Main Story Chapter 11-05: Along with the Sins (与罪同行) | Light and Night 光与夜之恋

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Sariel didn't notice that he is stepping into Warson carrying an invisible cold whirlwind with him.

The receptionist lady nagged as she pulled out her phone, opened the Warson Survivors group chat, and entered: Warning! Qi Si Ni* is in a terrible mood today, don't try to make him angry!

*T/N: Qi Si Ni (气死你) It's a Chinese word play of Sariel's Chinese name Qi Si Li 齐司礼 and it is directly translated to "make you so angry that you'd die", and it fits his strict style so well I'm wheezing all the time

This real-time news has spread into every corner of Warson, and everyone trembled in jinx.

Mao Ge: Thank goodness there's no reporting today, otherwise you'll be picking up my corpse.

Li Manman: Phew, me too, me too, I've survived.

Hao Shuai: You are both so timid, the director isn't even angry about work matters.

Mao Ge: How did you know? Do you have gossip?

Hao Shuai: I saw the director talking to a male stranger in the underground garage just now. The atmosphere was so tense, it's as if they are about to break into a fight.

Mao Ge: What happened next?!

Hao Shuai: Then I came upstairs, I was almost late.

Mao Ge: You actually came up despite having such a great news laying before you?!

Hao Shuai: Perfect attendance allowance is more important.

Mao Ge: You're really a piece of junk. If I were there, I can even imagine a TV episode in my head already.

Hao Shuai: Mao Ge, I've been wanting to ask you, aren't you tired from reading so much gossip every day?

Mao Ge: You know nothing, gossips are the catalysts of life. Let me tell you this, humans have been liking unstable stuff of poor taste. Stuff like love and hate, life and death, drama and gossips*. Because our own lives are too plain, but we don't want to feel so tired, hence that's the reason why we watch others'.

*T/N: This part is actually written as 天凉王破 in original text. It is a short form of the full sentence "天凉了，让王氏集团破产吧", a typical line from romance drama of a domineering boss titled "我的烈火保镖". It translates to "the sky is turning cold, let the Wang Group go bankrupt". I don't think I know an English equivalent of this phrase, so I had to write this note. Charlie used something similar in one of his Truth or Date too. (He also sent MC a recording of him saying 天凉了，让万甄破产吧 （the sky is turning cold, let Warson go bankrupt)

Hao Shuai: Then you should go to the airport or hospital, I guarantee you that you'd see enough.

You: Forget about hospitals, the last time I spent a whole day there, it felt like I've spent half a year's worth of tears there.

Mao Ge: Why are you at the hospital again? Did you get sick?

You: My friend got injured, so I was visiting him. After that... Anyway a lot happened, I even experienced fire.

Hao Shuai: Fire? Is it the family fire that Mao Ge saw in the paranormal group before this?

Mao Ge: It's been so long ago, Y/N is probably talking about that one time in her community area. But didn't it say that there were no injured or deaths? Why did you go to the hospital?

You: No, it's the fire in Guang Qi First People Hospital, it happened just a few days ago, didn't you know about it?

Mao Ge and Hao Shuai exchanged glances, both are in a blur.

Mao Ge: As the firsthand internet intel getter of Group A, how have I not seen this before?

Hao Shuai: Try searching it.

Mao Ge opened his search engine and enetered "Guang Qi city fire", yet the interface that appeared have shocked me.

You: Why are they all news of a few times ago without the one in the hospital?

Hao Shuai: Did your memory get confused because you were triggered by the fire in your community area?

You: Impossible, I clearly remember that...

Remembered the matter of Jesse getting hospitalized, remembered what happened to Yangyang's family, and I remembered Charlie's back when he rushed into the scene of fire.

I stared at the phone screen as I got spooked by it. Mao Ge then gave my shoulder a pat. 

Mao Ge: Hey, isn't it a good thing to have no fire? It means the society is at peace. Who would want to see disasters falling upon us? Here, Y/N, have some walnut, it's good for the brain.

You: Mao Ge, I really didn't remember it wrongly.

Unwilling to admit defeat, I reentered the words of Guang Qi First People Hospital, but even after I've checked over tens of pages, I still couldn't find an article of the fire.

If I didn't experience it myself, I would even begin to doubt that the fire was really just a nightmare.

But this isn't right, even the most ordinary family news would be reported even if it's the most trivial matter, why would there be zero traces with such a huge social issue?

It's just like it's... not being reported on purpose.

Just when my mind is wandering in nonsense, my phone suddenly vibrated. It's an unknown number.

Right at the moment I picked it up, an aggressive cry immediately interrupted my thoughts.

???: Hello, I'm Yangyang's mother. May I know if you still remember me?!

You: Yangyang's mother? Yes, I still remember. May I know what's the matter?

???: I beg of you, please save Yangyang!

You: ... Save Yangyang?!

I hesitated for a moment, and quickly walked out of the office.

From the sobs of Yangyang's mother, I learnt that Yangyang has disappeared this morning, and it took them two hours to receive the kidnapper's message.

Yangyang's Mother: We've made a police report, and the police made us wait at home. But I'm not sure why, my heart have been feeling very unsettling, then I recalled the young man in the hospital back then. We really had no other solutions, but he was the one that helped Yangyang when he was possessed. Can he also calculate where Yangyang is at? It's all our fault for not taking good care of him, that he's... he's...

You: Please don't panic for now, I'll help you to contact him right away.

Yangyang's Mother: Thank you, thank you...

I very quickly contacted Jesse, and told him about Yangyang's kidnap. He immediately agreed to it, and we agreed to meet at Yangyang's house.

Despite this matter has nothing to do with me, but each time I close my eye, I can always think of Yangyang's eyes, recalling how he looked when he tried his best to hold back from his sadness after he heard me telling him his grandmother's will.

He should be living safely and happily, just like the elderly woman's will.

Yangyang's house is located in an old building. By the time I rushed over after taking a day off, Jesse has already arrived.

Jesse: Y/N, here.

Jesse waved at me. I walked into the living room and closed the door.

Yangyang's father is standing at the other end of the living room, still communicating with the police. And Yangyang's mother is sitting on the sofa, hands covering her face, hair in a complete mess, sobbing quietly.

Hearing the sounds of footsteps, she looked up, and she looked like she grew older by ten years compared to the last time I saw her.

Yangyang's Mother: I'll trouble you to this...

Jesse: Don't be sad, Yangyang will definitely return safely. Just let us know on what you want us to do, we'll definitely try our best.

Yangyang's Mother: I wish to ask for your help to perform a ritual to find where Yangyang is, or even just to know if he's now in a good condition, or if he's injured. No matter how much money we had to pay you, we'll be willing to do so.

Jesse: I'll agree to your request. But before this, there are a few questions I need to ask you.

He took out the jade plate last time, holding it between his palms, muttering something in his mouth.

Jesse: Was there anything odd in Yangyang recently?

Yangyang's Mother: There shouldn't be anything odd, he's still attending school and hobby class as usual. But this boy looks like he has something in his mind after coming back to the hospital, he spoke lesser to us too. His father and I both thought he's just too sad, and will be fine after a while, so we didn't pay too much attention. Who knew he'd steal his grandmother's wallet and head out this morning. He left a note saying he's going to look for a sister, but we don't know who it is either.

Jesse: Sister?

Yangyang's mother showed us the note.

Note: Daddy mommy, a big sister told me she knew what granny is thinking. I want to borrow granny's wallet from you, I'll be back very soon. Yangyang.

Yangyang's Mother: The police just communicated with his father, and they said that from the CCTV footage, it's indeed confirmed that he headed out alone. He then disappeared in the road opening of Rd. MingDa's Rd. WenShan...

You: The opening o road opening of Rd. MingDa's Rd. WenShan?

Isn't that around Warson?!

I stunned as I looked at the young handwriting on the note, and recalled what I told Yangyang in the past.

Yangyang: Big sister, is this what granny wants to tell me in the end?

You: Yes, she hopes for Yangyang to be safe, healthy, and happy.

Yangyang: Did granny not blame me for anything? I've not been seeing her for so long, I even argued with her because I wanted to buy toys... I shouldn't have argued with her if I knew this earlier.

You: Granny isn't angry at you. On the contrary, granny loves you very much. So Yangyang has to listen to granny, okay?

Yangyang: Okay... Big sister, how did you know all of these?

You: Because I can know what is on her mind when I touch her things.

Yangyang: Then big sister, can Yangyang look for you in the future? I have many granny's things at home!

You: Of course you can.

So... It's because of a sentence from me, that have made Yangyang decided to travel across half of the city to look for me?

That was just a simple promise I've made, that I didn't even remember if I have told him the office's address.

I dare not to imagine on how a 7 or 8 year old child board on the complicated subway with his anticipation.

And how he disappeared from a place that was only merely a hundred meters away from me.

Regret and sadness almost drowned me.

But before my fists get to clench, Jesse seemed like he knew what happened in advance, shook his head, then gently opened my palm by pulling by fingers one by one, then placed it in his palm.

With both cold hands placed together, I heard his very, very soft voice.

Jesse: It's not your fault, don't blame yourself. Yangyang will be fine, trust me.

You: Okay...

Jesse: Then are there anything odd happening between you and your husband?

Yangyang's Mother: My husband and I were living pretty normally, it doesn't seem like there's anything... If there were something weird, I received a parcel two days ago.

Jesse: Parcel?

Yangyang's Mother: That's right, an unknown parcel. I can't check the sender and its address.

She quickly walked towards the TV rack, lowering her body to drag out a pack of tissues that are still unopened, and finally found that parcel from the deepest part.

Yangyang's Mother: I work in the media industry, so I'll always receive many letters. Most of them are delivered to the office, there are some that will be delivered to my home. So the moment I saw this parcel, I thought it's just the same as those letters, but...

She remained quiet, not speaking even after some time has passed. It seems like she doesn't know what she should say.

My instincts are telling me, that what is hidden in the box might be a huge secret.

Opening the parcel, there are flyers that are usually seen on the streets stuffed within. After opening until the last one, a white letter is seen, with the words "fire incident" got welcomed by my sight.

You: !

Yet another fire! Jesse and I exchanged glances in tacit. There is the same feeling of heaviness as mine within his eyes.

We took out the letter. This letter is very short, with only a mere hundred words, but each and every word gave chills down to our spine.

It pointed out that the recent fire are all no accidents, but of self combustion. Behind these cases of self-combustion, they are all pointed towards a human transformation experiment named "Project Eclipse".

There are also a few photos attached in the photo, with a few corpses having similar micro incision that have strongly proved his words.

Goosebumps covered all over me. Although it's just a thin letter, but it has given me an eerie experience that I have never experienced in my life.

I suddenly recalled about the escape room long ago, and the man named Bai Mu with his bloodshot eyes. Did he also say something similar back then?

But it has been too long, I can no longer remember it clearly.

I continued reading. The sender even wrote, that he knew the news of the hospital fire was suppressed by human act.

But he still hope for Yangyang's mother to bring the truth to light as the family member of the victim.

In the last sentence, this person's tone turned from a plea to a threat. He expressed that if Yangyang's mother didn't release any news for a long time, he will also be taking some measures.

You: Could this "measure" be...

Yangyang's mother lowered her head, shoulders trembling slightly.

Yangyang's Mother: I'm not sure if this letter has something to do with Yangyang's disappearance, but this is the only clue I can think of...

Jesse: May I ask if the "news of hospital fire was suppressed by human act" is true?

Jesse suddenly spoke in a serious tone.

Yangyang's Mother: It can't be considered as suppressed... I have indeed wrote an article after the fire, but it didn't get published in the end. But this is only because the editor thinks that the cause of fire is unclear, so it can only be reported after thorough investigations. Yet I have also been busy with the funerals of the elderly for the past two days, so I have no spare energy to handle work matters. So the draft has been casted aside.

Jesse: But the sender didn't mind these. He quietly waited for two days, and noticed that there are no results, so he took action.

This speculation is very logical, but I can't help but to feel even more worried.

It's as if every single thing are being watched closely by a pair of eyes in the dark, and within that darkness, the dangerous power is prying for an opportunity to act on.

The living room sunk in a temporal quietness, until a ring of notification is heard.

Yangyang's mother quickly brightened her phone, and after over ten seconds of staring at the screen nervously, she began sobbing again.

She handed the phone to us, and there's a message on the phone.

You: ... It's really the sender of the letter!

In the message, it writes that he is very disappointed towards how Yangyang's mother chose not to report the news, so he kidnapped Yangyang.

Message: If you still won't listen to my request from now on, then I can't guarantee what I will do to your son.

Yangyang's Mother: What should I do now? Should I only listen to him, and let him release Yangyang? Oh right, I still have to contact the police, I'll immediately let his father to make a call...

She became increasingly panicked as she speak, stood up in panic, but she can't hold her balance.

I quickly supported her, and Jesse have instead informed Yangyang's father about the message from the kidnapper.

Jesse: Don't panic, the most important thing to do now is to confirm Yangyang's safety. I'll perform a ritual now and look at Yangyang's condition. Please bring me to his room.

We arrived Yangyang's room, and after confirming the door and windows are all shut, Jesse took out three dark-colored incense, and placed them upright on Yangyang's study.

In the situation with no incense holder or any tools to hold the incense, the three incenses actually stood up straight.

Jesse bit his finger, and the incenses immediately burned the moment they are in contact of fresh blood.

He then raised his arms high, bowed, then closed his eyes and read a mantra quickly.

Jesse: Dao from the heart, with incense passing the heart's message*...

*T/N: Dao means Taoism. What is used here is 祝香咒, a way to pray to the spirits to make offering to the divine spirits. I am not 100% certain of what it is used for, so the translations here are not accurate. (Though I'm pretty sure that even Taoist exorcists in where I live all needed incense holders for this)

The three flames began to burn more violently. After approximately 15 minutes later, the smoke have all wafted towards a photo frame with Yangyang's photo, making rounds and rounds around it.

Unsure if it's my misperception, but as the ash of the incense fell, Jesse looked gradually paler. It's the kind of color of a lifeless wall surface that is about to be peeled off.

Bean-sized sweat rolled from his forehead, one after another.

His ritual has yet to end, and the time seemed like it's been dragged on endlessly, that I became gradually worried.

Just when the incense is about to finish burning, he suddenly widened his eyes, and stumbled a few steps backwards.

You: Tangyuan are you alright?!

Jesse lowered his head, only to look towards me after his chest heaved violently.

Jesse: It's okay, don't worry, I'm fine.

Yangyang's Mother: Then Yangyang...

Jesse: Yangyang is fine, he's currently in somewhere that looks like an abandoned shop. I'm still uncertain of its exact location.

Jesse began wiping the beads of sweat over his temples, looking a little pale.

Jesse: I'm sorry, I need to go to the washroom.

After consoling me with a soft pinch of my hand, he left the room in a hurry.

But can I really not worry about him? I saw how calm he was when he was making rituals, that's how I managed to see how abnormal he seemed earlier.

After explaining to Yangyang's mother, I immediately rushed towards where Jesse disappeared to.