Evolution of the Prince

Author: Qiao Ke Angel / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-12-01
Features: When Li Zi stepped out of the train station, it was nearing dusk. Although it was mid-September, the weather remained scorching. Outside the noisy and bustling train station, the weather was just as terrible as the metal canisters of the train cars. Li Zi took out her MP3 earplugs, her hand resting on her forehead, squinting at the sky. The scorching sun slanted beside Wanxi Building, casting a dazzling golden edge on the tallest building in Wanxi City. The heatwave washed over her as the crowd surged, with Mandarin and various local dialects mixed together. Li Zi glanced around, feeling no real sense of being in a foreign place, only a dazed disorientation. She was knocked hard on the shoulder, and with no warning, Li Zi stumbled forward a small step. Her leather bag slipped from her wrist. She turned her head but couldn’t see who bumped into her before feeling a sharp pain in her wrist, and her bag was forcefully torn away. Li Zi was stunned for only a second before seeing a gray-clad figure drag her already broken bag into the crowd. Li Zi screamed and, without hesitation, chased after the gray-clad man. The gray-clad man ran two streets without looking back, heading into West Station Square. He slowed down, glanced back, and was surprised to see the crowd parting like the Red Sea, with the thin, tall girl he had robbed of her bag at the station—shouting "Get out of the way"—running straight toward him, her half-human-height denim backpack swaying violently on her frail back, and her knee-length skirt stretched to its limit. As the distance closed, he could almost clearly see the girl’s face, her teeth clenched in determined fury! In that instant, despair struck the gray-clad man’s heart. He turned his head and ran frantically toward the north side of the square. After running a few steps, he realized he was near the covered walkway at the square, behind which stood uneven flower walls. He leaped onto the stone steps, passing through the covered walkway adorned with Greek-style columns and stone slabs intertwined with climbing plants. As the thin, tall girl awkwardly struggled to climb the steps with her suitcase, he spun around again and ran south. West Station Square was irregularly shaped, with the West Station Mall on the west side and residential buildings on the south. Only the south and east sides faced the street. In the late summer dusk, the gray and white marble paving reflected the dazzling sunlight, stinging people’s eyes. Li Zi was drenched in sweat, thirsty, and her breathing grew rapid. She saw the gray-clad man jump onto a low flowerbed, his messy steps crushing several carefully tended plants. Li Zi, however, had learned her lesson—or perhaps this chase was more exhausting than she imagined. Instead of chasing the flowerbed, she leaped off the steps beside it and circled around, just in time to see the gray-clad man jump down from the other side of the flowerbed. A faint cracking sound, but Li Zi didn’t notice it. What startled her was the shadow crouching beneath the flowerbed. She turned sharply, but luckily, her suitcase didn’t hit him. Li Zi didn’t have time to spare, her focus entirely on the gray-clad man just a few steps away. "Hey, stop!" When she was forcefully grabbed by the arm, Li Zi realized her shout had been directed at her. Her body still in a running stance, she turned her head and saw the boy who had been crouching in the corner. "Why are you holding me? I didn’t bump into you." After struggling for a while without success, Li Zi noticed in her peripheral vision that the gray-clad man was already running toward the main street. She couldn’t argue with the boy holding her and kicked his shin. As he let go in pain, she quickly broke free and ran toward the gray-clad man already on the street, about to cross the traffic. "Stop running!" But the gray-clad man only ran faster at her words. Li Zi gritted her teeth and chased desperately. Suddenly, a strong force pulled her backward—not, no, her suitcase was being forcefully tugged. Her sweaty palm couldn’t grip the suitcase handle, and Li Zi lost her balance, stumbling forward. She took a few steps to try to stop her fall but suddenly stumbled on her left foot, her side landing first. A sharp crack echoed, and excruciating pain shot through half her body. Li Zi fell hard to the ground! The scorching heat and the pain from her twisted ankle made Li Zi’s temples throb violently. A metallic taste filled her mouth—she must have bitten her tongue when she fell. She tried to stand up quickly but only managed to push herself up halfway after crawling on the ground several times. She forced herself to turn her head and look at the road, only to despairingly realize that the man she had been desperately chasing was gone. Li Zi sat blankly on the ground, unsure of what to do for a moment. Shadows slowly crept over her head. "You’re… you okay?" Li Zi hesitated before turning her head. The person speaking was tall, and she had to look up to see his face. However, because of the sunlight, she couldn’t make out his expression. He seemed to realize this too and bent down again, asking cautiously, "Are you hurt? Should we go to the hospital?" He was so close that Li Zi naturally noticed his dark purple eyes widening slightly in surprise. Even through his glasses, she could easily see the unease and panic in them. Then her gaze fell on his right hand, which was pulling her suitcase at an angle. "It was you who did this to me," Li Zi’s eyes instantly turned cold. The other man also grew tense at the change in her expression. P004-P007