Lian Chuan checked the entirety of the half-cave, but still didn’t find any exit or a place they could force their way through.
He sat on the ground, taking a sip from the cup Ning Gu gave him before.
“Aren’t you too calm right now?” Ning Gu squatted in front of him, “You know that we got trapped here, right? That blind geezer might come back and bring us to Poet as a bargaining chip.”
“That would be perfect.” Lian Chuan said.
“How so?” Ning Gu looked at him.
“It’ll spare us from looking for Poet.”
“Why would you want to look for Poet?” Ning Gu also sat down and reached his hand out to grab a cup, but realised that he’d smashed the other cup with sweet water, so he took the one Lian Chuan had just put down to drink from it.
“I thought this one’s mine.” Lian Chuan said.
“I’m sorry, it really is.”
Lian Chuan took the other cup.
“That one’s also mine, “Ning Gu said, “And I have to warn you that it’s very nasty.”
Lian Chuan lost interest in the drinks and leaned back, looking at Ning Gu, “I have a question.”
“Ask away.” Ning Gu nodded at him.
“Did you feel anything when I collapsed?”
“I didn’t,” Ning Gu said, “I’m not fooling you either. That Poet, I’ve met him twice. Li Xiang said that there’s no light when he’s coming out, and anyone who hears him goes crazy.”
“You heard him speak.” Lian Chuan said.
“Yeah, asking me, who are you?” Ning Gu nodded.
If it was before, he wouldn’t be so honest with Lian Chuan, since exchanging information with a Hyena… No, it wasn’t even an exchange. He was providing information to a Hyena absolutely for free, something no Traveller would stoop down to. But looking at the current situation, it was clear that it had something to do with Poet, and it would probably be a death wish if he tried to meet him one-on-one. Having Lian Chuan with him could somewhat help, after all, as Top Hat said, Lian Chuan was a one-in-ten-thousand chosen, a survivor.
“Who are you…” Lian Chuan repeated quietly.
Ning Gu answered right away, “I’m the Ghost City’s—…”
“Who gave you that weapon you brought with you?” Lian Chuan interrupted him.
“The one you robbed me of?” Ning Gu looked at him, “Land King, an old merchant from the Ghost City. He can get his hands on everything, and they say that he saw Betelgeuse once… But that can’t be right…”
“There were multiple Betelgeuses,” Lian Chuan said, “Forcibly synergised, with a very high error chance and death rate.”
“And there’s only you now, only you can synergise with it,” Ning Gu felt cold at the thought, “Everyone else died, right?”
“Mhm.” Lian Chuan nodded.
“All ten thousand?” Ning Gu asked.
Lian Chuan remained silent.
Ning Gu realised that whenever Lian Chuan spoke, he wouldn’t make any unnecessary movements. Aside from turning his head or looking up every now and then, he barely showed any other signs of body language, leaving basically no options to assess the truth of his words or read his state of mind.
“That self-destruction weapon belonged to Qi Hang,” Lian Chuan said, “We have his data in the database. There’s nothing special in his public data, we only know that he has disappeared…”
“Self-destruction?” Ning Gu gaped in shock, “You mean he’d die if he pushed the button?”
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.
“Tbe mjc jmalnjaf la, rb sbe mbeiv jirb vlf.” Oljc Jtejc rjlv.
“Gbc’a sbe gfugfa la j yla? Tbe’v tjnf la fjrlfg lo sbe vlvc’a xlmx wf atja vjs. Po P qertfv la, wjsyf sbe kbeivc’a yf lc remt agbeyif.” Rlcu Xe ubjvfv.
Oljc Jtejc uijcmfv ja tlw, “Pcvffv.”
“Go ahead then, tell me what trouble are you in,” Ning Gu lay on the ground, stretching his back comfortably, “If you explain it to me properly, I might know how to help you.”
Help you. Those weren’t words Lian Chuan was used to. He knew that those were just normal words of truth when coming from a definitely cautious, but still mostly messy and crude person like Ning Gu.
But in Lian Chuan’s memories, they only brought him suffering.
I’m here to help you.
We’re here to help you, as long as you can…
You need to understand, only this can help you.
“You can see my thoughts, my memories.” Lian Chuan said.
“I can also feel it, your pain, your… pain, your…” Ning Gu’s attempt to use some parallelisms failed, so he sighed, “Pain. For good or bad you’re the most badass of the Main City’s Hyenas, yet you’re more miserable than the lowest-rank Travellers of the Ghost City, with no painless memory whatsoever.”
“My memory isn’t intact,” Lian Chuan didn’t refute Ning Gu summary of his person, never going off-topic even for a single tangent, “That’s why I need to know how much you can see and feel.”
“To help you regain your memories?” Ning Gu sat up and discovered that Lian Chuan’s pose didn’t change a single bit. This kind of dedicated concentration had to be rare even among the Hyenas.
“Help me keep the secret.” Lian Chuan said.
Ning Gu was taken aback. Lian Chuan also didn’t speak.
After an extended period of silence, Ning Gu felt that his ass was getting sore from sitting on the hard ground, so he finally moved somewhere more flat and asked, “What secret?”
“I’m still not sure whether you know it.” Lian Chuan said.
“…Fine, then what if I don’t keep this secret? You could kill me, but your mission is to capture me alive. If I were to die, I’m afraid you wouldn’t be any better off than if your secret got revealed.”
Lian Chuan was silent.
“Am I right?” Ning Gu lifted his brow, pleased as punch.
“Yes.” Lian Chuan confirmed.
“So what will you do?” Ning Gu was even more pleased now. He was very keen to see Lian Chuan’s expression when faced with those two difficult possibilities.
“That’s why I need a second path.” Lian Chuan said.
“Where to?” Ning Gu scooted close to the front of him, staring at his face.
“To meet with Poet,” Lian Chuan wasn’t as secretive about this part, “Maybe I can find some way to keep myself safe.”
“How do you want to meet him? Wait for that blind geezer to come here with Poet? If they really have some deal going on, I’m afraid that you won’t get a chance to make your case, so I hope you’ll stay cautious.” Ning Gu was very careful when it was needed, and even this ‘second path’ would make him lose some control over Lian Chuan, having him alive and around would mean there was still hope. He still had to do his best to get through this situation. Because how could he just die without knowing anything?
“You,” Lian Chuan finally moved and turned head to look at him, “You can summon him.”
“Me?” Ning Gu pointed at himself, “How would I do that?”
“Don’t know,” Lian Chuan’s reply was very helpful, “Figure it out yourself.”
.o0o.
During the days when the Ghost City’s winds were ‘exceptionally strong’, Travellers rarely ventured out, preferring to stay in their small huts until the wind became merely ‘fierce’ before daring to leave. This was especially true for those just returning from the Main City. Most of them would take a good nap, reminiscing about the Main City lights, recalling the blurry memory of the Lost Valley, inspecting the goods they brought back, and, most importantly, those who had imbibed alcohol would sober up a bit. Unless there was a group brawl between a couple of shelters, during such days, the Ghost City truly lived up to its name—a city where even the actual ghosts wouldn’t venture out.
It was the first time for everyone to be stuck on the way to the shelters, as it was happening that day when the train just arrived. Gathering them on the road were Captain, Li Xiang, and Lin Fan standing in the shadow behind Captain—these three represented the highest authority of the Ghost City.
“What about Ning Gu.” Captain asked. No one answered; some were bewildered, while others seemed alarmed.
Captain wasn’t actually asking them a question—it was a deadly affirmative he already knew an answer to, but still would kill anyone who dared to answer it, as well as anyone who dared not to. The wind rolled the fog, sweeping the black, concentric waves around Captain. The Travellers all lowered their heads—if there was anyone who could make them all cower in fear, then it was him.
“Is there anyone who has seen Ning Gu in the Main City?” Li Xiang asked; his question was much much gentler in comparison.
“I’ve seen him,” Sister Qi raised her head, “In the Lost Valley, near the entrance to Intoning Pit’s tavern”
Li Xiang inclined his head, signalling her to come closer and continue.
When Sister Qi walked over, the Travellers with their heads lowered swiftly dispersed in all directions as if on cue. Captain didn’t pay them any mind, just staring at Sister Qi. He waited for her to come over before he continued asking, “Who was with him?”
“A Hyena.” Sister Qi said.
Captain and Li Xiang were both dumbfounded, and even Lin Fan behind them lifted his head a little.
“A Hyena entered the Lost Valley?” Li Xiang frowned, “How is that possible? Even if they don’t get lost, would Jiu Yi ignore a Hyena staying in Bats’ territory?”
“It’s definitely a Hyena,” Sister Qi also furrowed her brow, “Even though he didn’t wear a uniform, it’s hard to mistake that murderous intent.”
“Did you recognise which one it was?” Captain asked.
“Lian Chuan,” Sister Qi didn’t hesitate a single bit, “I don’t really know what he looks like, but that speed… I didn’t even have time to use my ability—it has to be Lian Chuan.”
“So why didn’t you bring him back!” Captain roared in a sudden outburst of anger.
Sister Qi instantly fled metres away from him, hands up and ready to activate her ability for self-protection. But seeing that Captain didn’t act on his rage, she finally flung her hands up and yelled as well, “Are you being serious! How would I bring him back! That’s Lian Chuan we’re talking about! If it wasn’t in the Lost Valley, I would die without leaving a corpse behind! Even if it was that little ghost whelp, who doesn’t know how good he is at sneaking around the Ghost City? Even the clocktower couldn’t contain him, so how the hell would I bring him back!”
Even the clocktower couldn’t contain him.
Captain waved his hand at Sister Qi, and she scurried away, running away along the alley lined with lanterns. He turned his head to look at Lin Fan, “Even the clocktower couldn’t contain him.”
Lin Fan sighed unhurriedly, “He chose the moment when the train arrived to escape. The guards are always in disarray at times like this…”
“And maybe the door would also open by themselves?” Li Xiang said. They were locked with Captain’s ability, only he could open them again.
“Who knows,” Lin Fan looked up, staring at the black fog splotching the entire sky without a single bit of clearance, “When was the last time when Captain’s ability failed? Was it when the specimen sent by the Main City escaped? Or was it when that old lunatic entered the baseme-…”
“Shut up!” Captain glared at him.
Lin Fan didn’t continue, just slowly turning around and walking away, “Looking for how and why he ran away now is meaningless; it has already happened. From the day you learned that there’s still something remaining of Qi Hang, you should’ve already known that the time would only move forward. Everything will move forward, you can’t take steps back.”
“It doesn’t matter whether Lin Fan let him out,” Li Xiang said quietly, “What’s important right now is that Ning Gu is with Lian Chuan, and we don’t know Lian Chuan’s intentions.”
“Don’t you also think that,” Captain looked at him, “Poet really…”
“Poet has existed for such a long time already. Since the day the Lost Valley was there, Poet was already with it,” Li Xiang thought for a moment, “But Poet’s form made him vulnerable to influence and contamination as long as there’s a strong enough psychic power, so… it’s hard to say.”
“We need to begin ahead of time,” Captain said, “The Main City won’t be honest with us, and they won’t genuinely cooperate. For them, the Ghost City is nothing more than a warehouse for raw materials.”
“We’ve got enough specimens in the basement. We can as well begin now, but it’ll be nothing more than a pale imitation.”
“And that’s enough.” Captain said.
.o0o.
Ning Gu lay on the ground, sleeping soundly for more than an hour already. Lian Chuan watched him all that time, realising that he really was asleep.
He didn’t know if that guy’s mental fortitude was too strong, or if his brain really was off-kilter. When Ning Gu told him that he dreamt of Betelgeuse before, he didn’t actually believe him all that much…
He picked a cup and knocked it against the ground, ding. Ning Gu groaned, lifting hand to his face to scratch it, then went motionless again.
Ding ding.
Ding ding ding.
Now he believed it.
Betelgeuse could count as the same person as him after he synergised with it, so it was reasonable that Ning Gu could feel Betelgeuse in a part of him. Looking at it from this angle, Ning Gu’s ability was much more exaggerated than he imagined. Betelgeuse could be classified as a powerful psychic entity, to the point it was extremely hard to synergise with, yet Ning Gu could see it in his dreams.
Lian Chuan felt like his conjectures were a bit too idealised. Maybe he was through too many days that blended together, and each of his guesses was beyond the scope he tried to control; once those thoughts could get read, he probably wouldn’t even have a one-in-a-million chance of surviving.
If that ability manifests completely, Ning Gu might…
“Ah!” Ning Gu suddenly yelped, springing up from the ground.
Lian Chuan watched him jerking up and falling back onto the ground. If he weren’t keeping a close eye on the surroundings all that time and knew that there was nothing strange happening, this reaction would make him run for it and jump from this cave opening to the one on the opposite wall.
“Did you hear something?” Ning Gu looked at him, sat on the ground and face still full of bewilderment.
“No,” Lian Chuan said, “What did you hear?”
“Someone was calling me.” Ning Gu rubbed his eyes, then pinched his brow, “I thought that it was you who called me.”
“Poet.” Lian Chuan said.”
Ning Gu frowned and thought for a moment, then suddenly sprung to his feet and walked to the cave opening. Facing the enormous pit , he shouted, “Aaaah—!”
This startled Lian Chuan—staying together with a species of as altered nerve connections in their brains as Travellers truly could shorten one’s lifespan.
“What are you doing?” Lian Chuan’s gaze didn’t leave him.
“Answering him,” Ning Gu glanced in his direction, “You said it yourself, he called me. Doesn’t that mean I should reply?”
Lian Chuan also didn’t feel like talking too much, “What are you answe-…”
“Aaaaaah—! Poet—!” Ning Gu shouted again.
Lian Chuan picked one of the cups and threw it at his head, “Shut up.”
“Lian Chuan,” Ning Gu rubbed his head, “You can only have your way now—the moment we leave the Lost Valley…”
“I’ll be even more free to do so in the Main City,” Lian Chuan quipped.
“The moment I awaken my ability,” Ning Gu pointed at him, “The first one I’ll beat up will be you, just wait for it!”
“I’ll help you.”
When the voice rang out, Ning Gu surged forward all at once, suddenly feeling short of breath.
He didn’t see it when and how Lian Chuan, who up to that point was sitting by the cave wall, blocked his way in front of him. He only knew that he got pushed back by him, “Don’t get close to the cave opening.”
Ning Gu snapped out of it and took two steps back. He couldn’t tell where the voice was coming from, only able to discern that it didn’t belong to either Lian Chuan or Top Hat. It wasn’t even the one that asked him who he was.
At that time, there was a sudden change in the pit, which to that point was so quiet that they could hear the faraway din of different places across the Lost Valley.
Countless golden particles of light appeared in the air, as if swept by the wind, but also as if stirred by something, dancing disorderly in front of them,
Interesting. Why do they need those specimens in Ghost City and how is Ning Gu related to Qi Hang? Is he his son?
Thanks for the translation!❤