Qiming Chapter 88

Chapter 88

---

By the time they arrived at Qingshan Airport, it was already four in the afternoon. The sky was overcast, with dense clouds covering the horizon, creating a stifling atmosphere. Word had it that gloomy weather was the norm here, sometimes lasting a whole month without a glimpse of the sun. It neither rained nor shone, leaving the city feeling oppressive, damp, and sticky.

According to the plan, Gu Yunfeng was supposed to reach the town where Fang Xing's driver's whereabouts had been discovered within five hours. In reality, five hours had passed, and they had only just arrived at the airport.

The credit card used in the transaction belonged to Fang Xing’s driver, but the location of the purchase was Ningluo County, Fang Xing’s hometown. It would take about two hours to drive from the airport to the town. After contacting the local public security bureau to arrange a car, the group stood in a line by the fence in front of the airport hall, growing increasingly impatient as they waited for the car that had already been delayed by almost half an hour.

Gu Yunfeng was messaging Xu Chengyue on his phone. There were only two flights a day from Nanpu City to Xichang, one at one in the afternoon and the other at one in the morning. Professor Xu had missed the afternoon flight. If he wanted to come, his only option would be tomorrow. If he didn’t mind the fatigue, he could take the flight at one in the morning, but that would mean arriving in the middle of the night with no one to greet him, and he’d probably have to find a taxi himself.

"Captain Gu, when we get to the town, do you think Fang Xing will have already fled?" Shu Pan, leaning against the railing, felt dizzy. The turbulence they had experienced during the flight combined with Xichang's high altitude left him unsure if he was suffering from altitude sickness or just the effects of motion sickness.

"It's quite possible." Gu Yunfeng handed him a bottle of water and some medicine, giving him a sympathetic pat on the back. "Take some Rhodiola, it might help."

As he spoke, he glanced at the topographical map of the area. "This whole region is mountainous, it won't be easy getting into the town."

"What do you mean?" Shu Pan lifted his head sharply.

"In good weather, it would take us at least four hours to drive in. If it starts raining halfway through, we'd be lucky not to get stuck and have to spend the night in the mountains."

"Prepare to travel after dark, and the road is rough and bumpy."

As soon as Gu Yunfeng said this, Shu Pan fished out his brightly coloured orange backpack and started rummaging through its various pockets. After much effort, he finally found a small strip of motion sickness pills in the third inner pocket. His eyes filled with tears of gratitude, as though he'd found a lifesaver.

"Your constitution isn’t great, huh..."

"Aiyo, I’ve always had poor balance, nothing I can do about it." Shu Pan swallowed the motion sickness pill in one gulp and downed half a bottle of water, his eyes glancing at the conversation on Gu Yunfeng's phone.

From a distance, he couldn't help but feel something odd about the exchange. He leaned in and asked, "Captain Gu, who are you chatting with? It seems a bit lovey-dovey, is it a woman?"

"A man."

"Eh?"

"Professor Xu, he’s coming over tomorrow."

Gu Yunfeng shot him a look of exasperation. He had been sending Xu Chengyue a map of the mountain paths, but after Shu Pan's comment, he quickly reviewed all the messages from the last half hour, confirming they were all strictly work-related and entirely normal.

Where was the lovey-dovey tone?

Which eye had spotted anything remotely lovey-dovey?!

"Didn't Professor Xu resign?" Shu Pan suddenly discovered a topic of interest. His dizziness vanished, his breathing was smooth, his ears sharp, and his mind clear. He leaned in, trying his best to sneak a peek at Gu Yunfeng's phone, but Gu Yunfeng quickly put it away, giving him no chance at all.

"He wants to come, what can I do about that?" Gu Yunfeng spread his hands and added, "I can't stop him from dedicating himself to serving the people."

"Eh?"

"What's with the eh?" Gu Yunfeng raised his hand and punched Shu Pan lightly on the back.

"Is Professor Xu still staying at your place, Captain Gu?"

"What’s it to you?"

"I'm just asking..."

Seeing the "none of your business" expression on Gu Yunfeng’s face, Shu Pan suddenly had an epiphany and answered his own question, "So, no denial means he’s still staying with you, right?"

"Why the hell is he still staying at your place after resigning? Shouldn't that broken door have been fixed ages ago?"

"......" Gu Yunfeng didn’t want to respond. He made call after call to the local police, urging them to hurry up, or else they'd have to take a taxi. He tried focusing on his tasks to distract himself, but Shu Pan's voice kept buzzing relentlessly in his ears.

"Oh my god, aren't you guys a little too close?"

"I mean, it’s just a broken door, fixing it takes no time at all, how did it drag on and on for months?"

"What's the difference between this and living together... oh, right, Professor Xu is a guy." Suddenly recalling that Captain Gu had previously had a girlfriend, Shu Pan figured Gu Yunfeng's sexual orientation should still be towards women. Muttering to himself, he continued, "Yeah, Professor Xu is a man, when you think about it, there's nothing strange about it, the friendship between men is timeless and enduring."

"Are you jealous?"

"Honestly, yes, can you share some of that affection with us?" Shu Pan nodded earnestly, looking at him with sincere eyes.

"Get lost." Gu Yunfeng waved his hand, then lightly kicked Shu Pan's suitcase, pushing the still-dizzy Shu Pan towards the now-arriving police car.

—————

"Aiyo, fuck, these mountain roads are winding!" Shu Pan couldn't hold it in and grabbed a bag to throw up as soon as they were in the car. Normally, he didn’t get carsick, but the combination of altitude sickness and motion sickness had him slumped in the car like a paralysed man, half-lying down and muttering about needing a pen to write his will.

On the treacherous mountain road, streetlights only appeared every one or two hundred metres. The roadside barriers were low, and the surrounding landscape was dense with green forests and deep streams. The winding road clung to the mountain, with a sheer drop on the other side. One wrong move could send them plummeting, resulting not only in a shattered body but also a month-long recovery effort to piece it back together.

It was already eight o'clock in the evening. During the day, the sky had been overcast, thick clouds blocking the sunlight. But at night, the entire mountain was shrouded in mist, while the sky above glittered with stars, and the cold moon cast a pale glow.

To reach Fang Xing’s town, they had to cross a mountain over four thousand metres in altitude. His likely hiding spot was halfway down the other side. According to the latest intelligence, Fang Xing was most likely still in this region.

The local police interviewed the shopkeeper where the credit card transaction took place. The shop owner described the cardholder as a middle-aged man with a yellowish complexion and a generally unhealthy appearance. After identifying him in the photos provided by the police, he confirmed it was indeed Fang Xing.

The short, dark-skinned, and stocky shopkeeper said that Fang Xing had bought some daily necessities from his shop before driving off along the national highway about fifty metres away. He had initially tried to pay in cash but, after rummaging through his pockets, realised he had forgotten to bring any. With no ATM nearby, he had no choice but to use his card.

Gu Yunfeng continued to study the surrounding area with his flashlight, tracing the mountain ranges on the map. The place where Fang Xing had lived as a boy was less than ten kilometres from the spot where his credit card was used. Perhaps, Fang Xing really had returned to his childhood home to rest.

He circled the target location on the map and handed it to the driver, instructing him to head there. Leaning back into the seat, he turned to Shu Pan and asked, "How’s your junior doing?"

"You mean Fang Yuejia?" Shu Pan, with his face pressed against the half-open car window, barely keeping his eyes open, was trying hard to breathe in the thin air. "He's, well, being pampered at home with good food and drinks, while our guys are sweating it out, monitoring him from a distance."

"Has his father contacted him?"

"Not that we've noticed so far." Shu Pan was curled up in the back seat, looking utterly lifeless. He hadn't eaten much since lunch, and all he'd managed to throw up was stomach acid, which left the car filled with a sour stench.

Fifteen minutes later, they arrived at their destination – Ningluo County, where Fang Xing had spent his childhood. As soon as the car stopped, Shu Pan bolted out, clutching a tree and throwing up violently. To anyone passing by, it looked like he’d had too much to drink and was about to cause a scene.

Ignoring the bustling crowds, Shu Pan, after emptying his stomach, looked up to realise that the county was even more run-down than he had imagined.

Ningluo County had barely any lights at night. The residents didn’t engage in much nightlife, nor were they fond of it. There was a small barbecue stand by the roadside, but it wasn’t crowded. The owner, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, was busy sweating in the haze of smoke. Nearby, a faint green light hung on a wall, with an extension cord trailing behind it, posing a clear safety hazard.

"Barbecue?" Gu Yunfeng asked the others, still holding the dry, shrivelled bread he had brought from the plane, walking through the moonlit shadows.

"Now?" Shu Pan glanced at the bread in Gu Yunfeng's hand, then at the dubious hygiene of the sweating barbecue stand. The smell of pepper and cumin filled his nose, making him crave it.

He eagerly nodded and was just about to rush over when Gu Yunfeng stopped him, saying, "That owner might know Fang Xing, be cautious."

After finishing school and returning to China, Fang Xing stayed in Nanpu City. Two years later, he sold his family home and brought his parents to the city, never returning to this place.

There were few relatives left in his hometown. Most of the elderly had passed away peacefully, while those of his generation had moved away with their families to make a living elsewhere. The county now housed only a few elderly people and some left-behind children.

Given his lack of close relatives, it was challenging to investigate Fang Xing’s hideout deep in the mountains. Fortunately, they found out that Fang Xing had a sworn brother in the nearby Tianshui Village, someone he had once been very close to. If Fang Xing had returned, he would likely seek refuge with this long-lost friend.

"Boss." Gu Yunfeng sat down at a table and gestured to the tall, thin barbecue owner.

"Ai–" The owner replied enthusiastically, dragging out his words as he glanced at the men who were clearly not from the area, "What would you like to eat?"

After they ordered a bunch of skewers, the owner, smiling, returned to the smoky grill. As the other customers gradually left, Gu Yunfeng and his team remained the only ones at the stand, prompting the owner to strike up a conversation.

"You guys here for sightseeing?"

"Yeah, we've got a two-week trip planned." Gu Yunfeng nodded. "But the transportation here isn’t great. We were thinking of renting a car, but we don’t know much about the area."

"Rent a car?" The barbecue stand owner, Wu Heng, shook his head and advised, "I really wouldn’t recommend it, the roads around here are all mountain roads, not easy to navigate, it’s dangerous to drive on your own."

"Exactly, that's why we’re hesitating. It’d be best to find a local driver we can trust, but we don’t really know anyone here..."

"Where are you planning to go? I know every spot within a hundred-mile radius." Wu Heng smiled, exposing a neat set of teeth as he continued to turn the skewers.

"That’s great, do you often guide tourists?"

"Hahaha, not really, but I have a lot of friends, and whenever they visit, I show them around. Over time, I’ve gotten to know all the spots." Wu Heng fanned the smoke away with a hand-held fan, the smell of the barbecue filling the street and saturating the night air.

"And recently? Have any friends come by?"

"Heh, well, to be honest, I recently had a buddy..." He trailed off, seemingly distracted as he continued grilling. Then, as if realising something, he suddenly fell silent for a few seconds before reverting to his previous demeanour.

"No one's been bothering me lately, it’s only now that I’ve noticed how boring it is being alone during the day."

Gu Yunfeng furrowed his brow slightly, his gaze fixed on Wu Heng. He studied him carefully, from the top of his head to the shoes on his feet, before finally locking eyes with him. It was as if he were trying to peer through Wu Heng's eyes, uncovering the truth hidden behind them.

"Is that so?" Gu Yunfeng asked.

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

Previous Chapter | TOC | Next Chapter

Translator Notes

Please feel free to comment any mistakes I made so I can improve and do better as I go through the book.

Translated: September 15, 2024 by Angel

Edited: December 5, 2024 by Angel