Chapter 63: But I love you most.
After assigning tasks to everyone, Lei Chi returned to the clock tower.
Bai Xiaoyuan had already drunk more than half a barrel of wine. Along the way, Lei Chi saw countless sand cats, quietly standing or walking on the streets and alleys, looking up at the people who could see them or couldn’t.
Lei Chi stroked the big ears of two sand cats. They were clearly no longer afraid of him, their tails obediently curled, scratching his hand.
Xia Chun had been by Bai Xiaoyuan’s side all this time. Bai Xiaoyuan, with a drunken face, leaned against the large barrel of wine and giggled foolishly, watching Qing Meizi’s live stream on her phone.
“I kept stopping her from sending gifts,” Xia Chun said, “but she’s already sent over a thousand yuan worth.”
“I’ll repay her,” Lei Chi told Xia Chun, “Why didn’t you tell me about Zhou You earlier? How much do you know?”
Upon learning that Lei Chi had discovered the real Zhou You’s body, Xia Chun remained silent for a long time.
“…When I was young, the Wangdu district was a place full of terror and traps for me. There were few werewolves, so other species often teased and bullied werewolves. I was a girl, very young, only ten years old, and I couldn’t resist or defend myself.” Xia Chun looked at the motionless big clock, “On my tenth birthday, someone tricked me into going to Zhou You’s house.”
Even in the Wangdu district, Zhou You’s house was extremely dilapidated. With a child who rarely went out, the rough two-story building became a place that brewed strange legends.
Although she was a werewolf, young Xia Chun was often frightened and cried easily. They tricked her into going to Zhou You’s house, telling her there was a gift for her inside.
Little Xia Chun knocked on the door.
In the narrow, dim living room sat a middle-aged man. Xia Chun didn’t notice him at first because he was silent, staring blankly at the black-screened TV.
Xia Chun screamed in fear, and a head poked out from the stairs: “Who’s there?”
A handsome young boy looked down at her. Xia Chun was both scared and surprised, looking at the boy and then at the dazed middle-aged man. Her keen nose detected a peculiar smell, the unique stench of decaying flesh. The smell seemed to be faintly leaking out, but it was still caught by the werewolf’s sensitive nose.
Xia Chun covered her nose and looked towards the kitchen at the end. A newly built stove quietly sat in one corner, with the faint but intense stench of decay wafting out bit by bit.
What are you looking at?
Terrified, Xia Chun didn’t dare to answer the boy’s question and ran out of that strange house, crying all the way until she got home. She didn’t dare tell anyone about it, and only much later did she slowly realize what she had smelled that day.
“We need to find Zhou You’s father immediately,” Lei Chi said, “We also need to find the new Zhou You.”
Following his instructions, Xia Chun arranged for the werewolves to assist the crisis office personnel in inquiring about Zhou You’s father’s whereabouts. Lei Chi walked over to Bai Xiaoyuan and squatted down to meet her eyes: “Bai Xiaoyuan, let’s go downstairs.”
“The live stream isn’t over,” Bai Xiaoyuan said, “Wait! Someone on the leaderboard just spent five hundred yuan more than me! I need to…”
Lei Chi turned off her phone: “Save your money. You can use it to treat Qing Meizi to a meal later.”
Bai Xiaoyuan: “Why?”
Lei Chi: “He’s coming to Beijing for a routine registration of special humans. Since you like him so much, I can arrange a meeting for you to chat with him face to face.”
Bai Xiaoyuan: “Lei Chi, you better keep your word!”
Lei Chi suspected Bai Xiaoyuan wasn’t truly drunk: “I will. If I don’t, you can hold it against me for life.”
Bai Xiaoyuan: “Hmph, you bad werewolf.”
Lei Chi: “…”
She really is drunk, Lei Chi thought.
He helped Bai Xiaoyuan up and soon realized she was too wobbly to descend the stairs on her own. Lei Chi took off his shoes and socks, crouched in front of Bai Xiaoyuan, and carried her on his back. Bai Xiaoyuan, half drunk and half awake, was startled: “What are you doing? Kidnapping me?”
Lei Chi: “Yes.”
Bai Xiaoyuan: “I’ll have the little cats scratch you.”
Lei Chi: “Alright.”
He bent down slightly, and soon, the bones and muscles of his legs and arms began to change. Bai Xiaoyuan, silent and holding tightly to his shoulders and neck, watched as his hands and feet lost their human shape, becoming large and strange, with long joints covered in coarse hair.
“Hold on tight,” Lei Chi’s voice remained unchanged.
He jumped from the rooftop with Bai Xiaoyuan, landing steadily in a four-legged stance on a slightly lower roof nearby. He then turned and leapt to another, even lower roof.
After several jumps, Lei Chi finally landed on a second-floor balcony with a thud.
He was extremely nervous and only then dared to let out a breath. Bai Xiaoyuan clung tightly to his neck. Lei Chi dared to pat her arm with his restored hand: “Comrade Bai Xiaoyuan, you’re about to strangle me.”
Bai Xiaoyuan remained silent, her head tilted, her soft hair brushing against Lei Chi’s ear. He carried her toward the Arti’s Bar, and the criminal investigation officers they passed were all startled by his barefoot walking but didn’t dare to speak, lowering their heads.
“You really are a werewolf,” Bai Xiaoyuan said.
Lei Chi: “…Did you not know before?”
Bai Xiaoyuan: “Where are your wolf ears?”
Lei Chi glanced around and let his wolf ears pop out for Bai Xiaoyuan to touch. She was delighted: “You’re so fun.”
Lei Chi: “…Alright.”
The drunk sentinel lay on his back, fingers rubbing his wolf ears, and after a while, mumbled: “You remind me of my dad.”
Lei Chi: “I’m Lei Chi, not your dad.”
Bai Xiaoyuan was truly drunk. She lay on Lei Chi’s back, sobbing softly: “Dad.”
The morning light illuminated the streets of the Wangdu district, where small sand cats stood everywhere. The early sunlight lit up their ears, each one a little fuzzy ball. They watched Lei Chi carrying Bai Xiaoyuan, moving their paws and following the two. By the time they had walked halfway down the street, a trail of sand cats had already formed behind Lei Chi and Bai Xiaoyuan.
They walked in the dawn light, unwilling to leave their master.
Bai Xiaoyuan rubbed Lei Chi’s wolf ears: “Dad…”
Lei Chi hesitated for a moment. Bai Xiaoyuan’s tears dampened a bit of the fur on his wolf ears, not much, just a small patch.
“Yes,” he responded, “Good girl, Xiaoyuan is great.”
“…I miss you,” Bai Xiaoyuan’s voice was almost inaudible, mixed with drunkenness and sobs.
In the last second before she fell asleep, she heard a gentle reply.
“I miss you too.”
After settling Bai Xiaoyuan in Arti’s Bar, Lei Chi received a call from a colleague.
With the help of the underground people’s leader, Meng Yu, they had found Zhou You’s father, Zhou Yiqing.
Zhou Yiqing had appeared in the underground settlement two years ago. He had explored all the entrances to the underground settlements in the Wangdu district, constantly telling people that his son Zhou You couldn’t walk and must have fallen underground, unable to climb out.
During a moment of carelessness, Zhou Yiqing entered the underground settlement. Unfortunately, he was the one who truly fell.
He broke his left leg and couldn’t climb back up, so he had to live in the underground settlement. He ended up staying for two years.
The underground settlement was a mix of various people, including human rights organization members investigating the living conditions of the underground people, scammers from the “Underground People’s Salvation Fund,” werewolves, sentinels, guides, a few thick-skinned semi-zombies, and many people like Zhou Yiqing who accidentally fell and couldn’t leave.
Without exception, none of them feared the power of the petrification virus. Some took regular immune drugs, and some were confident in their skills and good physical condition. Zhou Yiqing didn’t think about much. On the surface, he was a wandering madman; underground, he was a madman who couldn’t run around, not much different.
He lived next to a small leader of the “Underground People’s Salvation Fund” who constantly told him that only by donating 6,000 yuan to the fund and recruiting new members could the underground people thrive and share the sunlight, rain, and air with others.
In between searching for his son, Zhou Yiqing would also tell the underground people who brought him food about this. The underground people would always reply: sunlight, rain, and air—I get them as soon as I climb up.
Zhou Yiqing would be momentarily stunned, then remember that he had a broken leg and couldn’t climb. Then he would quickly remember that he broke his leg looking for Zhou You underground.
“When he’s awake, he spends half his time talking nonsense and half his time crying,” Meng Yu and the criminal investigation officers in protective suits moved Zhou Yiqing out. The underground person who had been bringing food to the homeless man told their leader, “He seems quite pitiful. He eats a lot too; it’s hard to take care of.”
Meng Yu nodded: “Thank you for your hard work.”
Zhou Yiqing looked around the people surrounding him with a wary expression, his face full of fear. Due to two years of insufficient activity, his movements were very stiff. His hair was gray and messy, but it was trimmed relatively neatly. Although his face was not rosy, it did not have the gauntness or emaciation of someone who had been starving. He was mad and had a broken leg, but in the world of the underground people, he was well taken care of by kind-hearted individuals.
“Do we need to communicate anything?” Lei Chi asked.
“No need,” Qin Ge replied. “I’m now assisting the criminal investigation department as a mental adjuster. This is your key witness. Because he is already mentally unclear, as long as I have your consent, I can start working.”
To his surprise, it was Xie Zijing who stopped him.
“Are you going to forcibly enter his ‘sea area’? Xie Zijing pressed Qin Ge’s shoulder. “You can’t forcibly break through the breakwater and enter someone else’s ‘sea area’ multiple times within 24 hours.”
Qin Ge looked at him in surprise: “You actually read the book?”
Xie Zijing: “No way, I’m your diving partner, I won’t allow it. Once you enter the deep sea area, it’s very difficult to be summoned back.”
Qin Ge: “I’m fine. I just patrolled the edge of Bian Han’s ‘sea area,’ but I didn’t feel any strong discomfort.”
For the first time, Xie Zijing felt that his guide was an exceptionally stubborn person.
“You only have one hour,” Lei Chi said from the side. “After one hour, you must leave Zhou Yiqing’s ‘sea area.'”
Xie Zijing was sullen for a moment, then turned and asked, “How do you plan to forcibly break through the breakwater? A breakthrough requires a loophole; the ‘sea area’ must be shaken first. He’s already mad. How will you shake him?”
Qin Ge patted his palm, signaling him to calm down. Lei Chi and the others had already walked to one side, leaving Zhou Yiqing to the adjuster Qin Ge and his diving partner. Xie Zijing held Qin Ge’s hand tightly, while Qin Ge took hold of Zhou Yiqing’s wrinkled fingers. Zhou Yiqing instinctively flinched, and Qin Ge looked at him and said softly, “We found Zhou You.”
Zhou Yiqing immediately became alert: “Where is Xiao You!”
Qin Ge: “At home.”
Zhou Yiqing: “…What home?”
Qin Ge: “Your home. At home, in the kitchen.”
Zhou Yiqing’s expression changed instantly. He spasmodically twitched his neck and face, uncontrollably tilting his head, his body trembling violently, his eyes wide open, the eyeballs almost popping out.
“Xiao You is gone!” he shouted hoarsely, “Xiao You is not at home! He’s gone! I looked for him! I looked for him here and there! Ah… ah!!!”
He screamed wildly, large tears rolling down from his bulging eyes.
Soft mist rose from Qin Ge, quickly enveloping Zhou Yiqing. Xie Zijing held Qin Ge’s hand tightly, and the moment Zhou Yiqing fell backward onto the stretcher, Qin Ge also collapsed into his arms.
Xie Zijing held Qin Ge, unable to resist kissing his forehead again. He knew that his beloved guide was stepping into Zhou Yiqing’s ‘sea area,’ diving deep, deep into its depths.
Qin Ge stood in a constantly shaking space.
It was a house, Zhou Yiqing and Zhou You’s home. The house was narrow; opening the door led directly to the living room, and looking up was the kitchen. Every corner was visible at a glance.
Zhou Yiqing had been abnormal for a long, long time. Qin Ge couldn’t stand steadily; he had to stabilize himself by leaning on the wall but soon found that the wall was melting, lime, bricks, and cement flowing into his hands like liquid.
The tender voice of a child echoed repeatedly from outside the space, sometimes near, sometimes far, all calling out cheerfully: Daddy… Daddy… Daddy…
Qin Ge stumbled towards the kitchen. The newly built stove in the kitchen was smooth and beautiful, but it was not sealed—Zhou Yiqing was curled up inside the stove, his posture identical to Zhou You’s remains.
Cement covered half of his body, half of his face. Hearing someone approach, Zhou Yiqing looked at Qin Ge with the eye he could still move.
He couldn’t speak, but he smiled at Qin Ge.
Xiao You… Xiao You… Xiao You…
A man’s deep voice echoed in this cramped space, making Qin Ge very uncomfortable. Xie Zijing was right; it was very difficult to remain calm when forcibly invading someone else’s ‘sea area’ twice in a short time, especially two abnormal ‘sea areas.’ But Qin Ge shook his head, reached out, and grabbed Zhou Yiqing, who was buried in the cement.
“I want to see Zhou You,” he said sternly. “And the child you picked up!”
He plunged headfirst into the stove, entering Zhou Yiqing’s body as if diving into a pool of foul-smelling stagnant water.
Most of Zhou Yiqing’s memories were chaotic. Qin Ge’s vision kept shaking. “Show me the past memories,” he murmured, “and I’ll let you see Zhou You.”
It was like the surface of the water being parted, revealing a shallow hidden mirror.
Zhou Yiqing walked in the snow. The ground in the Wangdu District was filthy. After walking for a while, he suddenly stopped, turned around, and walked back a few steps.
A boy, wearing only an undershirt on top and beach shorts on the bottom, was curled up in a corner. The constantly falling snow had already covered his head with a thin layer.
Zhou Yiqing reached out to touch the boy’s head. The boy groaned and lifted his head. Zhou Yiqing saw bruises on his neck.
“You’ll freeze to death,” Qin Ge heard the man’s gruff voice and saw the boy shivering in the snow lift his face.
It was Zhou You—no, that wasn’t right. It was Zhou Xuefeng’s son, the nameless boy, X.
Black water swirled as Zhou Yiqing spoke to a boy sitting in a wheelchair. The boy looked ordinary, with a pair of slightly furrowed thick eyebrows and very bright eyes.
“…It’s so cold, let’s consider it saving him,” Zhou Yiqing said. “There’s no extra room at home, so let him sleep with you or on the floor of the first floor.”
“Let him sleep with me,” the boy said. “My room is small and not drafty; it’s warmer at night.”
The boy they brought back walked out of the bathroom. He was wearing ill-fitting clothes, with a large hoodie and baggy pants, and his body was steaming. His black hair was wet, and he was a handsome young man.
“Hello, I’m Zhou You,” the boy in the wheelchair greeted him.
“I… I don’t have a name,” X said softly.
Qin Ge was getting more and more dizzy. He was trying hard not to collapse.
The scene before him was shaking more and more violently.
“Are two quilts enough?” Zhou Yiqing asked, standing outside Zhou You’s room. “If not, there’s another one in my room.”
“It’s enough,” Zhou You moved from his wheelchair to the bed and said to the boy standing by the desk, “Take whichever book you like to read. Or you can play games!”
His room was small but almost filled with books. An old computer sat in the corner of the desk, its screen reflecting the boy’s expressionless face.
“I don’t know how to use a computer,” he said. “I can’t read either.”
Both Zhou You and Zhou Yiqing were stunned. But soon, Zhou You smiled, “Then I’ll teach you.”
“Don’t talk too late,” Zhou Yiqing said. “Good night.”
When he closed the door, he saw the boy slowly walking towards Zhou You’s bed, his face showing a faint expression for the first time. It was a smile mixed with curiosity, shyness, and gratitude.
Qin Ge could barely hold on. His head throbbed, and the physical pain directly affected his efficiency in patrolling the sea area. Everything around him was shaking wildly. Zhou Yiqing’s “sea area” was brewing a storm, ready to drive out this unwelcome guest.
Just when Qin Ge thought he was going to fail, Zhou Yiqing’s “sea area” suddenly stabilized.
Everything became extremely clear, with every sound vibrating in Qin Ge’s ears, even the breathing was crystal clear.
He still had a headache, but it had greatly reduced. His breathing gradually calmed, and his rapid heartbeat was steadily decreasing. Qin Ge felt as if he was surrounded by a warm breeze and gentle grass, almost isolating him from all discomfort. Only the voices of Zhou You and X echoed around him.
“…This is the magic of white noise,” Zhou You said, sitting in the living room with a thick book on his lap, flipping through it while explaining to X beside him. “The reason white noise can soothe the sentinel’s unstable emotions is because it directly acts on the ‘sea area.’ Sound affects our ‘sea area,’ especially during sleep. Sentinels can use white noise to achieve better sleep quality and emotional soothing because white noise directly smooths the waves in the ‘sea area’…”
Zhou Yiqing was wiping the table and looked up with a smile, “Xiaoyou, do you think he can understand if you explain it so complicatedly?”
“He’s very smart!” Zhou You said, then looked at X with some uncertainty, “Am I… explaining it too boringly?”
X wasn’t sitting beside Zhou You; he was sitting on the floor, relaxed, with his chin resting on Zhou You’s knee, his eyes unblinking as he looked at Zhou You.
“Not boring, very interesting,” he said slowly. “I like listening to you talk about these things.”
A trace of shyness crossed Zhou You’s face. He lowered his head and continued explaining the connection between white noise and the “sea area.”
Qin Ge watched all this through Zhou Yiqing’s eyes.
X looked at Zhou You with a strange expression.
There was undisguised—or perhaps unhidable—intense admiration and affection in his eyes. The handsome young man slightly opened his mouth, staring intently at his peer. He smiled slightly at something Zhou You said, his lips moving a bit, but his gaze remained fixed, and his head stubbornly and dependently rested on Zhou You’s knee.
Zhou Yiqing watched all this, his hand relaxed, and chopsticks fell to the ground.
Qin Ge didn’t have time to make sense of what he saw as the scene before his eyes shook again. X was squatting on the ground, carefully cleaning Zhou You’s wheelchair. Zhou Yiqing approached him, his tone somber.
“You should leave today,” he said.
X looked up, dumbfounded, “Why?”
Zhou Yiqing: “I can’t keep you here any longer.”
X: “I am Zhou You’s friend.”
“No, you’re not!” Zhou Yiqing stormed around the living room, “You… I know what kind of person you are… Don’t you dare touch my son!”
X threw down the rag and slowly stood up. “What kind of person am I, Uncle Zhou?”
“You said you walked here from Hubei… How did you make it, with your looks, with those marks on your body… You can sell yourself, but please don’t corrupt Zhou You.” Zhou Yiqing lowered his voice, “I only have Zhou You. I’m begging you, stay away from him, okay? Zhou You is very simple-minded, don’t deceive him, okay?”
X was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter.
“Yeah, I did corrupt Zhou You.” He only spoke after laughing enough, “But what can Zhou You do? His lower body is completely paralyzed.”
Zhou Yiqing: “I don’t care what you’ve done, I want you to get out immediately!”
However, as soon as he finished speaking, he was suddenly startled by X’s sudden approach.
“But you were right about one thing,” X said with a smile, “I taught Zhou You many, many things. I went directly into his ‘sea area,’ and the things I could do there are beyond your imagination. He likes me a lot, and I like him too. We even agreed to apply to be partners once we come of age. Uncle, are you happy?”
Zhou Yiqing was furious, almost losing control: “You bastard!”
The loss of control caused a breach in his “sea area.” Almost instantly, X broke through the breakwater and entered Zhou Yiqing’s “sea area.”
Qin Ge heard Xie Zijin’s voice calling him; an hour was about to pass.
Before leaving Zhou Yiqing’s “sea area,” he heard Zhou You asking X.
“Do you also call my dad ‘Dad’?” he asked in surprise and confusion. “Why?”
“Dad said he wants to adopt me,” X replied. “He likes me very much.”
In Zhou You’s silence, X said gently, “But I love you the most. I only want you.”
Zhou Yiqing sat dumbfounded in the living room, speechless. Zhou You sat in his wheelchair, looking at his father and then at X. X took his hand and placed it on his own face, kissed Zhou You’s palm, and his body began to tremble slowly, as if captured by extreme excitement: “Zhou You…”
Qin Ge suddenly broke free from this completely chaotic “sea area,” gasping for breath, instinctively gripping the hand of the person next to him.
But he immediately realized that the person next to him was not Xie Zijin.
Qin Ge jumped up: he needed a guide, not anyone else.
“Qin Ge!” Xie Zijin was on his other side, “I’m here.”
He hugged Qin Ge, who took deep breaths, only then realizing he was still holding another person’s hand.
At some point, a third person had appeared beside him.
The man looked about forty years old, but his appearance seemed youthful, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, and a calm expression. He held Qin Ge’s hand and smiled at him, with a touch of unmistakable sternness in his eyes: “Adjuster, breaking through the breakwater into someone else’s ‘sea area’ twice within 24 hours, do you know you’ve violated those three rules of the Adjuster Code?”
Beside him, a short, plump wolf with gray-white fur wagged its tail, constantly rubbing against his arm, but he kept pushing it away.
Qin Ge was both surprised and delighted: “Teacher Zhang Xiao!”
