Pei Cangyu pressed forward through a thick blanket of fog. Though fear gnawed at him, his primary emotion was irritation. His destination was the docks. According to Gao Tang’s directions, it was a thirty-minute walk. It was nearly six o'clock now, and darkness was falling fast. The shortcut to the docks led through a desolate area, but Pei Cangyu just wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible.
Once he cleared this district, crossed the Honglan Bridge, and passed through Yao Si Street, he would essentially be at the docks.
There were still plenty of people around as he left the city center, and he could manage without a flashlight. However, by the time he reached the base of the Honglan Bridge, the crowds had vanished. Pei Cangyu switched on his flashlight. On the bridge above, vehicles slowed their pace, their dazzling headlights cutting through the gloom as they honked incessantly. In fog this thick, everyone was effectively blind, and the "blind" were traveling with extreme caution.
A homeless man sleeping under the bridge rolled over as Pei Cangyu passed, startling him. Pei swung his light away. The man clutched a few scrap wooden boards, slowly standing up to pack his belongings, though where he intended to go was anyone's guess.
Pei Cangyu continued onward. Yao Si Street was an old neighborhood where most residents had already moved out. A few windows still flickered with light, but the majority of the buildings were nothing but dark silhouettes. Those scattered lights looked like lighthouses floating on a sea, emitting a meager, flickering glow amidst the vast, undulating fog.
Low-rise buildings lined both sides of the street, interlacing in a way that made them difficult to discern clearly.
It was miserable weather.
Pei Cangyu squeezed the package in his hand, which was bundled into the shape of a brick. If he didn't know any better, he would have guessed it contained a few heavy textbooks.
Thinking of textbooks made him think of school, and thinking of school reminded him that he should be there right now, if not for...
Come to think of it, everything—every single bit of this—was because of that man.
Pei Cangyu gritted his teeth. *Bai Shi.*
Thinking about it now, the guy probably wasn't even gay; he was just a bastard. Pei Cangyu cursed himself for thinking Bai Shi was still that same innocent, kind middle school classmate and for trusting him so blindly. While he could understand the desire to clear one's name from suspicion, this was going too far. And he, Pei Cangyu, was far too soft-hearted.
Pei Cangyu shook his head, listening for the metaphorical sloshing of water inside his brain.
Forget it. It didn't matter. No matter what, he was moving out. Nothing good ever happened when he got mixed up with that guy. What kind of high school senior spends his time playing romance games with a person like that?
Dumbass.
When he reached the docks, the gatekeeper shone a high-powered flashlight directly into his face. Stung by the glare, Pei Cangyu raised a hand to shield his eyes. The man shouted through a megaphone, telling him to put his hand down.
Pei Cangyu complied. After being scrutinized under the harsh light for a long moment, the gate was finally pulled open. Immediately, a dog lunged out, nearly pouncing on him before someone yanked it back by the collar. The dog’s claws left deep gouges in the concrete, a sight that left Pei Cangyu with a lingering sense of dread. Naturally, his mind drifted to Madara, which led back to Bai Shi, which led back to...
That absolute moron.
"Hey, get in here."
Pei Cangyu heard the voice but couldn't see the speaker before he was shoved from behind, stumbling forward. He jerked his shoulder back violently. "Don't fucking touch me. I can walk."
The man grabbed Pei Cangyu by the collar and spat in his face. In a flash of rage, Pei Cangyu slammed a fist into the man's face. The man’s nose began to bleed instantly, and the dog nearby started barking frantically. Just as the man was about to retaliate, the gatekeeper barked, "Dammit, hurry up and get lost!"
The man lowered his raised fist resentfully. Pei Cangyu wiped his face with his sleeve in disgust.
They walked toward a warehouse with its rolling shutter half-open. The door was covered in black graffiti—depictions of large-breasted women with their legs spread, entwined with one another. A man nearby pulled the shutter higher to let the group in, then slammed it shut once the last person entered.
The interior of the warehouse was quite large; it was over ten meters from the door to where the people were gathered. In the center of the group, a fire crackled inside a tall charcoal brazier. Two massive white lights hung from the ceiling, and loud music blared from floor-standing speakers. Some people were sprawled on sofas; the sounds of women’s laughter, cursing, and clinking bottles filled the air. A shirtless man, clearly the leader, was sunk into a sofa with one leg hooked over the armrest, tilting his head back to swig from a bottle. A woman sat on the other armrest, pressing herself against him.
The shirtless man sat up. His ears were pierced with a dozen studs and rings. He set down the bottle and looked at Pei Cangyu, sizing him up. He smirked. "So, it's you."
As soon as he spoke, Pei Cangyu noticed the accent. This man wasn't a local, which meant none of these people were.
"Where's the stuff?"
Pei Cangyu handed over the package. The man beside him took it and brought it to the leader.
The shirtless man stood up, grabbed a leather overcoat from the sofa, and draped it over his shoulders. He picked up a small knife from the floor to cut open the package.
When he stood up and moved the coat, Pei Cangyu realized that it wasn't a sofa he had been sitting on—it was a pile of cash. As the coat was lifted, the hem caught several banknotes, sending them fluttering through the air. Pei Cangyu was stunned. Looking closer, he saw piles of syringes and hand-rolled cigarettes on the floor.
A woman glanced at him, then went back to lighting an alcohol lamp. She placed a piece of white substance on a tin foil spoon and heated it over the flame. The white substance melted rapidly, making a sizzling sound. The woman’s eyes lit up. She impatiently fished out a rubber band from the floor, had the person next to her tie it around her arm, and bit the cap off a needle.
Pei Cangyu turned his head away.
The shirtless man sliced the package open and gave it a shake. A flurry of passports spilled out.
Pei Cangyu lowered his gaze.
The shirtless man crouched down to count them carefully, then looked up to count his own people. Finally, his gaze landed on Pei Cangyu. "Did that grandson Gao Qian give you a message for me?"
Pei Cangyu shook his head.
"What are you afraid of?" The shirtless man grinned, stretching his legs out as he sat on the floor. He had two red lower teeth, making his smile look incredibly eerie. "You want to play? My treat."
Pei Cangyu shook his head again.
The shirtless man glanced at the bloody nose of the man standing next to Pei Cangyu, then stood up and walked over.
He wasn't as tall as Pei Cangyu, but he walked with a jerky, bouncing gait—a frantic, uncoordinated movement that felt wrong.
He approached and stared into Pei Cangyu’s face. "You did that?"
Pei Cangyu hesitated, then nodded.
The shirtless man stared at him. Although Pei Cangyu didn't speak, he didn't look particularly frightened either. The man gave Pei Cangyu’s shoulder a heavy shove, sending him staggering back several steps.
Pei Cangyu didn't want to fight. He just wanted to end this mess as soon as possible.
A woman walked up from behind and whispered a few words to the leader. He nodded and snapped his fingers. Someone handed him a packet of blue, oily liquid.
The shirtless man held it out to Pei Cangyu. "A gift for you. For your hard work."
Pei Cangyu didn't take it.
The shirtless man stepped forward and slung an arm around Pei Cangyu’s shoulder, breathing into his ear. He reeked of alcohol. "Come on. While I'm still being nice."
Pei Cangyu looked at the surrounding men and finally spoke. "I'd rather not. They're waiting for me to get back."
The shirtless man’s fake smile vanished. He violently slammed the packet onto the floor and began pacing the warehouse, kicking over oil drums, muttering to himself, and clawing at his hair.
Pei Cangyu didn't dare look at him. The man was peaking on whatever he was using.
A moment later, the shirtless man circled back, a knife in his hand. He lunged straight at him. Pei Cangyu raised his arms to block, but the others pinned him to the ground. The shirtless man stepped on his shoulder, gesturing with the gleaming tip of the knife toward his eye. His gaze was vacant, his hand trembling.
Looking at this madman, Pei Cangyu broke into a cold sweat.
The shirtless man pressed his foot onto Pei Cangyu’s face, his voice a low, teeth-gritting snarl. "I'm giving you a gift! I said it's for you..."
Pei Cangyu’s nasal bone snapped. He heard the crack, and immediately, the world in front of his nose looked different. Something was pushing outward from inside his nose—he knew it was his broken bone. Blood soaked his clothes. The shirtless man grabbed his head and shook it.
Red spots danced before his eyes; he couldn't see anything clearly. Amidst the dizziness and the shaking, Pei Cangyu screamed, "Dammit, just give it to me! Fuck!"
The shirtless man didn't stop until the people nearby finally pulled him away.
Pei Cangyu crawled up from the floor, the taste of blood filling his mouth.
This was why you never dealt with people like this. They were insane.
The woman injected the blue liquid into Pei Cangyu’s arm. The shirtless man smiled with satisfaction, then waved his hand for Pei Cangyu to leave without another word.
Pei Cangyu grabbed a piece of cloth to cover his nose and turned to leave without saying a word.
He had seen this blue stuff before. It wasn't lethal, and in that dosage, it shouldn't be a major problem. It was likely a hallucinogen, which was why he hadn't fought the madman to the death. He didn't know why the lunatic was so obsessed with giving him a shot, but people who were high didn't listen to reason, and Pei Cangyu wasn't in a position to argue. Regardless, he needed to get back, drink plenty of water, and sleep. If he didn't touch it again for seven days, he wouldn't get addicted.
*Dammit, Bai Shi... Fuck, Bai Shi...*
Cursing Bai Shi under his breath, Pei Cangyu walked out of the warehouse, only to realize he had forgotten his flashlight.
*Shit! I can't go back now...*
He decided to just keep going. With one hand clutching his nose, he used his trembling other hand to pull out his phone and call Gao Tang. The call was answered quickly.
As soon as it connected, Pei Cangyu shouted, "Dammit, I delivered it! Now let that kid go!"
The other end was noisy. A voice simply replied, "Got it," and immediately hung up.
Pei Cangyu’s head began to spin. He wanted to call for an ambulance—he needed his nose looked at, after all—but after dialing the number, he hesitated. If the hospital ran a blood test, the results would likely be sent to his school, and then...
He thought it over and decided against calling the police or the paramedics. He would find a small private clinic instead.
Since he never saved contacts, he had to rely on his memory to scroll through his call logs. But the drug was taking effect; his vision was a blur of colors. Because of the blood loss, blood had smeared across the screen. He tried to wipe it off, but only made it worse, so he resorted to rubbing it against his clothes.
He stopped in the middle of the road, struggling to distinguish the characters on his phone amidst the dark, vast fog.
He had stopped on Yao Si Street.
Finally spotting a familiar number, Pei Cangyu hit dial, but the call was instantly disconnected.
Pei Cangyu froze. He tried again, and again it was disconnected.
It wasn't that he was out of signal range, nor was it failing to connect. It felt as though someone was manually blocking him. He had felt this sensation before...
Pei Cangyu felt a wave of despair. The cloth in his hand was soaked through with blood, and he had nowhere to go. As the drug took hold, his head grew light—so light it bordered on euphoria. He couldn't even feel the pain anymore.
He looked down at the screen, but it was illegible. He just wanted to lie down on the ground and think of nothing at all.
Amidst the staggered low-rise buildings, something flickered past.
Someone was there!
Pei Cangyu realized it. Someone was coming from the direction of the warehouse.
Without a flashlight, he could only see shadows moving in the fog, darting from one side to the other, growing larger as they inevitably drew closer... and there was more than one.
Pei Cangyu forced himself to focus and slapped his own face. He summoned the courage to keep walking, though he could practically feel the figures closing in behind him.
His head throbbed agonizingly. It felt like tiny people were singing inside his skull, and his feet felt weightless against the ground.
He didn't want to run anymore.
He didn't want to move.
Just let it be...
His pace slowed. Suddenly, someone lunged from behind, pinning him to the ground. Immediately after, a blade sliced into his abdomen. Pei Cangyu didn't feel the pain, only a sharp sting followed by a rush of warmth pouring outward.
Then, a delayed realization hit him: those people were planning to flee, so they had no reason to hold back... They had injected him so he wouldn't be able to react...
No wonder they chose him...
He was pinned down, struggling to breathe.
Suddenly, the weight on top of him was lifted.
Someone hauled him up and gave him a shove forward. Pei Cangyu wobbled, but miraculously didn't fall.
He turned to look, but the fog was so thick he still couldn't see a thing.
The dark shadows were gone.
Pei Cangyu shifted his feet. Should he keep running?
*Run...*
He stumbled forward blindly. Though he didn't know what his next step should be, the people who wanted his life were right behind him; he couldn't stop. Otherwise, once the fog cleared, he would be nothing but a cold corpse lying here. The killers would have long since crossed the ocean—where would he go for justice then?
So, he had to run.
Pei Cangyu could hear movement behind him. It seemed as though people were constantly lunging at him, but they vanished before they could reach him. In this white, boundless mist, something was protecting him, preventing the pursuing demons and monsters from showing their faces.
He ran forward.
His strength was failing, yet he forced himself onward, taking one difficult step after another.
His vision blurred into a haze.
Finally, he tripped and collapsed onto the ground, lacking the strength to stand again.
*Ah... it's all Bai Shi's fault,* Pei Cangyu thought as his eyes drifted shut.
*Dammit, why did I have to get dragged into all of this?*
A pair of ice-cold hands slowly covered his eyes.
***
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Stolen Jade | Chapter 31 | Shadows in the Mist | Novela.app | Novela.app
