Era of Mist

Looking at the tragic car crash scene below, Shi Tiexin’s pupils contracted. Just like the victims of the plane crash, this was another innocent. But this time, it wasn’t unrelated to him; this time, his own subordinate had forced her off the overpass.

“Boss, I…” Ah D shuffled over. He never imagined the other car would plow head-first through the barrier and fall off.

“Cut the fucking crap!” Shi Tiexin was on the verge of flying into a rage. “Hurry up and save her!”

“Oh…” Ah D was like a child who had done something wrong.

“Get the car over there. I’ll go first and start the rescue!” Shi Tiexin sprinted to a spot where the drop was slightly smaller, vaulted over the side, and leaped down. With a THUD, he used the roof of an illegally parked car to break his fall, then flipped to the ground.

He rushed to the wrecked car. From a distance, he could see the driver was still held by her seatbelt, hanging upside down in her seat. Her long hair was a mess—it was a woman.

He smelled gasoline; the fuel tank was leaking. Shi Tiexin quickened his pace, rushed forward, and yanked on the door. The twisted frame was warped shut and wouldn’t budge.

Shi Tiexin gritted his teeth, lifted his foot, and stomped hard on the door lock twice. BANG! BANG! The area around the lock buckled even more severely, but it still wouldn’t break completely.

CRACKLE! Sparks flared up on the car’s body as the electrical system short-circuited.

“Haaah—!” With an explosive roar, a line of heat shot from his pseudo-dan to the sole of his foot. At the same time, the muscles in his thigh contracted sharply, making a sound like a finger snap. This kick carried a violent whistling sound.

Muzzle Flash!

CLANG! The huge noise was followed by the CRACK of something breaking. The door panel caved in deeply, and the lock, already on the verge of shattering, broke away completely.

The backlash hit. A sharp pain shot through his thigh, but Shi Tiexin couldn’t be bothered with it. He grabbed the door and, with a groan of metal, ripped it open. Getting on the ground, he leaned inside, and with a CLICK, unbuckled the seatbelt. Shi Tiexin quickly dragged the driver out, scooped her into his arms, and sprinted away. In the midst of the rescue, Shi Tiexin suddenly felt the driver looked familiar.

After carrying her a safe distance and setting her down, he brushed aside the messy hair covering her face. Shi Tiexin froze.

With a SCREECH of tires, Ah D drifted over in a fishtail.

Shi Tiexin looked up at Ah D, dazed. A muscle in his face twitched, and he finally squeezed out a name. “It’s Xiaowei.”

“Wh—” Ah D’s face instantly froze. “What—?!!”

CRACKLE! The wrecked car sparked again, and then, BOOM! The leaking fuel ignited. The roaring flames leaped high, illuminating Xiaowei’s face. The unconscious Xiaowei was pale and covered in blood. Her waist, especially—Shi Tiexin had noticed when he carried her—was in a very bad way.

“What are you standing there for? Get her to a hospital!”

「Fifteen minutes later.」

A Hummer sped wildly and burst through the gates of a hospital.

“Doctor! Doctor! Help! Save her!” Ah D shouted, carrying Xiaowei as he burst into the hospital’s waiting room. Under the pale lights, Ah D looked like he was about to lose his mind.

“Somebody! Get over here! Where the fuck is everyone?! Get your asses out here!!!”

Not a soul could be found in the desolate hospital. Ah D’s roars only echoed through the empty hall and corridors.

“Stop yelling,” an old man in a security guard’s uniform said, walking out with a flashlight. “This hospital’s been empty for a long time.”

“Empty?! How can it be empty? Why is it empty? Where did all the doctors go?!”

“Everyone’s gone bankrupt. They can’t afford to see a doctor, so the hospital went bankrupt too. Right now, only a few hospitals in all of Tokyo are still hanging on; the rest have all closed down. There’s no one here but me, the worn-out old man who watches the gate.” The old man seemed used to this sort of thing and waved his hand dismissively. “You’d better go look somewhere else. I don’t know where you can find a place to save her.”

“I… I-I… Fucking hell!” Ah D looked ready to explode on the spot.

“That’s enough, Ah D. Don’t waste time.” Shi Tiexin’s cold shout snapped Ah D back to his senses. “Get in the car. I’ll contact Ah Fei and have him arrange a hospital that can still treat patients. Don’t drive too fast. If we have another accident, not even the gods will be able to save Xiaowei!”

“Okay, I get it!”

The Hummer sped out of the dilapidated hospital, fleeing frantically into the distance.

Luckily, there were hardly any cars on the road now. As far as the eye could see, Tokyo’s nightscape seemed a little darker. A few more of the once-brightly-lit skyscrapers had gone dark, and the number of pitch-black, dim areas had grown. This city, just like Xiaowei in the car, was slowly dying.

Eventually, the three of them managed to find a hospital that was still open.

Ah Fei and his men had already arrived and arranged for a doctor. The moment the Hummer stopped, a group of medical staff surrounded them and quickly wheeled Xiaowei away on a gurney.

Shi Tiexin walked into the hospital lobby. It was packed to the brim with sick and injured patients. The wards were already full, and the corridors and lobby outside were also crowded with people. The once clean, tidy, and orderly Japanese hospital was now as loud and chaotic as a marketplace.

There were more injured people than sick ones.

Shi Tiexin observed as he walked: knife wounds, gunshot wounds, contusions, bruises, severed arms and hands, mangled mouths and blinded eyes—a dizzying array of injuries. These injured men were either cursing under their breath or sitting in numb silence. They all looked like gang members.

Only when Shi Tiexin passed by did these men shrink back slightly in awe. It seemed they all recognized the name of the Black Venerable, as well as his signature height and attire.

But Shi Tiexin wasn’t happy at all.

He looked toward the operating room at the end of the hall. The red light above the door was on, and the three large words “Surgery in Progress” looked particularly ominous. Ah D paced back and forth outside, and the anxiety, pain, and regret on his face were beyond description.

「Three hours later, around midnight.」 The door to the operating room opened, and Xiaowei was wheeled out.

Ah D shot to his feet. Shi Tiexin, who had been waiting by his side, also stood up and moved closer.

“Xiaowei, Xiaowei!” Ah D shook her arm, but there was no response. He turned to the doctor. “How is she, Doctor?! How is she?! Is she okay?!”

“Sir, please calm down,” a nurse said in reasonably fluent Mandarin. After a brief exchange with the middle-aged doctor, she turned back and said, “The young lady is no longer in life-threatening danger.”

“Good, good…”

“But, the young lady has multiple fractures. Crucially, the impact on her lumbar spine was too severe. We did everything we could, but I’m afraid she will likely never be able to stand again. Furthermore, she was brought to the hospital too late, and the excessive blood loss caused more serious problems. Her vision may be permanently damaged. Depending on her recovery, it could be a visual impairment, or… she could be permanently blind.”

“Wh-what? Xiaowei… she… she’s paralyzed? And blind?” Ah D was completely stunned. A moment later, his face flushed crimson. He went berserk, shoving everyone aside and grabbing the doctor by the collar. His eyes looked like he wanted to eat the man alive as he roared, “Impossible! IMPOSSIBLE! It was you, wasn’t it?! You old Jap bastard, you didn’t try to save her! I’ll kill you!”

He raised his fist to strike.

“That’s enough!” Shi Tiexin bellowed. “Don’t blame others for your own mistake!”

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