Little Fish – Chapter 13

Wei Zangchen slept for the majority of the drive once they were out of New Air. Cai Dan had been staring holes in the back of the man’s head, no doubt trying to figure out how he didn’t know such an amazing esper by face. 

Showing his ID, his car was allowed access to the institution. The area to the right of the building had been transformed into a makeshift morgue. Parking like he owned the place, Gu Lang smiled to himself, then looked to Wei Zangchen. The esper seemed much more innocent when he was sleeping. The bag of boiled sweets was still in his hands, unopened. Taking the bag, Gu Lang opened it, popping one of the sweets into his mouth.

“Sir…?”

“Go find me who’s in charge here. Ask them if a corpse with its head missing has been recovered, and if so, where.”

“You want me to leave you alone with that psycho?”

“Off you go. Remember to respect your elders.”

Cai Dan went to open the door—Gu Lang had truly forgotten he’d placed the child locks on when transporting Gun Wen, Xiao Li, and the cow cat. Feeling lazy, he slid the back window down.

“I forgot about that. Open it from the outside. Don’t slam the door on your way out.”

Cai Dan still slammed the door. Wei Zangchen didn’t flinch. Knowing the esper wasn’t sleeping, Gu Lang reached over and plucked up a few fingers’ worth of the esper’s hair, rubbing it between his fingers. Immediately, Wei Zangchen opened his eyes, glaring openly at him. Gu Lang smiled.

“We’re here. Gun Wen told me about what happened with the director here, and the children. He told me I’d find the documents and insisted I bring you here to collect them personally. You should probably put that hat and mask on. Not everyone’s as blind as Cai Dan.”

Reaching up, Wei Zangchen grabbed the hair Gu Lang was holding above the guide’s fingers. With a hard yank, he pulled it free. Gu Lang hadn’t expected him to act so extremely. He was frozen, staring at the locks of hair, then gave a small laugh.

“I’ll accept this as your peace offering. Put your hat and mask on. We don’t have time to stop for autographs if you want me to keep protecting those children, Ming Shen.”

Cai Dan found the forensic examiner, bringing the man over to them. He was nearly as tall as Gu Lang, but was as slight as Wei Zangchen.

“Major, we weren’t made aware that you’d arrive today.”

Gu Lang deflected.

“The commander insisted. He had me at a gate earlier, then straight out here. Did you find the corpse I asked for?”

“We did. He was the only one to lack clear identification and seemed to have been buried hastily. The other burials were conducted with care—the corpses laid to rest wrapped in two sheets each. At their feet, we recovered their work IDs, carefully wrapped in plastic. We’ll still need to wait for the complete sequencing to confirm.”

They weren’t meant to be digging up the bodies on a large scale. His commander must have gone around his attempts to stall.

“And that particular corpse?”

“Already packed and shipped to Lab 2.”

Ah, well. It couldn’t be helped then. As long as he had the evidence to confirm what Gun Wen alleged, Gu Lang was confident he could make a case from it. The other burials being handled with care would help Gun Wen’s credibility.

“Understood. Show me to his grave.”

Led away from the main site, they made their way through a half-dismantled maze of fencing. A mound of rock sat at the top of the exhumed grave. Gu Lang saw the way Wei Zangchen’s hands gripped the arms of the wheelchair.

“I need time with the site alone. Cai Dan, gather a list of what’s been shipped. Thank you, Doctor.”

No one wanted to be the guy to argue with the fierce Major. His temper was bad enough at the best of times, let alone after being sent to a gate. The pair left, Gu Lang taking his cigarettes out and lighting one. Taking a deep drag, he held it, then let it go.

“I intend to make a case for clemency on Gun Wen’s behalf. I need those documents. It’ll also look good for custody over Xiao Li. He says he’s four years old—just about the right age after you disappeared.”

Wei Zangchen didn’t say a word. Raising his hand, his mental cloud came to life, the dirt at the bottom of the grave lifting. With a shaky hand, the esper deposited a two-foot-high pile beside it. Gu Lang gave him a small clap.

“Well done. Chi Ren’s going to be livid.”

With the rock that had been hidden now exposed, Gu Lang casually jumped down into the hole. Lifting the rock up, he tossed it out of the grave. It was on the tip of his tongue to complain, but seeing the well-wrapped pile under it made him hold his tongue. Lifting up the pile—it was thick, too thick to be good. Underneath was more rock, Wei Zangchen having sealed them in a stone box, not simply under a rock. With the bundle under his right arm, he placed his left hand on the top of the hole, then hoisted himself up.

“Thank you. Provided I can return with these intact, I’ll transfer Xiao Li, that cat, and Gun Wen to a more agreeable environment in two days. They’ll be safe and secure while I’m processing this, and Gun Wen won’t need to worry about upsetting Chi Ren any longer.”

Wei Zangchen didn’t reply. His eyes were on the package of paperwork. Gu Lang didn’t know why he’d want to destroy it when that’d be detrimental to his own case.

“Don’t go getting ideas. I told you, as long as I have these, I’ll keep Gun Wen and Xiao Li from being detained as criminals. You saw through every lie I told in the past, so you know I’m telling the truth.”

Slowly, Wei Zangchen raised his gaze, his eyes meeting Gu Lang’s for a long moment, before giving him the stiffest, slightest nod known to history.

“We have a deal. You should shift the soil back. They’ll no doubt go poking around in there again, but moving it back will buy some time.”

The esper’s gaze moved to the stone he’d thrown aside. Raising it, it disappeared back into the grave, followed by the soil. Seeing the trick once, Gu Lang watched Wei Zangchen instead—such precise movement causing the esper to sweat as his mental tendrils sought guiding. As the esper had done as he was told, Gu Lang began radiation guiding.

“Right. Hold onto these. We’ll collect Cai Dan, then leave. Unless there’s anything you want to check inside the complex before we go?”

Wei Zangchen slumped in his wheelchair, staring at his lap as he did. He did seem to want to return to the institution, yet he didn’t nod. There should be time to bring him back once the graves were all dealt with. If anyone questioned it, he’d say he was having the esper describe each death and the running of the property.

***

Sitting in the backseat, Wei Zangchen had fallen asleep again. The esper was now supported on his right side by Gu Lang, who sat in the middle. Cai Dan had taken over driving. As much as Gu Lang wanted to immediately get started on the recovered documents, he didn’t want to open them until he was completely alone.

“Sir, there’s a town coming up. Should we stop?”

Placing down the file containing the names list—Gu Lang had been researching the individuals.

“You want to stop, don’t you?”

“Bathroom break.”

The guide nodded. Their bodies were as human as everyone else in those needs.

“Sure. Did the forensic examiner tell you anything different when you two were alone?”

Cai Dan nodded.

“They said they found more recent remains, but until testing was conducted, they wouldn’t be able to conclude a cause of death. They don’t believe all cases could possibly be related to mania.”

“That’s because mania is still underreported. When we get back, I want you researching all past gates in the area. Nothing should have escaped, but if it has and people are being infected… we’ll need to seal and clean the area.”

The guide felt a headache coming on at the thought of all that work. Sometimes gates spawned awkwardly. Seeing the space inside was distorted, it didn’t matter if they spawned half buried in a boulder, as long as there was enough space for whatever was inside to wiggle out.

“Yes, sir. Sir, did you lie to me earlier?”

That had been hours ago and Cai Dan was only now picking up on it? He may have to look at truly demoting the esper.

“It took you long enough. Did you work it out for yourself, or was it the investigator?”

Cai Dan didn’t answer directly.

“He’s Wei Zangchen. You benched me because I attacked Wei Zangchen. I can’t believe how low his mental abilities are now.”

“You should be grateful. You’d never stand a chance if he was at full power. The amount of trainees he made cry… I won’t be moving on with handing him over until he’s mentally competent to plead the case. We can’t put him up then have half the building destroyed.”

Cai Dan went silent for a long moment.

“I can’t imagine what he’s been through to be like this. How does this even happen to a grade S? Alphas and omegas heal faster than normal humans, yet… I heard he was an omega. The media won’t be kind.”

Gu Lang already knew that.

“No. He made a name for himself even when we were training, before the first year was out. Wei Zangchen trained as hard as any of us. He was the first one in our year to tell the media to shove their views up their arses. It was quite funny at the time. They wanted to do an interest piece, so he listed all the top human espers and said if they really wanted a piece, then they should interview them about how annoying it was to be treated as lesser when doing the same job. The Dean made him apologise. No one but them is hung up the same way.”

Cai Dan nodded.

“I understand. The last 20 years has been much different. I wouldn’t have graded as a grade A before.”

“You got through on your own merit. I still require you to work hard and clear your debt.”

Cai Dan groaned.

“Sir, you were very nearly nice.”

“Shut up. Men who get kidnapped and placed in trunks only receive respect when they’ve worked off their humiliation.”

“That’s not fair. You’re the one judging.”

“It seems completely fair to me. Let me know when we’re about to stop—Wei Zangchen cannot be left unsupervised.”

“Man, I still can’t believe it’s really him. I mean, I thought before it could be, seeing his DNA was there, then meeting him. He’s a bit scary.”

Gu Lang burst out laughing.

“He gave you a smackdown. When we get back, take tomorrow off to deal with the shock.”

“Do you think he’ll forgive me? I mean… neither of us knew there were still children there, let alone that he was running the institution… You’re the one who said to use the gate as an opportunity…”

Cai Dan was personally aggrieved having attacked a national god.

“All’s well that ends well. Go drinking, nurse your hangover, then move on.”

The esper knew his past mistake had been partially forgiven. The joke would linger much longer, but the retrieved documents had Gu Lang in a good mood, so it was better to keep the mood.

“Yes, sir. The GPS says the town is only about 15 minutes away.”

Instead of continuing what he’d been doing, Gu Lang took his phone out to search for food. He may be an arsehole, yet he wasn’t about to starve Wei Zangchen. The esper had used his powers, which took a toll on his body, plus the man was too thin to begin with. Whether he liked it or not, Wei Zangchen would be further detained until he ate.