Plague Doctor

The cicadas called. Gu Jun walked through the fields and the streets. He saw the tenancy buildings not far away. Soon, he found himself walking on an old mud road. This was a gentrifying village. Most of the buildings were of varying heights, results of the villagers building them themselves. As he walked down the alley, the dogs barked and the chickens clucked at him.

Gu Jun walked as he took in the scenery around him. The place was incomparable to the City of Dusk. But he felt his heart growing warmer and his breathing becoming evener. Everything from before felt like a dream. And now, he finally had woken up from that dream and walked on firm ground. Of course, part of him feared that he was still inside that dream like the plot of Inception, this being a part of the King in Yellow inside another King in Yellow.

Soon he arrived at a road that was adjacent to the river. The villagers padded down the streets while some rode on bikes. There were old men sitting on the stone benches by the river, playing chess. When Gu Jun walked past them, they barely took their focus off the chessboard. A cluster of giggling came from nearby, there were several young children looking at him. Seeing the tattered clothes he was in, a few of the little girls took longer peeks before they turned away with a blush.

The more Gu Jun took in the surroundings, the more comforted he felt. He couldn’t stop the smile on his face. The village was a different extreme from the City of Dusk. How majestic the City of Dusk was, was how dilapidated and normal this village was but he really liked this place. Then Gu Jun found his way into a small convenience store. A yellow-furred ancient dog leaned on the ground. Its response to Gu Jun’s arrival was a weak wheeze. A middle-aged man was watching tv on the wall. Hearing the customer, he grunted, “How can I help you?”

“Boss, where am I?” Gu Jun asked, “Can you tell me?”

The boss was too enraptured in the show to consider how strange the question was. He answered, “Eastern State.” Gu Jun instantly sighed. After so many turns, he had returned to Eastern State. Only then he noticed the calendar on the wall, it was 2022 July 9th. 3 months had passed since the incident at Mo Bei. The news soon got his attention. The newscaster announced in a booming voice. “Over the past 100 days, various government units and the public have been working together and working hard to turn Ma Er Wan into an emerald ocean.” The news then showed footage taken from a drone. On the barren land, rows of new tree seedlings were planted. There were anti-sand plants like holly and selaginella, in about a few years, the place would live up to its name of the emerald sea.

The normal citizens might not understand its implications but it lit up Gu Jun’s heart. The former wasteland too could have life breathed back into it. In the show, the reporter grabbed a nearby Phecda member to get his opinion. Gu Jun chuckled, it was his good friend, Zixuan!

“Elder Yu moved the mountains, Jing Wei filled the sea.” Cai Zixuan used an ancient poem to conclude his feelings. His skin was darker, hair lesser, body more muscular. Even though Gu Jun knew this was a recording, it still felt like Zixuan was right beside him. Good poem. He smiled as he looked at the tv. He asked the boss about it, wanting to find out how much the normal citizen knew of the overall incident.

“Wasn’t there a huge sandstorm at Mo Bei earlier?” The boss started to explain. He went through all the news and articles that he had taken in lately, “It’s apparently related to supernatural energy. It caused a huge devastation, Ma Er Wan was levelled. Thankfully, all the citizens had already been evacuated.” Gu Jun nodded silently. The boss knew just the right amount of information. The thing must have caused a global impact. He asked to borrow the boss’ phone. He picked up the phone and a strong sense of déjà vu overwhelmed Gu Jun. He pressed the numbers to dial Wu Siyu’s numbers. His heart squeezed and his breath held.

The phone was not answered for more than 10 seconds. Every dial tone was a pound against Gu Jun’s heart. Horrible images appeared in his mind. Click, suddenly the call was picked up. A lazy female voice said, “Hello?”

The voice relaxed Gu Jun immediately. His lips curled into a smile, “Dirty-minded Yu, it’s me, I’m back.”

“!!” On the other end of the phone, Wu Siyu’s breathing caught and then she sighed, “You always pop up like this… Can’t you give people a warning or something…”

Gu Jun laughed as he looked up at the sky outside the store. “Then I’ll give you a minute to digest the news. I’m really home. I’m fine, I’m currently at a small village at Eastern State. Dirty-minded Yu, I found out about our baby…” He paused as his heart wrenched, “From another world, I’m sorry…”

“It’s not your fault. We’re too young and inexperienced.” Wu Siyu said softly, “If there’s a next time, I’ll apply immediately for a year-long holiday and I’ll refuse to go on the frontline no matter what.” The regret bonded the two but neither submitted to it. They decided to face it with smiles. Actually, if there was a next time, they too would answer the call to the frontline if necessary.

“Which village are you exactly at now?” Wu Siyu asked, “We’ll go fetch you.” Gu Jun asked the boss for the location and then relayed it to her. After finishing the call, following protocol, Gu Jun called Phecda’s internal hotline and then Elder Tong. His sudden return was a welcome surprise to Phecda. The headquarters immediately sent a group of Special Mobile Force to Eastern State to escort him. Gu Jun was currently at a village called An Fu Village. Of course, he’d be quarantined first as part of the protocol.

After everything was done, Gu Jun waited at the convenience store. He chatted with the boss, to get to know more about the latest news regarding Phecda World. It was almost dusk, the villagers just came back from work. They stopped at the store to have their daily gossip with the boss. With the unfamiliar outsider young man in the shop, Gu Jun naturally attracted a lot of attention. More eyes settled on him. Some of the more politically sensitive villagers casted a few more gazes at him. Also they were at Eastern State, the place of birth for one of the more recent legends. The more they looked at the kid, the more familiar they felt….

“Brother, you look so much like Gu Jun.” A balding uncle finally commented, “The Gu Jun from Phecda.” Once that was said, the boss and the other customers made the recognition as well. The resemblance was uncanny. This couldn’t be the real Gu Jun, right? But according to the news, Gu Jun was dead… An auntie suddenly chimed in, “Nah, it’s not him. Gu Jun is fairer…” Gu Jun smiled and said nothing.

At that moment, the sound of helicopters came from the distance. In the past year, there were occasional helicopters that flew past the village but there was never once that it came by so close. In fact, the cabin door even opened to toss down two ladder ropes. Several members slid down the ropes and landed firmly not far from the convenience store. This scene was enough to make the uncles and aunties’ jaws drop.

At the same time, the kids ran over excitedly, exclaiming, “It’s a helicopter!” “Look, that’s the Phecda Logo!”

The news spread fast. Some came to witness the scene while others stayed away in fear of being dragged into it. The helicopter was merely the scout, soon the police arrived to seal up the scene and the motorcade followed. The younger villagers understood the severity of the situation. There were Phecda logos. They only came when there was a big issue.

Gu Jun’s eyes widened. Among the people that dropped from the helicopter, there was one whom he missed the most. Special Mobile Forces members received this kind of training before so dropping down from the helicopter was not hard for her but Gu Jun really did not expect to see her so soon. Wu Siyu, medium-length black hair, beautiful face, her casual-bordering on lazy demeanour hadn’t changed.

She walked at the front. Gu Jun looked at her and repeated the words she said on the phone back to her, “You always pop up like this… Can’t you give people a warning or something…”

“Didn’t I say we’re going to come fetch you?” Wu Siyu sniffed at him and then poked at his arm. “It’s salty and cuts like a surgical knife… It’s the real deal!”