Chapter 88: Capturing the "Snake" (2) |
Zhang Shutong was momentarily speechless.
"How many people have you lied to?" she asked with amusement. "Like what did you tell your mother—coming up the mountain to have fun? To do what exactly?"
She continued:
"You're probably wondering why I haven't asked about your purpose, right? Well, now I'm asking—what are you trying to do? Will you answer honestly?"
"But no need to rush your answer. Let's go." She put away her playful smile and returned to that nonchalant expression, her tone flat. "If you want to be honest, show the appropriate attitude. Since you've always wanted to go to that place, we'll wait until we get there to talk about it."
"That works best." Zhang Shutong wasn't surprised by her directness.
Lu Qinglian spoke again in an unquestionable tone:
"I warned you before not to be curious about certain things, but you still came. I hate nonsense and won't say 'I'll give you one more chance to reconsider.' So this isn't a decision anymore—it's a must. It's beyond your control now. Understand?"
After speaking, she took the first step, but not toward the entrance. Instead, she walked in another direction. Zhang Shutong followed her gaze and saw a small convenience store at the end of his line of sight.
Zhang Shutong stopped and watched the girl in the green robe enter the convenience store, soon emerging again. He couldn't tell what she had bought because a pocket was sewn inside the long robe, and she tucked the item inside.
This kind of small store wouldn't sell many items—nothing more than cigarettes, drinks, snacks, gum, and betel nuts. Zhang Shutong recalled she had mentioned buying snacks from this store twice before: once a knockoff cookie, once breakfast sausages wrapped in plastic, and she said that was all a long time ago.
Zhang Shutong had believed her at the time.
Now he had more doubts.
If that story was true, today happened to be her third visit.
If that story was false, how many truths were actually in her words? Was she lying even during casual conversation, or was everything carefully fabricated?
He followed the girl's footsteps through the entrance.
Eight years later, this was Zhang Shutong's first time setting foot on this mountain. He knew his current position was too low—even if there were anomalies, they wouldn't manifest yet. But despite this, he still instinctively observed his surroundings and even sensed changes in his body.
"You're walking too slowly." Lu Qinglian said flatly. "Everything around here is boring. Nothing to be wary of."
"You're walking too fast." It was indeed true. The shoes on her feet seemed to be hand-stitched cloth shoes, yet she moved faster than his hiking boots. He didn't know if it was from walking here every day—practice makes perfect. It could be described as walking on level ground.
"I don't think we need to rush. After all, I'm already here. We can chat for a bit," Zhang Shutong checked the time. From changing clothes until now, only twenty minutes had passed. He needed to drag this out longer. "I apologize for my earlier attitude."
Looking ahead, Lu Qinglian neither shook her head nor nodded:
"What do you want to talk about?"
"Those frozen snakes?"
"No comment on that. I'm the temple keeper. There are some things I can't tell outsiders."
Actually, this statement was a roundabout admission.
Zhang Shutong thought about other questions, but the girl said:
"My turn to ask—why were you at that villa?"
"I stayed here last night." Zhang Shutong wasn't prepared to reveal Teacher Song's existence.
"Your relationship with Gu Qiumian suddenly became quite good."
"My relationship with you also suddenly became quite good." Zhang Shutong replied offhandedly.
Then he felt somewhat irritated, because he realized Lu Qinglian was absolutely right. He'd always felt she spoke in riddles, keeping everything shrouded in clouds and mist, always saying "you can understand it that way for now." But wasn't he the same? He'd just woven a more specific lie—it really wasn't any better.
Honestly, Zhang Shutong also detested this aspect. Too many lies could only be covered by countless more lies. But he had no other choice. The most he could do was tell people he'd had a dream.
So he prepared to be ignored, but who knew Lu Qinglian would actually stop:
"Really? How good exactly?" She said meaningfully.
Zhang Shutong was caught off guard again. "That's your second question."
"Then go ahead and ask."
Zhang Shutong hadn't decided what to ask yet.
Because he'd just found a loophole in Lu Qinglian's words.
She "shouldn't" know that place was Gu Qiumian's family villa.
By normal logic, Lu Qinglian shouldn't even know there was a building there, let alone whose it was.
Because from the mountain road entrance, you couldn't see the villa's outline at all. Usually she and Gu Qiumian had no interaction—she wouldn't know where her house was. His own mother also couldn't possibly say something like "I'm taking you to another girl's house to pick up my son."
He thought again of the photo the senior had sent—of a long-haired woman. If before it could only be assumed she was photographed on the road, unable to confirm she'd actually been there, now it could almost be confirmed.
She might have even been there before.
"Have you practiced martial arts?"
"Martial arts?"
"Like when you kicked away that poacher."
"Just a bit stronger."
"An average adult man probably couldn't beat you."
"You're asking this because you want to try?"
"Of course not."
Zhang Shutong thought again—if that's the case, who could have killed her eight years later?
In the original timeline, Du Kang had insisted Lu Qinglian was murdered.
Right, she also died in the Forbidden Zone.
After walking a few more steps, Zhang Shutong called for her to stop and wait.
"I want to rest." He deliberately panted heavily.
Lu Qinglian only frowned and stopped.
"Have you eaten breakfast?" Zhang Shutong asked again.
"You're talking too much."
"I just think you must get up very early, especially on snowy days."
"I'm used to it."
"Did your grandmother make the food?"
"Do you still remember my earlier question?" Lu Qinglian suddenly said.
Zhang Shutong actually did remember. "How good is my relationship with you?"
"Now I can give you a clear answer—not good enough for that, so don't pry into my private matters." She said coldly.
"Then can we discuss business?"
"Depends."
"Why does Gu Qiumian's father want to demolish the Green Snake Temple?" Zhang Shutong hadn't asked before because he was worried she'd suddenly turn hostile, but now only the two of them were around. He was basically a hostage—it didn't matter if she turned hostile or not.
"You can ask her directly."
"Her answer doesn't matter. Your attitude matters."
"I don't know." Lu Qinglian said simply. "If there's an answer, it's all in the riddle itself."
"Development and construction?"
"Tourist attraction."
"Then what's your stance?"
"I should have said—we disagree."
"What if he uses some methods? You should know about the Commercial Street incident."
Zhang Shutong continued probing.
But Lu Qinglian didn't take the bait:
"Then why don't you tell me what answer you want to hear?"
Zhang Shutong stopped talking.
"By the way," he took out his phone, "I searched for some Green Snake Temple legends before. Which one is true? Can you tell me?"
"My turn to ask." Lu Qinglian didn't answer but asked instead, "Why are you so concerned about your deskmate's situation?"
"I have a crush on her." Zhang Shutong said without changing expression.
"Then how many clues have you found so far?"
"Commercial Street. Nothing else besides that."
"Really nothing else?" Lu Qinglian calmly stared into his eyes, as if confirming something.
Zhang Shutong met her gaze and nodded.
"You'd better not be lying." After speaking, she stepped forward again.
Zhang Shutong watched Lu Qinglian walk with practiced ease. Going uphill was easier than going down. Following behind the girl, he actually found it easier than coming down the mountain road earlier. All he had to do was align his shoes with those footprints—the snow had been compacted, so there was no worry about missteps.
He looked at the surrounding scenery. Indeed, as Lu Qinglian had said, there was nothing worth seeing. Apart from snow, the ground was still snow. Occasionally visible tree branches were likewise covered with a layer of white snow.
Desolate and uninhabited.
That was probably the best description of this mountain right now.
They finally reached halfway up the mountain path. Zhang Shutong checked his phone but didn't call for her to stop this time, worried about being too obvious.
But Lu Qinglian stopped on her own. She extended her finger, pointing toward white courtyard walls hidden in the mountain range:
"Almost there. You'd better not stop again."
So that must be the Green Snake Temple.
"What did you mean by that warning earlier? Can you reveal that?" Zhang Shutong asked. "What will happen if I go there?"
"Depends on the situation." Lu Qinglian glanced at him.
Just then, a sharp, piercing shriek rang out. Zhang Shutong instantly turned his head and discovered a fox emerging from the forest on one side. The fox had only half an ear remaining. It was now warily tucking its tail, growling at him.
As if he were an invader on this mountain.
This reminded Zhang Shutong of that Doberman. He seemed unpopular with these animals—they always treated him as an "enemy." He instinctively stepped back. Of course he wasn't afraid, but better to avoid trouble.
Foxes were supposed to fear humans, but when he stepped back, the fox actually stepped forward, then paced back and forth a few meters in front of him. He looked down at the snow, picked up a stick, and was about to throw it at the fox to chase it away.
"Don't move."
Lu Qinglian frowned and blocked in front of him.
As if that fox had some significant background, and she rushed forward to protect him from any accident. But in fact, she had turned her face—"don't move" was directed at him, not at the fox.
"Step back a bit. Put the stick down."
So she was protecting the fox.
Zhang Shutong dropped the stick and simply walked downward. When he turned around again, he saw the fox running over happily, coming to the girl's feet and nuzzling her long robe with its furry head.
"A pet?" Zhang Shutong asked.
"No." The girl also bent down to pat the fox's head, her expression finally showing a bit more life. But only a little bit.
It must be said, Teacher Song said he lacked human warmth, but actually Lu Qinglian wasn't much better. Only now did she seem more like a sixteen-year-old girl.
"What happened to its ear?" Zhang Shutong asked. "I see it just scabbed over. Who bit it off? Are there fiercer beasts on the mountain?"
"There were originally five of them." Lu Qinglian only said quietly. "Remember those two poachers?"
So that's how it was.
Zhang Shutong understood. He remembered they hadn't just hunted that bird but had also shot other animals, including foxes.
"So putting down the stick was because of this?" He asked again. "Traumatized by that air rifle?"
Lu Qinglian nodded slightly, as if some dim color flashed through her eyes.
He couldn't help but feel a bit sympathetic toward Lu Qinglian. She already had so little human warmth, only improving slightly around foxes. Who knew the foxes she raised also died.
But sympathy was an emotion that shouldn't be used on her, so it only lasted an instant. Zhang Shutong wasn't here to see foxes today.
Since coming up the mountain, he'd been using his own methods to eliminate her as a suspect.
In fact, he'd never identified Lu Qinglian as the killer of Gu Qiumian, but she definitely couldn't be uninvolved. Zhang Shutong just never understood what role she played.
Because even if she didn't do it directly, indirect participation couldn't be ruled out.
Just like when Li Yipeng smashed Gu Qiumian's blocks—he was the direct culprit, but was Zhou Ziheng innocent?
His second concern was that he felt Gu Qiumian's cause of death was too suspicious.
The flawless security system, the killer's completely untraceable movements, the death location that seemed somehow fated... countless doubts.
And on this timeline, the sudden heavy snow, those frozen snakes, the figure he saw last night—all these things overlapping gave him a very bad feeling.
It seemed Gu Qiumian's death had transcended "realistic" factors, and there were other invisible, intangible things at work.
It couldn't even be deduced. No wonder he was so tense.
And the most mysterious thing on the entire island that Zhang Shutong could think of was the Green Snake Temple—or rather, the girl who served as temple keeper at the Green Snake Temple.
Not to mention the clues pointed to by the tattoo on his arm.
Although he still couldn't determine what the third circle represented, at least the first two pointed to one thing.
So he'd asked Qingyi and the others to dig a very deep pit in advance. Based on the foundation of that snow pit for games, they'd set up a trap ahead of time.
This was a decision made at home not long ago.
If before his attitude toward Lu Qinglian was to keep his distance, now it was to face the vortex head-on.
—To drag her into his own rhythm.
When doing things, avoid being indecisive. Either enemy or stranger, not constantly suspicious and timid.
The fact was, he could never ignore Lu Qinglian's existence and treat her as a stranger, so she could only be an enemy.
Only then could he grasp a bit of initiative.
Although "snakes" were dangerous predators—patient and cunning, striking prey's vital points unexpectedly—humans had four limbs, gradually learned to walk upright through evolution, and could master various tools. Capturing a "snake" wasn't impossible.
This trip up the mountain, Zhang Shutong was here to catch this "snake."
While Lu Qinglian played with the fox, he checked his phone again. A pit large enough to hold an adult had been dug. Once someone fell in, it would be nearly impossible to climb out on their own.
The surroundings were camouflaged, covered with a thick layer of snow, with tree branches marking it. Unless informed in advance, no one could tell it was a trap.
Qingyi had sent him the trap's exact location, then retreated with Du Kang and Ruoping, leaving some tools around—rope and shovels.
Even Zhang Shutong's eyelid twitched when he saw this, thinking they'd gone overboard.
"A bit excessive."
"Actually, I also think it's too much, but since we already dug it, if we didn't dig deep enough and she breaks free, wouldn't it be a waste?"
"You're right."
His thinking at home had been simple. He didn't have much time to keep testing a dangerous person. If Lu Qinglian still wouldn't talk, he could only force her to open her mouth this way.
After all, no matter how good at fighting, she was still just a sixteen-year-old girl.
The regression ability had "disappeared"—this disappearance meant Zhang Shutong couldn't be sure if something happened to him, whether it would still work. Would it regress to the critical moment before death, or would he really just die?
There was no way to test this, and he didn't dare gamble.
He didn't even dare gamble that if Gu Qiumian was harmed again this time, whether he could return to eight years later and gather intelligence to prepare again.
What if he couldn't?
If there was a pattern, the biggest pattern of this ability was having no pattern.
Before, he thought his ability was just "when something bad happens around me, I can return to the critical moment before it happened." But the fact was, this rule summarized over eight years had been overturned just like that.
Then he could only steel his heart.
Thinking of this, Zhang Shutong glanced at Lu Qinglian again.
The girl seemed completely oblivious.