Deming ran all night, his feet screaming in protest, the tiny bloodstains appearing starkly on his white boots, each step a fresh agony. He couldn't stop; he dared not. If he did, the boss, would surely find him and lock him up again, extinguishing the fragile spark of hope he'd just found. He was free, truly free for the first time in years, and he desperately wanted to remain so, to never return to that dark, suffocating dungeon.
After another grueling hour, the burning, raw pain in his feet became unbearable, a searing agony that forced him to slow. He stumbled to a large, gnarled tree, sinking beneath its sparse branches to take off his boots and tend to his injured, bleeding feet. Suddenly, just as he pulled off a boot, he heard familiar, dreaded footsteps behind him, light and swift, too close. He quickly stood up, his heart leaping into his throat, and faced a masked man in black, his tormentor.
Hu Dingxiang walked towards Deming, a cruel, predatory sneer twisting his lips behind the mask. His voice was a low, taunting drawl. "Do you think you can escape, little pet?"
Deming slowly retreated, hobbling backward, his face pale with terror, his lips trembling. "Please, let me go?" he begged, his voice a barely audible whimper.
"Do you miss that mute hunter?" Hu Dingxiang taunted, his voice dripping with malice, enjoying Deming's fear. "The one who treated you so kindly?"
Deming frantically shook his head, his tears starting to fall. "No! Let me go!"
"You come back with me," Hu Dingxiang continued, his voice softer, but more menacing, a twisted lure. "He told me he missed you very much. He wanted to see you again. He misses your touch."
Deming kept retreating, shaking his head harder, his terror overriding the false hope. "No! What did I do to you?! Why did you imprison me?! I didn't see your face, I swear! Please just let me go!" Deming turned and, despite the searing pain in his feet, began to run, a desperate, limping flight for freedom.
Hu Dingxiang, his patience snapping, sent two daggers flying through the air, their blades glinting wickedly. Deming, stumbling blindly, tripped over a rock and fell heavily as the daggers whizzed past him, narrowly missing his head. Hu Dingxiang then, with a chilling precision, stabbed Deming's left calf with a third dagger, pinning him to the ground.
"You evil man!" A fierce, resonant female voice suddenly broke the terrifying silence, a voice filled with righteous fury.
Suddenly, Deming was lifted into the air, scooped up by an unseen force. A colossal black ant, its chitinous body shimmering, its two sharp antennae twitching, appeared from nowhere, rushing towards Hu Dingxiang with one massive, armored leg raised.
Hu Dingxiang, startled, flipped backward, sliding further away, avoiding the crushing blow.
Deming, dazed but safe, found himself miraculously on top of the ant's broad back. The giant ant, a protective guardian, stabbed its two massive, sharp front legs at Hu Dingxiang from left and right, a relentless, powerful assault.
Hu Dingxiang could only retreat further and further, driven back by the sheer force. Realizing, with dawning horror, that he couldn't possibly beat the powerful fairy ant, he sent four desperate daggers flying at the giant ant as a diversion, then vanished, escaping into the shadows. The giant ant screeched, a harsh, triumphant sound, at Hu Dingxiang's retreating form.
Then, just as quickly as it appeared, the giant ant began to shrink, getting smaller and smaller, until Deming gently fell to the ground. Deming, disoriented, pinched himself several times, convinced he was dreaming again, that this sudden rescue was too good to be true.
The female voice, now gentle, said, "Silly brother, don't pinch yourself. You are not dreaming. This is real."
Deming looked around, frantically searching, but seeing no one. "Where are you then?" he asked, his voice filled with confusion.
A small black ant, barely visible, crawled to the ground from his robe, its tiny form shimmering. Before Deming's astonished eyes, it transformed, growing larger, its shape shifting, until it stood as a beautiful woman in black robes, her eyes sparkling with ancient wisdom.
"You are?" Deming asked, bewildered, his mind struggling to comprehend.
The woman in black smiled gently. "I'm Weici. An ant fairy," she replied, her voice soft and melodious.
Deming was taken aback, having never heard of an ant fairy before, his limited world suddenly expanding. "What do you want?" he asked, a hint of suspicion mixed with awe.
"You saved me. I'm returning a favor," Weici stated simply, her gaze steady.
"I don't remember saving you," Deming murmured, confused.
Weici crawled closer to him, her movements fluid and graceful. "Last night by the river," she explained, her voice recalling the moment. "You helped me from drowning, the little ant."
Deming's eyes widened in realization. "The drowning ant?" he murmured, a faint smile touching his lips.
Weici smiled, a warm, genuine expression. "It's me. Savior, can you walk?" She frowned, her gaze falling on his injured leg. "I don't know how to deal with the wound, though."
"Don't call me savior. My name is Deming," he corrected her softly.
Weici's smile broadened. "Brother Deming. Let me help you up."
Weici gently helped Deming limp back to the tree where he had been sitting, supporting his weight.
Deming looked at Weici, his voice urgent, a frantic edge to it. "We need to leave here. I don't want to stay here. I don't want the boss to find me and lock me up again, ever!"
Weici took Deming's hands in hers, her touch firm and reassuring. "Brother Deming, as long as I am here, no one will hurt you or lock you up."
Deming's lips trembled, his fear still palpable. "I'm afraid to go back to the dark dungeon. I need to leave this place, truly leave. Someone once told me that there's a city in the clouds where a goddess lives, and she will welcome me with open arms, a place of ultimate safety. I need to go there, to find that city."
"Brother Deming, you're injured. Let's find a way to stop the bleeding first," Weici said, her voice practical and comforting. "I'll help you find that city, once you're healed." She looked around, her eyes scanning the forest, searching for herbs or anything to treat Deming's wound. Then, sensing something, she muttered, "Hunters." She quickly changed back into a small black ant and, with a silent dart, crawled into Deming's sleeve, disappearing from sight.
"He is there!" Tam Liang shouted from a distance, his voice echoing, pointing directly to Deming's location.
Tam Qiu, seeing Deming, waved excitedly and called, "Brother Deming!" She rushed towards him, her footsteps light. She was then taken aback, her face paling, when she saw the dagger deeply embedded in Deming's calf. "What happened?!" she exclaimed, horrified.
"Bandits," Deming replied, his voice flat, a simple lie.
"Bandits?" Tam Qiu turned to Tam Liang, her brow furrowed. "Bing brother sent the signal to Senior Brother and Ah Kun, alerting them we found him."
Deming looked at Tam Qiu, asking sadly, a poignant question in his voice, "Sister Ah Qiu, why are you so nice to me?"
Tam Qiu smiled at Deming, her expression gentle. "We are taught to be kind to others, Deming. We live by our principles."
"What principles?" Deming asked, intrigued, clinging to this unexpected goodness.
Tam Qiu smiled, a quiet pride in her voice. "The Guozhao principles. We are Guozhao Hunters."
Deming looked down at Tam Qiu and saw a small, silver bell tassel hanging from her belt, a familiar sight. It looked exactly like the one he had, the one the kind man had given him, the one he had hidden. Deming hesitated, a profound sense of confusion and dawning realization washing over him, but decided to ask, his voice tentative, "Sister Ah Qiu."
Tam Qiu looked up, her smile warm. "Yes?"
"Do you live in a city in the cloud with a goddess?" Deming asked, a desperate hope in his voice, recalling the promise.
Tam Qiu smiled lightly, a gentle, knowing amusement. "Silly, there is no such city in the cloud. That's just a fairytale."
"So, there is no city in the cloud?" Deming repeated, his voice barely a whisper, his hope shattering.
Tam Qiu shook her head, her expression sympathetic. She gently re-wrapped Deming's injured feet, her touch soothing. "Who told you about such a place?" she asked softly.
Deming smiled, a pained, hollow expression. "I met a man a long time ago, and he said that there is a city in the clouds."
"City in the cloud are only in fairytales that are told to children, to make them sleep," Tam Qiu explained, confirming the crushing truth.
Deming had always known, deep down, that the "city in the cloud" was too good to be true, a fantastical escape from his nightmare, but he had still desperately hoped for such a place, clung to the man's promise. Now, hearing Tam Qiu, a figure of genuine kindness, confirm that it only existed in children's fairy tales, it hurt him profoundly, a searing pain deeper than his wound.
Since Tam Qiu, a stranger, confirmed there was no such city, it meant that both the boss and the kind man had lied to him, playing cruel games with his desperate hope. There was no city in the cloud, no goddess who would welcome him with open arms, no ultimate haven. He had foolishly believed both of them, his innocence exploited. He wanted to know, with a raw, burning anguish, if he had done anything to offend the boss or the kind man; why would they have lied to him, toyed with his very soul? He thought about why he would be stupid enough to believe such transparent lies, or that he had always been stupid since the beginning, which was why he ended up being locked up alone, utterly helpless. He now realized, with a chilling clarity, that the outside world was not "cupcakes and rainbows" as he had imagined, but a place as cruel and deceptive as the dungeon itself.
Tam Qiu saw hot tears dripping from Deming's face, silently reflecting the flickering bonfire. Her heart aching, she tried to cheer him up, her voice gentle and comforting. "There may be no city in the cloud with a goddess, but where we live is called Cloud City. Our Shimu loves us very much, a true mother figure. When our master punishes us, she will always help us, intercede for us. In the spring, the peach blossoms are in full bloom, covering the entire mountain. The entire mountain will smell fresh with the blossoms' aroma, a scent of peace." She smiled warmly at him, offering a real, tangible hope.
Deming wiped his tears with the back of his hand, a small, grateful smile touching his lips. "Thank you for cheering me on," he whispered.
"You're as old as my brothers, but cry like a child," Tam Qiu observed kindly, a gentle teasing.
"I'm used to tears," Deming replied, a bitter, self-aware chuckle. "We are old friends, tears and I."
Guozhao Zhiqiang, standing a little distance away, saw Deming and Tam Qiu talking casually under a tree as she tended his wound, a scene of unexpected intimacy. He stared at Deming intently, his brow furrowed, a growing unease in his gut.
Tam Kun, walking up to Zhiqiang, noticed his intense gaze. "Senior Brother," he said, "you've been staring at Brother Deming for a long time."
"Ah Kun," Guozhao Zhiqiang asked, his voice low, a desperate need for confirmation, "do you remember that we met a person who looked so much like him in Tam village, nine years ago?"
"Huh, oh... I remember. The red-haired guy," Tam Kun replied, snapping his fingers as it came to him. "The one that made Second Master almost kill you because you blocked the icicle from hitting him. The Second Young Master of Snow Sector, Hu Dingxiang." Guozhao Zhiqiang stared at Tam Kun coldly, a silent warning for his casual tone. Tam Kun cleared his throat, suddenly realizing his mistake. "Sorry, yes I remember him very well."
"He looks so much like that person," Guozhao Zhiqiang mused, his voice laced with confusion and lingering disbelief.
"People look alike, Senior Brother," Tam Kun said, shrugging. "Especially family members such as twins or cousins. Look at Weisheng and Weimin, they're exactly the same, but we can tell them apart. Even if they look exactly the same, we can still distinguish them apart by their personalities. The character doesn't change just because two people look alike."
"So?" Guozhao Zhiqiang prompted, a silent demand for the conclusion.
"In other words, Deming and Hu Dingxiang are twins or relatives," Tam Kun concluded, thinking for a while, piecing it together. "But... I don't look like Ah Liang, and we're first cousins." He stretched his head, pondering. "I'm sure they're twins, just like Weimin and Weisheng. It's the only logical explanation for the resemblance."
Tam Qiu walked up to Guozhao Zhiqiang and Tam Kun, her face serious. "Senior Brother, I don't think we should leave Brother Deming alone tonight."
"Why?" Guozhao Zhiqiang asked, his focus immediately shifting to her concern.
"He told me that he was attacked by bandits," Tam Qiu explained, her voice grave. "But I checked his calf carefully, and I concluded that the incision was surgically precise, clearly designed to prevent him from running, to disable him. Bandits don't study the human nervous system, Senior Brother."
"You mean someone is going to kill Deming?" Tam Kun asked, his voice sharp with alarm.
"This is just my suspicion," Tam Qiu clarified, her gaze firm.
"Let's be careful," Guozhao Zhiqiang decided, his voice resolute, taking her warning seriously. "I will guard first, Ah Kun and Ah Liang will then guard, in shifts."
"I will notify Ah Liang," Tam Kun said, already moving.
Guozhao Zhiqiang walked to where Deming was sitting, a quiet purpose in his steps, and handed him a fish he had cooked earlier. Deming took the fish and ate it happily, unaware of the turmoil he caused, his innocence painful to witness.
Guozhao Zhiqiang took a close look at Deming as he ate and found that Deming chewed his food exactly like the person who ate with him nine years ago, with the same delicate, almost childlike movements. It was an uncanny, undeniable similarity. He knew, with a dawning, terrible certainty, that it couldn't be a coincidence, but he still clung to the hope that it was just a strange resemblance. After all, the person who ate with him nine years ago, the one he had loved, was Hu Dingxiang, not this innocent Deming. The illusion, however, was starting to crack.
Weici, the ant fairy, slowly crawled out of Deming's sleeve, her tiny form shimmering. Sensing the intense scrutiny of the hunters, she quickly dived into the dirt to avoid the hunter's gaze and disappeared, a silent guardian in the shadows.