Hints at GL - Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Stepping inside the door, a wave of heat accompanied by the faint, mellow scent of alcohol wafted over.

But this warmth did not bring Zhong Ning any sense of security. A blonde waitress approached them, and Zhong Ning asked her, as if finally seeking salvation, “What is going on outside… Why, why is there not a single person?”

The blonde waitress merely smiled at her. “Miss, I don’t understand what you mean. Why don’t you have a seat and a drink first?”

Don’t understand… how could she not understand?

Zhong Ning allowed Su Yuan to lead her to a seat, feeling dazed. Suddenly remembering something, she turned to the person beside her and said, “Wait a second, I need to make a call.” But she tried many times, where “O2” should have been displayed in the top left corner, there was no signal at all. “Why is it like this…”

At that moment, her phone vibrated. It was a text message from an unknown number: “Pick up the camera next to you and look around through the lens.”

How could she receive a text when there was clearly no signal? Zhong Ning didn’t dwell on it too much; she simply wanted to do as it said instinctively.

“Wait,” Su Yuan interrupted her softly. “Who is this number?”

“I don’t recognize it,” Zhong Ning murmured in response, reaching for the camera again.

“Don’t rush,” Su Yuan reached out and pressed her hand down, asking once more, “Read the number to me.”

Zhong Ning’s clear eyes looked back. She froze slightly as she gazed at that exquisite face. Why had she been following this person’s lead since the very beginning? She felt it was a bit strange, yet the touch on her hand gradually deepened.

Su Yuan coaxed her softly, “Zhong Ning, be good.”

Zhong Ning stared at her for a long time before finally reading it out: “07425900580.”

After that, Su Yuan didn’t stop her anymore.

Zhong Ning finally picked up the camera, and a shocking scene appeared. The small bar looked like a literal corpse party; people were sitting and lying in various positions, their faces pale and blue with blood trickling from the corners of their mouths, even the blonde waitress was the same.

Her breathing became rapid with fright, and she couldn’t utter a single word, yet moving the camera away returned everything to normal.

Zhong Ning’s words were trembling. She looked at Su Yuan and felt even more terrified. “What on earth is happening? Why can’t I see you through here?”

Seeing her recoil, Su Yuan quickly explained, “This camera can only see dead people.”

But Zhong Ning didn’t seem to believe her. A thought flashed through her mind: “Why would you know about this camera? We only just met.”

Inside the room.

Jacky watched Zhong Ning, whose breathing was starting to change, and instructed with a frown, “D*mn, she seems to be waking up.” The person leaning on the recliner knit her fine brows slightly. He paused and added, “Anna, don’t speak. Wait just a bit longer…”

At that same moment.

Zhong Ning suddenly stood up from her seat in a panic, murmuring, “There’s a man coming over there.”

Su Yuan followed the direction of her gaze and asked, “Which one?”

Zhong Ning’s eyes grew more frantic as the distance between them and that person gradually shortened. “It’s the man in the suit… he’s coming over right now.”

Su Yuan continued to press her, “What does he look like? I don’t know which one you’re talking about.”

He’s already so close, how can you not see?

Anxious, Zhong Ning raised a finger and pointed. “Right there, the man who looks like H-Craft!” After saying this, her slender arm froze in mid-air, and she suddenly fell silent.

“What is it?”

Zhong Ning stared fixedly in that direction, her face stiff as she said, “No, it’s not that he looks like him. He is him.”

Back in the study.

“That’s enough,” Jacky stood up and snapped his fingers at the sleeping Zhong Ning. “Anna, let go of her hand. Three… two… one.”

Zhong Ning woke up abruptly, like a drowning person regaining their breath.

Her head felt completely muddled; she didn’t understand what had just happened. “…Where is this?” She looked around in confusion, and it took a while to register. “Right, I was… undergoing hypnosis.”

“You need to rest properly now,” Jacky instructed in a heavy voice.

He quickly scribbled a few words and handed a piece of paper to Su Yuan. “I’ve written the information we just gathered on this paper. As for how to solve it, that’s up to you. I can only provide advice to this extent.”

“Also, you saw the situation just now. Zhong Ning’s subconscious is very resistant to hypnosis. Under these circumstances, interpreting the dream cannot be rushed. We already know who the first person is. Once you’ve decided what to do, come find me for a second session.”

Jacky was right.

Even after the sports car had driven a considerable distance, and the surrounding forests and rivers had rushed past for a long time, Zhong Ning still felt a sense of exhaustion. She felt as though she hadn’t yet emerged from the images she just saw.

“Close your eyes and rest for a while,” Su Yuan whispered, not wanting to disturb her. “I’ll wake you when we’re near Bankside House.”

Zhong Ning tiredly glanced at the woman’s profile and closed her eyes. For some reason, her mind was filled with the image of Su Yuan speaking softly to her in the dream.

“Zhong Ning, we’re here.” Suddenly, a familiar voice came from beside her ear. She looked at Su Yuan somewhat dazedly; for a moment, that gentle gaze overlapped with the feeling from the dream.

Zhong Ning, driven by a sudden impulse, spoke up: “I don’t really want to get out of the car yet. Can I stay with you for a bit?”

Su Yuan simply looked at her, and after a long moment, she actually humored her and agreed. “Alright.”

Zhong Ning probably didn’t know what she wanted to do either; she just felt that staying with Su Yuan a bit longer would make that sense of panic and fear gradually fade away. She opened her mouth and casually asked about the day Su Yuan introduced Carl and Alex to her.

“Mhm, Carl is my neighbor; we’ve known each other since we were kids,” Su Yuan replied softly.

“Oh? In China too?”

“No, my parents live in the suburbs of South London, and he used to live there as well,” Su Yuan also relaxed, chatting with her. “Carl comes from a very influential background. His grandfather was a former Chancellor of the Exchequer, and his father is a current Member of Parliament.”

Zhong Ning was a bit surprised. No wonder he looked…

“Were you going to say ‘no wonder he looks a bit arrogant’?” Su Yuan noticed her expression and joked with a smile. “It’s okay, I won’t tell on you, because everyone says that about him.”

“My parents are very close with his parents. Since we live near each other, we visited often.”

Su Yuan paused, suddenly mentioning Carl’s superpower. “Since he was little, his vision has been different from ordinary people. Later, as he grew up, it became more and more intense.”

Zhong Ning asked in confusion, “His ability can change?”

Su Yuan nodded, explaining with rare seriousness, “Mhm. For example, when he was a kid, he could just see things very far away. Like, if we were here, he could see the patterns on a pigeon’s feathers two streets away… Later, he went to Eton College and found he could gradually see many continuous movements in slow motion.”

“Just like the slow-motion analysis of athletes on TV… Later, at KCL, he discovered one day that his ability had evolved again. Sometimes he can even see through objects to what’s inside. Do you understand what I mean?”

Zhong Ning turned her body in surprise to talk to Su Yuan face-to-face. “Doesn’t he… feel afraid?”

Su Yuan nodded understandingly. “Even though it doesn’t show on the surface, he has actually always been very uneasy. Later, I introduced him to Alex, and it slowly got better.”

As a fellow “super,” Zhong Ning could naturally understand Carl’s panic. He must be afraid that if things continued this way, he would one day become a monster.

“Do you feel afraid too?” Su Yuan turned her body, her gentle gaze meeting Zhong Ning’s.

Zhong Ning looked at her and parted her lips slightly. “I…”

She paused for a while, as some forgotten emotions finally bubbled up. “Do you know what people like us are most afraid of seeing?” Zhong Ning smiled bitterly. “It’s death.”

“To protect myself, I can’t change these things… I can only watch helplessly as they happen.”

“Once, I foresaw my best friend’s father dying in an accident, but I didn’t tell her,” Zhong Ning looked away, speaking slowly. “If changing those things leads to retribution or puts myself in danger, of course I’d be afraid… Every time, I’m so afraid I don’t dare face it.”

Zhong Ning’s eyes reddened slightly. This was the first time she had confided these things to anyone other than her father. “So before I told you, I was actually very anxious, fearing you wouldn’t believe me…”

Su Yuan turned to look at her, her gaze gradually softening as it touched those emotions.

The two held eye contact for a while. Zhong Ning forgot about the incident she had walked in on that night, finding solace simply because Su Yuan could understand her words.

This is enough, she thought.

Suddenly.

Su Yuan leaned over, her fingertips touching Zhong Ning’s warm eyes, gently stroking them. “…” The two were very close, each breath spreading across the other’s face.

Zhong Ning felt a bit timid, but her inner vulnerability at this moment, coupled with the exhaustion after the hypnosis, made her eyes hazy. Unknowingly, she forgot everything and lowered her guard against all of Su Yuan’s proximity.

“Whether it’s a coincidence or not, I’m grateful that you could listen to me,” her eyes were red; she didn’t care that with every word she spoke, she nearly brushed against the other woman’s lips, driven solely by a slightly sorrowful emotion.

“If I had to face this alone, I really might not have been able to take it,” Zhong Ning murmured.

Su Yuan said nothing and gently kissed her.

This time, the kiss lasted longer.

Su Yuan’s movements were tender, her soft tongue soothing away all the unease. A tingling sensation spread from her lips to her heart and fingertips.

In a daze, Zhong Ning had a feeling of ‘this might not be so bad after all.’ She didn’t want to mention what she saw that night again, nor was she as obsessed with Su Yuan as before, but in this context, she felt her entire heart surrounded by warmth.

Even though Su Yuan hadn’t answered anything, she felt that at this moment, they understood each other better.