Chapter 105: Sheepdog (3) |
Zhang Shutong and Song Nanshan got out of the car. Old Song went to speak with the lead police officer while Zhang Shutong watched the four bodyguards unload one piece of professional equipment after another from the vehicle.
Riot shields, headlamp helmets, tactical vests—Boss Gu was truly loaded. Zhang Shutong wondered where he'd managed to procure all this equipment in such a short time.
Zhang Shutong watched as the four bodyguards began conducting a carpet search around the villa. They were drawing generous salaries, had their orders, and were protecting their young miss's safety—they'd practically turn over every tuft of grass to examine it.
All of Gu Qiumian's underlings combined couldn't match even one of these men.
Zhang Shutong wanted to say, "You don't need to look, I've already checked everything there is to check, there's really nothing here," but these were professionals—he had no place to interject.
No one was paying attention to him, just a kid, so he wandered aimlessly around the courtyard. Sometimes he'd turn his head hoping to discover more clues, but it was truly difficult. Maybe Old Song was right—he should leave for a while, or he'd drive himself crazy if he stayed any longer.
As he walked, he unconsciously made his way to the dog house in the backyard. The Doberman was lying inside taking a nap. Zhang Shutong had been a bit afraid of dogs as a child. Now that he was older, he wasn't scared anymore, but his instinct was still to avoid them. However, the dog happened to open its eyes at just the right moment. One person and one dog locked gazes, and for some reason, the dog didn't bark this time.
Maybe because he'd seen it three times now, it considered him familiar?
Zhang Shutong felt he had a bit of a connection with this big fellow. He even wanted to proudly tell it, "You know, if it weren't for me, you stupid dog, you'd have been poisoned to death." But he only thought it—the Doberman glanced at him once and then went back to napping in its house. It was so sleepy it couldn't even fully open its eyes, its throat making comfortable huffing sounds.
It had been kept by Father Gu from an early age. It no longer had the ability to guard the house, but because Boss Gu was the sentimental type, he'd brought it to the island villa.
Old Song's sheepdog metaphor wasn't quite accurate in one respect—it hadn't been replaced by high-tech equipment, but rather by well-trained purebred hunting dogs.
But at least this Doberman had a position after retirement. That sheepdog had nothing. It was just some dog that had wandered in from who knows where, of mixed bloodline—to put it harshly, it was a stray. It was already in dire straits itself, yet it kept making noise about protecting the sheep. But now that a more elite force had arrived, it should retire to its hometown too.
Of course, you couldn't blame the sheep for this. She was just a very clever, very rational sheep. She'd trusted this sheepdog before too, but for some reason, suddenly everything had changed.
Zhang Shutong stood there for a while. He still wasn't comfortable with the stray dog metaphor—it was just too harsh. If possible, he'd rather think of it as an underling retiring from service.
Old Song had finished handing over his duties, and it was time for them to leave. Zhang Shutong waved goodbye to the Doberman. The Doberman looked at him with drooping eyelids, seemingly considering him a colleague, and shifted its paws as if to say "keep up the good work."
Zhang Shutong smiled at this and stood up.
He returned to the villa, and the three of them said their goodbyes to Gu Qiumian and Auntie Wu.
Zhang Shutong suddenly remembered he'd forgotten to bring back that down jacket, but it would have to wait for another day.
Auntie Wu came out to open the door. Zhang Shutong had thought she could use facial recognition too, but it turned out to be a password code. Zhang Shutong asked casually, and the auntie said only Mianmian's family members were registered for facial recognition. It seemed Boss Gu was quite suspicious by nature.
Old Song's car still couldn't be moved, but this time a bodyguard drove them home. Zhang Shutong sat in the back seat and glanced at a window in a certain second-floor room. The curtains there were wide open.
Then there was nothing more to see. The car slowly pulled away.
Old Song had promised to treat them, but now realized he had no car and limited mobility. After eating, the buses would have stopped running—they couldn't very well walk home through the snow.
Zhang Shutong saw his predicament and spoke up first, saying he also wanted to go home early to rest.
"All right then... I'll treat you all tomorrow. Tomorrow I'll see if there's a way to get the car down."
Zhang Shutong nodded and had the driver drop them off at a bus stop. He still had things to say to Lu Qinglian.
Their homes were both in the east—it was on the way.
The two of them watched the Range Rover drive away. Zhang Shutong had expected Lu Qinglian to mock him a bit—she was a somewhat devious woman. After all, he really had been quite embarrassing. Not long ago he'd said they had a partnership, but now he'd been kicked out first.
It was like pulling in a partner to land a client, your companion working tirelessly the whole time, only for you to get replaced and all their efforts to go to waste.
But Lu Qinglian said nothing. After a long while, she finally spoke, her voice clear and crisp:
"Seems different from what you planned."
"A bit... Also, sorry for making you run around injured all day."
Zhang Shutong said apologetically. Actually, he was fine—not as disappointed as Old Song suggested.
After all, this wasn't about landing a paying client. As long as Gu Qiumian's safety could be guaranteed, it didn't matter who did it. It was Lu Qinglian he felt bad for—first he'd gotten her trapped in a pitfall, then she'd busied herself all day because of that figure in the Forbidden Zone, only for it to turn out to be two people. All for nothing.
"Nothing to apologize for. It's not your responsibility. There will always be unexpected changes."
"Are you trying to comfort me?" Zhang Shutong asked, surprised.
"You can understand it that way," she said coolly.
"No need for comfort," Zhang Shutong said to himself. "Actually, it's good news. Four bodyguards, two police officers, weapons, twenty-four-hour shifts. Oh, by the way, quick question—could you take them in a fight?"
"No," Lu Qinglian shook her head.
"In that case, if even they can't handle that killer, us staying here wouldn't help anyway. But taking her off the island is too much trouble. Even if Gu Qiumian agreed, her father wouldn't agree at this point."
Zhang Shutong said with a headache.
As they spoke, the bus arrived.
He reached for coins but realized he'd changed jackets today and had no money. In the end, it was Lu Qinglian who pulled two coins from an inner pocket of her robe and treated him to the bus fare.
In this weather, no one was going out. They were the only two on the bus.
They found seats by a window. Zhang Shutong had already sat down next to Lu Qinglian when he remembered she'd said she didn't like physical contact with people. He was about to stand up and move to the back when the young woman sighed with something like a headache:
"Zhang Shutong, I'm not so precious that I'd be that particular. Besides, haven't you been close enough to me today?"
Fair enough.
They'd sat together during lunch, sat together in the car, and had been pressed together coming down the mountain.
Zhang Shutong stayed put beside her.
The plastic seats on the bus were hard as could be. Lu Qinglian asked again:
"So you're giving up?"
"Of course not." Zhang Shutong stared out the window. "I've stuck it out until today—there's no way I'm just going home to sleep and giving up like that. At the very least I need to keep watch until Monday. Besides, I promised you I'd find that figure in the Forbidden Zone. You've helped me so much—I can't just say that now that Gu Qiumian's side is safe, the partnership is terminated."
"You're more honorable than I thought."
"Am I really that bad in your eyes?"
"Why do you always say such useless things?"
Zhang Shutong made an acknowledging sound:
"So what's the plan next?"
"It's only four o'clock now." Lu Qinglian glanced at the clock above the bus. "I can go back up the mountain a bit later. What about you?"
"First, I need to get a vehicle somehow. Movement is too inconvenient right now. That way I can drive to the villa Saturday night to check things out, and if you need to investigate anything tomorrow, I can pick you up too."
"A car?"
"Not that extreme—a motorcycle." Zhang Shutong showed her his phone. "My mom went off-island to find my dad, right? My dad had ridden a motorcycle over. They met up at the island's port and took the car onto the ferry together. The motorcycle is still at the port. And my mom just messaged saying she won't be back tonight, so I'm planning to ride that motorcycle back."
Lu Qinglian nodded slightly, noncommittal.
"In that case, I'll need to get off soon. We can set a time for tomorrow, and I'll pick you up at the foot of the mountain."
They finally settled on eight in the morning.
The Gu family villa was in the south, Green Snake Mountain was in the east, and the port was in the northern part of the island.
This was the island's only bus route. Not very convenient, but it did make a complete circle around the island.
Going clockwise.
North at the top, south at the bottom, west on the left, east on the right—meaning they'd first pass through the western part of the island, then reach the north where Zhang Shutong would get off, and finally reach the east where Lu Qinglian's stop was.
She seemed to rarely take the bus, usually walking instead. She couldn't even tell some of the stops apart. Zhang Shutong briefly explained which places the bus would pass and where she should get off. Lu Qinglian listened carefully and indicated she'd memorized it.
After that, neither of them spoke.
Today's experiences had truly been exhausting. They'd been holding on through sheer determination, but now that the energy had dissipated, they just wanted to lean back and zone out.
Lu Qinglian tilted her small face up, looking at the handholds on the bus, her pale eyes swaying along with the swaying handholds.
Zhang Shutong looked out the window. If possible, he'd like to open the window a crack to let the wind blow on him—maybe that would perk him up. Unfortunately, he was sitting on the outside.
Until:
"Please don't sit so close," Lu Qinglian withdrew her gaze and frowned.
Zhang Shutong also withdrew his gaze and realized he was sitting rather close.
"Oh... sorry. But didn't you say you didn't mind?" The bus was now passing through the western part of the island, approaching the Forbidden Zone. He'd been staring out the window and hadn't noticed, so he asked casually.
"I didn't say I didn't mind—I said I'd tolerate it seeing as how pitiful you are after running around for nothing all day."
So this woman did know how to mock him after all.
Lu Qinglian scooted inward as she spoke, her face expressionless:
"But that doesn't mean you can take advantage. Or are you planning to switch targets to me after getting rejected by Gu Qiumian?"
Zhang Shutong really couldn't out-talk her.
He conscientiously shifted outward.
The bus continued on.
The young woman named Lu Qinglian furrowed her brow again.
Because the person who'd just apologized was already backsliding—this time he was practically leaning against her.
She was about to speak up and remind him;
But he suddenly slapped the window:
"Look, isn't that her?"
Lu Qinglian quickly turned her head. The bus was quite high, so from their seats they could look directly over the dense reeds and see the scene at the shore.
Then both their faces tensed simultaneously.
—A figure was standing in the waters of the area called the Forbidden Zone.
Zhang Shutong quickly stood up and pressed the emergency button by the rear door.
"Please stop the bus!"
He took a flying leap toward the door.
The driver started in alarm and hit the brakes hard. The massive vehicle carved two long tracks in the snow before barely stopping. Bodies and vision tilted with the momentum. Zhang Shutong gripped the handrail tightly, watching as the pneumatic door opened with a "hiss," creating a gap.
The bus hadn't completely stopped yet. Before he could leap off—
A figure flashed past his side. Lu Qinglian had already rushed out the door—