Chapter 2 (1/2)

Watchmen Chapter 2: Epitaph

All of Jiu Jie's memories of that winter were grizzly, as if that day the earth had been covered in a boundless snow – cold, bitingly cold.

And of that disjointed grizzly recollection of his, there were many things he could not remember.

He forgot how he reported to the police, forgot what they had done afterwards, forgot that the that time they had questioned him; he even forgot about himself, what he was doing.

It seemed as if his soul had bored out, and he were but a spectator, an onlooker from a detached point of view, watching everything that happened.

But the one thing Jiu Jie did remember was the incompetence of the police. They had not given him an exact cause of death.

The morning of Jiu Ming Shan's death, his body had no signs of injury and no signs of poisoning; there was no indication of a heart attack, the kind attributed to a sudden illnesses, and furthermore, to hit the nail on the head, the doors and windows in the room were intact, and there were no signs of an intruder.

The death of Jiu Ming Shan was a mystery to all.

However, regarding his father's cause of death, Jiu Jie had this wildest idea; he vaguely felt his father was killed in a dream. Of course he did not tell anyone, no one would believe it.

Yet, he didn't expect, to one's surprise, was that there was a man who had this same absurd notion.

It was a middle-aged man who suddenly appeared the day of his father's funeral.

Jiu Jie still remembered that day. It was cold; snow fell that morning; and he was under a canopy, looking down at the portrait of his deceased father, lost in thought.

When the man caught his eye, Jie Jie was stunned. It was the man he had seen in his dream that night.

The man came up before his father's portrait, took of his fur hat, and burnt an incense. He leaned over to pray, murmuring a few words. His voice was awfully soft, so even though he was long-winded, Jiu Jie couldn't catch a single word clearly.

After, he approached Jiu Jie and asked, ”Are you Jiu Jie? I am Luo Yi De, your father's friend. He should have mentioned me?”

The man's voice was quite steady, but also swift.  Although he spoke right in front of him, the man's voice made it seem as if he were far away.

Jiu Jie, of course, knew the name Luo Yi De. His father's letter clearly mentioned that he should follow this person.

He looked up at the middle-aged man. Luo Yi De was tall and straight, he had a square face with a clean beard, only but his hair loss was grave; perhaps he had just taken off his hat as the top of his head was slowly steaming. His Mediterranean hairstyle and manly face made him look like an early version of the French star, Zinedine Zidane.

In the end, in regards to the question, Jiu Jie merely gave an apathetic not, 'Mmm'.

”What did your father say about me?” Luo Yi De asked again.

”He said go with you.” Jiu Jie said simply.

”I see…” Luo Yi De turned to look at the portrait under the canopy and said, ”We'll first send your father off, and then after we'll talk.”

He then glanced at Jiu Jie and muttered in a slightly audible voice, ”There is hatred in his heart. No, it's more than that.1

Jiu Ming Shan's ashes were buried in the suburbs of Shen City's Dragon Mountain's Public Cemetery. After period of time, friends and relatives gradually began to depart. The only one to remain was Jiu Jie; he had been silent all this while and to accompany him was Luo Yi De.

At this time, the snow stopped falling, the mountains and rivers covered in silver, but the sky was gloomy and the clouds were dense, the atmosphere both solemn and oppressive.

”Uncle Luo, we've met before, haven't we?” Jiu Jie broke the silence and asked.

”Mmm, when you were one year's old, that year I came and met you. At that time your mother was still around. Old Jiu truly was blessed, to be able to get married and have a beautiful wife and son. Don't know how many were envious, only it's a pity. A beautiful woman was born under such an unlucky star, it could truly permit a man to lament.”  Luo Yi De said.

”I didn't mean that.”

”Then what did you mean?”

Jiu Jie stared closely at Luo Yi Di. ”That night, that dream, you were there!”

The two men's gazes both seemed as sharp as two double-edged, steel swords slamming into each other, sparks flying.

Luo Yi De was the first to s.h.i.+ft his gaze, and he forced out a smile. ”Yes, we met each other in the dream. I entered your dream.”

Jiu Jie reacted keenly, immediately catching the meaning of what Luo Yi De said and asked, ”You can enter someone else's dreams?”

Luo Yi De nodded.

Jiu Jie was shocked, to think, what the man said was impossible, but as he looked at Luo Yi De, the man also didn't appear to be lying.

”Who the h.e.l.l are you?” Jiu Jiu asked warily.

”My official ident.i.ty is the Director of Division Seven of the NSB.”

”And unofficially?”

”Of course, I'm a Watchman.”

”A Watchman? What is a Watchman?” Jiu Jie asked, puzzled.

”It's a long story, but you can simply interpret Watchmen as Guardians of Dreams. As for the details, you will get to know them, in time.”

The more Jiu Jie listened, the more surprised he was, but deep inside he was more concerned about something else. It became difficult to suppress the question any longer, and he asked, ”My father was killed in that dream, right?”