A Gloomy Morning
As Wang Yong sat down for breakfast, he saw snow again. She was there, with her mother—Yue. Snow mixed with rain, creating an atmosphere of bleakness.
Wang Yong's gaze was inevitably drawn to her.
She was reluctantly stirring her red tea, barely touching the bread, milk, or scrambled eggs with butter.
Her mother, not tall, around thirty-four years old, wore a white shirt beneath a cashmere sweater. Her nose was poised and elegant, the type of woman who had a certain kind of radiance about her.
As Wang Yong passed by their table, the girl suddenly looked up and met his gaze, her smile bursting like a spark of light. That smile instantly made Wang Yong's own face light up with a broad smile. For a moment, it felt as though the entire sky had cleared.
Originally, Wang Yong had planned to eat something that morning, but after receiving that smile from Yue, all he could feel was an uncontrollable joy, his mind completely blank…
In the afternoon, Wang Yong went as usual to teach Yumiji swimming, and their relationship had grown closer.
However, the impact of Yue on Wang Yong was so great that at that moment, he couldn't even entertain other thoughts.
That evening, Wang Yong went to the bar on the twenty-sixth floor to drink and watch the snow.
By now, Yue was somewhat familiar to him. Occasionally, she would give him a gentle smile that would leave him drunk with delight for quite a while.
But he was waiting for that moment.
Wang Yong ran his fingers over his fourteen-inch ebony wand, deep in thought.
Suddenly, there was a soft knock at the door. Wang Yong jumped in surprise, quickly slipping the wand into his space.
He opened the door to find Yumiji. He let out a quiet sigh of relief.
She was wearing the hotel's uniform, a sky-blue vest. She slipped quickly through the crack of the door and shut it behind her.
"If someone catches us here, I could lose my job. This hotel is very strict about such things," she said, glancing around the room before sitting on the sofa. She tugged at the hem of her skirt and let out a sigh, mentioning that she was on her break.
"Would you like something to drink?" Wang Yong asked casually.
"Forget it, I don't have much time. Hey, what have you been doing locked up in your room all day?" she asked.
"Hmm." Wang Yong hesitated, not wanting to admit he'd been spending his time in the room, lost in his old magic books.
"Not much. Just watching something," he replied.
"Watching what?"
A strange smile appeared on Wang Yong's face. "Norwegian Wood. Want to take a look? I think you'd like it."
Yumiji took the book. "I hope you're not thinking it's too strange," she said.
"Strange? You mean because you're here?" Wang Yong teased.
"Hmm. I'm a bit surprised. Mainly, I've been feeling a little stifled, wishing someone would talk to me," she said, standing up in the center of the room, silently removing her vest and draping it over the back of a chair to keep it from wrinkling.
Then she walked over to Wang Yong, sat beside him, and crossed her legs. Without her outerwear, she looked slightly fragile. Wang Yong instinctively wrapped his arm around her shoulders. She rested her head on his shoulder, and the scent of her perfume filled the air. Her crisp white shirt's sharp edges contrasted with the softness of the moment. The two of them stayed like that for five minutes.
Wang Yong didn't move, keeping his arm around her. She leaned on his shoulder, eyes closed, breathing quietly, almost like she had fallen asleep. Outside, the snow continued to fall, muffling all the sounds of the street, leaving an eerie silence.
Wang Yong felt she was exhausted, perhaps just seeking a place to rest, while he stood like a pillar for her.
Her weariness made Wang Yong feel a twinge of sympathy, but his own fatigue felt strangely absent. Even if he were tired, it was the kind of tiredness that brought joy, not pain.
Five minutes later, Yumiji tilted her head up and pulled away from Wang Yong. She grabbed her clothes and put them back on, then sat back down on the sofa, fidgeting with the ring on her little finger. Once she was fully dressed, she seemed a bit tense.
Wang Yong smiled and handed her Norwegian Wood. "I'm sure you'll like it."
The Japanese edition was pricey, over 200 RMB, though the cover had been torn off.
"You really don't take care of your books," she commented as she took the book, glanced at the clock, and said, "Thanks," before slipping quietly out the door.
At 12:10 AM, Wang Yong arrived at the twenty-sixth-floor bar right on time.
He sipped his drink while watching the protagonist, Watanabe Jun, from the corner of his eye. Only those who were involved could enter this space, and Wang Yong didn't want to go in alone.
At 12:25 AM, the bar prepared to close. Watanabe Jun finished his drink in one gulp, stood up, and walked out of the bar, hands in his pockets, waiting for the elevator to open.
Wang Yong calmly followed behind him.
Watanabe Jun had drunk several high-alcohol cocktails and was lost in his thoughts about ancient Egyptian pharaohs. He didn't even notice Wang Yong's presence.
The elevator doors opened. Wang Yong and Watanabe Jun entered one after the other, like two shadowy companions.
Wang Yong quietly gripped his wand hidden in his coat.
Watanabe Jun was definitely no easy target. Over a decade ago, he had pretended to be deferential to a powerful Tokyo manager, though he knew the manager was seeking the power of the goat-man. But when the opportunity came, Watanabe Jun had killed him, blowing him up without hesitation. He appeared unremarkable but possessed a decisive nature.
Of course, that was just an ordinary person's feat. Now, as he entered the Dolphin Hotel, his spirit seemed to be in some sort of trance.
The elevator ride was eerily silent, a mere fifteen seconds that felt infinitely long.
Maybe it was the smooth walls of the elevator that caught his attention—Wang Yong's face, shifting with moods, reflected back in them.
Watanabe Jun slowly turned his head.
Wang Yong's mind went blank.
The elevator doors suddenly opened, and he stepped out.
Wang Yong followed, stepping into complete darkness.
There was no light ahead—only total blackness. As the elevator doors closed behind them, it was as if he couldn't see his own hand in front of his face. Even the soft strains of "Blue Love" from the hotel were gone.
The air felt cold, tinged with a musty scent.
Watanabe Jun stood still, dazed.
Wang Yong flicked his wand. "Faint!"
A crimson light shot forward, quickly knocking Watanabe Jun unconscious.
Taking a vial of magic potion from his space, Wang Yong poured the Spirit Suppression solution over Watanabe Jun's body. A faint gray light began to rise from him, and Wang Yong swirled it around his finger with a flick of his hand.
This was the only way for him to synchronize with Watanabe Jun's soul energy, masking it from beings of the spirit world.
Before Wang Yong, there was only an impenetrable darkness, far deeper than any memory of night. Everything was lost in the void.
Even his own body seemed to dissolve into the emptiness. No sensations of his own existence remained. It was as if his body had merged with the darkness, no longer a distinct entity.
In this absolute void, Wang Yong felt himself becoming an empty concept—a body without substance, a being adrift in the endless dark, like a soul drifting in the void of the universe, caught between dreams and reality.
It felt like being at the ocean's deepest depths—no light to guide him.
This infinite blackness felt like the most profound void. Wang Yong was desperate to return to the world of the living, but he couldn't.
Cough.
Wang Yong coughed lightly, but his voice came out dry and parched.
He pulled out his lighter and struck it a few times, but there was no spark. The small flame couldn't illuminate a single spot.
It seemed he would have to feel his way through this. If he used magic, he would miss the goat-man's space and get lost in the dark spirit world. Even Xiao Yi might not be able to bring him back, and by then, he'd probably be a cold, lifeless corpse.