Beyond the Zenith

The lunch could, in a sense, be considered a farewell meal for both of them. They rode their bicycles to a mutton restaurant in the east of town and put away over forty yuan between them.

Using his “going to the frontier is risky” angle as cover, Han Qingyu carefully laid out all the details, large and small, filling in every gap and tying up every loose end so nothing would unravel later.

In the end, the meal stretched to well over two hours. Afterward, he helped tidy up Wen Jifei’s soon-to-be-vacant old house. As he did so, he also picked out a few things his family could use, bundled them together with his large black umbrella, and tied everything to the crossbar of his bicycle. By the time Han Qingyu set off for home, it was already well past 3:30 in the afternoon.

Wen Jifei rode out alongside him on his own bicycle, saying that they likely would not see each other for two or three years after parting, and wanting to squeeze out as much time together as possible.

“Alright, this is far enough,” Han Qingyu said, stopping his bicycle and turning around when they were not far outside the town. “Give it your all once you get in the army.”

“Sure, then let’s go our separate ways. Both of us will make something of ourselves from here.” Wen Jifei planted one foot on the ground, swung his bike around, and headed back.

Turning back around, Han Qingyu pushed off and rode on. He had gone barely twenty meters when a car horn, short and sharp, blared and gave him a violent start. He could feel the rumble of tires close behind him, gravel crackling under the wheels.

Han Qingyu glanced back at the windshield of the SUV and steered toward the edge of the road to make way.

Another blare of the car horn sounded as the SUV pulled up alongside him once more.

Dropping the idiotic notion of racing a car, Han Qingyu moved aside again, all the way to the curb, and pedaled a couple of extra strokes for good measure.

Same result. The SUV honked again and cut diagonally across his path, boxing him in against the curb and bringing him to a stop.

The window rolled down.

Lao Jian sat alone in the driver’s seat, head turned toward Han Qingyu with a smile. It was the kind of smile that came from a position of total security, the smug grin of someone who found his own prank thoroughly amusing.

If Han Qingyu weren’t afraid of dying, he would have punched him square in the face right then and there.

“Surprised?” Lao Jian asked, still smiling. He was dressed like an ordinary government official, looking every bit the part, which was why Han Qingyu hadn’t recognized him earlier.

If he had been following me since this morning... then, when I was jumping and running around in those woods earlier... A stab of alarm ran through Han Qingyu. I was too careless!

“Were you keeping tabs on me? Worried I’d say something I shouldn’t?” Han Qingyu asked, keeping a poker face. “You don’t need to worry. I know how serious this is. I won’t say a word.”

He also cautiously glanced ahead. There was no one nearby.

He then glanced behind him. Damn.

Wen Jifei had stopped less than a hundred meters back, his bicycle angled sideways as he squinted in their direction.

Don’t come over here, you idiot, Han Qingyu silently urged in desperation.

As far as Han Qingyu was concerned, Lao Jian was essentially a grim reaper ready to drag a person off to hell at any moment.

“Not exactly keeping tabs on you,” Lao Jian said, glancing back toward town. “This place is just so small. I happened to spot you and followed along for a bit.”

Han Qingyu watched Wen Jifei pedaling hard toward them as Lao Jian spoke.

Lao Jian could see him too, of course.

“Just a classmate of mine. I haven’t told him anything,” Han Qingyu hastily assured, turning back to Lao Jian.

Lao Jian gave a slight nod, a smile still on his lips.

Wen Jifei arrived with a screech, braking hard enough that the rear wheel lifted and swung sideways before dropping to the ground. Despite his hurry, he wore a smile as always.

Pointing at Han Qingyu’s bicycle, he asked, “What’s going on here? I can see the bike isn’t actually blocking anything.”

As far as he knew, Han Qingyu’s family had no connections with any cadres, and the SUV’s repeated maneuvers had obviously carried an air of provocation.

Lao Jian studied him with a deliberately hardened expression. “A private matter. Nothing to do with you.”

“Oh,” Wen Jifei said, still maintaining his smile despite deciding there was definitely something wrong here. “It has plenty to do with me. What’s the situation exactly? Say the word, and I’ll handle it.”

You’ll handle it? Handle what?! Han Qingyu raged inwardly.

This Flying Plague Chicken had picked up that street-tough habit at school, where students liked to form gangs and play at being tough guys. Han Qingyu was a poor kid from the countryside and thus wanted nothing to do with it, though he inevitably ran into some trouble despite his efforts.

Wen Jifei, on the other hand, loved picking fights and never backed down from them, probably because his father was wealthy and well-connected. He especially loved wading in to help others out.

More than once, Wen Jifei would show up to help when Han Qingyu or a few other classmates hadn’t even come to blows with someone yet. It would then inevitably escalate into a brawl.

Worse still, his actual fighting ability was nowhere near Han Qingyu’s.

“You’ll handle it? I doubt you can handle this one,” Lao Jian said, eyes narrowing. “Do you know what your classmate here is about to go off and do?”

Han Qingyu couldn’t tell if his question was deliberately probing and felt a wave of unease.

Wen Jifei answered without hesitation, “Join the army. Go to the frontier.”

Lao Jian nodded with a smile.

Seeing his opening, Han Qingyu hurriedly jumped in. “Stop meddling, will you? My joining the army? It was Lao... Uncle Lao here helped make it happen.”

He felt utterly humiliated saying that, but there was no other way.

Ah...I misread the situation! Wen Jifei realized.

Snapping to attention, he threw a salute. “Greetings, Commander.”

Then, leaning forward with an ingratiating grin, he added, “Commander, which unit are you with? You know, funny coincidence, I’m about to join the army too. Commander, when it comes to serving the country, you’d want to go where the motherland needs us most, wouldn’t you? Somewhere like the frontier, right?”

Lao Jian listened smilingly and slowly shifted his gaze over to Han Qingyu’s face.

Han Qingyu immediately turned to snap at Wen Jifei, “Knock it off! Is the army a joke to you?!”

“Exactly.” Lao Jian finally broke his silence. “Where you’re sent is not up to you.”

“Oh,” Wen Jifei responded dejectedly, not daring to push a real commander.

Han Qingyu finally managed to breathe something close to a sigh of relief.

“Alright, I’m heading the same way. Let me give you a ride for a bit. We can chat. Hang your bicycle on the back of the SUV,” Lao Jian ordered Han Qingyu.

Then, turning to Wen Jifei, he said, “Goodbye, little comrade. Make sure you give it your best once you get to the army.”

“Yes, sir. You can count on me.”

Before he left, Wen Jifei threw another goofy salute at the “commander.”

***

The SUV lurched and bounced along the gravel road.

“Were you nervous just now?” Lao Jian asked with a snicker. “Worried about dragging your buddy into something dangerous?”

No answer came. Han Qingyu had said almost nothing since getting in the car, fearing that would only invite trouble.

“I’m more and more convinced that bringing you on board was the right call,” Lao Jian continued on his own. “Composed, filial, resourceful, and loyal to those he cares about. Oh, I forgot to mention, I’ll be taking you to the unit personally this time.”

“Aren’t you a platoon leader?” Han Qingyu turned to look at Lao Jian, puzzled.

“Nothing I can do. You saw it yourself the other day. We didn’t find the source energy core this time, so I have to go back, report the situation, and submit to a review.”

Lao Jian seemed to speak with far fewer reservations than before, perhaps because he had already started thinking of Han Qingyu as one of his own men.

Having determined that his own secret had not been exposed, and genuinely curious about source energy cores, which seemed to be extraordinarily precious, Han Qingyu asked with sincere interest, “Do you... eat that stuff? Is that why you can run so fast, and—”

“Eat it?!” Lao Jian burst out into laughter, hands still on the wheel. “What do you think this is? A thousand-year-old ginseng root from some TV drama? I’ve seen people with somewhat stronger energy absorption abilities, but swallowing cores outright like you’re describing... I’ve never seen it. Never even heard of it.”

There was a lull as he seemed to think the question over more seriously.

“Actually, there are rumors of people with very high integration abilities,” he finally said, “but I’ve never witnessed it firsthand.”

“Oh.” Han Qingyu nodded, expression blank.

As they drove a straight stretch of road, Lao Jian suddenly slowed the car to a stop, then reached back and pushed at the rear seatback.

The seatback folded forward, revealing a hidden compartment inside. Stored neatly in the compartment was a full set of the strange equipment Han Qingyu had seen on Lao Jian and the others that night.

The rectangular metal case was a dark, muted color. Its top-left and bottom-right corners had been cut away, exposing two ports. On each side, roughly in the middle but at different heights, was one more port each.

Han Qingyu tried to recall what he had seen. The metal case on their backs had appeared to be strapped diagonally, with the top-left port positioned near the right shoulder and the bottom-right port shifted to the left, sitting just above the small of the back.

Corresponding to the number of ports, the hidden compartment in the seatback also held four metal strips of indeterminate material. They were clearly metal at a glance, yet appeared bendable.

Finally, there was a knife. It was not very long but somewhat thick, and entirely black, with its overall craftsmanship looking quite rough. There was also a small cone-shaped dagger of the same material.

“This, you’ve seen before. Once the source energy is refined, we store it in this device for use later. The body does absorb some of it over time and grows stronger than an ordinary person, but that’s about it. It’s not as dramatic as you’re imagining. Take me. I’ve been at this for nearly ten years, and if I don’t activate the device, a knife through me will kill me just the same.” Lao Jian closed the seatback, turned back around, and kept driving.

Han Qingyu instinctively turned his gaze to Lao Jian, thoughts stuck on that last line.

“Feeling tempted?” Lao Jian gave a rueful smile. “You want me dead that badly?”

This time, Han Qingyu didn’t rush to deny it.

Lao Jian laughed. “Hate me all you want, but you can’t kill me. Even if you did, it wouldn’t help. Too many people saw you that night, and a report has already been filed up the chain.”

“Even if I talked, no one would believe me,” Han Qingyu said with a sigh.

Lao Jian shook his head, his tone carrying a trace of resignation. “Even if ordinary people don’t believe it, someone with an agenda could be listening. I’m sorry, we can’t take that risk. You’ll understand all of this later—”

Two beeps interrupted his sentence. A black communications device on the seat beside him, roughly the size of a cigarette box, was flashing red.

Lao Jian turned to glance at Han Qingyu, then picked up the device and answered the call, “District 752, Lao Jian, standing by.”

The voice on the other end was too faint for Han Qingyu to make out clearly, but he managed to catch a few scattered words and phrases. It was something like: “Supply depot... Attack... Defend... Provide support for nearby districts”

“Understood. My position is good. Moving out immediately.”

Lao Jian ended the call. The two inside the vehicle looked at each other.

“You go handle your business,” Han Qingyu sincerely urged. “Just drop me here, and I’ll ride my bicycle the rest of the way.”

Lao Jian hesitated briefly. “I need you to do something for me.”

Han Qingyu was speechless.

The SUV accelerated, swinging onto a different mountain road and racing off into the distance before he could muster up a response.