The Cause

The rain came fast and left just as quickly. One minute it was pouring, and the next the fierce sunlight shot into the valley again. Lu Zhao walked out of the earth-god shrine and looked out over the mountains. Suddenly, he saw a figure moving on the slope. He stared for a moment. Following his gaze, Liu Qiang also saw the figure. “Brother Lu, that’s probably the fugitive.” Ant Ridge was a dangerous area. Demon beasts could appear at any time, and ordinary people were strictly forbidden from entering. Only fugitives and criminals would take the risk and hide there. “No doubt about it.” Lu Zhao did not hesitate. He started up the mountain again. He did not mind guarding the mountain, but he also wanted to climb higher. He would not give up any chance to earn merit. Liu Qiang followed behind him, his steps light, as if he were on an outing. “Brother Lu, with those bullets of yours that can curve, taking him down should be easy, right?” The people at the border defense station avoided him inside the bureau, but outside they all vied to follow Lu Zhao. The reason was simple: with Lu Zhao, even if they ran into a gang of fierce bandits crossing the border, they would come out unharmed. “That’s a divine power. It can kill, but it’s hard to use for capture.” Lu Zhao walked to a slope and raised his binoculars. He saw the figure resting under a tree on the mountainside. Short and stout, his skin turned to stone. Broad forehead, small eyes. Comparing him with the wanted poster confirmed he was the fugitive. At that moment, the fugitive seemed to notice him. He got up and fled in a hurry. Lu Zhao quickened his pace and ordered, “Contact the center. Tell them we’ve found the fugitive’s trail, and ask whether we may shoot to kill.” Liu Qiang took out his phone and made the call. It took about two minutes to get permission. When he looked up, Lu Zhao had already run far ahead. He could only chase after him. One fugitive and two pursuers raced wildly through the mountain forest. Lu Zhao was very fast. His legs treated the mountain gullies as flat ground, and like a tiger coming down the mountain, he rapidly closed in on the fugitive. From the fugitive’s speed, he could tell the man’s life-force development did not exceed twenty points. Faintly, a shout came from behind. “Brother Lu, permission to shoot!” Lu Zhao skidded to a halt, kicking up a chunk of turf. He raised his rifle and aimed at the target eight hundred meters away. Amid the bushes and trees, the fugitive was using the rocks for cover. Bang! The bullet flew out and struck the fugitive’s head with precision, then was deflected by the stone shell covering his skull. A second bullet then struck the exact same spot with precision. Blood burst out and sprayed the bushes. About fifteen minutes later, the grass swayed. Lu Zhao and Liu Qiang parted the grass and walked over, confirming the fugitive was dead. The stone-like skin made it impossible to tell his age or features. His clothes were ragged, and he carried nothing. He had hidden something. That was Lu Zhao’s judgment. A superhuman’s metabolism was many times that of an ordinary person. For someone like him to maintain his abilities, his caloric needs would surge dozens of times over. No human could survive on grass alone. Liu Qiang asked, “Brother Lu, what’s wrong?” “Nothing.” Lu Zhao shook his head and did not say it aloud. If he reported this now, his superiors would surely make him search for it. The leadership was blocking his promotion, so he had no need to be so dedicated. He and Liu Qiang had just returned from a rotation change and were both physically and mentally exhausted. If it really were something especially important, then it would become the entire border defense station’s mission. Lu Zhao and Liu Qiang carried the corpse down the mountain. Border police who had received the news happened to drive over, and four police cars stopped at the foot of the mountain. Border Defense Duty Battalion Commander Zhang Like leaned against a car door smoking, showing no intention of entering the mountains to search. When two gunshots echoed through the mountains, he stubbed out his cigarette and said to those around him with a laugh, “When Old Lu pulls the trigger, somebody’s head is about to bloom.” Shortly after, everyone saw Lu Zhao carrying the corpse down the mountain, blood dripping all the way. Thud. The corpse was dropped to the ground. Lu Zhao took the cigarette Zhang Like handed him, lit it, and took a drag. “Luck was on my side. I happened to run into him.” Zhang Like was the Border Defense Company Commander, with the rank of company commander, and Lu Zhao’s superior. Two years ago, Lu Zhao had saved him during a gunfight with drug traffickers, and the two quickly grew close. Lu Zhao had been able to become this platoon leader thanks to Zhang Like taking the pressure and transferring him to front-line positions where he had opportunities to earn merit. “This bastard can’t be hurt by ordinary firearms. He killed five police officers on the way here.” Zhang Like shook his head. “He only ran into you, the great tiger. It’s a waste to have you guarding the mountain here.” “This time, I’ll go ask the leadership for you, as a way of returning the favor.” Lu Zhao thought for a moment and said, “If I can be promoted, help me work things out to transfer into the military.” The person he had offended should not be able to reach into the military. Zhang Like also pondered for a moment. Promotion and personnel decisions carried great weight. They were not something he could decide, but he could maneuver some connections and try to lean on them. “I can’t promise it will work.” “Whether it succeeds or not, I’ll owe you a favor.” Zhang Like waved a hand. “Pack it up.” ----- The border defense station stood at the foot of the mountains. A massive concrete wall blocked the road from the mountains to the city, and a town lay beside it. From the outside, it looked like an ancient city. Inside was a border defense police force armed to the teeth. From armored vehicles to single-soldier rockets, from anti-aircraft guns to large-caliber machine guns, it had everything. In wartime, this place would become a fortress to hold back the demon beast tide and buy time for the rear armies and cities to react. As soon as Lu Zhao entered the border defense station, the soldiers on guard duty all looked at him and whispered, “Lu the Tiger has come back from hunting again.” Hunting was Lu Zhao’s privilege. Out of the eight hundred people at the border defense station, only Lu Zhao could guarantee, “I see it, I eliminate it.” Everyone else basically found traces, reported quickly, and let helicopters shoot from the air. Demon beasts could be killed by guns, but humans were flesh and blood too, and in complex mountain terrain, firearms were extremely inaccurate. Most of the time, the demon beasts hid as soon as they heard helicopters. Despite such outstanding results, no one dared step forward to flatter Lu Zhao. Everyone knew he had offended a great figure and did not want to be dragged into it. Zhang Like dared to associate with him because Lu Zhao had saved his life. He could not simply stand by as if it had nothing to do with him. “Old Lu, go back and rest first. Leave the rest to me.” Lu Zhao nodded, turned, and left. The sentries at the gate did not even bother to check him and let him through. Entering the dormitory building, the aged doorman called out, “Lu Zhao, the light bulb in your room is broken. Someone will come fix it tomorrow.” “Mm.” Lu Zhao answered and walked without stopping to room 1011. He took out his key, pushed open the door, and saw an empty room. A hard plank bed, a table and chair, and a half-person-high small refrigerator. The only small items were a toothbrush, a ceramic cup, a towel, and an ashtray made from a drink can. That was all the room contained. Besides insomnia, Lu Zhao had another quirk: his room had to be spotless. Half an hour later, Lu Zhao came out of the bathroom and saw he had one missed call on his phone. The contact was [Old Tang]. Old Tang’s name was Tang Fen. He had been the training-program director when Lu Zhao studied in Cangwu City, and counted as half a guardian to him. Lu Zhao called back, and a rough voice came through. “Little Zhao, the orphanage has money again.” “Did the government allocate funding? Or did someone who made good come back to help the poor?” “Li Dongxue. This year, she earned merit by suppressing a rebellion beyond the pass and became a senior colonel. A senior colonel at twenty-five—if a few more years pass, she’ll likely be promoted to general.” Ever since Tang Fen grew old, he became very talkative. Whenever he had a chance, he would “help” Lu Zhao reminisce. That had been over ten years ago. Lu Zhao’s divine power had been inherited from Li Shaoqing, commander of the armored company of the Nanhai Third Army—Li Dongxue’s father. Inheritance of a divine power meant the death of the previous holder. From ancient times to the present, kings, lords, generals, and ministers—countless heroes—had left behind divine powers. In an age of chaos, they scattered across the land while warlords vied for supremacy; in an age of prosperity, a new dynasty gathered them together to last for ages. The Yan Federation took divine powers as the foundation of the state. They were classified into the Five Elements, the psychic, and the physical, and graded as Tiny, Weak, Moderate, Strong, Powerful, and Great. After a person died, divine powers could be obtained through weathering or cremation. Later generations could absorb them to inherit the previous person’s power, though ordinary divine powers would usually drop one grade. In theory, a Great divine power could not be obtained through inheritance. The Great had a fixed number: the Thirty-Six Heavenly Gangs and the Seventy-Two Earthly Fiends. His divine power was called [Yi]. It was a psychic-type strong divine power; by the time it was inherited by him, it had become Moderate grade. “You two didn’t work out. Did you expose your inherited divine power?” Old Tang was still bothered by it. Of course, he did not approve of young romance. Minors were not yet mature enough in mind and lacked the practical ability to bear the responsibilities of a relationship. But Lu Zhao and Li Dongxue were both too outstanding. The former had been unusually intelligent and mature since childhood; the latter was nearly all-around gifted. And back then, he had seen it with his own eyes: Li Dongxue had passed Lu Zhao a love letter. As half an old father figure, Tang Fen had wanted to pair them up—no reason to let such a good match slip outside the family. In the end, one went to Dijing and the other to Chishui Military Academy in Shu, and they never contacted each other again. “No. That would be a violation. High-risk divine powers are state property; their source and destination must not be disclosed.” Lu Zhao stubbed out his cigarette butt and changed the subject: “How much did she give the orphanage?” “Three hundred thousand. That will last us for a while. How have things been on your end lately?” Old Tang asked about his recent situation. Lu Zhao answered without thinking, brushing it off: “Same as before—patrolling the mountains and hunting demon beasts.” “I’ve gotten in touch with an old friend. Why don’t you go teach? You’re a B-grade psychic superhuman and a Dijing University graduate. Why waste yourself in a petty border post?” “I just caught a fugitive. I want to make my way into the military.” “It won’t work. As long as you want to take a path inside the official system, there’s no way to avoid the Chen family.” Those superhumans known as Martial Marquis were all Guardians of the Realm. Some were senior officials of the Hall of Martial Virtue, some were regional governors, and some were army commanders. The person Lu Zhao had offended was the Jiangbei Martial Marquis, a great figure in the eastern and western circuits of Nanhai. Lu Zhao had been sent to the border defense station because commissioned-training students needed to return to local posts, and that post happened to fall completely within the Chen family’s sphere of influence. Otherwise, with his record, he should have been like Li Dongxue: either incorporated into the army as a starting field officer, or entering officialdom as the top official of a county. Unfortunately, Lu Zhao never yielded to force. The more they pressed him, the more defiant he became. Tang Fen had connections, but he belonged to the academy faction; his hand could not reach into the border defense at all. The same was true for the Dijing mentors at his school. Old Tang knew how proud his student was at heart. He could only sigh and say, “I’ll try contacting people again, see if I can smooth things over for you.” “No need.” “Why are you so stubborn? Even if you won’t think about yourself, you have to think about your mother. Can the little money you make on the border pay for her heart disease treatment?” There was no common ground between them. The call ended. Lu Zhao took a 500-milliliter bottle of Lang-brand special-distilled life supplement from the refrigerator. The higher a superhuman’s life force, the harder it was to sustain metabolism on ordinary food. Thus life supplements came into existence. They reduced the need for large amounts of excretion while increasing conversion efficiency, and were produced by the major distilleries now on the market. Lu Zhao’s life force was thirty-five points. A robust adult’s life force was five points. His daily metabolism was five times an ordinary person’s, and his caloric needs were ten times as much. If he relied on food alone, he would have to eat, drink, and excrete for an hour or more. Lu Zhao drank one supplement, then went out to the training ground to do calisthenics to aid digestion. A few other people were exercising there as well. In a small place like the border defense station, very few people could persist in developing their life force. An hour passed before he stopped. Faint steam rose from his skin. “Lu Zhao.” From a distance, Zhang Like waved. Lu Zhao walked over and asked, “Well?” Zhang Like shook his head. To be honest, Lu Zhao was not surprised. In fact, it was expected. This was not his first time earning merit. Four years ago, he had been in a gunfight with drug traffickers crossing the border. Three years ago, he had assisted the police in shooting dead a villain who took hostages at knifepoint. Two years ago, he had intercepted a smuggling case. A year ago, he had volunteered to join an anti-drug operation. And yet he was still guarding the mountains at the border defense station. “This is fucking messed up!” Lu Zhao did not curse, but Zhang Like could not help cursing. “Even if you offended the King of Heaven himself, they shouldn’t bully you like this. Is there no law left?” “Maybe it really is the King of Heaven.” Lu Zhao took out another cigarette and handed it to Zhang Like. The two smoked in the dormitory corridor of the border defense station, puffing smoke into the air. Outside, a light rain began to fall again. Raindrops shattered the mist and clouds. Zhang Like looked at Lu Zhao, crouched on the ground and puffing smoke. Black hair fell past his ears and covered his eyes; his jawline was as sharp as if carved by a knife. Not becoming a celebrity would be a waste. He said, “Four years ago, a big shot in Cangwu City gave the order that you were to be nailed down to the border defense station. Who did you offend? Give me the inside story.” “Chen Qian.”