Chapter 1239: Cerulean Dog

Gao Yang tensed.

“If my memory hasn’t failed me, Cerulean Dog was a member of the Twelve Zodiac Signs, the predecessor of Heavenly Dog.”

White Dew started. “You sure?”

Gao Yang nodded. “I remember seeing the name during the onboarding. It can be a coincidence, of course.” After a pause, he suggested, “Do you have a photo of him?”

“He didn’t like taking photos, and neither do I. So I didn’t ask for one.”

“Can you draw him?” Gao Yang asked.

White Dew shook her head. “It’s strange. I remember his voice, expression, and look, but I can’t describe it or draw it. It’s as if he were someone I met in a dream. The feelings are vivid, but with fuzzy details...”

“Can you recognize him if you see him?”

“Yes,” White Dew said with absolute certainty.

Gao Yang considered it. “Dragon is the only one alive who’s seen Cerulean Dog among the Zodiacs, but he disappeared.”

“Isn’t there a picture in the dossier?”

Gao Yang shook his head. “To my knowledge, the members always wore masks in their profile pictures and group photos.” He then suggested, “What were his Talents? I’ll have Adept Horse look up what Talents Cerulean Dog had. If they matched, they were the same person.”

White Dew smiled wryly. “I’d thought he was a regular human until I ate him.”

“Seems like he purposefully erased his tracks,” Gao Yang said.

“That made me think they were the same person,” White Dew responded.

“We’ll each investigate it,” Gao Yang suggested. “It can be an important lead.”

“Alright.”

Gao Yang turned to leave. White Dew stopped him.

“Gao Yang.”

He looked over his shoulder at her.

“Are you...” White Dew stared at his face, “still Gao Yang?”

He gave it some thought before nodding. “For now.”

...

Let Life be Beautiful like Summer Flowers, Sunfacing Road, Daxu District, next day afternoon.

After the Battle of the Curtain Call, Quiet Book bought Songstress’s flower shop.

Liao Liao stayed unemployed. Heavenly Dog dropped out of university after waking up from his coma. Adept Horse hadn’t restarted his hotel after Officer Huang burned it down to cover their tracks.

The three had too much free time and frequented the flower shop. When Gao Yang visited, they were having coffee while listening to jazz on the mezzanine level.

Gao Yang asked them about Cerulean Dog.

“Shopkeeper?” a customer called out from below.

“Coming! Continue without me...” Quiet Book lowered her coffee and rushed downstairs.

The four of them carried on with their discussion.

“I don’t know him,” said Heavenly Dog.

“I don’t, either.” Adept Horse took a sip of his coffee. “I’ll go over the old dossiers of the Zodiacs tonight. It was all managed by White Rabbit before.”

Liao Liao recalled, “When I was a member of the intelligence department at the Hundred Rivers Union, I looked into the Twelve Zodiac Signs. Outside of Dragon, there was the least information on Cerulean Dog, so I remember the name.”

Gao Yang nursed his coffee, bemused.

“Captain?” Liao Liao’s eyes darted to him with an intelligent glint. “Are we going on a mission?”

“No,” Gao Yang said.

“Oh?” Liao Liao couldn’t hide her disappointment.

“Don’t you hate work?”

“I don’t hate work. I just love slacking off!” Liao Liao explained seriously. “The point of slacking off is stealing leisure during work. You’ve been unconscious for half a year, and we’ve been doing nothing for just as long. It’s unsettling.”

“It is.” Adept Horse nodded.

Heavenly Dog didn’t find it unsettling at all, but he kept that to himself.

“I thought you preferred a time of peace,” Gao Yang said.

“Yeah, but it has to be real peace. The doomsday is coming. How can I enjoy my life?” Liao Liao thought of an analogy. “Captain, we have to finish our assignments for the summer vacation before we can enjoy it!”

Adept Horse agreed, “What she said.”

Heavenly Dog was able to enjoy his summer vacation just fine, even without doing his assignments. He kept that to himself.

“I understand how you feel,” Gao Yang deadpanned. “But aren’t you asking too much of a coma patient who has just woken up?”

“Not at all!” Liao Liao shook her fist. “See. You pinpoint Cerulean Dog as a clue two days after waking up. That’s efficiency! That’s professionalism!”

“True,” Adept Horse seconded.

“Cool.” Heavenly Dog finally had something to agree about.

Gao Yang said after a thoughtful moment, “If you’re so bored, you should help Chen Ying look for Dragon.”

“Huh?” Liao Liao froze. “Oh, what was I thinking? This is fine.”

“Scared of Dragon?” Gao Yang asked.

“Haha, just a tiny little bit.” Liao Liao put on a smile that asked for understanding. “I just don’t get what Dragon did at the end of the battle.”

Adept Horse nodded. “Makes one question whether he’s an enemy or a friend.”

Heavenly Dog lowered his head and said nothing.

The mood took a downturn. Liao Liao quickly added, “I don’t think Captain Dragon’s an enemy. He’s too powerful. He could’ve killed us easily that night if he wanted. No reason to go through all the trouble, right?”

She licked her lips. “It’s just that Dragon was too mysterious and unpredictable. It’s like he’s living on an entirely different plane of existence. Maybe what he’s going to do is beyond our comprehension, too... Anyway, it’s just unsettling.”

Gao Yang didn’t comment on that.

He finished his coffee and stood up, tying his hair. “I’m going.”

“Wait, really?” Liao Liao got to her feet and looked at him like a lost puppy. “What can we do now?”

“Wait patiently.”

...

S Base, nine o’clock at night.

In the brightly lit living room, Lovely Lamb, Wang Weiyan, Ting Ting, Raven Shark, and Zhang Wei sat on the couch around the tea table. Wearing a checkered blanket like a cape with a mysterious-looking mask on his face, Gregor gesticulated and narrated in an enthusiastic voice with a self-made manual in his hand.

“What awaits the five adventurers?”

He cast two dice at the tea table. They clacked and came to a stop, one showing five, and the other two.

“Seven!”

Gregor licked his thumb and flipped to the next page of his manual, going over the rules. Then he stepped on the table and swung his arm.

“The five adventurers decide to enter the Corridor of Thousand Dreams. It’s extended and straitened...”

“What does that mean?” Wang Weiyan asked.

“It’s long, narrow, and dark,” Ting Ting explained with a smile.

“That’s right!” Gregor continued. “The long, narrow, and dark corridor seems to stretch forever. The only sounds are the footfalls of the adventurers....”

He tapped on the table gently.

“Suddenly!”

“Ah!” Lovely Lamband Wang Weiyan threw their arms around each other.

Gregor pointed at Wang Weiyan with dramatic flair. “Hero Yanyan, leading the group, notices a stone door appearing on the wall with the number seven etched on it. She takes another step forward and senses an ancient, mysterious, and dangerous energy radiating from it. No adventurer has ever opened the door. You’re the first group to find it...”

He turned to Wang Weiyan.

“Yanyan decides to...”