Impossible, impossible.
Ming Liang’s reaction to Jing Ci vanishing was nothing but a constant loop of that single word.
The chain was not damaged in the slightest, neither was the door or anything else in the room. It was eerily quiet when he stepped inside – none of the guards talked.
Someone carefully pulled him back, shaking his head. Ming Liang grit his teeth, then made place for the professionals to check the room for hints.
It was impossible for Jing Ci to vanish just like that. It was impossible to free him without damaging the chain. And yet, here he was, in the empty cell and Jing Ci was somehow gone, nowhere to be found.
Slowly, Ming Liang remembered the past weeks. The dreams that sucked people in, the inexplicable deaths and Jing Ci’s unusual behavior.
It wasn’t humanly possible to vanish in a quarter hour without any signs. But that didn’t mean it wasn’t possible if something not human was involved. Something that could also cause deaths without a single sign.
“That friend of his”, he growled in anger. “Someone! I need you to locate a kid for me!”
The information he had about Jing Ci’s partner were limited, but he knew more than enough to run a search for someone matching the points who had most likely just ran away.
“Sir”, came the nervous voice of his assistant a while later.
“What!”
“We found a young man who is likely to match the information you’ve given us, but, uhm…”
Ming Liang was already storming out to grab his jacket. “Hurry it up!”
“But, the crime division contacted us. He didn’t simply ran away from home, he killed his older brother before he did so.” The assistant looked down at the digital tablet. “His parents came home not too long ago and found him. The mother has fainted-”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Yt, P vbc’a mjgf jybea atfw! Qtja jybea agjlir?”
“Ktfs obecv bcf. Yg gjatfg, akb. Pa’r ilxf rbwfbcf firf revvfcis jqqfjgfv gluta ja tlr rlvf j ubbv yla jkjs ogbw atf tberf.”
C rtbga wbwfca bo afcrf rlifcmf. Zlcu Oljcu geyyfv tlr obgftfjv, offilcu atf tfjvjmtf.
“Rba beg qijmf ab defralbc atja. Cgf atfs regf la’r atf gluta agjli?”
“There are blood drops from the brother left behind, Sir.”
“Wire me up with the team. I’ll follow their hunt.”
“I asked them about this, but they refused.”
“They did what?!”
“They said they don’t want a civilian following them around when they’re searching for a murderer.”
“Civi-”
The professor sputtered out the word. He had worked here for so long that he forgot that despite everything, he wasn’t part of the police force. He wasn’t even a warden or anything similar, really.
Gnashing his teeth, he glared at his poor, frightened assistant. “You know where the kid’s house is. We will go there first. By the time we reach it, they might have found him.”
And indeed, the journey was hardly short. Ming Liang grew more and more irritable with it – the news were already publishing things about a killer on the run.
The images showed a completely hysterical mother, face distorted to the point that she was more a demon. Neither of the parents were responding to any of the questions why the younger brother might have done such a thing, instead focusing on painting him as a monster.
Ming Liang pulled up a photo of the young man in question. It was surprisingly hard, for he apparently hardly ever left the house, let alone allowed himself to be photographed.
The teenager – the photo was a few years old – looked haggard and submissive, most certainly not like what Aspen had made him seem like.
The professor frowned, then closed the page.
The general area of the house was teeming with police, who had likewise gotten the information about Ming Liang’s runaway and were not too keen on suddenly running into someone who should belong on the death row.
He stuck to some of them like glue, listening in on every single report that was given.
At some point came a solemn voice through the receiver.
“…Found them. Both.”
Ming Liang grabbed the thing right out of the police man’s hand. “Where!”
The coordinates came through.
It was far from the house, if you considered that they must have walked the distance. A decent distance for the short time between the estimated murder and the hour of the dreams.
From far away, Ming Liang saw the old-style bridge. The police were gathered below it, at one of its pillars, already closing off the area in a professional manner.
Given his job, the professor knew something was off.
Ming Liang sprinted forwards, his lungs hurting in the cold air. He slowed his steps as he approached the group of policemen that were still taking photos and checking out the vicinity.
They let him through after he flashed his id.
With slow steps, Ming Liang approached the two figures leaning against the pillar’s wall.
Snow was falling quietly. Some flakes had settled on their shoulders and in their hair, but most had melted. Only a few stayed on the ground.
Tian Zhu was visibly of Eastern blood. His dark hair fell smoothly and Ming Liang had a feeling that the eyes beneath his closed lids must be of the same color. His clothes were too large for his body and too thin for the cold weather.
Jing Ci was leaning on his shoulder and Tian Zhu had placed his head against the other. They were both tilted a bit, as if sleeping, but their chests did not rise.
A trail of bloody drops could be found on the ground near them. Tian Zhu’s hand was stained and his sleeve was reddish. There was a red streak on his cheek where he must have wiped it away.
Jing Ci’s hand was equally red. The color was too bright for the scene, too garish.
Ming Liang slowly went down into a squat, swallowing heavily.
Their fingers were intertwined gently, not caring about the blood, and holding each other tightly.
He thought they looked sweet together. Jing Ci’s face was as serene as he had never seen it before, a peaceful curl at the end of his lips. He almost looked like he was smiling. Tian Zhu’s face was a bit gaunt, with dark rings under his eyes, but he now looked perfectly relaxed. Someone who could finally take a rest.
Ming Liang looked up at a police man who shook his head mutely. They did not know the cause of death yet.
Despite that, despite the two runaway murderers having been found, no one talked. No one said a word. No one had the heart to disturb the peace of the scene.
Only Ming Liang sighed softly.
He looked at the two of them, resting together after enduring for so long, and thought it was good that they weren’t alone anymore.
That someone like him managed such a thought came as a surprise to himself.
“Sleep well”, he whispered in a breath, then stood up.
He rummaged through his coat’s pocket, pulled out a cigarette and lighter, and put the former between his lips.
Quietly, he flicked the old-school lighter to turn it on and lit his cigarette.
Then he stared out into the dark sky, blinking against the snowflakes falling, and took a deep breath.
Just checking… This is still the chapter, not the epilogue?
Yes! Epilogue and Extra come out tomorrow. It’s named as such too, to avoid confusion
Thank god
But it is a bittersweet ending.
I wished them a happy ending but this one is also good
Wow what a powerful chapter and what an ending….can’t say it completely surprised me though….I really wish them to finally find rest and just be with each other 😢 thank your for all of your hard work! ❤️❤️
Btw is it you who draws the art? It’s very nice! Whoever drew it, they captured the scenes very nicely! Will be awaiting for the epilogue and the extra ❤️
The art is all from different people (some from me) 🙂 Hope you’ll like the epilogue
I’ll admit I’m sad to see them both dead but I’m happy to see them together in death, still loving each other and finding peace within each other. You did a great job with this story, I love thriller, mystery and horror books so I really love how you wrote this story. Plus the art is really good no matter who drew it.
Thank you! It’s my first time approaching mystery, so I was really worried about that part
Yep, you did a great job for your first time and I’m sure you’ll continue to improve if you write the genre again
Author is cutting onions 🧅 🔪🔪
This is a really good way to wrap things up. I somehow expected that they won’t be able to live for long with those identities, but the way it had to end was.. soft and touching. Glad to have their bodies frozen together, (╥﹏╥)
now let’s have the onions sautéed for a delicious ending, (˘︶˘).｡*