The whole night was sleepless for Liu Yong, once he saw the first signs of light cast along the quiet city he stood out of bed and left the small dorm. Work was empty aside from the few officers working on overdue paperwork, all of them too busy with their own problems to bother with Liu Yong. Inside the gym all the machines were baron, even the officers that loved working their bodies hadn’t woken from their slumber yet.

 

Like a robot, Liu Yong walked to the treadmill to begin his morning run. After running for an hour he moved onto an hour of weights, By the time he had finished the gym was bustling with life. Once his body was clean, Liu Yong returned to his office but left after picking up a stack of papers, heading towards his Supervisors office. The aged man was still feeling sleepy when a loud bang rang in his room. “Eh?! What are you doing Xiao Yong? Are you trying to lessen the amount of time I have left?”

 

“I want to start an investigation for Li Qing.” Supervisor showed his confusion on his face before taking the thick pile of paper from his desk, he flicked through them quickly. Liu Yong glaring at him seriously the whole time. “This Li Qing, you believe she is involved with Wu Yun?”

 

“She is the head of the whole organisation, I have proof and witnesses declaring she was behind the first life extraction on demons.” Supervisor was bewildered at Liu Yong’s words. Weren’t you on desk work? How did you find this out? Supervisor read through the files in his hands a little more carefully, the references showed that all the information was found through the case files in their precincts possession. You really are the great Liu Yong!

 

“I’ll set up a meeting with the higher ups then get back to you, since this is deeper than we thought the team could use your expertise again but I won’t be the one making that decision, everyone knows how close you and Wu Yun were. Although this is an investigation for Li Qing, Wu Yun is still involved.”

 

“I understand but even if I don’t get permission, I will take matters into my own hands.” I know! Supervisor stood from his chair as he ushered Liu Yong out. “I already know Xiao Yong, I’ll put in a few good words for you and we’ll see. In the meantime it’s still desk work for you.” 

 

Liu Yong slowly made his way to the canteen, the food was bland but he needed something in his stomach after working out for 2 hours. At the table he sat alone, numerous eyes landed on him followed by quiet whispers that he could clearly hear. Do you think Liu Yong is involved with that child he brought in? Child? Ms Wu was also there and she only deals with adults, why would Liu Yong call Ms Wu for a child? Whoever that boy was, he seemed pretty upset, people two floors below us could hear his bellowing.

 

The already bad food turned sour in Liu Yong’s mouth and he angrily stood up, the whispering mouths shutting in fear. Even though Liu Yong never gave them even an ounce of attention or a small glance, they still looked down in shame. 

 

For hours Liu Yong sat in his office. He tried reading through more files but his mind couldn’t focus on the words. He turned and walked over to his wall covered in the photos of all the snake victims, Why snakes? The two files I found alongside Wang She’s were of a fox and rabbit but after that, only snakes have been targeted. Li Qing, what is your end goal?

 

While waiting for the supervisor’s decision on whether or not he would be able to join the investigation, Liu Yong wrote a proposal for a safety plan. If we can place seals on snakes to hide their demon identity then maybe the numbers of deaths can slow down. Maybe Li Qing will show her face again too.

 

_ _ _ _ _ _

 

Zhou RenShu sat in his bed without moving, he had no desire to leave the room or even leave his haven of blankets. He drifted in and out of sleep, whether he was awake or not his mind was full of Liu Yong. During his nth dream, Zhou RenShu was sitting in the flora field he had grown to hate, he sat on the ground while looking around timidly. Where is he?

 

Liu Yong emerged from the trees and sat behind Zhou RenShu, his large hands covering the small boy's eyes. Zhou RenShu giggled happily and threw his body back, Liu Yong catching him effortlessly. “What took so long? I was waiting.”

 

Liu Yong kissed along the small jawline then up to Zhou RenShu’s lips, pecking and nibbling at the soft pink skin. Zhou RenShu tried to shove his tongue through the tight lips but he was gently pushed away. In his dreams Liu Yong never went too far and he never spoke, only holding the small boy in his arms underneath the warm sun. “Liu Yong, hold me. I feel cold.”

 

This wasn’t true but the man still laid on the soft grass with Zhou RenShu laying in his chest, their fingers gliding along each other's skin. Zhou RenShu’s soul warmed gradually and his mind settled but his heart still hurt as he laid against Liu Yong’s chest, the muscles and skin felt like how he remembered but the strong steady heartbeat that would lull him to sleep wasn’t there.

 

_ _ _ _ _ _ 

 

In the end Liu Yong was granted permission to join the team investigating Wu Yun and he was given a small unit to start an investigation on Li Qing. His proposal on creating a safety seal for snake demons had also been granted and he also spent a great deal of time researching on how to create a seal that was completely undetectable.

 

Slowly one month passed and Liu Yong had pushed every thought and feeling for Zhou RenShu away. Even though in his hands was a large black snake his mind didn’t wonder to the beautiful pale snake he had once known. When Liu Yong first started working on his seal he had purchased a snake to keep at work, his goal being to hide the energy that the snake had. If he could hide the energy that gave snakes their identity then he could hide the identity of snake demons.

 

Multiple seals had been written on the hard scales of the black snake yet nothing would happen, Liu Yong grew frustrated and returned to the books discussing the ancient art of seals, cultivation and magic. Not only did the seal need to hide energy but it needed to be undetectable.

 

When Liu Yong had done enough reading for a whole lifetime he walked to the room his team was dedicated to, inside multiple rows of computers were set up. The video footage Liu Yong had of Li Qing was used to start facial recognition using all the cameras available in the main city. So far there had been only one sighting but when a small team was sent to investigate, the woman was nowhere to be found. Later on that evening a young snake demon had turned up dead. A pale gaunt face with deathly purple lips.

 

“Sir, there have been no new sightings yet. We have tried searching for possible targets as well but it seems that most snake demons are in hiding after the news report.” Liu Yong walked down every row, each computer showing a different location as the computers scanned the hundreds of thousands of cameras in their city. “We may need to use bait then, these cases are becoming more sporadic and crazed compared to before.”

 

“Bait, Sir?” A strong officer was following Liu Yong, he wasn’t part of the computing unit but the field unit, Officer Yu had been the one to find the dead demon. Once Liu Yong had checked over his small team in the cramped room he walked out to explain to Officer Yu his new plan. “Since the snakes have gone into hiding, we can use a snake demon to lure Li Qing out. With officers already waiting wherever we place the bait.”

 

“How do we find a willing candidate? All the snake demons are shaking in fear on a good day, now with the news of Li Qing circling around, finding even one demon to talk to us would be like pissing in the wind.” Liu Yong already knew this but they had to do something. “I’ll leave it to you then, Officer Yu.”

 

Liu Yong patted officer Yu’s shoulder then walked away, on his path back to his office he accidently bumped into Ms Wu, after that day where he walked away he had made an effort to stay clear of this woman. All the hard work Liu Yong had done to force his thoughts away from Zhou RenShu crumpled to dust. The dull pain in his heart grew until it left him breathless.

 

“Liu Yong, it’s been awhile.” Ms Wu looked at the pale man before her with a stern face. Liu Yong straightened his face and smiled at the woman. “Ms Wu, it has been a while. How is everything?”

 

“Zhou RenShu has finally settled into his studies. The first two weeks he refused to meet with the tutor, but after a stern talking to he was able to come to his senses and study hard. He has even started art classes.” The question had been asked in courtesy to see if the middle aged woman was doing well but instead he was given the run down of Zhou RenShu’s current life. Liu Yong’s efforts to hold a cold expression became effortless at the words “stern talking to” and “come to his senses.”

 

“What do you mean stern talking to?” Liu Yong spoke between gritted teeth, if Ms Wu was to stand closer she would be able to hear the bones and teeth grinding together. “Of course I mean I had to tell him to stop his sulking. The boy had turned into a bag of bones when I paid him a visit after hearing from the tutor that Zhou RenShu wasn’t opening the door.”

 

Liu Yong struggled to hold himself up as Ms Wu kept prattling on. “Liu Yong, you can’t baby that Zhou RenShu. If I didn’t tell him to grow up and take his life seriously then he would have continued to sit in self pity forever.”

 

The more the woman talked the angrier Liu Yong became, he could barely hold it in. “It is a pity though, the boy is so shy and timid. His art teacher has told me he has no friends, even though the people in his class all try to get to know him, he refuses to get close to them. Finding him a job is going to take some time because of this, that, and his past bosses aren’t exactly willing to say great things about him.”

 

In the end Liu Yong could only say goodbye to the rambling woman and force his stiff legs to take him to his office. Once inside his cold facade broke and he held his wet face in his hands. Did I ruin him? Although he is living a normal life now, he sounds lonelier than when we were together. Zhou RenShu, please don’t hate me for what I did, I only wanted you to be safe. Even I have become a threat to your life and I can’t bear to see your limp corpse again.

 

_ _ _ _ _ _

 

Officer Yu was heading out of the building to look for a place to eat when he bumped into a small body. The person almost went flying to the ground but his reflexes were fast enough to grab a hold of the thin arm. “Sorry, I didn’t see you.”

 

Although most of the workplace recognized Zhou RenShu, Officer Yu wasn’t one of them since he had been on a mission during the whole fiasco. Zhou RenShu clutched a canvas almost the same size of his body and timidly looked at the officer still holding his arm. “I-I’m, I want to see Liu Yong.”

 

Officer looked at the time, Liu Yong would be heading to the canteen for dinner then back to his dorm usually. Officer Yu glanced down at the small boy. “I’m afraid he’s not in, is it important?”

 

Does he not want to see me? Did he tell everyone to not let me in? When I asked Ms Wu to take me here she also refused. “I have a present for him.”

 

Zhou RenShu held up the canvas that was wrapped in white fabric. Officer Yu felt something was off with this boy, he could feel his energy was low yet clean but it didn’t feel like a cultivator. Instead he could feel Zhou RenShu was a demon but he couldn’t pinpoint what type of demon. “I can put the gift in his office, just tell me your name and I’ll leave a note for him.”

 

Once his name was given, Officer Yu took the large gift. Zhou RenShu watched sadly as the man disappeared inside, only once the man could no longer be seen, did he walk away. Making his way to the bus stop to find his way back home. Zhou RenShu had been hoping to see Liu Yong since he had gotten confused with the bus stops and almost couldn’t find his way, seeing Liu Yong even for a second would have made the fearful trip worth it.

 

Officer Yu did as he said and opened the door to Liu Yong’s office without knocking. He was surprised to see the usually cold man hunched over with a look of regret and despair. The sight only lasted for a second since Liu Yong quickly wore his cold face and stood up with a stiff back. He looked at the large thing in Officer Yu’s hand. “Uh, I thought you would have left by now, Sir. If I had known you were still in your office then the boy could’ve given you this himself.”

 

Officer Yu handed the gift over, Liu Yong held it in one hand while looking at the man opposite him with an odd expression. “What boy?”

 

“Zhou RenShu, tell me. Is he a demon? His energy was exactly like a demon but there was no identity to the energy. I’ve never felt anything like it.” Liu Yong felt that if he were to receive any more surprises today then he would drop dead. The room was silent for a few seconds before Liu Yong looked at the gift in his hand curiously, to Officer Yu’s surprise the gift was brought to Liu Yong’s nose and he took a small sniff before looking at the confused officer. “Don’t concern yourself with him.”

 

“Sir, this really is curious though, if we were to bring him in for testing then it could help with our case.” Liu Yong gently placed the gift on his desk before grabbing the officer by his collar, his eyes stared into the man with so much hate and ice that Officer Yu felt his blood run cold, goosebumps littering his strong body. “I said don’t concern yourself with him, he is to never step foot in this place again. Understand?”

 

En. Liu Yong shoved the officer away then demanded he get out. While straightening his collar, Officer Yu stole one last glance at Liu Yong then shut the door. What he saw was the big strong Liu Yong, staring at the gift on his desk with a mix of love and regret. Once the door had been shut Liu Yong removed the fabric covering the canvas. The sight brought a feeling he had never felt before.

 

Zhou RenShu had painted the field full of wild flowers, his style wasn’t realistic but it didn’t matter. The uneven lines that blurred and faded mixed with the vibrant colours depicting the various flowers they had both laid in was clear to Liu Yong. The scent Liu Yong could smell was both the scent of the flowers as well as the scent of Zhou RenShu’s venom. He must’ve mixed it with the paint. Liu Yong picked the canvas up, unsure if he wanted to hang it up but he noticed a small piece of paper fall from the back. Picking it up the tears he had forced back clouded his vision again. 

 

Zhou RenShu had only been tutored for three weeks, although his art was beautiful, his writing skills were that of a child’s. Reading the note over and over again, Liu Yong wanted to throw the canvas away but he also wanted to run out and find Zhou RenShu, he wanted to hold the small boy and caress his soft milky skin until he had fallen asleep in his arms.

 

He wanted to but he couldn’t, his guilt was stronger than his love. Today is what I deserve. The pain I feel in my heart is all because I wasn’t strong enough to protect him. I was the one to cause him pain. All the pain and suffering I have to endure is what I brought upon myself. The note in Liu Yong’s hand was crumpled then smoothed out repeatedly.

Liu Yong, are you happy?