Jin Mengkong

Sunlight streamed through the glass, casting golden patches on Cheng Sheng's face. The gradually growing warmth roused him from sleep.

Cheng Sheng rubbed the sleep from his eyes, slowly walked to the side of the bed, and pushed open the window.

The sky had cleared.

Wuda Island in the rain and Wuda Island without it were practically two different worlds. Everything outside looked as clean as if it had been washed.

Along the windowsill, a few Virginia creeper leaves fluttered in the breeze, their color amber-like in the morning sunlight. In just one night, they seemed to have grown more luxuriant.

Cheng Sheng loved opening his window in the morning to a view full of green. It was something he had never experienced living in a thirty-story concrete building in his previous life.

So even though there was a risk that snakes, geckos, and other small creatures might climb into the room along the vines, he couldn't bear to clear away the Virginia creeper outside his window.

The other residents of the building often cleared theirs away, only for it to grow back month after month. They could never get rid of it all... That was Nantu.

Cheng Sheng took several deep breaths of fresh air, then closed the window and walked out of his bedroom.

In the living room, the television was playing the city's morning news, while his younger sister, Cheng Yue, sat obediently at the dining table, sipping her milk.

Across from her sat a dark-skinned, lean middle-aged man in a white shirt.

Cheng Sheng was momentarily taken aback by the sight and spoke up without thinking. "Dad? When did you get back? Where's Mom?"

His dad, Cheng Shuisheng, simply grunted in acknowledgment. He didn't look up, keeping his eyes on the newspaper in front of him, his brow furrowed all the while. Cheng Yue naturally didn't answer him either, but his mom, Wu Li, called out from the kitchen.

"Shengsheng, you're up? Get ready for breakfast."

Cheng Sheng answered, then turned and went into the bathroom.

As he brushed his teeth, he couldn't shake a strange sense of dislocation. Yesterday's downpour, the black tide, his worries and anxiety about the unknown... It was as though none of them had ever existed.

When Cheng Sheng came out after washing up, he caught sight of his dad, Cheng Shuisheng, hurrying out the door.

He walked over to the dining table, and Cheng Yue suddenly put down her glass of milk and called toward the kitchen, "Mom, I'm off to school!"

Then she picked up her schoolbag and hurried to the door.

Cheng Yue was clearly still upset about yesterday's argument. She walked past Cheng Sheng without so much as looking at him.

Cheng Sheng had nothing to say. He picked up a fried egg from Cheng Yue's plate that she had barely touched and ate it as he spoke to his mom, Wu Li, who had just come out of the kitchen.

"Mom, when did you get back last night? I didn't hear a thing."

Wu Li was slight and slender, only reaching Cheng Sheng's shoulder. She set a plate piled high with sausages and fried eggs in front of him.

"How could you have heard us? Your dad and I only got back this morning.

"First there was the downpour yesterday, then the black tide hit. A lot of people were clamoring to leave their tour groups, and they kept making a fuss until three in the morning before they'd go back to the hotel and sleep...

"Your dad just got a phone call and went out again."

Wu Li's face showed a trace of weariness from a sleepless night, and her voice was full of resignation.

Cheng Sheng blinked and went to the living room balcony, looking down through the window.

From where he stood, only a wall separated him from the outside of the residential complex. He could see the waterlogged street beyond, where a few people were walking about. Many of the shops on either side had already opened for business.

"The black tide receded that quickly?"

Cheng Sheng spoke.

He wasn't all that surprised. It was also common knowledge that black tides came and went quickly. If one lasted for days and kept spreading... that was a "black disaster." As he recalled, that seemed to have been the case with the worst one.

"Mom."

Cheng Sheng stuffed the remaining half of the fried egg into his mouth, then turned back to the table to pick up a sausage. Wu Li smacked his hand.

"Aren't you afraid it's hot?!"

Cheng Sheng obediently picked up a fork. He deliberately stuffed his mouth full of sausage and asked indistinctly, "Yesterday... mm, what happened on Sucha Street?"

"You saw the news?"

Wu Li's expression immediately turned serious.

She glanced instinctively toward the window, hesitated, then said, "Yesterday on Sucha Street... a lot of people died.

"Everyone in two tour groups from the Golden Valley Travel Agency next door died there. Luckily, some people in both your dad's group and mine had diarrhea yesterday, which held us up. We left late, otherwise..."

Wu Li pressed her palms together in front of her chest and murmured repeatedly, "Thank Datuk Gong for protecting us! Thank Datuk Gong for protecting us..."

Sucha Street was Qingsha City's most famous local folk-culture street. It was full of local character and one of the must-see destinations for many tour groups.

His mom, Wu Li, wasn't wrong at all. The gods and buddhas really had protected them.

"No wonder the level-two black tide defense response was suddenly activated yesterday..."

Cheng Sheng was also relieved on behalf of this body's parents. Then, thinking of the video Song Cai had sent him yesterday, he couldn't help murmuring to himself.

But after he spoke, he heard Wu Li sigh softly. "It had nothing to do with the black tide..."

"Huh?"

Cheng Sheng was startled. He was just about to ask more when Wu Li changed the subject.

"Shengzai, tell Mom, what exactly are you planning to do now?"

She brought over a chair and sat down beside Cheng Sheng, earnestly trying to persuade him. "You failed the big exam this time, but if you're not discouraged, you can repeat the year and take it again.

"If you don't want to take it, I'll go talk to your uncle. Your cousin Kang Chong is very accomplished. He graduated from police academy as an outstanding student, and I hear he seems to have been selected for some... Prefect's Personal Guard Reserve!

"When he comes back on leave next time, we'll bring some gifts and go ask him together, see if he can pull some strings to help you..."

"Mom, do you think his family runs the city administrative office?"

Cheng Sheng interrupted Wu Li and stood up with a wry smile. "Don't worry about it. I failed the big exam, so naturally I'll find something to do myself. The break just started, didn't it? There's no rush...

"Oh, I have something to do, so I'm going out. I won't be back for lunch!"

"Hey, I wasn't finished...

"Where are you going? Don't go running around.

"Whatever you do, don't go to Kunsha District!"

Cheng Sheng knew Sucha Street was right in the center of Kunsha. He gave a vague reply and rushed out of the house as if fleeing.

On the stairs, he pulled out his phone and glanced at his text messages, then headed toward the entrance of the residential complex, his eyes flickering slightly.

Ten minutes later, inside an old arcade.

Two teenagers were playing a currently popular arcade fighting game called "Jin Mengkong" against each other.

In Nantu, Jin Mengkong meant "king of fighters" and represented the highest honor in the fighting world.

That was the central concept around which the arcade game had been designed. Players controlled fighters of different styles, pitting them against one another to defeat their opponents and claim final victory.

The battle in the game was raging, but the tall, slender teenager on the left, dressed in a black short-sleeved T-shirt, was clearly off his game and seemed distracted.

"K.O.!"

As an explosive sound effect blared from the game, the teenager on the right, wearing a plaid shirt and a stud earring, threw up his hands and cheered excitedly.

"I won!!"

"I'm done."

Cheng Sheng took his hands off the arcade controls and rose from his chair. "I'll buy you a soda."

"A Sheng, you were pretty good today. You managed to take off two-thirds of my health bar."

The teenager in the plaid shirt looked at Cheng Sheng and said in an exaggerated tone, "You almost took my title as Third High's number one Jin Mengkong. Impressive..."

Cheng Sheng shook his head without responding, then turned and walked straight to the counter.