-aged man, listening to his teachings.
They communicated in the local language. Dong Zhi “listened” but didn’t understand, so he turned to “look” at the surrounding furniture.
Everything around could be considered weird. The walls were hung with skeletons and animal skulls of different shapes and sizes, along with a mess of talisman papers with runes painted on them. Dong Zhi carefully examined it and determined that it wasn’t a Chinese talisman. He couldn’t identify the runes on the talismans at all. There were colorful feather arrows on the table and a row of urns in the corner. Looking at them at a glance, he counted about ten in each row.
The urns’ shapes ranged from fat to thin. Although he didn’t know what was in them, it would inexplicably arouse a feeling that it wasn’t anything good.
Since he couldn’t understand what they were saying, Dong Zhi didn’t stay long and floated from the passage behind the door to another room.
The same darkness.
The furnishings were pretty much the same as well.
The difference was that there was a messy head half-hidden in the dark. Its cheek was still moving like a living person.
There was a mass of trembling flesh on the ground. When Dong Zhi looked closely, it was a fat person. She was holding a rag in her hand and was wiping the floor.
At this time the head actually spoke.
“Ugly woman. Just the sight of you disgusts me. Get out!”
The woman’s fat body trembled for a while, as if trying to get up, but eventually she knelt on the ground and kept shivering.
Before Dong Zhi got any closer, the middle-aged man, who was in the front room just now, came in.
The woman was finally pardoned under the instructions of the other party, and she retreated quickly. The middle-aged man began to communicate with the head and spoke very quickly. For a short time, the two seemed to be having an unpleasant conversation. The head began to speak loudly in an angry tone. The middle-aged man snorted coldly, but didn’t continue to argue with him and instead walked to the back of the room.
At this time, Che Bai’s voice no longer sounded in his ear. Intuitively, Dong Zhi felt he wanted to follow the middle-aged man instead of staying where he was, so he quickly followed him closely. He went through a corridor and came into a hut without a trace of light.
He kind of understood the spell that Che Bai used on him. It was a bit like “clairvoyance”. He was following the breath of the witchdoctor who cursed him and had directly traced it to someone in this hideout, so he was now equivalent to a cloud of illusory consciousness. He had no entity or even a soul.
This kind of spell that could trace thousands of miles was naturally extremely powerful. So far, although Dong Zhi couldn’t identify who the person who cursed him was due to the language barrier, he had received enough information.
In the hut, the middle-aged man, who had been arrogant and calm in front of the young man and the head, had become like a sheep in a blink of an eye. He knelt down on his knees in front of an offering table. Even his tone of speech was pious and respectful. There was a person sitting in the dark with his eyes slightly closed, but the middle-aged man didn’t even dare raise his head as he whispered softly. His forehead remained on the ground for fear of disturbing the other party.
Most of the time, it was the middle-aged man talking. The person in the dark occasionally responded to a sentence or two. His tone was strange. His voice didn’t seem to come from his throat, but rather from the void. With a sense of haziness, there seemed to be an invisible barrier around him that prevented Dong Zhi from moving forward.
However, Dong Zhi wasn’t reconciled. He had a hunch that this person was important and perhaps related to the witchdoctor who cursed him or perhaps even the heavenly demon, so he tried his best to break through the barrier with his consciousness and observe the man closer.
The barrier was like plasticine with excellent elasticity. He tried his best to move forward but was always fiercely rejected. However, Dong Zhi refused to admit defeat. He chanted the spell for the sunlight talisman and finally tore a hole in the barrier. His “entire being” rushed in.
The man suddenly opened his eyes!
Dong Zhi looked straight into it, and his heart couldn’t help but be shocked. He couldn’t help but think, ‘Bad’, believing that he had been discovered.
At this time, he saw the man’s face clearly. It wasn’t the monstrous face that he had seen in his dream, but an ordinary middle-aged face. There were still traces on his face that showed proper maintenance from the past, but now it was green and black, like an evil ghost, and it looked somewhat familiar.
Then he heard the man laugh coldly and actually speak in Chinese.
“Look, you have brought guests. Do you not know how to entertain?!”
The middle-aged man looked up blankly, obviously unable to see Dong Zhi’s existence.
The man in the dark stretched out a hand and pointed towards Dong Zhi.
“He is there. There.”
Before the middle-aged man was ordered to attack, Dong Zhi went straight to the man in the darkness to “attack” him.
He was extremely fast. At that moment, he quickly recited the heavenly thunder incantation, hoping that his consciousness could attract lightning so he could use it to kill this person directly, but at that moment, a sneer suddenly sounded in his ear.
The laughter was even more gloomy than just now. It was cold and creepy, as if the ice and snow covering a rotting corpse in the depths of a primeval forest on a winter’s night were poured directly into one’s bones. Dong Zhi felt his “eardrums” trembling and in pain. His “body” seemed to be blocked by something. He was far from his opponent, but he could no longer move. He guessed that his body was likely to react, but he didn’t put much thought into it. He recited the incantation over and over again, and the cold laughter never stopped, echoing repeatedly in all directions, hauntingly as they got closer and closer.
“You’re so bold. I didn’t go to you, but instead you came to me. It’s better that you stay!”
The last word that was spat out was as if there were a mouth right next to his ear. It felt like a hammer hitting his mind hard, and Dong Zhi’s consciousness started to blur. He could no longer recite the heavenly thunder incantation and was almost led away like this.
But soon, Che Bai’s voice sounded from above.
“Om!”
The morning bells and evening drums and the Sanskrit sounds washed away like dirt. All the turbidity was swept away. His mind was greatly shaken as it slowly returned to clarity from the chaos!
This was the first word from the Dharma mantra1. Legends had it that the bodhisattva2Avalokiteśvara3 granted this mantra to mortals so that they could cleanse their minds from earthly asceticism, suppress the sounds of demons, eliminate all diseases, purify karmic hindrances, and remove all evil spirits.
1[Om mani padme hum] Six-syllable Sanskrit mantra associated with the four-armed Shadakshari form of Avalokiteśvara. The precise meaning and significance of the words remain much discussed by Buddhist scholars. The literal meaning in English has been expressed as “praise to the jewel in the lotus”, or as a declarative aspiration possibly meaning “I in the jewel-lotus”. 2A person on the path towards bodhi (‘awakening’) or Buddhahood. Basically, reaching enlightenment. 3A bodhisattva who embodies all the compassion of all Buddhas. He has 108 avatars, though in Chinese Buddhism, he has evolved into a female form called Guanshiyin.
Dong Zhi clearly saw the man’s face change heavily. The pressure that imprisoned him suddenly became clear.
“It turns out rescuers are brought in. No wonder you have nothing to fear!”
The man sneered again, but Dong Zhi had no time to listen. His consciousness was quickly dragged back by a force, escaping the room, the stockade, and the dense forest.
Dong Zhi’s body shook suddenly. Blood overflowed from the corner of his mouth, but this time it wasn’t black but normal bright red blood. He slowly opened his eyes and saw Long Shen and Che Bai sitting in front of him.
“Boss Che?”
Che Bai also happened to open his eyes and look at him. “How do you feel?”
Dong Zhi said, “My chest hurts a little.”
Che Bai said, “This is normal. You just confronted a heavenly demon. Even if it hasn’t been fully resurrected, it’s still a legendary heavenly demon, nonetheless. Just now, you only had a ray of consciousness, not even your soul. If you rashly try to summon thunder, you won’t attract it and instead will get burned in the end.”
Dong Zhi said in shame, “I was reckless. Thank you, Boss Che, for rescuing me.”
Che Bai said, “You’re not in the wrong. I didn’t tell you what to do in advance just now. I just wanted you to sneak up on the demon. If I had mentally prepared you, he would have noticed your vigilance. It’s just…”
He sighed. “I’m far less powerful now than before. In the end, I still couldn’t lift your curse. I can only suppress it temporarily, so you won’t have an attack for a period of time. Treating the symptoms won’t eliminate the cause. If you want to completely resolve this problem, you have to find the one who cursed you. The demon has not yet formed, and he was just injured again by me, so he won’t recover so quickly in a short period of time.”
Long Shen said, “You’ve bought us enough time.”
Dong Zhi said sincerely, “Thank you, Boss Che. I thought I was going to die. It’s all thanks to your hard work!”
Che Bai waved his hand and smiled wearily. He looked obviously much older than he was just now. The lines in the corners of his eyes became a bit deeper.
“Even if you didn’t mean a lot to Long Shen and was just an ordinary member of the Special Administration Bureau, if I can, I will do my best.”
Dong Zhi suspected that Che Bai had seen through his relationship with Long Shen, but Che Bai had spoken as if it was uninteresting.
Watching Che Bai go back to rest, Dong Zhi couldn’t hide his uneasiness.
“Master, Boss Che’s body won’t be affected because of me, right?”
Long Shen shook his head. “No one in the world can live forever, not even spiritual weapons. This is simply the cycle of life and death. Boss Che is simply reaching that point, and it has nothing to do with you.”
Since Dong Zhi learned of Che Bai’s original form, he had subconsciously regarded the branch director as a walking ancient tree who was extremely precious. He couldn’t help but sigh when he heard this.
Long Shen smiled when he saw that Dong Zhi still had time to worry about others.
“Boss Che has bought us some time. We must use it to find the witchdoctor. What did you see just now?”
Dong Zhi described the jungle and stockade he saw. He had a good memory, and he was an artist. The description was very pictorial, and he could remember it all at once.
“That stockade should be the lair of the witchdoctor, and it seems he worships Mara, so he must have a lot of ties with him… Regarding that man, it should be Han Qi’s gold master, Hong Rui, and that fat woman should be Han Qi’s former agent, Dong Qiaolan. I have seen their photos before. It seems that they also have something to do with Mara!”
Having said that, Long Shen frowned. “It’s strange. The man I saw in my dream last time was shaven and was very young and beautiful. Why does Mara look like Hong Rui this time? Could it be that Mara, like the Archfiend, can wear different human skins?”
Long Shen said, “Mara has not been fully resurrected and formed. What you saw in your dream is the real form of his consciousness condensed, and what you saw just now should be him temporarily possessing Hong Rui’s body. Most likely, it makes it more convenient for him to act.”
Dong Zhi was surprised. He didn’t expect a great demon with an evil nature like Mara would have such a beautiful appearance.
Long Shen seemed to sense what he was thinking and said, “Demons are invisible and colorless, but in order to confuse the world, naturally they will give birth to bodies that appeal to the world so they can recruit more believers. Although Mara hasn’t taken shape yet, it can still fight Boss Che through the void. Most likely, the day for its resurrection is not far off. Once Mara is resurrected, wherever it goes, it will become hell on earth.”
A heavenly demon didn’t necessarily need to kill in person. It could use its demagogue to compel and manipulate human sanity and use them to its will, just like turning Hong Rui into its own believer to set up a pit for Han Qi. Playing with human lives like they were at the palm of its hands. It was true that Han Qi also had weaknesses. If she wasn’t greedy for fame and fortune, wanting to climb over the dragon and attach to the phoenix*, she wouldn’t have been taken advantage of by Hong Rui, but everyone had weaknesses. If someone liked honey today, the demon would transform the poppies into honey. It was tempting to become addicted, and one wouldn’t be able to stop it. Tomorrow, if someone gave birth to traces of evil thoughts, under the influence of a demon, their evil thoughts would expand unknowingly and eventually make them do heartless things.
*(攀龙附凤) Idiom referring to attaching yourself to someone powerful in order to achieve prosperity.
After all, everyone had demons in their hearts. It was only dependent on whether they could stick to their original intentions and prevent evil thoughts from prevailing. However, that was simple to say, but many in the world couldn’t do it.
Although the curse on Dong Zhi was suppressed, they still faced a great problem now.
As soon as they go abroad, the name of the Special Administration Bureau would no longer be useful. It was also in Southeast Asia, which was usually not an issue to travel to. However, once you wanted to do something serious, you would face all kinds of forces, which were bound to make things difficult to move. In some areas where armed forces had seceded, even the local government wouldn’t be good.
Under such circumstances, finding an unnamed black-magic master was tantamount to finding a needle in a haystack. Long Shen had asked the White-Robed Association for help, but it would be impossible to find anything for a while. He was unwilling to tell these things to Dong Zhi as it would only add to his troubles, and Dong Zhi naturally didn’t ask, remaining calm so as not to put any pressure on Long Shen.
When the stone tablet was unearthed last time, the Northwest Branch had become quite lively. Now that the seal on the stone tablet had been strengthened and there were people stationed there to guard it, the manpower had been dispatched elsewhere to look for other stone tablets, so it had suddenly become deserted, which was a good thing as, contrary to what one may think, if it was lively it usually meant there was trouble. Since there was no liveliness, there was no need for Long Shen, a deputy director from the General Administration, to supervise and inspect. He had long been accustomed to working, but now that he was free, he felt a bit out of place.
Dong Zhi proposed they go to the natural history museum. In fact, he had already been to Xi’an. The museum was naturally a must-see place for art students. However, since he became a practitioner, he couldn’t help but look at antiques through a different lens, as they remind him of his master. Though he wasn’t able to witness the moment his master transformed, when he looked at ancient swords, it made him feel a bit better about his regret.
Long Shen shook his head and said he didn’t want to go.
While those artifacts were rare treasures to the eyes of ordinary people, in Long Shen’s view, for various reasons, they no longer had the opportunity to take form and turn into humans. It wasn’t beneficial to look at them but, on the contrary, actually added to the sorrow.
Dong Zhi held his master’s slender hand and felt that his master had not seen enough.
Long Shen thought for a while and said, “Let’s go to the food market.”
The food market, regardless of the season or whether it was a holiday or not, best reflected the eating habits of the people of the country because it was bustling all year round. It was packed with people walking shoulder-to-shoulder. Dong Zhi thought Long Shen would dislike such a place, but he didn’t expect for him to take the initiative to come.
The two of them ate hot and sour dumpling soup and hulatang. After eating a few barbeque skewers, Dong Zhi felt full. He could only look at the roasted chicken he had just packed up with a tangled face. If Kan Chaosheng were here, let alone this roasted chicken, the food market would be emptied.
Though it was Long Shen’s suggestion to come, he didn’t eat much himself. The two of them found a place to sit and watch the noise. White smoke was steaming out, and they couldn’t hear what each other were saying unless they spoke loudly.
In the midst of the excitement, Long Shen’s expression was peaceful and calm. He didn’t care about what to eat or whether it was noisy or not. It seemed he was far more interested in the crowd than the food itself.
Upon seeing this, Dong Zhi joked, “Master, are you here to people watch?”
Long Shen nodded.
Watching the fireworks and the various states of the world, seeing the joys and sorrows of all beings, and truly feeling those living their lives were precious existences that needed to be guarded. Of course, there was countless darkness in the world, which often discouraged the weak-willed, but anyone who put in effort, even if it was like Jingwei filling the sea1, or Kuafu chasing the sun2, one could not say that the world was hopeless.
1The original idiom tells of the god bird Jingwei bringing wood and stones, determined to fill the sea. In the old days, it’s a metaphor for deep hatred and determination to take revenge. Now, it refers to a firm will that’s not afraid of difficulties. You can read the story by clicking the Wikipedia link. 2The original idiom tells a story of Kuafu wanting to pluck the sun, so he began to race against it. Eventually he died of thirst, and after his death, his walking stick turned into a peach forest, and his body turned into Kuafu Mountain. It’s now used to refer to people who are brave and optimistic and willing to overcome all obstacles to reach their goal. You can read the story by clicking the Wikipedia link.
Dong Zhi’s heart was moved.
Somehow, he now understood Long Shen’s thoughts more. With just a look and one sentence, Dong Zhi could understand the other party’s words and what he was thinking.
In fact, Long Shen had never been difficult to understand. He could even be called pure and simple, but no one had ever been willing to patiently understand him before, and he had never stopped to wait for others to understand.
By chance, Dong Zhi became this person, not only because he was willing to take the initiative but also because Long Shen was willing to open up and let him in.
The man he loved had great love in his heart and a heavy burden on his shoulders. His eyes could hold the entire world.
At this time, it would be too petty to make a joke and ask what would be more important, him or the world, but Dong Zhi stilled joked, “Then am I a small responsibility attached to master?”
Long Shen lowered his head and looked at the hands that were tightly clasped together. He suddenly smiled slightly.
“You are a small caprice of mine.”
Responsibility was deeply imprinted in the bones, but capriciousness came from the heart.
Dong Zhi was stunned. The hot feeling immediately spread from the neck up, as if he had just drank a bowl of spicy soup. His stomach was burning, but it wasn’t uncomfortable when it dissipated into every pore of his body.
He used to see Long Shen as cold and stern, but he didn’t know that such a person would be so deadly to pick up. Every sentence Long Shen said could hit the softest part of his heart, take root, sprout, and never be pulled out again.
“Master, when did you change your mind about me and discover that… there is more than just a relationship between master and apprentice?”
After the huge impact from a few days ago, he started to calm down. This question lingered in his heart for a long time. It may not be that Long Shen mistook his sympathy for love, but perhaps out of curiosity or puzzlement.
If he said it was on the beach that night and it was simply a random idea, that would certainly be impossible.
Long Shen talked less and often did more, but every time he did something, he always considered the outcome of his decision. He was by no means an impulsive person.
But if it wasn’t that night, then when?
After thinking about it carefully, when they were separated for a period of time after they became master and apprentice, during that time, Dong Zhi experienced many things in Lucheng. He saw Long Shen’s past from the illusion derived from the Changshou Sword, and his state of mind changed a lot.
But what about Long Shen?
Long Shen thought for a while, then shook his head. “I don’t know.”
Facing Dong Zhi’s faintly expectant and instantly dim gaze, Long Shen smiled.
“I have something to show you when we get back. I can’t explain clearly here.”
As soon as his voice fell, Dong Zhi’s phone rang.
The caller ID displayed Chen Guoliang.
Dong Zhi raised his brows and looked at Long Shen, who motioned for him to answer.
Pressing the accept button, Dong Zhi smiled and said, “Master Chen, are you planning to come to the mainland to develop your business again and are calling me to report in advance?”
“No, no!” Chen Guoliang laughed. He would never set foot back on the mainland for at least another 3 to 5 years. He was afraid that this master would catch him and send him to the bureau for ideological education again. “It’s good news. I found the person you asked me to pay attention to last time!”
Dong Zhi sat up straight all of a sudden. “Qi Rui?!”
After Han Qi’s incident, Dong Zhi and Liu Qingbo investigated Qi Rui. She was best friends with Han Qi’s former agent, Dong Qiaolan, and she was the one who was most likely to know the whereabouts of Dong Qiaolan and Hong Rui. She was so addicted to gambling that she owed a lot of debt on the mainland, so she went back to Hong Kong to escape her debts. Since then, her whereabouts have been unknown. At the time, Dong Zhi speculated that Qi Rui might’ve gone to Macau to avoid the limelight. There was a casino there, so she could satisfy her addiction, but after several undercover searches, they didn’t get any news about her.
Now Cheng Guoliang called and said he knew her whereabouts.
Also known as Avalokitasvara, is a bodhisattva who embodies the compassion of all Buddhas. He has 108 avatars, one notable avatar being Padmapāṇi. He is variably depicted, described, and portrayed in various cultures as either male or female. In Chinese Buddhism, he has evolved into the female form called Guanshiyin.
a Bodhisattva associated with compassion. She is the East Asian representation of Avalokiteśvara and has been adopted by other Eastern religions, including Chinese folk religion. She was first given the appellation “Goddess of Mercy” or “Mercy Goddess” by Jesuit missionaries in China. Guanyin is short for Guanshiyin, which means “[The One Who] Perceives the Sounds of the World.”
MUL-01 had no emotions. It was better to say that it had basically no emotions.
The body of MUL-01 was the size of a cathedral. From a distance, countless normal-shaped black metal blocks were suspended in the air, forming a huge black rectangle. The palm-sized box-shaped metal rotated regularly, with a fluorescent blue shimmer between each connecting joint. They were flowing, changing, and lined up in various queues, with countless calculations constantly being made in each black box.
The cybernetic brain is the core of this huge structure. It was also placed in a black box that was larger than the surrounding blocks. This difference was negligible given the size of MUL-01’s “body”. They rotated quietly from sunrise to sunset, adjusting their heat dissipation in the vast desert.
This modern miracle transmitted information to all parts of the world through various channels.
Countless projections of the Mainbrain roamed around command posts in cities and the wilderness, doing different things, making different voices at the same time… and wearing different faces.
At the same time, it also needed to calculate the needs and problems of each Mainbrain city around the world; the summary report of each petri dish, the supervision and adjustment of the climate and environment of each continent, and all aspects of data operations. The lower-level hardware and Order Supervisors would sift through the insignificant things and then report eligible incidents, but it was still a terrifying amount of data.
In a sense, MUL-01 was the only helmsman of this weak crust on the Earth.
It would never tire and naturally wouldn’t stop calculating. The body of MUL-01 lay quietly on the edge of the desert in this way, operating as usual. Compared with those realistic projections, this was more like a virtual scene.
This monster, which hadn’t changed its form, was surrounded by the most advanced fortifications on the surface. It shrank in its safe shell while only the ghost of data travelled in and out.
For example, like now.
MUL-01 would always have a projection at the Order Supervisors headquarters so that orders could be given in a timely manner. At the moment, the projection was sitting at the edge of the table listening to Zhuo Muran’s report. Outside the spacious glass office, Order Supervisors scurry about, and from time to time, some would cast curious glances in their direction.
“…Ruan Xian is very careful. Our people could only find so much. There’s no problem with the information given by Ruan Lijie. Ruan Xian indeed intends to attack you through system invasion by perfecting an attack class machine.”
Zhuo Muran ignored the glances. The glass wall was set up to disrupt programs, and the people outside couldn’t hear them or read their lips.
“But as for the content of the attack program and the time point at which it’s planned to be executed, our people haven’t determined it yet. On this point, I actually have a question.”
“Speak.” The tone of the Mainbrain’s projection was relaxed.
“The informant from our side heard that the behavior of NUL-00 and Ruan Lijie was at the behest of Ruan Xian, which doesn’t make sense—NUL-00’s behavior can be considered reckless. With Professor Ruan starting his plan, he wouldn’t stick someone into our base to steal our program at such a time.”
Zhuo Muran took a sip of his cold tea.
“Instead of spending time deciphering our unfinished search methods, they should focus all their technical talents on attacking us… Even if we complete the search technology, it will take a lot more time to investigate every corner of the world. If he were to steal our firewall data, that I can understand, but the information dissemination algorithm? I can’t see the purpose of this arrangement.”
“It is really strange.” The projection of the Mainbrain nodded. “The timing isn’t right, and it doesn’t make sense for NUL-00 to come to his rescue alone. That information isn’t worth the price. But this time, we did lose M-α and R-α. Considering Ruan Lijie’s S-type Prototype, Ruan Xian might have made other arrangements.”
The Mainbrain’s tone was still flat. Zhuo Muran had never seen it reveal any negative emotions. All of its humanized actions were most likely just acting. However, even knowing it in his heart, he couldn’t help but relax when facing such an existence.
“I have already sent the information about the battle to the technical department.” Zhuo Muran gazed at the contours of the other’s pleasant facial features for a while. “They will transform M-β and R-β in response to the situation that had occurred. This time, the security breach is very serious, and it must not occur again.”
“Very good.” The Mainbrain smiled. “What about Ruan Lijie’s identity?”
“Hu Shuli has confirmed that Ruan Lijie is indeed Ruan Yuchan’s son, but apart from Ruan Lijie’s fake identity, we couldn’t find any other clues.”
“Let Hu Shuli study the gene fragments of the S-type Prototype affinity and compare them with the disease Ruan Xian suffered.” The Mainbrain tilted its head slightly and pondered for a while. “In addition, give Fan Linsong a brain-awakening drug. I’ll visit him in person in three days.”
“You…What does this mean?” Zhuo Muran was taken aback by the subtext of these two requirements.
The Mainbrain suspected that Ruan Lijie was related to Ruan Xian? Although this barely made sense in theory, they all knew that Ruan Xian was a replica and that his parents’ memories were forged. As for Ruan Xian’s biological parents… According to Fan Linsong, Ruan Xian was abandoned by them due to his illness when he was young, so the relevant departments didn’t have records of his biological family.
This was contrary to Ruan Yuchan’s situation.
If Fan Linsong had lied to the outside world, it wasn’t incomprehensible—the original Ruan Xian was a figure who was watched by the Prevention Agency. As his watcher, it would make sense for Fan Linsong to keep Ruan Xian’s true situation a secret.
No matter how justified it may seem, the old man still didn’t think killing the “original Ruan Xian” was something to be proud of. After all, this happened before the birth of the Mainbrain. If that video hadn’t happened to be uploaded to Ruan Xian’s laptop, even MUL-01 wouldn’t have notice the truth.
Zhuo Muran’s fingers twitched as they were holding the teacup.
In other words, there was the possibility that Ruan Xian was Ruan Yuchan’s son, given their age difference, but what would this young version of “Ruan Lijie” mean…
“In order to avoid being used by me, Ruan Xian and Fan Linsong both disguise their DNA.” The Mainbrain seemed to see through Zhuo Muran’s thoughts. “But Ruan Xian’s condition is special. His illness is quite serious, so he must have left a lot of tissue samples before 2100. In order to properly harness the S-type Prototype, the possibility exists that he may have cloned himself.”
“But if this is the case, Ruan Lijie must have been instilled with memories. If this matter is exposed, Ruan Xian is destined to lose his prestige among the rebels. The rebels will only accept reproduction of the physical body at most. If memories were to be inputted…”
“Then it’s no different from what I’m doing.”
The Mainbrain finished the sentence smoothly.
“But in order to win, this possibility isn’t zero. Ruan Xian is crazier than you think. I know him—Ruan Lijie is a character who has only appeared in recent months. From his appearance, his encounter with NUL-00, to the current attack plan from Ruan Xian, most likely he is part of Ruan Xian’s plan.”
“In other words, even if we break the news now…”
“The rebels won’t have time to react. Since they were defeated last time, their contact hasn’t been frequent, and it takes time for dissatisfaction to ferment. Depending on their plan, it will start within 45 days at the latest, and we don’t have enough time.”
Thinking like this, Ruan Lijie may indeed be one of Ruan Xian’s bets where he had abandoned his bottom line.
“But this only holds true on the premise that ‘Ruan Xian is Ruan Yuchan’s son’, a conclusion that still needs to wait for Hu Shuli’s results. I will also visit Fan Linsong when he is ready to determine the issues involved.”
…But Zhuo Muran thought to himself that something wasn’t quite right.
When the Red Ghost made a scene at the Glass Conservatory, he once showed Fan Linsong an image of Ruan Lijie. What was his reaction at that time?
The old man seemed a little surprised.
[“It seems that you have a little impression of this one.] was what he asked at the time.
[He looks a lot like a woman I have met… But that was many years ago.] was Fan Linsong’s reply.
“Compare the appearance of Ruan Lijie and the R series soldiers,” Zhuo Muran immediately ordered.
A light screen floated between the two of them, showing two young faces. Ruan Lijie and Ruan Yuchan were both stunning. When compared side by side in this way, their eyes were particularly similar, and not in the sense of simple coincidence.
Fan Linsong knew Ruan Yuchan.
That old man had previously devoted all his time to research, so he turned a deaf ear to things outside. Ruan Yuchan’s death wasn’t hyped by the media because it involved a minor and wasn’t a murder case. It was highly unlikely Fan Linsong knew about this case in the media and due to their class and occupation, there was no possibility of a personal friendship.
…It seemed that the Mainbrain’s speculation wasn’t so far off. This would also explain Ruan Lijie’s outstanding talent.
But if this was really Ruan Xian’s clone, the relationship between Ruan Lijie and NUL-00 was interesting. Zhuo Muran thought for a moment. Even if he was loyal to the Mainbrain, he wouldn’t do such a thing as “instigating his own clone to fall in love with his own creation”.
His opponent may be really crazy.
Zhuo Muran tensed his face. Under the Mainbrain’s searching gaze, he transferred all the records of the day he visited Fan Linsong and watched it together with the Mainbrain.
Then he saw the part he hadn’t noticed at the beginning—after he had determined Ruan Lijie’s condition and turned to leave, the old man had a smile that gave people the chills.
[The demon can’t be killed… And he’s just right for this world.] Fan Linsong had said, in an almost inaudible voice.
The Order Supervisor that was monitoring him had judged this as Fan Linsong’s usual gibberish, but combined with the current situation, this sentence didn’t seem to be so delusional.
“It seems that it’s more necessary for me to meet him.” The smile on the Mainbrain’s face completely disappeared.
“This statement…” Zhuo Muran slowly reacted. “Shouldn’t it mean the original Ruan Xian has returned…?”
“The possibility is infinitely close to zero.” The Mainbrain interrupted him. “That Ruan Xian’s body was thrown into a batch of experimental α-092-30. It stands to reason the body would have been destroyed long ago.”
The rules of the Institute had always been cumbersome, and the destruction department had only ever had two cases of anomaly. The first time wasn’t long after the Institute was established, and the second time was on the day NUL-00 was destroyed. The Mainbrain had investigated the data of that day and concluded the anomaly was most likely caused by NUL-00. It resumed operation for some reason found a way to confuse the relevant staff, and escape from the Institute—since NUL-00 was still alive, the Mainbrain could only accept this hypothesis.
At that time, NUL-00 couldn’t access all the information of the institute, which was an iron-clad rule that couldn’t be violated. In other words, it was impossible for it to know about Fan Linsong’s “murder-style treatment” of Ruan Xian, so there was no reason it would intervene in this matter.
On the edge of the distant desert, a group of black cubes that looked like hills quickly turned. In front of Zhuo Muran, the soft-faced young man pressed his finger to his lower lip.
Countless possibilities had been added to the calculation.
Taking a step back, even if the waste liquid containing Ruan Xian’s body was somehow, by chance, wasn’t destroyed, the war that occurred in the 22nd century had destroyed almost all the Institute. The vast majority of waste liquid silos were damaged and buried in the soil. Moist soil would naturally corrode the containers, which meant the final destination of that waste liquid would be deep in the ground.
Going even further, the waste liquid warehouse where Ruan Xian was located wasn’t damaged by the war but was buried in ruins. Without a considerable degree of force, the liquid bins wouldn’t open.
Even if there was some kind of accidental event, and the waste liquid warehouse was stimulated unexpectedly somehow, it was difficult for Ruan Xian, who was unprotected and knew nothing about the current situation, to survive. In the end α-092-30 was a test product. Even if it allowed his body to polymerize for a short time, that body would eventually collapse in less than a day.
No matter how the Mainbrain calculated it, the possibility was basically zero.
“Only results are the most convincing.” Zhuo Muran shook his head at what the Mainbrain was going to say. “As I said, when the results from Hu Shuli’s investigation and the interrogation of Fan Linsong come out, it won’t be too late to draw a conclusion.”
“Won’t it be too late in time?”
“Looking at Ruan Xian’s plan, we can still afford to wait for a few days. Don’t worry. I’ll tentatively add the assumption that “Ruan Lijie is Ruan Xian” to the calculation.”
Zhuo Muran let out a long sigh. “…You never seem to be surprised.”
The Mainbrain showed an inquisitive look.
“Nevermind.” Zhuo Muran shook his head. “I thought you would be at least a little shaken by such an assumption.”
“Why would you have such an idea?”
“According to the records and conditions over the years, Ruan Xian can be regarded as the human you care about the most.” Zhuo Muran raised his eyes, not intending to conceal his thoughts. “And NUL-00’s situation is—”
“NUL-00 and I are just similar in our core logic.”
The Mainbrain showed a perfect smile again.
“…Those thoughts are just your delusions, Mr. Zhuo. There has only been one bug in my emotional computing system, and that has already been fixed by Ruan Xian himself.”
On the other side of the horizon, the Glass Conservatory ushered in another early morning.
Fan Linsong drooped his eyelids and rubbed against the table like a zombie, ready to eat his breakfast. Everything around him was the same as always… but…
The mechanical maid who poured tea beside him was behaving a little differently than usual.
…Was he so bored that it had reached this point? The corner of Fan Linsong’s mouth twitched.
However, after the mechanical maid poured his tea, she opened her mouth.
“Mr. Fan,” she said with a smile. “Long time, no see.”
The night was getting darker. From a glance, the two running figures in the background looked like they were refugees fleeing from war.
The previous battle had consumed almost all the supplies Tang Yibu had brought. Their food was finished, and their more offensive weapons and medicine basically bottomed out. Tang Yibu hung the languidly deflated backpack in front of him that only had the outline of the iron bead that was inside. Except for the rattling of the iron bead, the bag only had small gadgets like hooks, knives, and rope.
With only his portable compressed clothing left, Tang Yibu took off his tattered blood-stained battle suit that was full of holes and covered in rotten flesh, keeping only his inner lining, and changed into the same white robe as Ruan Xian. He was running wildly in the dark with Ruan Xian on his back. The two white figures looked like ghosts.
Not long ago, Tang Yibu had grilled ten fish, but Ruan Xian only ate one, and then closed his mouth tightly.
“I can still use the blood gun, but my attack power is limited. You’re our greatest guarantee now, Yibu. The next step is for you to carry me as we move forward. That’ll consume a lot of energy,” Ruan Xian said calmly, but in a tone that meant it wasn’t up for discussion. “I just need to stay alive. You can eat the rest.”
But hunger was a very uncomfortable feeling, and Tang Yibu knew this well.
Unlike the advanced soldiers of the Mainbrain, they didn’t have a convenient exoskeleton to help save them energy, and they didn’t have meat to ensure steady energy replenishment. While the ability of the Prototype is strong, the energy it needed to consume wouldn’t appear out of thin air. With insufficient energy, the Prototypes in their bodies would start consuming their own flesh to resupply—Tang Yibu was afraid of death, so he chose to seize every opportunity to eat.
Ruan Xian’s prototype wouldn’t consume him to death, but once he reached a certain extent of hunger, in order to protect the body, the S-type Prototype activity would become weaker while Ruan Xian would be driven crazy by hunger and being urged to replenish his energy.
Considering the current situation, Ruan Xian’s judgement was as rational and accurate as ever, but Tang Yibu couldn’t let go of his unhappiness.
As he thought about it, he ran faster.
Counting the time, they still had about 45 hours left. There were still a few hours left before dawn, and given the speed, he should be able to reach the Glass Conservatory by then—the Mainbrain didn’t know about Luo Fei, but because Ruan Xian had asked to see Fan Linsong’s information, it was possible the security had increased where he was held captive.
According to general logic, their reserves were exhausted, and seeing that they were cornered, the last place they would go would be the Glass Conservatory, which had tight security. The closer areas, like the Sea of Ruins, the Underground City, or even the forest petri dish, should be more suitable.
Yet, they were moving towards the Glass Conservatory.
The Glass Conservatory…
Tang Yibu jumped high, leaping over the two-meter rock formation and continued to advance. Not knowing if he was too tired or because of his hungry body, Ruan Xian had fallen asleep on his back.
When he thought about it, since he had met Mr. Ruan again, the other party didn’t seem to have done many illogical actions, but he often got hurt. At first, Tang Yibu had no special feelings about it. Everything was logical, so the result was as it should be. The first time he minded this was in the Glass Conservatory.
Seeing Ruan Xian injured at that time, Tang Yibu felt a trace of indescribable unhappiness, just like seeing flies stop on an exquisite cake or cockroaches crawling over a well laid out dinner. In the battle just now, this inexplicable unhappiness rose to its peak and turned into an unbearable pain in his chest.
Tang Yibu changed his breathing and accelerated again, hoping to stop his racing thoughts. However, as time passed minute by minute, and the destination was getting closer and closer, those strange thoughts still didn’t disappear.
It was almost dawn. A blood-red glow started to appear in the east. Tang Yibu was panting, and his brain was swollen. He wiped off the sweat on his forehead and stared at the red horizon…
He began to desperately replay the battle not long ago again.
In fact, when Ruan Xian gave him a look, Tang Yibu guessed what the other party wanted to do, and he thought he could accept it happily like before.
But when he saw Ruan Xian’s figure disappear into M-α’s mouth, he felt a prickly feeling all over his skin. Ruan Xian’s bones and still-twitching internal organs were exposed from between M-α’s teeth, and blood dripped from the corners of the monster’s mouth. He still remembered the numbing chewing sound.
For a moment, Tang Yibu felt severe pain.
He couldn’t accept it, and as time passed, he became more unable to accept the sight. If this was “love”, then it was difficult. Tang Yibu clicked his tongue, bypassed the graveled ground and continued east. When he decided to save Mr. Ruan, he would have to do the same thing…
Suddenly, Tang Yibu realized something, and he slammed on the brakes in horror. He was running too fast that he almost threw off Ruan Xian. Fortunately, Tang Yibu reacted quickly and grabbed his Mr. Ruan.
Ruan Xian was still asleep, and his breathing had become regular, showing signs of stability. Tang Yibu hugged the other person in his arms, hesitated for a moment, and tentatively kissed him on the lips.
…He seemed to be wrong again.
[At that time, you jumped out foolishly, and eventually we’re at this point. I think this may be—well, how to put it—the most interesting part of being alive?] A few hours ago, this was what Ruan Xian had said.
Assuming that he could really fix the other party into a piece of data at a point in time, perhaps before these tiny miracles were born, he would be impatient and reset everything because of a momentary negative feeling.
This idea made Tang Yibu break out in a cold sweat. He held down the iron bead that was twisting restlessly, with inexplicable determination, and kissed Ruan Xian’s lips again while letting out a low sigh.
What should he do?
His last resort didn’t seem to work anymore.
Originally, the world in his eyes was like a delicate leaf vein, with countless branches scattered at each inflection point, but it had always been strong and certain. Now, that leaf was on fire, burning with endless question marks—he had completely lost control of the future. He was no longer grounded, and this change frightened him.
He seemed to be unable to determine anything anymore. Facing the world in front of him, he was only cautious, suspicious, and… a little awe?
Tang Yibu thought solemnly for a moment. He stretched out a finger and tested Ruan Xian’s breath for a while.
Perhaps Mr. Ruan had suddenly died while he was lost in thought. All probabilities were no longer just probabilities. They had become huge monsters and were about to crush him.
…Love. Humans never hesitated to use all kinds of words of praise in the world. Now Tang Yibu only felt that humans were extremely untrustworthy. This feeling was extremely dangerous. It twisted his mind and constantly made him torture himself with questions about all his decisions tremblingly. If this was the price of his heart being moved…
It didn’t seem to be impossible.
Tang Yibu stared at the other person’s face and suddenly felt that it wasn’t so uncomfortable living with question marks all over the place. He didn’t sacrifice anything. Since he approached this person, he seemed to have become more in touch with the world.
He moved his fingers to Ruan Xian’s neck and felt his pulse.
The killing intent hadn’t completely disappeared, but it no longer condensed. It was ridiculous to say that he only wanted this person’s blood at first, but now he didn’t want to see his blood anymore.
Unfortunately, Tang Yibu was so lost in his thoughts and didn’t control his strength that he hurt Ruan Xian when he felt his pulse. Ruan Xian was stirred awake. He frowned and looked at the fingers of the android standing in front of him for a while, and then slowly pushed it away.
“What’s the matter?” He glanced at the red sky and spoke weakly.
“We’re almost at our destination.” Tang Yibu turned, darting his gaze.
“I’m not asking you about that. What were you doing to me just now?” Ruan Xian stared at the finger suspiciously.
“No, nothing,” Tang Yibu replied seriously, as he touched the inner pocket of his robe. “You… Would you like something to eat?”
He opened his palm, and a familiar can was exposed. The side engraved on it had a smiley face that was facing right at Ruan Xian.
It was the canned food he left for Tang Yibu. Ruan Xian thought the android had eaten it a long time ago. Depending on the current situation, it was probably regarded by the other party as bottom of the barrel reserves.
“There are still insects and grass here, and we’ll get supplies soon, so no need.” Ruan Xian shook his head. “Keep it. It has a long shelf life, and it’s best to hang on to it until we encounter worse.”
Tang Yibu hesitated for a moment, then tucked the canned food back into his pockets. He looked like he wanted to say something, but in the end he didn’t find the right word and simply kept silent.
“Let’s go. It’s time to visit Fan Linsong.” Ruan Xian was so hungry that he started seeing black. He didn’t seem to notice the other party’s internal struggle. “I’ll sleep for a little longer. Wake me when we get there.”
“Nn.”
At the same time, on the border of the Mainbrain’s city.
“…NUL-00 still hasn’t contacted me.” Professor Ruan had disguised his body with a projection. “The good news is that the core components of the spare assassination machine have been recovered, and the construction of a signal expansion device has begun in a specific petri dish.”
Dozens of people behind the light screen started chattering for a while. This time, there was more than one person behind each light screen, and everyone had solemn expressions. The atmosphere of the entire temporary command center was particularly heavy.
“NUL-00 has its own ideas, but it also knows the importance. As long as it wants to survive normally, it will not betray us. Please don’t worry—pushing it too tightly may have the opposite effect.” Professor Ruan’s project made a silence gesture.
“I think through our previous meeting, you probably understand how I’ve been preparing for the past few years and the awkward situation we’re currently facing.”
Professor Ruan coughed and pulled the topic back. “It’s imperative to quickly complete the backup device. Regarding the improvement of attack procedures, I also need suggestions from specific people. At the current rate, we’re expected to launch our attack in four weeks. This is our greatest opportunity and I hope you will focus on this matter.”
“What’s the situation with Ruan Lijie?” A question came from behind one of the light screens. “I have been in contact with the plants on the Order Supervisors. Recently, the Mainbrain has been very interested in this person. It’s said that he and NUL-00 are lovers, and they are acting together. Is this true, Professor Ruan?”
“Ruan Lijie is one of my partners. The situation between him and NUL-00… is more complicated.” Professor Ruan glossed over this topic lightly while speaking in a calm voice that had a sense of credibility. “Don’t worry. You’ve seen the plan. He’s not key to our plan. Even if the Mainbrain is watching him, NUL-00 can take care of it.”
After a pause, Professor Ruan added, “At present, their actions are at my behest. Except for the contact aspect, NUL-00 hasn’t done anything to endanger anyone. This topic is over. Next, about the assembly of the spare assignation machine…”
Professor Ruan lied skillfully.
Before MUL-01 destroyed everything, there wasn’t much need to lie in his life, yet seven years later, he learned to lie without even blinking…
It will be fine. It will pass. I know in my heart that humans will prevail.
We will win.
As of now, he had no idea what the hell NUL-00 was up to—the android should have quietly contacted Ruan Xian and brought back the other party’s plans, and they would make careful calculation and discussion. He didn’t think NUL-00 would never come back. Listening to the implication of the person just now, he probably abducted Ruan Xian from the Mainbrain and had attracted its attention.
But that was unnecessary and too rough and wasn’t in line with NUL-00’s style.
But he had no choice but to put this on him. Professor Ruan sighed—there wasn’t much he could do except tell everyone that this was part of his own arrangement. The people in front of him were considered credible, but as soon as the information came out, he was mentally prepared to be intercepted by the Mainbrain.
As the plan approached completion, there would only be more people involved. It was much better to let the Mainbrain decide that “this is part of Ruan Xian’s plan” and continue to focus on his own side, than to say “Ruan Xian doesn’t even know what they want to do, and those two people are a top risk factor”.
After all, no matter what NUL-00 and Ruan Xian wanted to do, considering the importance of improving their win rate, they wouldn’t encounter trouble yet.
…Could this be an unexpected development between those two?
A question suddenly crossed Professor Ruan’s mind. He was stunned for half a second and then wanted to smile a bit. If he hadn’t lost his head, he might’ve laughed out loud.
The wind and water had turned. In just a few days, he became the one who was used as the smokescreen.
“…The basic principle of the assassination machine is as above. For security reasons, I will not give anyone a complete attack program. The next few people will receive program fragments separately. Guan Haiming, the part you’re responsible for is especially important—”
Professor Ruan’s projection was still standing upright, with a polite smile on his face.
The meeting would continue.
The author has something to say:
Tang at the beginning: extremely self-confident, in control of everything, only look at logic and results, did not hesitate to use beauty (?), play the emotional card, and control people who are easy to use.
Tang now: dazed airplane ears*, full of question marks, not weak but pitiful and helpless (?), but objectively, judgment has become stronger.
*Referring to when the cat’s ears are parallel, indicating it’s stressed.
Tang: …It’s so hard to fall in love. It’s like playing strip poker.
Yu Le naturally recognized those two drawings. That was the boarding certificate he sketched for Ruan Xian and Tang Yibu when they were in the Sea of Ruins—his first impression of the two of them. Now it seemed that his first impression was as accurate as ever.
It was fine to talk about those two. If he showed appropriate cooperation, he could suffer less. They still had nearly two days left and could use every minute of relaxation—not to mention that he couldn’t see through what those two guys were thinking anyway. As long as they kept key information, Yu Le didn’t mind talking about this topic.
He had always been good at talking bullshit.
“Looking at these two sketches, your first impression of them isn’t very good.” The young woman’s projection spoke gently as if she was a psychiatrist.
“I don’t think they’re so cute now.” Yu Le rolled his eyes. “But at least they didn’t bind me to a chair and lock me in a room. I definitely like them more than you.”
“Snake and… person. Did you recognize the bionic identity of NUL-00 that early? As far as I know, it’s not uncommon for people to dye their pupils.”
“It’s called having a sharp eye. That’s talent. I don’t mean to boast, but I’m quite good at reading people.”
Yu Le gave a serious pause. “Call it intuition. The first time I saw that kid, I thought it was something else wrapped in human skin. It may be considered a self-preservation instinct—like when some people’s knees go weak when they see bugs, snakes, or large beasts. Anyway, it was like a kind of cold feeling—I guess that he wasn’t human, yet he pretended so hard to be, so can’t I draw what I’m feeling?”
“In other words, you think Tang Yibu is quite dangerous.”
“Indeed, to make you question so nervously, he might be more dangerous than I imagined.”
The image of the woman sighed, and there was a hint of melancholy in her eyes. “After staying in prison for so long, you must understand… Lazy Fish, even if I don’t inquire about anything and just let you go back, you’ll be killed by him. In fact, you already know this in your heart, don’t you? This time, Ruan Xian asked you to transport important items but didn’t give you a plan to protect yourself. You’ve been treated as an abandoned child.”
Yu Le clicked his tongue loudly and didn’t respond.
“NUL-00’s sense of self-protection is stronger than that of all living things. ‘Maintaining one’s own safety’ is one of the rules written in its core logic. It won’t maintain human relations, let alone the fact that you’ve only met not long ago. Protecting it is of no benefit to you now.”
“Who knows?” Yu Le grinned. “That kid Tang Yibu still owes me a few yellow books, so I can’t let him go so easily.”
What Yu Le had learned before the doomsday was, first, “never take chances”. He was extremely convinced that only one outcome awaited him and Ji Xiaoman—when the drug was completely activated in their brains, whether they surrendered or not, their brains would be crushed, and the information extracted. The Mainbrain wouldn’t simply believe them. Nowadays, these inquiries weren’t even torture but more like a disguise to try and stimulate their brains so the memories that were squeezed out would be fresher and juicer.
As for whether the Mainbrain would be willing to “make” them again, Yu Le didn’t care. He didn’t want to be crushed to powder.
After thinking about it, Yu Le didn’t intend to expose his thoughts. In case this judgement was exposed, in order to be more secure, the Mainbrain might freeze them or simply cut off their heads and attach them to a sustenance machine. If that happened, there would be no chance of escape.
The conversation had to continue.
“It seems you’re not going to tell us more about NUL-00… Lazy Fish, you haven’t changed. You have been very loyal since you were a child.”
“He likes to eat his egg custard with soy sauce. Does this count? Oh, he also likes Carol Young’s songs a lot.” Yu Le responded without a smile. “Fuck loyalty. He’s Ruan Lijie’s mistress, not mine.”
The expression of the projection became a bit unsightly. Ji Xiaoman let out a sigh, as if she was forcibly holding back her laughter.
“Then let’s talk about Ruan Lijie.” When the projection spoke again, there was no embarrassment in her tone. “Your impression of him looks even worse? Snake? According to our information, his style of behavior is indeed a bit weird, but not to this point. Since you can read people accurately, I want to hear your opinion.”
The smile on Yu Le’s face got bigger. “Oh, what do you want to hear from me?”
“Why do you think Ruan Lijie is dangerous? As a human, how does he make you subconsciously uncomfortable—”
“I thought you were serious about your preparations.” Yu Le spat out his words slowly. “It seems that now it’s far from it.”
“I think we didn’t misidentify the impression of your pictures.”
“Yeah, he’s more like a viper.” Yu Le shrugged. “I thought you guys knew that when people started boarding the ship, there would be a flurry of things going on. I would simply choose my first impression and not consider any deeper meanings behind them.”
“You didn’t answer my question.” The image of the woman shook her head.
“I think he’s a viper not because he gives me the creep or there’s some kind of sinister feeling.” Yu Le sneered. “Seriously, have you Order Supervisors come across a viper before? Most—and I mean most vipers—as long as you don’t provoke them, they usually stay there quietly, or simply escape. First impression? I think this person is introverted and has no ambitions, but he’s much more powerful than me. I’d better not take the initiative to provoke him. Going by that metaphor, did I make the wrong choice?”
“But think about it.”
Seeing that the projection didn’t respond, Yu Le continued at an exasperatingly slow pace.
“In the end, you’re just people of the Mainbrain. I’ve seen it all… To the Mainbrain, perhaps ‘poisonous*’ is tantamount to ‘malicious’. Even if it’s an innate toxin used for survival, it’s harmful to people. I guess I can’t help that there are quite a few people who would think this way.”
*Clarity: When they refer to the drawing, they are calling it “snake” (蛇). When clarifying further, Yu Le refers to Ruan Lijie as a “viper” (毒蛇) or poisonous (毒) snake (蛇). This is why Yu Le is referring to the word “poisonous”. The context basically means that, because people know that vipers are poisonous, some would think that it’s malicious/evil (because it can inherently produce poison that can kill people), while Yu Le’s approach is that it’s not malicious if you don’t provoke it.
“Oh, also, I can reveal some information about him to you—as far as I can tell, he and Xiao Tang are sincere. You have to write this down well, you hear me?”
……
Ruan Xian, who was still far away, had no idea that he was being “betrayed”. He was soaking in the water of a lake, vigorously scrubbing the blood and flesh from his body. They made his hair heavy and sticky, which was extremely uncomfortable.
Tang Yibu was also doing the same thing, but he was more straightforward—the android would take a big breath, swim to the depths of the lake, blow out a bunch of bubbles, and finally come up with a fat fish in his mouth.
The iron bead tried to imitate the actions of its big friend, but as soon as it took two steps in the water, it immediately started to sink to the bottom. It screamed in fright, stumbled back to the edge of the lake, and began rubbing against a tree trunk to clean off the dirt on its shell.
After the battle, Tang Yibu took Ruan Xian and ran wildly for a long time until he had almost exhausted all his strength. Without the two difficult opponents to contend with, it wasn’t hard to get rid of the remaining pursuers—even if they were in a bad situation, the Mainbrain wouldn’t be stupid enough to think that some small fries could really end them.
After a few hours of fleeing, the two found a nice clear lake and decided to take a temporary break—at any rate, there were certain people they had to visit next.
“Let me scrub your back.” In order to avoid the fire attracting attention, Tang Yibu built a mud stove by the lake. He took the fish ashore and roasted it over the fire, temporarily giving up his fishing job.
“Thanks.” As Ruan Xian washed his face with the lake water, he could smell the aroma of grilled fish. He had consumed so much energy and his hunger was so great that his eyes were blurry. Before Tang Yibu found the fish, he almost dug out grass roots to eat.
Tang Yibu wrung the water from Ruan Xian’s hair and began to carefully clean the residual blood and flesh behind Ruan Xian. Ruan Xian had to admit, being in the cold lake water, the body temperature from Tang Yibu made him feel a lot more comfortable.
“I’m afraid we won’t be able to get away like this next time.” Tang Yibu started very lightly, as if what he was touching wasn’t human skin but soft tofu that could break at any moment. “We won this time… because the Mainbrain didn’t know you have the S-type Prototype. In order to ensure the blood supply is convenient, it didn’t reinforce R-α with too many defenses. It also had too much confidence in M-α.”
“I know.” Ruan Xian fiddled with the water with his hands. “And based on my previous performance, most likely the Mainbrain has already determined who I am.”
At that time, he was too weak to be impeccable in front of the Mainbrain. He failed to hide it by indirectly admitting to his identity.
Their swap battle was successful. Not counting weapons of indiscriminate destruction, only M-β and R-β were advanced fighters left under the Mainbrain. They had captured two chess pieces with poor information and a little bit of luck, but at the same time paid a high price for it—
“MUL-01 now knows you’re Ruan Yuchan’s son and the carrier of the S-type Prototype. It’s only a matter of time before it finds out you’re ‘Ruan Xian’.”
Based on Tang Yibu’s tone, there was not much joy in their victory.
“It will also improve M-β and R-β based on this battle. If we run into them next time, most likely your blood attack will no longer be useful, and I can’t crush R-β’s skull so easily. The next battle will be quite difficult, and I still can’t think of any good way to avoid it.”
Ruan Xian rubbed his smooth left wrist. “The cart will find its way around the mountain*. We currently don’t have enough information right now, so it’s pointless to worry. Yibu, this is what impromptu planning is.”
*(车到山前必有路) Metaphor referring to things will eventually sort themselves out.
Tang Yibu grunted twice anxiously, then hugged Ruan Xian from behind.
“There are still 48 hours.” Ruan Xian patted his arm to cover up a series of grumbles from his stomach. “We have to eat the fish quickly and continue on our way.”
“I think I’m making increasingly more wrong decisions.” Tang Yibu drooped his head, resting his chin on Ruan Xian’s shoulder. “If I hadn’t jumped out so early to fight against the Mainbrain, we wouldn’t have to cooperate with Professor Ruan, let alone be involve in these battles… You didn’t have to be chewed up like that.”
“Regretting it?”
“Nn.”
“Suppose we tried to escape at the time and didn’t cooperate with Professor Ruan. It’s very likely we would maintain an attitude of mutual vigilance after that. When you have to face the Mainbrain, I would sell you out as I want to preserve at least half your life… Just like the Mainbrain suggested.”
Ruan Xian rubbed Tang Yibu’s hair, drawing in the warm body heat from the other person.
“At that time you jumped out foolishly, and eventually we’re at this point. I think this may be—well, how to put it—the most interesting part of being alive?”
Feeling Tang Yibu’s warm breath, Ruan Xian couldn’t help laughing. “This isn’t a dream calculated by the Mainbrain. You can’t just restart it again. We should celebrate.”
“Maybe we’ll figure it out some other way,” Tang Yibu muttered.
“I won’t deny it.” Ruan Xian continued to let the android hold him. “But why do I feel that if I hadn’t sent myself into the worst possible situation, someone wouldn’t have been reassured by ‘until they see the results’? Let alone peace of mind, you wouldn’t have time to even think about it.”
“The fish is almost done.” Tang Yibu turned his head.
“…Your ability to change the subject needs improvement.”
“That’s because you didn’t teach me well.”
“You should have learned it yourself a long time ago.”
Tang Yibu bit the back of Ruan Xian’s neck in retaliation, then ran ashore. Ruan Xian touched his neck, shook the water from his arms, put on a clean compression robe for himself and put back on wet shoes that had all the bloodstains washed off. After all this, he turned his head and happened to lock eyes with Tang Yibu.
After being caught, Tang Yibu hurriedly took a big bite of his fish.
“Hurry up, haa, haa. There are 47, haa, haa, hours, haa, haa, left.” Seeing Ruan Xian coming over, Tang Yibu mumbled as he tried to blow out the hot air.
“…Did you burn your tongue?”
“Four—”
Ruan Xian couldn’t laugh or cry. He grabbed Tang Yibu’s wet hair and skillfully went in for a kiss. Tang Yibu shrank for a moment, avoiding the kiss.
The rejected Ruan Xian raised his eyebrows.
“I, haa, will be fine in a while.” Tang Yibu shook his head stubbornly. “You don’t have to… bite yourself.”
Having said that, he bared his teeth and grinned for a long time, giving Ruan Xian a smile with great difficulty as he handed over a bunch of fish.
Ruan Xian struggled to grab Tang Yibu’s hand, barely standing up. The blood made his hand slippery, and the dizziness became more obvious.
His original torso and limbs were chewed to pieces, turning into a slimy mass. His skull was cracked, and waves of cold and empty pain hit his brain. Then, using M-α’s corpse as sustenance, he formed a new body.
After maintaining his balance, Ruan Xian looked at his left wrist. Even if it was covered with blood and flesh, he could still tell that the scars that had followed him for many years had disappeared. Scars were harmless to one’s health on a physical level, so the S-type Prototype would only recognize them as normal tissues and it wouldn’t specially repair them. Now, since his entire body was decimated, it would recreate a brand new one according to his physical condition and wouldn’t specifically reproduce those details.
It was a wonderful feeling.
It may be that Ruan Xian paused for too long, that Tang Yibu hesitated for a few seconds and took him in his arms. The android sniffed Ruan Xian’s blood-soaked black hair lightly and then gently rested his chin on top of his head.
Very warm. Ruan Xian reassuringly leaned his weight over, trying to build up his strength.
Tang Yibu’s arms were covered with blood and smelly mucus. They didn’t have much breathing time as R-α was still alive. If they didn’t take care of her soon and the Mainbrain’s pursuers caught up, they wouldn’t have the strength to resist.
Ruan Xian coughed a few more times and finally coughed up all the mucus and blood clots. He was breathing heavily, and his new body was still tingling. Before the pain had passed, he pulled a bottle from Tang Yibu’s waist, broke free from the other’s arms, and picked up a piece of metal on the ground.
Then Ruan Xian almost cut his wrist in half. Bright red blood spurted out instantly.
“Finish her.” Ruan Xian’s lips turned pale, and his voice was weak.
Tang Yibu took the bottle. The gleaming in his eyes had disappeared. His hands trembled a little, as if the bottle was filled with hot water. At the worst time, the android’s mood was alright, but had now shifted to negative.
“We’re running out of time,” Ruan Xian urged him.
Not far away, R-α had already broken free from the shackles of the tree trunk. Without M-α as an aid, she made a rather wise decision—turn offense into defense and fight a war of attrition.
The mechanical nerve disruptor was gone. Tang Yibu silently threw a compressed piece of clothing to Ruan Xian. In order to save space, the materials weren’t sturdy, but at most it could at least cover him up and keep him warm. The style was also simple, much like a wide, straight nightgown.
As soon as Ruan Xian put it on his body, blood soaked through the white cloth and the fabric stuck to his skin.
At the same time, R-α rushed straight towards Tang Yibu, continuously spewing out red mist from its mouth and nose. Their short break was over. Ruan Xian stood up and squeezed the metal fragment in his hands tightly. Tang Yibu took the blood bottle and confronted the woman that was rushing at him head on.
…It shouldn’t be his illusion. Ruan Xian felt that Tang Yibu was deliberately taking R-α away from him and left him with the iron bead.
The iron bead was covered with slimy blood all over and seemed incredibly frightened. Its big mouth opened and closed, but it couldn’t even make its gwah sound.
“You can go.” He didn’t know if the iron bead could understand him, but he still spoke. “Our next path will be very dangerous. π, you can go back to your original place. When things are completely resolved, Yibu and I will pick you up.”
As he spoke, Ruan Xian squatted down and petted the blood-stained shell of the iron bead.
Ironically, the first twenty years of his life seemed as if he was living in a bubble. No matter who he was with, he was separated by a colorful film. The world outside the film had always been irrelevant to him, but in the chaos of the last few months, he was able to really touch it—Ruan Xian could at least be sure that his feelings for this inexplicable little thing far exceeded those of the colleagues he had known before.
The iron bead looked at Ruan Xian in confusion. It finally let out a bark, stretched out its four legs, and tightly grabbed onto Ruan Xian’s ankles.
Ruan Xian laughed. “…As you wish.”
Not far away, R-α also opened its mouth.
“Ruan Lijie is equipped with the S-type Prototype,” she said. “No wonder you value him so much.”
Then she showed a bright smile. “My DNA provider’s name is Ruan Yuchan, which is really interesting. Is this a coincidence? They all happen to be surnamed Ruan and all have good compatibility with the S-type products? As far as I know…”
She gave a pause as her eyes relaxed for a second. When she raised her eyes again, Tang Yibu realized that something about her had changed…
“As far as I know, S-type primers have a very high affinity for a specific gene fragment, but those gene fragments are too messy and rare. I thought at first that this was some kind of coincidence caused by its structure.”
“…MUL-01.” Tang Yibu took a step back.
In order to facilitate control, these veteran soldiers had cybernetic brains, or at least some of them did. Right now, MUL-01 had personally taken control. Tang Yibu knew that it was MUL-01 when he saw something familiar in the other person’s eyes—although those eyes looked like Mr. Ruan’s, they resembled more like his own.
“Ruan Lijie is a relative of Ruan Yuchan.” The Mainbrain calmly concluded. “Ruan Yuchan is an only child. Her parents are dead, and she has no siblings. According to medical records, she gave birth to a baby boy. According to the information protection law at the time, after she committed suicide, her son’s information was completely sealed.”
Tang Yibu’s gaze wandered around the opponent’s neck, desperately thinking about offensive methods in his mind. The Mainbrain looked relaxed and at ease, and didn’t even look at the pool of blood and rotten meat that was M-α.
“But it wasn’t just an ordinary archive. Even I can’t access the original files. Someone must have completely erased them before I was created. However, it must be assumed that Ruan Lijie is her son or grandson, but the age isn’t right. Well, unless her son has been dormant for a period of time. This is an issue worth investigating… In sort, NUL-00, you have found yourself a good tool.”
“You should call me ‘brother’.” Tang Yibu pointed out with a sullen face, then directly attack R-α’s neck. The Mainbrain raised its eyebrows and escaped the blow with some difficulty.
“I’m not good at sports, so I don’t intend to fight you.”
MUL-01 ignored Tang Yibu’s response. Its shell was currently a beautiful woman that was smiling softly.
“You just deliberately lure R-α away. If Ruan Lijie is really Ruan Yuchan’s son, guess how he would react?”
Tang Yibu was startled, but this distraction almost killed him. After MUL-01 operated on the exoskeleton, blood mist suddenly filled the area within a radius of five meters. Tang Yibu’s skin was rapidly festering all over his body. Without hesitation, he immediately drank the blood Ruan Xian gave him.
Before he could regain his ability to move, MUL-01 had already rushed to Ruan Xian.
Bad.
Even if Ruan Xian’s information was sealed, there was a lot of information about Ruan Yuchan—her physical appearance as she was walking down the street, the images from where she worked and rested, and even all the communications she had with others. Even with the elimination of Ruan Xian’s name, voice, and images, the vast majority of that content was still there. The Mainbrain didn’t know Ruan Xian’s real name, but he knew everything about “Ruan Yuchan” herself.
“I’m back.”
The smiling woman stretched out a hand to Ruan Xian, and in less than a second, her temperament, tone, and movements all changed.
“What, don’t you recognize your mother?”
Ruan Xian didn’t make a sound; he just looked at the approaching person steadily. The iron bead was barking frantically, opening its mouth wide as it tried to bite the woman’s calf. As a result, as soon as it rolled a few steps, it was held back by Ruan Xian.
Ruan Xian slowly straightened up and didn’t say a word.
“Why did you go out? Didn’t you say you’d stay inside? The wind is so cold, and our family can’t afford it if you catch a cold… I’ll make you a glass of milk later, okay?”
Tang Yibu struggled to stand up. His skin was still recovering—his fleshy, bright red muscles were exposed, and he couldn’t stop twitching.
Will Mr. Ruan be confused? Will the information be exposed? Will he go with her? He never asked about Ruan Xian’s past in detail… As far as Tang Yibu knew, judging by common sense, Tang Yibu would be shaken by the scene in front of him—the imitation of the Mainbrain was like a sharp awl, directly hitting the most fragile poisonous sore of the human heart.
Tang Yibu grabbed a branch to use as a walking stick and stumbled in Ruan Xian’s direction. Ruan Xian’s blood was almost exhausted. He should keep his distance and wait for his state to recover and get resupplied first. Rational judgement screamed inside his head, but Tang Yibu couldn’t control his feet—with burning pain, he dragged himself towards Ruan Xian.
He had to tell Mr. Ruan that that thing in front of him was the Mainbrain.
Tang Yibu’s thoughts were blank. The appearance of Ruan Xian being chewed up just now had shaken him. Many emotions were mixed into a ball, and in the end, only a short sentence was squeezed out.
He had to give his warning in time. That wasn’t his mother’s personality data or anything of the like…
In Tang Yibu’s somewhat blurred vision, the Mainbrain had reached out a hand and stroked Ruan Xian’s cheek. Ruan Xian’s expression was quite complicated as he raised a hand and covered the woman’s hand on his cheek.
“Mom is still confused about the current situation. Is this the woods? It could be a side effect of the medication. Let’s go home fist.” The imitation of the Mainbrain was working.
Ruan Xian’s expressions seemed to soften. He looked at her sadly and held her hand tightly. Tang Yibu panted, gritted his teeth, and tried to rush over…
Ruan Xian was moved.
Ruan Xian tightened his grip on the woman’s wrist with one hand and pulled her towards him while the other hand held a sharp metal fragment that was jammed directly into her eye socket, right to where the cybernetic brain was. The entire process was lightning fast, and the action was clean and smooth.
Tang Yibu swallowed hard. He wasn’t sure if he should keep moving.
“This is your judgment, MUL-01?” The complicated emotions on Ruan Xian’s face disappeared. “I wanted my mother’s affirmation? Or, her love? Do you think I’ll be shaken or make a gaffe because of this?”
With the cybernetic brain damaged, R-α fell softly to the ground.
“…Abnormal…Unsound personality…” The woman spat out fragmented words inarticulately.
“I know,” Ruan Xian said. “But someone told me I’m just a little dull. Your trick might have been useful a few months ago, but unfortunately I have figured it out now.”
MUL-01 looked at Ruan Xian up and down. Because the brain was severely damaged, the eyes on its body was recovering very slowly. Ruan Xian took two steps forward, half kneeling on the ground while half hugging the person in front of him.
“You want my emotional response. I can tell you.” He hugged the woman tightly in his arms. “My mother loved me, then hated me. I don’t agree with her approach, but I can understand part of it… Now I forgive her, and I forgive myself.”
“And she’s been dead for a long time. I don’t need to ask anything from the dead,” he continued, as he whispered in her ears. “I like the way I look now. Even if I want to change it a little, it’s so I can be better for someone.”
Finally, he smiled. “So I won’t let a mere fake get in the way. If you continue to use your ‘normal’ standard calculations… What a pity…”
Ruan Xian’s voice was as calm as always.
“…Someone has to teach you what an ‘exception’ means.”
As a result, before Ruan Xian finished speaking, the woman’s head was disconnected from her neck—guessing Ruan Xian’s series of actions, Tang Yibu didn’t miss this great opportunity. While Ruan Xian tightly controlled the opponent and distracted MUL-01 with his dialogue, Tang Yibu attacked directly from behind.
Without leaving any breathing time for the enemy, he suddenly crushed the beautiful head and the cybernetic brain.
“Eat it all.” After confirming that there were no pieces of flesh on it, Tang Yibu grinned and ordered the iron bead. The iron bead gave an aggrieved groan and began to swallow parts of the cybernetic brain that were crushed.
Blood splattered on Ruan Xian’s face, which didn’t change his appearance much since he was already covered in R-α’s blood.
After dealing with R-α, Tang Yibu rubbed himself against Ruan Xian, carefully looking at the other side. The skin on his calves and abdomen hadn’t fully restored yet, but he had no intention of rushing over to ask for blood.
“…What are you looking at?” Ruan Xian retracted his gaze from the iron bead that was struggling to eat. “Come here, I’ll heal your wounds.”
Tang Yibu’s gaze slowly slipped to the metal fragment in Ruan Xian’s hand. Ruan Xian glanced at him amusedly, then threw the fragment away, but Tang Yibu still didn’t approach.
“Don’t want to be healed? We’ll see how far you can go like this, and I’ll see how you can endure getting into a bath. You can’t stay like that for long, you know.”
“Mr. Ruan.”
“Hmm?”
“Ruan Xian.”
“……”
“The Mainbrain isn’t actually completely wrong, right?” Tang Yibu circled around Ruan Xian within two steps away. “I guess you’re still a bit sad, just a bit.”
“…The reason?”
“If it was me, even if I know the other party isn’t you, I will logically know the appropriate method and be able to execute it… But as far as I’m concerned, I would still be a little sad.” Tang Yibu stopped. He covered his stomach and hissed as he drew in a few cold breaths. “I don’t know if you’ll be hurt by this, even if you seem… to have forgotten about it. I mean, I think it’s necessary to confirm.”
“Come here.” Ruan Xian opened his arms.
The corner of Tang Yibu’s eyes lingered on the metal fragment that was thrown away as he moved slowly over. This time it was Ruan Xian who held him in his arms—even if his posture was a bit awkward because of his height.
“You…” Tang Yibu still intended to ask questions, but when he opened his mouth, he was deeply kissed. The kiss was strong and tasted of blood. Ruan Xian must’ve bitten his tongue, creating an extremely deep wound.
Tang Yibu held his breath and swallowed the blood. He gently hugged Ruan Xian’s back and patted him soothingly.
“Mr. Ruan, don’t worry. I won’t dislike you.” When Tang Yibu moved his lips away, he declared this firmly and gently kissed Ruan Xian’s eyes.
Ruan Xian was originally using deep breaths to adjust his emotions but ended up literally choking on his own mouthful of blood and started coughing.
“I’m not as bad as you.” Ruan Xian suddenly lost the desire to think. He wiped the blood from his lips. “Alright. Escape quickly—supplies, clothes, food. In addition, we have to find a place to shower. Oh, and…”
“What?”
“I was a little sad just now.” Ruan Xian smiled at Tang Yibu. “That’s a good answer, Yibu.”
In another stronghold far away, Yu Le’s night wasn’t very pleasant.
Ji Xiaoman, who had pretended to surrender, succeeded in staying, but she had never been very good at acting and couldn’t talk endlessly. The main lobbyist was still Yu Le’s “sister”. Although Ji Xiaoman didn’t touch her, she also guessed that it was another projected image.
She had to give Yu Le a good boost. In short, they needed to survive this wave first. The Mainbrain’s last resort was to crush their brains. It was impossible to do things like an overnight interrogation given their weakened state, and it wouldn’t rashly inject foreign memories. Only nerve pain and emotional control could be manipulated.
One more second longer is another second passing. If their plans went awry, it would take a while for reinforcements to arrive.
Ji Xiaoman touched the shoulder of her prosthetic limb. The raspberry pattern was still firmly glued to it, hidden under the epaulettes of the Order Supervisors. She couldn’t help looking at Yu Le, but Yu Le no longer looked at her, trying his best to avoid all eye contact.
He just stared at the “sister” in front of him, as blue veins pulsed on his forehead.
“We can also talk about other topics, such as the days you spent in the Sea of Ruins,” The woman’s phantom said. “Sister is very happy. After all, if there was no Mainbrain, you might’ve been executed… Haa, the original matter was also very troublesome, Lazy Fish. You should know the irrationality of the previous era better than anyone else. As long as it’s humans who rule, these implied injustices will never disappear.
“Oh, so you chose to be raised equally by ‘something else’.” Yu Le rolled his eyes at the void, obviously still angry. “Awesome, this makes me very convinced.”
“What kind gamble are you taking? I don’t know how many times I’ve scolded you for this before. If you don’t know how to hold your temper, you won’t find a good girl.”
“No, no, no, I never get angry in front of a good girl. The question is, are you? Ah? Is it that cool to pretend to be someone’s relative?”
The virtual shadow frowned. “Lazy Fish…”
“Don’t call me that.”
“…Forget it, let’s continue to talk about the Sea of Ruins. Your deputy captain seems to be Tu Rui?”
“Fuck, you guys are really doing this shit!” Yu Le struggled violently, causing the locks on his wrists and ankles to rattle.
“Before you left, Duan Lili’s successor was already in place.” The young girl’s projection shook her head gently. “Although the Sea of Ruins is more difficult to observe, we still have basic information. For example, how Tang Yibu and Ruan Lijie got on your ship. As long as you have the heart, you can always get information… People in the ruins like to get together, you know.”
“Going through so many hoops and hurdles and getting jack shit.”
“Miss Ji is here. We still want to communicate with you in the gentlest way first. So, Lazy Fish, let’s talk.”
The phantom pulled up a small light screen with two sketch-like drawings on it.
One looked like a snake, and the other side had a stickman drawn on it.
Kinky Thoughts:
This chapter is both physically and mentally regarding Ruan Xian’s scars healing.
For those who forgot, the sketch that Yu Le’s sister pulled up was what he drew when he admitted them into his ship before the disinfection.
At least after the sting, the rain was also abundant. The clouds outlined a vivid scene between heaven and earth, full of lush foliage that was about to bloom.
The sound of bicycle bells jingled from everywhere, as if it was a small bell to wake up insects, as they passed by countless flower stands lined up on the side of the road displaying creamy yellow carnations or lavender orchids that pedestrians could buy for a fraction of the cost.
Xing Conglian parked his car on the side of the road, got out, and stopped under a sycamore tree.
There was a flower stand there. The young flower girl, wearing a fleece hat, blushed when she saw him. She smiled sweetly at him when he gave her ten yuan and handed him a bouquet of lilies like usual.
The lilies carried the fragrance of dew. He ruffled the girl’s shaggy hair, then turned around and walked deep into the street full of flower stands.
At the end of the street was a hidden cemetery. As he got closer, the fragrance of flowers gradually faded, replaced by the smell of incense.
The cemetery wasn’t on the outskirts of a beautiful mountain but close to a large river with a bridge named Taiqian.
More than half a year had passed since Lin Chen fell from that bridge.
The lake gurgled as the water covered the pebbles on shore as Xing Conglian walked through the scattered tombstones. He stopped and put down the bouquet of lilies in front of the tombstone closest to the lake shore.
There wasn’t a picture on the tombstone. The name was painted in red ink. Perhaps because there was too much oil in the paint when the words were painted, there were small ink stains leaking from the edges of the characters that looked like tentacles belonging to some kind of insect.
He casually sat down cross-legged in front of the tombstone, then lit a cigarette and let the fire burn out the smoke, little by little.
That day, after Lin Chen and Feng Peilin fell off the bridge, they searched high and low but could only find Feng Peilin’s body.
For three days and nights, without sleep, he experienced for the first time going from full hope to crashing into despair.
Until now, he sometimes remembered Lin Chen’s face when he fell into the river.
He had seen the faces of many people before they died, but he had never seen anyone as calm and collected as Lin Chen. It was as if he was going out for breakfast, or as calm as the autumn leaves that were about to fall from the branches.
He often wondered if Lin Chen was dead. After all, they didn’t find any corpses. Perhaps one day, Lin Chen would appear in front of this makeshift tomb, pick up the lilies in front of his tombstone, and lightly smell them.
Therefore, Xing Conglian liked to come here often, especially when he had nothing to do. He would sit here in a daze.
This gave him some comfort.
He sat in front of Lin Chen’s grave and looked around aimlessly.
At that moment, his cellphone began to vibrate.
“Captain, he’s appeared again,” the caller said.
“In the Shifang section of the Hongjing Highway…”
“There were no casualties.”
Xing Conglian hung up the phone and stared at the tombstone. He took a deep puff from his cigarette, then threw it on the ground and stomped out the spark with his heel.
—
The Hongjing Police Criminal Division was no different from the way it was after Lin Chen left.
In the office, most of the police officers had already left, leaving only a technician watching videos behind.
Xing Conglian grabbed the iced lemon tea from Wang Chao’s hand and took a sip. It was so cold that it made his teeth chatter.
“Captain, although you don’t mind, I do. Can you please buy your own drink?” Wang Chao snatched the iced tea back with one hand and turned the mouth of the cup in disgust, while his other hand never left the mouse.
“How is the situation or the kid?”
“See for yourself,” Wang Chao said as he clicked play on the video.
It was an edited video recording of a passenger bus for eight minutes on the highway.
It was just after six in the morning. The stars and moon had just faded. Both sides of the highway were full of soft reeds. When a bus sped past, the reeds near the roadside would sway like waves.
There were a lot of people on the bus. Because it was so packed, water vapors from people’s breaths condensed into mist on the bus’s window. Most of the passengers had their eyes closed as the atmosphere seemed to be full of drowsiness.
On the seat by the window, a woman with a child tore open the packaging for a lollipop. The little girl took the cantaloupe milk-flavored candy and licked it.
Suddenly, a huge road sign with white characters on a green background appeared outside the window. The bus was going so fast that the road sign only flashed momentarily, leaving behind only the afterimage of the large font in people’s eyes.
This road sign seemed to have activated a peculiar spell. The mist outside the window seemed to penetrate into the car all at once. The surveillance screen began to shake violently, and the video became blurry. The curtains flew up and all the passengers leaned to the left.
Only when a loud sound pierced their eardrums did the driver slam on the brakes. The screeching sound of the emergency brake combined with the booming sounds of the horn was deafening.
The candy in the little girl’s hand fell to the ground. The surface of the milky yellow lollipop was stained with dirt and dust from the floor as it kept rolling towards the back row.
After the bus stopped in a temporary parking zone, all the passengers woke up as if from a dream. They hurriedly looked around. After a while, they found that there seemed to be no other vehicles around.
The road was empty, horribly empty.
They subconsciously turned to the driver. Several young, strong people stood up from the back rows. As if they were in danger, they tried to rush out.
However, everyone was stunned when they saw a gun, which was pointed at the driver’s head.
Somehow, someone had reached the driver’s seat first.
It was a very young boy, wearing a sooty cashmere scarf. The scarf covered his mouth and nose, revealing only slightly raised eyes that were like moist glass and gave people the urge to want to kiss it.
They all watched as the boy leaned close to the driver’s ear. It seemed like he was saying something.
Now, this was a legal society with strict gun control. Most people had never seen a handgun with their own eyes let alone encountered a loaded one on a highway robbery.
After waiting for dozens of seconds, the hijacker didn’t seem to make any movements, causing the passenger to begin to whisper.
The mother put her arms around her child and patted her lightly. The men stood up vigilantly. The atmosphere in the bus gradually became turbulent. The bold young people began to walk up the aisle, trying to get closer to the cab.
The hijacker’s eyes narrowed slightly, as if smiling.
In the next moment, the gun went off.
It was a real gunshot, like a firecracker exploding or the sound of a tire popping. It slightly shook the mist that had piled up on the side of the road.
Everyone’s first reaction was to close their eyes and cover their ears.
At the same time, the bullet grazed the driver’s forehead and shattered the car window on the side of the cab. Glass shards fell all over the floor. The driver gritted his teeth and shrank into a ball, trembling all over.
The passengers, who had been holding on to luck, suddenly realized that the young boy with the gun was a serious hijacker.
The car instantly became silent.
However, the young boy standing in the front of the bus simply smiled. His eyes curved into a beautiful arc. He stretched out his arms and jumped on the panel of the bus as he put down the gun in his hand.
Was the vicious hijacker about to speak?
Was he going to say something like, “Hand over all your money or I’ll kill you” or “If you don’t want a bullet in your brain, put all your valuables in the bag”?
Some of the passengers had already taken off their gold watches, but then they heard a strange thing.
“Ladies and gentlemen, take out all your candies, but not anything citrus-flavored. I don’t like them!”
The young boy said this as if this was all just a game. He was tossing the gun in his hand from his left hand to his right hand when suddenly he stretched out his hand and pointed the barrel at the driver who was planning to act. “I said, please don’t move.”
His soft voice invaded every passenger’s ear like warm water.
Everyone thought they had heard wrong. They looked around in confusion, as they didn’t know what to expect.
“Hurry up. I’m not joking around.” The young man sat on the panel again and laughed. He was wearing light blue jeans and had on a pair of bright yellow Nike shoes. His feet were dangling in the air, swaying gently left and right.
Just when all the passengers were still immersed in unknown confusion, a resounding “boom” sounded. The boy had pulled the trigger again.
This time, the bullet flew straight to the front of the bus. The windshield exploded with a “bang” and cold air burst in from the outside.
The wind blew up the boy’s jet-black and soft hair and made the driver’s face as cold as gold foil.
As if by magic, the young boy pulled out a maroon velvet hat from his jacket pocket and thoughtfully put it on the driver.
But in the next second, he pointed his gun at a restless middle-aged man in the front row who was about to pull out his phone and coldly said, “Hurry up!”
The middle-aged man trembled as he took out half a roll of Halls from his pocket and handed it over.
The young man accepted the candy with satisfaction. He took one out with one hand and popped it in his mouth, then stuffed the candy wrapper into his pocket.
When a leader acted, naturally, it would drive a group of followers. White cold candies, lemon drops, pink bubble gum, and a plethora of colorful candies fell into the pockets of the young boy one after another. One passenger even handed over a box full of golden Ferrero. The young boy looked at the chocolate in disgust and refused.
Eight minutes later, all the candy on the bus was swept away.
The on-board pager of the bus would come on from time to time. Red dots on the pager kept flashing. The teenager started to get annoyed. He turned off the tablet-sized pager and took it off the shelf.
“I wish you all a pleasant journey.”
After he finished speaking, he jumped onto the front-most console of the bus and blew everyone a kiss.
The next moment, they saw him jump out the broken front window without hesitation, rolled onto the highway and scampered down it as if he was flying into the vast reed forest like an egret returning home.
Around dinner time, citizens of Hongjing unexpectedly found that the promotional ad for the tourism festival that had been showing on TV for most of the month had changed to a new style.
Accompanied by the sound of the zither, the TV screen gradually brightened, and an emerald-colored river slowly came into view. Several small ducks were playing in it. They shook their heads as if they were in a hurry to return home.
“One, two, three, four, five, six, seven…”
A tender voice of a child overpowered the crisp sound of the zither. An old man was holding his grandson, who appeared at the stone arch bridge. The little boy’s footsteps were unsteady as he counted each of his steps excitedly.
The camera moved to the other side of the small bridge, capturing a traveler with a backpack standing by the bridge. He froze for a moment, then read out the couplets on the stone pillars of the bridge. “In spring, the flowing water is green. In autumn, the sunset at the ferry is red.”
The traveler’s voice sounded almost ethereal, giving those who heard it a warm, pleasant feeling.
The traveler started to move away, and the camera followed his footprints to an open river that was surging.
The camera then zoomed across the river and finally landed on the words “Taiqian Bridge”.
The soundtrack stopped abruptly, and the pretty face of a female anchor appeared.
“We interrupt this broadcast for an emergency announcement. A vicious murder occurred on the 10th of this month in the city. The suspect is Feng Peilin. Male. 37 years old. The police remind everyone that this person is extremely dangerous. If you see this person, please contact the police immediately.”
Following the female anchor’s solemn voice, a photo of Feng Peilin appeared at the top left of the screen. He had the corners of his mouth crook, as if mocking something.
This was obviously a trap Lin Chen had set up to catch Feng Peilin.
In this regard, Lin Chen’s explanation was that any prison had a “psychological belonging point”. Just like when people go shopping, they would subconsciously choose the most convenient place, so the suspect would commit crimes in places that could make them feel at ease or have special significance.
The crimes committed by Feng Peilin were all in an area within a 1.5-kilometer radius of the school he worked at as the center. The Taiqian Bridge happened to be in this area as well.
What was even better was that the river under the bridge was full of water, which represented the initial surge of life, which was related to the intention of the sand table.
To appease the suspect’s obsession with the number seven, the short ad featured seven little ducks and a child counting to seven, which would elicit a sense of familiarity with Feng Peilin.
Finally, the Taiqian* Bridge was also seven strokes. In Feng Peilin’s subconscious, he would think this place was very calming.
*Writing out the characters [Taiqian] (太千) is seven strokes.
If the tranquil short film could evoke Feng Peilin’s fond memories, then the subsequent interruption was to let Feng Peilin know that the police were looking for him, which would force him to act faster.
Under the dual combination of unconscious memory and external pressure, he would definitely choose to go to the Taiqian Bridge.
Staring at Feng Peilin’s pale yet handsome face, someone raised the remote control and turned off the TV.
The screen became dark. There was only a table lamp that still exuded warm light. In another place there was also a spot that was bright.
That was the reflection from the top of someone’s head.
“Inspector Huang, why did you suddenly think of finding an old man like me to have tea with?” In the director’s office, the Chief of Police was holding a teacup in his hand as he took big sips from it. He didn’t bother to mention anything about the promotional ad just now.
Huang Ze sat opposite the old director. He smiled and poured himself a cup of tea, then gently pushed it in front of the old director. “I’m here this time mainly to talk to you.”
The old director couldn’t help but take a deep breath. He closed his eyes, as if he was enjoying the fragrance of the tea, and acted as if he hadn’t heard anything at all.
However, Huang Ze didn’t get angry at this response. He sat there and waited, and such a wait represented respect.
The time passed so long that the fragrance in the room no longer smelled like tea, and the old man couldn’t hold his breath forever. “Young Master Huang, you’re too polite, much too polite.”
The old director took the teacup and drank it all in one go. He acted so casually, as if the tea he drank was no different than the tea served on the side of the road.
“This is as it should be.” Huang Ze filled the old director’s teacup again. “Friends from other families wanted to ask you, Uncle Shi, what exactly are your intentions?” Huang Ze didn’t even give the old man time to breathe. He was straightforward. “Without your acquiescence, Lin Chen couldn’t participate in the investigation of this case. What exactly are your intentions?”
The fact that Huang Ze asked “What exactly are your intentions” twice was, in and of itself, quite interesting.
A person of Huang Ze’s stature rarely needed to express his emotions and position through emphatic statements, but he asked the same question twice in a row.
This signified to the old man that he was annoyed, and of course, the reason was because of Lin Chen.
Lin Chen was a small person who had no background or backing. He could be easily squished, like killing an ant. The only reason he was still alive was because if you hated someone, it was best to watch their dreams shatter and have them kneel and beg for mercy like the ant they were.
In the past two years, Lin Chen had lived a very hard life.
Until a few days ago, he had reappeared in their sights again, and insisted on intervening in this case with an unyielding attitude. If there was no acquiescence from the old man, no matter how much the police captain trusted Lin Chen, it would be impossible for a small dorm manager like him to express key opinions for the investigation, let alone with just a few words, convince the TV station to produce a commercial within three hours so they could trap Feng Peilin.
Therefore, the main purpose of Huang Ze’s trip was to ask the old man behind all this: What exactly was his intentions?
For an old man like him that could prevent Chen Dong from taking action and have Huang Ze himself appear in person, it meant he himself had some status. His surname was Wu, the Wu that was part of the elite four families, Zhou, Wu, Chen, and Huang.
“Didn’t you and Xiao Lin get along quite well before?” Director Wu narrowed his eyes as he tried to dodge the question.
“Uncle Shi, this isn’t funny. Among the people who died that night, my own sister was one of them. No matter what, Lin Chen and I can’t return to the past.” Huang Ze’s expression turned gloomy as he responded bluntly to the old man’s question.
“Well, if you can’t be good friends, how about just regular friends?”
“I won’t be friends with a murderer.”
“Subjective. That’s subjective…”
“Is there a problem with what I said? There have been discrepancies between his confession and the on-site investigation. He has never cleared himself of suspicion so far.”
Hearing what he said, Director Wu could only sigh helplessly.
“Uncle Shi, pardon me, but what exactly are you planning?” Huang Ze continued to ask persistently.
“Xiao Lin told me this case is very dangerous.”
“So you agreed. Aren’t you afraid he’ll kill more people?”
“He said that when this case is resolved, he’ll leave.”
……
Sunday, September 14th.
The typhoon had just passed, but the looming clouds hadn’t yet completely dissipated.
The sky was bright, dotting the streets with sporadic lights in the morning fog.
There were twice as many stalls selling breakfast under Taiqian Bridge as usual.
The sixth floor of a building adjacent to the bridge was temporarily requisitioned. Xing Conglian and Fu Hao were there, watching the pedestrians on Taiqian Bridge closely through their black binoculars.
After waiting all night, all the police officers on the scene were sleepy.
Lin Chen slept soundly in an armchair as if he didn’t care about Feng Peilin’s arrest.
“Captain, we’ve been watching all night and Feng Peilin hasn’t shown up. Is that psychologist legit?”
At nearly 6:30, there was still no suspicious person. Xing Conglian pressed his headset tightly, not wanting the sound coming from it to leak out. However, Lin Chen still heard it. He glanced at the clock on the wall and sat up slowly, then said, “Let me go to the bridge.”
“No. It’s too dangerous.”
“You have deployed so many police forces. What danger will I be in?” Lin Chen asked rhetorically.
“If you show up, then won’t he know it’s a trap, so he won’t get on the bridge?”
“Do you think a trap has any meaning to a person who’s looking for death?”
Xing Conglian had to admit that Lin Chen always had the ability to make people speechless.
Under the watchful eyes of all the police officers in the room, Xing Conglian had to wave his hand and give in to Lin Chen’s request.
Lin Chen was wearing a clean white shirt. As he walked on the bridge, he put his hand on the white marbled rail. The wind was blowing in his face as the waters of the river surged underneath.
In the distance was a dark-colored roof, like the back of a giant beast, that stretched across the city’s center.
It was gradually getting brighter as dawn approached, and the number of pedestrians and vehicles coming and going on the bridge steadily increased.
There were parents riding their mopeds to send their children off to school and vendors on tricycles pulling their carts with difficulty across the bridge. An old man with a cane slowly walked to the top.
Xing Conglian held his binoculars and scanned the people on the bridge. He felt that his heart was beating very fast.
“Lao Fu, I think there is something wrong.”
Xing Conglian couldn’t explain how he felt. From identifying the suspect to arresting him, everything was moving so fast that he didn’t have the time to process it. He felt something was amiss and he was sure that something was wrong, but he couldn’t grasp the key problem.
“Lao Xing, shixiong is also a person who’s been through many battles. He can take care of himself.”
Before Fu Hao could finish, Xing Conglian’s cellphone suddenly rang. The frenzied piano sound made everyone feel uneasy.
“Captain, there’s a problem. I don’t know if it’s convenient to talk now.” Wang Chao was in front of a computer. He was chewing on his pencil as he pressed the pause button.
“What is it?”
“There seems to be something wrong with A’Chen’s* reasoning. Didn’t he say that Feng Peilin watched Yu Yanqing commit suicide? Going by procedure, I wanted to find out where Feng Peilin was during that time and discovered that while Yu Yanqing was committing suicide, Feng Peilin went to visit his mother’s grave. There was a photo captured of him at the highway tollbooth. This didn’t seem important, but I felt I needed to report it to you…”
*When (阿) is used in front of a name, it usually indicates affection and closeness when addressing someone, but in this case, Wang Chao is using it as a more casual way to address Lin Chen, like a nickname for him.
While Wang Chao was babbling endlessly on the other end of the line, Xing Conglian hung up abruptly. His heart sank as he finally realized what was wrong.
Lin Chen was such a meticulous person, while Feng Peilin was an obsessive-compulsive person.
Lin Chen’s reasoning about the steps of death training was only four steps, which Yu Yanqing also strictly followed. Then, since Feng Peilin wanted to commit suicide, he should also perform these four steps instead of the five steps that Lin Chen told him.
Get close to the body → Observe a murder → Kill with your own hands → Observe and help Yu Yanqing commit suicide → Commit suicide
So what if the step of “Observe and help Yu Yanqing commit suicide” was itself invented by Lin Chen?
On the bridge, the old man with a cane stopped not far from Lin Chen. As if perceiving something, the young man in the white shirt turned his head.
“In less than 30 seconds, the nearest police officer will rush up to arrest you,” he said to the old man.
“For a messenger, 30 seconds is enough!” The old man said excitedly.
“Say it.”
“He said you will accompany me in death, won’t you?”
“Nonsense.”
A police officer in plainclothes closest to the top of the bridge began to run wildly.
Xing Conglian felt as if he had been hit by a hammer and his head was about to explode.
If the entire death training process returned to its previous four steps, then there wasn’t a homicide that was “missed” by the police like Lin Chen said!
This meant Feng Peilin hadn’t killed anyone yet!
Then Lin Chen, being on the bridge, was the best prey. He wanted to kill Lin Chen and then commit suicide!
Lin Chen had already figured out Feng Peilin’s purpose!
He was tired and wanted to end everything. Instead of trapping Feng Peilin with the commercial, it was actually sending a message to him, telling him that he would wait for him there!
Xing Conglian thought of the worst possibility.
On the bridge, the old man threw away his cane and suddenly rushed towards Lin Chen as fast as lightning.
He pressed Lin Chen on the railing of the bridge and chanted devoutly, “He just wanted to ask you, in this world of sand, in this confrontation between the small and grand, which side will you stand on?”
The bridge railing suddenly broke.
“Lin Chen!” Xing Conglian’s roar resounded through the sky.
The author has something to say:
“One Sand” is over.
Kinky Thoughts:
This marks the end of the first arc.
Now the question remains, is Huang Ze a past flame or a past friend? Based on the clues so far, it seems that Lin Chen did something that inadvertently got the kids from the elite families killed, one of them being Huang Ze’s sister.
Man all the tea drinking in that room and all I can think about is, rather than drinking all that tea old man, why don’t you actually spill it.
Kinky Translations 