Homo Sapiens

The living room door closed again.

An inextinguishable fear was all that remained in Du Jianxin's heart.

Li Qingye, still behind the screen, saw Du Jianxin looking like a puppet. He smiled and ordered, "Gan Ye, give Eldest Young Master Du your full cooperation in transferring his assets. Be especially thorough with the assets of his 'dear' uncles. I want your service to be impeccable."

"Yes, Boss!" Gan Ye replied with a grin.

Regaining partial control of his body, Du Jianxin was finally terrified. He immediately began to beg, "Qingye, I'm begging you, let me go. I'll give you all my money, my entire family fortune. Just spare my family. We can negotiate anything."

"Jianxin, I hear you're on good terms with the eldest young master of the Wang Family!"

At this question, the color drained even further from Du Jianxin's face. He seemed to have guessed what Li Qingye was planning, and his voice began to stammer.

"You... you're insane?..."

"Insane? I am insane..." Li Qingye didn't deny it. Instead, he admitted it with a smile.

Perhaps out of fear, Du Jianxin started babbling incoherently. "You can't do this... Just kill me! I don't want to drag my family into this..."

"I thought you people had some humanity, but it turns out you're still just dogs."

But Du Jianxin groveled completely. "I am a dog! I'm willing to be your dog! Please, I'm begging you, spare me! Don't do that..."

"You think you're worthy?" Li Qingye's eyes were filled with a chilling coldness. "You're only fit to be a mad dog. Go on, sink your teeth into your masters! I'm very much looking forward to seeing the looks of shock and rage on their faces."

'It's over!' Du Jianxin knew that he and his family were finished.

Li Qingye patted Du Jianxin's numb face. "So what if you can blot out the sky with one hand? Did you really think I didn't know? People die, you know...!"

Ignoring Du Jianxin's despair and helplessness, he left matters there to Gan Ye. His face rippled and shifted, instantly transforming into that of Andrew, a mixed-race man from Latin America. Then, he secretly took a car and left the club through the back door.

On the busy, traffic-filled streets, pedestrians hurried to and fro.

Stopped at a traffic light, Li Qingye gazed out the window at the myriad scenes of the world. He saw upright apes, one after another, like ants. Their movements were as stiff as machines, and they all wore the same false masks.

Every time he saw this, a destructive urge to annihilate everything would well up uncontrollably from the depths of his heart.

Taking a deep breath, Li Qingye closed his eyes to rest.

This time, he could basically take care of Du Shuping, Yang Haibo, and the others, swallow up their assets, and disgust the people behind them in the process.

He had avenged a great part of his grudge, yet his heart felt a certain emptiness.

The car stopped by the sea.

Li Qingye sat on a bench, watching the waves ebb and flow, feeling the hot, salty sea breeze.

Sangjibada Laiyal took a bottle of cold purified water from the car's mini-fridge. "Sir, have some water."

"Jasmine, what's wrong with this world?"

"Are you thinking of unhappy things again, Sir? How about some juice? Mama said drinking sweet things will make you feel better." Sangjibada Laiyal was about to go back for the juice.

But Li Qingye took the purified water. "I still prefer purified water."

"Purified water has no taste; it's not good at all. I don't know why you like it, Sir," Sangjibada Laiyal said, scratching her head in confusion.

Li Qingye leaned back on the bench and took a sip of the water. "Because there are too few pure things in this world. When turbidity becomes the norm, purity becomes a sin."

"You know so much, Sir. I want to be a knowledgeable person like you when I grow up," Sangjibada Laiyal said, looking at him with adoration.

Li Qingye shook his head. "You're still young. Some things aren't written in books..."

'But I hope you never have to understand.'

"Let's go. We're heading to Bangkok in a few days."

"Okay."

...

「June 28th.」

The Sapphire set sail once again, leaving Victoria Harbor in Xiangjiang and heading for Bangkok, Siam.

Onboard, many guests were eating, drinking, and amusing themselves.

An older man and his young wife, both guests, stood on the cruise ship's open-air deck, gazing at the blue sky and turquoise water.

"I didn't expect to have the pleasure of your company, Mr. Liu. My name is Andrew, Chairman of the Blue Company."

The square-faced, middle-aged man was taken aback for a moment before he recovered. He took off his sunglasses and extended a hand. "So, you're Mr. Andrew. The service on your company's cruise ship is quite good."

After they shook hands, Li Qingye smiled and shook his head. "It's just a small business. Your company's e-commerce platform is quite famous in Southeast Asia. I'm just trying to make a living."

"Your Chinese is excellent, Mr. Andrew. Even more standard than mine," Liu Dong said with a dry laugh, changing the subject. He didn't seem to want to talk about his company.

His beautiful young wife, who was standing beside him, took their child and walked off to enjoy the breeze at a distance.

Li Qingye shrugged. "Are you also heading to Bangkok, Mr. Liu? My company is managing a large seaside resort there. The entertainment facilities are quite nice. You should go and relax sometime if you're free."

After speaking, he took a business card from his pocket and handed it to him.

Liu Dong accepted the card and said he would consider it, but inwardly, he was on guard.

After all, once bitten, twice shy.

Li Qingye had a good idea of what the man was thinking. He had specifically sought him out not to set up some kind of honey trap, but simply because he admired him.

The two were just strangers who had met by chance. Li Qingye had learned that Liu Dong had bought a ticket, and since he had nothing better to do, he came over to chat.

After chatting for over half an hour, Li Qingye took his leave.

Liu Dong watched Li Qingye's retreating figure, his expression uncertain. Recent events had left him mentally and physically exhausted, and also a bit paranoid.

On the other side of the cruise ship, a young man and woman dressed like a couple were taking pictures while secretly watching Liu Dong and Li Qingye.

The short-haired woman asked in a low voice, "Should we run a background check on that guy?"

"Mhm. Send a text back and ask about him later," the spiky-haired young man in the denim vest nodded.

"What a pain. I hope there won't be any trouble," the short-haired woman grumbled, clearly unhappy.

The spiky-haired young man comforted her in a low voice, "Just think of it as a vacation..." He then glanced in Liu Dong's direction. "I hope he doesn't go looking for trouble. Otherwise, it'll make things difficult for us."

"Heh, just some nouveau riche. If he doesn't want to be decent about it, someone will help him be decent," the short-haired woman sneered.

...

A short while after Li Qingye returned to his private cabin, Phil reported on the situation aboard the cruise ship.

"They sure have a long reach. But a dog will always go back to its shit." Li Qingye mused, lying in a rocking chair. His eyes were perfectly calm as he lamented the lack of novelty in the world's affairs.

"Round and round we go, another cycle. The wolf is still a wolf, the sheep still a sheep. Reading between the lines, it all boils down to the same two eternal words. Why dress it up in such high-sounding language?"

"Sir, what two words?" Sangjibada Laiyal asked in confusion, setting down a coconut pudding and a glass of juice.

Li Qingye waved his hand. "The same as a custom of the Korowai people of Java. A disgusting custom."

"The Korowai people of Java? A custom? What does that have to do with those two words?" Sangjibada Laiyal was completely bewildered.

Taking a sip of juice, Li Qingye continued to lie back. "Jasmine, come massage my shoulders."

"Yes, Sir."

As for Phil, he had already left the cabin silently to continue his duty of monitoring the cruise ship.

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