41. The Pursuit

General Store.

Lu Xun, who had just exchanged the head of the Five-Passage Mountain Lord, spoke up:

“Use!”

[Using the employer’s gift]
[Spell: Water Play] → [Spell: Water Play (Master’s Level)]

The Five-Passage Lu Xun glanced at the bottle of mineral water beside him. With just a thought, the water inside changed according to his will, lifting both the bottle and its contents into the air, before he slowly let it descend under his control.

“What a fine spell!”

Sensing the considerable drain on his magical power, he refrained from further exertion. The modern era was nothing like that strange ancient world.

The ancient world was saturated with spiritual energy, like an endless ocean, and he was a fish swimming freely within it. In the modern world, spiritual energy was scarce, like a dry, cracked riverbed—earth split by an unspeakable drought. Raising fish would be impossible; even keeping loaches would be a struggle.

To recover the bit of magic he’d lost in modern times, who knew how much moonlight he'd need to absorb.

“Switch heads.”

Returning to the pale-faced giant’s head, Lu Xun entered the house, unplugged the universal charger, snapped the battery back into his old cellphone, powered it on to check the date and time, and found the notebook where he recorded phone numbers.

He flipped to the page with the broker’s number.

He meant to dial directly, but after thinking it over, went to the business center and bought an anonymous SIM card.

He swapped out the old card for the new one and dialed.

The first call was hung up.

The second call—hung up again.

The third time, nobody answered for a long while.

Lu Xun wasn’t annoyed. He set the phone aside and waited quietly.

After some time,

A strange number called in.

Lu Xun answered, taking the initiative: “I’ve heard you have good cigarettes from Hong Kong.”

On the other end, a low, indistinct voice came through, gender impossible to guess: “What business do you want to do?”

“Looking for someone.”

“Flower City, Liu Chengbiao.”

“To find someone is two thousand. Transfer the money to this account…”

The voice rattled off a string of bank account numbers: “When the money arrives, someone will call you in two days with the details.”

Lu Xun spoke calmly: “Urgent.”

“Six thousand. Tonight.”

“Beep… beep… beep…”

The call ended. Lu Xun narrowed his eyes, calculating his assets. His last job only paid two thousand, cost him his life, and here this broker’s information started at two thousand. Comparing the two, he realized his previous work was all hard labor, blood money—being behind the scenes was far more lucrative and flexible.

…

Department Store.

The pale-faced giant asked the clerk, “What’s the price of silver?”

“Sir, today’s silver price is 3.283 per gram.”

“Do you buy?”

“We do.”

Lu Xun produced the 350 grams of ancient silver ingots he’d brought from the old world.

“1,149.05. We’ll round it to 1,149.1.”

The gloved cashier said with a cheerful smile.

Lu Xun took the stack of bills and frowned—the price of silver was far too low. Even if he managed to bring three pounds every time, that’d only be five thousand. He glanced at the gold, glittering nearby, and asked, “What’s the price of gold?”

“Gold is 150 per gram, sir.”

Lu Xun did the math. Selling 1,500 grams of gold would net him 225,000.

If it were other, more precious jewels, the average price would surely be higher.

He finally had a way to secure money.

With reluctance, he went to the bank, combined the new twelve hundred into two thousand, and transferred it to that strange account.

Lu Xun returned to the general store to wait.

He’d expected it to take much longer, but by evening, a call came in.

“Since you’re a new client, and might become a valued partner, we’ve decided to let you experience VIP service ahead of time.”

“Liu Chengbiao…”

After the message, the caller added, “Next time, you can provide a fax number.”

Beep.

A long tone, and the line was cut.

Lu Xun picked up the paper with the address.

Chongyang District.

130 Feixiang Street…

…

The modern moon, dulled by light pollution, seemed veiled in gauze.

Lu Xun sat in the corner of the last row of the bus, watching the bright lights outside, tugging the brim of his wide felt hat.

After three stops, he got off, checked the bus sign to confirm his location. He didn’t often visit this area, unfamiliar with the layout, but fortunately the buildings were in order.

Xiangyue Park was ablaze with lights.

Elderly men and women in their fifties and sixties twisted their bodies to music, the melody coming from a suitcase-like speaker, energetic and cheerful. Most of the surrounding villas had moved out—nobody could endure the nightly deafening noise. Some houses had been converted into nursing homes and clinics, decorated with twinkling colored lights.

The children’s balloon playground took up a large space, young parents downstairs on their walks watched their kids play.

Young couples sat together on marble steps or wandered into deeper groves.

Lu Xun found a dark spot to sit, took out his prepared black bread and mineral water, and ate heartily.

He ate carefully—though his mouth was large, not a single crumb dropped. He finished the big slice of coarse black bread, sweeping even the crumbs from the bag into his mouth.

Gulp, gulp, gulp.

He drank the whole bottle of water, stood up, and belched uncomfortably.

Lu Xun glanced at the clock tower under the lights—half an hour until midnight. He lay down and closed his eyes for a while.

Night,

Fell.

The hazy moon hid behind clouds.

The pale-faced giant sat up straight.

In a few strides, he slipped into a dark alley, following the address.

…

Third floor.

Footsteps stopped.

The people inside paused, eyes glancing over.

“What’s wrong?”

The alluring woman hooked her arms around the man, puzzled by his odd behavior.

The man abruptly pulled her aside, threw the covers over her, and whispered gravely, “Don’t make a sound. No matter what you hear, don’t come out…”

He drew a short firearm from beneath the pillow, kicked off his slippers, draped on a robe, and stepped out.

Silence.

The man pressed himself against the wall, peered through the peephole, body rigid.

Outside was empty.

“Was I mistaken?” He was surprised, yet as he turned, he caught a flicker in the kitchen. Without hesitation, he leveled his gun at the shadow.

He barked coldly, “Brother, stealing from Liu Chengbiao—isn’t your boss aware who I am?”

“Come out slowly!”

The shadow in the kitchen did indeed step into the light.

A pale-faced giant, short hair and beard, broad nose and mouth, thick brows angled sharply, eagle-like eyes. Compared to him, the doorframe seemed petite—how he entered from outside was a mystery. This was the third floor, after all, and the small window was only big enough for a child.

The moment he saw the giant’s build and face, Liu Chengbiao’s heart skipped.

This was no ordinary thief.

Liu Chengbiao relaxed his wrist slightly—no matter if this was a dragon crossing the river or a tiger descending the mountain, before his firearm, they’d be meek as sheep: “I ask, you answer.”

“As expected.”

The giant murmured, resigned.

Liu Chengbiao felt much more at ease.

But then his eyes widened—he saw a rough, enormous hand pressed to his face, sharp nails sinking into his flesh.

He wanted to pull the trigger, but the gun was snatched away.

So fast!

What kind of move was that?

How was it possible?

Before he could marvel at his opponent’s strength, his pupils shrank to pinpoints.

He looked into a pair of golden beast eyes.

Hiss!

Silver-gray fur, copper demon face, golden irises, green fangs, long and powerful arms lifting him like a chick.

A monster?!

Liu Chengbiao was petrified, thinking he must be in some illusion realm, the icy embrace of death wrapping him tightly.

Despair clung to his bones, draining his blood.

But then, the monster dressed in human clothes shifted, transforming back into the pale-faced giant.

The giant gently set him down, weighed the short black-star firearm in his right hand.

He pressed it against Liu Chengbiao’s forehead.

Click.

The safety was off.

“I ask, you answer!”

The cold iron against his brow made Liu Chengbiao shudder, frozen in place, teeth chattering, trembling as he stammered, “Brother, I’ll tell you everything I know, I’ll hold nothing back.”

“Big brother, please… careful, it might go off.”