Chapter 3: Peeping

Tian Yi's question made Jiang Yun nervous again. She clearly wasn't good at lying; her face alone showed that she'd been caught out.

“If you'd rather not say, there's no need to make up another story. Everyone's entitled to a few secrets.” With that, Tian Yi spared Jiang Yun any further embarrassment.

“Hey! Carl, Isaac.” Tian Yi suddenly raised his voice and called ahead.

The bald man and the young Black man were walking a short distance ahead of them. They turned at his voice, and Isaac grinned. “Ha, buddy, it's you. I thought you were staying by the sea with the girl to enjoy the view.”

Carl looked as bad-tempered as ever. “Find anything?”

Tian Yi replied, “We found water not far from the shore. Groundwater forced up through a fault, probably. Plenty of it. I'd call that good news. At least we won't have to drink bodily waste or give ourselves seawater enemas.”

Isaac made a strange face. He seemed to have pictured it and found it revolting. “Buddy, that's disgusting. If there's no fresh water, why not just distill seawater and drink that?”

Tian Yi gave a dry chuckle. “Ha... Do you have the equipment to distill seawater...?”

Only now did that occur to Isaac. He didn't, so all he could do was smile awkwardly.

Carl said, “Isaac and I want to head farther inland, see if we can find something to eat. Those few coconuts along the shore won't keep this many people going for more than a few days.”

Tian Yi had already noticed the wooden stick in Carl's hand. Its end had been sharpened, with uneven edges that suggested he'd whittled it with a stone.

“I'm very relieved to discover there's someone else here with some sense,” Tian Yi said.

The four talked as they made their way inland, but after about twenty minutes, they'd found no sign of animals other than insects and birds. Carl suggested turning back, since he'd have trouble keeping his bearings if they went any farther. Seeing that the other two agreed, Tian Yi raised no objections.

For now, Tian Yi didn't want to show how different he was from the others. The situation on the island was still far from clear, and he needed to use these twelve people to help him discover the truth.

Once they regrouped with the others by the beach, Yang Gang again volunteered to organize things, gathering everyone's findings and progress reports.

The boy Jerry, his “butler” Rude, and Noguchi had simply sat on the beach waiting to be rescued. Apparently, the two old men had put their situation down to a shipwreck or something of the sort. Tian Yi had never liked useless people who deceived themselves this way. Ideas for tormenting them sprang unbidden into his mind, almost by instinct. Basically, he really wanted to toy with them until they died...

Gavin the architect and the company employees Dale and Lambert had walked a long way along the coast and reached three conclusions. First, the island was large, though they couldn't say how large. Second, as far as they could see across the sea, there was no other land nearby. Third, this certainly wasn't a tourist destination. There wasn't the slightest sign of any world-famous attraction. It was simply a deserted island.

Yang Gang had gone with the other two women, Fidelia and Becky. Perhaps the women thought that, among a group of strangers, sticking with the police officer was safest. The three hadn't made any progress either, though. After an hour, Yang Gang had brought back a few coconuts and nothing else.

Last came Tian Yi, Carl, Isaac, and Jiang Yun. They'd found water in the nearby woods and established that there were no animal tracks anywhere between the beach and roughly two miles inland. That wasn't particularly significant, really.

After exchanging information, they decided to rest where they were, discuss what to do next, and try to work out why they were on this island. Perhaps finding something seemingly useful to do was the only way to keep morale from sinking any further.

Had Tian Yi been alone on the island, he wouldn't have stayed on this beach at all. He'd already ruled out the possibility of a passing ship happening to spot someone on shore. He would have headed straight inland before sunset, investigating the entire island as thoroughly as he could without wasting a moment.

But these people, in Tian Yi's view, were the most ordinary of humans. Slow-witted, timid, ignorant, physically frail, they fell short even of sickly soldiers. If he weren't on this island, Carl and Yang Gang would probably survive the longest.

As for brains and strategy, Tian Yi honestly couldn't see anyone among them figuring anything out. If they'd had even the tiniest clue, that would have been something, but with no information at all, weren't they just sitting there making wild guesses...?

Sure enough, they guessed from afternoon until sunset, then planned to divide the coconuts equally and call that their meal for the day. Apart from the clothes on their backs, they had nothing. Their pockets were empty, and they couldn't light a fire to cook. Of course, they had no food that needed cooking either, so they made do.

Tian Yi was shocked and furious. Holding his half of a coconut, he sat with his back against a coconut palm, looking like someone who'd won the lottery jackpot and then accidentally dropped the ticket down a drain.

“A whole crowd of people, all with working arms and legs, bustling about for half a day, and dinner turns out to be coconuts smashed open with rocks and shared around,” Tian Yi sighed to himself. “I finally understand why evolution is the truth. Humans really are a bunch of monkeys.”

Tian Yi hadn't eaten a bite. He gave his share to Carl, who clearly hadn't had enough. The big man thanked him and scraped that half clean too in less than a minute.

That night, the air was cool as water, and most of the twelve people settled against trees along the beach and went to sleep.

As the saying goes, a lone blue moon, a ledge of jagged stone. Tian Yi wasn't asleep, though he wasn't crouching on a ledge of jagged stone either. There were only reef rocks here for him to stand on. The moonlit beach shone bluish silver, and his silhouette on the high rock resembled some aloof poet or wandering swordsman. If the sea hadn't been so calm, someone might have thought he was Dugu Qiubai, practicing his swordsmanship against the waves.

“Mr. Tian.” Jiang Yun had climbed onto the large reef rock too and called to him from a few paces behind.

Tian Yi turned toward her, his face as listless as it had been all day. “What is it now?”

“What are you doing standing here alone? Too hungry to sleep?”

“I don't mind going without food. But I haven't had coffee all day,” Tian Yi replied weakly. “I never feel I can sleep properly without some.”

Jiang Yun laughed. “Who drinks coffee before going to sleep?”

Tian Yi didn't answer that. Instead, he said, “Never mind. I'll go with you.”

“Hm? What?” Jiang Yun looked startled.

“You only got up in the middle of the night because you wanted to relieve yourself in the woods. You happened to see me here and came over to say hello,” Tian Yi said. “So, as I said, let me go with you.”

Jiang Yun smiled awkwardly. “Well... there's no need. I can just go by myself...”

“That dirty old man deliberately picked a tree near yours to lean against. Didn't you notice?” Tian Yi interrupted. “He isn't really asleep. If you'd gone straight into the woods just now, he'd have followed and waited for his chance.”

Jiang Yun looked frightened. She glanced back and lowered her voice. “How do you know...?”

People's heart rates and breathing naturally differed depending on whether they were asleep or awake. At this distance, Tian Yi could of course monitor everyone here at any time. But he couldn't very well answer with something like, I have powers beyond those of ordinary people. So he left the question unanswered and said earnestly, “I thought saying it once would be enough... But it seems I need to remind you. Be wary of everyone, including me.”

Tian Yi jumped down from the reef rock, turned, and held out his hand. “Please.” Like a gentleman, he took the lady's hand and helped her jump down.

After hearing what Tian Yi had said, Jiang Yun deliberately chose a more distant part of the woods. Noguchi was still pretending to sleep where he was. With Tian Yi at Jiang Yun's side, he could only watch helplessly as they left together. Noguchi seethed. A mere pretty boy who ran a bookshop, daring to spoil his fun.

As for Tian Yi, he couldn't have been happier. In fact, he wouldn't have objected if wild dogs had carried Jiang Yun off and eaten her. The whole point was to spoil someone else's fun. Just imagining the look on Noguchi's face gave him a deep sense of satisfaction.

Mental torment came in many forms, and Tian Yi was naturally well versed in them. Once he'd seen through the “sin” in someone's heart, tormenting them to death or madness, or making their life worse than death, was all very simple.

For example, Noguchi was like a starving man. Denying him food would have been torture enough, but Tian Yi's method was to put a delicious piece of fatty meat right in front of him, tantalizing him without letting him have a single bite.

Then, every so often, Tian Yi would pick up the meat and give it a lick or two. He wouldn't even say how good it tasted. He'd leave that to the other man's imagination.

Noguchi was exactly as Tian Yi had deduced. He was indeed an official from Sakura Prefecture, neither particularly high-ranking nor particularly low-ranking, though his department offered plenty of opportunities to line his pockets. He had no other particular interests. He simply lusted after women. Calling him a “dirty old man” was entirely fair.

Over the years, Noguchi had preyed on plenty of respectable women and even underage schoolgirls, though most of the women he dealt with were prostitutes. As the saying went, commit enough wrongs and you bring about your own destruction. Given his beastly conduct, it was only natural that Noguchi had been ambushed himself and nearly lost his life. After that, he'd become much more cautious. Take his claim to be an entrepreneur, for example. Ten years ago, Noguchi would never have done that. Back then, he'd have loudly announced his official position by now.

In the woods, Jiang Yun returned after relieving herself and found Tian Yi some distance away, “standing guard” for her. She tapped him on the back and said quietly, a little embarrassed, “Mr. Tian, I'm done. Let's go back.”

“Oh,” Tian Yi answered absently. He was actually wondering how to delay a little longer and leave Noguchi imagining things for a while yet.

Suddenly, Jiang Yun stopped. “I think someone's coming...” She'd heard a sound and grew a little flustered. “Is it Noguchi?”

Tian Yi noticed the movement at the same moment. He knew who the two approaching people were without looking, and in those three seconds, he'd already all but deduced their true identities and their relationship.

Tian Yi smiled coldly, that seemingly ever-present look of disgust still on his face. He said nothing, merely gestured for Jiang Yun to keep quiet, then took her by the hand and hid with her in a nearby thicket as quietly and carefully as possible.

Once they were crouched down, Tian Yi whispered in Jiang Yun's ear, “Get ready for a good show. I bet you've never seen anything like it in your life.”