The ultimate blue sea

Chapter 21 - Night Talk

Who was behind them?

"Captain Hu..."

Hu Bugui interrupted him. Keeping his voice low amid the wind and snow, he said, "Don't disclose this to others for now. Send General Xiong a special report. If this really is trouble above, he'll take care of it. Don't think about it anymore. Do your own work."

"Yes, sir."

Hu Bugui changed the channel over to the special police unit, explained that the sweep was over, and ordered them to stand by. Then, riding the bike, he wiped the left lens again and returned the channel to Su Qing. He found that the person who had just been lying there sleeping had at some point sat up. His elderly roommate was sleeping very soundly. The clock showed 2:30 AM.

Hu Bugui stared, thinking there was something off about Su Qing's condition. This wasn't the first time. Since Su Qing had returned to the blue seals' base, however vigorous he was during the day, however much he seemed like he could eat and sleep his fill, he would wake up each night at precisely this time. Hu Bugui had been observing him for several days. It had been understandable at Chen Lin's place; he might have been having insomnia from fear or anxiety or something. But hadn't he already been at the grey house for a long time? Why would this still happen?

In the pitch-dark room, Su Qing sat bolt upright in bed, not moving, staring at his own hands.

Hu Bugui wanted to say something but was worried that suddenly speaking would scare him again, so he slowly increased the volume on his end, letting the sounds of wind and rain slowly increase so he would hear them clearly.

As expected, after a moment, Su Qing moved.

Hu Bugui turned the volume back down and asked him, "What's wrong?"

Su Qing's reactions seemed a little slow, whether because he had just woken up or for some other reason. He heard the question and only reacted after four or five seconds. He slowly glanced at Cheng Weizhi, then quietly got up and went to the bathroom. He closed the door and sat down with his back to the wall, then quietly said, "Can't sleep."

Hu Bugui frowned and softened his voice as much as possible—though it still sounded deep and gruff. "Could you not sleep the whole time, or did you suddenly wake up? Were you having a nightmare?"

Again, Su Qing didn't answer for a long time. He seemed to zone out sitting there. The communicator could generally detect his mental state. Though Hu Bugui wasn't specialized medical personnel, he could tell that all his index values were particularly low. He couldn't resist calling out to him: "Su Qing?"

Su Qing responded blankly, then reached out to pinch the bridge of his nose. "Oh, it's late, I'm not very awake, what did you just say?"

Hu Bugui heard that the tempo of his speech was considerably slower than during the day. His voice was a touch nasal. He repeated the questions he had just asked. Su Qing unconsciously reached a finger out to draw on the slightly fogged-up mirror. The young man in the mirror seemed to have had half his soul yanked out. His eyes wandered and his cheeks were pale. The shaggy hair in front of his forehead was long enough to touch his eyebrows, making him look even more downcast.

"It's...all of that, I guess," he said. "I think of things, and I don't know what I'm thinking about. I've been dreaming, too. It's a little blurred."

"What have you been thinking about?" Hu Bugui asked. Then he thought that was a little harsh and rigidly added, "Is it something you can tell me about?"

First Su Qing nodded. Then he seemed to think with some effort for a while. He laughed bitterly. "When you asked, I forgot about it. I must have been sleeping just now?"