On plateaus, suns.h.i.+ne could be so extremely strong that human skin could be easily burnt. Most tourists would choose sunscreen cream as protection, otherwise their skin would be damaged, flake off or even suffer from other skin diseases. Many people living in high alt.i.tude areas had blush on their cheeks, that was also closely related to such strong ultraviolet irradiation.

This man, however, was quite fair, even though lots of his skin was exposed in sunlight. In fact, he was as fair as a new-born baby. Such fair skin made a dramatic contrast against the climate and violent suns.h.i.+ne.

The man was in his early twenties. He had a manly face, like the desolate mountains here, revealing a steadiness beyond his age. The hatchet on his back was for cutting firewood, but it was time-honored, with a lot of wear and tear. A lot of museums would be happy to have it exhibited even if it still could chop wood.

Ahead of the man, a young boy was running cheerfully. This enhanced corpse had left the road, climb over the rail and headed downwards. He began to act innocently with happiness, just like a naughty boy in the neighborhood enjoying himself.

The man slowly pulled out his hatchet. The point of the hatchet landed on the surface of the thin earth and surprisingly sparked. Then the man started to accelerate and approached the boy.

The boy was still running. It seemed that he had not noticed the man coming to him or the hatchet in the man’s hand or the murderous aura on him.

Finally, when the man was only three meters away from the boy, that hatchet buzzed with sharpness and pain, as if a sleeping monster had suddenly woke up.

"Gyatso, no, it carries plague and disaster!"

Tas.h.i.+, who had been following the boy, called out in the distance. Apparently she knew this man, but she was looking at the man with fear.

The man glanced at Tas.h.i.+ with indifference; the murderous look in his eye had become even stronger. His hatchet continued , but he wasn’t aiming at the boy; instead, the hatchet stuck in the rock in front of the boy. Then the man turned his wrist.

"Boom!"

The boy stopped, because a deep groove appeared in front of him and encircled him; he could neither move forward nor backward.

The man closed his eyes. A halo appeared between his eyebrows, s.h.i.+ning even brighter than the suns.h.i.+ne. Then, he saw the inner part of this little boy; there were so much horrible turbulence that his chest started moving up and down drastically.

He was extremely angry, because he knew exactly what it would do to local lives if such a thing went out of control.

Tas.h.i.+ stopped when she was still pretty far from the man; she didn’t dare to get any closer. She had known this man since they were both young, and they had both been students of the same master. But later she left Tibet and didn’t come back until early this year. She still remembered that when she suggested him to leave with her, he almost cut her head off with his hatchet. He said that she could feel free to leave, but if he ever saw her come back, he would kill her with his own hands.

Because he knew why she left, and what she would do if she came back.

The man jumped over, grabbed the boy’s neck, lifted him up and then carried him to Tas.h.i.+.

Tas.h.i.+ couldn’t help but stepping back. She wanted to keep some distance from him. She was afraid that he would fulfill his promise and kill her instantly. Besides, she could feel that his power had increased dramatically; now he was so powerful that she could barely breathe.

How could this be possible?

The man’s name was Gyatso, which meant the sea in Tibetan. Now, to Tas.h.i.+, the approaching man was exactly lik

e the sea coming in torrents.

"Did you make him like this?"

Gyatso asked in a low voice.

"No…" Tas.h.i.+ tried to deny before she could think, but seeing Gyatso’s look, she nodded. "Yes, I made him like this, but I didn’t set him free, it was two inlanders. I was trying to catch him. Gyatso, you know me. I left here but that doesn’t mean I have no feelings for this place."

Just then, Ba.s.san and Jhampa also arrived. Ba.s.san had many obvious injuries; apparently, he was badly hurt in the fight with Su Bai.

Looking at the three people in front of him, Gyatso seemed to have understood.

But the hatchet was still lifted up in the air.

"You didn’t forget what I’ve said, did you?"

Tas.h.i.+’s eyes glazed. She took a deep breath and tried to defend herself: "You can’t do this, Gyatso, it is you that stuck with the wrong idea. Do you know whom I’ve met out there? The Living Buddha[1] himself! And he agreed with me, he…"

However, before Tas.h.i.+ could finish, Gyatso’s hatchet had already fallen down onto them.

...

"Monk, good for you! You actually let the boy go as I told you to!" Sitting in the van, Su Bai said while chewing a blood bead.

"I had no choice. We were going to bring these three people to the hilltop for purification, and they were insane to try to stop us. As far as I’m concerned, a person should be responsible for what he or she has done. It’s not right if I take the responsibly for him."

"You just don’t like them. Let’s save the lecture." Su Bai threw his cigarette b.u.t.t out of the window, "Let’s bring these two adults up there first. As for the kid, we can try to catch him, but if we can’t find him, we’ll have to leave him to his fate. Dreadful Radio commanded us to eliminate all the three of them; now that we only eliminate two, fulfilling only 2/3 of the mission, let’s not expect any award. It’ll be good enough if we’re not blamed for our mistakes. We just have to make sure there’s nothing to be ashamed of."

The monk glanced at Su Bai: "You’re just consoling yourself. Let’s save the lecture."

"..."

Su Bai smiled, started the car and headed towards the hilltop. But within five minutes, a man showed up with a boy. There was blood on the man’s body and his hatchet.

Immediately, Su Bai hit the brake and said impatiently: "Please don’t tell me that’s another enemy."

Seven shook his head, got off and walked to that man with hatchet.

When he got closer, Gyatso put his palms together and saluted to the monk:

"Someone didn’t behave. Sorry for causing you so much trouble."

"Amitabh."

Then, Gyatso’s sight landed on Su Bai in the van and he frowned slightly: "That’s a gloomy person."

"He’s one of us." The monk explained.

Gyatso nodded with a look as if he was deep in thought: "Master, are you doing some sort of a.s.signment together?"

"Exactly." The monk answered honestly. "Are you gonna join us?"

Gyatso smiled and shook his head. "You’ve almost accomplished it, I’m not gonna join in at this moment for awards or good impression. Besides, this is my hometown, I’m just doing my job for the peace here."

The monk nodded.

Then the man with a hatchet got in and sat with the monk in the rear with the three corpses. Su Bai joked while driving:

"Hey, monk, do you think Dreadful Radio will like me a little more since I’ve been driving for such a long time?"

The monk didn’t answer, apparently he already knew what kind of person Su Bai was. But Gyatso thought it over and answered: "It will, according to its usual practice."

Su Bai twitched his mouth. A nice trip had turned into this mess, and he had become a driver.

Finally, they arrived on the hilltop. There was no road, but Su Bai just drove up without caring about the van; luckily, it wasn’t very steep for their van. Then, in the last part of their path, they each carried one corpse and walked to the hilltop.

It was cloudless and sunny. The monk tied the three corpse together with that yellow ribbon, stepped back, lit his spell paper and started casting his spells. Gyatso stood by his side and was also murmuring something. Su Bai was the only one that had nothing to do; he just stood by with a cigarette in his mouth. Watching those two guys doing magic arts, Su Bai was very eager to join them; his physiques might not be fit for their magic arts, but he would try everything to work out some vampire tricks, because magic arts looked so tempting.

A flame suddenly appeared on the three corpse. They began to struggle desperately, but the yellow ribbon was restraining them.

After that, there were only three piles of ashes.

"Reality Task Accomplished."

Dreadful Radio sounded in Su Bai’s mind. It was only a notification and didn’t even mention the reward.

Gyatso looked at the ashes. "Poor people."

Indeed, this family was traveling for pleasure, but ended up with tragic deaths.

"The others?"

"I killed them." Gyatso answered, "Life here has become better and better. But some people are always making trouble. Actually, most people here are easily satisfied."

He turned to the endless winding roads. "These roads and tunnels are the best evidence. I believe that no other country or government, except for this one, would be willing to build roads and tunnels here because there are hardly any economic benefits. That’s dedication without reward.

"Every time I walk through those tunnels, I would hear the whispers of those young people who died during construction. Especially on the side of Wenchuan Road… Have you seen those tombstones there, master?"

The monk nodded.

"After that earthquake, those soldiers who had sacrificed their lives while rescuing locals were buried there, and no one had the heart to sound the horn when pa.s.sing by. In fact, everyone is the same in the the aspect of respecting life."

"What, are you broadcasting in CCTV News[2]?" Su Bai waved to them from inside the van, "It’s late. Hop in, let’s find a good hotel, have something nice and get some sleep. That’s what really matters for now."

The monk smiled and said to Gyatso: "Join us. We’ll drive you down the hill."

Gyatso didn’t refuse. He just got in the van with the monk.

Su Bai was handling the CD player in the van. After putting in a CD, he asked the monk behind him:

"We have already accomplished a Reality Task for the Dreadful Radio, so what on earth will the benefit be?"

Before the monk could answer, Su Bai felt a sudden pain in his chest and leaned against the steering wheel.

Sitting in the back, Seven also held his chest in pain.

Next, Gyatso took a deep breath, leaned against the door and started sweating.

The CD that Su Bai had just put in was playing a song:

♪ Love left so fast, like a tornado,

♪ I can’t take it, I have nowhere to hide.

♪ I don’t wanna think about it,

♪ I don’t wanna think about it…

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The Living Buddha: Also known as a Tulku. A Living Buddha is a reincarnate custodian of a specific lineage of teachings in Tibetan Buddhism who is given empowerments and trained from a young age by students of his or her predecessor. High-profile examples include the Dalai Lamas, the Panchen Lamas, the Samding Dorje Phagmos, the Karmapas, Khyentses, and the Kongtruls. — Wikipedia

[2] CCTV NEWS: CCTV is short for China Central Television, and it is the predominant state television broadcaster in the People's Republic of China. Most of its programs are a mixture of news, doc.u.mentary, social education, comedy, entertainment, and drama, the majority of which consists of Chinese soap operas and entertainment.