RotA – Chapter 65

The Floating City had just received important news from the Fog Zone Base. If Yi Shuyun were to leave the Base Research Institute to help guide them now, it would only bring unnecessary trouble for Chai Yuening and Chu Ci.

After all, their identities were too sensitive: one, a classified sample who had nearly been incinerated by the Base; the other, the thief who had stolen said sample.

Fortunately, they had brought back important research findings, and the military needed them to lead the way to the Fog Zone Base, so their situation wouldn’t be too dire for the time being.

But moving about freely would be rather difficult.

The one who had led them out of the institute that day was Ye Qing. This was a detail best kept from the military. Ye Qing was Yi Shuyun’s assistant, free to come and go throughout the Base and known by many. Having her lead the search for someone meant they wouldn’t be turned away at the door.

But they had to be fast—the faster, the better. Otherwise, once the Base had time to react, their freedom of movement would surely be restricted.

The white van drove over a smooth, wide bridge, the lights on either side illuminating the long roadway.

Before leaving the institute, Ye Qing had someone help her look up the old woman’s family information. Now, the navigation system in the van was guiding them in a mechanical voice.

“Zhang Hanqing, ninety-four years old, a member of the Old World’s Secret Research Institute. After arriving at the Base, she devoted herself to the study of species fusion, making many outstanding contributions to the Base Research Institute. She was a respected senior.” Ye Qing kept her hands on the steering wheel, her eyes fixed on the wide bridge ahead. “But twenty-three years ago, she suddenly went mad after a surface mission. Her emotional state became very unstable; she would either be completely silent or spout nonsense. The Base had no choice but to have her leave the institute.”

“When she went mad, she was already over seventy. Her family, considering her a lunatic, forbade her from going outside on a daily basis, saying it was too embarrassing. But while they wouldn’t let her out, no one in the family was willing to keep her company, so they had to hire someone to care for her.” Ye Qing sighed with deep feeling. “If not for the monthly pension the Base gave her—a sum large enough for her entire family to live comfortably without working—an old woman with her condition probably wouldn’t have survived for so long.”

“So they were keeping her for the money…” Chai Yuening couldn’t help but frown.

“Yes,” Ye Qing nodded. “Not exactly them. Her daughter passed away early, and her grandson never had much of a bond with her and also passed away a few years ago. As for her great-grandson, he’s in his twenties and can’t remember ever seeing her in a normal state. How could he possibly care about her? Many people who knew of her said that her life was no different from being under house arrest… Even the people paid to care for her rarely treated her with kindness.”

“She was very quiet.” Chai Yuening still remembered that the old woman spoke very little. Most of the time, she sat on her bed listening to the radio. Occasionally, she would open her unfocused eyes to look at her, her mouth opening as if to say something, only to stop herself.

In everyone’s eyes, the old woman was a lunatic, and no one wanted to listen to a lunatic’s words.

She had grown accustomed to being ignored, so she had long since stopped speaking readily.

Aside from the last sentence the old woman spoke on the day she mutated, Chai Yuening had never heard anything else from her.

She suddenly felt a pang of regret that she hadn’t put any real care into looking after the old woman. If only she had chatted with her, even just to listen to the nonsensical ramblings that others found so ridiculous, perhaps the old woman would have felt a little better, and she herself might have gleaned some useful information.

Filled with this regret, she gazed out the window at the thick clouds in the distance, which shrouded the scattered lights of the city’s tall buildings.

Drones could be seen everywhere, patrolling around the main city.

They followed Ye Qing to a residential complex, took an elevator up a tall building, and knocked on an iron door.

“Who is it? So late at night…”

“Base Research Institute, Ye Qing.”

A man in his twenties with greasy hair and a slightly paunchy build, wearing only a tank top and shorts, pushed the door open.

He saw Ye Qing first and subconsciously straightened his posture, a flicker of unease in his eyes. But when his gaze fell upon Chai Yuening, a look of confusion appeared.

Chai Yuening recognized him at a glance.

It was her former employer, Mr. Wang.

The old woman’s great-grandson. On the day the old woman had her incident, he had tried to push all the blame onto her, terrified that his great-grandmother’s mutation would implicate him.

“What… what’s going on?”

“Base Research Institute. We’d like to ask about your great-grandmother,” Ye Qing said.

“Didn’t we clear this up last time?” Mr. Wang said with a placating smile, making way for the three people outside. As he welcomed them in, he said, “I really don’t know why she mutated. I barely had any contact with her. Besides, my great-grandmother didn’t hurt anyone. It’s… it’s been so long, the Base isn’t still going to pursue this, are they?”

As he spoke, he glanced at Chai Yuening and quickly pointed a finger. “My great-grandmother mutated right in front of her. If you have any questions, ask her.”

Ye Qing: “Does she know why I’m here to see you?”

Mr. Wang: “…”

Ye Qing: “Relax, I’m not from the military. I just want to clarify a few things that are somewhat related to our research. I’m not here to assign blame.” Ye Qing smiled and sat on the sofa, with Chai Yuening and Chu Ci standing to her left and right.

The two of them stood there with serious expressions. Though they meant no harm, their presence made Mr. Wang’s heart leap into his throat.

He had been about to sit, but halfway down, he shot back up. He leaned forward slightly, his hands unconsciously clasped in front of him, and stammered, “This… this… what research? In my family, no one’s been involved in research since my grandmother’s generation. My old man passed away years ago. I… I don’t know anything about research concerning my great-grandmother…”

“I heard the old woman often said strange things. Do you remember any of it?”

“How… how could I remember? I had no contact with her on a daily basis, just hired someone to look after her.”

“No contact at all?”

“Uh, a little, I guess… But who would remember that kind of crazy talk?”

Ye Qing frowned. “A little is still something. Tell me.”

Mr. Wang nodded and bowed. “When I was a kid, I saw her a few times. My mom said it was pitiful for her to live alone, so we brought her home for about half a year. But she was too strange, so we sent her away again.”

He thought back carefully and said, “She was always saying things about gods, humans, and sin. Every time she opened her mouth, it was either about retribution or how the world was going to end…”

As Mr. Wang spoke, he suddenly sucked in a sharp breath, terrified. “I won’t be charged with a crime for saying this, will I?”

Ye Qing: “No, just keep talking…”

Mr. Wang: “She also said… something would come, and that day wasn’t far off…”

Chai Yuening: “What thing?”

Mr. Wang: “How should I know?”

Chai Yuening pressed him, “Anything else?”

Mr. Wang frowned and scratched his head for a long time before finally saying, “Flowers. She often mentioned flowers, saying they were in the abyss…”

Chu Ci unconsciously murmured, repeating the word, “The abyss…”

Mr. Wang: “Ah, right. A flower blooms in the abyss.”

Chai Yuening: “What flower? What abyss?”

Mr. Wang: “I don’t know…”

Chai Yuening: “Who else took care of her? Can you provide their identities and addresses?”

Mr. Wang: “How could I remember that? Most of them were migrant workers from the outer city. They’d work for a few days and then run off, not even bothering to sign a contract… Who knows, maybe they were all blown up along with the outer city?”

Chai Yuening unconsciously took two deep breaths.

He didn’t know, he didn’t remember—every question led to a dead end. She had never met such an unreliable family member.

She glanced around the room. Ye Qing continued to question the man but still only got useless nonsense in return.

In the end, they left with only a single sheet of paper. On it were several nicknames that were a headache just to look at, along with their corresponding, vague physical descriptions.

Xiao Lu, Xiao Fang, Xiao An, Auntie Chen, Sister Yang, Sister Wang…

This one was tall and thin, that one had dark skin, one had small eyes, another had a large mouth.

Chai Yuening sighed heavily. “Can we really find anyone with this information?”

Ye Qing: “We can try.”

Chai Yuening turned to look at Chu Ci. She was as silent as ever, but her eyes no longer held their former placid, well-like stillness.

She pressed her lips together, wanting to offer some comfort, but she didn’t know what to say.

That night, Ye Qing took them back to her home. The apartment was exactly as it had been when Chai Yuening first visited; the furnishings hadn’t changed in the slightest.

“You two sleep in the bedroom. I’ll be fine on the sofa,” Ye Qing said, pulling a thin blanket from the closet. She turned, walked out of the bedroom, and tossed it onto the sofa.

However, they didn’t get a good night’s sleep.

The two had just taken turns washing off the dust of their journey and hadn’t even dried their hair when they heard a heavy knock on the door.

The military had sent people to “collect” them. Ye Qing, who had just changed into a nightgown, grabbed her communicator to call Yi Shuyun while chasing them all the way downstairs, but in the end, she couldn’t stop the military from taking them away.

“Don’t worry, I’m here. It’ll be fine!”

Yi Shuyun’s voice came from the other end of the communicator. She was calming Ye Qing’s emotions, but also reassuring Chai Yuening and Chu Ci, hoping they wouldn’t act rashly.

As it turned out, they were indeed fine. The military simply wanted them under their watch.

They were moved into a military district building filled with surveillance cameras, which was quite close to the research institute.

Liu An brought them a communicator. It had only two frequency options. He told them that if they needed anything, they could contact him or Dr. Yi.

He said the Base was grateful for their return and, more importantly, needed them to guide the way. The Base would treat them with courtesy and provide protection.

The Floating City would keep them placated but wouldn’t grant them much freedom. This was exactly as expected; Chai Yuening wasn’t surprised at all.

When the door closed again, Chai Yuening looked at Chu Ci, who was sitting on the edge of the bed in a daze, and couldn’t help but walk over and ask, “What are you thinking about?”

“The abyss. That man mentioned the abyss,” Chu Ci murmured softly.

“Did you remember something?”

“The abyss… is it… ten thousand meters deep…”

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