The Player with His Eyes Closed

At one in the morning, at Third Hospital in Shanqing District.

Gaoyang rushed into the emergency building's lobby and immediately spotted his sister sitting on a blue public bench. She was still in pajamas and slippers, her hair disheveled and her face streaked with tears.

When Gao Xinxin saw him, she rushed over and hugged her brother, bursting into tears again.

Gaoyang stroked her head. "Where's Dad now?"

"Second floor. I'll take you." Gao Xinxin grabbed her brother's hand and led him away.

On his way over, Gaoyang had already learned what had happened over the phone.

His father had been entertaining clients until late and had been drinking, so he hired a designated driver. But the driver had been driving while exhausted and collided with a small truck at an intersection.

The driver died on impact. His father, buckled into the back seat, survived but suffered serious injuries. After being pulled from the wreckage, he was rushed straight to the hospital for emergency treatment. A nurse found his wallet and identification while sorting through his clothes and called Gaoyang's mother.

His mother nearly fainted on the spot. Without even changing, she left home with his sister. His grandmother was in poor health and had already gone to bed. Neither mother nor daughter dared wake her, much less tell her what had happened.

Gaoyang and his sister rushed out of the elevator and immediately saw their mother in the corridor. She, too, wore pajamas and slippers, her hair loose and messy, her face haggard and her eyes red and swollen. She sat on a bench outside the operating room. The moment she saw her son and daughter, she stood and hurried over to embrace them both.

"Mom, I'm scared..." His sister's voice trembled with tears.

Their mother said nothing, but her hands were visibly shaking.

Gaoyang held his mother and sister. "It's okay. It'll be okay. Dad's going to be fine."

The operation dragged on well into the early hours.

The doctor emerged from the operating room covered in blood, a surgical mask over his face. His voice sounded weary. "He's out of immediate danger, but the outlook isn't good. We've done everything we can. The rest is up to him. You should also prepare yourselves. Even if he survives this, he may need a wheelchair for the rest of his life."

"Thank you, doctor! Thank you. As long as he lives..." His mother asked for nothing more, crying with gratitude.

"Just doing my job." After a few polite words, the doctor left.

Gaoyang and his family continued waiting outside until five in the morning. Only when the doctor confirmed that his father was no longer in danger did his mother finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Seeing how exhausted his mother and sister looked, Gaoyang told them to go home and rest, but neither would agree.

Gaoyang patiently reasoned with them. "None of us slept all night. Someone will have to take turns staying with Dad. If you go home and rest now, you can relieve me this afternoon. Besides, you're both still in your pajamas. You can't stay like that. Go on home."

Only then did his mother agree. She looked up at her son and said with relief, "Our Yangyang's grown up."

Gaoyang paused. "Have I?"

"Yes. Especially lately. You often come home late, but somehow... you seem a lot more mature."

A jumble of emotions rose in Gaoyang. Since awakening, he had become less mature than cautious.

Soon, his mother left with his sister, while Gaoyang continued waiting outside the intensive care unit. He was exhausted but couldn't sleep. His thoughts wandered, drifting back to his childhood before he knew it.

As a child, Gaoyang had lived in a county town on the city's outskirts. His grandfather was still alive then, and all six members of the family lived in a two-story concrete house they had built themselves. There was a front courtyard, with a ginkgo tree growing just outside it. Every autumn, the ground turned golden.

The family ran a little shop called Happy Gao Supermarket, selling snacks and everyday necessities. It kept them fed, but it wasn't going to make them rich.

His father was clever and had always had a head for business. The house was full of books on achieving success. He was always boasting that once he saved enough capital, he would start a factory with his friends. Then, once he made money, they would move to the city, buy a home in a good school district and a car, and give the whole family a better life.

The year Gaoyang finished elementary school, his father really did make a little money and moved the family to Licheng.

His father partnered with a friend to open a food-processing plant, mainly producing various soybean products. To promote them, he visited clients every day. His phone held over a thousand numbers, all belonging to owners of supermarkets large and small. The better business became, the more entertaining he had to do. He spent half of every month drinking with clients, getting utterly wasted each time.

Tap, tap, tap.

Footsteps approached, and Gaoyang immediately went on alert.

He looked up to see the attending physician who had saved his father. The doctor had taken off his white coat and mask and changed into casual clothes.

"Want some?" Holding two cups of coffee, the doctor sat beside Gaoyang and offered him one. A rich aroma wafted from it.

"Thank you." Gaoyang accepted without fuss and took a sip, feeling considerably warmer.

Gaoyang glanced sideways at the doctor. Although he had the air of a middle-aged man, he looked young-no more than his thirties, judging by his appearance.

The doctor was tall and lean, with deep-set, sharply defined features and slightly curly hair. He wore scholarly black-framed glasses, a dark gray British-style wool sweater, khaki trousers, and brown leather Oxford shoes. A vintage quartz watch circled his wrist, and a simple silver ring adorned his long ring finger.

In short, without his white coat, he looked more like a melancholy young artist.

He cradled his coffee cup in both hands and took a gentle sip, tilting his head toward the window at the end of the corridor. The first light of morning streamed in, soft, clear, and holy, as though it came from heaven.

"This is my favorite time of day," the doctor said quietly, his voice low but gentle.

Gaoyang paused, realizing the doctor was speaking to him. After a long moment, he managed, "Because... the morning sunlight fills people with hope?"

"No. Because I finally get to clock out." The doctor smiled.

Gaoyang smiled too.

"How old are you?" the doctor asked.

"Eighteen."

"Eighteen, huh? Then your college entrance exams must be coming up."

"Yeah."

"Where are you planning to go to university?"

"I haven't decided yet," Gaoyang said.

"With your father's condition..." The doctor sighed softly. "I think you'd be better off considering somewhere local. Licheng University is quite good. It's a first-tier university too."

Something felt wrong to Gaoyang. This doctor was a little too friendly. He set down his coffee and shifted away.

The doctor keenly noticed the change in him and smiled faintly. "Are you afraid of me?"

Gaoyang's heart clenched. Without moving his head, he searched the corridor with his peripheral vision for the elevator, emergency exit, and windows, while playing dumb. "Afraid of you? Why would I be afraid of you?"

"Because I might be a Beast," the doctor said.

Gaoyang nearly sprang to his feet, but Doctor Zhao caught his wrist. His grip wasn't rough, but it was solid and powerful. Gaoyang tried to pull free and couldn't. The doctor precisely controlled his strength, always applying just a little more than Gaoyang did.

Doctor Zhao's smile returned. "Don't be afraid. If I wanted to kill you, you'd already be dead."

Gaoyang thought about it and decided he had a point. Slowly calming down, he feigned composure and asked bluntly, "Are you an Awakened or a Beast?"

"What do you think?" the doctor asked with a smile.

"I don't know," Gaoyang answered honestly. The more he learned about Beasts, the harder it seemed to distinguish them from humans.

"Red-Eye Talent, Serial Number 131. I distinguish humans from Beasts by temperature. Generally, Beasts have slightly higher body temperatures than humans, and the distribution shows subtle but consistent differences." The doctor looked at Gaoyang, a faint red glow suddenly appearing in his brown eyes. "So I could tell at a glance that you were human."

Gaoyang instantly relaxed. Thank goodness. It had only been a scare.

"My name is Baili Yi." The doctor offered his hand.

"Hello... Mr. Baili. I'm Gaoyang." Gaoyang reached out, visibly relaxing.

"You haven't been awakened long, have you?" Baili Yi asked.

"How do you know?"

"You seem more afraid of Beasts than of the Awakened."

Gaoyang paused. "Shouldn't I be?"

Baili Yi gave a knowing smile. "What's there to fear about Beasts? As long as you follow the rules and keep playing the innocent lamb, you won't be in any danger. Rather than pretending to be humans, they have two personalities and bodies: human and Beast. As long as you don't flip the switch inside them and activate their 'Beast' personality and body, in a sense, they're no different from the people we live alongside every day."

Gaoyang considered this. The explanation was somewhat similar to Officer Huang's understanding.

Baili Yi adjusted his position slightly and leaned forward. Dawn light spread behind him, a faint golden sheen flowing along the rims of his glasses. "By comparison, humans are far more frightening than Beasts."

Gaoyang mulled over those words, unsure how to respond.

He decided to change the subject. "You're a surgeon. You operate every day, and most of your patients must be Beasts. Don't they expose themselves?"

Baili Yi shook his head. "When they aren't transformed, their bodies are little different from ours. Their metabolism, healing ability, and immune systems are just slightly better, and their reproductive systems are a tiny bit less convincing. But I've seen some that pass for the real thing. Without Red-Eye, they would almost have fooled me."

Gaoyang immediately thought of Officer Huang's already "pregnant" wife. Perhaps she was one of those Beasts that could pass for the real thing.

Baili Yi continued sipping his coffee leisurely, as though discussing something perfectly ordinary. "Beasts have life cycles too, much like humans. They're weak in childhood, strong in adulthood, and decline in old age. Since they diligently play human twenty-four hours a day, their abilities as Beasts are constantly weakening. The older a Beast gets, the more severely it degenerates. Many elderly Beasts might be weaker in combat than an adult human, even after transforming back."

Gaoyang remembered "Aunt He," who had attacked him at the love hotel. Officer Huang had said then that Aunt He had degenerated quite severely; otherwise, she would have been several times stronger.

"Then my family... are they human, or... Beasts?" Gaoyang desperately wanted the answer and feared it just as much. As he asked, his throat tightened and his heartbeat quickened.

"I can't tell you. That would violate the rules." Baili Yi smiled apologetically. "In fact, I've already broken the rules by speaking to you today. Please make sure you keep this a secret."

Ironically, Gaoyang felt relieved. Then something else occurred to him. "Are you part of the organization too?"

"Organization?" Baili Yi savored the word. "If you must put it that way, I do belong to a certain organization."

"Mr. Baili, I only awakened recently, and I have so many questions I'd like to ask you." Gaoyang couldn't let this opportunity slip away. He poured them all out at once.

"I heard Beasts don't have real reproductive systems. Then where do they come from? Where do we humans come from? Why do they keep us among them and go to such lengths to play house with us? Why do we only gain talents after discovering the truth?

"Why do the Beasts around us switch states and try to kill us as soon as we awaken? And how many kinds of Beasts are there? Are they all bad? Can humans and Beasts have children together? Is it only like this around me, or is the whole world like this...?"

Baili Yi's smile turned amused. "Poor boy. You really have been bottling it all up."

Gaoyang didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Ever since awakening, his head had been filled with these questions. Thinking about them for too long could drive a person mad.

"Sorry. I don't know the answers to many of those questions. And the answers I do know, I can't tell you." Baili Yi considered for a moment. "How about this? I'll leave you with one last piece of advice."