When I pulled open the passenger door of Ren Xing’s car, I found someone already sitting inside. Ren Xing was staring at him blankly. "The seat next to me was... empty. Sir, how did you get in?"
The Abyss Guardian stared back at me with a gaze as sharp as a meat cleaver.
I slowly closed the door and, along with Lu Daoshi, stuffed our backpacks into the trunk before climbing into the back seat. "He’s... he’s a god. The Abyss Guardian, Old Liu’s right-hand man."
As I introduced him, the Abyss Guardian stared silently ahead. It was obvious he was displeased with me, but I was in no mood to care.
The only sound in the car was the conversation between Lu Daoshi and Ren Xing.
Lu: "Where is that research base?"
Ren: "Just outside the city, at the military hospital near the Second Artillery Corps barracks."
Lu: "I’ve watched sci-fi movies for years, and I’ve never seen a monster being caught and put directly on TV. What about non-disclosure agreements? What about national projects?"
Ren: "This couldn't be kept quiet. There were too many witnesses. It’s the number one trending topic on Weibo, and it’s on the front page of every major newspaper, domestic and foreign."
Lu: "But shouldn't they be transported to some secret base or something..."
Ren: "They can't move them."
Lu: "Why?"
Ren: "After everything that’s happened, do you think the central government is stupid? They’ve already guessed there’s more than one nest of these things, and that someone will come to rescue them. Time is tight. They’re collecting data on-site and killing them as soon as they have the samples."
I was driven to the brink of madness. "You’re talking about my sons, okay?!"
I wept as if the world were ending. Lu Daoshi and Ren Xing were in a state of total incomprehension, exactly like my roommate had been when I yelled at him yesterday. I didn't blame them; I even found my own feelings for those three ugly things strange. Who would believe that our 0.002875% blood similarity could trigger such a powerful bond?
After getting off the highway, the road was filled with roadblocks and checkpoints. Armed special forces stood guard every ten paces, and tanks and armored vehicles were visible. Yet, surprisingly, no one stopped us. We drove straight past the roadblocks as if they weren't there. Ren Xing glanced at the Abyss Guardian in the rearview mirror with awe. I answered his unspoken question: "The entire car is invisible."
By the time we saw the giant red cross of the military hospital, the surrounding special forces suddenly sprang into action. They were coordinating combat missions over their radios, forming attack formations and rushing into the hospital. Taking advantage of the chaos, Ren Xing parked the car at the back entrance, and we slipped into the corridor. The hallway was swarming with special forces running back and forth, wearing masks and clutching rifles. We stood in the elevator lobby on one side of the corridor, and I hammered the 'up' button. The elevator arrived quickly. With a *ding*, the doors opened to reveal a full squad of special forces pointing their guns directly at us.
I was the first to raise my hands.
Just then, I heard a voice over their radios: "Subject 1 has acquired a stealth skill and has currently vanished. Repeat, Subject 1 has acquired a stealth skill and has currently vanished. Sky Tiger Squad, proceed to the East Wing for emergency reinforcement. Sky Tiger Squad, proceed to the East Wing for emergency reinforcement."
After a brief, wide-eyed standoff, the soldiers rushed out of the elevator with their guns, and we ducked our heads and hurried inside, passing right by them.
"Shouldn't we be going to the East Wing too?"
The Abyss Guardian decisively held the 'door open' button, keeping us at the elevator entrance. "The lab isn't in the East Wing. It’s on the third basement level, beneath the parking garage." As he spoke, he made a grasping motion in the air and opened his palm. A 3D holographic infrared image floated above his hand, showing the entire hospital structure and red dots representing humans. It was clear that the human armed forces were rapidly converging on the East Wing. There was a green dot there, but I didn't quite understand its position; it looked like it was outside the building itself. At first, I thought the green dots represented my sons, but then I realized there were far more than three.
"What are these...?"
The Abyss Guardian shot me a glare. "Humans aren't the only ones who want to kill them."
I was about to cry again, but the Abyss Guardian barked at me to shut up. "They are natural-born warriors."
As he spoke, an explosion suddenly rocked the second floor across from the corridor’s floor-to-ceiling windows, followed by a spray of blood against the glass.
The Abyss Guardian let out an eerie chuckle. "And they learn fast. Listen—they have a connection with you. They are smart, and no one but you can get close to them. Release the other two still locked in the lab, then stay put and don't move. I’ll be right back."
"Where are you going?" In the blood-scented air, fear seized me once more.
"The East Wing is a trap. The reinforcement signal on the radio didn't come from their commander; it was your eldest son. Your third son is waiting there now. It’s going to be a slaughter."
With that, a crazed, cold light flashed in his eyes, and he vanished on the spot. A sharp screech echoed from ten meters away. When we looked, we only saw a massive, sharp tail sweeping past the corner of the wall.
"Your... family members, including the bodyguards, are very impressive," Ren Xing said, glancing at me.
My worldview had completely collapsed. I could no longer determine where I stood. Humans had taken my sons for horrific experiments; one had escaped and was coordinating with his brother to start a massacre. Not only was I not stopping it, but I was also using the massacre as a distraction to release the other two. I swallowed hard, pulled out my pistol, and flicked off the safety.
The elevator *dinged* as it reached the third basement level. The doors slid open, and a man’s upper torso thudded to the floor. He had been completely flayed; he was a bloody mess. I jumped in fright, but Ren Xing and Lu Daoshi stepped over him as if he weren't there. One held a gun, the other a flashlight, their weak beams of light sweeping over the path ahead. The entire third basement had lost power. Small fires flickered everywhere, amidst splattered gore and severed limbs. I didn't know if my sons had done this or if it was the work of other divine beings. After five minutes of walking, we reached the first lab. It had been destroyed. The barred cage I had seen on TV this morning was twisted out of shape. I saw green slime dripping from the breaks, corroding through the floor tiles. A half-dissolved human head was impaled on an electric baton. I had just seen his indifferent face on the television earlier.
Just as I reached out to touch the green slime, a dark shadow suddenly leaped from the corner, flying over me and pinning Lu Daoshi to the ground! I screamed, clicked the safety, and fired several times with my eyes closed, but Ren Xing shoved me aside. He was incredibly strong; I was thrown against an exam table, hitting my head. My vision blurred. For a moment, I lost my senses, hearing only the sound of my own breathing echoing in my chest. I vaguely saw Ren Xing confronting something terrifying. The monster was twice his height, resembling some kind of lizard. They fought silently, as if in slow motion, yet with extreme intensity. The impact of their struggle sent ionic sparks flying across the lab. I barely dodged a flying steel plate and rolled over to retrieve my gun. When I blinked through the sound of my own breathing and looked back, Ren Xing had already ripped the monster's head clean off.
Time returned to its normal speed as he ran over to prop me up. I sat up, gasping for air, as Ren Xing pulled a piece of gauze from his pack and pressed it to my temple. Lu Daoshi, looking like he’d been through hell, pushed the headless, grotesque monster off himself and sat up.
My voice trembled. "What was that?"
Lu Daoshi wiped blood from his forehead, trying to distance himself from the corpse, but the body was gradually fading. Before our very eyes, it vanished.
"Probably one of the vassal god-races Jin Mu mentioned? Dregs from a rift in space-time. Once they die, they vanish from a timeline that doesn't belong to them."
"That’s not what I’m asking." I shifted my gaze to Ren Xing.
Ren Xing shook his head.
I let out a scoff. "I didn't pass out. I saw everything."
Ren Xing pointed at himself with a mocking expression. "You’re asking me? You don't trust me?"
I crouched there for a moment and picked up the gun that had been knocked away. "You two stay here. I’m going to find the other two labs."
"By yourself?" Ren Xing grabbed me. I glared at him, and he let go.
"At least let me go with you," Lu Daoshi said worriedly. "I’m innocent in all this; I just got tackled once."
I shook my head. "I can't take that risk. I’m sorry. My priority is protecting my family."
"I mean no harm. And you have no way to protect your family," Ren Xing argued.
I gave him a forced smile and left the lab. Behind me, the sound of plants growing filled the air. They shouted for me to stop. In truth, those pitcher plants would only restrain them and provide protection; they wouldn't kill them.
I was furious now. My children had been captured, my worldview was shattered, and my man and my friends all had their own little secrets, keeping so much from me. I was so angry I felt I was going insane.
And then, I heard a voice calling to me.
It said, "Mama."
Following the sound, I pushed open the door to a stairwell and saw a cool-looking youth leaning there. He looked about sixteen or seventeen, with stylish shoulder-length hair that contrasted with his pale face. Though his features were still youthful, he was extraordinarily handsome. It was the kind of handsomeness that made it obvious who he had inherited it from. Looking at him was like seeing my roommate back in high school—if my roommate had ever attended high school. The boy stood there quietly, his T-shirt torn in several places and his jeans worn through at the knees, bleeding heavily. I saw him clutching a small, sky-blue pillow. The pillow was also torn, and water was leaking all over the floor.
"So you are... Number Two?"
He stared at me for a moment, then lowered his head.
I remembered Old Liu saying that the second one was very introverted and that he took after him the most. Old Liu was actually quite introverted himself, a man of few words.
I didn't know how to interact with a teenage boy, and my maternal instincts couldn't exactly gush forth. After all, I was only twenty-two, and he was already in high school. He was almost as tall as me; this was just wrong. So, I clumsily wiped his bleeding hand and took bandages from my pack to wrap his wounds. "Don't be afraid. We’ll disinfect this properly once we get back. It’ll be okay." The boy stared at me for another moment, then took my hand and pressed it against his wound, telling me to repeat a certain phrase. After I said it, my palm began to glow, and his injuries completely healed.
"Uh... I mean, you’re amazing!" After saying that, I felt like a total idiot in front of my son. I had no idea how to raise a child; I’d have to find some books on the subject when we got back.
My second son ignored me, clutching his blue pillow as he stood up. I quickly stuffed the pillow into my bag and grabbed his hand. "I’ll buy you a new one when we get back. Don't be sad."
As I pulled open the emergency exit door, I felt the young boy resignedly rest his head against my back.
"Mama," the boy said, his voice muffled and cracking with puberty. "It hurts."
Oh, damn.
A critical hit to the heart.
From then on, I spent the whole way clutching his hand and calling him "my little baby." This really wasn't helping!
***
