The ultimate blue sea

Chapter 15 - The Decision

When Su Qing woke up and found himself leaning against a plague god named Hu Bugui, he had the following reaction. He expended a great deal of effort to get up off the ground. In the process, his right foot tripped up his left foot, and he nearly once again made intimate contact with the ground. He knocked aside Hu Bugui's hand attempting to support him. Then, overestimating his own capacity, he grabbed Hu Bugui's collar, trying to drag him to his feet—unsuccessfully, because his arm was too weak—then gathered all his strength and, swaying, delivered a punch to the side of Hu Bugui's face.

Then, because this person's exterior was steel-plated, under the influence of the reacting force, he took two steps back and yet again plopped down to the ground.

Hu Bugui touched his face where it had been punched. It didn't hurt, but he was a little bewildered.

Over the comms came the sound of clapping. The quack Lu Qingbai and the tech nerd Xu Ruchong cheered in unison: "Left hook! Nice hit!"

Hu Bugui decisively cut the connection.

Su Qing propped himself up with one arm, shaking like a twig in the wind. He pointed to Hu Bugui. His lips moved, but his throat wouldn't work. After an age, he still couldn't force out a single word.

Hu Bugui hurried to the car, turned up half a bottle of water and offered it to him, but he was again pushed away by Su Qing. This time Hu Bugui clearly heard what he was saying. Su Qing said, "I, I fucking met you once, and I got, got eight lifetimes of bad luck. Each, each place you've been, even the air you breathe, it's all unlucky, you stay...stay the fuck away..."

Hu Bugui didn't know what to say and only sat by in silence, machine gun planted beside him, back leaning against the very mini car. His back was slightly stooped, contracting his sturdy form, and he was carefully twisting the half-bottle of water in his hands. Seeing Su Qing wobbling as though drugged, he very much wanted to step up to support him, but each time he showed a hint of approaching, Su Qing looked scornful, so Captain Hu could only once again retreat in vexation.

Su Qing felt as though everything hurt. He grumbled and cursed for a long time, struggling where he sat, before finally managing to produce some coherent words. But his throat still hurt. A bit of air passing through it could make him cough for ages.

There were two full meters between the two of them. They sat there facing each other, each staring back at the other.

After a long time, Su Qing cleared his throat and asked in a thin voice: "What...what the hell are you?"

Hu Bugui answered seriously: "I'm with the RZ Unit. I'm very sorry about last time. I got you dragged into this."

"Your apology is late in coming," said Su Qing.

Hu Bugui bent his head and didn't speak, looking like he was observing a silent tribute.

Su Qing inhaled. He seemed to want to issue a rather lengthy statement, but when he took this breath, the air immediately choked his fragile throat, and he began to cough violently.

Hu Bugui cautiously approached him and reached out with extreme reserve to pat him on the back. He placed the half-bottle of water in front of Su Qing. He hadn't spoken until now. Afraid that Su Qing wouldn't drink, he dully said, "Drink some. It's all right, it's my teammate's water, I haven't touched it. It won't..."

He wanted to say, It won't give you bad luck to drink it, but he felt awkward and falteringly shut his mouth.

Su Qing wiped the bloody saliva around his mouth, glanced at Hu Bugui, and reached out to take the bottle he had squeezed dents into. Hu Bugui lay a hand on his back. A faint smell of cigarettes came from him. His body temperature was unusually high, as though you could feel it even through his clothes.