Winter Returns

Chapter 14 Bloodstained Chase (Part 2)
Something light and airy gently landed on his head;
The strange sensation gave him goosebumps.
Meng Qingyi was stunned for a moment, then quickly reached up to touch the top of his head, only to find that it was a light, stick-like object.

He quickly picked it up and looked at it; in his vision, the colorful fishing float shimmered in the moonlight.

Above the float was the fishing line; to be precise, what was falling from above was a fishing line without a hook.

This is……

After a moment's hesitation, his gaze turned to the end of the fishing line, where a knot had already been thoughtfully tied.

The knot looked all too familiar; he had learned it from a survival magazine. Boys are powerless against such useless tricks. He learned it and prepared to teach it to a few close friends, but Ruoping and Dukang both scoffed at it, thinking it was useless. Only one person was like him, thinking that looking cool was enough.

And the knot in front of us is the most secure of all the knotting methods;
Simply attach the knotted rope to something, and gently pull the end of the rope to secure it firmly.

—It even took into account that they were huddled together in the reeds and had difficulty moving around, just like the fruit your mother peeled for you has already been cut into pieces. This clever fishing line seemed to see through their predicament at a glance.

At this moment, it was as if a miracle had descended from the heavens; even the phrase "providing charcoal in the snow" is insufficient to describe it!

The boy's eyes lit up, and he immediately understood.

He suppressed his excitement, took a deep breath, and gently tugged at the fishing line. Then, as if the fishing line had suddenly come to life, it went down even further.
Qingyi looped the end of the rope with the knot to the reed in front of him, mentally measured the length, and then tugged the fishing line again.
The fishing line followed suit and was lowered down as if by unspoken agreement.

Finally, when the line was long enough to reach the reeds on the other side, he gave it another tug, and the fishing line stopped immediately.

This clever fishing line seemed to want to do something more, after all, only one end of the rope was tied. Then he seemed to hear a crisp sound of metal biting through something.

Meng Qingyi knew that all she could do next was wait patiently.

His Adam's apple bobbed, and his gaze was fixed intently ahead—

The reeds at the man's feet were all filled into the pit. The man straightened up and walked towards the reeds again.

Just then, the fishing line in mid-air suddenly fell all at once; he didn't know how long he had been waiting for this moment.

Meng Qingyi yanked the fishing line, and sure enough, on the other end of the line, he could see a freshly made knot, as if everything had been arranged and was just waiting for him to put it on the reed beside him.

But now is not the time to dwell on these things.

The man drew closer, and Ruoping had already subconsciously looked at him. Everything happened in the blink of an eye. Meng Qingyi quickly hung the knot on the reed in front of the girl, at a height slightly below her Adam's apple. Then, he grabbed Ruoping's clothes with one hand and pulled her back sharply. The girl was caught off guard and stumbled backward, before she could even utter a cry of surprise.

Meng Qingyi also fell backward due to inertia, and at the last moment, he jabbed Du Kang in the abdomen with his elbow—

"ah--"

"Depend on!"

The boy and girl screamed simultaneously, and the man immediately stopped in his tracks, shouting:

"Who?"

The only response he received was a sudden movement of a figure in the previously quiet reeds. The man was startled at first, as if he remembered something, then his eyes flashed with a fierce light. He raised his dagger and rushed into the reeds, ready to strike!
The crowd held their breath. A cold glint appeared on the blade under the moonlight, and all eyes were fixed on it. However—

"Scared..."

Like the suffocating sound of someone being choked, the man who was charging forward suddenly stopped in his tracks, as if he had been frozen in place. He clutched his neck in pain and struggled in place.

Not far in front of him, Feng Ruoping had just struggled to her feet when she was startled by the sudden change before her. She didn't know whether to run or what to do, but then she heard a familiar, clear voice calling from above, which brought tears to her eyes:
"Du Kang, Qing Yi, advance!"

Then two dark figures suddenly darted out from beside him. One of them pressed down on the man's body, grabbed his waist, and tackled him to the ground; the other nimbly stepped on the man's hand holding the dagger.

The chaotic situation was brought under control in an instant.

The girl immediately turned her head and saw a boy kneeling on the dirt road above him, his hands supporting him on the ground;
His eyes shone brightly in the night, and he rarely showed such a big smile:

"See? I told you back then that being handsome was enough, didn't I?"

……

After teasing Ruoping, Zhang Shutong looked away, confirming that the murderer had been apprehended.
Qingyi not only knows wilderness survival skills, but he also has a cool hand chop technique that even he hasn't learned. It's a true skill passed down from father to son, not brother.

The other person delivered a solid blow to the back of the man's neck, and the man fell to the ground quietly. Only then did Zhang Shutong feel completely relieved, but she did not rush down.

But he wasn't in a hurry to go down, while a girl named Feng Ruoping rushed up.

"Are you guys okay?"

She thought she would receive a wave of admiring stares, but the girl covered her mouth, her voice becoming somewhat choked with emotion.

"You still said..."

Although she's usually very energetic, she's still a girl after all.

Seeing this, he smiled helplessly, but made no offer of comfort.

If she needed to comfort herself, then the girl wouldn't be Feng Ruoping.

"Why are you still kneeling here? You know you're handsome, okay?" The girl immediately put her hands on her hips, using an intimidating tone to cover up the vulnerability she had just revealed.

Zhang Shutong pointed to his feet:
"Look."

He wasn't posing intentionally; rather, to avoid making a fuss and alerting the enemy, he had parked his bicycle some distance away early, taken off his shoes, grabbed his fishing rod, baton, and scissors, and walked over wearing only his socks.

Honestly, the ground is really cold; my feet are almost frozen.

"Aren't you... cold?"

Ruoping was speechless for a moment. She asked anxiously, looked around, and hurriedly ran to get his shoes. Zhang Shutong put on his shoes, and the two of them went down the slope together, looking at the man in front of them.

Du Kang and Qing Yi also came over, but Lu Qinglian went to the edge of the pit the man had dug, and it was unclear what she was studying.

This girl is really bold. Even Zhang Shutong needed to mentally prepare himself before going there. Speaking of which, don't you really want to see what the murderer who killed you will look like eight years later?

But he couldn't care less what the other person thought, since it was eight years from now. Zhang Shutong and a few close friends started chatting about it.

Ruoping was probably bursting with frustration, so she immediately pressed him for details. Wasn't he supposed to be chasing after that man? How did he end up back?

"You all knew?" Zhang Shutong was somewhat surprised; in fact, this was the only thing he hadn't expected.

"Qingyi deduced that your two reasons are contradictory."

"Okay, actually my mom only asked me to deliver things, she didn't urge me at all."

He could accept the latter, but explaining the former was too troublesome, so he simply passed the blame to his mother.

"So how did you get back?"

"I saw Ruoping's phone number."

Zhang Shutong shrugged.

If we rewind time by ten minutes, he was riding his bicycle when he ultimately chose to chase rather than give chase, and the reason was quite simple:
First, his experiences over the years have led him to choose to believe in himself rather than pinning his hopes on the police stopping the car.
Secondly, while it's true that we need to find the murderer, the further we go, the more unpredictable accidents we encounter. I was a little anxious at the time, but then I thought it wasn't worth it for one person to put themselves in danger.

So he went straight to a place with a signal, and when he saw Ruoping's missed call, he rushed back. Looking back now, he's really glad he chose the latter.

Fortunately, we made it in time.

Du Kang was quite puzzled:
"Then how did you know something happened here?"

"It's very simple."

Zhang Shutong explained:

"You all know Ruoping well. If nothing's wrong, she'd like to bombard you on QQ. But I only saw one phone call and there was no follow-up, so something must have happened."

"Of course, I didn't know this person had circled back from behind me, so I called the police and rushed back. I was extra careful when I passed by here, but I didn't see any tracks of anyone riding a bicycle. As it turned out, you saw me hiding in the reeds, and there was a man digging a hole on the bank, and then..."

After speaking for so long, Zhang Shutong was a little tired:
"Well, you should ask Qingyi."

Then Qingyi explained the matter of the fishing line. Best friends never skimp on flattery, but to be honest, since they were all too familiar with each other, there was nothing to be happy about.
Zhang Shutong got three KFC meals, and the three of them each had one. As they talked, they agreed to go to the city on the weekend to eat the Tender Beef Wrap.
How can you eat KFC?
Zhang Shutong was so disgusted by the stench that he almost vomited. He quickly stopped them from discussing it further at home, shone his flashlight on the area, and gestured:

"Let's find out what's going on with this person first."

Of all those present, there was probably no one more anxious than myself.

And that was indeed the case. He was the only one who wanted to expose the murderer's true identity; the others followed him to the edge of the pit, both curious and afraid, wanting to find out what was going on.

Ignoring them, Zhang Shutong shone her flashlight directly on the man's face, glanced at him a few times, and then frowned in puzzlement.

The man had a very fat face and was bald, so a scar was visible on his temple, extending down to his chin. Aside from that, he had no distinguishing features. He tried hard to recall the people he had known in the past, but he couldn't remember them at all.

It's reasonable that he didn't recognize him, since he was the only one who was silenced. He should have taken a picture and asked Gu Qiu Mian if she recognized him tomorrow.

Just as I was about to take out my phone to take a picture, I heard Ruoping yell "Wow!" and turn her face away. I quickly took a few steps back, almost vomiting.

"I told you not to watch it." Just thinking about it makes me realize how bloody it must be.

"No..." Ruoping pinched her nose and took a while to speak, "Take a look for yourself... No, it stinks too much here, I need to go upstairs to get some fresh air..."

She was probably quite frightened and didn't dare to walk alone at night. As she spoke, she tugged at Lu Qinglian with lingering fear, "Qinglian, come up with me too. Don't look around. I haven't been able to eat for a week..."

No sooner had the two left than Du Kang also gagged and followed them off. Zhang Shutong called out to their retreating figures:

"Then you can go up there and make a call to the police station."

He had called the police, but only said there was a problem in a field on the west side of the island. He really didn't know which field it was, but Du Kang could tell him.

Seeing that all three of them had climbed up the earthen slope, only Qingyi remained behind. Zhang Shutong pinched his nose in advance and squatted down in front of his best friend.

Guess what's inside?

Qingyi also pinched his nose and spoke in a muffled voice.

Zhang Shutong shone his flashlight and froze for a moment. The pit had been cleared away by Qingyi. He had imagined all sorts of bloody scenes beforehand, but he never expected that what was inside was something he knew all too well—it was actually…

A pond full of fish?

fish?
Zhang Shutong immediately looked at the man lying on the ground, only to hear Qingyi say, holding his breath:

"We were all wrong. This isn't a murderer. Du Kang was right after all..."

Regardless of what Du Kang said, Zhang Shutong understood what was in the pit, and he too exclaimed in surprise:
"Why is it electrofishing?"

The pit was filled with rotting fish carcasses, emitting a strong smell of blood and decay.

"It's an electrofisher." Qingyi rarely swore, and said dejectedly, "I thought it was a murderer, you know? I was terrified just now. If I had known it was an electrofisher, I wouldn't have hidden for so long. If I had known... sigh." He shook his head as he spoke.

"It's pointless to say these things. I'm just being wise after the event. Even if it was electrofishing, if it weren't for you, Shutong, Ruoping would probably have been in danger."

Zhang Shutong had no intention of taking credit; he didn't care about that, as long as the others were alright.

He's just a little depressed right now, not much better off than Qingyi—

Although it ended without serious harm, the process of dealing with the man was quite complicated. When Du Kang and his men finally subdued the man, even he felt a long-lost surge of excitement.
So it was you! You killed me, Gu Qiumian, and Lu Qinglian. Didn't expect to be caught on your first day back, huh?

Although he had the illusion that "things were resolved so easily," he had also been easily killed by the other party in the first place. But he never expected that in the end, he would catch someone who was electrofishing.

At this moment, I really need a cigarette.

Then there was no smoke around, only a pungent stench.

"I want to be quiet..."

"I want, too."

The two exchanged a glance, turned around simultaneously, took a deep breath of the tiny bit of fresh air behind them, and then turned back to stare at the fishpond.

Qingyi rummaged through the man's clothes; he had already searched him.
"Look, this is the snakeskin bag that Du Kang mentioned earlier. It's actually a bag for carrying dead fish. The other thing he's carrying is an iron shovel... Oh, right, and this too. Shutong, guess what this is?"

Qingyi then took a fire poker-like object off the man's back.

"An electric fishing fork?"

"That's right, I thought it was a gun..."

Zhang Shutong looked at his best friend's speechless face and almost laughed. He was very depressed, but seeing that others were even more depressed made his own depression seem to lessen a little.
But it smelled so bad here, so I quickly shut my mouth and squeezed out through my teeth:
"Never mind, it's alright. I was worried you wouldn't understand what I meant."

"You know what, I was completely stunned at the time. It's amazing that you came up with that idea. But it's also a good thing you threw it on my head. If it were them, they might not have been able to see it."

Qingyi muttered again:
"How come Du Kang always seems to run into all sorts of bad luck..."

"What do you mean?"

“You forgot? Last week he said he saw someone electrofishing and even went to report it to the police out of a sense of justice. But the police didn’t believe him, and the rest of us didn’t believe him either. I didn’t expect that what he said was true. I guess the person he saw before was this person.”

Upon hearing this, Zhang Shutong immediately remembered it.

I remember when I went to report it to the police this afternoon, the reason the police didn't believe me was because they had just tricked me last week. They said a baby-faced boy lied to me, saying that someone was electrofishing. As soon as the police went on patrol, those guys went to fish on the other side.

Even Zhang Shutong himself thought that this was actually a lie made up by a few naughty kids back then to get fishing, but he didn't expect it to be true.

Thinking about this, he was both amused and exasperated. But then he realized that this was a case of loving dragons but fearing them in return. If the man who had fainted was really the murderer, they might not have been able to solve the problem so easily.

In short, this unusual night was finally over. He had spent the whole night wandering around in the cold wind, and now that he had confirmed the man's identity, he realized that he was completely exhausted and just wanted to go home and collapse into bed.

"However, don't you feel something's wrong?" Qingyi suddenly asked again.

Once the problem was solved, this guy's annoying habits returned.

"Speak," Zhang Shutong rolled her eyes.

"I just thought about it. When I hung up the fishing line, didn't I specifically have Du Kang shout to lure him over?"

"But if he's fishing with electricity, it's not a big crime. If he gets caught, he'll be detained for a few days at most. Is it really necessary to brandish a knife?"

"It really is."

Zhang Shutong stroked his chin, seemingly lost in thought.

Anyway, the matter was resolved, but the group still had to wait for the police to come and clean up the mess, so they couldn't leave for the time being. He was also interested in playing a deduction game with his best friend, something they used to enjoy.

"Maybe he was a fugitive before?" Zhang Shutong said casually. "Did they find anything on him just now?"

“Wallet, Swiss Army knife, lighter and cigarettes… oh, and this, cell phone.” Qingyi went back to the man and touched him again. “But we don’t know the password, so it’s useless.”

“That’s quite common.” Zhang Shutong also stood up, but he still felt that something was wrong.

He frowned immediately, as if he was just a tiny bit away from making a connection. It seemed important and unimportant, but he was just missing that tiny bit. Perhaps he was too tired tonight, because he just couldn't catch that spark of inspiration.

Qingyi, on the other hand, lost interest first, even though he was the one who suggested the reasoning:
"Forget it, he's just a bald guy who fishes with electricity. Why are we studying him here? He smells so bad. We might as well go home and read my novel. Look at Ruoping and the others, they went up there and haven't come down at all. They haven't made a sound for so long, making us look like idiots."

Zhang Shutong basically agreed. There's really not much to study about someone who fishes with electricity. You could say the other party acted a bit strangely at the time, but even a cornered dog will jump over a wall, so pulling out a knife isn't that unusual.

So he followed his best friend's footsteps, and as he passed the man, Zhang Shutong glanced at him one last time.

As expected, he was still a bald man with a disfigured face.

and many more……

Bald head...

Bald head?

Zhang Shutong suddenly stopped, rushed in front of the man, but did not look at the man himself. Instead, he quickly scanned the items he had taken from the man, and a series of common items were laid out on the ground.
"What's wrong? What came to mind?"

Qingyi turned around.

"You've been like this ever since you first met him?" Zhang Shutong's speech quickened unconsciously. "And are you sure you only found these things, and nothing else?"

"Of course, his Swiss Army knife just fell into the reeds, and I was the one who retrieved it. So what did you find?" Qingyi asked curiously.

A sudden chill ran through him in the night wind. He stared into Qingyi's eyes and said, word by word:

"Then... what about the baseball cap that Du Kang saw?"

Qingyi was also stunned:

"This...this can't be right. The woven bags and stuff match up. Wait a minute, I'll call him down and ask him..."

The two quickly climbed the earthen slope, but before they reached the top, they saw Du Kang standing on the dirt road. Qingyi immediately complained:

"If you're not hanging out with us, what are you doing with two girls? If we need to ask you something, come down and take a look..."

Before he could finish speaking, Zhang Shutong pulled him. He instinctively turned around to look, only to find that the other man's gaze was fixed on Du Kang's face.

Meng Qingyi looked over as well, and was stunned again, because Du Kang no longer had that always smiling face, but instead squeezed out an expression that was even uglier than crying.

The boy's voice was heard squeezed out between his teeth:
“Shutong, there’s more than one of them…”

……

"There's more than one of them..."

The words had barely left his mouth when the bright beam of the flashlight filled their vision. Zhang Shutong immediately pulled Qingyi down, his eyes stinging from the glare, remaining blurry for a long time. He turned his head, straining his brows to barely make out what was in front of him:
On the empty dirt road;

Behind Du Kang was Ruoping, a young girl with red eyes;
Behind Ruoping is Lu Qinglian;
And behind Lu Qinglian...

He was a tall, thin man wearing a baseball cap.

The man moved the flashlight away, and smiled without batting an eye.
"You guys are finally all here, right? There's no one else here?"

He had a mustache that resembled a sinister snake.

Zhang Shutong's mind went blank for a moment, and his previously relaxed nerves tensed up instantly;

His current position was precarious; he was below and the enemy was above. He absolutely couldn't afford to be wiped out in one fell swoop. Just as he was about to push Qingyi off the slope, he heard the man roar:
"Don't move! Hands up!"

Before he could react, the other person lifted something up. Zhang Shutong looked closely, and his heart sank to the bottom—

The man was holding a long spear.

The gun was pressed against the back of Lu Qinglian's head. He loosened Qingyi's clothes and slowly raised his hand.

"That's it, throw everything you're holding on the ground and line up..."

The man's mustache moved as he spoke.

While doing as the other party instructed, Zhang Shutong deliberately slowed down his pace. He glanced at the two cell phones that had been smashed on the ground, which should belong to Ruoping and Dukang... while his mind raced, trying to come up with a solution.

This shows that calling the police failed from the start, which is the key reason why the man was so fearless. However, the other party probably didn't know that he had called the police in advance, and might have taken advantage of this information gap to do something...

But it's hard to say when the police will find this place, and what if the other party takes a risk?
Why was it Lu Qinglian who was caught? Among them, she was the easiest to control. Zhang Shutong didn't forget that the girl was wearing a long robe, making it difficult for her to escape. Once she sensed something was wrong, she reached out and pulled on the robe, freezing her firmly in place.

So we need to stall for time until the police arrive, and if there's an opportunity, we can take it... But no matter what, we have to ensure Lu Qinglian's safety first...

A jumble of thoughts flashed through his mind, and anxiety and restlessness surged in his chest, but he forcibly suppressed them.
Zhang Shutong took a deep breath and slowly took a step, but the man seemed to see through his thoughts:
"Trying to stall for time? Get in front of me, both of you!" He pointed at Du Kang and Ruoping. "You two go and carry Wang Kang up here. Don't try anything funny!"

Ruoping and Dukang hesitated for a moment, but the man shouted again:
"go!"

As he spoke, he forcefully rammed the gun barrel into Lu Qinglian's head—

Time seemed to stand still at this moment.

A moonlit night;
A cold wind howled, and all around was desolate;
Naked, ferocious malice crashed over us like a tidal wave;

Ruoping seemed to have closed her eyes, unable to look any longer;
Du Kang suppressed his anger, his jaw clenched tightly;
Qingyi turned her back and slid her phone down the embankment;
At this moment, it seemed as if even the wind had stopped:

Then, Zhang Shutong saw the girl named Lu Qinglian frown.

The expected sound of metal hitting a head did not occur. Lu Qinglian simply turned her head slightly, her delicate face remaining expressionless.

The next moment, beneath the man's face, a mixture of shock and anger;

The girl moved.

She lowered her body, twisted her waist, turned to the side, and lifted her leg;
Her dark hair and green robe were poised to move, and then they danced together.

Beneath the billowing robe, in a fleeting glimpse, the girl's long, slender legs resembled a cannonball—

It suddenly slammed into the man's chest!

This part of the story is 10,000 words long. I've finished writing it, so I'm releasing it all here. I hope everyone enjoys reading it.
Also, could I ask for the follow-up reading on Tuesday in advance? I need to schedule recommendations for that day.

Finally, I would like to thank readers "Book Friend 20220128142623922", "Deep Abyss", and "Yui Aragaki's Onesie Pajamas" for their generous donations. Thank you very much!
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(End of this chapter)