Apocalyptic Forecast - Chapter 11
Chapter 11: What Is The Pain In Dying
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation
Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“Oh heavens, woe is me!”
Huai Shi tossed his head back and screamed at the sky, his voice painful and tragic in his throat. He wailed like a child, tears flowing freely… and at the same time, two other hoarse howls fought to make themselves heard as well.
“Juan’er, please forgive your father!”
“Mom, I was a bad son! I couldn’t even see you for the last time…”
That substance was practically a tearjerking gas. The two burly men who had infiltrated the house were now crying so hard that their tears and snot threatened to overflow.
As they cried their hearts out, the three of them exchanged a glance, as though thinking, ‘The world is such a cruel place, but I’m all alone.’ Right then and there, they connected through their suffering and began to feel for each other… Yeah, right!
Even if his mom died and he lost his daughter, even if he had been unlucky all his life, they still had work to do, and the job was not done yet.
The two wailing thugs wiped away their tears and snot before suddenly pouncing at Huai Shi. The three of them ended up in a brawl like chickens pecking at each other, with plenty of hair-pulling, face-slapping, crotch-kicking, and pinky-twisting amidst all the crying.
After all that crying, Huai Shi actually began to cry for real.
It was just so f*cking painful.
“F*ck, can’t you guys be a little gentler!’
As he wailed, he gave that man a punch right in the eyes. The man with the knife scar and tears raised his head as well, biting down on Huai Shi’s arm mercilessly. Meanwhile, the other man took the opportunity to pull Huai Shi’s hair, crying as he hammered down on Huai Shi’s head desperately.
“Old Six, kill him!” The man who was pinned down and taking a beating at Huai Shi’s hands screamed between his sobs. “Kill him!”
Old Six, the man standing behind Huai Shi, replied with a sniffle and immediately socked the back of Huai Shi’s head with his heaviest punch. It was enough to make Huai Shi’s world go black, and he collapsed.
Soon after that, from the corner of his eyes, Huai Shi saw Old Six pull out a short hunting rifle and aim at his face.
Old Six took aim amidst the tears and undid the safety, sobbing as he put his finger on the trigger.
All Huai Shi heard was a bang.
Then he saw Old Six’s head explode.
In that moment, soft and hard red and white substances rained down on Huai Shi, and a few pieces even landed on his face, scaring him so badly that he actually stopped crying.
As the headless corpse slowly collapsed, he finally saw the girl at the stairway entrance.
Ai Qing had one hand on her crutches, and she leaned diagonally against the wall. The dust on the railing and walls had drawn grey streaks all over her white skirt.
As for her other hand, it was slumped by her side, holding a gun.
There was a faint plume of smoke coming from the barrel.
“Well, they sure took the bait fast.”
She looked at the man struggling under Huai Shi’s body and stepped aside. “Leave him alive.”
Liu Dongli walked up the staircase behind her, his expression complicated. After he gave Ai Qing a long look, he could not help but feel a chill in his molars.
He did not expect Huai Shi to be the source of Ai Qing’s confidence.
He had finally figured out what was happening on the way here, with Ai Qing in the lead. Everyone else assumed that after the criminals attacked the police station, they would run away with the border relic and lay low for a bit.
However, Ai Qing had a different opinion.
The evidence was in the bodies they had just discovered yesterday morning. Although these corpses were just as badly mutilated, they showed traces of interrogation and torture.
Those men had suffered intensely before they died.
Since there had been so many gruesome deaths, most people ignored that clue.
However, when one looked at all the other corpses, they could tell that while the murderer was cruel, he was also quick and efficient. He did not drag on the killing, and he did not waste any time on unnecessary things.
Even though he seemed extremely sadistic, he would not resort to wasting time on something like this— Ascenders were not invincible, after all, especially in a haven as strictly guarded as the interior. Even if the Ascender was armed with a high-level stigma, they still would not be able to do as they pleased.
If they left a clue and incurred the pursuit of the Astronomical Association, things would not end well for them.
If they had already found the item, though, why did they have to waste time torturing others?
Did they think the body count was not high enough yet?
Was it internal strife? Were they cleaning out their ranks? Doling out punishments? Or were these two completely unrelated cases?
In that case, amidst all the countless possibilities, there was another hypothesis that might be closer to the truth:
—Perhaps they never found the thing they were looking for.
Aside from that box-shaped border relic, there could be other things they had lost. That was why they would not stop, even though they had already retrieved the box.
If that was the case, their next target might include a certain someone…
The person who reported the case. The one who was the first to find the box.
Huai Shi…
She only had one useless card in hand, so it was pretty impressive that this woman dared to make such a big wager on it by ordering everyone around to their faces. The even scarier part was that her card actually won her the game.
At first, Liu Dongli had thought that Ai Qing let Huai Shi go so easily because they were childhood friends. Now, however, it seemed like that woman did not have a shred of humanity whatsoever…
When he thought about how a person like that had a hold on his weakness, Liu Dongli’s heart grew colder and colder.
Whenever Ai Qing gave him an order now, he did not even dare to make up an excuse and try to postpone it. All he could do was sigh, push back his hair, raise his eyes, and walk toward the two men tangled up in a crying mess on the corridor floor ahead.
“—This is an inspection! Everybody, take out your IDs!”
The moment he started posing seductively, Huai Shi had a bad feeling in his heart. Now that Liu Dongli was actually resorting to the same tricks, it went without saying that Huai Shi would not fall for it again. The boy instantly turned his head away and squeezed his eyes as tightly shut as they would go.
He would rather die than act as embarrassingly as he did last time.
In comparison, the two clueless men raised their heads in shock, looking at Liu Dongli.
In the darkness behind his closed eyes, Huai Shi actually heard a strange gurgling sound, and then the force pulling at him abruptly disappeared.
That man seemed to be rolling on the floor now.
Dazed, Huai Shi opened his eyes just a sliver and looked at the man on the ground. The latter was staring blankly in the direction of the staircase behind Huai Shi, and he scratched his throat as though he could not breathe. His face turned purple from lack of oxygen.
However, there was no despair at all on his face, only surprise and awe…
What the heck? What was this divine sorcery?
Huai Shi’s blood ran completely cold, and he was even more afraid to look around now. He shut his eyes even harder.
Finally, there was a thump and that man fell to the ground, unconscious. Liu Dongli went over and picked him up, tossing him in a random chair and tying him up. The entire time, Huai Shi’s eyes remained closed.
Finally, once he was sure he was safe, Huai Shi heaved a sigh of relief. Although these people had intruded without permission, just like the two thugs, he still had to show his gratitude. It was a matter of manners.
Lastly, he looked at Ai Qing, who had resolutely fired off the shot to save his life, only to realize that she was looking at him rather oddly.
As he was feeling lost, he heard Ai Qing’s sigh.
“It’s been a while, Huai Shi.”
“…Urk.”
Huai Shi paused for a long while before scratching his head instinctively, acting awkward as he asked, “Sorry, who are you?”
“…”
There was a long silence until Liu Dongli finally could not hold it in anymore. He turned his head to the side and laughed with a “pfft”.
As for Ai Qing, she remained expressionless, but her finger once more rested on the trigger of her gun.
“Ah, it sure has been a while!”
The terrifying pressure from his Premonition of Death made Huai Shi pat himself on the head, acting like he finally remembered. “Sheesh, me and my memory! I remember now!”
“Oh?” Ai Qing raised an eyebrow and her gun by an inch. “Alright, then let me hear it. Who am I?”
“You’re, uh… You’re that…”
All the blood had drained from Huai Shi’s face, but even if he scraped out his own guts, he still could not remember where he had such a pretty big sister with a crutch.
Ai Qing finally gave up on him, walking right past him with her crutch and ordering Liu Dongli to move that guy on the chair to a larger space. With a basin of cold water poured over his face, they jolted him awake.
‘My floorboards…’
Huai Shi looked at the huge water stain on the floor. The corner of his eyes twitched slightly, but he wisely chose not to say anything.
Whatever, he did not care what gods these two really were. The sooner they settled this, the sooner they would leave.
He did not mind as long as they did not murder a guy in his house.
Just when he needed her most, that stupid crow was nowhere to be seen too…
As soon as that man opened his eyes, he saw Liu Dongli in front of him.
Liu Dongli had pulled up his hair and was approaching the man, staring into his eyes. In an instant, he had activated his strange ability.
The man fell into a daze, saying “oof” non-stop as he stared at Liu Dongli. His saliva was dripping all the way to the ground.
However, Liu Dongli’s expression suddenly turned disappointed, as though he had noticed something.
“It won’t work. He doesn’t have any elementium anymore.”
He turned around to look at Ai Qing, shaking his head. “I think his brain was ruined a long time ago. He’s practically a brainless zombie, so he won’t tell us anything.”
Ai Qing’s expression turned stormy as well.
“Try asking—”
After a long pause, she said, “At any rate, we should give it a try.”
Liu Dongli nodded helplessly and turned around, asking, “Name?”
“Zhao Baozhu.”
The man laughed like a child and looked at Liu Dongli. “Ya sure look handsome, kiddo. Ya really sweet on the eyes, Ah really like it…”
As he spoke, he foamed at the mouth.
He shook violently, and the chair he was tied to creaked piercingly. The rope was threatening to fray.
Liu Dongli’s expression even changed.
Immediately after that, all of them heard the sounds coming from within his body, loud and clear. Twang, twang, twang, like the strings on a cello snapping.
However, Zhao Baozhu’s expression only grew ever more manically happy.
“Yee— Ah’m gonna go ta heaven!” He grinned and said with a hearty laugh, “Da Heavenly Father is here to fetch me… Ah have seventy-two angels just as sweet-looking as you, kiddo, to bring… to bring me there…”
Amidst the hoarse shouting, the man shook violently, and smoke actually appeared from his mouth and nose. This was quickly followed by a blaze that merrily burned through his flesh and bone.
In the blink of an eye, the entire person was reduced to ashes.
The ashes were mixed with bone fragments, but the rope and chair binding him were left completely intact. Only a black burn mark remained as proof of his existence.
“Gasp!”
Huai Shi took an involuntary step backward, so shocked by this scene that his scalp felt numb.
Liu Dongli rubbed his face, shaking his head with a sigh.
“There goes another clue…”
However, Ai Qing’s expression remained calm. After a long while, she broke her silence and said, “Not necessarily.”
“Hmm?” Liu Dongli was confused, but then he saw that she was looking at Huai Shi.
“He’s still alive.’
Ai Qing considered a visibly stunned Huai Shi. “Although I don’t know why those guys want to kill him, I’m sure I can get more clues about them as long as I have this piece of bait.”
“You guys want to kill me!”
At this point, of course Huai Shi knew what she was planning. He flew into a rage, saying, ‘There’s still half a f*cking month before summer vacation ends, and I still need four thousand in living fees! If I have to die either way, I’d rather starve to death!”
“Is that so?”
Ai Qing interrupted him and raised the thing she was holding, showing him the pitch-black barrel.
“Oh? Is that all you guys can do?”
Although Huai Shi was so scared that he desperately retreated away from them, his words remained stubborn. “Even if you kill me with one shot today, I’d rather jump out of this window than…”
He wanted to show that he would never bend to them, but then Ai Qing held up another item. Her phone.
The screen showed her account savings, and there were more zeroes than he could count.
“—All for one, and one for all!”
Huai Shi thumped his chest hard and said solemnly, “Every East Xia citizen must give their all when cooperating with a government investigation! Don’t ever pity me because I’m a sweet flower! So, comrade, what can I do for you today?”