Chapter 94 Chapter 94 (1/2)
Closed Cycle
Chapter 94
[1451.11.22 23:35:47]
Ning City.
Outside Venus Bar.
Drunk people noisily left through the bar’s back door. Under the neon lights, someone noticed a man leaning near the door.
The man was smoking a cigarette and wearing a rather outdated windbreaker. He looked like someone who had come from who knows what era. That person however was simply a person born for clothes. His enviable height and near perfect proportions made even clothes like this appear different on him, even making it look several degrees more attractive.
Unfortunately when one follows the clothes and look up, his face was hidden in the shadows.
Meeting such a man here, even if they couldn’t see his face clearly, it was enough for the more daring people to come forward and strike up a conversation.
“Handsome.” A young man with dyed chestnut coloured hair walked over. His pants hung loosely around his waist, revealing his thin hip bones, “Wanna hook up?”
A red ball of flame flashed between the man’s slender fingers.
A ring of smoke escaped from his mouth.
“Not interested.”
The other party’s voice was also very pleasant to hear. It wasn’t too thick and was instead a very sensual mid-bass that carried a slight resonance. It was enough to make one’s heart itch when heard.
The young man was very bold. He got a little closer and provocatively hooked his finger around the other person’s belt, “Don’t be so cold. Let’s have some fun together. It’s better than standing here alone smoking.”
The hand that loosened the belt didn’t leave.
It continued down like a snake. Just as he was about to deliberatly make the next move, the hand was suddenly grabbed.
The young man was caught by surprise by this sudden sharp pain on his wrist and let out a cry.
“Not interested.”
The man said again. His voice was piercingly cold. He spoke mercilessly, “Scram.”
The young man was thrown aside.
When he did this, the man’s face that was hidden in the shadows was also exposed.
It was a very ordinary face. The eyebrows were not thick or stylish, the nose wasn’t tall, and even the lips were extremely plain. Except for the pair of eyes which were quite deep, the rest of the appearance was rather disappointing. This ordinary face didn’t match with the enviable figure, it was such a waste.
The young man had strong self-esteem. He was about to make a fuss after being rejected but he lost interest when he saw the face, so he cursed and left while massaging his wrist.
Venus was a gay bar in Ning City. The name sounded very gaudy, but it was actually a rather clean place.
The man however showed a look of disgust. After driving away a fly, he felt that this place was even more of a problematic place.
He extinguished the cigarette in his hand and easily flicked it into a nearby bin.
He didn’t manage to wait for the person he was waiting for.
Perhaps that person won’t be coming today.
He got up to leave and entered an alley with his hands in his pockets.
Ning City’s early winter nights were very cold. The night winds felt like knives.
The man walked through Ning City’s never-ending night, went through alley after alley, went through business district with high-rise buildings, and went through all the hustle and bustle.
He lived in a cheap hotel.
As long as he worked a simple, non-eye-catching job, he would be able to pay the rent without much trouble.
The area where the hotel was in was dark and poor. There were small vendors who opened in the early hours with tendencies to cheat people, young people struggling to make a living residing in basements as well gangsters and prostitutes running their businesses. He didn’t fit in here but he also somehow blended in well.
He could hear low laughter coming from the room next door. He opened his own door and moved his hand along the damp wall to find the switch.
“Click.”
The moment the dim light turned on; he narrowed his eyes.
There was another person in the room.
The visitor wore glasses as well as a white dress shirt. He appeared to be less than forty years old. Having just entered his middle-ages, he still looked quite young. He had a somewhat familiar bookish air, but it was still completely different from a certain someone.
“Professor Sheng.” He said coldly.
“Cap Song.” There were slightly wrinkles between Sheng Yun’s eyebrows, “You aren’t easy to find.”
They had already met in the Rubik’s Cube mission. It was actually very easy for Sheng Yun to find out his identity.
But Song Qinglan used an artificial face which could simulate different facial features, and this made it more difficult for Sheng Yun to find him.
“As a witness of time coming from the future, I believe you have memorised and recited Tianqiong’s three laws: Never change the past, never talk about the present, never be obsessed with the future.” Sheng Yun said, “Strictly speaking, you haven’t violated those three laws because you are obsessed with the past.”
Song Qinglan raised his hand and lightly touched the device behind his ear to turn off the artificial face.
His originally heroic and handsome appearance was revealed. Facing Sheng Yun with his original face, he made no attempt to hide his coldness towards him.
Sheng Yun didn’t mind this dissatisfaction. Instead, he said, “The Inspectors in 1456 still have not discovered your disappearance but with you travelling so frequently, even if you turn off the communicator, you will inevitably leave traces. They will find you sooner or later.”
“You coming to find me is also risky.” Song Qinglan showed disdain, “Are you not afraid of being discovered by the Inspectors and making everything you did until now all in vain?”
“Not afraid.” Sheng Yun said, “Since you and Sheng Han would come to find me, it meant that I didn’t leave behind any clues in your time and space, and you only had the option of travelling back to that day to figure out the truth. I should be safe.”
As a father, Sheng Yun seemed too heartless when he said those things.
As an elder, he was still young at this time and his words didn’t carry much authority.
But the traitor in the twelfth squad, Xie Sian, was right. Although Sheng Yun didn’t look like Ji Yushi, the temperament of the two was very similar and the way they conversed and analysed was also very similar. They were both calm to the point that it was scary. As expected of this pair of father and son.
Song Qinglan gritted his teeth.
Just noticing this point was enough to make his heart rage.
His state hadn’t been very good these past few days. He knew it himself.
He couldn’t sleep at night and would wake up again and again from dreams where his hands were covered in blood. He was like an addict suffering from withdrawal symptoms. He could only traverse again and again to see what Ji Yushi used to be like so that the desires burning in him would diminish a little.
It was just watching. He didn’t do anything.
And he couldn’t do anything either.
If he continued like this, he didn’t know if he would one day lose his mind and rush out in desperation to let Ji Yushi recognise him.
Letting him know him three or five years in advance.
With that, they could push everything that has happened ahead. Who cares about the stability of time and space, who cares about the grandfather paradox, who cares about the circle of fate.
He didn’t want to care about those at all.
To be a traitor.
Snatch away the Ji Yushi from before that incident and together fleeing to another time and space.
Song Qinglan had considered this idea more than once.
Facing Sheng Yun’s appearance, Song Qinglan almost couldn’t show his anger at this elder who had long been ‘deceased’, but the other party’s calm and self-assured tone made him feel incredulous. Rather than anger, he found that he couldn’t feel any respect towards this Sheng Yun.
Song Qinglan sneered, “You are indeed safe. Seeing that he was accidentally killed, you could actually still turn around and leave.”
Reaching this point, Song Qinglan’s eyes suddenly turned red. His eyes were full of anger, “I don’t care about your so-called stability or how much sacrifice you have made for this world. Perhaps you are indeed a great person in a certain sense, but you have completely failed in your responsibilities as a father. You are not worthy of him keeping you in his heart for all those seventeen years!”
The eight-year-old who had lost his childhood.
Hyperthymesia, cognitive dysfunction.
No one had a childhood like this.
The outburst was directed at Sheng Yun, but he didn’t say anything to justify himself.
He took off his glasses and squeezed the bridge of his nose tiredly. Although he was still young, he already had a lot of grey hairs.
“I originally thought that you two were perhaps good friends.” Sheng Yun murmured, ‘That’s why he would take you back with him to such an important day. Now it seems that this wasn’t the case….Your relationship was far from what I had I thought it was.”
“That’s right.” Song Qinglan directly declared possession, “He is mine.”
Sheng Yun wasn’t surprised.
He had been following the traces Song Qinglan had left behind in time and space the entire time, and the other party’s actions were enough to explain the whole situation.
As a scholar and a scientist who sees the big picture, Sheng Yun’s understanding of time and space may be better than anyone and possibly even more so than Ji Yushi.
Except for the moment when Ji Yushi was accidentally killed, Sheng Yun didn’t reveal any further breaks in his composure.
Even when witnessing his own death and given no choice but to travel around incognito all the time, his shirt had no wrinkles and was completely clean.
Song Qinglan, “Why? You still want to care about his sexual orientation?”
Sheng Yun shook his head, “No, I’m very happy that in a future that I cannot see, there would be someone who would love him like this.”
In fact, the two of them hadn’t spend much time together after confirming their relationship.
Song Qinglan’s throat tightened.
Sheng Yun put his glasses on again and asked, “So, how far can you go for him?”