Chapter 193
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He Ming and the captain stood on the deck, watching the ship gradually sail away, clinking their glasses of alcohol.
The captain asked, “Are you really not going?”
He Ming’s gray eyes stuck to the ship carrying Lou Yan away, his expression somewhat despondent as he lazily swayed his glass, “Going there will only annoy him. Wherever you go, there’s grass to graze. He’s refused so harshly, how pathetic would I be to follow? “
“You said the same thing years ago, but you’ve still liked him all this time,” the captain chuckled playfully, “Maybe if you persist a little longer, stay single for a while, Chief Lou might give you a chance.”
He Ming looked into the distance, shook his head after a while, “It’s different this time.”
Lou Yan was really warning him this time.
He Ming knew that if he continued to entangle himself, Lou Yan would indeed do what he said. They wouldn’t even be able to remain friends.
Lou Yan had changed so much.
Was this change because of that silver-haired man?
He Ming chuckled self-deprecatingly, feeling unwilling and bitter. He gulped down several mouthfuls of alcohol, squinting drunkenly, not sure if he was talking to the captain or to himself, “I’m used to wandering the seas. I can’t adapt to life on land. People have to live their own lives; love doesn’t matter. Self-respect is more important, Old Song.”
Saying that, he ambiguously draped his arm over the captain’s shoulder, showing a smile that all men understood, “Besides, being single for so long, I can’t stand it.”
The captain laughed along with him.
…
Lou Yan provided enough supplies, so the return journey went swiftly. In just four days, Lou Yan returned to the familiar harbor.
When he returned, it was just evening. Lou Yan, wearing a coat, sneaked into the harbor at night and indeed found some suspected cultists lurking by the shore.
He grabbed two cultists and dragged them into an alley. Through interrogation, he confirmed that they were looking for Duan Zege.
The cultists said it was an order from the Shadow Reaper, instructing them to capture Duan Zege regardless of life or death, but they didn’t know why the Shadow Reaper gave this order.
Lou Yan, with his face covered by a hat and mask, his dark eyes filled with coldness, calmly played with the bone spike in his hand, “Have you found any trace of Duan Zege?”
“No! We haven’t found anything!” The two cultists trembled and hugged each other, tears streaming down their faces, “But we searched the entire southern shore and didn’t find anyone. If we can’t find anyone on the northern shore, then that person must have been swept away by the waves!”
Lou Yan knocked out the two cultists, tied them together, and called the Anomaly Control Bureau to come and arrest them. Then he rented a car and headed north to find Duan Zege.
He didn’t believe that Duan Zege would die. Duan Zege’s talent was in [Divination]; that guy could definitely escape this calamity.
Lou Yan searched the northern coast all night but found no news about Duan Zege. The next day, close to sunset, Captain Old Song called Lou Yan and finally provided him with a clue: “Over twenty days ago, someone washed ashore near Xiao Liu fishing village, but because the person looked like a corpse, the fishermen didn’t dare approach. My friend told me he’s not sure if the person is still there, or even if he’s alive or dead. Chief Lou, this is the only clue we have. We don’t know if this person is the one you’re looking for, but you should go to Xiao Liu fishing village and take a look.”
After clarifying the location of the Xiao Liu fishing village, Lou Yan thanked the captain and drove towards the village.
Upon reaching the destination, Lou Yan went straight to the shore. He walked around the coast but found no sign of anyone. There were only two explanations for this situation: either Duan Zege hadn’t died yet and had regained consciousness to leave this place, or he had been rescued by someone else; or, the waves had swept him back into the sea.
Lou Yan stood on the beach, the seawater rising above his shoes. The sky was dark, and the sea even darker.
Tonight was a moonless overcast night, and Lou Yan closed his eyes, smelling the damp sea air, feeling as gloomy as the weather.
Where could Duan Zege be?
Lou Yan carefully sniffed the air, trying to detect any scent belonging to Duan Zege.
This was almost impossible. Even if Duan Zege had been to this beach before, it was over twenty days ago. Any lingering scent would have been long gone, swept away by the sea breeze.
He heard footsteps cautiously approaching, and Lou Yan abruptly opened his eyes, his sharp gaze shifting to the left. “Who’s there?”
A dark-skinned little boy emerged from behind a large rock, looking about seven or eight years old. He carried an iron bucket and tongs, his clothes ragged, staring at Lou Yan in confusion.
Lou Yan recognized him as one of the young fishermen who scavenged by the sea. After glancing at the boy, Lou Yan turned to leave.
But the boy called out to him, speaking in slightly accented Mandarin, “Are you here to find someone? I saw you wandering by the sea for a long time.”
Lou Yan immediately turned back to him. “Yes, I’m looking for someone. Over twenty days ago, someone was washed ashore here. Do you know where that person went?”
“I know. He was taken to Uncle Li’s house in our village,” the boy said honestly. “Uncle Li used to run a clinic and could treat illnesses. But that man still hasn’t woken up, and it’s costing a lot of medicine every day. Uncle Li said if the man’s family doesn’t come to reimburse the medical expenses soon, he won’t be able to continue treatment. We just can’t help him here.”
Lou Yan was overjoyed and immediately asked the boy to lead him to Uncle Li’s house.
On the way, Lou Yan learned that the boy lived next door to Uncle Li’s house and was his neighbor. Although Uncle Li had closed his small clinic after the Anomaly Resurgence, he still helped treat people in the village when needed. This time, it was Uncle Li who saw Duan Zege at the beach and brought him home for treatment.
Unfortunately, Duan Zege remained unconscious, and Uncle Li couldn’t do anything about it. It was dangerous outside, and they couldn’t risk taking him to a city hospital. Moreover, they couldn’t find Duan Zege’s family, so he became a burden.
Uncle Li couldn’t bear to abandon a person who was still alive, but Duan Zege’s daily consumption was too much for him to bear. The boy had seen how troubled Uncle Li was and had been going to the beach every day to see if he could find Duan Zege’s family.
“Uncle Li! I brought Scarface’s family!”
The boy shouted as soon as he arrived at Uncle Li’s house.
Uncle Li hurried out. He was a slightly overweight middle-aged bald man with an honest and kind face, wearing a pair of cheap black-framed glasses.
Seeing Lou Yan, Uncle Li didn’t immediately believe him. Instead, he asked Lou Yan some questions about Duan Zege. Only after Lou Yan answered all the questions correctly did he lead Lou Yan to see Duan Zege.
Lou Yan’s mind had been tense all along, and it wasn’t until he truly saw Duan Zege that he relaxed.
Thankfully, it was indeed Duan Zege.
Duan Zege’s clothes had been removed, and his body was wrapped in many bandages. He lay quietly in bed, messy hair covering most of his face, his chest rising and falling slightly, indicating that he was still alive.
As long as he was alive, everything else didn’t matter.
Lou Yan took a deep breath, reached out to touch Duan Zege’s pulse, which was steady. He calmed down and gently pushed Duan Zege’s shoulder, whispering, “Duan Zege? Duan Zege?”
Duan Zege remained motionless, still unconscious.
Uncle Li sighed beside him. “He’s been unconscious ever since he was rescued, and we don’t know why. I suspect he may have suffered a severe head injury, but I don’t have the proper medical equipment here to perform a brain CT scan on him. Since you’re his family, find a way to take him to a big hospital.”
“Thank you. I’ll double reimburse you for the medicine he’s used. I’m really grateful.”
After thanking Uncle Li solemnly, Lou Yan looked at Duan Zege with concern.
Suddenly, Uncle Li remembered something, ran out, and brought back a pile of things, handing them to Lou Yan. “These are the things he had on him when he was rescued. There’s nothing special about the others, just this hat.”
Uncle Li handed Lou Yan the gentleman’s hat that Duan Zege had been wearing. “When I saw him at the beach, he was clutching this hat tightly in his hand. When we tried to check his injuries, his clothes and everything else came off easily, but this hat, I don’t know why, he held onto it even when he was unconscious. It took us a lot of effort to pry his hand open.”
Lou Yan took the hat and examined it in his hand.
The hat was already somewhat faded and worn out, and being soaked in seawater made it even more wrinkled and shabby. What was so special about this hat that even in his unconscious state, Duan Zege held onto it so tightly?
Lou Yan pondered, but couldn’t discern anything unusual about the hat. He tucked the hat under his arm and began to inquire about Duan Zege’s injuries with Uncle Li.
Uncle Li shook his head ruefully. “He’s badly injured! He has wounds all over his body, a large hole in his abdomen! His right shoulder was also dislocated, and both his hands and feet were pecked by fish and shrimp! Plus, because he was soaked in seawater, those wounds are severely infected. When I saw him, I thought his intestines were going to be washed out by seawater! I thought he had no hope, but I never thought! I never thought he would pull through! This young man’s will to survive is incredibly strong! Although he hasn’t opened his eyes, just listen to his breathing and feel his pulse, you can tell that his condition is getting more stable.”
Speaking, Uncle Li felt a little ashamed, “Please understand, after the Anomaly Resurgence, people in our village dare not easily leave the village, so there was no way to immediately send him to the hospital. I could only stitch him up and treat him in the existing environment… The bandages on his body were wrapped by me more than twenty days ago when I first saw him. Now there is no extra gauze and medicine to change his dressing. Every day, I give him intravenous antibiotics and glucose, among other medications, but even the best, I really can’t produce them.”
Lou Yan listened quietly, just from these two sentences, one could hear how urgent Duan Zege’s situation was at that time. To suffer such serious injuries and still jump into the sea, and ultimately be lying here alive and well, how strong a willpower and how great luck would that require?
If his luck had been just a little worse, Duan Zege would have died long ago.
Lou Yan thanked Uncle Li again, and Uncle Li, feeling embarrassed, gave the room to them, letting Lou Yan and Duan Zege have some time alone.
Lou Yan sat by the bed, looking down at Duan Zege on the bed, feeling a little absent-minded for a moment.
“Duan Zege…”
He sighed softly, “Please wake up soon.”
Lou Yan sat quietly by the bed for over an hour. When he saw that Duan Zege’s lips were a bit dry, he stood up to prepare some water for him. But as soon as he stood up, the zipper on his jacket scraped against the bandage on Duan Zege’s hand.
Lou Yan quickly stopped, bending down cautiously to separate the zipper from the bandage. After he unzipped it, the bandage on Duan Zege’s hand had already come loose.
Lou Yan: “…”
He awkwardly tried to re-wrap the bandage, but when he saw the skin under the bandage, Lou Yan was stunned.
The skin on Duan Zege’s hand was smooth, as if newly born, without any scars at all.
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