Sundering Nature

TL: Zhao

Editing: Krisaia

"When I got out of work today, I saw a girl standing there in the cold. My first reaction was to go help her, and so I gave her my coat and wrapped my arms around her. I couldn’t change her life, but at least I was able to give her some warmth..." The man stared at his hands and said earnestly, with eyes as pure as a spring in the mountains.

"After that, I was worried about her going home alone, so I offered to see her home. When I arrived, I saw how poorly decorated the place was. Officer, there wasn’t even a usable chair in the room! So I put three hundred yuan on her table..." The man sighed and raised his head, pausing his story briefly.

Across the metal table sat a woman in a navy and black uniform. She seemed to be repressing her laughter as she stopped writing on her notebook and looked back at the man.

"Very moving. I’d almost believe you if it wasn’t for the fact that you had your pants off when we came in. Alright, so what is it going to be, are you going to call your supervisor at work, or your family?" The police officer adjusted her hat and continued to write on her notebook.

"Officer, you have to believe me. I was about to leave when you arrived..."

"Alright. Let me tell you something. Your stories don’t even match." Another officer who happened to pass by remarked.

"What... what did she say?" The man asked.

"She said that she was a saleswoman for condoms and was just about to perform a product demonstration." The officer glanced at another compartment in the office.

The man looked down in frustration. As he was about to devise another explanation, a pair of well-polished leather shoes appeared. He raised his head and saw a man with a stern expression.

"Are you An Xing?" The newcomer said frigidly.

"Yes..." The man answered in a low voice. Although the man did not wear a police uniform, he possessed such an authoritative air that he did not dare affront him.

"I’m sorry, you are..." The female officer stood up from her seat.

The man did not answer back. Instead, he scrutinized An Xing with interest as he handed over a small booklet and a pile of paper to the officer.

"National Security? Yun Yiyuan?" The police officer was baffled by the golden badge that was shown on the first page of the little booklet that she opened.

"The files should speak for themselves. I thought about inviting you to assist me in his arrest, but you’ve been faster than expected." Yu Yiyuan with a severe countenance.

"You’re here for him?" The police officer went through the files, each of which were stamped and signed by every superior she could think of.

"You have five minutes to verify this. You should know how to do it." Yun Yiyuan looked at his watch impatiently.

"Please wait a moment..." The female officer signaled her colleague and dashed toward the interior of the office building.

Catching on the signal, her colleague came forth to attend to Yun Yiyuan, and naturally placed himself between An Xing and Yu Yiyuan to prevent any kind of incident.

The female officer soon returned, looking agitated; the documents’ authenticity was verified, confirming that An Xing was a big fish wanted by National Security. With such an achievement, it would not be long before she received a promotion.

"Sorry to have made you wait. Please sign here. Do you need an escort?" The female officer threw a quick glance at the door, trying to spot any colleague of Yu Yiyuan’s.

"That won’t be necessary." Yun Yiyuan signed the document and turned toward An Xing, who was at a loss for words. "Alright, let’s go."

"Go? To where? What’s happening?" An Xing was a little confused. He did not know what his minor crime of calling on a prostitute had to do with National Security.

The doors to the office were suddenly flung open, and two officers entered escorting a young blond man. As the young man was dragged forward, he continued hurling out insults and struggling, suggesting that he may have been under the influence of drugs. The moment he entered the room, the young man started to resist violently, almost freeing himself from the grasp of the policemen. Fortunately, a few more officers leaped on the man just in the nick of time and put him on the ground before he could cause further trouble.

Yun Yiyuan looked at the blond young man and smiled coldly. He turned back toward An Xing and said in a glacial voice, "So, are you going to move by yourself, or would you rather be treated like him?"

An Xing caught up with Yun Yiyun obediently. The female officer could barely contain her excitement as she watched the two leave the station.

"What happened?" Her colleague asked.

"We did it! That An Xing, he’s wanted by National Security!" The officer said in a low voice.

"Are you serious?" Her colleague was ecstatic as well due to his contribution to An Xing’s arrest.

"Excuse me. I’d like to know more about this person. He’s just been brought in, hasn’t he?" A pleasant voice interrupted their conversation.

"Ah?" The female officer turned around, her face flushed. It was hard to know whether she could not contain her excitement, or if she was simply embarrassed for showing such a side of her at a stranger.

"Excuse me, what are you here for?" The male officer, who was more level-headed, made a display of professionalism.

"I’m looking for this person." Qing Linglong gave him a picture and a small booklet.

"This person... National Security?" The male officer was bemused.

The female officer also stared back at the Qing sisters with wide eyes.

"What is it?" The change in the two officers’ attitude caught Qing Linglong’s attention.

"Isn’t he..."

"Excuse us, we need to verify your ID first." The female officer interrupted her colleague, being more vigilant and attentive. She knew that the extraordinary event which just occurred had the potential of turning into a disaster.

"We’re tight on time..." Qing Linglong had a feeling that something was wrong.

"I’m sorry, but we’re simply following procedures..." The female officer regained her composure. She scrutinized Qing Qiaoqiao, obviously suspicious of her young age, and disappeared into the hallway.

"Can you tell me what happened here?" As soon as the female officer left, Qing Qiaoqiao turned toward the male officer with a smile, only a flash of red light appeared in her eyes.

"We’ve just caught someone called An Xing, who was involved in prostitution." The male officer narrated in an emotionless voice.

"And then?" Qing Qiaoqiao invited him to continue.

"One of your colleagues came and took him away..."

"Our colleague?" Qing Qiaoqiao was surprised.

"Yes, someone from National Security."

"When did that happen?"

"Just now, five minutes ago."

"Eyeglasses, go get the surveillance feed. We’ve lost our target." Qing Linglong dashed out of the room.

Eyeglasses wasted no time and went through his monitoring system with precision and speed.

"Nothing... I can’t find anything..." Eyeglasses threw the mouse to the side and said in frustration.

"Linglong, are you in the police station?"

"Yes." Qing Linglong looked left and right; the street was completely empty.

"Are you sure that it happened just now?" Big Beard sought confirmation.

"Yes."

"Well, at least we know that there are more than one of them." Big Beard sighed.

"What is it?" Qing Linglong asked.

"My target is also dead. Clean blow to the head, and his blood is still warm..." Big Beard said with a scorched voice.

"Holy shit..." Eyeglasses pulled on his hair and changed the surveillance feed once again. This time, Big Beard and his conspicuous car appeared on the screen.

"Nothing here either..." Eyeglasses knew that his efforts were most likely in vain, but still opted to check.

"Do you know someone called Yu Yiyuan?" Qing Qiaoqiao asked her teammates as she came back running from the police station with Qing Linglong’s ID piece.

"Yun Yiyuan?" Qing Linglong screamed.

"Yes. The people in the station said that the person who came before us was called Yun Yiyuan. It’s a fake name, of course." Qing Qiaoqiao looked at her sister, who seemed to have had a jump-scare as soon as she heard the name.

"Yun Yiyuan... The Spear That Pierces the Clouds..." Big Beard almost bit his cigar into two halves.

"Didn’t Yiming..." Eyeglasses tried his best to adjust his breathing.

"You mean that sage who was..." Qing Qiaoqiao was interrupted by her sister, preventing her from talking any further about the events that had occurred in the previous domain.

"What is he doing here?" Qing Linglong said with a frown. She then remembered Stargaze and Li Huaibei. ’Three sages, and yet one is meditating, one is drinking, and Yun Yiyuan is busy... doing our mission?’

"He’s playing around..." A lazy voice was heard. Stargaze had finally put on a smile as she gazed at the placid lake surface.