Gu Qiqi played tracking for the first time in her life. Tracking Target: Professor Xiao.
In the week following her visit to his home, she continued to spend evenings with Ah-Sheng, chatting endlessly as they minded the goldfish shop, waiting for various customers to buy goldfish. During the day, she gave up all her personal time and quietly lurked near Professor Xiao's home. Once he left for school, she would follow him.
She initially wanted to sneak into his house to find out what was going on, but with Ah-Sheng at home, she didn't dare to make any rash moves. Although his eyesight was not good, the gaze that penetrated through his sunglasses always made her feel like he could see everything in the world, including her invisibility; perhaps this was having a guilty conscience.
For several days, Professor Xiao showed no abnormalities. He left home, took the bus to school, taught classes, and worked. It wasn't until the weekend, while he was packing up his books to get off work, that he received a phone call. His expression changed immediately, and he hastily left the office without even taking his briefcase.
According to Gu Qiqi's observations, Professor Xiao was an absolute homebody. His cell phone was essentially just a decoration, and few people called him. It was also rare to see him, who was always gentle, low-key, and humble, rushing out in such a flustered manner.
She followed him to a secluded coffee shop. There, a middle-aged man with glasses, slightly overweight, and dressed in an expensive brand shirt was waiting for him. Gu Qiqi followed them inside.
The two conversing individuals could never have imagined that in the midst of their private conversation, an invisible Gu Qiqi was standing right there.
"Old Xiao, what are you still hesitating about? Don't you understand what that child means to you? No, what does he mean to all mankind?" The man with glasses kept leaning forward, his expression urgent.
"I…of course, I understand, but I..." Professor Xiao couldn't bring himself to look at the other person, still wavering, "Old classmate, you know, that child regards me as a father."
"From the moment you told me that the kid's wounds began healing without medicine, I knew our opportunity had come." The man with glasses grabbed Professor Xiao's wrist, his eyes shining with a different kind of light. "Don't let emotions cloud your judgment. Think about it. Not only does he self-heal, but he can even ingest porridge laced with potassium cyanide without the slightest harm. Moreover, you said he can communicate with non-human species. Old Xiao, this child is a miracle in human history! Hand him over to the experts of our research team, and he will undoubtedly make miraculous contributions to human development!"
"But..." Professor Xiao was still hesitating.
"No buts! Do you really want to spend your entire life as a rubbish associate professor at a third-rate university?" The man with glasses seemed angry, feeling resentful towards Professor Xiao for failing to meet expectations and said, "Look at those classmates who were in the same year as us. Either they are rolling in wealth, commanding the business world, or they have both fame and fortune, becoming leading figures in academic circles. Look at yourself again, Old Xiao. Back then, you were the class president, the most talented and capable one, and now you're the most down-and-out. I refuse to believe you don't want to change all of this! Ah-Sheng is your chance, your only chance."
Professor Xiao's hand gripping the coffee cup trembled slightly, and beads of cold sweat broke out in his palm.
"I've already informed the research team about Ah-Sheng. As long as you agree, we'll take him away immediately." The man with glasses hardly gave him a chance to breathe, and pursued relentlessly to "motivate" him, "Old Xiao, we are trying to serve humanity here. Don't be so sentimental. Think about the glory of standing on the Nobel Prize podium, and you'll know that everything you do today is worth it."
Gu Qiqi listened with shivers running down her spine. Research team, research subject — Ah-Sheng was a living human being! Although he was indeed peculiar, he was not a guinea pig. How could they talk about handing him over for research just like that? Moreover, this Glasses Fatman didn't look like a decent person at all. He stank of copper[1] from head to toe, which was hard to ignore!
She hoped Professor Xiao would firmly refuse. Ah-Sheng's meticulous care for him was palpable even to an outsider like her, not to mention Professor Xiao himself. And she had always felt that Professor Xiao wasn't a bad person; he must be as good to Ah-Sheng as Ah-Sheng was to him. "Fine..." Professor Xiao finally nodded, "The day after tomorrow, I'll bring him to meet you the day after tomorrow. But I have a condition: I must be present throughout the entire research process."
"No problem!" The man with glasses breathed a sigh of relief, laughing heartily as he patted Professor Xiao's thin shoulders. It was only at this moment that Gu Qiqi began to understand why she'd been repeatedly warned not to trust any creature living under a skin bag. She felt chilled.
After leaving the coffee shop, Professor Xiao didn't go straight home. He wandered outside until late at night before heading home.
Gu Qiqi followed him all the way, countless times wanting to reveal her true self in front of this man, then grabbing his shoulders and asking, "Do you really want to hand Ah-Sheng over to those inexplicable people? Do you really see him only as a research subject?"
In front of the plaza outside the community, Ah-Sheng stood alone, gazing into the distance. The moonlight fell on him, casting a lonely shadow on the ground.
"Why are you here?" Professor Xiao quickly walked up and asked, feigning calm.
"I saw you hadn't come back so late, tried calling you but no one answered. I got a bit worried, so I decided to come out and look for you," Ah-Sheng scratched his head.
"Oh..." Professor Xiao smiled awkwardly. "Your eyesight isn't good, and the streetlights here are broken. Don't casually come out late at night like this again. I'm fine, just busy with school today. Let's go, go home."
Just as the two were about to take a step, three figures suddenly emerged from the shadows of the square.
In the moonlight, Gu Qiqi recognized these three people as good-for-nothing hoodlums from the neighboring street. Three gleaming knives swayed in the hands of the three hoodlums, with one of them pointed directly at Professor Xiao's nose.
Their sole purpose was, of course, to demand money. The timid Professor Xiao rummaged through his pockets and found only 27.8 renminbi.
One of the hoodlums snatched the money, punched Professor Xiao in the face, and cursed, "Sh*t! Just this much?! You're such a big man, and you only have this little money. Isn't that embarrassing?"
Professor Xiao stumbled to the ground, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth. He stammered, "I'm sorry... I'm really sorry..."
The second hoodlum kicked him while he was down and cursed, "Apologizing is useless! Do you have your ATM card? Take it out! And the pin number!"
"I... I don't..." Professor Xiao shook his head. Naturally, he was served with more kicks and fists. Ah-Sheng looked at the dagger pressed against his neck coldly and said, "Stop hitting him. I have money. Follow me." With that, he raised his hand and slowly took off the sunglasses he had never removed.
Gu Qiqi was about to reveal herself to help when a burst of cold air suddenly gushed out behind her with a whoosh. A cold and hard large hand covered her mouth, catching her off guard. Before she could show herself, she was grabbed and swiftly dragged away from the scene by a force that didn't seem human.
"Are you crazy?" An infuriated Gu Wuming threw his sister to the ground, pointing at her nose and reprimanding, "Do you think you've lived too long? Actually hanging out with that guy! Do you know who he really is?"
Gu Qiqi kept her mouth shut, not saying a word. She had never seen Gu Wuming get so angry with her before.
"You... I just left for a while, but you ran away from home and even got involved with this thing!" Gu Wuming simply wanted to beat her up.
"He... he's not a bad person!" Gu Qiqi finally opened her mouth and refuted in a low voice.
"Bullsh*t!" Gu Wuming suddenly grabbed his sister's shoulders, pulling her up from the ground. He sternly said, "Do you know that Ah-Sheng's background? He's a demon locked up in the Underworld, a Stone of the Dead that grew up drinking Medusa's blood! And you..."
"Stone of the Dead?" Gu Qiqi felt a little dizzy and stammered, "What...what Stone of the Dead?"
"As early as the Divine War era, there was a monster named Medusa in the land called Greece. You know she was a demonic creature with a beautiful face but snakes for hair. Any living being that looked into her eyes would instantly turn into stone. Later, when Medusa's head was cut off, her blood spilled onto a strange, entirely white stone. Over thousands of years, this stone gained sentience and cultivated into a human form. It also inherited Medusa's demon skills, and began roaming the world, causing the deaths of many innocent creatures. It became known as the 'Stone of the Dead.' A thousand years ago, this nuisance wandered to China, where it was subdued by Ghost King Zhong Kui[2], beaten back to its original form, and taken to the Underworld. It was sealed on the banks of the River Styx, never to set foot in the human world again." Gu Wuming's tone grew more intense as he continued, "Who would have imagined that not long ago, the Underworld official in charge of overseeing the Stone of the Dead got drunk and made a botch of things. Plus, after so much time, the effectiveness of the restraining talismans Zhong Kui placed on the Stone of the Dead to imprison it had weakened. In a moment of carelessness, this Underworld official knocked down the talismans, and that evil thing escaped from the Underworld. It took on a human form and hid among the people, just waiting for fools like you to stumble upon it so that it can turn you into stone!"
"Who...who told you this?" Gu Qiqi's tone lacked the fear one might expect upon learning the "truth" and instead was filled with skepticism toward her brother.
"I arrived in Wangchuan three days ago. The first thing I had to do was thoroughly investigate the backgrounds of those around you. You know that with my abilities, there's no information I can't find. Sure enough, I found out that the goldfish-selling guy by your side is actually a devil who murders without blinking an eye!"
Gu Wuming sighed heavily. "Qiqi, I must eliminate any danger that can threaten my only family. People from the Underworld are already looking for him, and I believe that within two days, this fiend will receive the punishment he deserves."
Gu Qiqi fell silent, lowering her head like a stone cast under the gaze of Medusa. Gu Wuming thought his sister had been frightened or was regretting her own recklessness, so he patted her head, searched her backpack for the Mirror of Narcissus, set it up on the ground, and then took out paper and pen, asking, "What did he say his English name was?"
"Live..." Gu Qiqi replied.
Gu Wuming quickly wrote the word on the paper: "Come over and look at this, look in the mirror."
Gu Qiqi walked over slowly and looked into the mirror. The paper reflected in the mirror originally had the word "Live," but when she looked in the mirror, it unmistakably read: Evil. Evil, fiend.
"You see, this guy even likes to play such tricks when it comes to naming himself," Gu Wuming crumpled the paper into a ball. "He's clearly a demon who kills people, yet he chooses a name that signifies vitality. How ironic."
"Brother, Professor Xiao is about to betray him to the research team..." Gu Qiqi suddenly blurted out completely unrelated words, as if she had totally forgotten the shocking revelation just now. She grabbed Gu Wuming's hand. "I... I can't let Professor Xiao hand Ah-Sheng over!"
With that, she turned around and ran.
"Have you gone mad?" Gu Wuming tightly held onto her, "I don't care what that Professor Xiao does! Whether it's him or the people from the Underworld, that's their business, none of yours! If you dare have any contact with that nuisance again, I'll break your legs!" As soon as he finished speaking, Gu Wuming suddenly pulled a faintly glowing black chain from the void, snapping it onto his sister's right wrist with a click, the other end locking onto his own wrist. He angrily said, "You're not going anywhere! We're leaving Wangchuan early tomorrow morning. Now, go to bed!"
"Brother! You!" Gu Qiqi struggled against the chain, crying out, "Let me go, let me go! I don't want to sleep, I want to go find Ah-Sheng. He's not like what you said, he's not!"
Gu Wuming completely ignored his sister, lying on the sofa and placing a cushion over his head, turning away and snoring loudly.
Exhausted from her futile struggles, Gu Qiqi sat under the window, looking at the dim night outside. Ah-Sheng's face was faintly discernible in the air; that peculiar boy who always liked to mock her and sold goldfish. Their lighthearted conversations on several moonlit nights, the laughter that echoed from the depths of their hearts, came and went in front of her eyes like tides... She suddenly stopped all efforts to tear at the chain.
[1] A derogatory phrase to describe people who seem to be greedy for money.
[2] 钟馗: A mythological figure, supposed to drive away evil spirits.
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