Chapter 3: M-Files (2)
Chief Zheng’s smile stiffened on his face. His expression was seldom cautious, but looking into Xu Yangyi’s eyes, he still said in a fairly trembling voice: “Just now, that really was a…”
“What do you think?” Xu Yangyi asked, not answering.
Chief Zheng glanced in lingering trepidation at the floor covered in bulletproof glass and the window frame. The answer was already extremely obvious.
“I want to see the M-Files.” Xu Yangyi said: “You should know of where I come from.”
Chief Zheng didn’t open his mouth.
The other’s background was too much of a secret. He preferred to keep a respectable distance in concerns to that mysterious organization. If it weren’t for the serial killer case being far too strange, and the fact that he knew at a glance this was a strength far above the boundary of a superhuman, he would’ve been absolutely unwilling to request the other to come.
It wasn’t… It wasn’t that the case was strange, but rather the “person” who committed the crime! That in itself was an oddity without peer!
He remembered those wounds and the victims’ wretched conditions. It was absolutely not something a human could bring about!
“You come from Heavens Law.” Chief Zheng finally sighed: “China’s most secretive special forces, not answering to any organization or territorial administration. As to who directly governs it, no one knows. You come from the Yuyang City branch, first in your class. Currently, you’re in the middle of your graduation exam.”
“Then, you know…” Xu Yangyi softly rapped the table, saying indifferently: “When I was eight, I had already encountered these things.”
Chief Zheng looked at Xu Yangyi in astonishment.
“That day was my birthday.” Xu Yangyi’s vision drooped, and he looked at the faint flickering of his cigarette butt. His voice didn’t hold a single lick of the flames of anger, and moreover, it didn’t have a trace of melancholy: “When I came home, I discovered my home had become a killing ground.”
Arriving at this point, his voice trailed off. No less than two seconds later, he broke out into laughter: “Thus, I am the champion of Heavens Law’s Yuyang City branch.”
“I have always… always been searching for It.” Xu Yangyi looked at Chief Zheng, his voice neither hurried nor slow: “For the debt of my mother and father and for throwing my life into chaos since then, as well.”
“Gulp…” Chief Zheng’s throat tightened. With his hands on both armrests of the sofa, his knuckles paled!
Abnormal… No… A ruthless man… This was an honest-to-god, ruthless freak!
Who would even laugh upon mentioning such a matter? Who wouldn’t even have a change in their expression when bringing up such an affair? As if he was a reiterating the story of another, not holding a single iota of emotion?
No one… In his leather shoes, Chief Zheng fell back, somewhat unstable. Even if he was first in command of the city’s Public Security Bureau and had bore witness to many abnormal cases, he had never seen such a person!
It seemed Chief Zheng lacked the concise logic of speech, yet he knew Xu Yangyi had taken these feelings, this murderous will, and let it settle at the very bottom of the abyss that was his heart.
Like Xu Yangyi was walking towards others nonchalantly, he would gently unsheathe his blade and slice through the other person’s throat inch by inch, perhaps so that he would even be able to leisurely watch the other person’s blood run dry until there was none…This kind of fiend in sheepskin only needed several words to make him feel…
That he wasn’t a human like he was.
“I’ll give it to you at once…” Chief Zheng branched off into another topic, fishing out a handkerchief and wiping away at the cold sweat on his head, even if the temperature the air conditioner was spitting into the room was only twenty degrees celsius. He silently stood up and carefully examined the door once more, taking out a key from his inner pocket. Cautiously opening the hidden compartment of the bookcase, he restrained his breath and took out a paper bag. As he stroked the object, his hand trembled.
There were some things… that had had never been taken record by any man. Only the first-in-commands above the city level held a nebulous understanding. They were sealed off in a strongbox of the highest secrecy, unable to be spoken of to any man, until death from age. It was necessary to deeply conceal it.
He had taken a look at this highest of secrecies, and as the first-in-command of a city, he had the qualifications. So, he was even clearer that which was recorded within… was simply beyond his wildest imagination. So much that it was such an absolute secret, that in case he made an announcement, it would arouse a societal upheaval! Even if it was the tip of the iceberg, it terrified him so much that he nearly resigned to return to a life in the countryside!
Chief Zheng shut his eyes, steeled his mind, and sucked in a deep breath of air. Each and every page, all of them were nightmares… those strong-armed by a government coverup. Indeed, a truth that could not be disclosed…
Every truth was recorded within this manila folder. Every half a year, a person sent from the top would come to examine and receive the materials. This file was known as the M-Files, the Monster Files, a file of monstrosities!
He remembered too many of the things inside, since once they were peered over, these things were simply hard for a man to forget.
1993, the Yangtze River’s dam failure in Sanjiang City. Seven hours before the dam broke, a hundred villagers in Dayang Village witnessed a ten-meter-long black carp batter against the floodgates. Three hours after the dam broke, a man from Heavens Law had come and isolated the entire scene. Intense tremors could be heard from the ground, and three villages down river had saw ten washbin-size black scales rolling along with the blood-red river water.
Presently, there was a Dragon King Temple within Dayang Village.
2004, the famous, mysterious incident of the Sanjiang No.2 secondary school. If you asked about it to anyone now, they would all know, as so far as the No.2 secondary school had changed into an experimental school. After the event, 60% of students had transferred.
It was a distressed ouija incident. Two classes of over twenty students had remained at school during vacation. By the time eight o’clock rolled by, all of them were injured simultaneously. They had been cut open from their singlets, and their internal organs had vanished without a trace. That same day at three o’clock at the wee hours of the morning, an emissary dispatched by Heavens Law had entered the scene. To this day, the inhabitants of the entire city recall the fierce surface tremors in the vicinity of No.2 secondary school on that night. [1]
This incident was one that he had personally “cleaned up”. After the event, he was plagued with nightmares for an entire week. On account that the two rooms had blood-dyed feathers piled up all over the floor, each one about the size of a book.
2010, in Sanjiang City’s Nankai County, Sanjiang City’s biggest industry was steel, and the steel mill in Nankai County had exploded. Over a hundred men had witnessed a gigantic rock fly out among the fire.
There were too many… Chief Zheng pursed his lips, the palm of his hand completely covered in cold sweat.
Since he had finished looking over the banded charts of data, the exhaustive post-event reports, how it was connected with the news, the internet, how the navy was used to smooth out the effect, and how the recollections of the masses had slowly been trivialized… Upon observing these familiar and tedious government techniques, from the major participation of the city government’s first-in-command, and to minor matters like the appointment of every secretarial assistant. He knew from how each step was carefully made as if it was a reconstruction that it was truly… absolutely not a falsehood.
There were some… things that ordinary people simply wouldn’t be able to see… Together with humanity, and in union with China’s history, and the world’s history, accompanying it at birth for several thousands of years!
They had never left, never disappeared. Walking alongside humans past the Prehistoric era, past the Stone age, past the Age of Enlightenment, past the Feudal era... and stepping together once more… into the Age of Information!
They, they were at the side of every man. Like the light on the other side, surviving tenaciously among mankind.
They were known as demons.
And while every one of China’s officials were aware of demons, and like they knew of the darkness, they knew that at the same time standing against the darkness was light—Heavens Law.
No one knew of their true identity, besides that they belonged to China’s central government, but they didn’t classify under any jurisdiction. In the security system, at any place where a “special incident” occurred that was incapable of being resolved, they had to be immediately contacted. Outside of Heavens Law, no one knew what their inner workings were like.
The manila folder was light in his hand as Xu Yangyi received it. His vision sunk as he opened the paper bag, looking through page after page.
The sound of rustling reverberated within the room. Perhaps the matter that had occurred moments ago was too dreadful or perhaps this kind of deathly stillness was too unendurable. Chief Zheng laughed awkwardly and asked: “Heavens Law… What are the forces like?”
Xu Yangyi’s hand paused, and he lifted his head to smile strangely: “We… All of us have truly seen them with our own eyes, experienced them, and have watched these seemingly supernatural, ancient monsters make alliances with… other kinds of monstrosities.”
“You can understand it as such.”
Not speaking further with Chief Zheng, Xu Yangyi switched on his transceiver: “Mao Ba’er, I just finished looking over Sanshui City’s M-Files. The demon in Sanshui City is of the sauropsida serpentes variety. It should’ve come in from the outside.”
“A serpent?” A voice from the transceiver suddenly spoke: “It’s not It?”
“No.” Xu Yangyi’s vision trembled: “Every day, I dream of Its appearance. The victims’ wounds and that of my parents’ that year are very similar, so I specifically rushed over here… But it absolutely isn’t It.”
The other didn’t ask why he was so sure, since he understood. In these many years, Xu Yangyi held a great understanding of the characteristic injuries It created.
“Strange…” The voice from the transceiver sighed: “Every one of Heavens Law’s students have personally encountered these living fossils. You guys are fortunate; walking on a path of cultivation that ordinary people can only read about in novels. Yet, you guys are unfortunate, as well… The cost of this path is too great… yet Heavens Law’s primary objective is to help you guys seek out your assailants. Everyone at the branch has already found theirs… It’s just you alone… Heavens Law’s network encompasses all of China, but never has anyone seen It…”
Pausing, the other party continued: “According to my calculations, your opponent’s average strength is somewhere between 70% and 120% of the initial stages of Qi Condensation. Do you want reinforcements? I must remind you out of friendship, if you accept reinforcements, the total points for your graduation exam will be reduced by half.”
“I don’t need it.” Xu Yangyi narrowed his eyes and cracked his knuckles, the popping sound echoing.
“Then, how can you be certain of its direction?”
“It's quite simple…” Xu Yangyi laughed: “It’s not like the local ‘natives’ don’t. If I ask, things will be clear.”
“They care a lot more than me that a formidable opponent has ‘settled in’...”
Shutting off the transceiver, Xu Yangyi lifted his head to look at Chief Zheng, who had a complex expression written all over his face, and suddenly laughed: “Do you know what’s most capable of promoting harmony between species?”
Chief Zheng shook his head. Currently, he wasn’t of any mind to think about this sudden question.
“It’s life…” Xu Yangyi narrowed his eyes: “It’s the great convention that cannot be opposed… Chief Zheng, I’ll only remind you once… Demons are a kind of race. An inhuman, intelligent community… The hierarchy of their society… is absolutely not as simple as you think it to be… Moreover, it’s not something you’ve read in a novel.”
They weren’t parasites of human civilization. If it were truly so simple… what could these hunters in the darkness be considered as? Mere pesticides?
Drinking together from a golden goblet, our naked swords mutually unswerving. [2]
Xu Yangyi deeply respected these bonafide monstrosities that had survived since the Prehistoric era. This was a living fossil in the darkness. He would accordingly give the other party due respect. However, when the time to mark his ledger came to head, he absolutely wouldn’t stay his hand.
Absolute serenity. When the time came about to take action, he would be completely unburdened!
[1] 笔仙. I did some localization magic here. I never actually heard about this, but this is considered Chinese Ouija pretty much. Pronounced Bi3 Xian1. So two people hold a pen over a piece of paper and the spirit is supposed to do the writing for them while they ask questions.
[2] This is a pretty cool phrase: 金杯共汝饮，白刃不相饶. From what I found, it means: I’ll share a cup with you in the drinking parlor, but on the battlefield I will be unforgiving. In a way, it is the mutual respect between warriors.
Chapter 3: M-Files (2)
Chief Zheng’s smile stiffened on his face. His expression was seldom cautious, but looking into Xu Yangyi’s eyes, he still said in a fairly trembling voice: “Just now, that really was a…”
“What do you think?” Xu Yangyi asked, not answering.
Chief Zheng glanced in lingering trepidation at the floor covered in bulletproof glass and the window frame. The answer was already extremely obvious.
“I want to see the M-Files.” Xu Yangyi said: “You should know of where I come from.”
Chief Zheng didn’t open his mouth.
The other’s background was too much of a secret. He preferred to keep a respectable distance in concerns to that mysterious organization. If it weren’t for the serial killer case being far too strange, and the fact that he knew at a glance this was a strength far above the boundary of a superhuman, he would’ve been absolutely unwilling to request the other to come.
It wasn’t… It wasn’t that the case was strange, but rather the “person” who committed the crime! That in itself was an oddity without peer!
He remembered those wounds and the victims’ wretched conditions. It was absolutely not something a human could bring about!
“You come from Heavens Law.” Chief Zheng finally sighed: “China’s most secretive special forces, not answering to any organization or territorial administration. As to who directly governs it, no one knows. You come from the Yuyang City branch, first in your class. Currently, you’re in the middle of your graduation exam.”
“Then, you know…” Xu Yangyi softly rapped the table, saying indifferently: “When I was eight, I had already encountered these things.”
Chief Zheng looked at Xu Yangyi in astonishment.
“That day was my birthday.” Xu Yangyi’s vision drooped, and he looked at the faint flickering of his cigarette butt. His voice didn’t hold a single lick of the flames of anger, and moreover, it didn’t have a trace of melancholy: “When I came home, I discovered my home had become a killing ground.”
Arriving at this point, his voice trailed off. No less than two seconds later, he broke out into laughter: “Thus, I am the champion of Heavens Law’s Yuyang City branch.”
“I have always… always been searching for It.” Xu Yangyi looked at Chief Zheng, his voice neither hurried nor slow: “For the debt of my mother and father and for throwing my life into chaos since then, as well.”
“Gulp…” Chief Zheng’s throat tightened. With his hands on both armrests of the sofa, his knuckles paled!
Abnormal… No… A ruthless man… This was an honest-to-god, ruthless freak!
Who would even laugh upon mentioning such a matter? Who wouldn’t even have a change in their expression when bringing up such an affair? As if he was a reiterating the story of another, not holding a single iota of emotion?
No one… In his leather shoes, Chief Zheng fell back, somewhat unstable. Even if he was first in command of the city’s Public Security Bureau and had bore witness to many abnormal cases, he had never seen such a person!
It seemed Chief Zheng lacked the concise logic of speech, yet he knew Xu Yangyi had taken these feelings, this murderous will, and let it settle at the very bottom of the abyss that was his heart.
Like Xu Yangyi was walking towards others nonchalantly, he would gently unsheathe his blade and slice through the other person’s throat inch by inch, perhaps so that he would even be able to leisurely watch the other person’s blood run dry until there was none…This kind of fiend in sheepskin only needed several words to make him feel…
That he wasn’t a human like he was.
“I’ll give it to you at once…” Chief Zheng branched off into another topic, fishing out a handkerchief and wiping away at the cold sweat on his head, even if the temperature the air conditioner was spitting into the room was only twenty degrees celsius. He silently stood up and carefully examined the door once more, taking out a key from his inner pocket. Cautiously opening the hidden compartment of the bookcase, he restrained his breath and took out a paper bag. As he stroked the object, his hand trembled.
There were some things… that had had never been taken record by any man. Only the first-in-commands above the city level held a nebulous understanding. They were sealed off in a strongbox of the highest secrecy, unable to be spoken of to any man, until death from age. It was necessary to deeply conceal it.
He had taken a look at this highest of secrecies, and as the first-in-command of a city, he had the qualifications. So, he was even clearer that which was recorded within… was simply beyond his wildest imagination. So much that it was such an absolute secret, that in case he made an announcement, it would arouse a societal upheaval! Even if it was the tip of the iceberg, it terrified him so much that he nearly resigned to return to a life in the countryside!
Chief Zheng shut his eyes, steeled his mind, and sucked in a deep breath of air. Each and every page, all of them were nightmares… those strong-armed by a government coverup. Indeed, a truth that could not be disclosed…
Every truth was recorded within this manila folder. Every half a year, a person sent from the top would come to examine and receive the materials. This file was known as the M-Files, the Monster Files, a file of monstrosities!
He remembered too many of the things inside, since once they were peered over, these things were simply hard for a man to forget.
1993, the Yangtze River’s dam failure in Sanjiang City. Seven hours before the dam broke, a hundred villagers in Dayang Village witnessed a ten-meter-long black carp batter against the floodgates. Three hours after the dam broke, a man from Heavens Law had come and isolated the entire scene. Intense tremors could be heard from the ground, and three villages down river had saw ten washbin-size black scales rolling along with the blood-red river water.
Presently, there was a Dragon King Temple within Dayang Village.
2004, the famous, mysterious incident of the Sanjiang No.2 secondary school. If you asked about it to anyone now, they would all know, as so far as the No.2 secondary school had changed into an experimental school. After the event, 60% of students had transferred.
It was a distressed ouija incident. Two classes of over twenty students had remained at school during vacation. By the time eight o’clock rolled by, all of them were injured simultaneously. They had been cut open from their singlets, and their internal organs had vanished without a trace. That same day at three o’clock at the wee hours of the morning, an emissary dispatched by Heavens Law had entered the scene. To this day, the inhabitants of the entire city recall the fierce surface tremors in the vicinity of No.2 secondary school on that night. [1]
This incident was one that he had personally “cleaned up”. After the event, he was plagued with nightmares for an entire week. On account that the two rooms had blood-dyed feathers piled up all over the floor, each one about the size of a book.
2010, in Sanjiang City’s Nankai County, Sanjiang City’s biggest industry was steel, and the steel mill in Nankai County had exploded. Over a hundred men had witnessed a gigantic rock fly out among the fire.
There were too many… Chief Zheng pursed his lips, the palm of his hand completely covered in cold sweat.
Since he had finished looking over the banded charts of data, the exhaustive post-event reports, how it was connected with the news, the internet, how the navy was used to smooth out the effect, and how the recollections of the masses had slowly been trivialized… Upon observing these familiar and tedious government techniques, from the major participation of the city government’s first-in-command, and to minor matters like the appointment of every secretarial assistant. He knew from how each step was carefully made as if it was a reconstruction that it was truly… absolutely not a falsehood.
There were some… things that ordinary people simply wouldn’t be able to see… Together with humanity, and in union with China’s history, and the world’s history, accompanying it at birth for several thousands of years!
They had never left, never disappeared. Walking alongside humans past the Prehistoric era, past the Stone age, past the Age of Enlightenment, past the Feudal era... and stepping together once more… into the Age of Information!
They, they were at the side of every man. Like the light on the other side, surviving tenaciously among mankind.
They were known as demons.
And while every one of China’s officials were aware of demons, and like they knew of the darkness, they knew that at the same time standing against the darkness was light—Heavens Law.
No one knew of their true identity, besides that they belonged to China’s central government, but they didn’t classify under any jurisdiction. In the security system, at any place where a “special incident” occurred that was incapable of being resolved, they had to be immediately contacted. Outside of Heavens Law, no one knew what their inner workings were like.
The manila folder was light in his hand as Xu Yangyi received it. His vision sunk as he opened the paper bag, looking through page after page.
The sound of rustling reverberated within the room. Perhaps the matter that had occurred moments ago was too dreadful or perhaps this kind of deathly stillness was too unendurable. Chief Zheng laughed awkwardly and asked: “Heavens Law… What are the forces like?”
Xu Yangyi’s hand paused, and he lifted his head to smile strangely: “We… All of us have truly seen them with our own eyes, experienced them, and have watched these seemingly supernatural, ancient monsters make alliances with… other kinds of monstrosities.”
“You can understand it as such.”
Not speaking further with Chief Zheng, Xu Yangyi switched on his transceiver: “Mao Ba’er, I just finished looking over Sanshui City’s M-Files. The demon in Sanshui City is of the sauropsida serpentes variety. It should’ve come in from the outside.”
“A serpent?” A voice from the transceiver suddenly spoke: “It’s not It?”
“No.” Xu Yangyi’s vision trembled: “Every day, I dream of Its appearance. The victims’ wounds and that of my parents’ that year are very similar, so I specifically rushed over here… But it absolutely isn’t It.”
The other didn’t ask why he was so sure, since he understood. In these many years, Xu Yangyi held a great understanding of the characteristic injuries It created.
“Strange…” The voice from the transceiver sighed: “Every one of Heavens Law’s students have personally encountered these living fossils. You guys are fortunate; walking on a path of cultivation that ordinary people can only read about in novels. Yet, you guys are unfortunate, as well… The cost of this path is too great… yet Heavens Law’s primary objective is to help you guys seek out your assailants. Everyone at the branch has already found theirs… It’s just you alone… Heavens Law’s network encompasses all of China, but never has anyone seen It…”
Pausing, the other party continued: “According to my calculations, your opponent’s average strength is somewhere between 70% and 120% of the initial stages of Qi Condensation. Do you want reinforcements? I must remind you out of friendship, if you accept reinforcements, the total points for your graduation exam will be reduced by half.”
“I don’t need it.” Xu Yangyi narrowed his eyes and cracked his knuckles, the popping sound echoing.
“Then, how can you be certain of its direction?”
“It's quite simple…” Xu Yangyi laughed: “It’s not like the local ‘natives’ don’t. If I ask, things will be clear.”
“They care a lot more than me that a formidable opponent has ‘settled in’...”
Shutting off the transceiver, Xu Yangyi lifted his head to look at Chief Zheng, who had a complex expression written all over his face, and suddenly laughed: “Do you know what’s most capable of promoting harmony between species?”
Chief Zheng shook his head. Currently, he wasn’t of any mind to think about this sudden question.
“It’s life…” Xu Yangyi narrowed his eyes: “It’s the great convention that cannot be opposed… Chief Zheng, I’ll only remind you once… Demons are a kind of race. An inhuman, intelligent community… The hierarchy of their society… is absolutely not as simple as you think it to be… Moreover, it’s not something you’ve read in a novel.”
They weren’t parasites of human civilization. If it were truly so simple… what could these hunters in the darkness be considered as? Mere pesticides?
Drinking together from a golden goblet, our naked swords mutually unswerving. [2]
Xu Yangyi deeply respected these bonafide monstrosities that had survived since the Prehistoric era. This was a living fossil in the darkness. He would accordingly give the other party due respect. However, when the time to mark his ledger came to head, he absolutely wouldn’t stay his hand.
Absolute serenity. When the time came about to take action, he would be completely unburdened!
[1] 笔仙. I did some localization magic here. I never actually heard about this, but this is considered Chinese Ouija pretty much. Pronounced Bi3 Xian1. So two people hold a pen over a piece of paper and the spirit is supposed to do the writing for them while they ask questions.
[2] This is a pretty cool phrase: 金杯共汝饮，白刃不相饶. From what I found, it means: I’ll share a cup with you in the drinking parlor, but on the battlefield I will be unforgiving. In a way, it is the mutual respect between warriors.
