You Seem to Know

As soon as he crawled out of the car, Xue Ming immediately began shivering from the damp, bone-chilling air.

The sight in the deep alley was extremely strange. Besides the filthy old walls, there was also thick white mist and smoke, like gauze, silk, and brocade.

He knocked on the car window, then returned to the car for another look. The mysterious female driver had already vanished.

Looking again beneath the street sign at the entrance to Moon Lane, he saw a line of small print.

—It was directions to the VIP Reception Hall of Nine Realms Station.

So all he had to do was keep walking forward.

He steadied himself, took out his phone, and snapped photos of the surrounding scenery. He edited a text message and a WeChat message, sent the pictures to his younger sister's phone, and let her know he was safe.

Then he opened his navigation map. He wanted to know exactly where this place was.

What puzzled him was that Moon Lane's location on the map was highly abnormal.

The positioning showed that Xue Ming was currently beside a certain Hong Kong-style café on Jiulong West's main road.

But in reality, he checked the shop signs on the map one by one, and not a single one matched.

The grocery stores, fashion shops, and food stalls on both sides of the alley entrance looked as though they had been decorated more than a decade ago. Their storefronts were old, and most had no signs at all.

The occasional shop with a lighted sign had an utterly ordinary name. Storefronts like "Everyday Convenience Store" or "Qunying Fashion" were everywhere.

The scene made him feel as though he had returned to his childhood, to the small county town of his hometown.

Still unwilling to give up, he repeatedly tapped the GPS reset button.

After trying more than a dozen times, he suddenly noticed a section in the map's data for air pressure and elevation.

Current location: No. 15, Donghui Building, Jiulong West Corridor

Elevation: -17,521.11 meters

"I'm... I'm underground?" He raised his head and looked toward the stars filling the sky. "I'm seventeen thousand meters underground?"

The deep stars in the sky looked like ten thousand eyes.

His phone clock showed that it was now 9:40 in the morning on July 5th.

He clearly remembered that he had departed at 8:55. The time this journey had taken was roughly consistent with the travel time the female driver had mentioned.

He took a deep breath, only to be choked into coughing by the damp, cold air. Hugging his arms around himself and hunching over, he plunged into the deep alley and headed toward the VIP Reception Hall.

There were no forks in this alley, though it occasionally curved around a few small bends.

He had no idea how long he had walked. His eyes gradually adjusted to the darkness, and the buildings on either side grew taller and taller. It felt as though he were advancing into the crack between deep underground mountains.

He opened his phone's navigation, though he had no idea whether the location was accurate. After walking for over twenty minutes and about three kilometers, he turned right at a sharp corner, and the view suddenly opened up.

A massive fountain plaza came into view. From the far left to the far right of his vision, the level road across the plaza seemed to stretch for several kilometers, while behind it lay bottomless thick fog.

Every thousand meters or so stood a towering bronze statue that seemed to reach the clouds. They hid in the mist, appearing and disappearing, grand yet bizarre. Each depicted a giant kneeling on the ground.

He saw the closest massive bronze statue.

The muscle textures, pockmarks in the skin, even the capillaries on that gigantic bronze-and-iron sculpture were so lifelike that it seemed as though it might come alive at any moment.

They knelt halfway before the vast, far-reaching corridors, towers, and buildings of the Reception Hall. The muscles in their arms twisted and bulged as both arms were raised toward the starry sky.

Compared to the subsidiary buildings beside the Reception Hall, they were more than forty stories tall, as though they were supporting the dome built over the entire sky.

They wore short, knee-length cloth robes that exposed their chests. Layer upon layer of sturdy rope was wrapped over the robes, and the outer layer was secured with double-ring cast-iron buckles.

The faces of those bronze sculptures looked as though they had been hollowed out by some parasite. Starting from their chins, mottled and chaotic wounds bore bite marks. Large and small circular teeth marks had gnawed those enormous bronze heads beyond recognition.

He stared at the magnificent, bizarre, and eerie giant statues, forgetting to take another step as he stood frozen in place.

Suddenly, a camera flash and shutter sound jolted him back to reality.

He glanced to either side and only then realized that there was more than one alley entrance behind him. Many travelers in circumstances similar to his had already emerged from other alleyways.

The flash and shutter sound had come from another traveler more than a hundred meters behind him.

He carefully examined the buildings behind him—there were hardly words to describe those bizarre stone corridors and perilous paths.

Within the enormous and complicated complex were countless stairways, platforms, and exits.

They were densely crowded together within a narrow opening facing the same direction.

Everywhere were trimmed cliffs and strange rocks, as though carved by blades and axes.

Everywhere were man-made structures, stairs and paths meant to guide travelers.

The complex arrangement gave him a sense of the designer's almost crazed geometric architectural aesthetics.

Above the exit of the alley where he stood were nearly a thousand other exits, pieced and coupled together from different roads and stairways.

Along those paths, he could see quite a few travelers carefully making their way down corridors and stairs. Using their phones as flashlights, they slowly headed toward the Reception Hall.

Xue Ming seemed to be the luckiest one, walking at the very front of all the travelers.

He shouted loudly behind him, trying to draw the others' attention.

But even when he shouted himself hoarse, no one responded. His calls carried far, far away, followed by waves of echo.

In the empty plaza, only the fountain beside the giant bronze sculptures made a soft trickling sound.

Humans were social creatures. Almost driven by instinct, he decided to walk toward one companion who looked relatively reliable.

He could make out that traveler's appearance. He was a middle-aged man, apparently only a little over a hundred meters away—roughly the length of a running track.

Yet to his frustration, no matter how he walked, the number on his phone's step counter kept climbing, while that companion remained just as far away, as if he had never moved at all.

Walking over the jet-black stone pavement, he gradually began breathing heavily. In the low-temperature, low-energy environment, his body grew heavier and heavier, and his legs felt filled with lead.

When he stopped to rest, he braced both hands on his knees, breathing and coughing.

When he raised his head, he abruptly discovered that his chosen target, that companion—

—that middle-aged man less than a hundred meters away, seemed to be walking toward him as well.

Xue Ming waved both hands with all his strength, stretching his limbs. He knew neither sign language nor semaphore.

He only hoped the other person would notice his movements, allowing some connection to form between them so they could try to communicate.

Beneath the thin mist, the distant silhouette also waved both hands, as if responding to Xue Ming's gestures.

"Looks like I can't reach him after all." Xue Ming finally accepted reality. "This strange plaza seems unwilling to let people like us gather together."

Xue Ming walked this road for over two hours. The mountain looked close, but the horse ran itself to death.

He looked toward the VIP Reception Hall. A huge moon hung on the horizon, like it had been painted onto the canvas of the sky with fluorescent paint.

Under the moonlight, not far behind the massive bronze sculptures, rows of low Western-style houses clustered around three square halls as enormous as the statues, like stars surrounding the moon.

Above the gatehouse of the central hall hung an iron sign reading Nine Realms Station. On either side of its avenue were the male and female guest sections of the Reception Hall.

A long train whistle sounded from farther away. It was followed by the deep rumble of rails and iron wheels grinding and rolling.

A plume of crimson smoke slowly rose through the mist, like the thick steam spewing from a locomotive.

He walked in that direction, and every marker in his field of vision began drawing closer.

The giant statues and fountains came nearer and nearer, as did the buildings. When he reached the enormous bronze sculptures and looked up at their colossal forms, his neck began to ache. Only then did he vaguely realize how outrageous the engineering requirements to create these structures must have been.

When he reached the entrance to the male guest section, the surroundings were utterly silent. The other travelers behind him were still making their way over.

Farther ahead were more than fifty corridor paths carpeted in red. Among those small doors seemed to be a large gate for freight transport and vehicles, around eight lanes wide.

There were roughly fifty more meters before he could reach the corridor entrance.

He could see the registration desks before those corridors, with an attendant standing beside each desk.

Yes, attendants—

—though the word as he understood it differed somewhat from the impression given by ordinary waiters or service staff.

Those people were impeccably dressed. Their swallowtail coats and vests were spotless: black on the outside, white within, with red bow ties. The creases and stitching on their trousers, the style of straps on their leather shoes—apart from slight differences in appearance, everything else was exactly the same.

They all held their heads high and chests out with an air of arrogant pride. Their expressions resembled replicas cast from the same mold, as though they had undergone extremely rigorous service training.

They carried silver trays, with warm towels draped over their forearms.

The trays held bread rolls, orange juice, and aperitifs. Basins and vanity mirrors sat on the registration desks.

There were men and women among them, most appearing between twenty and forty years old. Their facial expressions were astonishingly uniform as well, full of eerie vitality, as though they were ready at any moment, merely waiting for honored guests to arrive.

The moment Xue Ming reached the front of the corridors, a voice called out to him.

"Mr. Jiang Xueming!"

The familiar voice gave him a jolt. It was a woman's voice.

He racked his memory, but still could not recall it.

"Mr. Jiang Xueming, look over here. Your entrance is this way."

He looked where the voice came from. One of the attendants had already walked toward him at an unhurried pace.

"Mr. Jiang Xueming, please come with me. Your passage is on the left." Holding a tray in her right hand, the female attendant lightly dusted off her shoulder with her left, as though offering a greeting.

Xue Ming perked up. "I remember you! We've met before!"

The female attendant said, "Yes, in the rearview mirror?"

Xue Ming nodded. "Right, you're that driver?"

The female attendant was very familiar and easygoing, inexplicably approachable.

She was a little over 1.7 meters tall. With her thick-soled leather shoes, she was about as tall as Xue Ming.

Her black hair was tied into a high ponytail with a red ribbon. Her side bangs made her seem spirited and dashing. She was a cool older sister.

Jiang Xueming still remembered her eyes. They were eyes that were hard to forget once seen. Like a gaze in a vast crowd on the street that one simply could not ignore, they carried sharpness, alertness, and remarkable competence.

"It's been a hard journey, Mr. Xue Ming." The female attendant led him to a registration desk and handed him a registration booklet and pen.

Xue Ming took them and began writing down his personal information.

During that time, he realized this cool older sister was rather interesting.

The female attendant first introduced herself.

"I'm your guide and your attendant. I'm responsible for bringing you here, and I'll also take care of your daily needs, food, drink, and everything else during your stay at the station."

Xue Ming did not even look up. "What should I call you?"

The female attendant immediately answered, "Number 9527."

Hearing that, Xue Ming's brow twitched. He looked up just in time to see the older sister hunching over the desk, both hands braced against it as she stared straight at him.

Their noses were almost touching. Jiang Xueming instinctively leaned back, widening the distance between them.

When he did not understand something, he asked. "Is that... a lucky coincidence? You happened to get an employee number like that?"

The cool older sister answered briskly, "No, I chose it myself. But..."

She vigorously turned a handle beneath the registration desk, and the originally low counter rose upward.

Xue Ming could finally stand upright and write his name properly.

The attendant continued, "Even though I'm called 9527, I'm not your first-class servant. We're equals—a relationship between employer and laborer."

"What should I call you?" Xue Ming finished filling in the basic information and returned the registration booklet to the attendant.

"Xiao Qi, Qi, 9527, whatever works. It's only a number. Why make such a fuss over it?" The female attendant was completely informal as she grabbed Xue Ming's arm and pulled him through the doors.

"Then I'll call you Xiao Qi." Xue Ming had just breathed a sigh of relief when he noticed that the attendants at the other entrances were all looking over at them in unison.

Their gazes were vicious and fierce. Xue Ming asked curiously, "What's going on? Why are they all looking at me?"

"Hey, don't mind it." Xiao Qi turned back and explained seriously. "It's a sin created by the BOSS, a rule set by the boss."

"A sin created by the BOSS?" Xue Ming did not quite understand. He stopped in the corridor, ready to hear Xiao Qi explain it properly.

"Our boss, obviously." Xiao Qi was highly expressive with both her gestures and her face.

One moment, she winked and made faces at Xue Ming; the next, she gestured, shrugged, and acted unconcerned. "You know how it works. You receive the ticket, then we go to your home and pick you up."

Xue Ming nodded. "Right, that's the process."

Xiao Qi continued, "Then we drive for forty minutes. It should be a very simple matter. How nice would it be to get out at the entrance of the Reception Hall of the Welcome Avenue, right?"

Xue Ming nodded again. "Exactly."

Xiao Qi made a face, looking utterly disgusted. "But what does the BOSS want? He wants us to dump the guests in Moon Lane and make you walk for over an hour on your own two legs. You face that wall, first get half an hour of stair training, then another half hour of walking for morning exercise. The whole workout routine is planned out crystal clear, all so you can familiarize yourselves with the station's external environment. It's all the BOSS's idea."

"Huh?" Xue Ming did not understand. "Why do that?"

"Sense of ceremony." Xiao Qi draped an arm around Xue Ming's shoulder and leaned close with a teasing grin. "You understand a sense of ceremony? I sure don't. Maybe successful people in society all like this sort of ceremonial feeling—those brothers and sisters outside don't get it either."

They were standing a little too close. Xue Ming pushed Xiao Qi away again, but he did not dare use much force. He could only spread his hands beneath her armpits and ease himself away.

Xiao Qi did not mind her client's little movement at all and continued complaining. "We have to go back early, change clothes, prepare to welcome the guests in, then stand outside like idiots for over two hours. More than two hours! First I got road rage on the most congested, crappiest streets in Hong Kong, and I still had to smile! Smile and provide service for you! You slept so soundly that you never heard me grinding my teeth."

"All for that one phrase from the BOSS: sense of ceremony. Ceremony my ass!"

Even her Cantonese accent had slipped out.

"What kind of genius idea did that asshole boss come up with? Put these details on a review site and they'd earn nothing but bad ratings. If I were a guest, I'd give this station the most vicious one-star review in existence!"

Xiao Qi smoothed her hair, adjusted her bearing and expression, then continued grumbling in disgust. "And we have to create this high-class ceremonial atmosphere, putting on supermodel faces while standing at the entrance waiting for guests. By the time the guests walk here, they're practically half dead. Then we offer them orange juice and aperitifs at the door, and we have to be elegant!~"

Xue Ming blinked twice.

Only then did Xiao Qi realize she had lost composure. "Oh, sorry, I cursed. Hehe."

Xue Ming continued, "Then those brothers and sisters outside just now?"

"Aren't they jealous? They're so jealous looking at us that they're practically losing their minds." Xiao Qi finally explained it clearly. She wrapped an arm more tightly around the honored guest beside her, as though she had found treasure. "You got lucky. You're the first guest to reach the entrance today. Thanks to your quick legs, I don't have to stand here like an idiot anymore. They still have plenty of waiting to do!"

Xue Ming suddenly understood. So that was the reason for those vicious looks just now?

In this unfamiliar environment, being held around the shoulders by Xiao Qi, whom he had only just met, made Xue Ming feel rather uncomfortable. He considered himself greedy for money and fond of beauty, perhaps, but he did not covet ill-gotten wealth, nor did he indulge in fleeting lust.

Xiao Qi looked puzzled. "Why are you staring at me?"

He had just been about to politely ask her something.

"Could you let go of me?"

Xiao Qi said, "Hey, are you shy?"

"I respect women," Xue Ming said righteously. As Xiao Qi swept him deeper into the corridor, he continued, "Brother Qi, I respect your straightforward and efficient personality. We really did hit it off at first sight. You feel very approachable and genuine, someone who speaks her mind—but there's no need to get this intimate right away, is there? I have important things to do. I'm very busy. My younger sister still—"

Before he could finish, he felt a cool sensation on his forehead, as though something had pecked him between the brows.

"Alright, you're not shy anymore. Go wash your face. Later, I'll take you to see the BOSS and talk about your younger sister and your ticket." Xiao Qi whistled as she pushed up the registration desk, bringing the vanity mirror and basin before Xue Ming.

Xue Ming looked at himself in the vanity mirror—he seemed like he had just been taken advantage of by a female hooligan, a little angry but still trying to maintain a smile.

He needed to wash away the dust from the journey, clean the grime from his ears and nose, and wipe away the oil at the corners of his eyes.

He needed to wipe the dust from his face and remove the creamy red-bean-colored lipstick mark from his forehead.

He casually asked, "Brother Qi, have you always been this flirtatious? Do you treat all your guests this way? You're not afraid of bad reviews at all, are you?"

"Of course not! Do I look like someone so casual?" Xiao Qi's smile was downright villainous—

—if Xue Ming had to describe it, it was like the laugh of mutual destruction echoing from a sinister, eerie coffin inside an ancient tomb in a film or television drama.

He wiped the water from his face, wiped away the twitch at the corner of his mouth, and got his expression under control.

"Then do you think I'm easy to bully?"

Xiao Qi glanced sideways, curled her lips, and said nothing. She led the way deeper into the corridor, skipping along.

Xue Ming wanted to say something, but could not. His mind was occupied by thoughts of his ticket and younger sister—so he could only obediently follow behind Xiao Qi. After all, society only allowed women to act like hooligans. Boys outside could not protect themselves at all.

He also heard Xiao Qi mock him.

Her voice was especially quiet, yet it also seemed deliberately spoken aloud.

"You seem to know you're quite good-looking."