Chapter 32: 32

Chapter 32: The Night Before the Storm

Lin Ning eventually managed to calm down. He’d completely forgotten he could use his powers to protect himself in the heat of the moment but was still really grateful for Li Chengyan from the bottom of his heart. His gaze followed Li Chengyan’s, which trailed toward the truck driver.

The driver was completely awake now. The trauma must’ve gotten to him – his body trembled, eyes wide. He stumbled out of the truck under the pedestrians’ gaze, but the moment Li Chengyan’s frigid face fell into view, his legs gave way, and he toppled onto the ground.

Lin Ning lowered his head, watching the man’s ghastly face. There seemed to be some fluctuations of power radiating off the man.

Li Chengyan felt the fluctuations, too. His face darkened.

“Do you know this man?” Lin Ning pulled out his tablet and showed the driver an image of Jiang Feng.

“I-I don’t.” The man shook his head.

He recognized the marshal, and that scared the living hell out of him. Was he crazy? Alarming a big figure like him? He couldn’t act out of line with the marshal’s merciless, cold eyes staring down on him. When Lin Ning asked, he answered like an elementary school student.

Lin Ning could’ve cut the air with a knife. The people around them didn’t make a peep. By the time Liu Yue rushed over, the driver was already with the police and the truck towed off. The place fell back into silence again.

A camera flashed, then disappeared into the crowd.

Lin Ning’s job wasn’t over. Why did he have to almost get hit by a truck now, of all times? The driver was in his way, and the police needed him to stay to give an account. As he struggled, a familiar voice sounded.

“What happened?” Liu Yue waved and ran over.

When Lin Ning saw Liu Yue, his eyes brightened. He loosened his grip on Li Chengyan’s sleeve and jogged over to Liu Yue, grabbing onto his arm like he’d caught a straw hanging on the edge of a cliff. He asked, agitated, “Can you do me a favor, Liu Yue?”

Li Chengyan looked at his sleeve, then at his adjutant. The soft tug at his sleeve was gone, the wrinkle of cloth cooling in the wind. It tingled.

Liu Yue wiped away a non-existent bead of sweat, answering, as courteously as he could muster, “Don’t stand on ceremony, Mr. Lin Ning. Tell me what you need.”

“…” Lin Ning couldn’t hear Liu Yue. He rubbed his temples, letting his powers pulse through his poor ears.

Liu Yue was lost. He looked to his superior for help, but Li Chengyan pulled Lin Ning behind him, then said to Liu Yue, “There’s something wrong with that man. The power fluctuations on him are not adding up, so keep an eye on him.”

Liu Yue nodded seriously.

“Go with the police. The camera’s taken everything down. Lin Ning and I have something else to take care of, so I’ll return later.” Li Chengyan turned away, pulling Lin Ning towards the police. 

Lin Ning followed in a daze, ears buzzing. The only thing he could make out was that the police had nodded right after Li Chengyan spoke to them as if permitting them to leave the scene. 

Were the policemen fans of Li Chengyan? As Lin Ning turned to rush to Chu Yunqi’s place, a thought popped into his mind.

They communicated through text. Li Chengyan drove the miniature aircraft Liu Yue brought over, leaving Liu Yue to stay on scene to tie up loose ends. Lin Ning couldn’t understand why Li Chengyan would go to such lengths for him, but also couldn’t bring himself to put his guard up. Even a peek at that man’s icy cold eyes somehow gave him hope.

Just having the man of top combat prowess in the entire galaxy stand there was enough to attract everyone’s admiration.

Lin Ning sat quietly in a corner, healing his ears with his powers as discreetly as he could. It was a good thing the buzz was temporary. Not long later, he could start hearing a thread of sound. 

Lin Ning let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Mr. Li. My ears feel much better. I’ve really been a bother this time.”

Li Chengyan nodded, staring straight ahead. The view out the window shot away as the miniature aircraft took off.  

The silence was so thick, you could cut through it with a knife. Lin Ning figured he had to do something to keep up a good relationship with Xizai’s other owner. After all, that man just saved his life. But the man was driving now… He probably wouldn’t like it if someone distracted him while he was busy, out of occupational habit. So Lin Ning thought a little longer and kept his mouth zipped.

The aircraft was so quiet it was painful. Lin Ning bit his lip, glancing at the famous marshal time and time again. As expected of the number one diamond bachelor of the galaxy. His face was amazing. His body was amazing. His personality was amazing. His social standing was amazing. And his combat abilities were out-of-this-world amazing. No wonder so many young boys and girls in the galaxy stanned him. Whose heartbeat wouldn’t race after looking at this man? 

Lin Ning eyed Li Chengyan from head to toe. [How’s it possible for men like him to exist, System? I feel like the poor relative of some mighty, wealthy family who’s using Xizai to get close to the marshal.]

The System was still in shock from the chain of events that had just transpired. How was Li Chengyan this hot? Adrenaline rushed through its system (haha) and it declared, [You’ve got to hold on tight to a man like this, Host! He’s the sort of guy you can see, but can’t hope for! Grab the moon while you’re still on the top of the pavilion, ya know? Snag him before you regret it!]

Lin Ning felt as if something was off with what the System was saying, but couldn’t exactly pinpoint what it was. He nodded. [Even if it’s just for Xizai’s sake, I’ve got to maintain a good relationship with him. What if he decides to claim full custody over Xizai? There won’t be anyone I can go crying to.]

The System nodded excitedly. [I had high expectations from you from the very start. You’re hot and bright. You can do it!]

He didn’t understand what being handsome had to do with getting along well with the marshall, but Lin Ning was always the sort of person who was great at self-persuasion. Maybe what the System meant was that good-looking people were usually regarded more kindly right off the bat. Yeah, that’s probably what the System meant.

*

The miniature aircraft hovered in front of a house. The two got off to knock on its door. No one answered. The pair exchanged glances.

Li Chengyan’s ears twitched. There was the sound of flowing water in the room and the faint scent of blood. Something wasn’t right. Li Chengyan kicked the door’s lock apart and pushed the door.

Lin Ning scurried after Li Chengyan.

The moment he stepped in, his foot landed in a puddle of water. The whole house was filled with traces of water. They ran towards the bathroom, its door left ajar. There laid a body in the white bathtub.

That young man had a face that reminded Lin Ning of sunshine, though it was tinged with pain. He was as pale as a sheet of paper. As he floated in the water, blood flowed out of his slit wrist, dyeing the tub of water pale crimson.

It was horrifying.

Lin Ning scrambled to help lift Chu Yunqi out. Li Chengyan’s face was as sunken as water and astonishingly cold, but he quickly called for an ambulance nevertheless.

Lin Ning couldn’t care less about the fact that there was an outsider with him. While Chu Yunqi’s breath was faint, he poured every ounce of power he could into healing the young man. Warm, pale green fluctuations of power wrapped over Chu Yunqi’s body in an instance, pulses of power ebbing and flowing into his body, pooling and concentrating most at his wrist to stop the flow of blood.

Good thing he’d helped Xizai with its wounds before, so he at least had some sort of experience. As he channeled the bulk of his power on the wrist, watching the gash slowly mend itself together, Lin Ning started to calm down. Using power did take energy, though – beads of sweat trickled down Lin Ning’s forehead, his breath picking up.

Li Chengyan narrowed his eyes, staring at Chu Yunqi’s ghastly face. There were tiny fluctuations of power coming off of him, so weak they were almost undetectable. If it weren’t for the fact that he had abnormally highly-developed powers, he wouldn’t have noticed it. Although most of his memories were still currently lost, the ability to detect and feel power was a skill long ingrained deep in his bones. It was instinct.

It was a familiar feeling, the same as the power fluctuations that came off the man on the truck. The hand behind it was skilled, like an invisible assassination.

Three minutes later, a miniature ambulance aircraft rushed over. Lin Ning finally relaxed.

“I’ll accompany him to the hospital. You?”

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Li Chengyan circled the room and halted. “I’ll stay here to watch over the scene. The police will be here soon, so don’t worry.”

The man’s low voice was emotionless, but, somehow, it calmed Lin Ning. With the marshal guarding Chu Yunqi’s home, nothing could go wrong.

Lin Ning nodded, then boarded the ambulance.

He watched the paramedics buzz around Chu Yunq from the aircraft, a little nauseous. He’d gone overboard with his powers. Man, this body was way too fragile.

Looks like he’d have to put effort into working out.

Although he could hear, there was still a slight buzz in his ears. Lin Ning closed his eyes, scene after scene floating in and out of his head, his eardrum temples pulsing.

He remembered how he had bumped into the marshal in Ward Six when he first came to the Interstellar. Who would’ve thought he’d start crossing paths with the marshal soon after? Heck, he was even sitting on an ambulance aircraft now.

He chuckled softly, thinking to himself how odd fate worked. Crossing paths with Li Chengyan had to be fate, huh?

The aircraft landed soon, and Chu Yunqi was hoisted off the ambulance. Lin Ning glanced outside. Fate was at it again: the ambulance that delivered Chu Yunqi was from Ward Six. He was back to where he started. Lin Ning followed the group into the hospital, watching the medics push Chu Yunqi into the emergency room.

*

Jiang Feng glared at the image in his hands, fuming.

The photo’s background was that of a busy street overflowing with cars and pedestrians. A young man stood shielded by a taller man before him, and in front of the two was a truck with a huge dent on its hood.

He was familiar with the two in the picture: one was Lin Ning, while the other – he could barely believe it himself – was the marshal, Li Chengyan. Damn! What the hell was Li Chengyan doing over there? He even saved Lin Ning’s life!

He flung the antique porcelain vase beside him, the sound of shattering china piercing the air. The maid in the room jumped. As she bent down to pick the shards, a second voice exploded beside her.

“GET OUT!!!”

Jing Feng’s hand flew toward the door, the veins in his red-rimmed eyes seeming to crackle. The maid scurried off.

Getting rid of Lin Ning was supposed to be easy. But now that Li Chengyan was involved… If anything went wrong, it’d be over for him… Even though he’d always been confident in his powers, Jiang Feng wasn’t willing to bet that he’d go completely unnoticed by the marshal.

He massaged the spot between his eyebrows, thoughts crumbling. Calm down, calm down, calm down… All Li Chengyan did was run into Lin Ning and save him, nothing more and nothing less. There was no way he’d involve himself in this case from here on out.

At least Chu Yunqi was dead now. The traces of Jiang Feng’s power will fade soon, and there’d be no way to tie him to the case. But the truck driver… there was still a margin for error. That driver didn’t know Jiang Feng, though, so it’d be hard to trace things back to him. 

Jiang Feng got the feeling that this was nothing but empty assurance, but with Li Chengyan popping out of nowhere, his plans had gone to shit. Lin Ning wasn’t dead, and now there was a gaping hole in his flawless plan. He was losing control.

“Fuck!” 

Ding! His tablet rang. Jiang Feng rushed over to check the message.

Bad news, Jiang! I was watching Chu Yunqi’s place. Lin Ning and the marshal sent him to the hospital.

Hey, you said there was no way things could go wrong! You never said someone like the marshal would appear! The place is crawling with cops. If they catch me in the security footage, you’d have fucked me over! I’m in hiding now, but you have to do something!

For a moment, Jiang Feng’s head went blank. His fingers hovered over the keyboard for a while: What? Didn’t you tell me Chu Yunqi was already dead?

The reply came swiftly: How the fuck should I know? He was already lying in the tub, and the tub was red. That’s what I saw through the window. If that wasn’t blood what else could it have been? But with Lin Ning and Li Chengyan here, who knows what kind of miracle medicine the marshal might’ve used? Anyway, the man’s gone now, and the police have secured the scene. 

Jiang Feng was so mad, he thought he was going to see red. His eyes were bloodshot now, and he was panting. 

“Bad news, ma’am. We don’t know what made the young master furious, but he smashed your favorite antique vase–” The maid rushed over to the mistress of the house now that she was home. The mistress must’ve known how to calm the young master down. “Maybe his power’s rampaging. He just had a checkup at the hospital not long ago, though…” 

The woman was dolled up. She had the gentle, glowing aura of a pearl, a sort of soft gracefulness that was almost ethereal. She listened on, then set her newly-bought jade down, the soft tapping of her footsteps fading as she moved upstairs. As she opened the door to the room full of chaos, the woman exclaimed, “You know that’s my favorite antique vase, sweetheart! It’s priceless! Do you have any idea how much effort it took just to get my hands on it? What’s going on?”

Jiang Feng turned around, his bloodshot eyes coming into view. 

The woman’s heart couldn’t help but ache for her baby. She ordered a home robot over to clean up the porcelain shards on the floor. “Were your powers rampaging again? I’ll call the family doctor over– ”

Jiang Feng shook his head, the look in his eyes suddenly settling into frigidity. “Get out, mom.”

The woman stared. This was the first time her son had ever spoken to her like that. For a moment, she was hurt. She continued, ignoring the pang in her heart “No. If we don’t do anything while your powers are still rampaging, your body will– ”

Jiang Feng lowered his head, forcing a flare of anger down. “Mom. You need to get out. Don’t call anyone. If father comes home, stall him. He can’t come in here. Also…”

*

When Jiang Ying returned home, the first thing he noticed was that his wife wasn’t downstairs to greet him. The whole house was so silent, that you could hear a pin drop. 

“Where’s Feng and my wife? It’s not every day we get to have Feng home, so why the long faces– ” Jiang Ying loosened his necktie as he berated the staff. “Is this how you welcome the master of the house?”

The maids glanced at one another, silent.

But when the woman glided down the stairs, everything was back to normal. She joked, gently, “Lecturing someone again? How many times have I told you not to? You never change.”

Jiang Ying grinned. “It’s because I’ve been missing my son. He hasn’t been back home in ages. If he can’t find any comfort here, I’ve failed as a father.”

The woman walked over and placed her head on his shoulders. “Alright, alright, I know you love our son best.” Then she waved her hand, signaling the maids to leave. “Why don’t you all take a break?”

His son was nowhere to be found. That was odd. “He used to come down to greet me all the time. What happened? I’ll go check on him– ”

The woman rushed to grab his hand. “Oh, look at you. You worry too much! Feng’s been being pressured to release a new single again lately, and the stress of not being able to produce a good song’s getting to him. He wants to be alone, so don’t you bother him.”

The man paused, then nodded. “That makes sense. I’ve been excited about our son’s new song, too. When it gets released, I’ll make sure his sales break. It’ll be amazing, that song!”

The woman quickly handed the man a glass of water, then gave him a quick back rub. “I’ll show you the jade I just bought. I’m wearing it just for you, you know. The monk said it’ll protect the Jiang family’s wealth and aid our business…”

The man listened and laughed, pulling the woman close to his chest.

The woman’s eyes glittered gently. But worry crept up her heart – she was afraid.

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