Zhang Shutong hung up the phone with Qingyi.
A minute ago, the other party told him that he had already found Lu Qinglian.
The two had met in the middle of the small island.
Lu Qinglian didn't let Qingyi follow her. Ruoping's little electric bike wasn't very fast anyway, so Qingyi simply rode back to the hospital.
Zhang Shutong calculated the distance in his mind. Lu Qinglian was probably a little over ten minutes away from the camera.
And now it was already 11:55 p.m.
He would be riding under the camera soon.
Zhang Shutong was very clear about his position. He would find the woman's movements beforehand and then stall, stall until Lu Qinglian arrived. He would not confront her head-on.
Therefore, he didn't move on the bike. He turned on the headlight to its maximum setting and kept one hand ready to twist the throttle at any moment.
This was an underbone motorcycle, also known as a farm vehicle, one of the most common vehicles on the island. Zhang Shutong knew its top speed was limited, so he had to be prepared early.
Now, he had a sapper shovel in his pocket, which Qingyi had brought for him to use for self-defense.
Zhang Shutong was not optimistic about it.
Now he was thinking about another thing.
He finally knew the murderer's identity, but what was that thing exactly?
And why did she want to kill Gu Qiumian?
Perhaps all his questions would be answered once that person was caught.
He quickly thought about the information he had on this woman. She was fast, had no hearing, had a surprisingly flexible body, could "transform" into the appearance of others, and the known ones were Teacher Song's ex-girlfriend, Gu Qiumian's mother, and Lu Qinglian.
His job was to obstruct.
But this was easier said than done. How was he supposed to obstruct her? What if she just didn't care about him?
Should he constantly interfere?
Traps were useless, and he didn't have time to set them up. It was impossible to get his friends to help either. This time, there would be blood.
Or should he hide beforehand?
Zhang Shutong suddenly thought that he knew the woman had no hearing, so she wouldn't notice the roar of the motorcycle's engine when he accelerated. Maybe he could go around in a big circle and crash into her from behind.
He looked at the time. He had been waiting for five minutes. It was now midnight. "Midnight" was always a general term. It was impossible for the woman to pass by here at a precise minute and second.
Zhang Shutong decided to set up an ambush on his bike beforehand. He was now on a small road. There were bushes on both sides of the road. If he rode into the bushes and turned off his headlights, the night would be his best camouflage.
No sooner said than done.
He turned the front of the bike. A motorcycle was heavy, unlike a bicycle, and the ground was icy from the melted snow. He needed to use his feet to prop himself up on the ground and move in the right direction little by little.
Zhang Shutong turned the bike to the north.
The headlight moved with it, and at the end of the beam, he saw the figure of a long-haired woman.
His heart sank, and he instantly became extremely vigilant.
How was that possible?
When did she appear?
Zhang Shutong had been paying attention to the movements all around him, not even missing the swaying of the wild grass in the wind. But this woman appeared so silently. He instinctively prepared to twist the throttle and create some distance, but he slowly let go.
The woman didn't run.
She didn't even look like she was in a hurry. She walked unhurriedly on the snowy ground. Zhang Shutong was sure the other person had seen him, but the woman didn't even turn her head in his direction. Could it be that her only goal was to get to the villa and kill Gu Qiumian, and everything along the way could be ignored?
Zhang Shutong slowly backed up the bike. The headlight shone on the woman's face, making it look pale. On a cold day like this, a person would exhale a puff of white air when they breathed outside, but he reconfirmed, and there was none.
As expected.
She was no different from a dead person.
But Zhang Shutong had thought of one thing wrong. He had been thinking about how to stop her, or how to create distance if she found him. But he had never thought that the woman would just ignore him.
This discrepancy made him freeze for a moment.
Could it be that things were much simpler than he thought? All he had to do was follow her carefully on his bike and wait for Lu Qinglian to arrive?
The distance between the two of them was getting closer.
The other person's pace remained unchanged. Her every step forward forced Zhang Shutong to back up his bike.
A slight anxiety welled up in his heart, because Zhang Shutong realized that he was not being a deterrent at all.
Although the other person was not a threat to him at the moment, she was still moving forward. He, on the other hand, had retreated dozens of meters. What was the point of that?
Should he get a little closer?
Zhang Shutong flashed his high beams, trying to get a reaction from her, but the woman's pace remained the same.
Lu Qinglian still hadn't arrived.
Maybe she was only five minutes away from saving the day.
But the problem now was how to get through these five minutes.
He was on a narrow, secluded path. The only effective light source was the motorcycle's headlight.
The phone's flashlight was too weak. By the time it lit up her face, it would be too late to react.
If he pointed the front of the bike directly at the woman, he wouldn't even have time to create distance if something went wrong.
If he turned the bike in the same direction as the woman, the darkness behind him would swallow her figure, and he would lose sight of her.
The cold wind even drowned out the sound of the woman's footsteps. Zhang Shutong had never expected to encounter such a problem—
Facing her, he would have no way to escape. Facing away from her, he wouldn't be able to see her at all.
Zhang Shutong could see the woman approaching step by step, but the other person still acted as if she couldn't see him.
If she chased him, he would ride away.
If she turned and ran, he would ride and follow her closely.
But what was the point of this standoff?
Zhang Shutong even had the illusion that it didn't matter if he was here tonight or not. All he had to do was inform Lu Qinglian in advance that the murderer would appear under the camera.
But the timing was just a little off.
He finally gritted his teeth and made up his mind. He simply turned the bike around again, then looked back and stared at the other person through his helmet.
The distance between them had changed from more than ten meters to five meters.
The woman turned her head.
The next moment, a fast afterimage flashed past his eyes. In that instant he lost sight of her, Zhang Shutong quickly twisted the throttle. The bike roared to life. The wheels kicked up a mist of snow. The front of the bike even lifted up, but he felt that the motorcycle was not moving forward. Instead, it was making a series of whimpering sounds. The tires were slipping on the ice, and the back of the bike seemed to be held back by something.
It was that woman!
She had been waiting for this chance!
The other person was holding on to the bike's rear luggage box with one hand!
Zhang Shutong awkwardly turned his body. He used one hand to keep the throttle open and the other to take out the shovel from his pocket. He swung it hard at the woman's hand. In a hurry, he saw the woman's face. It was indeed Gu Qiumian's mother's face, but it was completely bloodless. A pair of eyes similar to the girl's were wide open, but they were lifeless.
The shovel came down, but it had no effect at all. Instead, Zhang Shutong's hand was numb from the shock. He tried his best to maintain the balance of the bike. The rear luggage box of this motorcycle was designed to be quickly detached. Zhang Shutong dropped the shovel and his finger touched the release button. The bike suddenly became loose, and he and the bike lunged forward. Zhang Shutong quickly grabbed the handlebars and barely managed to not fall.
He twisted the throttle again, but the woman didn't give up and quickly chased after him.
He controlled the direction and rode onto a small road. This was a route he had thought about on his way here. If the other person kept chasing him, Zhang Shutong was prepared to lead her in circles. But the woman's speed was faster than he had thought. Zhang Shutong turned his head and saw the woman running quickly beside him, almost parallel.
What on earth was this thing?!
The next moment, the woman threw a punch at him. The motorcycle's rearview mirror blocked it for him. The metal bent and the glass shattered. The bike swerved to one side. The fist then unhinderedly hit his arm. Half of his body went numb. Fortunately, he didn't fall. The other person was like a machine that had triggered a program. She had suddenly changed from traveling to trying to kill him.
After a few hours, Zhang Shutong finally knew how the hole in the window of that Ford Focus came to be.
He could even imagine Teacher Song starting the car and, before he even had time to shift gears, was grabbed by the rearview mirror by this woman. She then threw a punch at the car window. The man then quickly accelerated and crashed the car and the woman into a tree!
So just running wasn't the solution. Zhang Shutong squeezed the brake. He used both of his feet to drag on the snowy ground, creating deep marks. The snow and mud splashed up, finally canceling out the bike's momentum. The woman was a beat slower than him and had already run to the front of the bike. Zhang Shutong then released the brake and accelerated again, heading straight for her!
Even without a full acceleration, the kinetic energy released by a hundred-kilogram piece of steel was astonishingly strong. The other person was not made of iron after all. After a muffled thud, her arm was immediately knocked away. The woman fell, the bike fell, and Zhang Shutong was also thrown to the ground.
He hit the ground so hard that his vision went black, but he forced himself to get up. The motorcycle's wheels were still spinning. In a hurry, Zhang Shutong pulled out his phone and turned on the flashlight to shine forward.
But it was empty in front of him.
His hair stood on end!
Zhang Shutong quickly turned around, but a huge force was thrown onto his shoulder. He was directly kicked into the air. Zhang Shutong rolled several times in the snow. Half of his body was in burning pain. He struggled to get up, but his hands failed to push up from the snow.
Another kick. Zhang Shutong fell backward again. This time, his chest was hit. It had been kicked just yesterday, and now he felt a choking sensation. His breathing even stopped for a moment.
He was coughing his heart out, knowing that once he stopped, it would all be over. Although his vision was dim, he had already noticed that there was a field of reeds next to him. In the chase, the two of them had already moved far away from the camera's area. Now he had fallen to the edge of the road, and the lake was below. Zhang Shutong gave up on trying to get up and just rolled down the dirt road.
His body was rolling, and the world was rolling. The motorcycle helmet protected his head from impact. He rolled all the way to the shore but found that the woman had stopped moving, seemingly looking for something.
"That's it," Zhang Shutong thought in a daze. The other person had no hearing. If she did, she would have followed the sound of him rolling. But she didn't. Therefore, in the other person's line of sight was a pitch-black field of reeds, and the roots of the reeds were intertwined and messy.
The night had become his camouflage!
He didn't care about getting his breath back. He quickly stood up and, stumbling, ran toward the distance.
The woman above him was still searching. The other person seemed to be slowly walking into the reeds. But this wasn't a game of hide-and-seek. Zhang Shutong looked at the moonlight above him and knew that he would eventually be found if he kept hiding.
He cursed. Maybe Lu Qinglian had already arrived at the camera. But he was too far from the camera now. Maybe she could follow the tire tracks on the ground, but he had already ridden on that road once on his way here. He wasn't sure if Lu Qinglian could figure out where he was going. Besides, even if she did, it would take a while for her to get here.
What he had to do now was not to keep waiting, but to run.
Of course, not to run away. He was betting on being able to get to the motorcycle in the distance.
But he heard the sound of wind again behind him. He gritted his teeth and quickly fell to the ground, barely dodging the blow. The woman lost her target again. Zhang Shutong hid in the reeds, panting heavily.
He pressed his chest but felt a hard object. Zhang Shutong frowned. He reached into the inner pocket of his jacket, and a deeply dented metal card appeared in his hand. He was stunned. It was Gu Qiumian's membership card.
This metal card shone with a silver luster in the moonlight. He instantly had a new idea. Zhang Shutong looked at the lake again. A blurry moon was reflected on the surface of the water near the shore. He held his breath, adjusted his angle, and then flicked the card with all his might—
The metal card spun and sliced across the water's surface, reflecting the cold moonlight.
After doing all this, he rolled over and hid himself in the reeds. Then, there was a sound of movement, but it was going for the card. The woman stepped into the lake. Zhang Shutong breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that he had made the right bet. But he didn't relax. Instead, he tried his best to get up and run toward the road.
Motorcycle, motorcycle, motorcycle!
He only had one thought left in his mind.
Zhang Shutong finally reached the motorcycle. The sound of wind behind him became even stronger. He knew that the woman was chasing him again. Zhang Shutong picked up the motorcycle with all his might and straddled it. He twisted the throttle. The next moment, the woman's figure arrived in a flash.
In the end, he had created a time difference.
Two shadows sped across the snowy night. The motorcycle rushed straight ahead first, and the woman followed closely. She ran quickly on the snowy ground. The sound of the snow sinking under her feet was like a death march. The rearview mirror was shattered. He couldn't see the woman's figure. He could only judge where she was by the sound behind his ears. Zhang Shutong simply lifted his helmet's goggles. The wind roared in his ears, but he could clearly hear the woman's footsteps.
The footsteps were getting closer again!
What kind of monster was this?!
Stopping this monster was much more difficult than he had imagined. But Zhang Shutong had used every ounce of his strength. He knew that Lu Qinglian might be under the camera, checking where the two of them were going. It would be perfect if he could turn the bike around and meet her, but he couldn't!
He now wanted to twist the throttle to its limit, but he could only barely create distance from the woman. Even so, he had to be on guard at all times to avoid being caught by the woman, let alone having time to turn around?
All he could do now was run forward with all his might!
And up ahead!
Was the entrance to the winding mountain road!
Zhang Shutong knew what was waiting for him. If he rode onto that mountain road, the woman would follow him up. In less than ten minutes, she would be at the villa's entrance. The bodyguards in the villa would then run out to check, and there would be a big fight. The result would be the same as before. Nothing would change.
He now felt as if all the blood in his body was rushing to his head. A bold idea suddenly popped into his mind.
A moment ago, he had still held on to the hope of being able to turn the bike around and lead her somewhere else. But even if he succeeded, he would still be caught by that woman. It would just buy him a little more time.
He also knew that he wouldn't be this lucky every time. He wouldn't have a reed field to hide in every time, and he wouldn't have a card to get away every time. He had made this realization the moment he rode the bike here. If all he did was run away, it would just be a slow death.
So he took the initiative to extinguish that hope and simply stopped looking back. He also stopped listening for the sound of the wind behind him. Zhang Shutong lowered his goggles again. The motorcycle's engine roared at full throttle.
In reality, there was no roar. This was just a farm vehicle. All he could hear was the sputtering of the engine. But he wished that what was under him was a race car, because Zhang Shutong still remembered that there was a large pothole up ahead. His breathing began to tighten uncontrollably as he counted down in his heart.
Ten.
Zhang Shutong focused all his attention on the road ahead.
Nine.
A shadow finally appeared at the end of the headlight's beam.
Eight.
The shadow was completely exposed in his sight.
And then, seven, six, five, four... In a matter of seconds, the bike was flying. The large pothole was now in sight.
Three.
Zhang Shutong let go of the throttle.
Two.
He then accelerated suddenly.
One.
He leaned back and shifted gears at the same time. The bike quickly lost speed. At the moment the front suspension sank and rebounded, he used the force to lift the front of the bike.
The motorcycle flew over the large pothole.
It landed with a thud, swerved a little, and then rushed straight ahead.
Two seconds later, Zhang Shutong heard a muffled thud.
The woman had fallen into the pothole.
But he knew the pothole wasn't very deep and wouldn't trap her for long. As expected, the woman, just like Lu Qinglian that day, leaped out of the pothole. But his plan was only to stall her for a few more seconds.
He finally rode to the entrance of the winding mountain road.
Zhang Shutong squeezed the brake. The bike drifted and came to a sudden stop at the entrance. He first looked back at the woman. The woman was at least ten meters away, but it would only take her a few seconds to run to him.
He then tightened his helmet and looked at the white snow piled on the ridge. In fact, because of his arrival, the snow had already begun to fall.
Zhang Shutong wasn't sure if he was committing suicide.
He probably was.
He had been too optimistic about the situation.
Because there was no way he could ride to the villa for help.
The snow piled on the mountain road was thicker than on the main road. The motorcycle would lose traction while climbing. In less than a minute, he would be caught by that woman and killed directly.
His running stopped here.
It was very likely that this place would be his tombstone.
But Zhang Shutong had no way to retreat.
"My mom said that we have great chemistry."
Zhang Shutong murmured.
He then tightly closed his mouth. There was still a muscle memory of a drag start in his body. He replicated the move he had used to fly over the ferry in the afternoon. He squeezed the brake, and stepped on the clutch. The small farm vehicle had never been abused this way. It immediately let out a mournful cry of protest, but because of this, its engine sound was also incredibly high-pitched, even creating an echo in this mountain road.
That was enough.
Zhang Shutong saw the loose snow and also the woman who was a step away.
Everything in his sight was shaking. His feet began to tremble. This world seemed to let out a helpless sigh, then turned into a low rumble.
But that monster had no hearing and wouldn't notice at all. Therefore, Zhang Shutong released the brake and rushed into the mountain road. The motorcycle quickly sank into the snow.
The snow began to collapse on a large scale. It was like a tidal wave, swallowing everything on the mountain road.
In the last moment before his consciousness disappeared, Zhang Shutong was swallowed by this surging whiteness.
...
The surging whiteness swallowed everything.
The night wind poured into the entrance of the mountain road, and all that was left was a wail.
This place, which had been a mess of screaming machines, a speeding woman, and a trembling ground just ten minutes ago, was now silent.
Everything was buried under this white snow.
When Lu Qinglian arrived at the mountain entrance, this was the scene she saw.
She looked at all of it with indifference until a slight movement appeared in the white snow not far away.
A small snake slowly slithered to her feet.
The snake flicked its tongue, seemingly pointing in a certain direction in the snow.
Lu Qinglian crouched down and dug up a motionless woman.
The woman was covered in snowflakes and seemed to have been frozen.
Lu Qinglian glanced at the woman and didn't bother with her anymore.
She walked past the woman and dug at the white snow with her hands, not even frowning. Soon, a helmet appeared in the snow.
Lu Qinglian looked at Zhang Shutong. There was no surprise in her eyes, only a calm stillness.
She just lifted his helmet and used her fingers to check for his breath under his nose.
He had stopped breathing.
"Zhang Shutong," she murmured to herself. "Is this your end?"
Lu Qinglian lowered her eyes:
"But it'll be a lot of trouble if you just die like this."
She then let out a light sigh. It seemed to be the most helpless sigh of her life.
Her eyes finally showed a hint of emotion. Lu Qinglian knelt beside Zhang Shutong. She tucked her long hair behind her ear and slowly leaned down.