Chapter 389: A Stormy Night

2022-05-20

Hu Ningning’s grandmother looked at me and nodded. “Go check on them, you might as well. It’s been so long and they still haven’t come back.”

With that, Hu Ningning’s grandmother stepped outside.

Hu Ningning glanced at the downpour outside and spoke up. “A lot of people don’t get it—why do villains in dramas always have so much to say? It’s because, if the person in front of them dies, there’s no one left in the world who truly understands them. So rather than staying silent, they take the risk and spill their secrets, even if it might backfire. Because holding onto a secret all alone is unbearably lonely.”

“So you’re telling me this,” I turned back to Hu Ningning, “because you think I’m going to die?”

Hu Ningning shook her head. “That’s not it. Even if I told you the whole truth, nobody would believe it. It’s always been like this for thousands of years. No matter how old you are—nine, twenty, forty, it doesn’t matter. To your elders, you’ll always be a kid. No matter how accomplished or skilled you are, you’ll always just be the younger generation in their eyes.”

“You’ll never know as much as they do, especially if you’re a child.” Hu Ningning went on, “They’ll never really believe you.”

Moments later, the door opened again. Hu Ningning’s grandmother came in, bringing the chill and rain with her. She handed me an umbrella and said, “It’s over on the west side of the village. You should’ve been there before. Be sure to take a flashlight, the path isn’t easy.”

Taking the umbrella, I stepped out the door. The rain fell even harder now.

Honestly, I wasn’t heading out to check on Hu Ningning’s family. What I really needed to do was tell Gu Chen about all this. It’s the only thing left that I can do now. Hu Ningning was right—if you want to catch someone, you need evidence, and right now I don’t have any real proof. All I have are deductions, even if I’m sure I’m right.

The heavy rain had already washed away every trace. Zhang Zijun and Guo Limin were dead—there was really no one left to confront. Whether there’s evidence or not, I still have to tell Gu Chen the truth. According to what Gu Zhi’s father said, unless the real killer is found, Gu Hui won’t be laid to rest.

But what will Gu Chen do after he hears about this?

My mind was in turmoil. Hu Ningning had been right—who would actually believe it, even if I told them everything?

Just thinking this far, I dialed Gu Chen’s number.

“Gu Chen, how far have you gotten?” I asked.

Gu Chen replied, “The rain’s so heavy, I have to drive slow. I’ll be there in maybe ten, fifteen minutes. Why call now? You must’ve found something. Go on, we’ve got time—might as well talk.”

Hearing Gu Chen’s words, I hesitated for a moment before saying, “Here’s how things stand right now…”

I told Gu Chen the truth, laying it out simply and telling him this came out of my conversation with Hu Ningning. I also told him that Hu Ningning isn’t even fourteen yet—so even with enough evidence, there’s not much we could do.

Even if we wanted to give her a taste of her own medicine, who would ever believe a nine-year-old girl could be so devious? Trying to bring her down like we did with Teacher Gao—it’s just impossible. That’s exactly why Hu Ningning could tell me everything so brazenly.

After I finished talking, Gu Chen went silent for a long time. Only the sound of rain on the phone broke the quiet.

“Gu Chen?” I called out.

Gu Chen finally said, “So you’re saying, both Gu Hui’s death and the deaths of the other four kids—all of it’s tied to Hu Ningning?”

Listening to the relentless rain, I answered, “That’s right. To be more precise, we can basically be sure that Hu Ningning is the killer. But the reason she could tell us all this is because she’s betting on the fact that there’s nothing we can do about it. The rain has washed out all traces, and Zhang Zijun and his wife—there’s nobody left to prove a thing.”

When I finished, there was another long silence on the other side. Only the static of rain came through Gu Chen’s phone.

“Gu Chen?” I asked.

At last, Gu Chen spoke. “So you’re saying we just let it go? I don’t really care about Liang Zhengyu and the others dying—they got what was coming to them. But why would she kill Gu Hui? Did Gu Hui ever do anything to provoke her?”

I let out a sigh and finally explained, “The reason Hu Ningning killed Gu Hui was because Gu Hui made fun of her. It’s true that Hu Ningning was the one who called Gu Hui out, but no one saw it happen. Hu Ningning fell into that pit first, and Gu Hui started mocking her. So Hu Ningning pushed Gu Hui in. The next day, once school started, Zhang Zijun and his wife took Hu Ningning away.”

After I said this, Gu Chen asked, “That’s all it was?”

“That’s all,” I replied quietly. “Just that.”

Right as those words left my lips, I heard screeching brakes on the phone—sharp and jarring against the sound of heavy rain. Startled, I jerked the phone away from my ear, but I could still clearly hear the brakes, over and over.

The rain had only gotten heavier, turning the roads in the village into mud. With all this talking, Gu Chen must’ve gotten distracted and his car must have started skidding. I gripped my phone, listening to the series of brakes clashing through the speaker, until a sudden, violent crash rang out.

Now, when I called out to Gu Chen, all I heard from the phone was a faint, static hiss. No matter how many times I shouted, Gu Chen didn’t answer. My chest tightened with worry—I had no idea what state he was in.

From what Gu Chen said earlier, he wasn’t far from the village now. Even on foot, it would only take about half an hour to get here. With that in mind, I didn’t wait around—I headed straight for the village entrance. The rain was deafening, thunder roaring in my ears. Gu Chen’s phone had to be in his car, so there shouldn’t have been any water damage.

I switched my phone to speaker and kept calling out Gu Chen’s name, flashlight in my other hand.

The small lane was pitch-black. Rain poured down, thick clouds covering the sky—no moon, no stars in sight. The rain drummed against the leaves, the sound sharp and relentless. Every so often a chilly wind blew by, making the whole scene feel like something straight out of a horror movie. I couldn’t help the nervous chill creeping up my spine.

I walked for over twenty minutes, the only sounds from my phone were the crack of thunder and the endless rain, but still no sign of Gu Chen. I started to worry—if something really happened to him, there’s no way a car could get through, and walking would take at least two more hours…

All I could do was pray Gu Chen was safe. Just as I was about to lose hope, I finally spotted a car up ahead. It had veered off the village road and was now halfway buried in the fields on either side. It sat tilted on a mound, one of the headlights smashed, the other throwing a crooked beam up at the sky.

But the inside of the car was pitch-black—I couldn’t see anything or anyone inside.

Anxious, I stuffed my phone into my pocket, tossed aside the umbrella, and ran to the car without caring about the downpour. Splashing through mud, stumbling and nearly falling, I finally reached the car. I pressed my face against the window, straining to see inside, but there was nothing—it was too dark to make out a thing.

Normally, if the front lights are on, the dashboard lights should be too. Even if I couldn’t see inside clearly, there’d at least be some faint glow. But right now, it was nothing but blackness.

Something about that didn’t sit right. I grabbed my flashlight and shone it through the window.

At that very moment, a bolt of lightning tore across the sky.

I finally saw what was inside the car, and it was nothing like I expected.

There was no sign of Gu Chen in the driver’s seat—no one else either. Instead, sprawled out awkwardly on the backseat, was someone I never imagined I’d see. He was wearing a black-and-white mask, the mouth carved into a wide bloody smile that stretched all the way to the ears, twisted into something grotesque.

Only his eyes were visible, staring at me from behind that frozen smile—cold and full of malice.

Wu Zui. What on earth was he doing here?

A storm of thoughts raced through my mind. Who leaked our plan? How had Wu Zui gotten here first? There were no other cars around—did that mean Wu Zui already knew Gu Chen would be coming? Had they moved Gu Chen away already?

I didn’t even have time to cry out before I felt a blast of force from behind. I tried to twist away, but someone grabbed my arm. A face appeared in front of me—a face I recognized from my run-in with Liu Yinyan’s case, back when I crossed paths with Wu Zui.

Next thing I knew, something sharp jabbed into my neck.

Within seconds, a blinding pain exploded in my head.

Wu Zui got out of the car, slamming the door shut behind him.

Someone pinned me to the ground, my head throbbing so bad I could hardly focus. Rain drenched me to the skin, but it didn’t clear the fog in my mind.

Someone held an umbrella for Wu Zui. That someone was Old Zhang.

Wu Zui knelt down beside me, running his fingers through my hair.

“What… what do you want from me?”

Only now did I realize how hard it was to even speak.

Wu Zui crouched down, whispering in my ear with an oddly gentle tone. “Told you we’d meet again. The game is finally about to begin.”

I couldn’t even keep my eyes open anymore, and the rain, that endless rain, faded into silence.