Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Gao Peng wasn’t affected by the rumors spreading about him. In fact, he was rather pleased these days. Even though he didn’t want Da Zi messing with Stripey, not only did Stripey not seem to mind, it actually looked like it was enjoying itself.
Now that Da Zi wasn’t there, Stripey was a little antsy. “Gao Peng, where is Da Zi? Why hasn’t it come to play?” It flopped lazily onto the ground.
Gao Peng was about to tell him the truth, that he had told Da Zi to stay away, before he caught himself. Damn those large, soulful eyes.
“It is actually preparing a huge surprise for you.”
“Really?” Stripey’s face lit up.
“Yup!”
“Good.” Satisfied, it shot the mansion an expectant glance, as though Da Zi would show up in front of it if it looked hard enough.
Stripey tried taking a quick nap, but all it could do was roll around restlessly wondering what surprise Da Zi was cooking up for it.
“I actually thought it didn’t want to play with me anymore.” It smiled shyly. The earth trembled as it wiggled its massive body.
As Gao Peng descended the mountain, he turned around and looked tenderly at Stripey, pain written clear on his face.
He finally understood why these huge creatures with enormous lifespans spent most of their lives asleep. It wasn’t that they cared for it particularly, it was the fact that there was literally nothing else to do.
Loneliness was the worst.
He wished their dreams would always be free of pain, worry, and loneliness.
Gao Peng thought of the White Dragon and the Mountain Spirit, and then it hit him. It was the faintest outline of an idea, but he would definitely think through it long and hard.
…
Yuzhou City, Adamantium Bridge Business District.
Before the Cataclysm, this had been where the most prosperous business district in Yuzhou City was located. Now, it was dotted with brothels where drinks spread quickly and money flowed easily.
Right in the middle of the district was a 50 foot tall bronze statue of the Sage King.
Along with a base of around ten feet, the entire sculpture was around 60 feet tall. Wielding a huge crescent blade and atop a scarlet horse, the striking figure made out of faintly burnished bronze was a landmark of the area. It caught the eye of the many people who passed through the area every day. As time went by, however, people grew used to the majestic sight. They were no longer impressed the way they once had been.
At dawn, a cool mist flowed through and around the streets, engulfing the area in a a ghostly cocoon of white. The streets were littered with stray leaves and empty beer cans.
Clad in blue, the sweeper silently made his way around, cleaning the streets.
Zheng Changshou wiped the sweat off his brow with a flourish. October mornings in Yuzhou could get pretty muggy.
Looking up at the majestic statue, his brow furrowed. Was it just him, or did something look a little strange?
Barely had the thought crossed his mind when he dismissed it. He still had a lot of the street to cover, and it wasn’t going to clean itself. He did not want to be caught in the morning rush.
As the morning sun rose ever higher, the sunlight filtering through the steel jungle cast beautiful designs on the streets below. The statue of the Sage King was set ablaze as his massive blade was sheathed in golden light.
“Just like that. Hold that pose. One, two, three, say cheese!”
Tourists loved taking pictures with the statue and they usually did—in hordes.
“Hmm? Liu Ai, why does this picture look different that the one you showed me last time?” Lu Feng stabbed an accusing finger at the photo.
“You’re seeing things. The picture was taken from the exact same angle. Are you questioning my skills?” The woman named Liu Ai wasn’t happy.
“I don’t really know how to explain it…” said Lu Feng as she swiped through her camera roll at lightning speed. “Look. It’s different, right?”
Liu Ai peered closely. It was the same photo she had taken her first time at the Adamantium Bridge, from the exact same location.
A chill ran down her spine.
The first picture had been taken a year ago. The Sage King had his head held high, and he had a slight squint. His left hand stroked his beard, while he held his crescent blade in the right.
The second picture was very similar, except for the fact that the Sage King’s head was lowered slightly, staring straight at Lu Feng!
Lu Feng had always been the braver one. She tapped Liu Ai on the shoulder. “It’s probably just a little loose because of how poorly it has been maintained.”
Liu Ai said nothing. She turned around to look at the statue of the Sage King again.
Under the sun, his head was held high, his proud visage a startling sight to behold.
Lu Feng could tell that Liu Ai wasn’t interested, so she turned around to look at the Sage King as well.
They were silent. After a beat, they made a beeline out of the place.
…
“Boss, have you heard? There have been some ghost sightings at the Adamantium Bridge.” Xu Qingzhi strolled into the lab with materials in her arms.
“So what? We have two little ghosts right here.” Gao Peng said drily as he started working with the new materials.
“…”
Upon deeper thought, the boss’ words made sense.
“You’re right, boss.”
“I can’t believe you have time for this. It’s already been three months, and you still can’t even brew a simple Petrifying Potion? Why don’t you spend more time on that?” Gao Peng shot her a sharp glance.
She was mad. Who could compare to a freak like her boss?
Having been put down so thoroughly, she didn’t feel like talking to the jerk anymore.
…
The very next day, the central area of the Adamantium Bridge Business District was sealed off. There were several patrol cars stationed by the yellow police tape.
There were several corpses covered in black cloth lying in the middle of the sealed off area.
“Where’s the witness?” Police Commander Chang Luoqian could feel a migraine coming on. To have such a gruesome thing happen under his watch in the busiest area of the district meant that he was probably going to hear about it from his superiors.
‘The witness is in the car,” said one of his subordinates as he mumbled something else.
Luoqian slowly massaged his temples and nodded. “I’ve got it.”
According to the coroner, the victims had been decapitated, their heads completely severed from their necks. The wound patterns suggested that it was probably done with a blunt instrument.
Using a blunt weapon to execute someone?
All that told him was that the suspect was monstrously strong.
“This strength is inhuman!”
“Maybe they were murdered by a monster!”
Thus began a lively discussion among the police officers.
“And how did that damn statue vanish? You’re not telling me it ran away on its own!”
There weren’t any cameras near the scene of the crime, but most of the surrounding shops did have cameras installed. The forensics team started examining those videos feverishly to turn up any kind of lead.
The sound of footsteps could be heard outside the conference room. “Commander, the report is out!”
