Chapter 19: The Man-Eat-Man Drama, Just Being Staged with a Different Mask.
He paused, gathering his thoughts before continuing his detailed account. "That night, the Young Master was personally escorting the ship. It was carrying a shipment of much-needed medicinal herbs from the south, and on the way back, we took the waterway through Red Tree Bay."
"When the ship entered that stretch of water, it was around 3:00 AM."
"Everything was normal at first. The waves on the river were just a bit rougher than usual. But our ship is sturdy, and Brother Huang has twenty years of experience as a captain, so we all thought it was nothing to worry about."
"But just as we were about to leave that area and approach Red Tree Bay Pier, something happened."
"First, a fog so thick you couldn’t see through it suddenly blanketed the river. It was a sea of white; even the light at the bow couldn’t penetrate more than a few yards."
"Then, the wind and rain picked up violently, with lightning darting through the dark clouds. And then... we heard... a faint, intermittent crying. It sounded like a woman, or maybe a child. It seemed to come from the water, but it also felt like it was right next to our ears."
"The crew started to get spooked. The Young Master told us to keep steady and speed up to get out of there."
"But right at that moment, the ship jolted violently, as if it had hit something, but it didn’t feel like a reef... Right after that, the Young Master... he suddenly turned pale and fell stiffly onto the deck!"
"By the time we scrambled to carry the Young Master into the cabin, his body was already as cold as ice. We couldn’t warm him up no matter what we did."
"We were terrified. We rushed toward the pier for dear life. Just as we were about to arrive, the Young Master’s eyes suddenly flew open. He had incredible strength and started attacking anyone he saw. It took several of us to barely hold him down... He passed out again after that, and only then could we rush him back to the residence."
"That stretch of water where the incident happened has always had a sinister reputation. It’s called ’Ghost Wail Ridge.’ But we’ve never encountered anything strange there before, and something like what happened to the Young Master is completely unheard of."
’Red Tree Bay Pier, fifty nautical miles out, Ghost Wail Ridge...’
Lu Yun mentally recited these key phrases. He waved his hand. "Enough. All of you are dismissed. Go back to your duties."
"Lintong, you’re coming with me to Red Tree Bay Pier. Ah Fu, you stay here and look after the house."
"Yes, Master!" Yan Lintong’s spirits lifted, and he puffed out his chest in response.
Not long after, a black Ford sedan drove out of the Lu Family Residence. Lu Yun sat alone in the back, while Yan Lintong was in the front passenger seat.
He sat bolt upright, both nervous and excited. To be able to accompany his master on business was a tremendous honor.
The sedan entered the streets of Yun Port City. Outside the window was the same scene, one so familiar to Lu Yun that it was numbing.
The streets were lined with shops, their colorful banners and signs creating a vibrant display. The air buzzed with the clamor of voices and the rumble of carts and carriages.
Clerks from foreign firms in suits and ties, clutching briefcases, hurried along, while laborers in short tunics, drenched in sweat, carried heavy loads.
Stylish young women in cheongsams and curled hair brushed past old men with disheveled hair and numb eyes.
Rickshaw pullers weaved nimbly through traffic, their passengers seated in the cabs, dodging past clanging trams.
Bustling, noisy, chaotic, bizarre.
It had been thirty years since the founding of the Daxia New Country. This city, this nation—it seemed that aside from a few more Western gadgets on the streets and a new name for the government, nothing had changed.
At its core, it was no different from the Yin Dynasty that had fallen thirty years ago.
Corruption, depravity, debauchery, natural disasters, and man-made calamities.
The common people of the Daxia New Country struggled to survive. The "dog-eat-dog" drama was still playing out, only now it wore a more "hidden" and "civilized" mask.
The casinos were roaring, swallowing the fortunes of countless people. A sickeningly sweet, yet addictive, aroma drifted from the doors of opium dens. The neon lights of brothels...
It was all so familiar, familiar to the point of a bone-deep helplessness.
’No, perhaps there is one small difference.’
Lu Yun’s gaze passed through the car window, settling on the Cyan Jade Mountain and River Banner, faintly visible in the distance.
Its sky-blue field symbolized a peaceful and prosperous world.
In the center was a white jade disc, lightly engraved with continuous patterns of mountains and water. On either side of the disc hung a sheaf of golden rice.
The only difference, perhaps, was that in Yanjing City of the Daxia New Country, there was no longer a high and mighty Emperor.
He had been replaced by "His Excellency the President" in the Yanjing President’s Mansion, a man who occasionally shouted about "civilization and freedom" while being pulled in every direction by various factions.
The sedan passed through the bustling streets, heading toward the pier district.
Lu Yun withdrew his gaze, his expression returning to calm.
’The state of the world, the hearts of men—these are not things I can easily change right now.’
’Unless... unless my power reaches a point where I can ignore the rules and reshape the order of things.’
’What’s to come will come. I’ll deal with it then.’
The car drove smoothly along the road to the pier district. About halfway there, a commotion up ahead forced it to slow down.
A dozen or so thugs, dressed like hooligans with their chests bared, were aggressively chasing and beating a man.
The man was in his early thirties, with a sallow, gaunt face and sunken eyes. He was as thin as a bamboo pole and staggered as he ran. One look was enough to tell he was an opium addict, his body hollowed out by the drug, leaving him looking sickly and weak.
"Fuck you! Give you an inch and you take a mile! We call you ’Young Master Luo’ out of courtesy, you really think you’re still that glorious Young Master of the Luo Family from back in the day?!"
The leader, a scar-faced thug, cursed as he chased, while another thug chimed in with a vicious grin, "Yeah! I don’t give a damn where your good-for-nothing old man ran off to!"
"You owe the Cyan Dragon Gang a gambling debt and you dare to run? If you don’t cough it all up today, principal and interest, I’ll break your damn legs!"
The man called "Young Master Luo," running in a blind panic, tripped on some debris and stumbled, falling right in front of Lu Yun’s car!
The driver reacted instantly, slamming on the brakes. A piercing squeal echoed as the tires left faint marks on the ground.
Caught off guard in the passenger seat, Yan Lintong’s head went THUD as it slammed squarely into the dashboard.
"Ow! Old Fang! What kind of driving is that?!"
Yan Lintong clutched his forehead, grimacing in pain.
In the back seat, Lu Yun had only swayed slightly when the car stopped abruptly.
The driver, Old Fang, looked back with an apologetic and nervous expression, explaining to Lu Yun and Yan Lintong, "My apologies, my apologies! Old Master, Mr. Yan, some bastards who don’t know any better were causing trouble in the street. We almost hit them!"
In front of the car, the scrawny "Young Master Luo" was sprawled on the ground, still shaken. He scrambled to crawl away.
His pursuers, seeing they had nearly caused a collision with an expensive-looking car, also halted, warily eyeing the black Ford and its occupants.
Normally, with his personality, Yan Lintong would have ignored a sordid affair like thugs chasing an opium addict over a debt. He would have just told the driver to go around.
After all, scenes like this were all too common in Yun Port City; it was impossible to deal with all of them.
But today was different!
Sitting in the back seat was Lu Yun, a man Yan Lintong revered as a god and respected like a father!
’Bumping my own head is a small matter,’ he thought. ’But if these blind bastards were to offend or disturb the Master, that would be an unforgivable crime!’
At this thought, anger flared in Yan Lintong. Ignoring the pain in his forehead, he threw open the car door, jumped out, and started cursing at the thugs and the opium addict on the ground.
"You blind bastards! Don’t you know how to walk? Can’t you see the car? If you offend my Master, how many heads do you have to offer in apology?"
"All of you, fuck off!"
After yelling at the thugs, he turned angrily to the trembling, gaunt man on the ground. "And you, you damned opium fiend, you..."
His tirade stopped mid-sentence. Yan Lintong’s eyes widened as he carefully studied the man’s sallow, gaunt face with its sunken eyes.
’That face... though ravaged by opium to the point of being almost unrecognizable, the faint outline of his brows and eyes was still there.’
"Is that... Young Master Luojin?"
Hearing this, the man on the ground trembled violently. He struggled to lift his head, his eyes suddenly flashing with a desperate will to live and a surge of excitement.
"Brother... Brother Yan? Is that you? Save... save me! Please, save me! Where’s my uncle?"
"He’ll definitely save me!"