Chapter 5: Strange Occurrence Deep in the Night
Halfway to the top of a mountain in one of the prestigious residential areas of Asia Metropolitan region's 4th district lay an old eight-story building with faded and alternating vertical bands of warm-gray brick paint and dark windows.
This 'very building' housed the hostel that had been Tang Mu's residence ever since he started attending high school three years ago.
The other houses and apartment blocks in the same residential area were stylish and extravagant. Most were newly built, while a few others had undergone meticulous renovations over the years. At the moment, they had one thing in common. They were all top-class housing units accommodating some of the most affluent individuals within Asia Metropolitan region's 4th district.
On the other hand, Tang Mu's hostel building, which was in the middle of all those luxurious residential units, was the total opposite. It was the only shabby structure in the area, and judging from its cracked paint and worn-out roof, it seemed to have never gone through any renovations whatsoever.
From what Tang Mu had learned over the years, countless wealthy real estate developers had never stopped trying to purchase the land on which the building stood. However, the mysterious owner of the hostel had always rejected all the offers by insisting that the building's sole purpose was to house some of those unfortunate orphans whose parents had died while defending Earth against alien invaders.
Considering all that, the hostel had remained the only sore thumb that accommodated ordinary orphans struggling to survive in an otherwise top-class residential area within Asia Metropolitan region's 4th district.
"Tang Mu! Welcome back."
As Tang Mu arrived at the hostel entrance, a jolly-looking middle-aged lady with dimpled cheeks greeted him with a smile. She was Hu Wanjing, the woman who was the caretaker of the hostel. Tang Mu respected her a lot since she always went far and beyond to care for all the orphans staying at the hostel.
"Aunt Wanjing! Good evening."
Tang Mu smiled as his eyes landed on the broom in her hands. Like always, she had been busy with work. She had been sweeping the walkway to the hostel entrance but stopped to greet Tang Mu.
"Good evening to you too, Tang Mu," she replied. But the next moment, her eyes narrowed as they landed on Tang Mu's injured hand. "You're injured! What happened?"
"It's just a minor injury." Tang Mu sighed and told Aunt Wanjing about the fallen Vegroid ship.
"The ship crashed in the middle of a junction, and the special ops appeared!" Aunt Wanjing's expression became solemn after hearing the story. "That explains the explosive sound I heard an hour ago... But how could those guys become so careless to the point of initiating such an unfortunate incident within a civilian district? What could they have been after?"
"Beats me!" Tang Mu shrugged. "They arrived at the scene, searched the ship, and left without even approaching the survivors. They seemed to be in a hurry."
"Seems like something momentous must have happened..." Aunt Wanjing let her voice trail off, and her expression normalized. "The fallen Vegroid ship aside, did you finally graduate?"
"Yup, I'm now a high school graduate." Tang Mu smiled. "But I still have ways to go. The Psionic Society's Assessment is next week, on Friday. I must overcome it before attaining the qualifications to attend one of the top colleges in the Asia Metropolitan Region."
"You don't have to worry too much. I have watched you train and study hard over the past three years. I'm sure you will pass the assessment."
"That's my wish." Tang Mu said and looked around. "Let me leave you to your work. After going through all the mess with the fallen Vegroid ship, I feel quite tired. I'll head to my room and sleep before resuming my training tomorrow."
"Okay, that sounds like a good plan," Aunt Wanjing said. "But remember to eat something before going to bed. Don't try to save money by going to bed on an empty stomach. You need a lot of nutrients to become strong."
"Okay." Tang Mu voiced his acknowledgment and headed into the hostel building.
Despite how dilapidated the eight-story hostel building appeared on the outside, it was pretty comfy and spacious inside. The first and underground floors housed a canteen, a laundry room, a gym, and a shop. As for the other seven, they each contained self-contained units that served as accommodation for the fifty-two high school students living in the hostel.
The hostel owner must have thought everything through while building it. For convenience's sake, the students living in the hostel could use their monthly stipend from the government to purchase food and a few other amenities from the canteen and the shop. And if they wanted to train their physical fitness or do their laundry, they didn't need to exit the hostel. They could readily access the gym or laundry room during the day for a subsidized price of a few Earth Cents.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Tang Mu didn't like spending money unless there was an urgent need. He walked past the canteen and the shop on the first floor without taking a second look. He greeted a few young men and women he knew on the way and quickly approached the lift.
He swiped his access card on the panel and waited until the doors opened. Just then, his eyes landed on the visage of a young teenage girl in a pink tracksuit standing in the lift. The girl was Hu Ning, Aunt Wanjing's niece, who also resided at the hostel.
Hu Ning was cuter than cute, with long black hair cascading down her slim shoulders like a silky waterfall. Her face was exquisite, her brown eyes luminescent, and her ears and nose so delicate to an abnormal perfection. Even a divine sculptor could not have fashioned her adorable face any better.
The only negative was that the rest of her figure was on the thinner side when compared to other sixteen-year-old girls. Her burst was also not prominent, and her slender physique stood at just a height of five feet. She was almost the same age as Tang Mu. But she still looked like a short little girl in middle school.
At that moment, Hu Ning's attention was totally on a hologram projected from the smartwatch on her wrist. But just then, she seemed to realize that the lift had stopped moving, and she raised her tender young face.
On noticing Tang Mu standing before the lift, she smiled, and her beguiling white teeth lit up the small space.
"Big brother, Tang Mu! You're just back! Why are you so late from school?"
"Ning'er!" Tang Mu returned the girl's smile. "I, your big brother, almost died today. I'm so lucky to be alive."
"Big brother! You almost died! What happened? Did anyone bully you? I'll put my body on the line to deal with anyone that dared to hurt you." The adorable girl stepped out of the lift and clenched her little fists. All the while, she continued watching Tang Mu with misty eyes.
Tang Mu sighed. "Our Ning'er still treats me best. But no one bullied me. It's just that a free-falling Vegroid scout ship almost crashed me to death." He went on to tell Ning'er the rest of the details.
"Something like that happened!" Ning'er's eyes widened, and her pretty lips formed into an O-shape after hearing the story. "Let me get this right. A Vegroid ship almost crashed on you. But you survived and even saw the mighty psionics from the Flaming Phoenix special ops regiment! By any chance, did you see the rumored and talented ice beauty Xia Na?"
"Yes, I did! But just from a distance."
"You did!" Ning'er mumbled. "Between me and her, who do you think is cuter?"
Tang Mu's thoughts almost froze over. He regarded little Hu Ning's small frame and diminutive burst for a second or two. Then, he compared them to Xia Na's well-defined voluptuous figure and pointed peaks.
"Phew..."
He took a deep breath and said without changing his expression, "Our Ning'er is cuter and prettier. That woman might be powerful. But she is as cold as an iceberg. I think our Ning'er, who is more vibrant, is cuter and prettier. That's my honest opinion."
Ning'er beamed, and a smile lit up her face like a hologram. The dimples on her cheeks became more pronounced, and the corners of her soft lips lifted. "You know what, brother Tang Mu! My Aunt just gave me money to celebrate my graduation from high school. Would you like to eat dinner with me at the canteen? Of course, I'll be sponsoring."
"Ning'er is the best," Tang Mu praised. "Of course, I can't refuse after you taking all that effort to invite me for a meal. What are we having for dinner?"
Hu Ning's lips twitched at the corners, and she shook her head. "Greedy fellow! We will decide when we reach the canteen. Follow me!" Without waiting for Tang Mu's response, she stepped past his figure and continued towards the canteen.
"Yeah!" Tang Mu pumped his fist and followed after her. He had been entertaining the notion of eating noodles for dinner that day. But since the rich Hu Ning had come along, he gladly accepted her offer. He would eat his fill at the canteen before returning to his room to rest for the night.
-----
An hour later, Tang Mu parted with Hu Ning while feeling quite satiated. He returned to the lift and keyed floor number eight into its panel before entering and commencing his short journey to the topmost floor. He arrived a few seconds later and immediately headed toward the direction of his room in the far corner of the corridor.
Maybe because of the building's old age or due to how quite often the owners of the rooms changed, the hostel still utilized access cards instead of the more efficient facial, voice, or fingerprint recognition technology. Tang Mu swiped his access card on the smart lock panel for room 808 before keying in his personal pin and gaining access to his room.
A small and neat space with a bedroom, a kitchen, and a bathroom appeared within his sight. He entered and closed the door before throwing the bag on his bed.
What an exhausting day!
Tang Mu removed his shoes and stepped out of his faded school uniform. Soon enough, he took a cold shower and dried himself. He then jumped into bed and quickly sunk into a deep, relaxing slumber.
-----
It was deep in the night.
As usual, the billions of stars in the night sky shone like glistening sugar crystals spilled over black marble. But suddenly, something mysterious on a small planet called Earth seemed to resonate with the stars in the universe.
An odd and never-before-seen phenomenon immediately occurred, and the stars shone even brighter.
The abnormal brightness of the stars obviously alarmed all the powerhouses in the star systems close to the Milky Way. But no matter how hard the powerhouses tried, they still couldn't determine the reason behind the weirdness of the stars that night.
In the meantime, something strange was occurring around a boy sleeping in one of the rooms on the top floor of 'one particular hostel' within Asia Metropolitan Region's 4th district. This boy was Tang Mu.
In some mysterious way, the starlight seemed to penetrate through space, instantly traveling millions or billions of light years before cocooning Tang Mu's silhouette with a captivating silver glow. But that wasn't even the weirdest part. Instead, what was more bizarre was that Tang Mu's lean physique, or something within his body, seemed to be gobbling up the starlight at an incredible speed.
In one second, starlight would flood in and envelop Tang Mu's body. But the next moment, the starry glow around his bed would be cleanly absorbed, and his silhouette would become more distinct again.
That steady cycle of starlight pouring in and Tang Mu absorbing it continued for an indeterminate amount of time until a certain threshold was reached. Something even more abnormal occurred, causing his body to shudder while exuding an intense starry radiance.
"What's happening..."
Tang Mu woke up with a start and glanced around in confusion. However, just before he could regain his wits, his body flickered in and out of existence for a few seconds before disappearing entirely. All traces of his presence immediately vanished from the room, seemingly as if he had just evaporated into thin air.