SES Chapter 201 Part 1

Chapter 201

After lunch, they set off right on schedule.

It was rare for this departure to be so upright and dignified. Huo Zihong, Uncle Zhang, Uncle Zheng, and the others all came out to see them off. Huo Zihong held Mu Dai’s hand and gave her a long list of instructions, then pressed a red paper envelope of gift money into her hands, urging her to be sure to convey her heartfelt wishes.

Six people and one chicken made the car feel cramped, so they agreed to take turns sitting in the added seat in the rear compartment with Cao Jiefang. Only the fortune-teller was spared—every time Cao Jiefang saw him, his whole body radiated the heroic spirit of the day he had fought the leopard with all his might.

Luo Ren drove at first, but given his physical condition, he would switch with Cao Yanhua midway—and if nothing unexpected happened, Cao Yanhua would handle most of the drive.

Facing the many skeptical looks from his companions—and from the chicken—Cao Yanhua held his driver’s license up high. “I’ve got a license!”

Mu Dai asked, “Is it expired?”

“No!”

Thirteen Thousand said, “Did you buy it?”

“Nonsense! It’s got an official seal.”

Yan Hongsha added coolly, “Did you swipe the seal along with it?”

…

Luo Ren couldn’t help wanting to laugh, but the fortune-teller successfully drew everyone’s attention.

He looked astonished. “You need a license to drive?”

Cao Yanhua was speechless. “Sir, isn’t that common sense? What did you think you needed to drive?”

The fortune-teller said matter-of-factly, “I thought money was enough.”

Luo Ren laughed despite himself. The movement tugged at his wound, sending a dull ache through it. Mu Dai reached out from the back seat and gently pressed and soothed the injured area. Luo Ren lowered his head and brushed his chin against the back of her hand, meaning: it’s nothing.

After leaving the ancient city, they first went to a private rehabilitation and convalescent center. Qingmu was waiting at the entrance and led Luo Ren and Mu Dai inside to see Tasha.

The three of them walked in a line—one in front, two behind—through the first-floor reception hall and into an elevator reserved for internal use.

The center had been recommended by a friend of Zheng Mingshan. The floors above ground were open to the public, but the underground facilities had long-term cooperation with the police and even Interpol, offering discreet treatments that ordinary hospitals could not provide.

A doctor was already waiting outside one of the rooms. When they arrived, he slid open a small panel in the door. Inside was a one-way observation window with a sound port, allowing them to hear everything clearly.

The walls were padded, the furnishings extremely simple. Even the bed was a cornerless inflatable mattress. Tasha lay on the soft carpet, flipping through a children’s picture book. All the text was in Chinese—she couldn’t read it—but with a child’s temperament, she was engrossed just looking at the pictures.

She hummed to herself, broken and tuneless.

If there were no door, no lock, it would have been such a warm scene.

The doctor’s brow was tightly furrowed; he didn’t look optimistic.

“…She’s been exposed to unhealthy guidance and influence. She’s very different from ordinary children. We ran some test questions with her.”

“We asked, ‘What is a knife used for?’ Among children her age, the most common answer is ‘for cutting vegetables.’ She answered, ‘for killing people.’ When she answered, she even made a stabbing motion…”

Luo Ren’s eyes grew moist, his thoughts suddenly drifting back to the past.

—More than a dozen grown men stood in a line, all unzipping their pants in unison. He turned back and barked an order: “Tasha, stand watch!”

Tasha’s body snapped taut. She spun around instantly, stamped her foot, covered her ears, and stood perfectly still.

He took a deep breath and interrupted the doctor’s observations. “Can she see me?”

The doctor hesitated, then said, “Yes.”

One had to squat down. There was another small sliding panel in the lower half of the door, fitted with special double-sided glass.

Luo Ren slowly crouched down.

Tasha didn’t know which picture she had turned to, but she let out a giggle. She happened to look up—and saw Luo Ren.

It was impossible to describe the change in expression on a child’s face. Her smile froze, then in an instant turned savage. She lunged forward, pounding the glass hard with her small fists.

Thud. Thud. Thud. Then she kicked at it. Unable to find a weapon, she threw the book at him. This time, Luo Ren saw clearly: the title was Snow White. On the cover, the blond Snow White smiled sweetly. The book slapped against the glass and slid down.

—“Daddy, will you come to Australia to see me?”

The sliding panel was closed. Mu Dai reached out to support him. “Luo Ren, let’s go.”

…

After leaving the hospital, Luo Ren sat on the steps at the entrance for a long time. The sunlight was brilliant, so bright it hurt the eyes. In the flowerbed nearby stood an osmanthus tree, its tiny golden blossoms scattered thinly over the grass.

Mu Dai sat with him. She picked up one or two osmanthus flowers, placed them in her palm, puffed out her cheeks, and blew them away.

She said, “Tasha is a little star that flew away from your side. But maybe one day, she’ll fly back again.”

The universe is so chaotic, full of unexpected collisions. Who knows—one day that star might shine above you once more.

Luo Ren smiled. “Then don’t you go flying off, girlfriend.”

The journey was long. The car went straight, turned, and changed direction. No matter how beautiful the scenery, you eventually grew tired of it. Even Cao Jiefang, bored stiff, dozed off in his cage.

The liveliest moments were mealtimes. They had brought plenty of snacks, and the ripping sound of packages being torn open instantly perked everyone up.

The fortune-teller returned to an old topic: what exactly did that “hide” refer to?

One thing was certain—Leopard didn’t know where the seventh ferocious slip was. Her subordinates had once searched for it on her behalf, even approaching Ya Feng.

Cao Yanhua suddenly asked, “How did Leopard find the sixth ferocious slip?”

Leopard’s great-grandfather had a Chinese map hanging in his room. Across it stretched a crooked, winding shape like a ladle. He constantly muttered about going home, yet never once set foot on that land in his entire life.

Luo Ren thought for a moment. “Leopard’s ancestors fled in panic back then, heading south to Southeast Asia. Let’s make a bold guess: her ancestors also worshipped the ferocious slips.”

“After fleeing, some information would inevitably be passed down through generations. That’s why her great-grandfather knew the story and knew that the ferocious slips had special effects on the human body.”

“Later, when Leopard was injured—according to Interpol, she no longer had behavioral capacity. She and I fought fiercely and fell from a building. By common sense, even if she didn’t die, with spinal damage and brain injury, she shouldn’t have been able to stand again.”

“In that situation, her great-grandfather suddenly thought of the ferocious slips and sent her subordinates into the country first. But he only knew the geographical distribution from the previous cycle. That’s why the person in the photos Qingmu showed up in Shibanqiao Town in Zhejiang.”

Cao Yanhua still didn’t understand. “But we all know the distribution of the ferocious slips in this cycle had already changed. And that position on the map is just a point—on the ground, it could be a huge area involving thousands or tens of thousands of people. Without special methods, it’s impossible to find.”

That was true. Without special methods, it was impossible. But what methods had been used?

Luo Ren frowned. Leopard couldn’t answer that anymore. Her great-grandfather was over a hundred years old, far away in Medan—no one knew if he was even alive. If they wanted answers, they could only ask her subordinates, who had already been captured and taken back to the Philippines by Interpol.

Luo Ren pulled the car over.

They had stopped near a small village. Chickens and dogs could be heard everywhere, the air thick with everyday life. Everyone got out to stretch their legs. Cao Jiefang was thrilled and dashed gleefully into a group of local hens. Who would have thought the local hens were xenophobic? After a burst of frantic flapping and flying feathers, all that was left was Cao Jiefang standing there alone, his beady eyes full of desolation.

Cao Yanhua comforted him. “Jiefang, it’s because they don’t recognize quality. None of them is good enough for you.”

In the distance, Thirteen Thousand sat on a rock with a foxtail grass stem between his teeth. “Even Cao Jiefang knows how to chase love. Fat Cao only knows how to chase mountain chickens. Right, Hongsha?”