In the gloomy depths of the prison, Leng Qingqing was contemplating his escape plan. His rat friends had told him of a sewer line leading to the outside world. To use it, one only needed the prison’s structural blueprints and the guards' shift schedule to exploit a brief window of opportunity. As it happened, the blueprints had been carved into the floor of Leng Qingqing’s cell by a previous escapee. By simply moving the bed, one could reveal a detailed plan for flight.
Leng Qingqing shoved the iron bed aside, and sure enough, he found dense lines etched into the stone with a spoon. It wasn't just a detailed route map; it included the guards' routines and various precautions. It was practically a DIY manual for prison breaking, holding his hand through every step. Leng Qingqing studied it for a long time before concluding, with absolute confidence, that he was now a master of escape.
He began his preparations to break out at midnight, three days later, during the guards' shift change.
At midnight, the entertainment district was still a riot of neon lights and flowing wine, awash in a tide of desire. Inside a secret club, within a room designed to simulate the ocean, pairs of bodies were entwined, lost in the throes of sensory stimulation. These people had clearly consumed drugs; syringes were scattered everywhere, and they didn't even notice when Leng Jing and Han Yu entered the room.
One beautiful youth, pinned to the bed by two men with a dazed look in his eyes, looked up slightly. He stared at them, his gaze flickering with confusion. "You... who are you?"
Leng Jing gave a cold smirk and sat in the wheelchair by the bed. "I am the Leng Jing you’ve been impersonating—Leng Qingqing’s real adopted son."
As it turned out, this youth was the very person who had impersonated Leng Jing in public.
"You! What kind of trick is this?!" The youth pushed the men off him and signaled for them to leave. He sat up naked on the bed, his thin, weak legs revealing that he was indeed unable to walk.
"How much did those people pay you to frame Leng Qingqing?" Leng Jing stood up, reaching out to grip the boy's chin.
"None of your business! What do you want?!" The youth pulled a silenced pistol from beneath his pillow and aimed it at Leng Jing.
"Go to hell!!!" A flash of viciousness crossed his eyes, a stark contrast to his fragile appearance. In his struggle, he pulled the trigger.
However, the pistol vanished from his hand as if by magic, appearing in Leng Jing’s hand an instant later.
"Behave yourself." Leng Jing tossed the pistol aside and tied the youth’s hands to the bedpost.
"What are you doing!! Let me go! Ahhh—!" the youth screamed.
"Han Yu, he’s all yours," Leng Jing said, turning to the cloaked man in the shadows.
"...I thought you would use more indirect means. Fine. After you rescue Leng Qingqing, we shall meet again." Han Yu’s gaze lingered incessantly on the youth’s face.
"Didn't you say you were leaving us? Why are you still following us?" Leng Jing asked, displeased.
"......I need a little time to process these feelings." Han Yu stared at the youth on the bed. He looked so much like Qingyue—that expression, that look in his eyes.
"Suit yourself." Leng Jing curled his lip and finally left the room, leaving Han Yu and the youth behind.
As the door clicked shut, the youth’s eyes turned to terror. "Don't come over here!!!"
Han Yu merely untied his restraints and said, "Do not be afraid. I only wish to talk to you."
"Stay away!" The youth threw a pillow at him.
"I won't hurt you," Han Yu said, sitting on the edge of the bed.
"Get out!" The youth struggled to crawl into his wheelchair and then rolled toward the bathroom.
Han Yu waited patiently outside. After fifteen minutes, he couldn't help but knock on the bathroom door. There was no response. Worried, Han Yu pushed the door open only to find the wheelchair overturned and the window wide open. Han Yu rushed to the window and looked down. On the road below, a figure lay sprawled to one side, and a car had stopped nearby. The driver was shouting frantically, "I hit someone!! Help!"
The youth had clearly been struck by the car and was quickly whisked away by an ambulance.
Han Yu hesitated, wondering if he should go to the hospital to see him.
***
Meanwhile, Leng Jing had successfully slipped into the death row block to take Leng Qingqing away. However, under Leng Qingqing’s persuasion, Leng Jing found himself becoming interested in the "prison break" itself. He even helped Leng Qingqing strategize, preparing to escape this "impenetrable" prison late the following night.
The next night, the white mink also successfully snuck in, bringing a wire for picking locks. While the guards were changing shifts, Leng Jing began to pick the lock. However, according to the white mink’s later recollection, Leng Jing grew frustrated when he couldn't open it after a while. In a fit of pique, he released a burst of electricity that fried the electronic lock into scrap.
After the three of them crept out of the cell, Leng Qingqing, who had memorized the escape route, took charge of the command. He led his son and the white mink toward the gates of freedom. It turned out that outside the death row block lay sensor-equipped electric fences, precision monitors, and other advanced equipment. Therefore, Leng Qingqing followed the map’s instructions to take an alternative path, entering a sewer line that led to a passage abandoned decades ago.
Under Leng Qingqing’s guidance, they bypassed the surveillance cameras and slipped into the sewer grate near the cell block entrance.
The sewers of the metropolis were built like an underground labyrinth, with various pipes crisscrossing in a complex web. Holding a torch, Leng Qingqing followed the escape map in his mind, searching bit by bit for the path to the light. Finally, he pointed decisively at a pitch-black pipe. "This is it! This is the gate to the outside!"
The three of them began to crawl through the narrow pipe. The white mink, who suffered from claustrophobia, was on the verge of a breakdown, beginning to mutter and sob.
Finally, a glimmer of light appeared ahead. Overjoyed, the white mink scrambled out first, only to be stunned by the sight before it. The exit of the pipe connected to a windowless room. The four walls were covered in rust, stains, and graffiti. A dim, yellow incandescent bulb hung limply from the ceiling. The only furniture in the room was a single chair in the center, an iron-barred window high in the corner, and a latrine. It was clearly a prison cell—and an ancient, abandoned one at that.
Leng Qingqing said with delight, "This is it! The abandoned passage indicated on the map starts from this abandoned cell. There’s a path to the outside from here!"
"But," Leng Jing said, jumping out of the pipe and looking around, "though this place is dilapidated, it looks like someone lives here. It doesn't seem completely abandoned. Look, there isn't even much dust on this chair."
"Who cares! Let's just get out first!" Leng Qingqing and the white mink walked toward the iron door. Sure enough, the door was slightly ajar. Opening it, they found a long, dark corridor. The hallway was extremely narrow, allowing only one person to pass at a time. Another identical incandescent bulb hung above, flickering intermittently. The lime-washed walls on both sides were covered in moss, stains, and graffiti. The three of them had to shuffle through sideways. Leng Jing couldn't help but notice the graffiti; the lines were crude, but he could vaguely make out an adult holding a child's hand.
"This is..." Leng Jing scanned further. The graffiti seemed to tell a connected story of an adult and a child. At first, the adult was leading the child. The second image showed the adult putting the child into a large, lopsided vat. The third showed the child sitting, surrounded by many figures lying down. Near the end of the corridor was a tiny piece of graffiti depicting a simple figure in a mask and a cloak, followed by a person with horns.
Leng Jing’s heart skipped a beat. Didn't that cloaked figure look a lot like Han Yu? And the person with two horns on their head was...?
"This door is really stuck!" Leng Qingqing began to tug at the iron door at the end of the hall.
"Father, wait!" Leng Jing called out to stop him, but before he could finish, Leng Qingqing had already pried the door open.
***
At the hospital, Han Yu sat outside the operating room, waiting. After the youth had been brought in, he had ultimately followed. Before long, the red light of the operating room went out, and a nurse came out to inform him. "Sir, I need to update you on your family member's condition..."
"What! Double leg amputation?!" Han Yu hadn't expected the youth’s injuries to be so severe.
"Yes. Because the injuries were too extensive, his life would be at risk without the amputation," the nurse explained.
Han Yu sank into a chair, clutching his head in his hands. He felt a vague sense that something was terribly wrong.
"Please sign this patient registration form," the nurse said, handing him a clipboard.
Han Yu took the form, and his eyes gradually widened. "This! This is impossible!!!!"
***
In the Snow Dragon Kingdom, deep within the imperial palace, the Snow Dragon Emperor stood with his hands behind his back in the Futian Hall. He gazed into the distance, admiring the vast, snowy landscape beneath his feet.
The Fourteenth Dragon stood respectfully and fearfully to one side.
The Emperor’s face showed no ripple of emotion as he spoke. "So, he finally went to the Thousand-Year Snow Capital?"
The Fourteenth Dragon replied, "Yes. Your Majesty’s suspicions were indeed accurate. I investigated his origins. It has been confirmed that when the Fourth Prince was cast out of the palace years ago, he had already died within his cracked egg. Therefore, this person is a complete imposter. As for his true identity... it is impossible to trace. He is likely just a petty charlatan filling a vacancy..."
"Hmph. If he were a mere charlatan, it would be a miracle for him to enter the Thousand-Year Snow Capital. You and I both know exactly what kind of place that is," the Snow Dragon Emperor said.
"Since he is no charlatan... for him to enter that place means he either possesses supreme power or was intentionally invited by the Master of the Snow Capital... And looking across the three realms, the only member of the Dragon Race with such cultivation is... 'That Lord'!" Cold sweat broke out on the Fourteenth Dragon’s forehead.
The Snow Dragon Emperor snorted. "Indeed. Though that man showed nothing unusual while by my side, how could it be easy to deceive my eyes? Our ancestors left secret records warning the Dragon Race not to lightly provoke that person. This is for the best; it may finally eliminate the hidden threat of the Snow Capital."
"Father, what exactly is the origin of the Snow Capital? Why do you strictly forbid our people from approaching it?" the Fourteenth Dragon asked. Since childhood, he had been indoctrinated with warnings never to go near the Snow Capital, and the fear of it was deeply rooted in his heart.
"The Snow Capital is... the tomb of mortal desires, and a place where no living thing may tread!" the Emperor said, his gaze deepening.
***
Let us return to the prison break of Leng Jing and Leng Qingqing.
Leng Qingqing opened the first iron door, but behind it was another identical long corridor with walls full of graffiti. This time, the graffiti was even more chaotic, almost impossible to decipher. Leng Jing looked closely and could barely make out a tower-like shape, but the entire wall was covered in the blood-red character for "Collapse."
"Why are there so many 'Collapse' characters?" The white mink looked on, trembling with fear. "Maybe we should go back the way we came!"
"No way! We've come all this way. Maybe if we open one more door, we'll be out!" Leng Qingqing pointed to the second iron door at the end.
Leng Jing stopped and asked the two of them, "What form do you think the word 'Collapse' should take?"
The white mink raised a shaking paw. "Collapse? Festering? Ulcer? Defeat? Collapse...?"
"It feels like a giant, rotting patch..." Leng Qingqing shuddered.
"A giant patch... a giant patch!!" the white mink shrieked.
That eerie nursery rhyme drifted through their minds again: *Red bed, purple room, took sister's little token, went to the north to find sister, sister's not there but brother is, brother invites me to have a sweet~ the sweet must be eaten now, if you eat it late you can't go home~ a great big patch, oh, a great big patch~*
"Uh..." Hearing this, Leng Qingqing also grew terrified. He pulled his hand back from the handle and changed his mind. "Maybe... we should go back?"
The three fell into a silent standoff. Finally, Leng Jing decided, "Let's head back!"
Thus, they left the nearly opened iron door behind. Leng Jing dragged Leng Qingqing as they hurried back the way they came. As they retreated, the overhead lights flickered more and more frequently. The white mink huddled on Leng Qingqing’s shoulder, looking back in terror. It saw the world behind them gradually turning dark. Even where the light should have reached, it was pitch black, as if the light itself had been sliced in half, or as if a thick, dark shadow was closing in on them.
The white mink quickly jumped onto Leng Jing’s shoulder and squeezed its eyes shut, clutching Leng Jing’s neck with its claws.
"Young Master!!! Run, run, run!!!" The white mink felt such intense fear and pressure that it nearly bit through its own tongue.
***
Back at the hospital, Han Yu stared at the medical chart, his strength seemingly drained from his body. He dropped the chart on the floor, clutched his head with both hands, and began to groan.
He had been trapped in that Myriad Phenomenon Tower for a full thousand years! He had finally escaped, only to face a fate worse than death!!
He punched the wall. This time, he had to find Leng Jing! He wouldn't accept this!!
He absolutely would not!! His entire life had been ruined within that Myriad Phenomenon!
He stood up and strode toward the hospital entrance.
On the medical registration form he had thrown to the ground, in the column for the patient's name, was written: "Lian Qingyue."
The youth who had impersonated Leng Jing and been hit by a car while fleeing was named Lian Qingyue.
When he woke from his coma, he discovered amidst agonizing pain that his legs were gone. Not only that, but due to the severe trauma of the accident, he had lost a kidney, three fingers, and his right eye. His face was also ruined; he could feel the thick gauze covering it.
"Why is this happening... why is this happening...? Ahhhh!!" Lian Qingyue waved his hands frantically, knocking everything off the bedside table, heedless of the tubes being ripped from his arms, screaming in a mad frenzy.
When he was finally exhausted, the ward door opened a crack. A doctor stood there, silhouetted against the light.
"Qingyue, you ran away from me again. Did you think that by hiding in the public eye, you could escape my control?" the doctor said in a calm tone.
"Please! Spare me! I don't want... I don't want to do those experiments anymore! I'd rather be a male prostitute!!" Lian Qingyue wailed.
"That won't do, Qingyue. You should see the great things you will do in the future. You are the only hope for saving what remains of us humans!" The doctor walked to the bedside and reached out with a rubber-gloved hand to gently stroke the boy's mangled face.
"AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" Qingyue screamed again. By the end, the scream didn't sound human at all.
***
It was time for the annual Soul-Calling Festival.
From the direction of the Great Snow Valley, shrill wails and screams echoed continuously. Every year at this time, the Snow Dragon Kingdom would enter the month-long Soul-Calling Festival. According to the traditions passed down by their ancestors, this month was a time of great ill omen. Therefore, the subjects of the Snow Dragon Kingdom dressed in black veils, stayed behind closed doors, and spoke no reckless words.
The Snow Dragon Emperor continued to gaze toward the Thousand-Year Snow Capital. The screams coming from within had troubled the Snow Dragon Kingdom for a full thousand years.
He hoped that this time, "That Lord" truly could bring new hope to the Snow Dragon Kingdom.
| Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 万象楼 | Myriad Phenomenon Tower | Also referred to as the Vientiane Tower; a significant location in the story. |
| 连青月 | Lian Qingyue | The name of the youth who impersonated Leng Jing. |
| 雪龙国 | Snow Dragon Kingdom | The fantasy setting where the Emperor resides. |
| 伏天殿 | Futian Hall | Literally "Prostrating Heaven Hall," a hall in the Snow Dragon Palace. |
| 千年雪都 | Thousand-Year Snow Capital | A mysterious and forbidden location in the Snow Dragon Kingdom. |
| 呼魂节 | Soul-Calling Festival | A month-long period of mourning and ill omen in the Snow Dragon Kingdom. |
| 溃 | Collapse | The character found on the walls, also meaning fester or decay. |
| 十四龙 | Fourteenth Dragon | A prince or high-ranking official in the Snow Dragon Kingdom. |
| 雪龙帝 | Snow Dragon Emperor | The ruler of the Snow Dragon Kingdom. |
| 那位大人 | That Lord / That Great Lord | A respectful and fearful reference to a powerful figure (likely Leng Jing). |
