Chapter 11

On Two Boundary Mountain, even the wind was silent. The withered forest stood soundlessly, broken only by Jiang Wu’s footsteps.

Jiang Wu walked to the deepest part of the woods and stopped. He pulled a thin, razor-sharp piece of paper from his pocket. Running the index finger of his right hand along its edge, he drew a long, thin cut. Dense, transparent little beads of blood rushed to the surface.

Then, Jiang Wu cautiously observed his surroundings.

After a short wait, the first thing to change was the wind. A powerful gust swept in from the south. The dead leaves around him, as if wound up by springs, instantly rustled and rained down wildly.

So it’s as I thought, Jiang Wu realized. What lures the strange birds is my blood.

And that flock of monstrous birds wasn’t completely wiped out yet!

Without batting an eye, Jiang Wu wiped away the beads of blood. Just then, his ear twitched slightly. The instant the sound of tearing wind above him grew urgent, he teleported forward first, then looked back. He saw an Old Harrier plummeting from the sky, striking where he had just been standing. Its sharp, long beak stabbed deep into the earth, sending chunks of soil spraying everywhere.

If Jiang Wu hadn’t dodged in advance, his head would have burst like a bloody mess by now.

Jiang Wu observed this Old Harrier.

It was different.

This Old Harrier was several times larger than the ones that attacked him at the public cemetery. With its wings spread, it was nearly the height of a grown man. Its abdomen was bulging high, round and swollen, and its head was as big as a football.

At the same time, the Old Harrier realized it had missed. It pulled its beak from the soil, raised its head, and quickly located Jiang Wu. Its large, round, green eyes flashed with a strange, eerie light in the darkness. Without a moment’s pause, it attacked Jiang Wu again.

Jiang Wu didn’t dodge this time. He stared intently at the bird’s sharp beak. In the split second the Old Harrier rushed before him, opening its mouth to swallow him whole, the bag of solid alcohol tablets slid from his sleeve. He lit it, and cleanly, without hesitation, stuffed it down the Old Harrier’s throat.

The Old Harrier immediately let out a bizarre shriek and opened its beak to spit the alcohol out. Jiang Wu was faster. He slammed both hands around the Old Harrier’s long beak and forcefully clamped it shut.

“Cheep, chee-chee!” A shrill, piercing screech squeezed through the seams of the Old Harrier’s beak. It flapped its wings madly, wildly battering Jiang Wu’s hands, trying to force him to let go.

The skin on the back of Jiang Wu’s hands split open instantly, flesh tearing. He still wouldn’t release his grip. He pressed down harder, struggling against the beak that was trying frantically to break free.

Man and bird were locked in a standoff. As time passed, the Old Harrier’s cries faded. The strength of its struggles grew weaker and weaker, until finally, it stopped moving completely. Only after Jiang Wu confirmed the Old Harrier was truly dead did he let go, panting, and stagger back.

The Old Harrier hit the ground with a thud. Before Jiang Wu could even catch his breath, the bird began to dissolve, turning into black smoke that vanished into the air. Then—

Thump!

Something round and solid rolled out.

In the dim light, the landlord Wang Wanglin’s two eyes were still wide open.

His head had been swallowed whole by this Old Harrier. The hair was soaking wet, coated in thick, viscous slime.

Jiang Wu sighed softly. He bowed deeply toward Wang Wanglin’s head.

Someone would find it tomorrow morning. At least his family could send him off whole.

Jiang Wu waited until the sky began to rain before leaving.

He was the prime suspect in Wang Wanglin’s case. If any trace of him was found at the scene where the missing head appeared, he truly wouldn’t be able to clear his name.

Luckily, it had been raining recently. The rain would wash away all traces.

At the same moment, on the top of the tallest cypress tree on Two Boundary Mountain, Lu Sheng opened an umbrella. Rain hammered down, pitter-pattering loudly. Through the hazy curtain of rain, he watched that thin, frail figure run off into the distance, soaked by the rain. His dark eyes deepened, and in the next instant, he vanished.

…

Jiang Wu ran out of Two Boundary Mountain, first digging his backpack and paper bag out from the bushes, stuffing the shoe box into the backpack before heading toward a small, unmonitored path.

He hadn’t brought an umbrella. His hair and clothes were completely soaked. Just as he ran out of the small path, a vehicle pulled up and blocked his way.

The familiar limousine.

Jiang Wu’s heart lurched violently, matching the sudden roll of distant thunder. He stopped, blinked the rain off his eyelashes, and clutched his backpack, watching the slowly opening car door.

First, a red umbrella was extended. Then, a clean, shiny black leather shoe stepped down onto the ground, lightly splashing up a few drops of rainwater.

The two rows of streetlights on the side of the road, broken for a very long time and never fixed, lit up simultaneously. The orange glow pierced through the darkness and heavy rain, illuminating this long-neglected corner.

That cold, sharply handsome face appeared beneath the umbrella.

This was the first time Jiang Wu had truly seen this face clearly. Those oppressive, down-slanting eyes—their pupils were an unfathomable deep green.

Only a few steps separated them. When Lu Sheng walked up to him, Jiang Wu tightened his grip on his backpack, then released his left hand to brush the rain from his face, and spoke first. “Hello.”

Lu Sheng looked at him. “Lu Sheng.”

Jiang Wu froze for a second, then immediately corrected himself. “Hello, Mr. Lu.”

He pulled open his backpack, took out the shoe box, and quickly held it out under Lu Sheng’s umbrella. “Thank you for the shoes. Returning them to their owner.” He paused, then added, “I did scrub them clean, but they definitely aren’t as good as new.”

Lu Sheng didn’t take it. He lowered his eyes slightly, his gaze sweeping over Jiang Wu’s soaked canvas shoes, then looked back at Jiang Wu’s face. “Are you afraid of me?”

“Yes.” Jiang Wu answered very crisply. The heavy rain poured over his head, the damp, earthy smell continuously drifting into his mouth. He wiped his face again and said, “Ordinary people are all afraid of you.”

“You are no ordinary person.”

Jiang Wu paused briefly. He pursed the rainwater off his lips. “True. But I’m still afraid of you.” Better to face the unknown fear directly. He decided to charge straight ahead. “Why have you sought me out?”

The first time, in Rainy Alley, Lu Sheng had been there for Xue Chunnuan, who was fated to die that day. The second time, it hadn’t been for the landlord Wang Wanglin. As for the third time, at the public cemetery, it was clearly for him.

“You interfered with my work,” Lu Sheng said.

“?” It took Jiang Wu two seconds to process. His mind instantly flashed to the derailed train.

Could it be…

“Seems you remember,” Lu Sheng said. “That train was fated to have 121 dead that day.”

Jiang Wu decided to play dumb. “What train?”

Lu Sheng raised his hand. The Lazy Goat mask flew out of Jiang Wu’s backpack and landed in Lu Sheng’s grasp. Lu Sheng lifted the mask, holding it before Jiang Wu’s face from a distance.

“It was Lazy Goat who saved Grandma and me! Saved the train!”

A little girl’s voice rang out.

Jiang Wu’s lips moved slightly. Lu Sheng moved the mask away, his voice emotionless as he continued the little girl’s words, “And Lazy Goat is so, so tall!”

Jiang Wu: “…” Working multiple part-time jobs, he understood perfectly the consequences of unfinished work. He looked down at his now-empty backpack. “Do you want me to pay with my life?”

But Lu Sheng merely placed the Lazy Goat mask on top of the shoe box. “All things have their own fate. You saved them, others will fill the quota. But not you.”

Jiang Wu’s head snapped up. Lu Sheng turned and got back into the car, leaving behind one sentence: “Someone will come find you soon. If you want to refuse, contact me.”

Jiang Wu was still pondering Lu Sheng’s earlier words. The rain grew heavier. A card slipped from under the mask, landing in front of the toe of his shoe. He crouched down and picked it up. A line of subtly shimmering golden words flashed into his eyes—

Lu Sheng, 137xxxxxxxx.

It was a business card.

Jiang Wu felt distracted for a moment. Then, something occurred to him. He moved the mask aside and opened the shoe box. It was empty now.

~

“Cough, cough, cough…” Jiang Wu couldn’t stop coughing. His mask heaved violently. His voice was also very hoarse. “Sorry, how much did you say?”

“1200 a month. All the appliances are included here, I can’t go any lower.” The woman was about to continue when Jiang Wu asked, “Can I move in today?”

“Yes, ready to move in anytime.”

“I’ll take it.”

After signing the contract, Jiang Wu went to the small convenience store in the complex and bought a bottle of water. He took two cold pills with it. He’d caught a cold again.

It had rained all night yesterday. The ground was still wet. His stomach started to ache too. He couldn’t help but crouch down, clutching his stomach.

Ever since encountering the train derailment, so many things had changed. He could get sick now. And he had encountered a mysterious Ghost Emperor, Lu Sheng…

Lu Sheng said someone was coming to find him. Who would come? Why were they looking for him…

A string of crisp ringing pulled Jiang Wu back from his thoughts. A four-wheeled little cart zipped past in front of him. Its bright, sunny yellow was starkly out of place in the bleak winter. The little girl’s cheeks were flushed red from the wind, but she still raced forward joyfully, braving the biting cold wind. “Keep flying!”

Jiang Wu’s gaze involuntarily followed the little girl, the corner of his mouth slightly lifting. He watched until she pedaled far away. Then he retracted his gaze, tilted his head back to finish the rest of the water, screwed the cap on, and stood up. Finding a trash can, he threw the bottle away, then left the residential complex.

Arriving at the park where he’d stored his luggage, Jiang Wu had just finished contacting a moving truck when a new call popped up. A local, unfamiliar number.

He swiped to answer. It was the officer who had interrogated him the night before last. “Student Jiang, sorry to bother you. Just informing you, the case of your former landlord, Wang Wanglin, has been solved. A citizen jogging on Two Boundary Mountain this morning discovered his head. Upon examination, the saliva on the wound matched what we extracted from his body. He was attacked by a large beast of prey…”

The officer finished and offered a few words of encouragement before hanging up.

Jiang Wu put his phone back in his pocket. Just then, his fingertip touched something. He spread the pocket open and saw Banfen hop onto his index finger, its two huge, bulbous eyes staring up at him.

“You’re back!” Jiang Wu was overjoyed. He’d always had a very strong premonition that Banfen wouldn’t be in danger, that it would definitely return to find him.

He brought his hand up to eye level and smiled at Banfen. “We’ve moved to a new place. Shrimp tonight to celebrate!”

As if it understood his words, Banfen raised its two front claws and waved them excitedly.

Banfen’s return momentarily scattered Jiang Wu’s worries. When the moving truck arrived and took his luggage, he took Banfen to the wet market.

He carefully chose fresh vegetables, a box of ribs, a catty of fresh large shrimp. Passing a fruit stand, the strong aroma of strawberries hit him. He stopped and bought a catty of those too.

Coming out of the wet market, it was almost dark. Still, he made one more trip to a bookstore.

“Spirits of the Early Ages,” “The Ghost Path,” “Ghosts Among Humans”…

When he finally came out of the bookstore, Jiang Wu’s hands were full.

The bookstore was only a few stops from his new rented apartment. He didn’t wait for the bus. He walked slowly along the sidewalk, watching the streetlights flicker on, watching the small shops along the street gradually start blinking with neon lights.

Walking at this slow, leisurely pace, he soon arrived back at the new place. Most of the residents here were locals. It was dinnertime, and the enticing aroma of cooking wafted from every household. Jiang Wu finally quickened his pace. He had just reached his building when someone called out from behind him:

“Little Ghost!”

Jiang Wu wasn’t sure if the call was for him, but he was now abnormally sensitive to the word “ghost.” He stopped and turned around. From the shadows at the base of a wall, a short, thin figure emerged.

It gradually became clear. It was an old man wearing a green knit cap. His expression was complex, fixed on Jiang Wu. He asked:

“Want to save the world?”