Chapter 37
The cold sea breeze, carrying the smell of gunpowder and blood, poured into the dilapidated warehouse.
The flames shooting up into the sky and the dull sounds of explosions from the distant ancestral home gradually subsided, leaving only embers flickering in the night, like the dying breath of a giant beast.
Inside the warehouse, deathly silence reigned.
Gu Jing held Qin Yu's cold body in his arms, stepping towards the black SUV. His movements were eerily steady, as if he wasn't holding a gradually stiffening corpse, but rather his beloved, deep in sleep. Those peach blossom eyes, once filled with sharpness, paranoia, or fleeting tenderness, were now tightly closed, their long lashes casting a shadow of death on his pale cheeks, never to open again.
The dull thud of the trunk door closing heavily struck everyone's heart.
The engine roared, and the headlights cut through the darkness like sharp swords, driving resolutely towards the still burning ruins, towards the end of destruction.
739 slumped on the cold ground, staring in the direction the car had vanished, his face ashen, unable even to feel the sharp pain from the wound on his arm. It was over. Everything was over. Brother Yu was dead, Mr. Gu had gone mad. All the struggles and sacrifices had ultimately slid into the deepest abyss.
Saker Falcon dragged his injured leg, leaning against the wall, his eyes vacant as he stared at the spiderweb-like shadows on the warehouse ceiling, silent. The only remaining member silently bandaged his own wound, the only sound in the air being heavy, suppressed breathing.
Despair was like an icy tide, flooding this small, remaining world.
I don’t know how much time has passed.
Maybe it's only a few minutes, maybe it's as long as a century.
Outside the warehouse, there was no other sound except the sound of wind and waves.
The car that rushed into the sea of fire seemed to have been truly swallowed up and there was no way back.
739 slowly closed his eyes, and a tear mixed with blood and dust silently slid down.
Just as this suffocating silence was about to completely solidify—
"Buzz..."
An extremely faint, yet clearly audible…engine sound?
From far to near.
It wasn't the violent roar of an off-road vehicle, but another... more steady, even a bit inappropriately elegant engine hum.
739 suddenly opened his eyes! Haidongqing also struggled to stand up!
The two looked at each other in surprise and doubt, and saw disbelief in each other's eyes!
How is this possible?! That direction... is a sea of fire! It's Jedi!
The sound of the engine got closer and closer, and finally stopped outside the warehouse door.
The car door opened and closed.
Footsteps.
Neither fast nor slow, steady to the point of being relaxed.
Then, the half-open, broken iron door of the warehouse was gently pushed open from the outside.
The moonlight and the afterglow of the distant fire outlined a tall and slender figure.
Not Gu Jing.
It’s Qin Xiao.
He was still wearing the dark coat that looked casual but well-tailored, with a cynical expression on his face, as if he didn't care about anything. There was even a newly lit cigarette dangling from the corner of his mouth, the spark flickering in the dim light.
But he is not alone.
He half supported, half embraced a person——
It’s Gu Jing!
Gu Jing leaned almost entirely against Qin Xiao, his head drooping limply. His messy black hair covered most of his face, revealing a jawline that was tense to the extreme. His entire body was trembling uncontrollably, as if every bone in his body had been pulled out. Only the hand hanging by his side was tightly and convulsively clenched, its knuckles a pale white, as if grasping something invisible.
He is still alive!
But his condition was clearly not right! It wasn't the weakness of a physical injury, but rather a certain... emptiness and dependence after a complete mental breakdown.
"Hey, they're not dead yet?" Qin Xiao glanced at the tragic scene in the warehouse, his tone as relaxed as if he was greeting them good morning. He supported Gu Jing and walked in slowly, "It seems I came at the right time, and I can still catch up to collect the bodies... Oh no, it's a rescue."
739 and Haidongqing stood up suddenly, looking at him with vigilance and suspicion, and their eyes finally fell on Gu Jing who was almost unconscious.
"Mr. Gu! What happened to him?!" 739 wanted to step forward eagerly.
Qin Xiao, however, slightly turned sideways, unnoticedly fending him off, and held Gu Jing even tighter to his side. His tone remained casual, but his eyes swept across 739 sharply: "It's okay, it's just a little bit of a shock, and I'm temporarily a little... confused."
His gaze lingered on Gu Jing's tightly clenched fist for a moment, and a trace of extremely deep, indescribable emotion flashed across his eyes, so fast that it was impossible to catch.
"Exciting?" Hai Dongqing's voice was hoarse. "Over at the ancestral home..."
"It was blown to pieces." Qin Xiao blew out a puff of smoke and said lightly, "The old man's nest that he had run for decades, along with all the shady things inside, were basically destroyed. As for him..."
He paused, then forced a cold, meaningful smile. "Who knows? Maybe it's turned to ashes. Maybe... it's no longer there. After all, it was a most cunning old fox."
He did not give a definite answer.
"Then...Brother Yu..." 739's voice trembled. With a last glimmer of hope, he looked out the warehouse door. The SUV hadn't returned.
The smile on Qin Xiao's face faded. He was silent for a few seconds, the smoke blurring his expression.
"...I didn't find it." Finally, his voice deepened, his emotions muted. "The fire was too big, and the collapse was severe. Maybe...it's buried somewhere."
A light sentence completely crushed the last bit of unrealistic fantasy.
739 stumbled forward, completely in despair.
Saker Falcon also closed his eyes in pain.
Only Gu Jing, who was half-supported by Qin Xiao, trembled violently and almost imperceptibly when he heard these words. An extremely weak and suppressed whimper like the cry of a young animal came from his throat, and he buried his face deeper into Qin Xiao's shoulder, as if that was the only safe haven.
Qin Xiao naturally raised his hand and gently patted his back. His action could even be described as... gentle? But the eyes that looked at 739 and Haidongqing were calm and without a ripple.
"Okay, stop looking so sad." He broke the heavy atmosphere, his tone becoming lazy again, "The dead can't come back to life. The living have to continue to struggle."
He helped Gu Jing to a relatively clean corner of the warehouse and asked him to sit down against an abandoned wooden box. Gu Jing was still curled up, with his head lowered, his long hair covering his face, motionless, as if isolated from the outside world.
Qin Xiao squatted in front of him, looked at his condition carefully, then stood up and walked towards 739 and Haidongqing.
"Where's the thing?" He stretched out his hand, his tone leaving no room for doubt.
739 was stunned for a moment, then reacted and quickly took out the cold antibody box from his pocket and handed it over, his voice choked with sobs: "...antibodies...but...Brother Yu..."
Qin Xiao took the box, opened it, and glanced at the several pale blue test tubes inside. His eyes flickered slightly. He closed the lid and casually stuffed it into his coat pocket.
"This thing is still useful." He said lightly, without explaining its use, nor did he look at the antibody box again, as if it was just an insignificant little thing.
He turned his gaze to the Saker Falcon: "Can you still move?"
Hai Dongqing gritted his teeth and stood up despite the leg injury: "Yes!"
"Very good." Qin Xiao nodded. "Pack up and evacuate in ten minutes. We can't stay here anymore."
"Evacuate? Where to?" 739 asked blankly. With his backbone gone and Mr. Gu in this state, he was completely lost.
Qin Xiao pointed at the tightly bound, semi-conscious Viper lying on the ground. "Follow the address he gave us and find a new boat. The old man's death has left behind a mess and enough enemies for everyone to suffer. We must leave this sea area before we are blocked."
His thoughts were terrifyingly clear, as if he had anticipated the tragedy and chaos before him and had quickly planned his next step.
"Then... Mr. Gu..." 739 looked worriedly at the figure curled up in the corner, as if his soul had left his body.
Qin Xiao also looked back, his eyes complicated for a moment, and then he returned to his nonchalant look.
"He's coming with me." His tone was calm, yet it carried an unquestionable sense of possession and control. "He needs someone to 'take care of' him now."
take care of?
739 and Hai Dongqing exchanged glances, both feeling a strange feeling. Qin Xiao and Mr. Gu…didn't have a close relationship before, and it could even be said that they had some subtle opposition. Right after Brother Yu died, he…
But at this moment, there seemed to be no better choice. Mr. Gu was clearly not in good condition, and they were struggling to protect themselves. Qin Xiao's ability and ruthlessness seemed to be their only support at the moment.
"Hurry up." Qin Xiao said no more, turned and walked towards the warehouse door to check the condition of the vehicle.
739 and Haidongqing suppressed their doubts and grief, and began to gather their strength to pack up their few remaining equipment and clean up the traces.
In the corner of the warehouse, Gu Jing still maintained the same posture, motionless.
Only in the gaps between his drooping hair could one occasionally see his tightly clenched fists. Because of excessive force, his nails had already dug deeply into his palms, oozing blood, which dripped silently along the gaps between his fingers, drop by drop, onto the cold and rough ground.
Small, dark red, desperate flowers bloomed one after another.
And in his eyes hidden by his long hair, beneath the empty and dead silence, is there a surging undercurrent that is powerful enough to burn everything?
No one knows.
Ten minutes later.
Two simply handled vehicles drove out of the abandoned warehouse filled with the smell of death and despair and drove into the deeper night.
In one car were Qin Xiao, the completely silent Gu Jing, and the "Viper" thrown in the trunk.
In the other car were 739, Saker Falcon and the remaining team members.
Instead of heading towards the dock, the convoy headed in the opposite direction of Pelican Harbor, speeding along the desolate coastline.
Qin Xiao was driving, holding the steering wheel with one hand and a cigarette in the other, occasionally glancing through the rearview mirror at Gu Jing, who was sitting in the passenger seat like a doll.
Gu Jing tilted his head to look at the dark sea rapidly receding outside the window, his eyes empty and without any focus.
"Don't look at it anymore." Qin Xiao suddenly said, his voice devoid of emotion. "Things that are completely dead cannot be retrieved."
Gu Jing's body stiffened slightly, still without any reaction. Only his clenched fists tightened a little more, causing blood to ooze out even faster.
Qin Xiao seemed to sneer and stopped talking.
The convoy finally stopped at a small, extremely secluded private boat dock, where a plain-looking, but obviously specially modified, medium-sized speedboat was already parked.
"Change boat. Hurry." Qin Xiao ordered, got out of the car first, and helped Gu Jing out of the car.
Gu Jing let him do whatever he wanted, his steps light as if he was walking on clouds.
739 and Haidongqing also dragged their injured bodies and struggled to lift the unconscious "Viper" onto the speedboat.
The speedboat's engine started, emitting a low hum, and slowly sailed away from the dock, heading towards the wider and more unknown high seas.
The salty, cold sea breeze blew in my face.
Gu Jing stood on the deck, his frail body swaying slightly in the wind, as if he would be blown away at any moment. His gaze remained fixed on the coastline he had come from, which had long since disappeared, on the sea of fire that had engulfed everything, and on... that person.
Qin Xiao walked behind him and put a coat on him.
Gu Jing didn't look back, nor did he say thank you.
a long time.
When the coastline completely disappeared from sight, when there was only the endless, dark ocean around.
Gu Jing very slowly loosened his tightly clenched, blood-stained fist.
Deep in the palm of his hand, there was nothing but blurry flesh and blood.
He slowly raised his hand, looked at the dripping blood, and looked at his empty palm.
Then, he slowly, slowly raised his hand to his lips.
He extended his tongue and licked the wound on his palm very slowly.
The movements were eerily, creepily calm and...mad.
The salty taste of blood filled my mouth.
He closed his eyes and took a deep, deep breath of the cold, death-scented sea breeze.
When I opened my eyes again, I looked out at the dark and boundless sea ahead.
In his eyes, the last bit of human fluctuation was completely annihilated.
Only pure, cold, bottomless...
dark.
Qin Xiao stood behind him, looking at him quietly. The cynical curve at the corner of his mouth gradually disappeared, and his eyes became deep and unfathomable.
He said nothing, but turned his head and looked into the same unknown darkness.
The speedboat broke through the waves and headed towards the bottomless future.
The white wave trail left by the stern was quickly swallowed up by the dark ocean.
As if nothing had happened.
It also seems as if everything has just begun.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
