Leo’s watch had a countdown function, beeping with a flashing red light.
There were less than two minutes left.
The sun-tanned crew member had already started the supply ship’s engine, and the roar of the machine echoed outside the cabin.
The ship was about to set sail.
However, Leo had turned away, ready to leave this ship that was departing from the confinement island.
He was heading back to the prison on that island that was on the brink of explosion.
“I…” Yan Chuan stood barefoot on the cold cabin floor, reaching out to grasp Leo’s clothes: “Are you leaving?”
Leo’s response was to slowly pull his hand away.
His fingertips slid off the fabric, and Yan Chuan was pulled back by a crew member, who babbled away in obscure language.
At that moment, Leo stepped off the ship.
The last thing he left Yan Chuan with was a simple sentence.
“Maybe you can find reports related to the prison in the town.”
His tone even carried a hint of amusement, as if Leo didn’t care at all about where he was going.
Yan Chuan watched as the crew member closed the cabin door completely.
“*&%?#@…” The crew member, whose skin was tanned from years at sea and who revealed a bright white smile when he laughed, turned back to him, muttering something incomprehensible.
The supply ship was moving at a decent speed, and soon Yan Chuan could no longer see the edge of the confinement island.
That desolate, remote island gradually vanished, swallowed up by the horizon.
Only the faint echoes of explosions could be heard.
The crew member continued talking, and Yan Chuan shook his head, mumbling, “I don’t understand what you’re saying…”
Seeing his expression, the crew member realized they were speaking different languages and frustratedly tapped his own head.
Then, Yan Chuan heard the crew member’s awkward words.
He said –
“Don’t be afraid, we are going home…”
***
In a town a thousand miles away.
Life here was tranquil; even the postal worker casually delivering mail had gray hair and bought a newspaper from a newsboy, leisurely unfolding it to read in the light.
The biggest news was merely that a young Eastern beauty had settled down here.
She had black hair and black eyes, with both features being exceedingly rare in the town. Her eyes were as dark as the night sky, dotted with sparkling stars.
When the Eastern beauty settled here, she claimed to have come by boat from a distant prison.
The townsfolk didn’t believe her; words like crime and prison felt too far removed from their lives. The Eastern beauty was beautiful, slender, and certainly didn’t look like someone who would end up in prison.
They expressed their disbelief, thinking she was just joking.
The Eastern beauty merely smiled and told them she was a little thief.
“A thief who was sent to prison,” observing their bewildered expressions, the Eastern beauty said, “and then escaped.”
The townsfolk grew even more confused.
However, the Eastern beauty, with a faint smile, convinced them that she was not joking.
This dark-haired beauty who had come to the town was a somewhat mysterious and charming little thief.
The eye-catching Eastern beauty sat at a café corner by the wall, with a freshly made cup of coffee in front of her.
The coffee was still steaming and too hot to drink, so she added a small lump of sugar to it.
She stirred it with a spoon, watching as the sugar slowly dissolved.
When the newsboy passed by the window, the Eastern beauty tapped on the glass and handed him a few coins.
The boy stuffed a newspaper inside, grinning shyly at the lovely Eastern beauty.
The person inside also smiled at him, giving the newsboy a piece of sugar in return.
The newsboy accepted the sugar, gestured happily, and handed back the coins the Eastern beauty had given him.
Then he dashed off like the wind.
The one sitting inside was Yan Chuan.
Having completed the main storyline, he was technically free to leave the script; however, Yan Chuan did not.
He chose to stay and finish one last side task.
The crew member had brought him to this quiet town.
After a week in the town, Yan Chuan was getting accustomed to it and had just started reading the newspaper.
The paper had just been printed and still bore a somewhat pungent smell of ink.
In bold letters, the headline read:
“Crimes in the Prison? Possible Connections to Multiple Child Disappearances.”
Life in the town was calm; the biggest news was about the theft of the mayor’s daughter’s necklace, which was later found in the yard.
Upon seeing such a headline, one couldn’t help but feel a shiver.
Yan Chuan carefully read the content of the article.
While the headline was eye-catching, the body of the article was written plainly, without any sensational embellishments.
It recounted a story that began over ten years ago and mentioned a curious event that appeared in a past newspaper.
“Rescue of the Shipwrecked Crew Member”
Yan Chuan read through every word.
A crew member, discarded due to misconduct, washed up on a deserted island, where he fortuitously discovered some previously unseen creatures, using them as food to survive.
The crew member even found that his physical condition was improving.
Had someone not passed by, he might have died on that island. But fortunately, he encountered a fishing boat that led him back.
After returning to society, people were curious about how he managed to survive alone on the deserted island without food for over ten days, and for the sake of money, the crew member told them there was a special creature on the island.
The newspaper used the words “creature”.
Yan Chuan confirmed that the report didn’t clarify what the crew member had relied on to survive.
Was it a special plant that only grew on the confinement island, or was it… something else?
The newspaper didn’t elaborate; it merely skimmed over it. Yan Chuan, too, didn’t know the answer to that question.