Liu Yong didn’t return to work after leaving the hotel, instead he walked into a research facility and handed over the small box of pills. The scientists had never encountered something like this before. “I want you to find a way to recreate these in a sustainable way, no casualties.”

 

_ _ _ _ _ _

 

Officer Yu wasn’t exactly honest when trying to convince Zhou RenShu to help with their mission. “Liu Yong asked you to come find me? Why didn’t he come himself?”

 

“Liu Yong is busy with his research on helping demon’s hide their identity, for some reason although he was able to hide yours ,he’s struggling to recreate that success. If you agree to help us then the workload for Liu Yong will go down and he will become happier.”

 

Zhou RenShu was confused. Why isn’t Liu Yong happy? Did he send me away because he was struggling with work? He should’ve said then I could have helped earlier, and I wouldn’t need to feel so lonely and scared all the time. Although this time of grief had forced Zhou RenShu to grow up, his way of thinking was still naive in certain aspects. “Will I be able to see Liu Yong?”

 

“Of course!” Officer Yu was trying every card he had to get Zhou RenShu to agree, when he finally received the nod of approval he released a long held breath. Standing up he made his way to the door. “I’ll set up all the details and when the time comes I’ll come pick you up.”

 

“Why can’t Liu Yong come get me?” Zhou RenShu had only agreed since Officer Yu had told him he could see Liu Yong, if he couldn’t then what would be the point in helping this stranger? Officer Yu’s happy expression stiffened as he tried to think of a quick excuse. “Liu Yong left me in charge of the mission, right now he is focusing on his research. Once the mission is successfully finished I promise, you’ll be able to see him.”

 

Officer Yu left before Zhou RenShu could ask anymore questions. Leaving the small boy to sit alone. I have to make sure the mission is a success, even though Li Qing terrifies me, I have to be strong for Liu Yong. Once Li Qing has been captured we can be together again! For the first time in a few days, Zhou RenShu cooked, his meal wasn’t great but it was warming to his empty stomach.

 

For the first time since he had lived by himself in the small apartment, Zhou RenShu was able to sleep soundly, he didn’t dream of the flora field he both loved and loathed. He instead dreamed of him and Liu Yong living in a shared apartment. The mornings spent cuddling before eating breakfast on the balcony filled with light, Liu Yong would go to work while he would go to his art classes. Once they would return home Liu Yong would cook for Zhou RenShu and personally feed him before they would return to the bedroom to dual cultivate.

 

Everything seemed so real that when Zhou RenShu woke up, it took him a while to remember it was only a dream. Although those types of dreams would usually leave him feeling extremely cold, today was different since he firmly believed in Officer Yu’s words. As long as he could see Liu Yong then the lonely days would become easier to bear.

 

_ _ _ _ _ _

 

Officer Yu came into work the next day extremely happy, he arrived at his group meeting to set up a location, time and date with a body full of energy. After an hour everything was sorted and he left the room full of high spirit, although his spirits were high he had to make sure to hide this in front of Liu Yong. The man had ordered him to not bring Zhou RenShu in, but in Officer Yu’s mind. I’m not bringing him here to discuss the mission and the mission is being held outside of the precinct so technically I’m not going against Liu Yong, even so, I should keep this hidden.

 

Thankfully Liu Yong was barely at his work for the following days, allowing Officer Yu to have full control over the Li Qing case. To lure Li Qing out of hiding, Officer Yu had Zhou RenShu wear a tracking device then told him to walk around the city. Zhou RenShu had to walk around the areas where bars and clubs were situated. 

 

A small team waited in a small van, tracking Zhou RenShu’s every move. To Zhou RenShu, the mission seemed easy but doing it in reality, his body was filled with fear. He couldn’t understand why, but Li Qing was able to make his body fill with dread while an immense pressure of fear pressed down on him. Zhou RenShu walked around for a couple hours before he followed the plan and caught the bus back home.

 

For three days they did this before the plan changed, Officer Yu had Zhou RenShu walking during the day for the first part of the mission but now, Zhou RenShu was to travel at night and spend a few hours in various bars and clubs. With a new ID, the terrifying night began.

 

Zhou RenShu almost wanted to back out but he forced himself to think about Liu Yong. Once Li Qing is caught we can be together again! Zhou RenShu walked into the first bar, the night was only beginning so most of the chairs and stools were empty. Officer Yu made sure to make Zhou RenShu promise to only order virgin cocktails since the mission would be carrying on until the late hours of the night. “Virgin mojito please.”

 

Zhou RenShu nervously sat at the bar and waited for his drink, the bartender checked his ID before preparing the drink, even though he had checked the ID Zhou RenShu knew the bartender wasn’t convinced. The drink doesn’t even have alcohol! Zhou RenShu spent the next 2 hours sitting at the bar, once time was up he got up and left.

 

Next was a club and more people were out now that the night was growing older. The loud music forced its way into Zhou RenShu’s eardrums, he had drunk a lot and although the drinks were non alcoholic, it didn’t stop his bladder from working. Struggling past the crowd, Zhou RenShu eventually entered the empty bathroom. 

 

_ _ _ _ _ _

 

Liu Yong was returning from the research facility and was about to walk to the dorms when he felt the urge to check in on the surveillance team. Inside the room, the men and women looked close to death as they watched their screens like zombies. Although Officer Yu had made it clear to his field team that Liu Yong was to not be notified about the mission until Li Qing was in their possession, the surveillance team had heard no such words. 

 

Majority of the people had no idea about the mission anyway and only knew a ground team was working on luring Li Qing out in their own way, one man though knew that the small boy that had struck up various rumours about Liu Yong was part of the mission, the rule about not letting Liu Yong know this was something he didn’t know. The man was watching the scene in the club while Liu Yong passed by. Thinking his mind was playing tricks on him, Liu Yong stood behind the small man. “What is this?”

 

“Sir! You have to tell me, who is this small boy? He is the one you brought to work a while ago and we all heard his loud cries. Is he someone special or just a stray you picked up on the way to work?” Liu Yong’s question wasn’t answered and he peered at the screen coldly. It’s fine if he goes out, he’s allowed to, it’s his own life he’s living now. Don’t get-

 

The man continued to ramble on as Liu Yong’s eyes narrowed. A man was pressing against the small Zhou RenShu that was standing by the bar. His body looked extremely frail compared to the last time Liu Yong had seen him. The man wasn’t large but with Zhou RenShu being extra small he was easily backed against the wall, out of sight. The man rambling on about Zhou RenShu stopped once he noticed Liu Yong wasn’t standing behind him. “Eh? Where did the boss go?”

 

“He ran out the door to get away from your annoying voice! Stop jabbering and watch your screen!” The man cowered and turned back to his screen but the live feed was frozen.

 

It didn’t take long for Liu Yong to wind and weave through the traffic, he didn’t bother parking his car properly as he barged into the club, two bouncers followed behind him to bring him back out but backed off once they were shown his seal of identification. Once in the main room, Liu Yong slowed down to not cause any unnecessary attention.

 

In less than thirty seconds he had arrived at the spot Zhou RenShu had been standing in but there was no strange man or Zhou RenShu. Liu Yong raised his hand and a bartender came over. “There was a young boy here, where did he go?”

 

“Young boy, so he really was under age? A friend of his took him to the VIP section. Head up the stairs.” On his way to the stairs Liu Yong spotted a panicked Officer Yu. Both men locked eyes over the crowd. Officer Yu had been looking around the room as if he was searching for someone, once he saw Liu Yong he ducked down and made a run for it but the back of his collar was caught before he could take one step. A cold voice he wished to never hear again entered his ears. “What the fuck did you do?”

 

Officer Yu led Liu Yong back to the van, a bruise on his left cheek. The small group of men cowered in fear as they opened the door thinking it was officer Yu, only to be met with the eyes of the devil. 

 

The small group were forced to drive back to the precinct with Liu Yong and Officer Yu following behind, the car ride was deathly silent. More than once Officer Yu had tried to explain himself but with one look from Liu Yong his mouth was frozen shut.

 

_ _ _ _ _ _

 

In a large meeting room the mission of finding Li Qing had changed. Everyone on Liu Yong’s team was now to focus on finding Zhou RenShu. Most of the team didn’t argue as they made their way back to their desks and computers, however, one worker voiced their confusion loudly when everyone was standing up to leave. “Why are we focusing on him? Li Qing is a threat to society. If someone is missing, file a missing persons case.”

 

The room went cold as everyone turned to look at Liu Yong that had been standing at the front of the room but his shadow was nowhere to be found, once they turned to look at the man that had spoken up his nose was bleeding as if it was a tap. Officer Yu held his swollen cheek, knowing too well how hard Liu Yong could hit when he wasn’t in a good mood.

 

“When we find Zhou RenShu, we’ll also find Li Qing. Does everyone understand that?” Liu Yong was standing at the front of the room again. Whether they agreed or not didn’t matter, it was more a question of do you want to be hit or not? 

 

_ _ _ _ _ _

 

The last thing Zhou RenShu could remember was being pushed against a wall, after that everything was blank. By the time he had regained consciousness his tracking device had been removed and he was tied to a chair inside a dark room. He looked around to see where  he was but he couldn’t recognise the concrete room. Trying to get out of the thing holding him to the chair was useless too, since it was the same type of chain Liu Yong had used on the night they met.

 

“I really despise Liu Yong.” a croaky old voice came from the dark corner of the room, the sound caused goosebumps to appear on Zhou RenShu’s skin while his core turned to ice. Li Qing stepped out of the shadows, her once beautiful face with intelligent eyes had turned sunken, her skin appeared to be papery while her frame was frail. If you were to look for long enough you could still see the remnant of a once stunning woman, but her cold crazed eyes made it hard to cast your eyes over for a single second.

 

“He took Wu Yun and Wang Ling from me, leaving me to slowly rot, I was fine with the C&D protection chasing me since they were more like stupid dogs chasing their own tail but once Liu Yong took over, he forced me to hide in this dark squalor. As if I’m a rat”

 

Zhou RenShu trembled whilst keeping his eyes shut, he could hear Li Qing’s raspy voice draw near with every uneven step. Once Li Qing was close enough to Zhou RenShu for him to feel her haggard breath on his face she pinched the soft skin of his cheeks, her yellow nails digging into the tender flesh. “I want to tear him apart until there is only the shell of the man he used to be. Can you help me with that?”

 

The claws dug in deeper until strained whines came from Zhou RenShu’s throat. Li Qing smiled as if those whines were an agreement. The frail woman walked away before returning with her own chair. The whole time Zhou RenShu had kept his eyes closed, he didn’t want to see those lifeless eyes that filled his body with sheer terror. 

 

Soon Zhou RenShu felt a cold thin piece of metal touch his eyelids, Li Qing used her cold hands to pry Zhou RenShu’s eyelids open then placed a speculum under the thin skin. The same was done to his other eye. No matter how much he writhed around the chain holding him never moved, Li Qing was watching with a sick smile on her face. 

 

“We can begin now.”

 

Li Qing’s gaze changed to dull lifeless daze. Insects and spiders that weren't there stalked their way up Zhou RenShu’s skin while the room turned pitch black. His body felt weightless as if gravity no longer existed. Zhou RenShu had returned to the empty baron space inside Liu Yong’s infinite storage bag. Once Zhou RenShu was fully immersed in the illusion she removed the speculum, Li Qing stood her small body up and walked out of the dark room.

 

Zhou RenShu stayed inside that cold hell for almost two days, once his face had paled enough to appear transparent. Li Qing removed the illusion. Zhou RenShu was unconscious when this was done. Although the illusion had been removed from Zhou RenShu’s mind, he still felt trapped inside that abyss.

 

_ _ _ _ _ _

 

Liu Yong had lost almost all of his senses during the first two days Zhou RenShu had been missing, nobody on his team dared to speak a single word. Two more coworkers had taken leave after a brutal punch landed against their face. If they weren’t officers in the same trade as Liu Yong, they were sure their brains would have definitely turned to mush from such a violent blow. Officer Yu had also received another blow to his face since Liu Yong would become angry whenever his face would appear in front of him.

 

With no luck with the surveillance from the club where Zhou RenShu was taken from, Liu Yong had chosen to roam the streets looking for any sign of the small boy. On the fourth night, Liu Yong had wanted to head out again but he was stopped on his way out. Ms Wu was glaring at him with cold eyes and wrinkled lips. “Do you think your single person manhunt is going to bring you anything? Look at you, you’re a complete mess. Go home and rest then come back tomorrow with a sane mind.”

 

Liu Yong tried to bypass the angry woman but his arm was gripped with sharp claws.”If you know what’s good for you, you'll listen like a good kid. Also stop hitting your coworkers!”

 

Ms Wu roughly turned Liu Yong’s body towards the dorms, her eyes staying on the tired man until he had completely disappeared from sight. Liu Yong continued to walk to the dorms as if he was listening to Ms Wu’s harsh words but jumped the wall once he was outside. He did however not go out to search tonight, Liu Yong drove to Zhou RenShu’s apartment instead.

 

Using the card he was given by security, Liu Yong opened the door. He hadn’t returned to this place in two months. He didn’t know what drove him to come here but Liu Yong just couldn’t get the image of this place out of his head. Removing his shoes, Liu yong walked into the small kitchen. He opened the fridge only to see a couple eggs and a bottle of juice. In the cupboards were only a box of cup noodles. 

 

The sight brought back the ache in Liu Yong’s heart. The living room in front of the kitchen remained the same as when he had left, the remote that he had placed on the arm of the sofa collecting dust after months of no movement. The room to the bedroom was closed and Liu Yong slowly pushed it open, as if Zhou RenShu was sleeping on the other side.

 

No one was in the room though, the bed with thick blankets Liu Yong had ordered when setting the room up were messy, the small desk that should be used for homework was instead filled with small vials. The small vials were lined in neat rows as if they were something precious with the small bag Liu Yong had bought for Zhou ReShu sitting beside them. Along with the old Kokeshi doll The closet was just as neat, the small amount of clothes he had bought Zhou RenShu aside from one missing outfit were all folded without a single crease.

 

Liu Yong sat on the edge of the bed, tracing his large hand over the small space Zhou RenShu slept, he could feel the slight indent the small boy had made in the mattress. How many hours has he spent lying in bed alone, he could be doing anything yet he chooses to lock himself inside his bed. Liu Yong stood up to make the messy bed, as he pulled the blankets away he saw the outfit Zhou RenShu loved the most. His fleece pajamas and woolen socks. The material was worn, showing the clothes and socks must have seen a lot of wear. Why did I send him away? My efforts of trying to protect him have failed and in the meantime, he was barely living. Liu Yong gripped the worn clothes, his body frozen as his tired body filled with immense regret.

 

Liu Yong, are you happy?

 

No, RenShu. I haven’t been happy for a long time