Chapter 5.20 (Extra)

Poker-Face’s light flashed three times, two times, and then three more times. This was the lantern language I had invented in the village, because the houses there didn’t have good soundproofing. This particular signal meant: hurry, hurry, hurry.

I had a storage shed on the hillside by the village that I had bought from Liu Ke, who was a little neurotic. He had two of them and was willing to sell me one. He couldn’t hear the sounds of thunder, rain, and waterfalls, but for some reason, my voice was especially loud to him whenever we spoke.

There was a big banyan tree beside the storage shed that I had set a big table underneath in order to dry vegetables.

City people weren’t as skillful as those in the countryside. When we played PS4 late into night and forgot to collect the sun-dried vegetables, I had to climb up and step on the roof to get them.

I couldn’t be loud at night because Old Liu went to bed early and woke up as soon as anyone made a noise. I gave the lamp to Fatty and Poker-Face and told them I’d signal when I had filled up a basket so that they could come up and take it.

When I first arrived in the village, the weather was still warm and I was interested in the waterfalls. I used to sit on the roof in the middle of the night and photograph them under the moonlight, so I also needed Fatty and Poker-Face to help me set up the equipment.

Over time, this lantern language became a system. I figured all languages had started out like this. Fatty and I could use the lantern language from across the village to curse the aunt next door for half a night.

We put away our equipment and walked towards Zhang Qiling’s light, but after walking for a long time, the light was still so far away.

Something was wrong.

Fatty stopped walking and said, “This isn’t fucking right. It’s a mirage.”

I carefully looked at it. It was indeed a signal I had created, which could only be used to swear across the street and call people to pick up dried vegetables. This signal wouldn’t appear anywhere else, so Poker-Face was definitely the one signaling. Moreover, I was familiar with the frequency of his signals. His hand speed was very stable, so the rhythm was the same every time.

“Let’s go,” I said. “It may not be a terrible accident or trap this time. It just might be really far away.”

As the three of us walked on, the old man remained silent the whole way. He was more eager than anyone else, so Fatty had to tell him to relax.

I soon began to suspect that something was wrong, because the light signals were coming from that place, but it didn’t seem like they were close at all. Sometimes it even looked like they were farther away. Fatty and I looked at each other, and I suddenly realized that the only possibility was that Poker-Face was still moving forward. As soon as we got closer, he would move further ahead.

“Is Little Brother seducing us?” Fatty wondered. “Why can’t he stop and wait for us? He’s been running for decades and we’ve been chasing him for more than ten years. He should wait for us for once.”

For a moment, I felt touched by Fatty’s words. I had been wondering since the beginning what Poker-Face’s purpose here was. What did he want to tell me? I kept feeling like there was something to this adventure. I had already reached the age where I could do what I wanted. If I followed that line of thinking, did it mean that his life would continue flowing, and we would gradually fall behind?

I was imagining things. I definitely didn’t think he was so philosophical. Poker-Face was a pragmatist, after all. His situation only showed that he was chasing something. He was signaling us with the light to tell us to catch up quickly.

If I couldn’t catch up like this, then I should just run. There was nothing I could do about getting old, but at least I wouldn’t lose to him now.

“Run!” I said to Fatty. “Look after the old man and try to catch up. If you can’t, take your time.”

“Why should I look after him?!” Fatty asked angrily. I didn’t bother responding and just started running like crazy.

I ran through the salty wind and headed towards the light, adjusting my breathing according to the way Black Glasses had taught me to run. I knew that running at a constant speed was the fastest way to catch up, but I didn’t bother maintaining a steady rhythm. I hadn’t sprinted at full strength for a long time. When I was in Changbai Mountain, I felt confident at the ease with which I sprinted and jumped, and the speed with which I turned to shoot every time. I suddenly wanted to regain the pleasure of controlling my own body.

I had left Fatty far behind after running for twenty minutes, but the light in front of me was only a little bigger. I was gasping for breath, sweat was seeping through my underwear, and I was steaming all over.

The sweat on my face and neck was soaked in salt particles that began to chafe my skin, and my eyelids began to ache. I closed them tightly and let out a few tears to wash them clean.

I continued running, knowing in my heart that I would be exhausted when I caught up to him.

I didn’t know how long I had been running, but the light finally started to get bigger and bigger. I was already on the brink of collapse and my hands and feet were only moving on instinct. Gradually, I heard the loud sound of running water.

I didn’t recognize the surrounding environment at all. I clenched my teeth, kept moving my legs, and ran forward. I finally saw Poker-Face kneeling on one leg, holding the miner’s lamp, and signaling regularly. I looked in front of him and saw that it was completely dark.

The sound of water was getting louder and louder, and the light from my miner’s lamp offset the glare of his. At the same time, I saw him staring into the darkness ahead. It turned out to be a huge lake. The water on the lake was flowing, which was where the loud sound was coming from. He was only a dozen steps away from the lake, and the salt field under his feet stretched into the water like a beach.

I stood still, letting my pounding heart calm down and hoping the urge to vomit would disappear as soon as possible. I squatted down, calmed my spasming lungs, and then walked slowly to his side.

“Is this the lake?” I used everything I had to make this sentence sound as calm as possible.

Poker-Face stood up, “Be careful. The things in this lake are unusual.” He pointed to the salt beach in front of him, where a huge mark led right into the lake. It looked like something snake-shaped had just climbed into the lake from the beach.

<Extra 5.19> <Table of Contents><Extra 5.21>

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Awwwww Wu Xie is so adorable trying to act cool in front of Poker-face. Σ>―(〃°ω°〃)♡→ Be still my heart. Also wonder if this is the beginning of their not-so-secret code we saw in the Reboot drama?