He Ran Away
1162 Words
Cangnan City, a tall building.
Creak.
The door was pushed open slowly, and Zhao Kongcheng walked in listlessly, sighing from time to time.
"Old Zhao, what's wrong with you?"
Five people sitting inside looked at Zhao Kongcheng with surprise.
"Got hurt last night?"
"Judging by that look, I'd say… heartbreak."
"Damn, Old Zhao, don't tell me your wife's divorcing you?"
"Stop talking nonsense."
The five of them kept guessing, one after another. After a while, the silent Zhao Kongcheng let out a long sigh.
"Am I really… that unattractive?"
"…"
The five rolled their eyes at the same time and pretended not to hear him, going back to their own business—one sharpening a blade, another cleaning a g*n, one scrolling on a phone, another taking a nap.
"I'm serious!" Zhao Kongcheng got anxious.
Seeing no one responding, Hong Ying, who was cleaning his g*n, sighed. "Kongcheng, did something hit you hard?"
"Sort of." Zhao paused. "Last night, I met the owner of the Golden f*******n Ruins."
At those words, everyone's head snapped up. They stopped what they were doing, eyes lighting up.
"You mean the one suspected to be the Seraph's agent?"
"Yeah."
"Is he strong? Who is he?"
"You're overthinking it." Zhao shook his head. "Just an ordinary high schooler. That 'Klein'-level energy fluctuation was probably just residual power left by the Seraph. Right now, he's just a newbie who's barely stepped into the 'Lamp' realm."
Hearing that, they looked a little disappointed.
"We thought a 'Klein'-level powerhouse had come to Cangnan City…"
"Well, if that extremely dangerous god had really chosen an agent who'd already reached 'Klein' level, the higher-ups would know."
The man on the sofa narrowed his eyes. "Either way, the Seraph choosing an agent and granting divine ruins is a big deal. We need to report this to the higher-ups immediately."
"By the way, Old Zhao, since you met him, where is he? You didn't bring back someone this important?"
"He ran away…" Zhao said helplessly. "He told me he was going to grab his backpack, and while I was distracted, he bolted."
"…" Everyone was speechless.
Just as they were about to start roasting him, the door opened again.
A man in a dark red cloak walked in, blood still on his face, steps heavy as if filled with lead.
Seeing him, everyone—including Zhao Kongcheng—immediately stood up.
"Captain!"
"Captain, are you okay?"
The captain waved his hand, took off the bloodstained cloak, and sat down on a small stool by the door, his face full of exhaustion.
"I'm fine. But… the Ghost Mask King escaped."
Everyone's expressions turned grim.
"I chased it all the way to the northern outskirts last night," the captain continued. "We fought, I injured it badly, but it forcefully burned its life source to escape."
"So it might have already left Cangnan City?"
"Not necessarily." The man on the sofa suddenly spoke.
Everyone looked at him. The captain raised an eyebrow. "Go on, Xiangnan."
Wu Xiangnan stood up slowly, pulled a map of Cangnan's surroundings from under the sofa, and spread it out on the floor.
"Cangnan is in a remote spot, far from other cities. The northern outskirts where the captain fought it are still dozens of kilometers from the nearest city besides ours." He circled an area on the map.
"So what?" Hong Ying asked, confused.
The captain's eyes lit up. "The Ghost Mask King is badly injured. Without recovering its strength, it can't travel that far."
Wu Xiangnan nodded. "And to recover strength, it has to eat people. Which means…"
"It will definitely come back to Cangnan City?"
"Exactly."
Zhao Kongcheng frowned. "But Cangnan is huge. We don't know where it'll show up."
"The sewers." Wu Xiangnan adjusted his glasses, using a red pen to draw a line on the map. "Ghost-masked creatures love the sewers. And last time, the Ghost Mask King escaped through them. There's only one sewer line connecting the northern outskirts to the city, so it's very likely it'll reappear somewhere along this route."
"Send people to search along this sewer immediately. This time, it must not escape!" The captain's eyes flashed coldly as he gave the order.
"Understood!"
"One more thing," Wu Xiangnan turned to Zhao Kongcheng. "We must bring the Seraph's agent back. His potential is huge—we can't let the Ancient God Church get to him first! In some ways, this is even more urgent than clearing the Ghost Mask King."
Zhao Kongcheng straightened his back. "Leave it to me! I'll catch that kid myself!"
"He ran away, though. You think you can find him?" Hong Ying muttered.
"He's wearing Second High's uniform. I'll wait at the school gate today. No way he slips past me!" Zhao grinned confidently.
…
"Bro, why aren't you going to school today?" Yang Jin looked at Lin Qiye, who wasn't wearing his school uniform and hadn't brought his backpack.
"Got something to do today, not going." Lin Qiye put on his shoes and opened the door. "Aunt's still sleeping?"
"She got back about an hour ago."
"Got it. Make sure you head to school early. Don't copy me."
"Okay."
Lin Qiye closed the door, quietly took off the black ribbon over his eyes, and slipped it into his pocket.
His eyesight had returned, but he hadn't told his aunt or Yang Jin yet. First, because his aunt had been on night shift and they hadn't met. Second, he had just regained his eyes and still couldn't fully control the power within them. Sometimes that golden light still flashed in his pupils—not very obvious, but if his aunt saw it, she'd definitely make him get his eyes checked again, wasting money.
He planned to wait until he had full control before telling them.
Since he was outside, there was no need to wear the black ribbon—it would draw too much attention.
Instead, Lin Qiye took out the sunglasses Yang Jin had bought him, put them on, and strode toward the bus stop.
After more than an hour of bumping along, he finally reached his destination.
Sunshine Psychiatric Hospital.
The last time Lin Qiye came here was ten years ago.
In that time, both he and the hospital had changed a lot.
The old walls had been redone, the gate widened twice over, two modern high-rises had replaced the old three-story building, and even the "Sunshine Psychiatric Hospital" sign was now gold-stamped.
Standing at the gate, Lin Qiye could no longer match this modern hospital with the small building in his memory.
The only thing that hadn't changed was the old gatekeeper.
He was much more hunched now, his hair almost all white.
The old man seemed to notice Lin Qiye, squinted, and raised a finger toward him…
Lin Qiye thought he remembered him and was about to greet him when—
The old man shouted loudly:
"Hey! You dumb kid over there! You're blocking the cars!"
- Writer
