chapter 2
02 Stray Dog
“This is no place for you to be.”
Gu Qing walked effortlessly up to the Green Scythe Demon and began mumbling gibberish, looking like some mad shaman performing a ritual.
Because everyone’s attention was focused on him at that moment—perhaps because his expression was too calm, a calmness that carried a certain eerie quality—they all forgot to move and just stared at him.
Gu Qing looked up, gazing at the Green Scythe Demon before him. The demon was over three meters tall, and he had to try very hard to see its eyes. Now it suddenly stopped feeding, lowered its head, and its dark green vertical pupils stared at him.
The world suddenly became incredibly quiet, until Gu Qing started mumbling gibberish again.
“In ten minutes, the Alliance will send an S-class Eradicator here, and then you’ll definitely die here.”
“So, run quickly.”
Everyone’s breath suddenly froze. In the moment after his words fell, the Green Scythe Demon suddenly rose into the air. The white bone scythe in its hand suddenly merged with its body, flowing like liquid, reshaping until it formed a pair of flesh wings on its back. It flapped its wings, stirring up a fierce wind, and in just a few seconds, disappeared into the night sky.
Even though the Arbiters on the ground had already reacted, raising their weapons or concentrating energy, releasing bursts of explosive firelight, the Green Scythe Demon’s silhouette quickly became a mere dot in the night sky and vanished.
Gu Qing hesitated for a moment, looked at the weapons now aimed at him, and with a thud, slid to his knees with his hands raised.
…
“Name?”
“Gu Qing.”
“Age?”
“19.”
“Occupation?”
“Does being homeless count as an occupation?”
Gu Qing liked this place called the interrogation room.
Although he was handcuffed, there was a cup of hot water in front of him. The interrogation room had air conditioning and was especially warm, much better than the cold wind outside earlier. His coat was very thin, and outside he was always shivering from the cold.
Anyway, tonight he had only planned to find a warm place to get through the night, and the interrogation room seemed not bad.
“You, how were you able to drive away that Green Scythe Demon?”
The one interrogating him now was that female superhuman. Because she had given him money earlier, Gu Qing now felt quite favorable toward her, so he answered with particular frankness, “Because my E-class ability is to talk to demons. I can say three sentences in demon language per day. The three sentences I said to him were…”
Gu Qing explained the three sentences he had said.
Ji Yueling stared into Gu Qing’s eyes, trying to find a trace of deception in his words and expression. Unfortunately, there was none.
“Then why did you walk up to it and say these words?”
“Because…” Gu Qing asked back, somewhat puzzled, “if I didn’t persuade it to leave, before the Alliance’s Eradicator arrived, it would have killed all of you, right?”
His expression was innocent, and his answer made sense.
If that Green Scythe Demon hadn’t panicked and fled, then after finishing eating that human heart, its next targets would likely have been them. Before the Alliance’s Eradicator arrived, they would have become nourishment in the Green Scythe Demon’s stomach.
“How did you know the Alliance’s Eradicator would arrive soon?”
This time it was Gu Qing’s expression that turned strange, and he asked in return, “Isn’t it on the news every day? Those S-class Eradicators from the Alliance will arrive within twenty minutes after the alarm sounds to eradicate all demons.”
“And the Green Scythe Demon, why would it believe your words?”
Gu Qing seemed somewhat helpless as he answered, “The Alliance has already published intelligence that demons that reach S-class have intelligence no different from humans and can even transform into human form to hide among them. If it could suddenly appear here, it must have been transformed into a human and hidden well. That being the case, it definitely knew it would die if it didn’t run, so I just reminded it.”
“Reminded?”
“Yes, although S-class demons have human intelligence, sometimes their feeding instinct takes over their rationality, and feeding becomes the most important thing in their eyes, causing them to reveal their true form. But they also instinctively fear death. So using demon language to remind it is equivalent to using the fear of death to awaken its rationality, which is why it chose to leave.”
“How do you know this?”
“This is also publicly available demon intelligence from the Alliance…” Gu Qing’s voice became somewhat weak.
Ji Yueling slightly narrowed her eyes, her gaze carefully examining Gu Qing before her. After several seconds, she finally spoke slowly, “The Alliance is verifying your personal information. If the verification is successful, you can leave here as early as tomorrow afternoon.”
Gu Qing nodded to show he understood.
“One last question.” Ji Yueling stared into his eyes and spoke softly.
“Are you willing to join the Alliance?”
“No.” Gu Qing shook his head.
“Reason?”
“Fear of death.”
“Your ability is very suitable for administrative work.”
“Fear of death.”
“Administrative personnel have a high safety rate and enjoy generous salaries and various privileges and benefits.”
“I really am afraid of death.” Gu Qing answered frankly and decisively, without hesitation.
…
At four o’clock the next afternoon, Gu Qing’s handcuffs were removed, and he was released from the interrogation room.
Although the heating in the interrogation room was adequate, sitting in a chair for so long was still exhausting. Gu Qing stretched his body. The interrogation room had provided lunch, and now he only needed to figure out dinner.
Fortunately, the unexpected money he’d received from Ji Yueling last night allowed him to confidently choose his dinner. Arriving at the familiar Shaxi small eatery, this time he didn’t order the six-yuan scallion oil noodles, but instead ordered fried rice with egg and a plate of green pepper and pork strips.
After hesitating for a second, he also took a bottle of cold beer from the refrigerator.
The fried rice had great wok hei, with each grain distinct. The only drawback was that it was a bit too oily, but that was fine since he rarely got much oil in his stomach. The green pepper and pork strips had doubanjiang added, giving it some extra spicy flavor, though the meat was a bit scarce.
Gu Qing ate quickly, looking like a starving ghost. In a few bites, he finished everything on the plate, tilted his head back to drink the last drop of beer, pulled out a napkin to wipe his lips, and started figuring out where to go next.
Normally at this time, he should be heading to the residential area to open treasure chests, but now that he had some surplus money and no worries about food and drink for the next two days, he instinctively started to feel lazy.
This was his second year in A City. Compared to the winters in E City and K City, A City’s cold winter was simply doomsday for wanderers. The Spring Festival was just a few days away, and many restaurants on the streets were closed. Migrant workers had already packed up to go home for the New Year, making the streets desolate and cold. Only yesterday, Valentine’s Day, had there been some foot traffic. Now the streets were nearly empty, with only fallen plane tree leaves covering the ground.
For a wanderer like him, this was desperate and miserable.
These days, asking for money on the street would be particularly difficult, but asking for a bowl of rice at a small restaurant wouldn’t be hard. However, most small restaurants by the roadside had closed their doors, and those luxuriously decorated big hotels would probably have security expel him as soon as he reached the entrance.
Gu Qing had been wandering outside for four years and had developed great endurance. Walking from Shaxi eatery to last night’s Huitiān Square took two hours, but when he arrived, his breathing was still steady. The girl in the corner of the square was already sitting there, still wearing that white hoodie and light blue jeans. She was just sitting quietly by the flower bed, but Gu Qing spotted her immediately among the crowd.
There weren’t many people in the square now. Gu Qing walked toward her and sat down not far from the flower bed. When the girl saw him appear, her previously confused eyes gradually gained some warmth, and she said softly, “You’re here.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“Yesterday’s alarm scared me badly. The Alliance reported that the Green Scythe Demon escaped, and it seems because of the alarm, there aren’t many people here today…” The girl’s voice became slightly quieter, seeming somewhat dejected.
Her cheeks were very pale, with a slightly sickly pallor, perhaps because of the cold, or perhaps because she had been too exhausted these days, both physically and mentally.
Gu Qing remained silent because he didn’t know how to comfort her.
Fortunately, the girl quickly comforted herself. She suddenly raised her head, her eyes looking at Gu Qing in front of her. She seemed to want to say something but didn’t know how to begin, until after a while, she finally said softly, “I… have something to tell you.”
“Hmm?” Gu Qing looked at her, confused.
“The New Year is coming soon, and I probably won’t be coming here in a few days… It’s very cold outside now, you should keep warm. I brought you a gift.” The girl suddenly stood up, picked up a cardboard box beside her, and came over to Gu Qing.
“This is a down jacket my brother used to wear, you should be able to wear it too…”
“Hmm? Then where is your brother?”
“He died in a car accident last year.” The girl’s voice lowered a bit, her eyelashes drooping slightly.
Gu Qing didn’t know what to say, so he took the big cardboard box and said thank you softly.
“Also… I left you a little money in the box…”
“That’s not necessary. I wouldn’t have much use for money anyway.” Gu Qing shook his head and prepared to open the box to take out the money, but the girl’s voice grew softer and softer. Gradually her eyes turned red, and she said softly, “Money… for me… will soon be useless…”
“Hmm?” Gu Qing looked up and saw tears trembling on the girl’s eyelashes.
Her voice was so thin and soft, but now it trembled terribly.
“The doctor said… no matter how much money we spend, we can’t cure my mother’s illness… at most we can delay it for half a year, and she would still be confined to bed. It’s better not to treat it, let her rest at home. Mom doesn’t want treatment either, she wants to save the money for my future education…”
Gu Qing thought to himself how pitiful, but he couldn’t feel much sadness. Perhaps compared to her, he was quite pitiful too.
She was about to become an orphan, but he had been wandering outside, exposed to the elements for several years. In comparison, it was hard to say who was more pitiful. Gu Qing could only silently look at the girl in front of him, watching the tears fall from the corner of her eye.
“So, so… you take the money and have a good New Year… My brother didn’t wear that down jacket much last year. Please, don’t think it’s beneath you…”
“I don’t, I don’t. It’s much better than the one I found in a treasure chest.” As Gu Qing spoke, he opened the cardboard box, took out the down jacket and put it on. Inside the pocket of the down jacket was a small pile of freshly withdrawn cash, nearly a thousand yuan.