Ritual

After they left the milk tea shop, Brother Qi called a rideshare, and the two of them headed for Pingyang County.

The sky was growing dim. Night was almost upon them.

They took the ring road, passed the country-road junction for Ruyun Mountain Scenic Area, then drove another twenty-odd kilometers toward the satellite town to reach Jiang Xueming's hometown.

Xue Ming and Brother Qi sat in the back, chatting on and off.

Jiang Xueming still had plenty of questions about the Armadillo Hunters and wanted to ask Brother Qi about them.

"Xiao Qi, you said you were a rookie? How old are you? How long have you been at the station? Have you ever seen a real Armadillo Hunter?"

"A woman's age is a secret. And as for how long I've been at the station, that's not something I can tell you either." Brother Qi folded her arms and glanced sideways at Mr. Xue Ming. "As for Armadillo Hunters, I suppose I've seen one."

Jiang Xueming asked, "What do you mean, 'suppose'?"

"Before we start work, we have to go through training." Xiao Qi explained, "How to protect new passengers, how to keep an eye on old ones—we have to rehearse all that by watching videos. Some of those materials cover Armadillo Hunters."

Xue Ming took out a pen, paper, and his phone, ready to write down everything Brother Qi told him.

The sunset beyond the window sank behind the peak of Ruyun Mountain.

The world grew dark, until only the occasional lonely streetlight flashed past.

Brother Qi pulled some milk candies from her bag, tore open the wrapper, and casually tossed one into her mouth.

She spoke in an unhurried tone.

"In the videos, most of the Hunters we see are already dead, and they usually don't die pretty. They're difficult to deal with and require unconventional methods. You'll probably have noticed that yourself, Mr. Xue Ming, during the weapons test after the Polarized Sextant's safety inspection."

Jiang Xueming asked, "Do you mean the part where I learned to control my limbs?"

Xiao Qi nodded and continued.

"Exactly. Armadillo Hunters might be passengers too, and they're people with extraordinary Inspiration. Every one of them undergoes some kind of transformation. Like how you suddenly learned to shoot with incredible precision. It's like an ordinary person suddenly gaining supernatural strength. Such a rapid and violent change causes some passengers to become arrogant."

"When they return to the ordinary world, they're convinced they're no longer mere mortals. Like some fool who's won the lottery, they put themselves above everyone else, as if they were gods."

At that, Xiao Qi's little eyebrows drew together, as if she'd thought of something she detested.

"Come to think of it, once many passengers gain this kind of power and return to their old lives, it's as if they've become entirely different people. The Hunters in those videos include a few classic examples."

"Before becoming a passenger, one Hunter was a small-time boatman in Kolkata, India. He was forty-three and had a happy family. When local thugs took one of his daughter's kidneys, she needed incredibly expensive treatment. His mental strength and Inspiration were extraordinary, so it was only natural that a ticket found its way to this desperate father. He managed to get his hands on the Universal Elixir and some money."

"But when he returned to the ordinary world, he didn't use the Universal Elixir on his daughter. He left them a paltry sum for her treatment and abandoned his wife and child. He believed it was all a blessing from the great god Shiva, that the black cat was Shiva's earthly incarnation, and that he had never been an ordinary man at all—he was a chosen son of destiny."

"He lost all sense of his place in the world, and the boundary between reality and the station began to blur. He never took the rules in the passenger guide seriously."

"Over the course of three years, he killed forty-one ordinary people and three passengers, and stole four Universal Elixirs. Whenever anything in life didn't go his way, he passed death sentences on other people like a capricious evil god. As the station's watchers, the first victims were his own attendants."

"Did no one at the station notice that an attendant had been killed?" Jiang Xueming stared blankly, unable to believe it.

Xiao Qi patiently explained, "The cases in our training videos are all extreme examples. This Hunter was incredibly cunning and a good actor."

"A few months after he joined the station, he earned his attendant's trust and learned everything about her—what kind of person she was, what she liked and disliked, even her eating habits and daily routine. He slept with her, and the two were practically on the verge of becoming husband and wife."

"The day before the wedding, that damned Hunter poisoned his attendant wife. Then he picked one of the women who followed him, a devoted fangirl. Using drugs, brainwashing, hypnosis, and plastic surgery, he made her look like the attendant. She followed the usual routine, returned to the station to file the regular reports, and even used pregnancy as an excuse to take a year-long maternity leave."

Jiang Xueming was stunned. He couldn't imagine how a father who'd risked his life adventuring underground for his daughter could turn into a murderer in just a year or two.

Brother Qi's expression darkened as she continued.

"Because passengers kept getting killed, the station raised its security level. We attendants had to undergo fingerprint checks and psychological evaluations, and, like passengers, we also had to go through safety inspections at the Polarized Sextant. When they checked the DNA, they finally caught the fake attendant."

"Unfortunately, by the time our external affairs team contacted the local authorities to arrest the Hunter, he'd already committed a great many murders. His readings had been in the danger zone during the station's safety checks, and our medical department had given him quite a bit of rehabilitation training. But it was only after he was shot dead while resisting arrest that we learned he'd been taking all kinds of mind-altering drugs and tranquilizers. He took them every day, like a morning cup of soy milk, and they let him force his way through the Polarized Sextant's tests."

Jiang Xueming sighed. "Why would anyone choose to become a monster instead of staying a decent person?"

"That's not all," Xiao Qi said anxiously. "That boatman had plenty of followers back in Kolkata. His extraordinary Inspiration let him perform all kinds of spiritualist rituals."

Jiang Xueming asked, "Like what?"

Xiao Qi rubbed her temples. The case gave her a headache just thinking about it.

"Lots of people came to the Hunter hoping to see dead relatives, lovers, or enemies—or just for fun—and asked him to show off his divine powers. But you know how it is: we treat supernatural phenomena as Spirit Calamities. Nothing good ever comes of a calamity."

"That one case brought all sorts of other cases to light. There was a wife who wanted to see her dead husband so badly that she offered the Hunter her uterus. There was also a terrifying family who wanted their son to get into some high-caste aristocratic school. They kidnapped the neighbor's child, dug out his brain, then gave it to the Hunter for some inexplicable spiritualist ritual. The whole thing was utterly chaotic."

Jiang Xueming held his forehead, feeling a chill run down his spine. "Could he really do things like that?"

"What's the one thing the station has in abundance? Tickets." Xiao Qi corrected him. "Tickets can be used to trick ordinary people with all kinds of 'miracles.'"

Jiang Xueming still couldn't understand. He clenched his jaw in anger. "He already had money. Why did he still have to hurt people?"

"Because of that illusory sense of ritual." Xiao Qi wore the same furious, teeth-grinding expression as Xue Ming. "All these Hunters have one thing in common. It isn't obvious at first, but as time goes on, they drift farther and farther away from ordinary people."

Jiang Xueming asked, "They stop thinking of themselves as human?"

Xiao Qi nodded and carefully explained.

"Exactly, Mr. Xue Ming. Think about it: when the BOSS helped that boatman, he treated him as nothing more than a father who desperately needed a Universal Elixir to save his child. But what did he become afterward?"

"Ordinary things had no value to him anymore. A mansion or a luxury car couldn't fill the emptiness inside him, and he abandoned his wife and daughter without a second thought. He wanted to ignore every rule of the station and the human world and indulge himself. He wanted to become a god but couldn't find a way, so he thought that if he built an evil temple and gathered a bunch of fanatical followers, he could make himself a golden idol."

"Listen to this, Mr. Xue Ming." As she spoke, Xiao Qi rummaged through her handbag, found her phone, and played him a clip from the training video.

It was a recording of the BOSS. The big black cat's voice was unmistakable.

"In the rituals of many ancient civilizations, barbaric and bloody sacrifices involved offering livestock or living people, giving their hearts or other organs to all kinds of gods. Why?"

"Because, deep down, people believe that life is the most precious thing to all living beings. Offering the most precious treasure to the gods is, for the one being sacrificed, the officiating priest, the person who initiated the ritual, the participants, and even the spectators, their chance to get as close to godhood as possible."

"Most Hunters believe they possess supernatural powers that grant them immortality and mastery over all things, and they enjoy performing all kinds of inexplicable rituals. That's extremely dangerous."

"Homo sapiens are social animals. We help one another and use tools to make more tools, and we'll devote our lives to pursuing a goal we can share over the long term. None of that has anything to do with gods. In other words, as the station's BOSS, I've always been an atheist. Understanding animistic phenomena and dealing with Spirit Calamities have always been about dispelling superstition."

"Attendants, take seriously the threat of passengers who turn traitor and become Hunters. Once they've fallen into obsession and started researching all kinds of spells, divine doctrines, Spirit Calamities, and spirits, there's no turning back."

"The station itself is not beyond the law as far as Homo sapiens civilization is concerned. Before joining the station, everyone is still a natural person with the rights of a citizen. We respect every natural person."

"When these Hunters persecute other natural people, every Universal Elixir we hand over becomes a weapon that murderers use to harm their victims, just like the Madness Butterfly and Vita Imprint that have plagued us for so long."

"The road ahead underground is terrifying and dark, but attendants, please help the passengers light new nodes in the star realm."

The recording ended there.

Jiang Xueming finished taking notes. "Your company culture is pretty unusual."

"Yeah. When I first joined, I had a bunch of charms on me and a skull tattoo on my arm." Xiao Qi recalled. "The guy from HR kept telling me not to get any more tattoos or bring things like crosses inside. He said I should keep myself clean."

Jiang Xueming was curious. "What did you say to him?"

"Back then, I was an angsty, rebellious teenager." Xiao Qi laughed, then felt a little embarrassed. "I said, 'If no gods can get into this station, is it like one of those places in Hell where nobody's in charge?'"

Jiang Xueming asked, "And then?"

Xiao Qi answered mysteriously.

"How is Hell a place where nobody's in charge? Hell controls everything. That's what the guy from HR told me. If you want to think of the underground world as Hell, then sure. The BOSS is both the most impossible King of Hell to deal with and an annoying little devil."

"On every journey, we have to keep our eyes wide open. Look closely at its Lava Lake, the ancient runes on the rock walls, the colossi, and the stars."

"Look closely at every mysterious and strange place."

"See it."

"Understand it."

"Pull away its veil and strip away its terror. Then carefully, like lifting a bride's veil, slowly reveal what's beneath."

"I understand." Jiang Xueming put away his notebook and phone. "What happened to that boatman—the Hunter you mentioned? What became of him in the end?"

"The local government and the station's armed personnel used two helicopters to wipe out his hideout. As for him, he'd put together all kinds of weird things: an alchemy workshop, a private lab for researching the Universal Elixir, and plenty of dangerous weapons. But humans have their limits. No carbon-based life-form can withstand a twenty-millimeter autocannon strafing the ground." On that note, Xiao Qi remembered something and asked half-jokingly, "You're not going to copy him and poison me, are you, Mr. Jiang Xueming?"

Jiang Xueming said, "You've got to be kidding."

Xiao Qi eyed him suspiciously.

"Then have you ever thought about it? Even for a moment, had a single wicked thought? Ever thought I was an annoying attendant? I'll be honest: attendants have to protect you and keep an eye on you. After all, I don't know anything about your past."

"If you're like the main character in Doraemon and get bullied by Gian every day, the first gadget you get in this story might well be a gun that lets you start your life over."

"You'd get the weapon and shoot all that viciousness back at the old schoolmates who bullied you. If I tried to stop you, I'd probably be the first one to take a bullet."

"I've thought about it," Jiang Xueming answered seriously. "I've never been one to hold a grudge overnight, not even against people who took advantage of me or bullied me. I don't think I'd need that gun."

"So if you had the chance, you still would..." Xiao Qi kept her guard up. After all, the BOSS had told her Jiang Xueming was a very unusual person.

Jiang Xueming turned to look out the window, unwilling to meet Brother Qi's interrogator's stare.

He simply explained, "I wouldn't do anything extreme. Why would I poison you over something like Gian?"

With that delicate crisis of trust between them, the atmosphere suddenly turned awkward.

To ease the tension, Xiao Qi grinned. "According to the story outline, if you don't poison me, then we're getting married and signing the papers, right?! So what happens next? What would we do during our maternity leave? You're so clever—make up a fifty-yuan story for me."

Jiang Xueming didn't take the bait. "I hope you stay safe and healthy."

Xiao Qi got no reaction and fell silent, typing a log on her phone.

She quietly wrote:

"He poisoned me and still cares whether I'm safe and healthy. He's so gentle, I'm crying."

"There's one thing about the sense of ritual I still don't understand," Jiang Xueming said. "Why did the BOSS make us take that route through Moon Lane? You said it was for the sake of ritual. But what was the point?"

At that, Xiao Qi felt another surge of nameless anger. She suppressed her impotent rage and patiently explained.

"It's a useless but necessary path that the BOSS specifically set aside for every new passenger. You might have any number of reasons to rush to the station. Maybe you're trying to save your little sister, and you're panicked, terrified, and emotional."

"You walk for almost an hour, see a huge building and copper sculptures, and meet all those strange people who are traveling with you. You can't help thinking, Well, at least I'm not alone. Someone else came to this station too. Surely someone more capable will help me. At least you'll calm down, instead of disturbing the brothers and sisters handling business at the Council of Five Kings or acting like a hospital thug, threatening to die if you don't get your way."

"When we put on our attendant uniforms and meet you passengers for the first time, it's to tell you this: once you've walked this route, you'll realize that the act of walking has no meaning in itself. You've just gone from one place to another."

"What matters is you, your goal, and the way you achieve it. Break free of the superstitions in your heart. When we enter the station, we're natural people. When we leave the station, we're still natural people."

Jiang Xueming nodded. "That's pretty interesting. I'm starting to like the BOSS."

Xiao Qi chimed in, "So you're a cat person. I'll get an adorable little cat to charm you when I get back. Hehe."

At that moment, Jiang Xueming silently watched the fields beneath the black night sky outside the window.

He noted a few details in his mind.

Armadillo Hunters: carbon-based life-forms.

Minimum safety measure: A twenty-millimeter mounted autocannon could kill one. For a weapon of the same caliber that an individual could carry, an anti-materiel rifle might be an option. The shells' kinetic energy was similar to that of 14.5-millimeter ammunition used by antiaircraft machine guns, as was its effectiveness against the human body. But getting hold of this equipment would be difficult.

Possible option: Dump Truck Iaijutsu. A licensed sixteen-wheel freight truck costs less than two hundred thousand yuan. Under the China III emissions standard, most cities allow them on the road after ten at night. With my current finances, I could afford at least thirty Iaijutsu strikes. The cargo could be a dense mass of earth or gravel—easy enough to obtain, though the terrain requirements would be quite strict.

When they arrived at the Pingyang County clinic, the two of them had barely gotten out of the car and found their footing—not even having fully shut the doors—

The driver floored it and sped back into the endless darkness, the engine roaring.

Xiao Qi scratched her head furiously, the sound carrying a long way across the clinic's concrete lot.

"What's going on? Why was the ride canceled? I can't even find the driver's information. I haven't paid yet."