December 8, 2012, Saturday.
7:50 AM.
There were still more than ten hours until "midnight."
Zhang Shutong parked the motorcycle and first went into the convenience store to buy a bottle of water and warm himself up with the air conditioner.
Although it would be cool to wait for the girl to come down the mountain while leaning on the motorcycle, his life was more important right now.
Perhaps because of the cold, he wasn't in the mood. There was a story in Greek mythology called "the Sword of Damocles," also known as "the Hanging Sword," which means "an ever-present danger." He was now the little person running under this sword. Although he had already escaped the range of the falling sword, he still wanted to run a little farther.
He didn't expect this store to open so early. This kind of place was probably an illegal building from early years. The front was the store, and the back was the house. He opened for business as soon as he woke up.
Zhang Shutong walked into the convenience store. As soon as he entered, he saw a bubblegum jar on the counter. The ground was cracked cement, and the light bulb on the ceiling was a white light. The shelves were covered in dust. The whole place was filled with an old-fashioned vibe.
He had made a mistake. A bottle of Ice Dew sold for two yuan here. How could the owner afford to turn on the air conditioner so early in the morning? So, buying a bottle of water gave him "temporary residence." The owner didn't chase him away.
Zhang Shutong also bought a pack of tissues to wipe his nose. His head became dizzier from looking at his phone, so he started studying the packaging of instant noodles. Sometimes, he would look at the time. It was almost eight o'clock. He turned his head and looked out the door but didn't see Lu Qinglian's figure.
It was already 8:10, and he was getting sleepy from waiting. He still didn't see her.
Was she not up yet?
Or did something happen?
He wrapped his clothes tightly, left the convenience store, and walked toward the mountain path, thinking that Lu Qinglian would actually break her promise. But just as he said a few bad things about her, he ran into her.
The girl slowly walked down the mountain path. She was wearing a very thick military coat today. To be honest, the style was a little unfashionable, but beautiful people look good in anything. Besides, the coat had a fluffy collar that could cover her pretty face. She was a pragmatist.
"Sorry, I'm late," Lu Qinglian said as soon as she saw him, her voice tinged with a shallow tiredness.
"It's okay. As long as it's not by the hour, I can accept it," Zhang Shutong turned around and walked down the mountain, asking casually, "You didn't run into that fox on the way, did you, and play with it for a while?"
"No. The injury on my foot is more serious than I thought. I'm walking a little slower than usual."
"Uh, sorry..."
Zhang Shutong looked back and found that she was a few steps behind him.
"I'm not blaming you," Lu Qinglian said calmly as if stating a fact. "It's meaningless to dwell on something that happened a day ago. I just want to make my situation clear in advance so that we can make adjustments to our plans if it affects them."
"Got it. So you mean we can't run around like yesterday?"
"I can move around, but I can't do any intense movements."
"I should have brought you the bottle of safflower oil," Zhang Shutong sighed. "I also caught a cold today. How about you?"
"I'm fine."
Zhang Shutong wanted to ask her how the cut on her face was doing. It seemed to have scabbed over, leaving a faint red line on her pale skin. He was about to get closer to look, but Lu Qinglian covered her face with a blank expression:
"Fifth reminder..."
"Yes, yes, we're not that close, right?"
"You'd better remember that."
"Do you want me to help you up?"
She nodded her chin and said a soft "thank you," which showed that she was indeed having trouble moving.
Zhang Shutong extended his arm. Lu Qinglian put one hand on his upper arm, and they slowly walked down the mountain path.
"Classmate Lu Qinglian, you're cuter when you say thank you."
"Classmate Zhang Shutong, you talk too much today. Is it because of your cold, or a broken heart?"
Zhang Shutong choked:
"By the way, I went to the forbidden area again last night."
"You're too impulsive," Lu Qinglian frowned.
"I wasn't putting myself in danger. I was riding a motorcycle, so I basically didn't get off. Even if I were discovered, she wouldn't be able to catch up."
"And what was the result? You didn't find anything?"
"Yeah, it was basically a wasted effort," Zhang Shutong sniffled. "By the way, does the temple have any folk remedies for a cold? A temple master should have some skills in healing people, right?"
"There's no such thing," Lu Qinglian said with a slight headache.
The injured duo walked down the mountain path. He told Lu Qinglian to wait at the entrance for a moment while he went to get the bike so they could walk less.
Not long after, the motorcycle rode up to Lu Qinglian with a buzzing sound. Zhang Shutong patted the back seat and suddenly felt a little embarrassed:
"I forgot to bring a helmet for you. It's windy today."
"I expected that," the girl decisively turned the collar of her military coat outward, almost covering her entire face.
Zhang Shutong then told her where the foot pedal of the motorcycle was hidden and where to hold on when getting on. He felt himself becoming long-winded without realizing it. Lu Qinglian just nodded and then got on the bike with smooth movements.
Zhang Shutong felt without a reason that she would look very cool on a motorcycle.
But now, he was the one taking her.
He just didn't expect the first woman to sit behind him to be Lu Qinglian. Of course, Zhang Shutong had no other thoughts. He was in an average mood today. He wasn't in a hurry, nor was he not in a hurry. He had just gone to a place to pick up a person and was going to share a ride with her for a while.
The motorcycle drove leisurely in the vast snow. It was a little bumpy, and his shifting was a little rusty, but he could handle it.
Sometimes, the snow flying up from the wheels would splash on his face. He could see Lu Qinglian's long hair being blown by the wind in the rearview mirror.
No one was wandering around at the foot of the mountain at this time. The surroundings were empty, a silver snowfield, a cool motorcycle, and two people who had temporarily formed a partnership. The road ahead was unknown, and each of them had their own purpose, so it wasn't very romantic, but time seemed to slow down.
The temple master girl's foot was only injured, but her skills were still there. He said this because she only held on to the crash bars of the motorcycle, and her body could sit very steadily.
There was always a distance between the two of them. If he hadn't seen her hair fluttering, it would have been difficult to notice that there was another person behind him.
"To the forbidden area first?"
"Okay."
Five words settled the itinerary for later. After a moment of silence, Zhang Shutong stared at the road and asked,
"By the way, you actually have other clothes. I thought you only had that long robe."
"Do you not change your clothes throughout the year?"
Lu Qinglian said perfunctorily. She originally had her hair in a ponytail, but after getting on the bike, she let it down. Maybe that had a warming effect? Zhang Shutong wasn't sure.
"I used to think that the long robe was your uniform, like you had to wear that cyan robe when you were performing your duties as a temple master."
"That's right," she thought for a moment and said briefly.
"Then today?"
"Your judgment is based on your understanding of Lu Qinglian." Lu Qinglian said flatly.
"What do you mean?"
"What if I'm someone else?"
Zhang Shutong was stunned. He squeezed the brake and was about to turn his head to speak, but he saw Lu Qinglian supporting his back with her hand and letting out a soft sigh:
"I'm fake."
"You're fake?"
"What I just said was fake. Why did you believe it? But I admit, I shouldn't have scared you."
Zhang Shutong knew this wasn't her having a change of heart, but that her body had also uncontrollably fallen forward, and the two of them had a chest-to-back close contact. It was her own fault for scaring him.
"A subconscious reaction," Zhang Shutong said helplessly. "I'm not in a good state today. My mind is a little frozen."
"Sorry, but your question was too... What do you mean by 'uniform'? What are you thinking?" Lu Qinglian couldn't find a suitable adjective for a moment. "Also, you'd better not take this opportunity to do things that boys your age like to do."
"You even know about this?" Zhang Shutong was surprised. "Did someone teach you?"
"No. You've really burned your brain out with the fever. Didn't I tell you that I don't like physical contact with people?" Lu Qinglian recalled. "But I heard other people talking about it before. Some people would deliberately squeeze the brake. It's a very childish behavior."
Zhang Shutong was definitely not that childish. He started talking about serious matters:
"There are two assumptions now. First, she must have a purpose for going to the forbidden area. Second, I still believe I didn't see it wrong. She and the person I saw that day should not be the same person."
"But now all the clues are gone."
"So you have to be mentally prepared for today's plan. It might be a wasted effort all day."
Lu Qinglian nodded and didn't say anything else.
Zhang Shutong also knew that today's actions might be in vain, but he had to find a goal to support himself now. Otherwise, he should have stayed in bed this morning to recover from his cold.
—Just get through tonight. Get through tonight, catch the culprit, and he can finally be free. Maybe things wouldn't go so smoothly, but he would sometimes use such a nonsensical reason to comfort himself.
He focused on riding the motorcycle. He made a detour to the base, got a motorcycle helmet and a folding stool. He threw one to Lu Qinglian and then remembered that he hadn't checked the safe this time. There was a compressed biscuit hidden inside.
Zhang Shutong rarely reflected and thought that he shouldn't have given Gu Qiumian compressed biscuits last time.
But it was too late to say that now. He took Lu Qinglian to the forbidden area.
The definition of a wasted effort was just like this. There was no one in the forbidden area, but they didn't find anything new, so they just sat on the stools and waited. Anyway, Lu Qinglian was also injured, so they might as well rest.
After all, the focus today was on "the night."
The two of them sat down on the lakeshore. Zhang Shutong propped his chin on his hand and looked at the water. Once a person became still, they wanted to talk about some casual things:
"Thank you for everything these past few days. You've helped me so much."
"I told you, there's no need to thank me. I'm helping myself."
"But the fact is, you helped me a lot. Otherwise, I wouldn't know what to do with that person, and without you, I would have to sit here alone."
Zhang Shutong had sat in the forbidden area before, for several hours at a time, and he knew it wasn't a good feeling:
"Even if we don't find anything, it's nice to just chat. I don't know if you can understand this, but there are some things I can't talk to my friends about, I can't talk to my teacher about, and I can't talk to my parents about. I can't even talk to Gu Qiumian herself about them. After a while... it can feel a little suffocating. I'm really grateful to have someone who can listen to me vent."
"I don't deny that statement."
"So I still have to thank you. At least I can have a conversation with someone..."
"Sorry, I don't like boys like you," Lu Qinglian interrupted.
"Who said I was confessing to you?" Zhang Shutong was speechless. "And I don't like girls like you either."
She was confused:
"Isn't that what it is? When a boy at school talks to me like that, it's usually a sign of a confession."
Zhang Shutong was silent. But he saw Lu Qinglian with a half-smile.
"Were you doing that on purpose?"
"Yes, I was," she admitted bluntly.
"Why?"
"You're a little noisy."
"Do you want some water? I have some in the bag."
Lu Qinglian shook her head.
The two of them talked on and off. They would both fall silent when the cold wind blew. Sometimes, Zhang Shutong would pick up his phone to chat with Gu Qiumian, but it was just a repeat of past confirmations.
"How are things?"
"Everything is safe."
Zhang Shutong turned off his phone and muttered:
"Do you think this whole thing is over?"
He wasn't sure if he was talking to himself or really asking a question.
"It depends on your goal," Lu Qinglian said casually. "If your goal is to protect your deskmate, then her personal safety is already guaranteed. If your goal is to find the truth, then it's not over. So for me, this isn't over yet."
"The truth, huh..." Zhang Shutong sighed. "The former is easy to say, but I really have no clue about the latter. Ever since I saw you come out of that pit that day, I've been thinking, since you said that person's skills are similar to yours, is it possible that they just jumped over it?"
"I don't know," Lu Qinglian gave a high-quality answer. She thought for a moment and added, "It's a very small possibility that she just jumped over it, but it's possible, just like climbing a tree."
"Like in the movies, right? You put your foot on it and go up in a few quick moves..." Zhang Shutong was silent for a while. "I might be about to give up on the 'truth' thing. I just don't have the energy for it."
He continued:
"Of course, I'm not giving up completely, but I'll put it on hold for now. At least for tonight and tomorrow, the only goal is to prevent Gu Qiumian's death. As for who that person was that day, my current thought is this: it would be great if we could find her along the way, but if we can't, in a few days, when the snow melts, your snakes will be able to move around normally. That's better than us aimlessly looking for someone."
Lu Qinglian uncharacteristically didn't warn him not to mention snakes again:
"So you already have a goal, don't you? Why are you still asking me?"
"Because it's hard to make a decision. Even if you think your choice is fine and you've tried your best, you'll still uncontrollably think about whether you can bear this responsibility..."
"Why do you have to bear this responsibility?" Lu Qinglian countered.
"I haven't finished yet. I used to think that, but now I realize I was wrong. In fact, one of my friends reminded me before that it's a sign of arrogance to take everything on yourself. At that time, I thought he was just saying that because he wasn't in my shoes, but he was being kind, so I didn't say anything.
"But now I realize he was right. The idea of 'only I can do this' is indeed arrogant. Now it's proven. Her dad came back, and the problem I thought was difficult, he could solve with a wave of his hand, and he did it even better.
"I'm not saying this to feel sorry for myself like a resentful woman, blaming someone for making my previous efforts useless. I just feel that I was wrong before. There's nothing that only I can do. Instead, I put a lot of pressure on myself."
He said a long, long sentence, exhaled, and then realized it was a bit embarrassing. Zhang Shutong usually didn't talk about these things. He glanced at Lu Qinglian. She seemed to be listening carefully. After a while, she said:
"Zhang Shutong, you're a little vulnerable today."