Impermanence Land

Chapter One

It was about nine o'clock in the morning when Stella, Harold, Lyla, and Bruno had arrived at the northern gate of Longyan Town.

The entrance to town is guarded by two guards. Harold leads the way and walks past the two guards. Stella comes in next followed by Lyla and then Bruno.

When Bruno walks through the gates, one of the guards stops him. This guard was skinny and had black eyes. "What are you here for?"

Harold, Stella, and Lyla have already passed the guards and are now inside town. They turn around to look at Bruno. For some reason, Bruno is the only one who was stopped.

"For entertainment." Bruno answered. "Why was I the only one who was stopped?"

"Oh, them?" the guard nodded to Harold and the two girls. "It's a random routine check, but I can stop them, too, if it makes you feel any better."

"No, it's fine. I was just curious." Bruno said to the guard.

"Alright, then! Let's get this over with."

"Get what over with?"

Bruno is confused and the other guard comes up behind Bruno and grabs Bruno's nipples with both hands.

"Hey!" Bruno flinched and pulled back.

Stella and Lyla try so hard not to laugh out loud.

"Alright. Done!" said the guard. "Just checking if you have anything hidden there. You can go now."

"Who has something hidden in their nipples?"

"You never know."

Bruno shakes his head in disbelief and joins his friends.

Lyla laughs. "I think he's gay and he likes you."

"I hate this place already."

The town is called Longyan Town. Despite being called a town, it is very busy and is divided into several districts. The residential district in the north where most of the citizens live. The commercial district in the west. The government district in the east. Another residential district in the south. At the center of town is the government-owned mansion where the mayor lives. The ground has no grass and only contains yellow sand, dirt and rocks. Despite the lack of grass, there are trees growing around every street corner. These trees contain a fruit that is spherical and yellowish in color.

Stella and her friends walk along the residential district where homes are found. These houses are built with yellowish bricks.

Bruno's stomach starts to growl. "Anybody else hungry?"

"Did the groping make you hungry?" Lyla asked.

"No, but it made me want to punch that guy!"

Harold smiles a little. "I'm hungry, too. Let's find someplace to eat. It looks like this is the residential district. I see only houses here."

The group is now at the center of the town. There is a huge mansion right at the center. It has three floors and is gated by white wooden fences.

Harold sees a directory at the front gate of the mansion. "Ah, here's a map! Let's see here. It said we are at the center. It looks like we'll be going to the western district."

It took about ten minutes to get to the heart of the commercial district. There are many shops, buildings, restaurants and vendors here.

The restaurant chosen was a beef noodle specialty. Inside the restaurant, the customers seem to be a mix of natives and foreigners.

Harold chose the table at a corner. This is to survey the area and watch out for any potential attack from anyone. There were five chairs at the table. Everyone sat down and looked at the menu.

A young waitress walks up to the table. "Ready to order?"

Everyone ordered beef noodle soup. Stella and Lyla ordered soda for drinks. Harold and Bruno had coffee instead. After waiting for a few minutes, a young boy walked to Harold, gave him a folded note, and ran away.

Harold opens the note and reads it to himself. It read "I see you, Harold!". He quickly looks up to scan the area, but it's too busy to notice any suspicious person. It doesn't matter now. He crumbles the paper and tosses it.

"Alright," Harold began. "As per usual, Bruno and I will see what we can gather." He then turns to the girls. "Lily and Lyla, you guys can go hang out or something. But let's find an inn first, so we know where to meet up in the evening."

After checking in at the nearby inn, Stella and Lyla went outside for sightseeing and to hang out.

With the girls gone, Harold tells Bruno about the note at the restaurant.

After reading the short note, Bruno got a little irritated. "It's that Jade Cat again! He's messing with us."

"It was from a little boy, but you're right, the Jade Cat was probably behind. He's probably the only one who knows what we look like."

"Were you able to catch anything afterward?"

"No, and I also checked if we were followed coming here, but nothing stood out to me."

"So, what now? Lyla and Lily are hanging out. What if they get into trouble or something."

Harold smiles. "That's part of the plan. If we split into three parties, the pursuer can only follow one of us."

Bruno has a confused look on his face. "Three of us?"

"Yeah, Lily and Lyla are one, you're another, and I'm the third. I'll follow Lily and Lyla to see if anyone's following them, you'll follow me to see if anyone's following you."

Bruno understands the plan, but has a question. "What about me? Who will follow me? I can't do two things at the same time."

"Also part of the plan. If I don't see anyone following the girls, and you don't see anyone following me, then we will know that the pursuer is following you."

"Ah, I see now. In that case, you and I need some kind of signal letting each other know."

With that said, while watching Stella and Lyla, Harold did not detect anyone following him. He signaled to Bruno from behind.

After about thirty minutes or so, Harold sees the girls walking into a theater to watch a play called "Adventure of Cat". Bruno also goes inside right after his cousin.