Chapter 20: Master and Apprentice
In the early 21st century, China had passed through the most challenging dawn of reform and opening-up. After experiencing a series of temporal fireworks, the country embraced an unprecedented period of rapid development.
The entire nation operated like a finely tuned, enormous machine, starting to run wildly.
The open market environment and inflow of foreign capital released an unprecedented space for imagination for ordinary people, and this was evident across all levels.
On a street in C City, Province S, a ten-year-old boy emerged from his backyard, throwing aside his toy and sprinting desperately down a dark alley.
In the night sky ahead, under the dim light of a streetlamp, a lithe, agile figure soared past like a superhero from the movies.
After chasing into a dead end, the little boy finally lost his target, sitting down on the ground with a cry, as if his life had turned gray after losing the ability to communicate with the superhero.
“Hehe, kiddo, aren’t you tired following me around?”
An ice cream cone fell from above, landing perfectly on the boy’s tattered clothing, while a mature woman’s voice descended from the sky.
“Wow! Superhero sister!”
The boy finally saw the woman’s silhouette and face clearly, and his cheeks flushed with excitement: “Superhero sister, can you be my master? I want to be a superhero too!”
The beautiful woman paused, then burst into a charming laughter that was captivating.
“Kiddos, do you think that besides superheroes, there are also monsters that can fly in the sky?”
The beautiful woman crouched next to the boy, narrowing her eyes with a smile.
“Monsters won’t give me ice cream!”
The boy replied earnestly, as if dismissing the logic of fooling children was insignificant to him.
The beautiful woman stood up and turned to look in a certain direction. It was the boy’s home, the residence of the head of the Zhong Pharmaceutical Group, which was beginning to shine both in Province S and nationwide.
A mysterious smile appeared on her face as she reached out to pat the boy’s head, her expression gradually softening: “Alright… from now on, you can call me your master. Remember my name, I’m Wan Yue, Wan for graceful, Yue for moon. You must keep it a secret!”
The boy nodded eagerly, his face full of excitement.
……
……
June 15th, Saturday.
In the office tower, the vast majority of companies were closed for the weekend, but one office on the twenty-seventh floor remained wide open.
Zhong Jing had developed the habit of staying here, ordering takeout when hungry, and lying down in the adjacent break room when tired.
Playing games, browsing the internet, hitting bars, engaging in politics, and doing some jobs that ordinary people could hardly imagine.
A slender, sexy figure quietly appeared at the door, watching the young man battle away behind a large desk deep within the room, revealing a faint smile.
“Sorry, but our company isn’t opening today! Please close the door, thank you!”
Feeling someone approaching, Zhong Jing didn’t bother to look up as he coldly uttered the words.
“Well, then I’ll come again on Monday, kiddo.” The woman smiled slightly and turned to leave.
“Ah?” Zhong Jing’s action paused, slowly lifting his head, then standing up, looking somewhat awkward, “Master, what brings you here…”
“You expect me to come here once when you call me eight times a week and be shocked?”
Wan Yue was clad in a fashionable black skirt, charming and elegant. No matter how diverse her style of dress was, it couldn’t erase her inherent sexiness and alluring demeanor, along with a proud and cold charisma.
Wan Yue sauntered to the corner, languidly leaning against the sofa, lighting a cigarette with a snap while gazing at the room’s decor: “You still enjoy staying here every day without tiring of it.”
“Doing the most mysterious and thrilling job in the world, what more could I want? You handed me the most important task, so of course, I have to take it seriously!”
Pouring a glass of red wine for Wan Yue, Zhong Jing cheerfully pulled out a chair and sat across the sofa, causing the nonchalant expression on his face to diminish significantly.
Before him was the guide into the mysterious world, and although the title “master” sounded more like child’s play, Wan Yue had never called him “apprentice” or “disciple.” Yet, Zhong Jing thoroughly enjoyed straddling the two worlds of normality and the blood tribe.
“This time… is it for those two people?”
Looking at her figure and face, which had remained unchanged for over a decade, Zhong Jing lowered his voice.
“Them? That’s Huang Gu and the person you’re interested in; instead, I felt like I was being led by you for a while. However, maybe my luck is really good…”
Sipping on the expensive red wine, Wan Yue savored for a moment before her gaze sharpened, locking onto Zhong Jing’s eyes, her tone slowed: “Fifteen years ago, foreign blood tribe forces smuggled something into the country under the guise of extracting agents from animal organs, which later made its way into your family’s Zhong Pharmaceutical Group.”
“That thing recently reappeared at the Tang family, but the Tang family’s old turtles only showed their hand before they were done for. Can you find the related information from back then?”
Zhong Jing was taken aback at first, then slowly got up, pacing around the room, his expression transitioning from shock to silence, then to calmness, ultimately smiling: “Master, have you been waiting for this day to come, including bringing me into the blood tribe world?”
“You’re talking about the Tang family being besieged by a hidden arrow squad in D City, right? Huang Gu was placed in D City by you ten years ago; he should have been secretly investigating the Tang family.”
“Correct, how does it feel?”
Wan Yue finished her small sip of wine, a blush on her face, and smiled more alluringly: “The little kid from back then has grown up; these questions shouldn’t be new to you today, right?”
“You’ve always suspected my dad’s company was linked to the blood tribe world, and that started fifteen years ago when you chose me thirteen years ago.”
Zhong Jing frowned, lowering his voice: “You’ve delved deeply into my brother’s identity and hinted to me… so what exactly am I to you?”
Seeing the young man before her receiving a flood of her secrets, Wan Yue felt reassured in her choice back then.
The bond between this young man and herself was not a whimsical child’s fancy nor was it simply a product of her own particular purpose, but rather a deep-rooted insatiable curiosity within him for the mysterious and the thrilling.
Zhong Jing poured himself a glass of wine, gulped it down, then resumed his seat, staring intently at his former superhero sister, now a figure whose true nature was difficult to discern: “This is you, for the first time in more than a decade, asking me for something since the moment you entrusted all the secrets here to me three years ago. I’ve been waiting.”
“There are possibly many people like me in this world, right? The blood tribe world and ordinary people’s world often need a link between them. It seems like they have clashed for thousands of years, yet in reality, they rely on each other and need agents to exist within each other’s worlds.”
Facing Zhong Jing’s almost accusatory tone, Wan Yue smiled and shook her head: “What you’re referring to is called a broker, and indeed, there are many throughout the world. They are merely agents seeking reciprocal benefits between the two worlds. You are not one of them; you are my chosen warrior.”
A flash of shock crossed Zhong Jing’s eyes but quickly faded, yet he did not reply.
“Kiddos, why did you want to be a superhero when you were little? I remember you said you wanted to defeat all the bad guys in the world…”
Wan Yue walked to the corner, brushing her fingers over the tender branches of a green plant, her tone unexpectedly calm and gentle: “So let me tell you, when the evils of the ordinary world and the evils of the blood tribe world might merge one day, who will defeat them?”
“Huang Ge and Zhao Ge have told me some things; you left the Hidden Alliance twenty years ago, it should have been then that you found your direction for today.”
Zhong Jing nodded slowly, a hint of self-mockery creeping onto his lips, “But I was different a decade ago; a child’s world is always simple; good and evil must be clearly placed before them for a choice.”
“Indeed, in the adult world, right and wrong are often hard to distinguish. Therefore, in this matter, I must walk alone because there are too many things unclear. To achieve my goal, I’ve used the connections I’ve forged over the past few decades to establish the secrets you now possess and those you have yet to grasp.”
“So, kiddo, do you still want to defeat all the bad guys in the world? Just like a superhero?”
Wan Yue turned around, slowly walking to the young man, lowering her head and quietly observing his face, that proud aura radiating once more.
Zhong Jing also slowly rose, nodding lightly after a moment: “In these years, I can see that you, Huang Gu, and Zhao Peng have prevented some ordinary people tainted by blood from turning into real monsters, retaining their dignity as humans even in death. Since the day I called you ‘master,’ I’ve been a warrior.”
“I just love the way you kids praise me, haha!”
Wan Yue surprisingly showed a childlike demeanor, then burst into laughter, turning to walk towards the door.
“Master, what was your identity sixty years ago, before you were tainted by blood? I’ve always been curious.”
Zhong Jing called out to Wan Yue, who was about to exit.
“Sixty years ago… if I say I was part of the hidden arrow squad, would you believe me?”
With that, Wan Yue’s figure vanished, leaving the young man stunned.
