I Am Extraordinary Alone

He had slept until 7 o'clock in the evening, awakened only by the sound of Kacha knocking on the door.

"Ishmael? Ishmael? Are you awake?"

"Ah... I... I just woke up..."

Kacha entered after pushing the door open and glanced at the bathroom before turning his attention to Wei Tianyang.

"The ritual is about to begin, come upstairs with me," Kacha said.

Wei Tianyang got up, rubbed his eyes, and said, "Alright, lead the way."

As Wei Tianyang approached, Kacha reached out to touch his shoulder.

Wei Tianyang stopped in his tracks, standing about an arm's length away from Kacha, leaving his hand suspended in midair, making the moment somewhat awkward.

Kacha laughed, "Ah, sorry, I don't want my enthusiasm to cause you any trouble."

"I'm not quite comfortable with people touching me randomly," Wei Tianyang said.

Kacha spread his hands and said, "Alright, I'll find a different way to express my goodwill in the future."

Wei Tianyang nodded and walked out of the room.

As the two walked along the lengthy national road, Wei Tianyang noticed that the lengths of the candles by each door seemed unchanged from before.

"Is the whole hotel without electricity?" he couldn't help asking.

"Hmm, there's no water or electricity here; after all, this hotel has been abandoned for decades," Kacha said.

"Decades..." Wei Tianyang found it hard to believe.

"I'm not very clear about the history here, but I know this hotel is older than I am," Kacha explained.

"How long have you guys been here?" Wei Tianyang asked further.

"About two years, initially there were only four or five people. Yaha has been looking for companions for the past two years," Kacha said.

"It's hard to imagine the conservative government letting you stay here for so long," Wei Tianyang shook his head.

"Yaha has his own channels; we usually don't inquire about them, but we trust him. Trust takes time to build, and Yaha has proven himself trustworthy," Kacha said.

The two fell silent for a while, walking out of the hallway and up the stairs, the creaking noise of the wooden steps echoed in the empty stairwell.

As they were about to reach the top, Wei Tianyang couldn't resist, "By the way, Kacha. I have another question about Yaha..."

They stopped on the last step, with the door leading to the rooftop terrace already in front of them.

"Is Yaha... a man or a woman?" Wei Tianyang asked.

Kacha smiled, "Does it really matter?"

With that, he pushed the door open.

The remains of the sunset and the evening's cold breeze poured into the stairwell, illuminating the doorway with a warm, orange light, as the chatter of men and women filtered from outside.

Kacha made a welcoming gesture, and without asking further, Wei Tianyang walked out.

A group of young men and women, lined up in two rows, stood by Wei Tianyang, casting curious glances at him, and he, in turn, took the opportunity to scrutinize everyone closely.

The ages among the group varied; the youngest were about his age and were few in numbers, most were in their twenties, and the oldest appeared to be just over thirty.

Yaha stood at the edge of the rooftop, with a small table in front of him, upon which lay a silver dagger.

Starbucks had also completed his purchases and had returned to the hotel, now standing by Yaha's side.

"Ishmael, this way," Yaha gestured to Wei Tianyang.

"Ishmael? His name is Ishmael?"

"Yaha gave him that alias?"

Wei Tianyang heard people whispering behind him.

He didn't know the meaning of the name Ishmael, but he somehow believed that it held special significance for Yaha.

As he approached the table, Yaha put his hand on his shoulder and called out loudly to everyone, "Quiet, everyone, quiet down and listen to me."

His voice was loud and gentle, youthful like that of a teenager, yet with a hint of femininity.

Everyone quieted down and looked at Yaha and Wei Tianyang with earnest eyes.

"It's been two years. They said even if we escaped the cage, without their support, we wouldn't survive the winter."

"Clearly, they were wrong. Not only are we still alive, but our ranks have grown even stronger than they were two years ago!"

"At first, there was only me… then I met Starbucks, Xianxian, Kacha, fountain… and then all of you."

"The curse we bore didn't kill us; in fact, on the day we bid farewell to that mark of failure, the curse turned into a gift."

"We opened the gift box, took out the thing that changed our lives, and turned it into strength, into... the power to burn down and destroy the lives they almost took from us."

"Tiantai Pharmaceutical… every one of you has, for various reasons, been on their operating tables. We were driven by lies and sold our lives."

"The strong should not bully the weak with force but with promises."

Yaha said this and looked at Wei Tianyang.

"Go on, tell us your story," he said.

Wei Tianyang was taken aback, turning his head and finding numerous earnest eyes on him, making him somewhat uncomfortable.

"My story… there's nothing to tell," he shook his head and said.

After speaking, he looked at Yaha, who just smiled back.

However, Starbucks said, "We are all going into the darkness together, so why not share each other's pain?"

Wei Tianyang looked at Starbucks, silent for two seconds, and then said in a deep voice, "Share pain? Did you all gather here for revenge on Tiantai Pharmaceutical, or to huddle together and lick each other's wounds for comfort?"

His question left Starbucks speechless, her lips parted but no words coming out. Although she was questioned by Wei Tianyang, there was not a trace of anger on her face.

"The group I want to join is a superpower warrior organization, not a PTSD support group," he added.

His red eyes swept across everyone as they listened in silence.

"We don't need to share each other's pain, only our anger. There is only one goal, to kill them all," Wei Tianyang said.

He turned and picked up the silver dagger from the table. Starbucks didn't know what he was going to do and reached for the handgun at her waist, but Yaha made a stopping gesture.

Wei Tianyang held the dagger with his right hand and extended his left wrist. The blade cut into his skin, drawing three bloodlines across the upside-down triangular pattern.

Blood welled out, quickly dyeing his left forearm red. The mark was on his pulse, but Wei Tianyang clearly hadn't cut deep enough; he merely wanted to slice the pattern, not commit suicide by cutting his wrist.

Next, he reversed the dagger and stabbed it into the table, the blade penetrating the surface and coming out the other side.

"Hahahaha! My Ishmael, you have indeed enlightened me!" Yaha suddenly burst into laughter.

"Share the anger! Yes! That's what we should share! Ishmael! I'm fortunate to have found you," Yaha lifted Wei Tianyang's left hand and called out loud.

At that moment, Starbucks standing nearby also sighed in relief, and the men and women gathered around all began to clap.

"I can transfer any wound and illness, but these three scars you must heal on your own; they are our symbol, Ishmael," Yaha declared.

Wei Tianyang nodded.

Yet Yaha still took out a roll of white bandage from his coat pocket and wrapped up the wound for Wei Tianyang.

Men and women surged forward, all placing their hands on Wei Tianyang's left arm. They looked at him with friendly and respectful eyes and kept saying, "Welcome! We are family now!"

"Xianxian, is the meal ready downstairs?" Starbucks called out to the crowd.

At that moment, a short, plump girl squeezed through the crowd and said, "If we don't go down soon, it'll get cold."

Yaha was delighted, his arm around Wei Tianyang's shoulder and his other hand pointing to the sky: "More important than revenge is filling our bellies! Come on, Ishmael! It's time to enjoy dinner!"

Thus, he was surrounded by the crowd and led downstairs, his sense of smell alerting him that the lobby's table was piled high with steaming, fragrant food, and there was... a lot of strong, bitter coffee!