Princesa Mercenaria

Capítulo 11

"It seems we've all been on TV." Ding Xiang rationally analyzed the situation for everyone. "A Chinese tour group went missing during their trip to northern Thailand, and their whereabouts remain unknown. Their families are extremely anxious and are trying every possible way to find us. Our travel agencies in China, the Chinese Embassy in Bangkok, the Thai government which just experienced a coup, and media outlets across the country and even the world are still concerned about us. The footage we're seeing now is from this American satellite TV station, which went to Taipei to interview Lin Junru's family. They must have also interviewed my family in Beijing, and your family in the United States, Elena. In short, our families have all been interviewed. We haven't been forgotten by the world, and they will definitely come to our rescue."

However, her optimism did not infect the others. Elena shook her head and said, "But they certainly don't know where we are. If they could find this place, we would have been rescued long ago."

At this moment, the television screen switched from Taipei to the studio. The female anchor was beautiful and dignified, around thirty years old, with a Chinese face—she looked somewhat familiar, like a well-known female host from China a few years ago who had suddenly disappeared due to a scandal. Her co-anchor was around fifty years old, with typical American features, and appeared quite serious and focused. In the small frame in the upper right corner was footage of the interview with Lin Junru's parents. The male and female anchors first read a script…

They exchanged a few words, then talked at length to the camera, occasionally furrowing their brows to show their concern; it seemed to be a news talk show.

"SHIT, why is there still no sound?"

The television studio on the screen had become a stage for a pantomime performance. Elena fiddled with the remote control for a while, but no matter which channel she switched to, the same image appeared, and there was no sound from the speakers.

"This is terrible!" The small picture frame still showed her parents. Lin Junru thought to herself that she had become a world celebrity. She shouted anxiously, "What are they saying? What are they saying? Are we deaf?"

"Don't panic, calm down." Dingding grabbed her shoulders and pulled her to the small sofa. "The more people pay attention to us, the greater our chances of being rescued."

Back on the television screen, the camera switched again, and this time Elena recognized it immediately—Los Angeles!

On the streets of Los Angeles, the City of Angels, a presenter was randomly interviewing passersby. The camera focused on a Black woman; although it was unclear what they were saying, it was most likely about their tour group. The Black woman seemed quite photogenic, launching into a long, rambling monologue. Elena tried desperately to decipher her lip movements, but couldn't understand a word.

Next, the camera focused on an elderly white couple who seemed somewhat shy. They exchanged only a few words before shaking their heads and leaving. The host then faced the camera himself, gripping the microphone adorned with the dragon logo, and launched into a long, animated speech.

The scene shifts back to the studio, where a male and female anchor are still present, but the man appears more like a guest. The female anchor speaks briefly, and the camera cuts to a studio setting where a man resembling a university professor speaks to the camera with an authoritative expression. A caption in English appears below, confirming he is indeed a renowned professor at Harvard University specializing in modern communication. The camera then cuts to another studio, where a middle-aged Chinese-American woman emerges and speaks at length to the camera. A caption below identifies her as the newly elected Chinese-American female governor of a western state.

Just as everyone was in despair over this "silent film," they suddenly heard a deafening sound—they had turned the volume up to the maximum, and sure enough, there was sound coming from the TV! No one wanted to turn the volume down; they were all completely focused on listening to the sound coming from the TV.

However, the television was playing background music from a news program. The screen then switched to images of Palestine and Israel, with a news anchor reporting the latest developments in the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations in American English.

Our show is over!

Elena heard it all clearly. Why did the American anchor switch to other news at crucial moments? Of course, most people in this world, besides entertainment and gossip, are more concerned about war and disaster than ordinary people like them.

The sound of the television made the whole house tremble slightly, and even Sun Zichu, the living dead lying on the bed, was awakened and let out a soft wail.

Dingding picked up the remote, wanting to watch other channels, but to his surprise, the TV screen went completely black as soon as he pressed the button!

Now there was no sound at all. The three women's eyes widened, and they immediately pressed the remote control again, but still nothing happened. Elena pressed the buttons under the TV repeatedly, but the TV wouldn't turn on. Suddenly, she remembered the TV in that damned hospital room that afternoon—she immediately screamed and ran far away, fearing that it might explode too.

"Don't be afraid!"

Dingding came to comfort Elena again, even though she herself was feeling quite anxious.

"Don't turn it off." Lin Junru stared intently at the television, as if facing a formidable rival. "The image will reappear."

Now, all that's left for them is to wait—to wait for the serum in the morgue, to wait for the voices in the studio, to wait for the day of their fateful judgment.

19:00

night.

The sky was already deep black, and the thick clouds could no longer be seen. Only a desolate mountain wind swept in, carrying scattered raindrops that lashed against the pale face of the twigs.

She ducked as she rushed through the curtain of drizzle, carrying a large paper bag filled with various...

Packaged food. At the end of the deserted street stands the not-so-tall Nanming Hospital, its black, cold outline outlined by the dim streetlights of the rainy night, looking up at it only evokes a sense of awe and gloom.

A dozen minutes earlier, Ye Xiao, who was resting in the emergency room, felt unbearably hungry, so she ran out of the hospital to find dinner for the two of them. Ye Xiao would no longer keep a close watch on her like he was escorting a prisoner—he knew he couldn't keep an eye on this girl; she was like the passing wind, and the tighter he tried to hold on to her, the easier it would be to hurt himself.

But this wind will never blow away again.

She ran to a supermarket on a nearby street, grabbed a whole bag of food and some drinks that hadn't expired, and even solved the problem of breakfast and lunch for the next day.

It started to drizzle on the way back to the hospital. The dark sky seemed to foreshadow something. The vast city remained quietly asleep; perhaps disaster was about to strike tonight?

Running through the rain into the hospital, her back was soaked with sweat; she was exhausted too. From the life-threatening escape from her base camp—which was actually her home—in the early morning, to the high-speed chase in the morning, the encounter with a herd of wild elephants in the city, the appearance of the mysterious man in black in the afternoon, and the crisis in the stadium. In those short dozen or so hours, she felt like the leading lady in a movie, with Death lurking underground as the director.

Back in the quiet emergency room, Ye Xiao was still half-naked, lying quietly on the stretcher, looking at first glance like a deceased person who had failed to be resuscitated. She took out some food and placed it beside him, saying softly, "I'm back."

His eyelids twitched slightly, and the dead man rose from his slumber. Ye Xiao opened his drowsy eyes and it took him more than a minute to come to his senses. He stammered, "Xiao...zhi..."

"Yes!" Her heart skipped a beat. "Are you out of your mind again?"

Ye Xiao straightened up from the stretcher, shook his head violently, and said, "No, I'm awake now, I haven't forgotten anything! Ugh, I'm so hungry!"

"Eat quickly!"

She handed "dinner" to Ye Xiao. Although these vacuum-packed foods from a year ago tasted bland and had little nutritional value, they were like a delicacy from a five-star hotel to Ye Xiao, who was exhausted and starving.

The two quickly finished their hospital meal, but Xiaozhi felt something was off: "Strange, where did 'God' go?"

Ye Xiao then realized that the wolfhound "Heavenly God" was missing. He scratched his head and said, "I was lying here sleeping when you left. I don't know when it ran away."

Xiaozhi looked out of the emergency room entrance. The corridor was unusually dark, and she couldn't see anything clearly. She shook her head helplessly and said, "Never mind, it has been living in this deserted city for a year. Maybe it has gotten used to being alone."

“Don’t overthink it. I can see that ‘God’s’ loyalty is very strong. It will return to your side.” But Ye Xiao frowned again, reverting to his professional police officer nature. “However, you just said that it has been here for a year, which means that for the past year, there have only been animals and no people here?”

The girl gave a wry smile, then appeared mature beyond her years. "Yes, you haven't realized that this world of secrets, if it didn't have us, would have long since become an 'animal world'."

That's right, from the mandrill encountered on the road, to the wolfhound "Heavenly God" in the city, to the piranhas in the reservoir, to the vampire bats, the man-eating crocodile pond, the mysterious white cat, the "ghost beauty" butterfly, the wandering wild elephant herd, and finally the fish carrying deadly poison...

It has everything: animals that run on land, fly in the sky, and swim in the water—truly a standard "animal world."

"But you said that the disaster that struck Nanming City a year ago, besides the virus that caused people to rot and die, also involved rabid animals attacking humans—where did those terrible animals go?"

"I suspect they killed each other. Besides, these animals were also infected with the virus and will soon die from the infection. A year is enough time for them all to die."

Ye Xiao pondered for a moment, then nodded and said, "Unfortunately, human life is the most fragile thing. We can't last that long, so it's either death or disappearance—"

Are you trying to trick me into revealing information?

She was particularly sensitive to the word "disappearance." What was the truth behind the "night of the empty city"? This girl, who was only twenty years old, remained tight-lipped about it.

"Is that what you think? It seems you're still wary of me. I don't want to ask you anything more, because I don't want to be your plaything."

It seems Ye Xiao has figured everything out. From the moment he agreed to do the three things for her, he had already fallen into the trap she had woven, and there was no need for him to jump into the tomb any further.

"No, no, it's not what you think." She lowered her head sadly, reverting to her girlish demeanor as if she had suffered a great injustice. "I'm not a devil, nor a spy, nor a murderer. I just... I just..."

"Just what?"

No matter how she changes her expression and appearance, whether she's like the innocent Alice, the wicked Lolita, or the innocent Nie Xiaoqian, Kou Shixiao will never believe her again, and that's the most fatal blow.

But she couldn't defend herself, and could only turn her head away and say, "You'll understand sooner or later."

"Understand what? The secrets of heaven that cannot be revealed?"

"yes."

Xiaozhi's gaze returned to its coldness, and that single word made her even more unapproachable. Ye Xiao stared coldly into her eyes, secretly trying to figure out where her heart truly lay.

Outside the window of the emergency room at Nanming Hospital, the world was already pitch black. The raindrops pounded harder and harder on the glass, sweeping away a thick layer of dust, like the tears of the defiled flowing down.

The entire building wept with the night rain, along with the souls that vanished here. Ye Xiao leaned against the cold white wall, his body still wrapped in bandages and ointment, quietly listening to the rain outside the window, as if the tide was pushing him towards the beach of his final moments.

“When I was little, I liked reading Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio,” Xiaozhi broke the silence between the two of them. “My favorite stories are ‘Rakshasa Sea City’ and ‘Nie Xiaoqian’.”

"I've seen it too."

When Ye Xiao wondered why she was talking about Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, Xiao Zhi rested her chin on her hand and said softly, "Do you think I look like Nie Xiaoqian?"

"That night, in the small house where I first caught you, the mysterious candlelight enveloped your whole body. You ran a wooden comb through your long black hair, and my first impression of you was that of Nie Xiaoqian."

"Yes, even I think so. I think Xiaozhi is Xiaoqian, just like in the novel."

Xiaozhi = Xiaoqian?

"But we are not in a ghost story, nor in Pu Songling's Qing Dynasty, but in the sleeping city of the 21st century, a world of unfathomable secrets."

He wanted to shout at Xiaozhi, but the words trailed off, perhaps intimidated by the rainy night, as if Xiaoqian was about to appear here—in ancient times, orchids and shrines often served as temporary mortuaries for coffins that had not yet been buried, just like the morgue in this hospital.

Are you scared?

"No, I don't believe in ghosts!" Ye Xiao raised his chin, forcing himself to continue, "If ghosts really do haunt us, they're never as scary as the ghosts in our hearts—it's better to have ghosts in books than ghosts in our hearts!"

"Then why do you have illusions?"

"What?"

He hadn't quite understood yet, but Xiaozhi immediately asked sharply, "You think you'll meet your Xue'er in Chiang Mai, is that why you joined this tour group? Or do you dream of reuniting with your deceased lover?"

"I--"

Seeing Ye Xiao's momentary silence, she nodded and continued, "That's right, that's what you're thinking. Even though you know that the dead cannot be brought back to life, and even though you understand that Xue'er can never come back to life, you still harbor a delusion that you want to see Xue'er again. That's your greatest desire—to see the person you love so deeply."

"Really?" Ye Xiao was rendered speechless by her barrage of questions. After a long silence, he finally replied, "Perhaps the greatest fear in life is not being able to see the one you love."

"In fact, you have been living in fear for so many years, and you still can't escape it today. The reason you came to Thailand was also to get rid of your fear, but you are destined to fail!"

"Shut up!"

He finally couldn't take it anymore, but then shook his head, unsure how to refute it. Perhaps what Xiaozhi said was true.

Xiaozhi sighed and stopped talking. The two remained silent for several more minutes until a loud bark broke the silence of the hospital in the rainy night.

"God!" Xiaozhi rushed out of the emergency room excitedly. "God is calling us! It's still in the hospital!"

At the same time.

But there was no rain, no night, only four smooth walls and dim white light shining on a soft sofa.

Twenty-year-old Yu Ling lay on the sofa, her tube skirt still clinging to her body, like a peaceful sleeping beauty, but she would never see the prince who would wake her with a kiss.

She had been unconscious for nearly two hours, and in the depths of her lost consciousness, she suddenly felt a glimmer of light; someone was calling her name—

“Jade... Spirit... Jade... Spirit... Jade... Spirit…”

That's her mother's voice! Even though she can only recognize her mother from photos, she stubbornly believes it's her mother in her dormant mind.

So she gently fluttered her eyelids and returned to the world of celestial secrets.

It was a room with four closed sides, except for a large sofa in the corner. She lay sprawled on the sofa, her arms and legs still weak, and her stomach feeling slightly uncomfortable.

What was going on? Why was she here? She managed to straighten up, but she didn't have the strength to stand up. She could only lean against the back of the sofa and try to recall the interrupted memories.

Yes, she remembered that afternoon at headquarters, the damned television in the second-floor bedroom was showing a scene that was extremely embarrassing for her. She had retreated to the kitchen in anguish at dusk, only to hear someone knocking on the door. When she opened it, she lost consciousness.

Then she arrived at this mysterious, haunted place, and tried calling out, "Hey! Is anyone there?"

A minute later, the door was slowly opened, and a tall, slender figure walked in.

She instinctively shrank back, but still couldn't get up and run away. The other person was a Chinese-looking man, about fifty years old, wearing a sharp suit, an Armani brand she couldn't recognize.

A stranger.

He gradually approached Yu Ling, the white light illuminating his face, which looked well-maintained.

Not bad—his hair was jet black, his face was fair and thin, and his eyes were bright and piercing, making him...

His charisma is exceptional; he must have been a heartthrob in his youth, only the wrinkles on his forehead betray him.