Chapter 77: My subject is dead.
Xie Weiran’s mitten crab, according to her, is a crab that serves no purpose other than to entertain people.
It turns red, constantly blows bubbles, or performs the skill of walking sideways and repeatedly bumping into walls.
Qin Ge: “…”
Xie Weiran: “It’s very cute!”
Qin Ge: “Okay… cute.”
They had to fly from Beijing to Guangzhou first, and then take a high-speed train to their coastal destination. Qin Ge closed his eyes to rest on the plane and suddenly remembered Xie Weiran’s phone: “Why couldn’t I reach you just now?”
Xie Weiran took out two phones: “This is my personal phone, and this is my work phone. The crab just blew bubbles and got the work phone wet, so it won’t turn on.”
Qin Ge was truly shocked: “Then you should have used your personal phone to contact me.”
Xie Weiran: “I don’t have your number on my personal phone.”
In that moment, Qin Ge thought of twelve ways to get her phone number in half an hour. But he felt exhausted and decided not to discuss this with Xie Weiran anymore. Pressing his wildly twitching eyelids, Qin Ge thought, they must be jumping because of Xie Weiran.
Xie Weiran put the crab on the small table and gently stroked it.
Neither of them spoke, and the atmosphere was somewhat cold. Qin Ge thought, since Xie Weiran herself is from the Institute for the Study of Rare Special Humans, it means that when Quan Nu arrives, she is likely to be the one to connect with them. It’s better to build a good relationship now.
“Does your other colleague have work too?” Qin Ge tried to make a conversation.
Xie Weiran: “He has to wait for that Quan Nu.”
Qin Ge remembered: “Right, you mentioned that.”
Xie Weiran: “He doesn’t listen to my advice.”
Qin Ge: “What?”
Xie Weiran: “My colleague. I told him that Quan Nu definitely doesn’t remember him anymore, but he doesn’t believe it and insists on waiting to see Leo in Beijing.”
Qin Ge was intrigued: “Did something happen between your colleague and Quan Nu?”
“Leo… I mean the last Leo, came to China more than twenty years ago, remember?” Xie Weiran shrugged. “He worked at the Crisis Office headquarters at the time and fell in love with Leo at first sight.”
Qin Ge: “…That’s so sad.”
“Leo told him he would forget him, but he refused to give up. After Leo returned to his country, he kept writing letters and staying in touch with Leo.” Xie Weiran shrugged again. “Later, Leo said ‘goodbye’ and never appeared again.”
Qin Ge fell silent.
Quan Nu’s farewells were always simple. It is simple to be decisive. Even if there were feelings, they wouldn’t carry these feelings into the next phase of life.
Therefore, a simple farewell allowed the other party to escape this shackle as quickly as possible.
“…He himself is studying rare special humans, so why couldn’t he control himself?”
Xie Weiran was surprised: “Mr. Qin, this isn’t something that can be controlled just because you want to. If love could be controlled, there wouldn’t be so many tragedies.”
This was the first sentence Xie Weiran said in the four hours since Qin Ge met her that made Qin Ge feel, “So you’re not that simple either.”
Xie Weiran put the crab away and secured the small table. The plane began to descend.
She turned her head and asked, “Mr. Qin, have you ever been in love?”
Qin Ge: “…Yes.”
The plane broke through the clouds, and thousands of lights began to appear under the wings.
A driver from the South China Office came to pick up Qin Ge and asked if Xie Weiran was with him.
Qin Ge: “She is.”
But when he turned around, he was immediately shocked again: apart from a crab blowing bubbles on the suitcase, Xie Weiran was nowhere to be seen.
The driver sighed on the other end: “That’s how Xiao Xie is. Sorry for the trouble, Mr. Qin.”
Qin Ge: “Is she… always like this?”
Driver: “Apart from her own research, she is forgetful in everything she does.”
Qin Ge hung up the phone and saw Xie Weiran running back from the other side. “Can you please tell me before you go to the bathroom?” Qin Ge asked irritably.
Xie Weiran: “Do you need someone to accompany you to the bathroom?”
Qin Ge: “… Alright, alright, let’s go. Take your crab!”
Xie Weiran seemed to know she had annoyed Qin Ge. She remained silent on the way to the hotel and even put away the crab.
The driver also stayed silent in the front, and Qin Ge was the first to be unable to bear the awful silence in the car. He initiated the conversation: “Xie Weiran, is your research work at the institute very busy?”
“Extremely busy,” Xie Weiran nodded. “Recently, we’ve mainly been working on the mermaid project, trying to get mermaids recognized as a special human species.”
This was news to Qin Ge. “Mermaids? Do you mean dugongs?”
Xie Weiran laughed. “No. The mermaids we’re talking about are a special species with a genetic sequence very similar to humans. They have a human upper body and a fish tail, a strange temperament, and are particularly stubborn.”
Qin Ge nodded. “Is your research subject a mermaid?”
“No,” Xie Weiran said briefly.
After a while, she slowly continued, “My research subject is already dead, which is why I’m so free and was assigned to greet you.”
The driver coughed from the front. “Mr. Qin, Xiao Xie talks like that, please don’t be upset. You’re our honored guest…”
“It’s okay,” Qin Ge looked at Xie Weiran and pressed, “Dead?”
“My research subject was a Cha Lao,” she said with a furrowed brow and a low tone, “but she’s no longer with us.”
Qin Ge remembered that a Cha Lao was a very rare type of special human. They were born as elderly women with white hair and their appearance never changed throughout their lives. For a long time, they were considered demonic creatures and were dealt with as soon as they were born.
“…There’s only one Cha Lao?”
Xie Weiran shook her head. “There are not many Cha Lao in the country, but a few years ago, a census showed that there were 187 Cha Lao found in our country. However, they generally live in mountainous areas and rarely appear in coastal regions.”
Qin Ge listened attentively. He noticed that when talking about Cha Lao, Xie Weiran no longer had that absent-minded look.
“The soil salinization in coastal areas is quite severe. This Cha Lao was born by the sea, which is rare in itself. What’s more astonishing is that she found a way to grow tea trees on saline and sandy soil. This is an incredible achievement,” Xie Weiran said, gesturing as she spoke. “Although she looked very old, she was actually quite young, only 36 years old.”
Qin Ge keenly sensed sadness and regret in her tone.
“Was she ill?”
Xie Weiran remained silent for a long time. Streetlights streamed past the car windows, illuminating the side of her face.
“She was murdered,” she said, her fists clenched tightly. “Her body was buried in her tea plantation. She was discovered because someone noticed that her once lush tea garden had withered for no apparent reason.”
Cha Lao had been studying the tea garden, and only she knew how to care for it. They were naturally attuned to the soil composition and the moisture levels in the air. To stabilize the tea garden on the sandy beach, this Cha Lao had spent more than a decade deeply researching it. She had only a primary school education, but she painstakingly studied many thick professional books. With her instincts and hard work, she finally succeeded in growing a flourishing tea garden on the beach.
“We research the origins of Cha Lao, their abilities, and the tea gardens they protect,” Xie Weiran said, holding her forehead. Her mitten crab had somehow reappeared, sitting on her head, waving its fiery red claws and blowing bubbles one after another. “She wouldn’t harm anyone… but the killer still hasn’t been found.”
At this moment, the driver interjected from the front. “Mr. Qin, please don’t mind. We haven’t had such a heinous case here for many years. Since the beginning of this year, seven women have been killed, all of them special humans. Everyone is very nervous and angry.”
He told Qin Ge that their branch had already reported to the headquarters and requested support. “Beijing will send people over to help with the investigation soon.”
Qin Ge was both shocked and distressed. The number was truly alarming.
“Not long ago, another woman was burned to death,” the driver said. “It happened in the place you’re going to tomorrow.”
The sea was calm, and the scorching sun made Qin Ge’s arms burn. He touched the back of his neck, feeling as if his skin had peeled off from the sunburn.
After the plane yesterday and the high-speed train today, Qin Ge finally arrived at the place where Quan Nu was supposed to conduct research, accompanied by Xie Weiran and her mitten crab.
“He is researching the biodiversity of this region,” Xie Weiran said, looking at the tablet in her hand. Suddenly, she smiled. “Ah… I understand now.”
Qin Ge: “What?”
Xie Weiran pointed at the calm sea. “He’s here to investigate mermaids. This is the only area in the South China Sea where a colony of mermaids has been found.”
Qin Ge climbed onto the sea wall. It was long and narrow, with a shallow beach below that hadn’t yet been reached by the tide. Once the tide rose, the sea wall would be nearly submerged, leaving only a long strip of stones, undulating with the waves, seemingly floating on the sea.
“The guide was burned to death here?” Qin Ge asked.
“No, it’s farther,” Xie Weiran pointed out to him. “Right in the mermaid’s habitat. Mermaids hate fire; they tried to put it out, but the boat was soaked in kerosene. Once it caught fire, there was no way to save them.”
Qin Ge looked at the distant sea but couldn’t see the mermaids Xie Weiran described. It was said they had beautiful silver backs and flexible tails and were the guardians of this sea area.
“The coastal villagers thought it was A-Ban’s fire.”
Qin Ge was curious. “A-Ban’s fire?”
Xie Weiran explained that a long time ago, a legend told of a girl named A-Ban who lived in the fishing village. She was beautiful and hardworking, living diligently with her husband, and the two shared a loving and respectful relationship.
When A-Ban became pregnant, her husband planned to go out to sea with a fishing boat to find a precious pearl in the South Sea for A-Ban and their child, to ensure their safety. They said their goodbyes by the sea, but it was the last time A-Ban saw her husband.
The local wealthy landowner had long coveted A-Ban and wanted to take her home. However, the villagers loved and protected A-Ban, and her husband had clashed with the landowner several times, thwarting his plans. The landowner conspired with the boat’s owner, and when A-Ban’s husband went out to sea, they tied weights to him and threw him into the sea.
As A-Ban’s belly grew, she went daily to the boat owner’s house to inquire and waited at the dock. When the boat owner returned, he lied to A-Ban, saying that her husband had found another woman in the South Sea and was too infatuated to return. The landowner began visiting A-Ban frequently, with a sincere demeanor, urging her to forget the unfaithful man and promising to take good care of her and her child.
A-Ban didn’t believe him and decided to search for her husband herself. But women on fishing boats were a taboo, and A-Ban tearfully begged an old boatman for help. Out of pity, the boatman let her sneak on board and hide in the cargo hold.
The fishing boat was at sea for months. On the day a big storm hit, A-Ban went into labor. The baby’s cries alerted the boat owner, who discovered the woman giving birth on board. The crew, terrified, believed that A-Ban’s impure blood had angered the sea god, deciding to throw her and the child overboard to calm the deity’s wrath.
The boat owner ordered the old boatman to do it, but he begged and refused. As the boat owner and his thugs beat the old boatman nearly to death, A-Ban emerged from the hold, holding her child.
She knelt and pleaded for the old boatman’s life, asking the boat owner not to harm this kind man. She said her child was innocent and asked the boat owner to take care of the child if he promised. She then leaped into the stormy sea, praying for the sea god’s mercy and the boat’s safe return.
The boat owner agreed. After A-Ban handed over her child and jumped into the raging sea, the boat owner threw the newborn into the sea. The old boatman sacrificed himself to save the child, diving into the stormy waves, never to resurface.
The boat returned safely to port, but the crew never dared go to sea again. For in the South Sea, a round, speaking fireball began to appear.
It would float in front of every boat, asking for a name in a hoarse woman’s voice—the boat owner’s name. If the crew couldn’t answer, the fireball would fall onto the boat, igniting it instantly.
To protect their boats, every fishing boat that set sail would have an old boatman onboard. When the fireball appeared, the old boatman would light a torch, walk to the bow, and shout at the fireball: “A-Ban, go away, your enemy is not here.”
A woman’s sobbing voice would come from the fireball. It would float away, seemingly thanking the old boatman, and then drift to the next boat, continuing its search for the enemy long dead onshore.
“That fireball is A-Ban’s fire,” Xie Weiran said. “Since then, whenever a fishing boat catches fire at sea, the fishermen say that A-Ban has returned.”
Qin Ge felt a deep melancholy. It was not a cheerful story.
Xie Weiran carefully jumped off the seawall, taking out a small bottle to fill it with sand and seawater, labeling it with the date. Knowing she was taking samples, Qin Ge turned and walked towards the other end of the seawall.
He walked quite a distance and suddenly saw that the seawall had collapsed ahead, ending abruptly.
The broken part led to a slightly elevated sandy beach above the sea level. On the beach, Qin Ge saw a boy.
The boy had dark skin and appeared to be around eighteen or nineteen years old, with a very strong build. From a distance, Qin Ge noticed rough tattoos on his cheeks, neck, and exposed ribs, as if someone had drawn on him with ink.
Upon noticing Qin Ge’s approach, the boy quickly turned and jumped into the sea. His movement into the water was exceptionally fluid and graceful, like a nimble fish. Qin Ge walked to the break in the seawall and sat down. The round sun was pressing down on the horizon, and the tide was rising, gradually submerging the beach. Xie Weiran climbed back onto the seawall and walked towards Qin Ge.
Two or three seabirds flew past Qin Ge towards the distance. The sound of fishing boats mixed with naval horns filled the air, and Qin Ge wondered if Xie Zijin liked listening to them.
Suddenly, he heard a noise behind him and turned around to see a head popping up from below the seawall.
The boy he had seen earlier was less than a meter away, dripping wet, and staring at Qin Ge with large, bright eyes. Qin Ge suddenly realized that the marks on the boy’s body were not tattoos but a few gaping slits!
Startled, he grabbed a stone next to him. “Who are you!”
The boy instantly froze, his shoulders shrinking back in fear.
“Don’t hurt him!” Xie Weiran ran over from the seawall. “He means no harm! He’s a sea child!”
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Author’s Note:
Dugong: A rare marine creature, often referred to as “mermaid” because of its habit of floating on the surface while nursing its young.
Cha Lao: A special human I created, borrowing from a Taoist goddess’s story and characteristics. In folklore, Cha Lao appears as a 70-year-old woman with black hair, often selling tea at the market.
Sea Child: Another special human derived from folklore. In the legend, the sea child is a divine child from the Western Sea, riding a white horse, and their appearance signifies great floods.
