Dragon Raja 4; Chapter 10: Journey to the End of the World (10)

Dragon Raja 4

Reginleif and Chu Zihang stood about two meters apart, leaning against the steam vent next to the helicopter pad. Reginleif was holding a bottle of vodka.

Tonight, White Wolf was on duty. He had been drinking to keep warm, but when he saw Chu Zihang from a distance, he put down the bottle and walked away without a word. Chu Zihang didn’t understand why White Wolf was avoiding him, but Reginleif cheerfully picked up the half bottle of vodka he left behind.

Not long ago, they had messed up the carnival on the forward deck. The news about the rabbit girl and a certain single male tourist would become the hottest gossip on the ship tonight. Chu Zihang wasn’t interested in getting involved in Reginleif’s games; he had no interest in the personal life of the Saintess, nor did he want to join the rivalry over her. However, before he could turn and leave, Reginleif bounced over and grabbed his hand. When Persson tried to pull Reginleif away, Chu Zihang was also eager to shake off the troublesome girl. But when Reginleif whispered something in his ear, his expression changed. He placed his hand on Persson’s chest. Persson felt as if he had hit a soft wall. No matter how hard he tried to advance on Chu Zihang, his force dissipated immediately. He tried to shake off the hand, but it felt as if it was glued to his chest. Enraged, Persson swung his fist at Chu Zihang. Realizing that he couldn’t explain things to a drunk, Chu Zihang had to forcefully push Persson into a chair, grabbing a fork and knife from the nearby table to pin his suit jacket to the armrest. He turned and left, leaving Persson shouting “My dear little rabbit” from where he sat.

Reginleif, not giving Persson any face, chased after Chu Zihang a few steps. Realizing that the bulky rabbit costume made movement difficult, she unzipped the costume and sprang out of it like a spring. Inside the rabbit suit, Reginleif wore only a silk nightgown. After dancing and drinking all evening, she was sweating heavily, her skin flushed from its original porcelain white. At that moment, even the older ladies turned to look at their husbands, curious about their expressions.

Reginleif said, “The benefit of helping me is the intelligence on the Gate of the Divine Kingdom!”

Many people think that someone like Chu Zihang, who behaves like a monk, would care a lot about his reputation, but in fact, he has no clear sense of right and wrong in this regard. He doesn’t mind if his scandal spreads around the ship in exchange for intelligence. Scandals don’t weigh him down; he never lives in the eyes of others and isn’t too concerned about how people perceive him.

He gave Reginleif his cold-weather gear and found her a pair of simple slippers, then followed her to the helicopter pad. At this moment, Reginleif, wrapped up like a polar bear, stood barefoot in slippers, drinking from the bottle in the biting cold Arctic wind. She invited Chu Zihang to share the vodka, but he declined. He wanted a drink to warm up but didn’t want to share the bottle with her. He’s the type who can engage in rumors with you but will still maintain a boundary that makes him comfortable.

Reginleif drank and laughed, recounting how the boys competed secretly for her attention, how she stoked the flames and ended up with a fight. Fortunately, Chu Zihang was there; otherwise, Persson might have been clingy. As she spoke, the jingling of bells came from her cold-weather suit. Reginleif reached into her nightgown and pulled out a cellphone. The call was from Persson.

The Yamal is equipped with virtual wireless base stations and four maritime satellite phones, each supporting 12 simultaneous calls. So, your phone number is still valid here, but the data costs are very high. Most people are accustomed to using the internal phones in their cabins. Persson was embarrassed, and now the call might be him either angrily berating Reginleif for playing with his feelings or begging for more time, instead of hanging around the aloof Chinese guy.

Reginleif casually tossed the phone into the vast ice sea: “That guy is quite handsome, but he’s so bad at conversation.” To her, a phone number is just a meaningless string of digits; what matters is the internal phone number for the top deck, but she wouldn’t tell anyone that.

“He kept talking to me about his family, his family’s company, his villa in Amsterdam, inviting me to that villa for a vacation, saying his villa has a few thoroughbred horses and a wine cellar with whiskey aged over a hundred years,” Reginleif swished some liquor around in her mouth, then cursed, “Damn it! I don’t want his hundred-year-old whiskey or anything like that. I just thought he was quite handsome. He doesn’t even understand where his appeal lies!”

Chu Zihang had never met such a girl before, and she even had the title of Saintess. However, in The Far North, there were only about a hundred members at the peak of the season, which was less than a third of the new students admitted to Cassell College each year. This title in such a small group didn’t seem significant. Still, he didn’t care about what kind of Saintess she was; he stayed here to wait for Reginleif to give him the payment he was promised—the intelligence on the Gate of the Divine Kingdom.

“What? You can’t talk back to me?” Reginleif finally noticed the guy’s silence, “Even that steam pipe is spitting something out!”

“Do you often sneak out to play?” Chu Zihang asked the blunt question.

Reginleif looked up at the sky, brushing her hair with her fingers: “I have a week off every year from Christmas to New Year. What I do during that time is no one’s business. I’ve spent a whole week eating in the kitchen and dancing for three days straight… Alright, alright, I know you’re not interested in this. You want me to quickly give you the payment I promised and then go back to sleep.” She paused, “Actually, I don’t know what the Gate of the Divine Kingdom really is. According to legend, it is a door with no visible top, bottom, or sides, completely smooth like a mirror. If you see the Gods in the mirror, you’ll reach the Gods’ realm by going through that door. If you see a skeleton, then unfortunately, you’re going to die. That door is in the Arctic Ocean. No one knows who built it, and no one who has entered has returned, so we don’t know what’s behind it. The so-called Hyperborea or that Gate is just a beautiful expectation.”

“Is something completely unknown worth spending so many years searching for?” Chu Zihang asked.

Reginleif shot him a warning glance: “You’re quick to respond to these things, but you’re asking the wrong person. You should ask Vincent and my followers. Greed drives people to search for the Gate of the Gods; it’s a gamble of lifetimes. So what you said last night was interesting—you said even if there really is a Gate of the Divine Kingdom, it’s better if no one finds it.”

“You didn’t say that last night; you said I was desecrating your faith.”

“There are eight hundred ears eavesdropping outside; I have to act according to my position.” She moved closer to Chu Zihang and lowered her voice, “But here, we can say things that are not in line with our positions.”

Chu Zihang, instinctively wanting to move back from the scent of cedar, hesitated.

“Don’t get the wrong idea! I like young and handsome boys, not people like you!” Reginleif frowned, “I’m interested in your identity. This morning, Vincent came to see me and warned me not to meet you privately, saying you’re dangerous. Dangerous means you’re very capable, right? I heard he brought Hervor and Olrune with him but didn’t get anything useful. According to him, your Cassell College is quite formidable, almost omnipotent. If that’s true, I’d like to make a deal with you.”

“A deal?”

Reginleif turned her gaze to the vast ice sea, her expression suddenly becoming a bit hazy: “Since I can remember, I’ve lived on this ship. For me, the world is the sea, ice floes, and the ship. I live like an ancient lady. They forbid me from meeting outsiders; even the food is delivered directly from the kitchen through two intermediaries. It’s as if I would lose my chastity if a servant even glanced at me, and then the world would end. When I was fourteen, I saw a boy playing the ukulele on the forward deck. I wanted so much to talk to him, so I climbed out of the porthole, wearing only a nightgown. They were scared, and only then did they agree to give me a week off each year. During that week, I’m not a Saintess; I can do whatever I want.” She turned to look at Chu Zihang. “Have you heard of the ‘Kumari’ in Nepal? They are worshiped from the age of four until fourteen. People believe they are the earthly embodiment of the Kumari Goddess, a living deity. They are adorned in gold and silver, fed by others, and their feet never touch the ground—they are either carried or in a palanquin. Their job is to receive worship without crying or smiling until the next Kumari is born, at which point they are cast out of their palace.

“Are you unhappy with your current life?”

Reginleif gritted her teeth and said:

“The Far North, the Twilight Dogma, the Gate of the Divine Kingdom, and that Herzog—there’s a lot you want to know. I can tell you everything I know, but you have to help me get off this ship! I want a helicopter, a suitcase full of untraceable cash, and a passport! The passport can have any name on it, just not Reginleif! Your college is so powerful; it shouldn’t be difficult for you to arrange these things, right?

“The things you’re asking for are standard for bank robbers. Have your followers restricted your freedom?”

“You know? My great-grandmother was a saint for almost a hundred years, and she was still drifting at sea until she was about to die, because it was said that only a saint could open the Gate of the Divine Kingdom. Those people provided her with the best medical care. By the end, she was full of tubes, getting oxygen when she was short of it, getting electrolytes when she was deficient. Even if she had died, she would probably still be breathing. I was young and didn’t understand at the time, so I asked her if there was anything I could do for her. Do you know what she said? She smiled at me and said, ‘Kill me!’” Reginleif said. “I’m fed up with this life! I get only one week off a year. Even if I find a boyfriend I like, it’s only for a week. When he leaves the ship, my romance ends. Only by leaving this ship can I be free and have a real relationship!”

Chu Zihang thought to himself that the resentment over wanting a real relationship was indeed strong enough to make a saint rebel.

“We just met yesterday. Aren’t you worried that I’ll tell Vincent about this, talking to a stranger like me?”

“If you tell him, then you tell him. It’s just another failure. I’ve tried to escape several times over the years but never succeeded. I used to think the boys who liked me could help me with this, but they are unreliable. I should find a steady old man like you.” Reginleif said with frustration, “An older guy wouldn’t want to refuse a beautiful girl’s request, would he?” Chu Zihang was speechless. When did he start emitting an aura of maturity? But he wasn’t prepared to refute her.

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