Chapter 250 - Unit 104 (1/2)
It was ten by the time we left. We limped out of the bar, clinging on to each other. Chongxi was looking as if he was suffering from a stroke. At least Lin Feng was still able to walk on his own. I was feeling tipsy myself with the dizziness that had me walking in circles and figure-eight round and round. Lu Shengnan was worst; she would have collapsed if not for me still struggling to keep her on her feet.
I was the undisputed best in drinking out of all four of us. But cocktails, which were nowhere near the beers we normally gulp down like water, were really way out of our league and we were now paying the price for our ignorance and brashness. In a slurry voice, a half-drunk Lin Feng yelled, “W-wait up! Ah (I) will get the cut (car)!” I grabbed at the scruff of his shirt and shook him, “Look… at yourself… You can’t even… speak… Quit driving… I want to live… a… long life…” Lin Feng stowed his keys back into the pocket and crouched on the pavement.
“We have good weather today! Look at the Sun!” Chongxi remarked suddenly amidst his drunken hiccups. “That’s a street lamp, you git!” I planted a foot into his hind parts only for the inebriated Chongxi to continue mumbling to himself, “I must make some calculations! One times one equals one… two times two I’d get two…”
Lu Shengnan was practically leaning her entire weight on me by now like a piece of dead log then her face hit the side of my face with a smack. “I’m so regretful now, Shiyan!” She gasped suddenly into my ears, the traces of cigarettes and liquor now wafting over my nose. She burped suddenly and the stench of flatulence assaulted my nose that I almost puked. Carefully, I shifted her face away from mine, asking, “What are you regretful about?” Another rush of drunken odor slammed into me as I heard her melancholic voice saying, “I have nothing but regret now for not telling you when we graduated! I should have confessed to you about my feelings! *burp* If only I had told you earlier, you won’t be snatched away but that foxy little outlaw!”
I shifted Lu Shengnan’s head again, “E-enough! What bullshit! As if I’d believe that!” But Lu Shengnan snuggled closer to me and wrapped her arms around my neck, gasping, “It’s true! Honest!” Feeling the rush of alcohol kicking in, I croaked desperately, “All right, all right! We’ll talk about this later!”
We grew so drunk that we could not remember what we said that time aside from the stuttered and garbled gibberish that hardly meant anything…
Somehow, we found ourselves in the Nanhu Villa Precinct later. Fighting off the hangover still haunting us, we made our way into my home which was now already fully furnished and I was relieved to find tea leaves ready for consumption.
One of the many things about Father that had never stopped bugging me was Father’s collection of tea leaves. He never drinks tea. But he loved collecting rare tea leaves and even producing some of them himself. A tea collector who drinks not even a drop of tea? Now that must be one of the greatest mysteries of Wu Zhong, I brooded quietly.
I took out a can of tea leaves casually from the cabinet and made a pot of hot tea for everyone to dispel the effects of alcohol.
The water in the kettle was beginning to bubble when I suddenly felt it! A palpable aura, evil and hateful, emanating like the rapids of a rushing river from Unit 104 just down the street! The sensation that almost made my hair stand was enough to dispel much of my hangover and I sprang to my feet. I looked out the window and I could see Unit 104’s third-story window! Someone was there and the strong, evil aura could only be coming from that person! Whoever it was, he or she must have seen me!
My head spun because of me getting up too quickly and I felt light-headed. With a loud thud, I fell to the floor. My head had been throbbing with a strong headache ever since we left the bar and got a bit of cool air. I willed myself to clamber up and I looked again at the third-story window. The person was missing. But I would never be able to forget that pair of eyes in the dark, so filled with hate and anger.
Lin Feng struggled to his feet. He, too, had noticed what happened. And the martial artist in him would never allow him to lie down flat anymore. He got up and we looked at each other, still dizzy with drunken weariness, and we nodded. Lin Feng yanked Chongxi to his feet and nudged with a chin gesture at Unit 104, signaling to me that it was time.
I nodded curtly and walked outside. With Lu Shengnan now out for the count, there was no longer any need to involve her. We could certainly do without a cannon-fodder. We carried a still-unconscious Chongxi and walked across the road. The air was slowly becoming warm to welcome the approaching spring equinox, but the night’s air was no less eerie and chilly especially with the foul aura radiating from Unit 104 just not far opposite.