The ultimate blue sea

Chapter 17 - Undercurrents

This time Chen Lin spoke. His voice was a little hoarse, and he spoke much slower that before. A little feebly, he said, "In principle, as long as there are no foreign objects in my body, I can heal anything that isn't a fatal wound."

Su Qing, struggling to ignore the unpleasant odor, gulped down the "elderly" milk, thinking, No wonder he's rich. I hear the cost of meat is rising. If you can cut off a bit and regrow it again and again like this, you could go out and sell meat. It's doing business without overhead.

Chen Lin took no more notice of him. He leaned back looking like a portrait of the deceased. The only sounds in the room were Su Qing's gnawing and the bread jerky's cracking. After around half an hour, a car honked its horn outside. Su Qing froze, but Chen Lin opened his eyes like a risen corpse and stood bolt upright. He picked up his cast-off shirt and wrapped it around himself. To Su Qing, he said, "We're going back."

Then, as though he had remembered something, he took the controller for the magnetic neckband from his pocket. Su Qing's hands shook. His heart rate leapt straight to 140. He had only one thought—it's over, he'll see through me.

Just then, Hu Bugui's voice suddenly came from the communicator: "Don't be scared."

It had been fine as long as Hu Bugui didn't make a sound. When he suddenly spoke, Su Qing, unaccustomed to having a spiritual guide, was so startled he plopped down on the ground. His rapidly beating heart gave a thump and nearly stopped beating. But Chen Lin pressed on the controller a few times, then looked back as though nothing were the matter and said to Su Qing, "Your prohibition is lifted. You can leave."

Hu Bugui's voice sounded in his ear again: "Don't be nervous. Though the magnetic neckband is broken, some of its surface functions can be imitated through the communicator and the shock ring you're wearing. We can even keep him from finding out temporarily. Our technical staff are keeping an eye on it for you."

Su Qing blankly dusted off his bottom and got up of the ground. He thought this planted agent business really was a racket. Each second was a trial for body and mind. A few more times like this and Chen Lin wouldn't have to make a move; his soul would be scared right out of his body and up to the heavens.

Chen Lin stood at the door waiting for him. His eyes fell on Su Qing. As Su Qing was about to step over the threshold, fortune smiled on his efforts. Without guidance, he made a gesture—he stopped his foot in midair, then slowly withdrew it. He grabbed the doorframe with one hand and looked out fearfully—in his understanding, someone who had suffered because of this thing would have a mental block about it.

He had something to hide and didn't dare to look directly at Chen Lin. His heart rate was rapid. He was uncertain and afraid. Like this, he really did succeed in misleading Chen Lin. The latter, showing rare patience, said, "You can leave now."

Then, leaning on the door, Su Qing totteringly extended a foot like an eighty-year-old lady. The bloodstains he had left behind were still at the door. He paused, then finally shuffled out—if you didn't know better, you would have thought he hated to leave this precious territory.

The car from the base was waiting at the gate. Su Qing was blindfolded as before. In darkness, he ignorantly changed hands several times and at last returned to the blue seals' base. The blindfold was removed. He found himself standing in front of the grey house once more.

It was already very dark, with only a sliver of light remaining on the horizon. The evening star had risen. There had been a big crowd leaving the base, but on the way back the ranks had dwindled severely. Only he and Chen Lin were left. Chen Lin didn't speak, standing with his hands behind his back, looking up at the sky at a forty-five degree angle, like an obnoxious and clueless little philosopher.