Chapter 56: The most passionate male sparks, the most passionate collision of desires.
After nightfall, the busiest street in the Wangdu district was the bar street.
From a high vantage point, the bar street resembled a thick river, continually branching out into small streams that spread to both sides, deep into the heart of the Wangdu district. The lights, tinged in gold and crimson, flow through the bar street like peculiar blood.
The Atlantis Bar, which was closed for a while, reopened tonight, and even before reaching the entrance, it was already packed with people.
Regulars of the bar brought candles, wine, flowers, and various small gifts, almost covering the ground at the entrance. Half-zombified people wearing hats and long-sleeved shirts sat on the roadside, playing mournful tunes on guitars.
Jiang Xiaochuan stood at the entrance, looking bewildered. “What’s going on?”
“Don’t you know?” Xie Zijing was surprised. “Don’t you follow the news?”
He told Jiang Xiaochuan about what happened in the bar.
Jiang Xiaochuan’s exam results were from last week, and he just submitted his high school preferences today. After confirming his preferences, he immediately asked Qin Ge to take him to the Atlantis Bar to see Meng Yu’s performance again.
He didn’t know what had happened at Atlantis, but his friends said there was an event at the bar tonight, so he insisted on dragging Qin Ge over.
Qin Ge brought Xie Zijing along, as well as Bai Xiaoyuan, who wanted to broaden her horizons in the Wangdu district. The four stood at the entrance of Atlantis, hesitating to step in.
“I remember that owner,” Jiang Xiaochuan said blankly. “The day I was kicked out of the bar, he even scolded me.”
He bought three small daisies on the roadside, walked into the crowd, and placed the flowers on the already towering mountain of flowers.
The door of the bar opened, and some people remained outside while others slowly entered the bar. Qin Ge thought that Meng Yu probably wouldn’t perform tonight. Before entering the bar, he suddenly saw Tang Xing, Tang Cuo’s sister, in the crowd.
Tang Xing was accompanied by a tall, handsome man who was listening to Tang Xing with his head lowered. The two held hands, standing under a solitary street lamp.
Most of those entering the Atlantis Bar were familiar with each other. Some bring their own drinks, while others order at the bar. There was no live music, only the subdued murmur of voices echoing in the bar. Everyone was discussing Ling Siyuan, talking about new and old friends they met at Atlantis. The bartender wiped glasses behind the bar, wearing a black vest adorned with a small white velvet flower.
Qin Ge, Xie Zijing, and Bai Xiaoyuan each ordered a drink, while the bartender brought Jiang Xiaochuan a glass of water. After quietly finishing their drinks, the four left the bar.
The emergency exit had been sealed off. Xie Zijing spotted the crisis management personnel on duty, whom he had met during the last team-building event, and they nodded to each other in acknowledgment. “I’ll go chat for a bit,” Xie Zijing said before hurrying off.
Qin Ge took Jiang Xiaochuan for a stroll along the bar street. After leaving Atlantis Bar behind, the street gradually became livelier. Among the cheering and singing crowd, there were hardly any half-zombified people, only underground people, werewolves, and sentinel guides.
Human joys and sorrows were not the same, Qin Ge thought to himself, feeling the noise of the crowd. As they passed through the bustling crowd, Qin Ge suddenly remembered this saying. Among the cheering people, there must be underground people who view half-zombified humans as mortal enemies. The younger generation might not understand why they harbor such animosity toward each other, but the sentiment of hostility could be inherited and perpetuated through generations.
As he and Jiang Xiaochuan walked ahead, Bai Xiaoyuan followed behind them. Suddenly, she felt a tap on her buttocks.
Bai Xiaoyuan didn’t utter a word. She immediately turned around and lifted her leg, aiming a kick at the person behind her who was emitting a low chuckle.
Her movement was swift and fierce, but the person reacted quickly and forcefully. After dodging her kick, he grabbed Bai Xiaoyuan’s calf.
“What a beautiful girl.”
Bai Xiaoyuan felt a wave of nausea. The person’s arm was covered in black hair, his beard extended to his neck, and one eye was injured and wrapped in gauze, emitting a faint foul odor from the wound.
As he spoke, Bai Xiaoyuan could clearly see his uneven, sharp teeth in his mouth.
A werewolf. Bai Xiaoyuan thought to herself, Lei Chi, how could your fellow clansman look like this?
“Still so fierce,” the werewolf said as he felt Bai Xiaoyuan’s leg and sniffed it, laughing, “Smells really good…”
He hadn’t finished his sentence when suddenly his face stung fiercely, as if scratched by an invisible claw. The pain made him release Bai Xiaoyuan’s leg immediately.
In that split second of release, Bai Xiaoyuan forcefully kicked up, leveraging her right leg that wasn’t restrained, and aimed a fierce kick at the werewolf’s ear.
The intense pain and ringing in his ears made the werewolf cry out in agony, feeling dizzy, and he fell heavily to the ground with a thud.
“Xiao Yuan!” Qin Ge had already rushed over, followed closely by Jiang Xiaochuan.
“I’m fine,” Bai Xiaoyuan said, “Just a little trash.”
She stepped one foot on the ground and the other on the werewolf’s neck. The werewolf couldn’t turn his head, and his face was scratched fiercely again by that unseen presence. He was both in pain and enraged, roaring out, “Are you a sentinel or a guide? I haven’t seen you before! I’m good buddies with Bian Han… Who the hell are you?!”
“You grandma!” Bai Xiaoyuan lifted her foot and stomped heavily on his nose.
Meanwhile, Lei Chi and Xiao Liu, patrolling in the semi-zombie area of the Wangdu district, both looked up simultaneously.
“I think I heard Bai Xiaoyuan’s voice,” Lei Chi said.
A small stray cat ran past them, meowing sweetly.
Xiao Liu: “…I only heard screams.”
Lei Chi grabbed the walkie-talkie. “What’s going on? What happened just now?”
After a moment, someone responded, “There’s a werewolf groping a girl on the bar street, and got their nose broken.”
“The girl’s nose got broken?” Lei Chi recognized it was Xia Chun’s voice and couldn’t help but be shocked.
“A stranger werewolf’s nose got broken by a girl,” Xia Chun said. “The girl is someone I’ve never seen before, both of them are outsiders.”
“Since it’s a werewolf, just give him a good lesson and break his hand,” Lei Chi said. “Atlantis opened today, are the underground people celebrating? Is there something special happening?”
Xia Chun sneered, “Siyuan is dead, and the underground people are very happy. They’re even starting to be dissatisfied with Meng Yu’s attitude now, planning to change leaders.”
Lei Chi wasn’t particularly interested in these matters. He listened to Xia Chun’s words absentmindedly.
The Crisis Management Office and the Black Battalion were able to jointly patrol thanks to efforts from both Lei Chi and Xia Chun. People in the Wangdu district detested external influences, but the existence of a mysterious murderer made the semi-zombified humans uneasy, and their approval was particularly strong. Eventually, even the werewolves voted in favor. Members of the Crisis Management Office were allowed to investigate and patrol in the Wangdu district.
At this moment, various areas of the Wangdu district were populated with a certain number of Black Battalion and Crisis Management personnel. Xia Chun led her werewolves to patrol Bar Street and happened to witness the recent nasal incident.
Lei Chi hadn’t had a day of rest during this time. He tried his best to arrange rotating breaks, finally allowing Xiao Liu and the others to have half a day off in batches. But seeing that he was too busy and tired, his subordinates didn’t dare to take leave and insisted on working with him.
“All the guests captured by surveillance cameras in the bar that day have been mostly investigated,” Xiao Liu continued reporting after Lei Chi put down the walkie-talkie. “No suspicious individuals. Including those who entered the secure passage from the bar, most of them have been ruled out as suspects.”
“There’s nothing significant found at the scene,” Lei Chi said. “I’m very interested in the relationships between the leaders of the Black Battalion.”
“The scene suffered extensive damage,” Xiao Liu said quietly. “The basement where Siyuan’s body was found was well protected, but there were no valuable clues in the secure passage, where people come and go. None of the Black Battalion leaders, except for Meng Yu, Xia Chun, and Bian Han, had reliable alibis that night.”
“It’s complicated,” Lei Chi murmured. “And there’s also that strange event from over a decade ago. What could make our sentinel guides collectively go insane?”
Xiao Liu said, “I’ve never heard of such a thing. Even the most bizarre novels wouldn’t dare write about this kind of phenomenon.”
Lei Chi asked, “Why?”
Xiao Liu replied, “If the plot doesn’t make sense, it’ll be abandoned, and the readers will criticize it.”
Lei Chi asked, “Do you like reading? By the way, what books has your girlfriend been reading lately? I want to understand the reading preferences of girls nowadays.”
Xiao Liu knew his intention and smiled inwardly, “Are you interested?”
Lei Chi insisted, “Just tell me.”
Xiao Liu: “The hottest series lately is ‘Four Hundred Years of Infinite Love.’ It’s been in the top three of the Amazon bestseller list for three years. It’s a trilogy, and it finally concluded this year.”
Lei Chi hadn’t heard of it; he usually spent his free time reading scientific literature like “Corpse Transformation Atlas.”
“What’s it about?” Lei Chi wondered. He would need to check it out later; maybe Bai Xiaoyuan would like it too.
“It’s about the exquisite love between vampires and werewolves spanning four hundred years,” Xiao Liu recited in a monotone, as if reading a textbook. “That’s what it says on the book spine. And there’s this line, ‘The most passionate male sparks, the most intense collision of desires.'”
Lei Chi felt vaguely uneasy. “Huh?”
Xiao Liu added, “Both the vampire and the werewolf are male.”
Lei Chi: “…Alright, got it.”
Xiao Liu: “Do you really want to read it, Captain Lei?”
Lei Chi replied succinctly, “Yes.”
But making that decision was indeed difficult. He sighed deeply and suddenly noticed a faint silver light enveloping the clock tower, not far away.
A rather large spirit animal was lying on the top of the clock tower, lazily swaying its tail.
Even Xiao Liu noticed it now.
“Barbary Lion?!” he exclaimed. “Xie Zijing from the Adjustment Department?!”
The Barbary Lion lay on the clock tower on a night with no stars or moon, only the streetlights illuminating the sky. It wagged its tail, appearing carefree and happy.
Xie Zijing stood on the rooftop nearby, surveying the surroundings. The detectives told him that it was fine for the spirit bodies to roam around freely tonight; the rooftops were filled with Crisis Management and werewolves, so there wouldn’t be any other suspicious individuals. However, the roaming area was limited to the rooftops.
Xie Zijing wasn’t sure if Qin Ge would agree with his mischief, but the thought of being able to run around freely made him unable to resist. He followed his colleague’s instructions and found a path to climb onto the rooftop.
Neither he nor his spirit animal had been able to run freely for too long.
The Barbary Lion wasn’t fond of domestic life. Xie Zijing often saw it yawning and initially didn’t understand why it seemed tired. But after howling in the Wangdu district last time, it hadn’t shown any signs of fatigue during these days back home. Instead, it seemed energetic and lively, bouncing around every day, chasing rabbits to play with.
Thinking of this, Xie Zijing felt a little pity for his spirit animal.
The Barbary Lion seemed to have a particular fondness for the clock tower.
It perched at the highest point, overlooking the lights and shadows of the entire Wangdu district.
After a moment, it leaped down from the clock tower and landed beside Xie Zijing. “Go for a run,” Xie Zijing said, “but remember, no random roars.”
The giant lion shook its ears, lifted its four paws and jumped to the nearby rooftop.
On this vast expanse of buildings, there were many people standing, near and far. Werewolves, who couldn’t see the spirit bodies, felt a strange wind passing through their bodies, while the sentinels and guides from Crisis Management recognized Xie Zijing’s Barbary Lion. Someone whistled to summon the Barbary Lion, releasing their own spiritual bodies to run alongside it.
The Barbary Lion was incredibly fast, each leap and landing precise, quickly leaving the spirit bodies trailing far behind. Accustomed to long-distance running, it often followed Xie Zijing’s car when they worked together in the western office, sprinting across deserts and snowy landscapes.
It ran farther and farther. Spirit bodies couldn’t stray too far from the sentinel guides; they were only a manifestation of the spiritual world, not real animals. The Barbary Lion stopped, pacing slowly at the edge of its activity range. The spirit bodies following it had already disappeared; they were different from the lion and couldn’t endure such a long distance away from their host.
In reality, it was close to the edge of the Wangdu district.
Here, lights were scarce, and human presence was rare. The lion could hear various buzzing sounds from the ground and surroundings, people talking, machines operating. It began to turn around, intending to return to Xie Zijing, but took a few steps and stopped.
It stood on the edge of the rooftop of an abandoned building, with only two meters to the next landing spot. A narrow alley lay before it, and all it needed was a leap to cross over and continue forward.
But it lowered its head, staring at the bottom of the alley.
The alley was two meters wide, not very long, a dead-end between two buildings filled with debris. It was dark inside, with street lights only illuminating a small area at the entrance. The deep end seemed to hide a high concentration of dark substances, like a thick abyss.
The Barbary Lion began to feel restless. It walked back and forth on the edge, staring at the darkness.
After a moment, a snake slithered out of the chaotic debris at the bottom of the alley.
The giant lion stood still, its golden eyes fixed on the snake.
It was a King Cobra.
The King Cobra had also noticed the Barbary Lion. It stood up halfway, equally widening its golden pupils, silently staring back. As it got closer to the light, the lion couldn’t help but be amazed: the King Cobra’s back was covered with peculiar bone-like spines, as if they had pierced through the snake’s body from the inside.
Neither side attacked; they just braced themselves with full force. The Barbary Lion was unfamiliar with the terrain here, and Xie Zijing had warned it not to act recklessly, so it remained motionless. The King Cobra, for the first time in the Wangdu district, saw such a large lion and also wasn’t sure about the other’s identity. They stood there, silently facing each other, slowly moving toward the entrance of the alley.
The Barbary Lion shivered: it heard the sound of people talking.
Someone was calling for the King Cobra.
The lion immediately rushed to the corner of the rooftop and looked down. The long snake swam into the darkness of the buildings. It leaped from the rooftop and landed steadily on the ground.
After the dark alley was a desolate street with only a few street lamps, and the ground was barren. All the shops on both sides were tightly closed, with no lights anywhere.
At the moment the Barbary Lion landed, the person calling for the King Cobra suddenly disappeared into the buildings. The lion couldn’t get any closer—the King Cobra was gone. It turned into a white mist, gradually dissipating in the dim light.
It was a sentinel’s spirit animal.
“What’s wrong with your lion?” Bai Xiaoyuan asked Xie Zijing strangely.
Xie Zijing returned to the ground and met Bai Xiaoyuan and the others, who had just finished dealing with the bridge incident. The Barbary Lion followed beside Xie Zijing, pacing restlessly.
Xie Zijing: “I don’t know. I can’t communicate with it.”
This statement surprised Bai Xiaoyuan and Jiang Xiaochuan: “You can’t communicate with your own spirit animal?”
Xie Zijing: “Can you both?”
The two looked at each other. “Every sentinel and guide can.”
Xie Zijing was stunned for a moment and said, “I just can’t sometimes.”
Bai Xiaoyuan noticed Xie Zijing’s change in expression and added, “Of course, you can’t chat with it directly, but it’s a manifestation of your spiritual world. You should be able to understand its emotions and sense where its anxiety comes from. Why it’s restless, you should be able to feel it.”
Xie Zijing glanced at Qin Ge. Qin Ge spoke up to cover for him: “Maybe the lion’s emotions are too excited tonight. It’s okay; I’ll help Xie Zijing calm it down later.”
The Barbary Lion stared at Xie Zijing closely, then turned to look at Qin Ge after a moment. Qin Ge looked at it and read some strange emotions from the lion’s golden pupils.
Xie Zijing’s “sea area” issue couldn’t have no effect on his spirit animal. Qin Ge thought, he had never known exactly what specific impact it had, but now he understood: the destroyed “sea area” caused a deviation in communication between the sentinel and his spirit animal, making it difficult for Xie Zijing to accurately understand the information conveyed by his spirit animal.
Qin Ge was professional, and his explanation was immediately accepted by everyone.
Xie Zijing simply put away the restless lion that had been running around and walked back with Qin Ge and the others. They planned to leave the Wandu district and go home; tonight’s Wangdu district and the Atlantis Bar were not very interesting. Jiang Xiaochuan was still very disappointed; he not only failed to see Meng Yu dancing but also failed to see Meng Yu at all.
The four of them walked to the entrance of Atlantis Bar, and Qin Ge subconsciously looked to where Tang Xing had been just now, only to find that she had already left. The handsome young man who had been holding hands with her was now standing at the entrance of Atlantis Bar, playing the guitar and singing. Many people surrounded him to listen to his performance; his voice was deep, and his song was a gentle farewell song.
The young man had short hair, and Qin Ge noticed the dry, wrinkled skin behind his ears. He was an underground person.
Jiang Xiaochuan listened attentively, waiting for the young man to finish playing a song before hurrying to catch up with the others. “His voice sounds a lot like Meng Yu’s.”
Bai Xiaoyuan asked, “Who is Meng Yu?”
Xie Zijing replied, “Jiang Xiaochuan’s goddess of desire.”
Jiang Xiaochuan’s face immediately flushed red. “No!”
Bai Xiaoyuan and Xie Zijing exchanged knowing smiles.
As they turned the corner, they met Lei Chi and Xiao Liu. Xiao Liu greeted everyone first, with Lei Chi following behind, tapping his phone with his thumb.
“I’ve bought it,” Lei Chi said, looking up and seeing Bai Xiaoyuan in front of him, momentarily startled. “What are you doing here?”
But he quickly regained his usual calm demeanor and approached Bai Xiaoyuan quietly. “I just bought a book.”
Bai Xiaoyuan was looking at Weibo notifications on her phone. A live stream by Qing Meizi was interrupted midway because the number of fans overloaded the system.
“What book?” Bai Xiaoyuan thought for a moment and then smiled, “Is it ‘Illustrated Guide to Corpse Transformation’ again? I saw you with it during the team building.”
Lei Chi showed her the order screen, revealing a set of three books titled “Four Hundred Years of Infinite Love.”
Bai Xiaoyuan: “..You bought this?!”
Lei Chi asked, “Do you like reading it?”
Bai Xiaoyuan replied, “It’s poorly written. It’s the worst book I’ve read this year.”
Lei Chi: “…”
Lei Chi paused, thinking, then decided he would dock Xiao Liu’s vacation days when they returned. But then he thought again: at least he and Bai Xiaoyuan found a new topic because of this book.
Bai Xiaoyuan, now touching her chin, still had a look of shock on her face, but her eyes carried a hint of amusement. “So, you like this kind of thing, Captain Lei?”
Lei Chi responded, “I have a wide range of reading interests. I read everything.”
Bai Xiaoyuan said, “Let me tell you, the original work is not good, but the fan fiction is amazing! Very exciting! Especially the… tender emotional descriptions.”
Lei Chi asked, “What’s fan fiction?”
He actually knew, but he decided to pretend he didn’t. He and Xiao Liu had already switched shifts and were ready to go home.
On the way, there were still many people coming from outside to join the festivities in the Wangdu District or participate in the mourning ceremony at the Atlantis Bar. Xiao Liu and Lei Chi had been on duty for several days and were already familiar with the roads in the Wangdu District, so they led the group down a side street.
After walking forward for a short while, Lei Chi and Xie Zijing suddenly changed their expressions.
The werewolf was the first to react, striding away from Bai Xiaoyuan and walking ahead of the group. He exchanged a glance with Xie Zijing and then turned back, saying, “Wait.”
Qin Ge asked, “What’s wrong?”
Xie Zijing replied, “I smell blood.”
It was an alley, brightly lit due to its proximity to the exit of Wangdu district. The brightness of the road highlighted the darkness of the shops with close doors and windows nearby.
The fresh scent of blood was emanating from a closed convenience store. The store’s sign was missing, the walls were covered in graffiti, and the windows were shattered. Xie Zijing signaled for Lei Chi to be on guard, then carefully climbed through the broken window.
Someone was lying amidst the cluttered shelves. It was a woman.
Xie Zijing sniffed, and his Barbary Lion leaped out of his body, landing gracefully and immediately going on alert.
He cautiously approached the woman on the floor. She was convulsing, her thighs covered in blood.
Xie Zijing suddenly recognized the young woman. He had met her once before.
“Tang Xing?!” He approached carefully, first pressing down on the wound on Tang Xing’s thigh. However, as he got closer, he noticed that the clothes around her waist were also torn. A barely conscious little parrot lay on her waist, having shielded her from an attack aimed directly at her soft abdomen.
Tang Xing’s gaze was unfocused. When she realized someone was approaching, she grabbed onto Xie Zijing’s clothes instinctively.
She couldn’t recognize Xie Zijing, but she felt the need to speak.
“Snake… there’s… a snake…”
Tang Xing lost consciousness completely, but the wound on her leg continued to bleed. The warm, viscous blood flowed through Xie Zijing’s fingers and onto the ground.
Author’s Note:
Outside the plot, a little scene:
Xiao Liu: What is a “fan-fiction”?
Girlfriend: …Do you want to know?!
Xiao Liu: Captain Lei has been researching “fan-fiction” of the ‘Four Hundred Years of Infinite Love,’ and I also want to understand.
That night, Xiao Liu couldn’t sleep. The next day at work, Lei Chi asked, “Why are you so down today, Xiao Liu?”
Xiao Liu: Captain… “fan-fiction” is so scary… Women are so scary… (crying)
