Chapter 125: Clearing in One Life (3) |
Zhang Shutong hung up Qingyi's call.
A minute ago, she had told him she'd found Lu Qinglian.
The two met up in the middle of the island.
Lu Qinglian didn't let Qingyi follow. Ruoping's family's little electric scooter wasn't running very fast anyway, so Qingyi simply rode back to the hospital.
Zhang Shutong calculated the distance in his mind—Lu Qinglian's position was probably over ten minutes away from the camera.
And now it was already 11:55.
He was about to ride right under the camera.
Zhang Shutong was clear about his role—it was to find traces of the woman's movements in advance, then stall, stall until Lu Qinglian arrived, not to confront her head-on.
So he stayed on the bike without moving, turned the headlight to maximum, with one hand ready to twist the throttle at any moment.
Right now, he had an entrenching tool tucked in his pocket that Qingyi had brought for him to use for self-defense.
Zhang Shutong wasn't optimistic about it.
Now he was thinking about something else.
He finally knew the killer's identity, but what exactly was that thing?
And why kill Gu Qiumian?
Maybe once they caught that person, all the mysteries would be solved.
He rapidly thought through the intel on this woman—very fast, no hearing, possessed unbelievably flexible body, could "become" other people's appearances, known forms included Teacher Song's ex-girlfriend, Gu Qiumian's mother, and Lu Qinglian.
What he needed to do was obstruct her.
But that was easier said than done. How exactly should he obstruct her? What if she simply didn't care about him at all?
Keep interfering?
Traps were useless, and he had no time to prepare traps. Even calling his buddies was impossible—this time blood would really be shed.
Or should he hide in advance?
Zhang Shutong suddenly thought—he knew the woman had no hearing, so the roar of the motorcycle engine accelerating wouldn't be detected by her. Maybe he could circle around and ram her from behind.
He looked at the time. He'd already been waiting five minutes. The time reached midnight. "Early morning" was always a general term—there was no way the woman would pass through here precisely to the second.
Zhang Shutong decided to ride ahead and set up an ambush. Right now he was on a small road with grass on both sides. If he could just ride the bike into the grass and turn off the headlight, the darkness of night would be the best camouflage.
No sooner thought than done.
He turned the bike around. Motorcycles weren't like bicycles—they were naturally heavy, and with the melted snow frozen on the ground, he needed to brace his feet against the ground and slowly shift direction bit by bit.
Zhang Shutong turned the front wheel to face north.
The headlight moved with it, but from the furthest reach of the headlight beam, he saw the silhouette of a long-haired woman.
His heart skipped a beat, instantly reaching maximum alert.
How was this possible?
When did she appear?
Zhang Shutong had been paying attention to every movement around him, not even missing the swaying of wild grass in the wind, yet this woman had appeared just like that, silent and soundless. He instinctively prepared to twist the throttle and create distance, but then slowly released his hand.
That woman wasn't running.
He couldn't even see any sense of urgency from her—she walked unhurriedly through the snow. Zhang Shutong was certain she had already seen him, but the woman's head hadn't even turned in his direction. Could it be that her only purpose was to rush to the villa and then kill Gu Qiumian, and everything along the way could be ignored?
Zhang Shutong slowly backed up the bike. The headlight illuminated the woman's face deathly pale. In such cold weather, when people are active outdoors, their breath should produce white puffs, but after checking multiple times, there was none.
As expected.
No different from a corpse.
Only Zhang Shutong had gotten one thing wrong—he'd been thinking about how to stop her, or if she discovered him, how to pull away. What he couldn't have imagined was that the woman would completely ignore him.
This discrepancy made him freeze for a moment.
Could it be that things were much simpler than he thought? He just needed to carefully ride nearby, and wait for Lu Qinglian to arrive?
The distance between them kept shrinking.
Her pace remained unchanged, and with each step she took forward, Zhang Shutong was forced to back the bike up.
A slight anxiety welled up in his heart, because Zhang Shutong realized he wasn't obstructing her at all.
Although she currently posed no threat to him, she was still advancing, while he had retreated dozens of meters. What was the point?
Should he get closer?
Zhang Shutong flashed the high beams, trying to get her to react, but the woman's pace remained unchanged.
Lu Qinglian still hadn't arrived.
Maybe in just five more minutes she could rush over to save the day.
But the problem now was how to get through these five minutes.
He was on a narrow, remote road, with the motorcycle headlight as the only effective light source.
The phone's flashlight was too weak—by the time it illuminated her face, it would be too late to react.
If he kept the bike pointed at the woman, if anything went wrong, he wouldn't even have time to pull away.
If he turned the bike around to face the same direction as the woman, the darkness behind him would swallow her figure and he'd lose sight of her.
The cold wind even covered the sound of the woman's footsteps. Zhang Shutong had never imagined he'd encounter such a dilemma—
Face her and you'll have no escape, turn your back and you can't see her at all.
Zhang Shutong could see the woman approaching step by step, yet she still seemed unable to see him.
If she chased him, he would ride away.
If she turned and ran, he would follow closely on the bike.
But what was the point of this current standoff?
Zhang Shutong even had the illusion that there was no difference whether he came here tonight or not—he just needed to notify Lu Qinglian in advance that the killer would appear under the camera.
But the timing was just that little bit off.
Finally, he gritted his teeth and made a decision, simply turning the bike around again, then looking back, staring hard at her through the helmet.
The distance between them had shrunk from over ten meters to five.
The woman turned her head.
The next moment a lightning-fast blur flashed before his eyes. The instant he lost sight of her, Zhang Shutong quickly twisted the throttle. The bike roared to life, the wheels kicked up a cloud of snow, the front wheel even lifted up, but he felt the motorcycle wasn't moving forward—it was just emitting wail after wail, the tires spinning on the ice and snow, the rear seemingly held tight by something.
It was that woman!
She'd been waiting for this opportunity all along!
She was pulling on the motorcycle's tail box with one hand!
Zhang Shutong turned sideways with difficulty, one hand maintaining the throttle, the other hand fumbling for the shovel from his pocket, swinging it hard at the woman's hand. In his haste, he caught sight of the woman's face—it really was Gu Qiumian's mother's face, but completely bloodless, with a pair of eyes similar to the girl's opened very wide, yet devoid of any spirit.
The shovel fell, having no effect at all. Instead, Zhang Shutong's hand went numb from the shock. He struggled to maintain the bike's balance—this motorcycle's tail box was a quick-release design. Zhang Shutong dropped the shovel, his fingers touched the release, and then the bike body suddenly loosened. He and the bike together pitched forward. Zhang Shutong quickly gripped the handlebars, barely avoiding a crash.
He twisted the throttle again, but the woman didn't give up, rapidly catching up.
He controlled the direction, heading toward a small path—this was a route he'd planned when coming here. If she pursued relentlessly, then Zhang Shutong planned to lead her in circles. Only the woman's speed was even faster than he'd thought. Zhang Shutong turned his head to see the woman running at high speed at his side, nearly shoulder to shoulder.
What the hell was this thing?!
The next moment the woman struck out, a fist swinging toward him. The motorcycle's rearview mirror blocked it for him—the steel bent, the glass shattered, the bike suddenly tilted to one side. That fist continued unobstructed toward his arm. Half his body went completely numb. Fortunately he didn't fall. She was like a machine that had triggered some program, suddenly shifting from traveling to killing him.
Several hours later, Zhang Shutong finally understood how that hole in the Focus car's window had appeared.
He could even imagine Teacher Song just starting the car, not even having time to shift gears, when this woman grabbed the rearview mirror, then punched toward the car window, and then the man suddenly accelerated, dragging the car and the woman into the tree trunk!
So running like this wasn't a solution. Zhang Shutong grabbed the brakes, using both feet, dragging deep marks through the snow. Snow and muddy water splashed. Finally the bike's momentum was offset, and the woman's reaction was a beat slower—she'd already run past the front of the bike. Then Zhang Shutong released the brakes, accelerated again, and rammed straight toward her!
Over a hundred kilograms of steel, even without full acceleration, released astonishing kinetic energy. She wasn't made of iron after all. After a dull thud, his arms were directly shocked apart. The woman fell, the bike fell, and Zhang Shutong was also thrown to the ground.
The fall made his vision go black, but he forced himself to stand up. The motorcycle's wheels were still spinning. In his haste, Zhang Shutong pulled out his phone, turned on the flashlight, and shone it ahead.
But ahead was completely empty.
His hair stood on end!
Zhang Shutong quickly turned around, but a massive force slammed into his shoulder. His entire body was kicked flying. Zhang Shutong rolled several times in the snow, half his body burning with pain. He struggled to get up, but his hands braced against the snow several times in vain.
Another kick. Zhang Shutong fell backward again. This time it was his chest that took a hit—this spot had been kicked just yesterday, and now he felt even more suffocated, his breathing stopped for an instant.
He coughed heart-wrenchingly, knowing that if he stopped it would all be over. Though his vision was dim, he'd noticed early on that there were reeds nearby. During the recent chase, they'd already left the camera's area far behind. Now he'd fallen to the edge of the road, and below was the lakeshore. Zhang Shutong gave up the idea of getting up and simply rolled down the dirt road.
His body tumbled, and the world tumbled. The motorcycle helmet protected his head from impact. He rolled all the way to the shore, but found the woman had stopped moving, seemingly searching for something.
That's right—Zhang Shutong suddenly realized the woman had no hearing at all. If she did, she would have followed the sound of him rolling, but she didn't. So in her line of sight was just a pitch-black reed bed with tangled and chaotic reed stems.
The darkness of night had actually become his camouflage!
He didn't bother to catch his breath, quickly standing up, stumbling forward as he bent low and ran into the distance.
The woman above was still searching. She seemed to slowly walk into this reed bed, but what came next wasn't a game of hide and seek. Zhang Shutong glanced at the moonlight above his head, knowing that if he kept hiding he'd be found sooner or later.
He cursed under his breath. Maybe Lu Qinglian had already reached the camera by now, but he was too far from it now. Maybe she could follow the tire tracks on the ground to find him, but he'd already traveled that road once on the way here, and wasn't sure if Lu Qinglian could identify his direction. And even if she did identify it, getting here would take more time.
What he needed to do now wasn't keep waiting, but run.
Not escape, of course. He was betting on being able to run to a distance and then reach that motorcycle.
But another rush of wind came from behind. He gritted his teeth and quickly dropped flat, barely dodging the strike. The woman lost her target again. Zhang Shutong hid in the reeds, breathing deeply.
He pressed his chest, but felt a hard object. Zhang Shutong frowned, his hand reaching into the jacket's inner pocket. A deeply dented metal card appeared in his hand. He froze for a moment—it was Gu Qiumian's membership card.
This metal card gleamed with silvery light in the moonlight. He instantly had a new idea. Zhang Shutong looked toward the lake surface—on the water's surface near the shore, a blurry moon was reflected. He held his breath, adjusting the angle, then flicked the card hard—
The metal card spun across the water's surface, reflecting the cold moonlight.
Having done this, he rolled once, concealing himself in the reeds. Immediately there was another sound of movement, but it was heading toward the card. The woman stepped into the lake. Zhang Shutong breathed a sigh of relief, knowing he'd bet correctly. But he didn't relax, instead desperately climbing up and running toward the road.
Motorcycle, motorcycle, motorcycle!
This was the only thought left in his mind.
Zhang Shutong finally reached the motorcycle. The wind behind him grew stronger—he knew the woman was chasing again. Zhang Shutong lifted the motorcycle with force, straddled it, and twisted the throttle. The next moment, the woman's figure arrived in an instant.
In the end, he'd bought himself a moment's advantage.
Two shadows raced through the snowy night. The motorcycle charged straight ahead first, the woman following close behind. She ran rapidly through the snow, the snow surface collapsing with a puffing sound like death's rhythm. The rearview mirror was broken, he couldn't see the woman's figure, could only judge by the sounds behind his ear. Zhang Shutong simply lifted the helmet's visor. The sound of wind howled into his ears, but he could hear the woman's footsteps clearly.
The footsteps were getting closer again!
What kind of monster was this?!
Stopping this monster was far more difficult than he'd imagined, but Zhang Shutong had already exhausted all his means. He knew Lu Qinglian might be checking their whereabouts under the camera right now. If he could turn around and meet up with her, that would be perfect, but he couldn't!
He wished he could twist the throttle to death, but it only barely created distance from the woman. Even so, he still had to constantly guard against being caught up by her, let alone have time to turn around?
All he could do now was desperately run forward!
And ahead!
Was the entrance to that mountain road!
Zhang Shutong knew what awaited him. If he rode onto that mountain road, the woman would follow him up. In less than ten minutes they'd arrive at the villa's entrance, then the villa's bodyguards would run out to check, a chaotic fight would ensue, and the result would be exactly the same as before—nothing would have changed.
Now he felt all the blood in his body rushing to his head. A bold idea suddenly emerged from his heart.
Just now he'd still harbored the hope of whether he could turn the bike around and lead her elsewhere, but even if he succeeded, he'd still be caught up by that woman—it was only a matter of delaying a bit longer.
He also knew clearly he wouldn't be this lucky every time—there wouldn't always be reed beds to hide in, there wouldn't always be cards to help him escape. From the moment he rode here, he'd been prepared for this. If it was just fleeing, it was nothing but slow death.
So he actively extinguished that glimmer of hope. He simply stopped looking back, stopped listening to the wind behind him. Zhang Shutong pulled down the visor again. The motorcycle engine roared at full power, throttle wide open.
Actually, there was no roaring at all—this was just a farm bike. What reached his ears was only the engine's puttering sound. But he wished what was beneath him was a racing bike, because Zhang Shutong still remembered there was a big pit ahead. His breathing began to unconsciously tighten as he counted down in his mind.
Ten.
Zhang Shutong focused intently on the road ahead.
Nine.
A shadow finally appeared at the headlight's furthest reach.
Eight.
The shadow was completely exposed in his vision.
Then seven, six, five, four... In the span of these numbers, the bike flew forward. The pit had appeared before his eyes.
Three.
Zhang Shutong released the throttle.
Two.
He suddenly accelerated again.
One.
He leaned back, while completing the gear shift. The bike quickly cut the throttle. The instant the front suspension compressed and rebounded, he used that force to lift the front wheel.
The motorcycle leaped over the pit.
It landed with a thud, wobbled, then charged straight ahead.
Two seconds later, Zhang Shutong heard a dull thud.
That woman had fallen into the pit.
But he knew that pit wasn't very deep, couldn't trap her for long. Sure enough, the woman, just like Lu Qinglian that day, leaped out of the pit. But his plan only needed to delay her a few seconds—that was already enough.
He finally reached the entrance to the mountain road.
Zhang Shutong grabbed the brakes. The bike drifted to a stop right at the entrance. He first looked back at the woman. She was at least ten meters away, but reaching him was only a matter of seconds.
Then he tightened his helmet and looked at the white snow piled on the mountain ridge. Actually, because of his arrival, the white snow was already falling in cascades.
Zhang Shutong wasn't sure if he was committing suicide.
Actually, he probably was.
He'd still optimistically estimated what came next.
Because there was no possibility of riding up to the villa for help at all.
The snow piled on the mountain road was thicker than on the road surface. The motorcycle would lose traction climbing uphill. Within a minute, he'd be caught up by that woman and killed directly.
His flight ended here.
Very likely this place would be his tombstone.
But Zhang Shutong had nowhere left to retreat.
"My mom said we're really in sync."
Zhang Shutong murmured.
Then he shut his mouth tight. The muscle memory of launch control still remained in his body. He recreated the movements from the afternoon when jumping onto the ferry—grabbing the brake, stepping on the clutch. The little farm bike had never been abused like this before. It immediately let out an overwhelmed wail, but because of this, its engine sound was also exceptionally loud, even echoing through this mountain road.
This was enough.
Zhang Shutong saw the loosening snow layer, and saw the woman just one step away.
Everything in his vision was shaking. The ground beneath his feet began to tremble lightly. This land seemed to emit an inevitable sigh, then transformed into a low rumble.
But that monster had no hearing, wouldn't notice at all. So Zhang Shutong released the brake and rushed into the mountain road. Soon the motorcycle became stuck in the snow.
The snow mass began collapsing on a large scale, overwhelming and all-consuming, swallowing everything on the mountain road.
In the last moment before consciousness faded, Zhang Shutong was swallowed by this surging white.
---
The surging white swallowed everything.
Night wind poured into the mountain road entrance, leaving only a whimpering sound.
This place, which just over ten minutes ago was a scene of chaos—roaring machines, the running woman, the trembling ground—now was completely silent.
Everything was buried beneath this white snow.
When Lu Qinglian arrived at the mountain entrance, this was the scene she saw.
She looked at it all indifferently, until a faint movement appeared in the distant white snow.
A small snake slowly swam to her feet.
The snake flicked its tongue, seeming to point toward a certain direction in the snow.
Lu Qinglian crouched down and dug out a motionless woman from within.
The woman's body was covered in snow, seemingly already frozen stiff.
Lu Qinglian glanced at the woman once, then ignored her.
She moved past the woman, digging through the white snow with her hands without even frowning. Soon a helmet was revealed in the snow.
Lu Qinglian looked at Zhang Shutong. Those eyes held no surprise, only ancient-well stillness.
She simply lifted his visor, extended a finger, and placed it beneath his nose.
Breathing had already stopped.
"Zhang Shutong," she murmured to herself. "Is this your ending?"
Lu Qinglian lowered her eyes:
"But if you just die like this, it will be very troublesome."
So she let out a soft sigh. This sigh seemed like the most helpless one in her entire life.
Those eyes finally showed a trace of fluctuation. Lu Qinglian knelt beside Zhang Shutong. She tucked her long hair behind her ear and slowly bent down.