Night Journey

Chapter 112 Late Night
"That's enough for today, Cillian."

Meifuni crossed her arms; she wasn't tall, but she had an air of superiority about her.

"I had a lot of fun, and I look forward to seeing what you do next."

After saying that, she and Cillian parted ways at a busy intersection.

As he watched Maefuni's figure disappear into the crowded throng, Cillian's weary eyes gradually sharpened, and he hurried home without stopping.

Pushing open the door, Bruce was lying on the balcony, basking in the warm sunset.

Seeing this peaceful and contented scene, Cillian inexplicably wanted to laugh.

Every time Bruce comes home and opens the door, it's like opening a blind box; he always does something strange.

It was either covered by an antenna or wearing a strange skull fixator. This time it lay there obediently, which made Cillian somewhat unaccustomed.

"Oh? You're back."

Bruce tilted his head, glanced at Cillian to make sure he wasn't missing any limbs, then turned back to lie down.

"Ah."

Cillian gave a brief reply, and after returning to his bedroom, he collapsed onto the bed without even changing his clothes.

Close your eyes and ponder.

A casual remark by Mefuni sparked a lot of thoughts in Cillian, who began to consider whether he should take advantage of the darkness to personally inspect Shanghe and Huihe.

The Claws have been operating in Hel City for so long that their purpose is very easy to guess.

Overthrow the city of Hull.

The real question is, what methods do these evil forces intend to use to subvert the world?

Cillian has been struggling with this for a long time, and still is today.

The answer lies in the riddle itself.

Perhaps, the Claws intend to trigger a chaotic catastrophe through the river, bringing down Hel City in one fell swoop.

Is it really that simple?

Ciri thought to herself with peace of mind.

If I could think of these things, how could the city council not have thought of them?

Decades ago, after the flail was brought ashore and the spirit craftsmen brought new life to the city of Hel, they realized that the river brought a continuous source of life to Hel, but also carved a breach in the city's impenetrable walls.

To prevent the Chaos followers from launching an attack through the river, the Spirit Craftsmen built a sturdy water gate, behind which lay a central system responsible for filtration and purification.

Everything seemed so reassuring, so indestructible.

Cillian didn't dwell on it; no matter how much he considered, nothing beats seeing it for himself.

He slowed his breathing, trying to regain his strength as much as possible before midnight.

……

It's approaching midnight.

Thanks to the tireless efforts of all departments, the city of Hel finally returned to peace. The city council felt the time was right and lifted the curfew.

The citizens have been living under immense pressure lately. As soon as the curfew was lifted, people took to the streets to vent their emotions and enjoy the return to nightlife.

Some people embraced the emotional release, while others remained anxious, stubbornly staying at home even after the curfew ended, preparing food and water, and building their rooms like fortresses.

Theoretically speaking, Elton belongs to the latter category.

Since that harrowing experience, he has been traumatized, unwilling to drink alcohol and terrified of going out late at night.

If possible, Elton planned to spend the night at the City Guard Bureau, where colleagues on duty would make him feel safer.

"Elton, smile! Everyone loves you!"

The woman took Elton's arm, as if to pull him up to dance.

"Hahaha."

Elton laughed awkwardly, surrounded by a crowd of people drinking beer and telling strange jokes.

Amidst the heavy smell of alcohol, Elton began to regret going to the appointment.

"Why do you look a little shy?"

The woman casually pinched Elton's cheek and exclaimed, "Yeah, you radio hosts, have you been talking to yourselves for so long that you're not used to talking to real people?"

"Winsey, just let Elton go."

The man walked over, pulled Wenxi aside, and said apologetically, "Forgive her, Elton. This guy likes to talk nonsense when he's drunk."

“It’s alright, Paul.”

Elton shook his head, trying to suppress his unease. "I just hope everyone has fun."

"That's more like it! Look how generous Elton is."

Wensey broke free from Paul and grabbed Elton's face, his drunken reeking of alcohol.

A customer arrived late, pushed open the bar door, and immediately saw Elton surrounded by a crowd, excitedly spreading his arms.

"Elton! The famous Elton!"

The man cheered as he stepped forward, “I’ve finally met you! I’ve been listening to your radio show for so long.”

"Me too, me too!"

The women traveling with them were overjoyed.

Similar conversations have been repeated many times tonight, Elton managed a weak smile and sincerely thanked him.

"Thank you so much for your support, thank you so much."

With the recent series of events, news of the return of the Reverse Falcon has spread throughout the city. However, most of those who truly understand the Reverse Falcon are the older generation of Hel City. The younger generation has little knowledge of its long, pale, six eyes.

Driven by their thirst for knowledge, the young people soon discovered a radio program that was telling urban legends about the inverted falcon.

And so, Elton's radio station became a hit. Elton could never have imagined that he would be reborn in this way, with listeners increasing rapidly and even a party being thrown for him.

This was the first time in Elton's life that he had experienced being the center of attention.

It was both novel and unsettling.

But when he saw those sincere eyes and warm smiles, his unease vanished, replaced by a strong and pleasant sense of value.

“Tell me more, Elton,” Wensey said expectantly, “about the Reverse Falcon.”

Upon hearing the name of the Reverse Falcon, the revelers fell silent, gathering around Elton like students, listening intently to his next words.

"call……"

Elton took several deep breaths.

He could easily talk to himself into the microphone, even with hundreds or thousands of people listening behind him, but now, just the gazes of a dozen or so people were almost suffocating him.

Elton slowly began, "Then let's talk about what happened that night..."

The story unfolded before everyone's eyes.

As Elton narrated, time flew by, and one guest after another said goodbye and left. In the end, only a few people remained, still sitting at the bar.

Under the influence of alcohol, the remaining people were also in a daze. Some simply collapsed on the sofa and fell asleep, while others collapsed in the toilet, vomiting from time to time.

As the crowd dispersed, Elton breathed a sigh of relief.

"It must have been quite difficult."

Paul suddenly sat down next to Elton, a faint smile on his face.

“You look very stressed, Elton.”

“It’s alright,” Elton nodded, “it’s just that it’s my first time facing so many people, so I’m a little unaccustomed to it.”

"Haha, I knew it!"

Paul chatted casually with Elton; the conversation was light and the atmosphere relaxed.

He asked sincerely, "Elton, do you really like... are you passionate about the Reverse Falcon?"

Elton remained silent for a moment. He was not a person who enjoyed crowds, and he didn't care about the vanity of being fawned over by others.

Running the radio station was purely out of hobby and dream, and also to earn some extra money to support herself.

Elton answered just as sincerely.

"I don't know... To be honest, at the beginning, when we started telling the story of the reverse falcon, it was just because we had too few radio listeners and wanted to create some gimmicks to attract people."

He murmured, "But later I was indeed saved by the Reverse Falcon."

"Haha."

Paul smiled and said casually, "To be honest, Elton, I don't care about things like the Reverse Falcon or the Reverse Sparrow."

Elton looked at him in confusion, not understanding why he said that, and if that was the case, why he was here.

"I only care about Wenxi."

Paul leaned back, revealing Wenxi, who was slumped over the bar, fast asleep.

“We and Vancouver are just ordinary people who cannot control their own destiny. We can only go with the flow, dedicate everything to the city-state, and pray that the high walls will never collapse and the torches and beacons will never be extinguished.”

Paul sighed, "You know about the night of the tide a while ago? The collapse caused by the Devouring Worms affected the neighborhood where Wenxi lives. When she opened her door in the morning, she saw that the building across the street had collapsed into ruins."

Since then, Wenxi has lived a life of anxiety, constantly struggling with the internal struggle of survival.

Elton had been telling stories all night; now it was his turn to listen to others' stories.

"Until that day, the Reverse Falcon returns."

Paul's eyes lit up. "Wenxi was also there. She saw the hanged body and heard about the existence of the Reverse Falcon. After that, she became obsessed with collecting all information related to the Reverse Falcon."

"When the Huahe incident happened later, she would usually vomit if she saw a single corpse, but when faced with so many corpses, she laughed happily and rarely felt anxious anymore."

"Do you know why, Elton?"

Elton thought for a moment and guessed the answer: "The city-state couldn't give her a sense of security, but the existence of the Reverse Falcon calmed her restless heart."

"Pretty much. Many people are like this now, taking to the streets, shouting the name of the Falcon, and graffitiing its long, narrow six eyes in all sorts of places, like a group of fanatical believers."

Paul showed disgust when he talked about these things, but then he said with relief.

"But in such a world, if believing in something can make people live more at ease, then there's nothing we can do about it."

Elton countered, "Why...why are you telling me all this?"

“You are a good person. You did not use the reputation of Reverse Falcon to take advantage of these fanatical fans.”

Paul answered frankly, "When I came here with Wenxi today, I was thinking that if you were a bad person, I would immediately report you to the City Guard, if necessary..."

He revealed the gun tucked into his waistband.

To Elton's surprise, he remained calm and showed no panic upon seeing this scene.

Elton asked, "Paul, do you believe in the reverse falcon?"

Paul thought about it carefully and then answered.

“I believe in the Falcon. But with such a large population in Hull, I don’t really believe his good deed will fall on me.”

Paul then smiled with relief.

"Let's live one day at a time, it's time for us to go."

Paul helped the drunken Wensey to her feet and said goodbye.

Goodnight, Elton.

Elton watched the two of them leave the bar and disappear into the darkness of the night.

(End of this chapter)