Besides bringing Hugo along to show a face, Gao Liang hardly ever made use of Director Hugo. Eventually, Director Hugo took the initiative to approach Gao Liang, and only then did Director Gao reluctantly agree to assign foreign religious affairs under Hugo's responsibility. However, the process still required personnel from other departments to assist in observation. It was only because Hugo was agreeable that he accepted these unequal terms. Every time this incident was mentioned, Moyes would get so annoyed it made his teeth itch.
Later, whenever a major case required the combined strength of the entire Bureau, Director Hugo was always ranked last. He hardly had any chance to speak, let alone arrive at the scene first to handle incidents. Sun Fatty and I had only been at the Bureau for half a year, yet we had already been involved in seven or eight cases—almost more than all the cases Hugo had handled in those years combined.
When Sun Fatty arranged for the descent, Director Hugo didn't object—not because he didn't want to, but because he hadn't yet shaken off the passive role he'd been stuck in for years. But now Hugo finally understood—here, I'm the highest-ranking, so why should I listen to this Fatty?
Sun Fatty tried to stop Hugo from going down, but it was useless. Hugo, asserting his director's authority, said to Sun Fatty, "Sun, I believe you understand our situation. There's only one director here. You must follow the director's orders. Now the director wants to go down, you have to accompany him. Otherwise, if the director goes down alone, you'll be responsible for whatever happens."
Hearing this string of authoritative words, Sun Fatty could only smile bitterly. There was no fault to pick in Hugo's words. But Master Xiao was being strange—he had taken a boat back to the shore to make a call and then returned by boat again. By rights, Master Xiao should have been back already, but now there was no sign of him. If he were here, Sun Fatty wouldn't have had such difficulty stopping Hugo.
This day was the most satisfying day Director Hugo had had at the Bureau in years. Even when Sun Fatty tried to reason with him, Hugo seemed deaf to it. He walked to the edge of the well, carefully observed the situation below, then slid down along the electric wire previously tied. Sun Fatty grit his teeth and followed after him.
After they descended, they saw that the well wall had been broken open into a large hole. Both Sun Fatty and Hugo judged this to be the entrance to a Yin Convergence Point. They had worried that inside would be pitch dark, but after entering, they found small light holders placed every eighty or ninety meters, illuminating the path. Sun Fatty didn't hesitate to dismantle several of the holders and affix them onto himself for light. Along the way, aside from the two monstrous corpses, nothing unusual happened.
Until they moved further ahead and saw me lying on the ground—with a trembling black cat sprawled on top of me...
A black cat? Yang Jun left Nyeh behind? I immediately guessed that Yang Jun had probably left the cat to watch over me in case any more half-formed creatures attacked. I looked around. It was pitch black here; a black cat lying on the ground would be hard to spot without tools.
"Don't bother looking, it's with me," Sun Fatty said. As he spoke, he opened his coat and revealed the head of a black cat inside. The black cat had been hiding in Sun Fatty's clothes. No wonder when I woke up and saw Sun Fatty, he was holding his belly tightly—it was because the cat was tucked in there. I also noticed the two corners of his coat were tied into a tight knot, effectively creating a pouch for the cat.
After seeing me regain some composure, Sun Fatty said, "Lazi, tell us what happened. How come you're the only one left? What about Yang Jun, Hao Zhengyi, and the others?" Hugo also leaned in, eagerly awaiting my answer.
I sighed helplessly and recounted everything that happened before I fainted in detail.
When Sun Fatty heard the words "The Factory of Transgression," he glanced down at the black cat inside his coat. After I finished, Sun Fatty tilted his head thoughtfully for a moment, then turned back to Hugo and said, "Alright, Lazi has been found. Director Hugo, don't you think we can head back now?"
Hugo was staring at the black cat in Sun Fatty's coat with a look of displeasure. Knowing that these cats could be mass-produced, he was even more convinced the black cat was the devil's pet. Hearing Sun Fatty call him, Hugo frowned and turned his gaze from the cat to Sun Fatty, saying, "Sun, you're getting restless again, that's not good. The director said we must press forward. The director wants to see what exactly is inside."
Hugo pointed toward the bend ahead and asked me, "Shen, is that where Yang Jun and the others went in?"
Seeing Hugo pumped up like he'd had a shot of adrenaline, I felt uneasy. "Director Hugo, before Yang Jun entered, he said only Director Wu and Yang Xiao from Department Six should go in; he didn't recommend others entering." Hearing this, Hugo smiled at me and said, "Shen, that doesn't include me. Trust me, God won't let his faithful encounter misfortune."
If he'd said that when I first met him, I might have believed part of it. But after yesterday's downpour, I began to suspect that Director Hugo might just be the comedic relief of the Bureau.
Hearing Hugo's words, Sun Fatty's brow furrowed like a knot. He looked at Hugo and said, "Director Hugo, no offense, but this is where we should stop. We're not like Hao Zhengyi or Crow; they came prepared. Even Yang Jun knew something about the inside. We have no gear, no maps. Take my advice—quit while you're ahead. At most, we can wait here to guide reinforcements from the Bureau and assist if Yang Jun and Hao Zhengyi run into trouble retreating. If you won't listen, then this bend ahead, me and Lazi won't accompany you. You're the director of Department Three, so you can't command us from Department One, right?"
Hugo ignored Sun Fatty. He turned to me and said, "Shen, what do you think? Wait here for reinforcements from the Bureau who might never come, or continue forward with me? I should remind you that Yang Jun's condition isn't optimistic. Before, to save you, he inhaled a large amount of evil aura. In my experience, Yang's physical state is very poor, which makes this trip to hell extremely risky."
Hugo's words hit my weak spot, and without much thought, I turned to Sun Fatty and said, "Great Sage, I can't just stand by and watch Yang Jun get into trouble down there. Why don't you head back first? I'll go with Director Hugo to take a look. Maybe it's not as sinister inside as we think."
Sun Fatty stomped his feet anxiously after hearing me, then gritted his teeth and said, "Fine! If you go any further, I won't stop you. But first, give me back what I lent you." I nodded, knowing he meant the crossbow. Since Sun Fatty wasn't that skilled, it was necessary for him to have that for self-defense when he went out. Without hesitation, I returned the crossbow and the bolts to him.
Just as I was about to continue forward with Hugo, Sun Fatty followed behind me with a stern expression. Since I'd known him, I had never seen this side of him. I didn't know what he meant, so I called out, "Great Sage—" I barely got two words out before Sun Fatty interrupted me: "Don't say a thing, Lazi. If I meet any mishap going further, in the next life you better be my ox or horse to repay me."
"As long as I'm not your son, I'm good with anything," I joked. Honestly, without Sun Fatty, I wouldn't feel secure guarding Hugo. Though he often seemed a bit wild, in emergencies, his worth really showed. Hugo sneered and glanced at Sun Fatty, clearly not believing he'd actually leave first. But there was something he had to clarify first: "Great Sage, my face is all red and swollen now. Did you just slap me?"
"No way," Sun Fatty laughed, "What red and swollen? That's concussion aftereffects, Lazi. And mark my words, if I see that Crow later, I'll deal with him. He dares to lay a hand on anyone."
We kept walking forward until we reached a bend. After turning, the path straightened again. Like before, lamps were placed every so often in the corners. With their faint light and the lamps on Sun Fatty's body, we steadily moved ahead.
After a while, Sun Fatty suddenly spoke, "No kidding, if we keep going like this, aren't we already under the sea?"
Under the sea... Sun Fatty was right. Thinking back on the direction we took entering the Yin Convergence Point, we'd been walking a long time. Where else could this be but under the sea? But it seemed the road ahead was far from over. When Zhang Rantian came in, nobody knew exactly how he finished the path.
At that moment, I had no time to think about Zhang Rantian. We walked further, and ahead appeared countless faint flickering lights, though it didn't look like an exit. After another hundred or so steps, the scene came clearer—and my right eyelid started twitching uncontrollably. What lay ahead was truly horrifying...
By the faint light along the wall, about fifty or sixty meters ahead lay scattered black bones. There must have been over a hundred in total—bones of all sorts and shapes mixed together, impossible to tell whether human or animal. All that was clear was they were pitch black, as if coated in black paint. The flickering lights seen earlier were will-o'-the-wisps hovering around the bones. In such a humid place, the presence of phosphorescence was strange enough, and that alone was unsettling.
But even stranger than the phosphorescence was Director Hugo's expression. After drawing an invisible cross on his chest, he excitedly said, "God, it seems we've truly arrived at the devil's domain." Without waiting for me or Sun Fatty, he hurried toward the bones. We could only follow behind.
Seeing Hugo so hyped up, I muttered to Sun Fatty, "Great Sage, did you feed him something indigestible up there? Or did he sneak a stimulant while we weren't looking?"
"You don't know..." Sun Fatty whispered, watching Hugo's back, "This guy's been suppressed by Gao Liang for too long. Now that he can call the shots, he's lost all sense of self. It's like a spring that's been compressed too hard — no pressure and he's lost."
While we two tailing Hugo, the man approached the bones cautiously. Not daring to be careless, he carefully surveyed the surroundings. Once he was sure there was no danger, he pulled out a handkerchief and used it to pick up a small piece of black bone. Director Hugo took a small lamp off Sun Fatty's body, illuminating the bone. Judging by its shape, it was a part of an upper limb joint. Though exposed to dampness for years, it showed no sign of erosion.
After examining for some time, Hugo took out a glass bottle filled with clear liquid—holy water, I'd seen him use it before.
Sun Fatty's attention was elsewhere. After scanning the environment, he said, "Director Hugo, can we hurry up? With all these bones lying around, who knows if those half-formed monsters Lazi talked about will be attracted here."
I explained for Hugo, "Great Sage, it's fine. Yang Jun and Hao Zhengyi went ahead earlier. If any monsters appear, they'll encounter them first. There's no sign of a fight here, so probably no monsters..."
Sun Fatty kept giving me meaning looks. Maybe it was the aftereffect of his concussion, and I didn't catch on at first. But near the end, I realized he was trying to find an excuse to get Hugo to move faster. I immediately shut up, which made Sun Fatty glare at me.
Hugo rolled his eyes at Sun Fatty but relaxed after hearing my explanation. He then resumed what he was doing. He asked me to help open the bottle, then carefully poured several drops of holy water onto the black bone.
The moment the holy water touched the bone, a sharp "hiss" sounded, and the liquid instantly vaporized into steam, a white mist dissipating into the air. Not only Sun Fatty and I were startled, but even Hugo himself jumped in surprise.