Chapter 36, Section 7: The Performance Begins

Chapter 7: The Show Begins

Amiya rushed through the corridor in a whirlwind, bursting into Kal'tsit’s office. Seeing the figure in the pale green dress hunched over her desk, she shouted anxiously, "Doctor Kal'tsit, it’s bad! The Doctor has gone missing again!"

She quickly recounted everything she knew, but Kal'tsit didn't even look up. "Amiya," she asked, "have you prepared a contingency plan?"

"I assumed Red would be following the Doctor, but Red is gone too."

Kal'tsit’s pen paused in mid-air. She looked at the flustered Amiya and said calmly, "At the very least, they are both in Lungmen. Don't worry; Red will certainly find the Doctor, and the Doctor will not be impossible to track down like last time."

"Could it be..."

Kal'tsit nodded. "I placed something small on him. He doesn't know about it and cannot detect it. He is in Lungmen and refuses to contact us, which means he has likely discovered something and does not want to alert the enemy."

"But..."

"But will he be angry when he finds out later?"

Kal'tsit saw right through what Amiya wanted to say. A rare, faint smile appeared on her face. "No. By then, he won't be angry with me. Even if he is, it doesn't matter; he won't stay angry forever."

...

Zhou Jinru finished his fish balls and pushed the bowl away. It was rare to find a taste of home in Lungmen, and he found himself feeling a sudden, unexpected pang of nostalgia.

He had considered reaching out to Rhodes Island, but that string of secret communication codes was too long for him to memorize. Every time he tried, he forgot it, so he had simply scribbled it on a note and tucked it into his wallet. Unfortunately, when he was kidnapped by those dim-witted fellows from Penguin Logistics, his coat had been left behind in the suite. He was now penniless and would have to find a way to borrow a bit more from Old Qin after finishing these fish balls.

Life was hard.

Composing himself, he threw on his old work uniform and headed toward the guard room across the street, just in time to run into Teacher Liu, who was knocking on the door.

Teacher Liu didn't show the slightest embarrassment. She laughed openly, "I knocked for ages and no one answered. I thought you were asleep inside, but it turns out you went off for fish balls."

This Sarkaz teacher—a Cathus—had a pair of long, pointed gray rabbit ears, the tips of which were slightly bent and drooping, giving one an urge to reach out and touch them. She stood before Zhou Jinru, her alluring figure wrapped in a dark overcoat, her bright, sparkling eyes fixed steadily on his face.

Zhou Jinru yawned without a hint of decorum, ignoring the expressive look in her eyes. "Is there something I can help you with, Teacher Liu?"

"There’s a concert being held at the school. I came to see if you wanted to go. It’s terribly lonely guarding the guard room all by yourself, and that Old Qin is quite careless—don’t take it to heart."

Zhou Jinru had been planning to go anyway, so he took the opportunity to step down from his pedestal. "Thank you, Teacher Liu. I am quite bored, as a matter of fact. I don’t need any special credentials to attend the concert, do I?"

"Not at all. I’ll take you; no one will say a word. And call me Liu Li—‘Teacher’ sounds so distant."

Zhou Jinru chuckled but didn’t follow suit. He followed Liu Li into the school gate. It was dusk, and students finishing their classes were running about the campus. Seeing their strange pairing, they cast curious, questioning glances their way.

"How long has Ah-Guang been in Lungmen?"

After a few steps, Liu Li tilted her face up to look at Zhou Jinru, her bright eyes filled with curiosity.

Zhou Jinru hummed. "A few days, I suppose. Better to arrive at the right time than the early time; I just happened to catch the concert. The last time I saw one, I was still a student."

"Oh, Ah-Guang must have graduated from a prestigious school to be so well-traveled. Heh, heh, heh. I can’t tell what your race is at all; it’s so strange."

Zhou Jinru was also curious about what race the Doctor was, but he wasn't about to get tangled up in that topic with Liu Li. He steered the conversation elsewhere. "In my hometown, I never saw bands made up of Infected. I recall that Lungmen used to be quite discriminatory toward the Infected, and the L.G.D. was dedicated to capturing and driving them out. How is it that, in the blink of an eye, they are allowed to appear in the city center?"

Liu Li was tactful enough not to press him, answering his question instead. "That was a year ago. A major accident occurred in the Outer Ring. The L.G.D.’s Chief Chen accidentally uncovered a secret plan by Reunion to attack Lungmen. The two sides clashed at the abandoned docks in the industrial zone of the Outer Ring. Many civilians died, and no matter how many officers the L.G.D. had, they couldn't hold back the wave after wave of Infected. Coupled with the immense pressure from other nations due to the situations in Chernobog and Siesta, the establishment of the Infected community was finally solidified."

Liu Li’s beautiful eyes shifted. "Are you unaware of this, Ah-Guang?"

"Not exactly. I’m just a newcomer and don’t know much about what has happened here in Lungmen. Listening to the students, they seem worried about whether the Infected might cause trouble. After all, having treated them like pests and driven them out, it’s only natural they’d be concerned about accepting them now."

Liu Li’s eyes flickered as she asked in a low voice, "Are you not hostile toward the Infected, Ah-Guang?"

"No. Originium Arts disease is not spread by the Infected themselves, and those poor people were once our companions, relatives, friends, and even lovers."

As he spoke, he sensed the joy in Liu Li’s heart beginning to surge uncontrollably.

"Ah-Guang, you really are a kind person. Oh, by the way, I have something for you."

Liu Li smiled, her eyes crinkling. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a fluorescent glow stick, placing it in Zhou Jinru’s left hand. "I saw these on the commercial street and liked them, so I bought a few. I gave most to friends, and this is the last one, so it’s for you."

"A gift on the first day we meet—the people of Lungmen are truly hospitable," Zhou Jinru said, rubbing the glow stick and praising her softly.

Like a gray rabbit, Liu Li hopped and skipped ahead of Zhou Jinru. Walking backward against the sunset, her silhouette stretched out and fell over him. "Not every person in Lungmen is like me."

"Ah, we’re here."

The two chatted about various unrelated topics until they reached the school playground. A large open-air stage had been erected, and the lighting crew was making final adjustments. The crowd gathered for the festivities was so dense it nearly filled the entire field, and there was very little time left before the opening.

As the final rays of the sunset dipped below the horizon, the host’s opening greeting echoed from the speakers on either side of the stage. With a roll of drums, a burst of fire appeared on stage. The opening performer materialized, clutching a guitar, her fingers dancing over the strings, her light, rhythmic steps stirring the emotions of the audience.

"Wonderful."

Liu Li smiled and looked back. Beside her, there were only the passionate, cheering fans. Zhou Jinru had vanished into the crowd without a trace.