Inch of Light

The smallest gem in the safe was worth three hundred Flow Pearls—enough to reimburse the fare for a ship back to headquarters, and more than enough to buy a decent bottle of wine.

The lights at headquarters were always on; this place was brightly lit all year round. Chu Hengkong carried a bottle of wine into the lounge. Shift change had long since passed. Those coming off the afternoon shift were resting in the dorms, while the night-shift officers patrolled the streets. The little girl hated the police for being useless, never knowing that it was precisely because the thugs avoided the officers patrolling day and night that her father had escaped disaster.

But what was the point of reasoning with a child? Children did not care about all that. They only knew that no one had come to save them when they were harmed.

Chu Hengkong sat down on a small sofa and poured himself a drink. The purplish-red wine was faintly astringent, with a sweet aftertaste and a light floral fragrance. He narrowed his eyes, wondering whether he should find a bag of peanuts.

"Not sleeping in the middle of the night, sneaking drinks alone?"

A golden ponytail swayed at the doorway as Ji Huaishu strode in with decisive efficiency and took a seat on the long sofa to the side. She reached for the bottle. "Pour me one too."

Chu Hengkong moved the bottle back an inch. "Drinking on duty breaks the rules."

"Cut it out. You violated regulations first." Ji Huaishu's eyes shifted. "If you don't share, I'll report you through internal channels!"

Chu Hengkong smiled helplessly and pushed the bottle to the center of the table. The two temporary partners each had a glass, sipping wine that looked fine but tasted cheap. Neither spoke. The hands of the lounge clock clicked away.

"Have I ever told you I used to run with the underworld?" Chu Hengkong said.

"You mentioned it once." Ji Huaishu glanced at him. "But you don't look the type."

"It's true." Chu Hengkong spoke blandly. "In traditional crime families, newcomers had to clear two major thresholds to join. The first was the family initiation ceremony, usually swearing an oath with a bloody handprint before the old hands. Once the ceremony was over, you were one of the family. Everyone treated you like a brother.

"But a family was large, with all sorts of people in it. To earn their regard, you had to become 'someone they could trust.' That was much more complicated. First, you had to follow the senior men and start with the smallest, messiest chores—collecting debts, extorting protection money, guarding turf, teaching a few clueless fools a lesson... Gradually, you earned everyone's recognition, and then the second threshold came. One day, an old hand would hand you a kraft-paper bag and say he had urgent business that day and could not spare the time, so he needed you to take care of a small matter."

Chu Hengkong raised his glass. Beneath the light, the purple wine looked red as blood. "The newcomer would hurriedly open the kraft-paper bag on the road and find a gun inside. Only then would he realize that he was going to kill someone. The chosen target must have crossed the organization's bottom line. Perhaps in the sunlit world, their crimes did not warrant death, but by the rules of the gang, they were doomed.

"Once the newcomer pulled the trigger, he would shed his skin and become 'someone they could trust,' because in a world of violence, only human lives were the most reliable covenant and curse."

Chu Hengkong shrugged. "Back then, the pass rate for this test was very low. After all, every heart was made of flesh, and most people felt the other person did not deserve to pay with their life... But in modern times, the test became an empty formality. Everyone already knew the trick behind it: fire the gun and you got promoted. Then no matter who stood before you, one shot settled it."

Whether the job was done well or poorly was secondary. What mattered was the choice of the person involved. The one facing the gun might have their own hardships, might be old, weak, a woman, or a child, or might simply be innocent. But regardless of the truth, you had to pull the trigger yourself, because what the person who devised the test truly wanted to see was your attitude.

The underworld was like that. The lawful world was no different.

Ji Huaishu listened with relish and asked, "What did you do back then?"

"Me?" Chu Hengkong chuckled softly. "I had a habit of doing my research before taking a job. My target was a poor waiter whose younger sister had married an old member of the family. That man was a typical Puglia wastrel. He often beat his wife and took the money she had painstakingly saved to gamble. In the end, he beat his pregnant wife until she miscarried, and the poor woman suffered a mental breakdown. When the waiter learned of it, he grabbed a knife and took that old member's life.

"When he saw me, he was terrified. A grown man nearly six feet tall, and his legs were trembling. He said, 'I won't resist. Please spare my sister.' I said, 'Get the hell out! Take your sister to another city. If anyone dares stop you, give them my name. Tell them that whoever touches you, Chu Hengkong will kill him!'"

Chu Hengkong drained his glass in one gulp, his eyes carrying a fierce satisfaction. Ji Huaishu rolled her eyes. "What a strong underworld air about you."

"On the way back, I bought a bottle of wine and went straight to the boss's office. The boss said, 'Today, I've become certain of it. Ah Kong, you'll never become a great man in your life.'"

"I asked why."

"The boss said, 'You're not stupid, and you don't lack quick wits. As for fighting skills, no one is your match. But you lack the vision to look ahead, and you do not have a shred of patience. Great men always look toward the distance. They do not mind yielding and compromising for the moment, because it lets them succeed in the future. But you refuse to lift your head. Those eyes of yours are forever fixed on the single step before you. If you do not change your temperament, you'll spend your whole life as a thug.'"

As he said this, Chu Hengkong's eyes held a trace of nostalgia. "I said, 'Boss, you really are a sharp judge of people. I, Chu Hengkong, am exactly the sort with a rat's eyes and an inch of sight! I don't care about tomorrow, only today. I won't endure or yield even for a moment. You can pile up reasons and benefits until they reach the heavens, and still don't dream of making me do something against my heart!'"

He looked at Ji Huaishu. "Tell me, am I very willful?"

"Very willful." Ji Huaishu nodded. "Just like a child."

Chu Hengkong burst into laughter. He usually was not much of a talker, but tonight, as though he had opened a floodgate, words poured from him in an endless stream. Perhaps he deeply missed his days in the gang, or perhaps these words had been bottled up in his heart for far too long. He did not care whether anyone listened; drunk on wine, he simply spoke with wild abandon. The more he spoke, the happier he became, his brows dancing with delight. "That's why I can't get ahead anywhere, and deserve to be a thug all my life... But all the same, I live more happily than those great men!"

Some children were stubborn because they did not understand reason. Some understood everything and still refused to change, remaining stubborn for a lifetime. Ji Huaishu thought that Chu Hengkong was the latter kind. He had probably possessed this rotten temper since childhood; otherwise, a man of feeling and loyalty would not have fallen so low as to become an assassin.

She waited quietly until Chu Hengkong's laughter faded, then said softly, "Chu Hengkong, your hometown must be very peaceful, right?"

Chu Hengkong was stunned for a long while. "Most places are stable."

"I thought so. Otherwise, your boss could not have said those things." Ji Huaishu shrugged. "In peaceful and prosperous times, everyone has enough room in their lives to look as far into the distance as they can. But once the world turns chaotic, even staying alive is difficult. Too many people stare at years down the road and overlook the blade hanging over today."

Seeing Chu Hengkong's puzzled expression, she suddenly smiled. "When everyone has only one lousy life left, what distinction is there between great and small? So what if you take things one step at a time? If you can walk step by step into the distance, you'll still be a true great man."

She tossed a round object to Chu Hengkong and sprawled boldly against the sofa. "Congratulations, Inspector Chu. Today, you've officially been promoted to Senior Inspector. Remember to buy everyone drinks when you have time."

It was a badge-shaped plaque of white jade, a wandering dragon carved upon its smooth jade surface. Chu Hengkong glanced at the half-bottle of wine remaining and began to doubt his drinking capacity.

Just then, the lounge door opened. The man with the paper fan appeared once more, as elusive as a ghost, with the shifty-eyed Jie An behind him. Ji Qiufeng snapped his paper fan shut and smiled. "Everyone's in high spirits in the middle of the night, huh? Why are you celebrating before the ceremony has even begun?"

"What ceremony?" Chu Hengkong was utterly baffled.

Jie An sidled up, rubbing his palms together. "Oh my, Captain Huaishu didn't tell you? There are hard requirements for rank evaluations in our team. To be a Senior Inspector, you have to be Rank One in Qualia~"

The faint haze of alcohol in Chu Hengkong's head vanished on the spot. He sprang to his feet, his face full of disbelief. "Wasn't I being dismissed? How did it become a promotion?"

"We were assessing a Senior Inspector, not a cold-blooded, heartless killer. You handled the matter beautifully. If we don't promote you, who should we promote?" Ji Qiufeng tapped him. "But your final handling was still rash. In a situation like that, you could have asked your seniors before deciding. From now on, the area around Gushui Street will be your district. Keep an eye on the little girls and dogs. If anything happens again, you'll be held responsible."

Chu Hengkong put away the badge and said solemnly, "I will keep watch."

"Good. Then our tentacled detective has solved another case." Ji Qiufeng waved his fan. "Since no one seems particularly sleepy... why don't we strike while the iron is hot and hold the advancement ceremony for Senior Inspector before we sleep?"