Chapter 87

Chapter 87

Ning Qiuyan wanted to leave something behind on Du Island too, something that, like the things left by the Guan Family, would become part of the island itself.

Unfortunately, he had no particular skills, and there were no new roads or buildings being constructed on the island at the moment, so there was no need for him to lay a brick or tile with his own hands. After thinking it over for a few days, he decided to expand on a little idea he had before. This time, he did not want to make only another audio photo album. Instead, he wanted to systematically learn photography, video shooting, and music scoring, then create a documentary of Du Island in this era and store it in the mansion’s audiovisual room.

Guan Heng approved of the idea.

“Besides learning to drive, you want to learn photography.”

Guan Heng had his arms around Ning Qiuyan from behind, gently kneading his fingers.

“Is there anything else you want to learn?”

“Growing medicinal herbs?” Ning Qiuyan was scrolling on his phone. He yawned. “Dr. Ling said a couple of days ago that he tried planting some in the greenhouse on the farm, but the results weren’t ideal. I promised him I’d help during my next break.”

Du Island’s climate was unusual, and not many plants could adapt and grow there. Most of the vegetables and fruit on the island were purchased from outside. The greenhouse was only used for varieties with very short growth cycles that were difficult to preserve.

“You can,” Guan Heng said. “If there’s anything you don’t understand, you can ask me.”

Ning Qiuyan looked back at him. “You know about medicinal herbs?”

Guan Heng answered very casually, “A little.”

It was not showing off, nor was it a boast.

Ning Qiuyan knew that when Guan Heng said he knew “a little,” it definitely was not a lie. He might even be proficient. Modern medicine had developed rapidly, but a thousand years ago, people had relied on traditional medicine. Although Guan Heng had been born into an influential family, he had once marched to war and traveled over mountains and rivers. It was only natural that he had studied some of it.

“Then I’ll ask you when the time comes.” Ning Qiuyan leaned softly against Guan Heng.

“All right,” Guan Heng agreed.

Ning Qiuyan continued playing on his phone and messaging his classmates, while Guan Heng went on reading. Before long, Ning Qiuyan’s head began to bob little by little. His eyelids drifted shut without him realizing it, and he dozed off.

His stamina always ran out quickly, yet he always loved to force himself to hold on. He had never once used the safe word.

He was so sleepy that he did not even notice when Guan Heng took the phone from his hand.

Guan Heng lifted him sideways into his arms, intending to let him sleep in bed.

……………………(omitted)

When he was placed on the mattress, Ning Qiuyan briefly startled awake. He opened his eyes and looked at Guan Heng, then closed them again and sank into a deep sleep.

He was too tired.

After Lu Qianque and the others left, time flew by in a blur, so fast it felt impossible to grasp. Even though Ning Qiuyan spent every day and night with Guan Heng, he still felt as though time were slipping away at double speed.

On the first Monday after the Lantern Festival, Ning Qiuyan took Uncle Ping’s boat and returned to Wutong ahead of schedule.

Before winter break, he had promised Su Jianzhou that he would stay with him for a few days.

After that, he would go straight back to school. The semester was about to begin.

“There are some matters on Du Island. I’ll come to Sujing in April,” Guan Heng told him. “Focus on doing your own things well, and wait for me.”

Even though Ning Qiuyan was filled with reluctance to part, he also understood that compared with clinging to Guan Heng’s side, doing his own things well first was more important. This was an idea Guan Heng and the people around him had all, in their own ways, instilled in him. He had already fully absorbed the reasoning behind it.

He agreed, but his puppy-dog eyes still gazed at Guan Heng unconsciously. “How long will you stay in Sujing?”

Guan Heng said, “That depends on how well you behave.”

Ning Qiuyan immediately promised, “I’ll behave very well. I’ll study hard, get A’s in all my classes, and won’t let anything else affect me.”

Guan Heng looked at him too, his voice gentle. “Then I’ll stay until your summer break.”

In other words, they would return to Du Island together during the summer break.

Guan Heng was actually planning to keep him company for that long!

Ning Qiuyan received an answer beyond anything he had expected. He was both surprised and delighted, and even the month-plus separation about to begin no longer seemed so difficult to endure. When he left the mansion, the sky was not yet light. Uncle Kang had already prepared a car to take Ning Qiuyan to the dock.

The morning fog was hazy, and a cold breeze blew against his face. Everything around them was still dim.

Before getting into the car, Ning Qiuyan habitually looked up toward the third floor. This time, what he saw was not a window with its curtains tightly drawn, but a tall figure he could clearly make out. His nose stung, and he forced himself to sit calmly in the back seat, not wanting to show an immature side of himself.

The car started and drove onto the Forest road, leaving the silent, lit-up mansion far behind.

At last, Ning Qiuyan looked back once. All he saw was white snow blanketing the ground and tree shadows swaying, forming a cool, lonely palette in the blue-tinged morning light.

The guests who had come to Du Island were gone. Lu Qianque was gone. Now Ning Qiuyan was gone too.

There would always be others who had to leave as well.

Guan Heng remained here, year after year, unchanging. Who knew how many farewells he had already witnessed?

Uncle Kang patted his hand and comforted him, “It’s all right. You’ll see each other again very soon.”

Ning Qiuyan nodded.
By the time they arrived, the sky was already bright.

Uncle Ping had been waiting at the dock since early morning. Ning Qiuyan already knew by now that whenever Uncle Ping came to the island on Fridays, he stayed at the farm, which was why they had never run into each other. Uncle Kang handed Uncle Ping the shopping list and reminded him of a few things that needed attention. Then he waved goodbye to Ning Qiuyan and took the car back to the mansion.
Ning Qiuyan stood on the deck, looking at the outline of the Forest in the distance. Not daring to linger, he soon dragged his suitcase into the cabin. Under normal circumstances, the boat would set off within a few minutes of him boarding. But after he sat for a while, Uncle Ping came to the doorway and said, “There’s a small problem. Wait a bit.”

With that, he left.

There were voices outside. Curious, Ning Qiuyan went out to see what was going on and barely managed to make out that something seemed to have jammed the hinge.

They called it a small problem, but fixing it took half an hour.

Uncle Ping stood on the dock, scratching his head, looking thoroughly furious. He was someone who cared a great deal about punctuality-so much so that it bordered on obsessive. When Ning Qiuyan was late, Uncle Ping never gave him a pleasant look either. The scolded crew members said nothing and only worked harder with their heads down. Ning Qiuyan also stepped off the deck and watched as a frogman, fully equipped, dove into the water.

It was then that Ning Qiuyan noticed another boat moored in the distance.

The dock was very narrow. That boat was a little larger than Uncle Ping’s, but when Ning Qiuyan had arrived, he had been focused only on greeting Uncle Ping and hadn’t seen it.

Ning Qiuyan had never seen any other boats on Du Island.

He asked Uncle Ping about it, but received no answer. And he also noticed that everyone seemed to be deliberately ignoring that boat, as if it were something taboo.

Perhaps this was another reason Uncle Ping was so eager to leave.

At the end of the road through the Forest, several unfamiliar figures suddenly appeared.

No-perhaps they weren’t “people.”

Ning Qiuyan’s heart gave a violent jolt.

They were dressed in black cloaks and masks of the same color, covering every inch of exposed skin so thoroughly that their faces could not be seen at all. Each of them carried a suitcase and walked with extreme slowness, leaving a trail of deep and shallow footprints in the snow.

“Is it done?” Uncle Ping had seen those people as well. His brows drew together into a deep frown as he picked up the walkie-talkie and urged, “Hurry up.”

Whatever came back from the other end of the walkie-talkie, Ning Qiuyan didn’t hear clearly.

The sun had come out.

The people in black cloaks drew closer and closer. In the sunlight, Ning Qiuyan saw the pins at their collars.

The pins bore a red-and-white pattern-one Ning Qiuyan had seen outside the hotel in Sujing.

They were from the Blood Supervision Council.

Last time at the hotel, they had come looking for Guan Heng. What were they doing on Du Island this time?

Ning Qiuyan’s expression unconsciously turned grave. He remembered Guan Heng telling him that stowaways had appeared on the island, and that “the people from the Blood Supervision Council will come and take them away.”

The walkie-talkie reported that everything had been dealt with.

Those people also headed toward the large boat moored in the distance.

Back on the deck, Ning Qiuyan asked Uncle Ping, “Are the people from the Blood Supervision Council leaving?”

Uncle Ping lifted his eyelids, looking very surprised. “You know about them?”

“I ran into them once before,” Ning Qiuyan said. “Sir said they were here to take away the stowaways. I thought they would have taken them away long ago.”

Uncle Ping gave a derisive snort. “Hmph. Unwelcome people naturally have to spend a little more time.” He seemed to loathe getting involved in such matters as well, yet for once he said a few more words to Ning Qiuyan. “Since they’re not guests invited onto the island by Sir, they naturally aren’t allowed to use the helicopter, nor are they allowed to drive on the island. They’re terrified of water. After suffering all the way here, they still had to climb the mountain and enter the woodland to search for people. Of course they couldn’t be fast.”

Ning Qiuyan was astonished.

Vampires were afraid of large bodies of water. He knew that.

Even Guan Heng was no exception.

No wonder those people had looked so slow. The closer they got to the sea, the weaker they felt. Taking a boat was undoubtedly torture for them. Merciful as Guan Heng was, he clearly had no intention of letting their mismanagement slide.

But Guan Heng had also left Du Island by boat last time.

Seeing something with his own eyes and imagining it were two different things.

Ning Qiuyan’s thoughts couldn’t help drifting a little. He wondered if Guan Heng had felt as miserable as the people from the Blood Supervision Council did last time.

Uncle Ping was about to leave when Ning Qiuyan suddenly stopped him and asked, “What about the stowaways? Are they already on the boat?”

Uncle Ping froze for a moment, then studied Ning Qiuyan. Seeing that he truly did not look afraid, he said, “Didn’t you see them? Those people were carrying them.”

Ning Qiuyan didn’t understand. “Carrying them? I only saw them carrying suitcases.”

Uncle Ping did not answer. This time, he really left the cabin.

Slowly, Ning Qiuyan understood.

Suitcases… There had been several of them. If divided up, it wasn’t impossible for the contents to fit.

Because a Vampire would not truly be killed-just like Chi Yang, whose eyes had remained wide open and whose mouth could still scream after his head had been torn from his body.

Sitting on the sofa, Ning Qiuyan looked out through the porthole and remembered the rust-red bloodstains on the collar of Guan Heng’s shirt in the hotel that night, after he had been rescued from the kidnapping.

And also, after Guan Heng dealt with the stowaways before the Spring Festival, the edge of the clothing beneath his cloak had been stained with blood in the same way.