A Girl's Encounters with the Lungmen Police

In the darkness, the girl walked alone. In the final moment before losing consciousness, she seemed to see a silhouette. Then, she came here.

She did not know how much time had passed, nor did she know how long she would remain here. But just as she was lost in confusion, a radiance like divine grace shone through the darkness. At that moment, she quickened her pace toward the light.

When the radiance completely faded, she saw an unfamiliar ceiling—and a warmth she had never felt since leaving her homeland and wandering to Lungmen. She was lying on a bed.

"Did someone save me?"

As she quietly marveled to herself, the girl looked to the side. On a clothes rack by the balcony hung the red suit and coat she had once worn. Judging from the way they were still dripping, someone had just washed them.

When the girl shifted her gaze to the bedside table, she saw a Guard Department uniform, along with a note.

"I mended your clothes, but you can't wear them yet. Borrow this police uniform for now."

That was what the note said. Because she had learned some Yan, the girl could understand its meaning.

"Was I saved by a police officer...?"

As she murmured, the girl climbed out of bed. Without hesitation, she picked up the uniform and changed into it. As for whether her body had been violated? From what she could feel, nothing like that had happened. The person who saved her had only treated her wounds, nothing more.

The uniform did not fit the girl very well, but the loose police uniform only made her look more alluring. If she were to enter a certain kind of special business right now, she would surely attract quite a few customers.

But the girl had no intention of thinking about such things, nor could she. As if by instinct, she began analyzing the available information, eventually reaching one conclusion: the owner of this uniform was sturdier than she was.

Grrr...

That familiar sound came from the girl's stomach. At that moment, a faint aroma drifted over from the other side of the curtain.

Like a starving, parched traveler stumbling upon an oasis in the desert, the girl involuntarily walked toward the other side of the curtain.

As she passed through it, the girl saw a man slightly older than herself. Dressed in ordinary clothes, he was busy in the kitchen by the small balcony. On the table were several dishes that looked distinctly Yan in style.

Those dishes had one thing in common: they were rather light. However, the girl knew that was not because the man preferred mild flavors, but because he was taking care of her.

She had once overheard someone say that after going hungry for a long time, it was best not to eat anything too greasy right away. Instead, one should choose something like rice porridge, though the girl was not particularly fond of such bland food.

"Yo, you're up?"

An unfamiliar male voice came from the kitchen. Before the girl could respond, the man continued.

"Sit down. It'll be ready in a moment."

Hearing the man's words, the girl sat down. This was the first time since her birth that she had behaved so obediently. Likewise, it was the first time she had seen a police officer like this.

Knock, knock, knock...

Knock, knock, knock...

Knock, knock, knock...

At that moment, someone knocked on the door.

The man walked out of the kitchen. After setting the last dish on the table, he turned and headed for the door.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!"

As he spoke, the man pulled open the door. Tilting her head to look over, the girl saw a middle-aged man in a suit. From his clumsy, obvious movements, it seemed that he was trying to hand something to the officer, but the officer did not accept it.

"Don't insult my integrity. Take your things and go back!"

As soon as the man finished speaking, he shut the door directly.

The girl was curious what was inside that box that made a police officer say such a thing.

"Let's eat."

As he spoke, the officer filled a porcelain bowl with white rice porridge and handed it to the girl.

"What was in that box?"

"Lungmen Dollars."

As she accepted the porridge, the girl asked curiously. Roy did not hesitate either. The moment she finished speaking, he answered directly.

Roy's answer was so straightforward that the girl did not know how to respond.

Before arriving in Lungmen, the girl had not had much sense of the value of Lungmen Dollars. But during her time in Lungmen, she had come to understand their worth.

In Lungmen, without Lungmen Dollars, one could not take a single step. It was a very real problem. Moreover, in the girl's impression, the police officers from her homeland would have taken the money long ago. They had used such methods to buy off many people.

After a moment of silence, she continued asking.

"Don't you want that money?"

"I do."

Roy did not say anything lofty or righteous. He was human too, and naturally understood that having that money would let him live better in this city.

But he also understood that this money was not so easy to take.

It was an invisible web after another. Those controlling the webs waited for greedy prey to enter their hunting grounds, and then... seize them outright!

Many of his comrades had fallen beneath those hunts. Likewise, many had once regarded him as prey and hunted him, but he had never stepped into those traps, because he knew what accepting those things meant.

"But I still know what I should take and what I shouldn't."

After saying that, Roy filled his own bowl with food and continued.

"Eat up. This afternoon, I'll take you to the Guard Department."

"The Guard Department?"

"I'll take you to Immigration. If you have a valid passport, you can stay in this city. If you entered illegally, those people will probably deport you."

As Roy finished speaking, the girl, who had just taken a sip of porridge, revealed a stunned expression. She had never expected things to turn out like this!

"Can I not go?"

"No. Even if you meet the conditions for staying in this city, as an outsider, you still have to register again... at the very least, get a temporary residence permit."

At this point, the girl added another assessment to her opinion of Roy: rigid.

I went back to the countryside yesterday and only just returned. Please forgive me...