The sound of a heavy object being moved forced Ji Zhou's wandering mind to return to the present. His head automatically turned toward the source of the sound, catching Lou Lou, the healer who saved him last night, entering the room he was in.
"Hǎole ma zhǔnbèi ?(Are you ready?)" Lou Lou asked.
"Wǒmen xiànzài jiù yào zǒule ma ? (We're leaving now?)" Ji Zhou asked in surprise.
"Ǹg...zěnmeliǎo? Xūyào xiūxí nǐ hái ma?(Yeah… What's wrong? Do you still need to rest?)" Lou Lou asked in concern.
"Bù...bù...wǒ yǐjīng xiūxí gòule. Kěshì nǐ...nǐ cóng zuó wǎn dào xiànzài dōu méi xiūxíguò... (No… no… I've had enough rest. But you… you haven't rested since last night…)" Ji Zhou said, showing his worry.
Lou Lou laughed. "Xiūxí wǒ bù xūyào.(I don't need rest.)"
"Nǐ bù lèi ma? Wǒ de yìsi shì, nǐ báitiān zài nà'er gōngzuò, wǎnshàng yòu dāngle yī zhěng yè de zhìliáo shī. Xiànzài nǐ yòu yào huíqùle. (Aren't you tired? I mean, you worked at that place during the day, then worked as a healer all night. And now you're going back there again.)"
Lou Lou laughed again. "Gěile wǒ néngliàng nàgè dìfāng. (That place give me energy.)" He said it with a small smile on his lips.
"Zhēn de ma? (Really?)" Ji Zhou asked in disbelief.
Lou Lou nodded. "Dàole nàlǐ nǐ jiù míngbáile. (You will understand when you get there.)" He then exhaled in excitement. "Nà, wǒmen xiànzài zǒu ba?(So, shall we go now?)"
Ji Zhou nodded with the same enthusiasm.
—
It turned out that Lou Lou's workplace was almost at the other border of the city. They had to walk for nearly an hour to reach it. Lou Lou surely is strong if he can carry me this far, Ji Zhou thought to himself as they walked.
When they arrived, Ji Zhou was stunned by how crowded the place was.
"Tāmen dōu zài zhèlǐ gōngzuò ma? (They all work here?)" he whispered toward Lou Lou's shoulder.
When Lou Lou nodded, Ji Zhou murmured another question.
"Nǐ quèdìng tāmen zhèlǐ réngrán xūyào xīn yuángōng ma? (Are you sure they still need new workers here?)"
Lou Lou only laughed and pulled his hand, dragging him toward a small building beside the entrance.
"Péngyǒu… (Friend…)," Lou Lou called to a man behind a hole in the wall that served as a window. The man shifted his gaze from whatever he had been working on.
"Wǒ dài láile lìng yī wèi xīn yuángōng. (I brought another new worker)," Lou Lou said, slightly pushing Ji Zhou forward.
"Shénme míngzì nǐ jiào?(What's your name?)" the man asked Ji Zhou in a flat voice.
"Ji Zhou."
"Nǎlǐ nǐ láizì?(Where are you coming from?)" the man asked again.
"Zu… Zu Lu."
The man frowned. "Zu Lu?"
Ji Zhou nodded, a little nervous.
"Yǐqián cóng wèi tīng shuōguò. (Never heard of it before)," the man murmured, making Ji Zhou hold his breath.
"Zuò shénme nǐ néng?(What can you do?)" the man asked another question, abandoning his curiosity about the place called Zu Lu.
"Wǒ...wǒ kěyǐ ràng dōngxī bàozhà,(I… I can make things explode,)" Ji Zhou answered, still stammering.
The man said nothing this time. He only moved a stone beside him closer to Ji Zhou.
"Bǎshǒu jǔguò tóudǐng, (Hold your hand above it,)" he instructed.
Once Ji Zhou did what he was told, a blue light emerged from the stone and scanned his hand. It felt cool yet slightly tingling at the same time.
"Wánchéng de (Done,)" the man said, implicitly telling Ji Zhou to remove his hand from the stone.
Ji Zhou inspected his palm. A mark had appeared there.
"Jiàng shǒu shēn xiàng dàmén shàng de gǒng xīn shí jí kě jìnrù. (Hold your hand toward the key stone at the gate to enter,)" the man said, as if answering Ji Zhou's unspoken question about the mark.
The man then moved another stone in front of Lou Lou. He didn't need to say anything, assuming Lou Lou already understood.
Sure enough, Lou Lou immediately hovered his own hand above the stone with visible excitement. This time, a green light appeared from the stone. Once the scanning stopped, Lou Lou withdrew his hand.
He thanked the man before dragging Ji Zhou to join the queue at the entrance gate.
"Nàme, dāng nǐ bǎshǒu fàng zài shítou shàng shí, nǐ huì dédào shénme ne?(So what do you get when you hold your hand over the stone?)" Ji Zhou asked as they stepped forward in line.
"Ó...zhè kuài shítou biǎomíng nǐ kěyǐ jìnrù dàménle. (Oh… the stone registers you to enter the gate,)" Lou Lou answered.
"Nǐ de ne? (And yours?)" Ji Zhou asked.
Lou Lou grinned. "Wǒ huòdéle yīcì jìnrù tiāntáng de éwài jīhuì. (I get an extra chance to enter heaven.)"
"Tiāntáng?! (Heaven?!)" Ji Zhou asked in surprise. "Shénme...shénme yìsi? (What… what do you mean ?)"
Lou Lou laughed.
"Bìngfēi zhēn de yāo shàng tiāntáng, (Not literally going to heaven,)" he explained. "Dàn gǎnjué shàng quèshí rúcǐ. (But it definitely feels like it.)" He added with a wide smile, his eyes shining brightly. It was as if he were talking about his lover.
"Na… (So…)," Ji Zhou interrupted Lou Lou's dreamy state. "Rúguǒ wǒ dài yīgè xīn yuángōng guòlái, wǒ jiù kěyǐ qù nàgè suǒwèi de "tiāntáng" ma? (I can go to this so-called heaven place if I bring a new worker?)"
"Bù...bù yīdìng. (No… not necessarily,)" Lou Lou corrected him. "Nǐ měi wǔ tiān kěyǐ qù yīcì. Dàn rúguǒ nǐ dài yī míng xīn yuángōng lái, jiù néng huòdé yī zhāng éwài de tōngxíngzhèng. (You can go there once every five days. But if you bring a new worker, you get an extra pass.)"
"Nà shì nǐ chōngdiàn dì dìfāng ma? (Is that where you get recharged?)" Ji Zhou asked.
"Nàlǐ nǐ huì huīfù jīngshén, fàngsōng xiàlái, chóngxīn gǎnjué zìjǐ huózhe
(You recharge, relax, revive… everything! It's just… the best feeling I'm sure you've never experienced.)"
Ji Zhou didn't ask another question. He wondered what that best feeling he had never experienced would be like.
The gate was getting closer. Only a few men remained before him.
Ji Zhou nervously rubbed his palms together.
Less than a minute later, he stood in front of the gate. Lou Lou stepped in first and vanished behind the stone gate.
Ji Zhou exhaled, trying to calm himself.
Slowly, almost hesitantly, he hovered his palm over the stone beside the gate, just like Lou Lou had done a few seconds earlier.
He expected the gate not to open. Or worse, that an alarm would sound.
None of them happened. The gate just opened.
Hesitantly, he stepped one foot through the gate.
Then the other.
And suddenly, he vanished into whatever lay beyond it.