Chapter 48

Chapter 48: My Brain Hurts

Feng Ling tossed out “to the pier” and strode ahead like she meant to outrun the sun.

No one understood.

Zhou Zhou hurried after her. “Hey! Why are we going to the pier all of a sudden? Did you find something?”

She was moving too fast for small talk. “The frog has to charge into the clouds to kiss the white bird. That means the frog has to be below the white bird. We’re standing on the bridge—our angle’s wrong. No matter how we look from up here, we can’t see the ‘drooling kiss’ alignment.”

Her words came quick, clipped. “We need a lower viewpoint.”

Zhou Zhou blinked, then his expression sharpened. “…Right. The lowest viewpoint is on the river.”

Understanding lit him up. He jogged to keep pace with her, half laughing. “You’re impressive, Feng Ling. Your brain actually works.”

Feng Ling couldn’t help feeling a little pleased. Cracking the riddle scratched the itch in her skull.

They reached the pier. Passengers were already lining up to board the ferry. Feng Ling and the others blended in and got on.

It was a normal ferry with three stops, looping across the river in a triangle.

Feng Ling rode one full loop.

The angle still wasn’t right.

“Then how about a sightseeing cruise?” Zhou Zhou suggested after studying the route map.

Feng Ling checked the time. A ferry round trip was already expensive in minutes. If they didn’t get the clue today, tomorrow meant starting from zero again.

And while the sightseeing cruise had more stops, its route was even more fixed. It wouldn’t give them the freedom they needed.

“Looks like we’ll have to charter a boat,” Feng Ling said, and she sounded like it physically hurt.

Zhou Zhou scratched the back of his head. “The River Patrol Team has yachts. I can try borrowing one?”

Feng Ling’s eyes brightened instantly. Even her voice softened. “Can you?”

“…I’ll try.” Zhou Zhou pulled out his phone. “This is an official task, technically. We should be able to request equipment support.”

Feng Ling expected him to call the patrol directly.

Instead, he opened with, “Old Su.”

“Old Su, here’s what’s going on…” Zhou Zhou explained their situation in one breath.

The roar on the other end nearly blew the phone speaker apart.

“Stop yelling, stop yelling,” Zhou Zhou said, wincing as he picked at his ear. “I know I shouldn’t have let her go out, but we’re not out here sightseeing. The sooner we find the Maze, the sooner Feng Ling can lower her corruption value. Call the River Patrol Team for us. I’m waiting.”

He hung up and still had time to mutter, “Old Su’s great in every way except he’s too rigid. Zero flexibility.”

Feng Ling nodded like she’d found a kindred spirit.

…Su Yu Qing loved rules like a second heartbeat, but he was dependable when it mattered.

Not long after that call, Zhou Zhou’s phone rang again. He confirmed their headcount and location.

The patrol came through.

They sent a small patrol boat—and a pilot to drive it.

With the patrol boat, finding the right angle became simple brute force. Feng Ling had the pilot steer under Qing Jiang No. 1 Bridge, push forward, and stop near the river’s center.

From there, looking back through the bridge span, she finally saw it.

At the Ferris wheel’s highest point, the cabin overlapped with the top of the bridge arch.

The top-hat frog charged into the clouds, drooling as it kissed the lone white bird.

“This should be it,” Zhou Zhou said, squinting toward the distant Ferris wheel. Relief washed through his voice. “Finally.”

The ease lasted maybe thirty seconds.

Feng Ling’s expression darkened again. The irritation came back, sharp as a hook under her ribs.

Because she still couldn’t find “snake month” or “heavenly fire.”

Huang Fu Miao Miao peeked at Feng Ling like she was afraid of getting snapped at. “Maybe… we try again tonight?”

Feng Ling nodded once. “Mm.”

They’d spent too long under the sun. Everyone felt like their skin had been sanded down. Getting back to shore sounded like salvation.

They ate near the bridge, waited out the worst heat, and set out again after sunset, once the moon rose.

The patrol crew cooperated, circling the river with them again and again.

Still nothing.

The night breeze swept over the water. City lights spilled across the river’s surface, smearing into vivid color like a wound bleeding neon.

It was beautiful.

It didn’t help.

Feng Ling stood on the boat without speaking. The damp wind hit her face and slid through her sweat-soaked shirt, cooling her skin in a way that felt like a warning.

She lifted her eyes. Even the moon looked unsteady behind the clouds.

Where was the Maze?

No one spoke.

Zhou Zhou tried his luck anyway. He signaled Huang Fu Miao Miao with his eyes.

Huang Fu Miao Miao immediately ducked her head, tugged up her hoodie, and pretended the world didn’t exist.

Zhou Zhou looked at the three special assault team members.

Every one of them stared back at him like, Please, you do it.

Zhou Zhou: “…”

Fine.

If someone had to jump, it might as well be him.

He cleared his throat. “Hey… maybe we stop here for tonight? The Maze is… special. It makes sense it’s hard to find. We should be ready for this to take a while. Let’s go back, yeah?”

“Mm. Let’s go back,” Feng Ling said.

Her voice was low. Her mood had sunk.

Zhou Zhou’s chest felt heavy too. He sighed and went forward to tell the pilot to dock.

Feng Ling pulled out her phone and took photos of Qing Jiang No. 1 Bridge. If she couldn’t solve it on the river, she’d dissect it at home.

A message popped up.

Daoist Master Li: “Are you okay?”

Feng Ling thought, Is he checking whether I’m dead?

She replied with two words.

Aisha: “Not really.”

Daoist Master Li: “What happened? Are you hurt?”

Aisha: “Pretty much.”

Daoist Master Li: “Where are you hurt? Is it serious?”

Aisha: “My brain. This riddle is about to make me brain-dead.”

The chat went quiet for a long time.

He was probably speechless.

Feng Ling didn’t care. She needed somewhere to dump the pressure building behind her eyes, so she fired off message after message.

Aisha: “I can’t figure out what snake month’s heavenly fire even means.”

Aisha: “I thought snake month was the moon’s reflection in the water, so I spent all night on the river and saw nothing except the damn light show.”

Aisha: “Then I thought heavenly fire was a meteor, but it’s cloudy tonight. Even the moon keeps showing up and disappearing.”

Aisha: “I want to cut my head open and see what’s inside.”

Aisha: “Daoist Master, didn’t you say aberrants would come for me? Why aren’t they here yet?”

Aisha: “My head hurts.”

A reply finally came.

Daoist Master Li: “What’s your corruption value?”

Feng Ling froze.

Her fingers stopped mid-typing.

The panic didn’t vanish, but it cracked—and something almost like laughter slipped in. Of course that was what he asked.

This man’s understanding of aberrants felt deeper than the Inspection Bureau’s.

Aisha: “Daoist Master, I don’t understand. What’s a corruption value?”

Silence again.

Then, at last—

Daoist Master Li: “Snake month may not refer to the moon. In Daoism there are twelve Yuan Chen who govern the twelve months. Tai Yi Yuan Chen protects the Si month, which is also called snake month.”