Who is it?!
Zhang Shutong's heart skipped a beat.
The beam of the flashlight swung overhead, and the darkness in his field of vision was being swallowed by light bit by bit.
A few minutes? Or just one minute? Perhaps even faster than that—as long as the newcomer's footsteps drew just a little closer, their private patch of grassland would be exposed completely.
Countless clues suddenly connected in his mind:
...The Forbidden Zone.
...A man.
...The west side.
...The opposite shore.
...A recently opened package.
All these keywords flashed rapidly through his mind, assembling themselves like fragments in an instant. But regardless of who the person was, there was no time to think about it now—
Should they run?
Absolutely not!
Zhang Shutong immediately rejected that idea. If it were just him, he could try, but there were too many of them—they couldn't take the risk. No matter who had an accident, the consequences would be unbearable.
So Zhang Shutong quickly waved his arm, pointing toward the reed marsh, and said in a low, sharp voice:
"Everyone, hide!"
He usually didn't talk much, but whenever he got serious, his words always carried weight. In this small group, when it came to making critical decisions, aside from Ruoping, only Zhang Shutong himself could take charge.
The others exchanged glances. Lu Qinglian was the first to move. Ruoping and Du Kang had wanted to say something, but driven by the other two's movement, their bodies instinctively followed, and they immediately began gathering their things from the ground.
The beam of light was getting closer.
Zhang Shutong scanned the surroundings. Within his line of sight, the bicycles were the largest items that could be discovered, but fortunately, no one had moved their bikes—they were still tucked away in the reed marsh.
What remained were the fishing rods and stools. The stools were easy enough—they could be picked up and carried away at any time. But the fishing rods were completely different. These things were never just the poles themselves; they had fishing lines, floats, and hooks attached, and if handled carelessly, they'd get tangled in the grass on the ground.
His own fishing rod was already in his hand, Ruoping and Du Kang hadn't been fishing at all, but only Qingyi, who'd been chatting with everyone, still had all his equipment at the water's edge.
Seeing that he was about to turn back, Zhang Shutong rushed forward in a single stride, pressed down on his arm, and indicated upward with his eyes. The two were indeed in sync—or rather, this was the good thing about chunibyo teenagers: they could get into character in seconds. Qingyi nodded solemnly, then simply extended his foot and kicked the fishing rod into the water without hesitation.
The force was just right, like a bamboo shoot sliding into a pot. An almost inaudible splash sounded, and when he looked back, everyone was already crouching low and quickly drilling into the reed marsh.
—Zhang Shutong knew they all thought it was the police coming on patrol, which was why they were so well-trained. This group had plenty of experience playing hide-and-seek like this in their daily lives, so they didn't need him to tell them what to do.
So he didn't bother explaining. In this situation, maintaining this perfectly appropriate misunderstanding would actually help with their actions.
The footsteps grew closer and closer. He took one last sweep of the grassland, then parted the reeds behind him. Fortunately, the bicycles inside had already separated the reeds a bit earlier; otherwise, it would have been impossible to make so little noise.
Then he released his hand, and his vision immediately went pitch black. The reeds cut off the outside world, but also blocked nearly all the view ahead.
The faint breathing of the others behind him was close at hand. He looked back and saw only a few pairs of gleaming eyes in the darkness.
Zhang Shutong was familiar with this kind of look—he'd ridden roller coasters before. The most suffocating moment on a roller coaster was never the plummeting descent like falling off a cliff, but rather when you gripped the shoulder restraints tightly, your vocal cords tensed, your body leaning back, slowly ascending a ladder-like incline, and then reaching the highest point after a few seconds!
The expressions on the others' faces were just like riding a roller coaster. Zhang Shutong could read their meaning—a close call, or rather, they were treating the current hiding as an exciting adventure. It was a bit embarrassing, sure, but at this age, teenagers feared neither heaven nor earth. What if they were discovered? At worst, they'd have a grand chase scene with that bear-like police officer, like a game of eagle catching chickens—maybe it would even become tomorrow's gossip at school...
Of course, Zhang Shutong also hoped it was the police. The police would be fine—getting caught would mean a scolding at most, wouldn't break skin or lose flesh, and even if reported to school, it would be no big deal. If possible, he really didn't want to scare himself. It was so late—wouldn't it be better for everyone to go home, take a shower, and sleep? Why stay here playing mind games with thin air? So stop being so nervous and making a big fuss...
But only Zhang Shutong couldn't think that way.
What came to his mind was only the murderer who killed Gu Qiumian eight years ago, and the knife that stabbed into the back of his own neck eight years later. That night was just like tonight—hands and feet ice-cold, the night wind biting, and the wind was even stronger... He pulled out his phone and began typing in the notes app, sliding the screen brightness to its lowest setting and passing it backward.
"Give me the baton! In the side of the bag! Whatever happens, you guys just run!!!"
That's what the screen said. He'd typed five exclamation marks in one breath, just hoping to make everyone take it seriously. Theoretically, there was only one person on the other side, while they had five people here—there was a chance to directly capture the murderer.
But Zhang Shutong knew that murderers generally fell into two categories: one was manslaughter, like a petty thief who only wanted to steal a wallet but when cornered might take desperate risks; and the other...
Was going straight for lives.
The opponent was the latter.
Zhang Shutong didn't dare gamble.
Besides, with everything happening so suddenly, the group had no chance to plan. For instance, he'd also wanted to add "then call the police quickly" on his phone, but without even thinking, he knew someone would definitely ask, "Isn't the police here to catch us? Why would we call them?"
In times like these, saying more meant more mistakes, saying less meant fewer mistakes. Fortunately, something rod-shaped was quickly passed into his hand. Zhang Shutong gripped the baton tightly and held his breath, waiting.
He listened to the footsteps so close at hand, preparing himself for the worst. The footsteps drew even nearer, almost right above their heads, like a wolf standing over a mole's burrow, while the moles underground could only tremble in fear.
Then the fierce wolf's gaze probed into the burrow:
As a beam of flashlight shone down, his nerves also stretched to their tightest. Perhaps it was a few seconds, perhaps over ten seconds—his heart pounding, even he himself couldn't remember how long it lasted—until the flashlight suddenly moved away.
A voice with a thick accent muttered into his ears:
"Strange, I could have sworn I heard people just now. Those kids aren't here?"
...
A long breath escaped from his chest.
Of course, the others around him didn't immediately start celebrating either. Everyone patiently waited for the person to leave, until even the flashlight's beam was almost invisible, when clear laughter came from behind.
It was Ruoping:
"Shutong, look how scared you were just now—your back was all bent, and you even wanted the baton..."
Du Kang chimed in from the side:
"Holy shit, dude, the cop didn't scare me just now, but you did. I thought you were going to assault an officer."
Zhang Shutong ignored them both and let out a breath of relief. He turned on his flashlight and shone it behind him. Everyone's faces were flushed with excitement from the stimulation, as if they wanted more. Zhang Shutong didn't know what to say, but one thing made him pause—
Lu Qinglian was right behind him.
When did she get there?
Shouldn't it have been Qingyi? He remembered the two of them were the last ones to go in.
Only then did he recall that the hand that passed him the baton earlier had been very cold.
She still wore that indifferent expression. Zhang Shutong had thought she would furrow her brow and ask what was going on, but in reality, she remained the same as always, without any emotional fluctuation.
Only when the flashlight accidentally shone on her face would she instinctively squint and turn her head away, like a cat.
Whatever. As long as everyone was fine.
Although it turned out to be a false alarm in the end, this was undoubtedly the best outcome.
With that thought, he put away the baton and laughed as well:
"What, I can't be timid?"
"Tch, even I, a girl, am not as scared as you. And look at Qinglian—I was right behind her just now, and she didn't even change her breathing."
"Yes, yes, you're very brave. From now on, we'll all listen to you..."
Just as he was about to urge everyone to leave quickly, Qingyi said thoughtfully:
"Actually, Shutong wasn't wrong. Before coming, no one knew it was the police. It could have been someone else. I think we should be careful too."
Zhang Shutong thought that finally someone was speaking up for him. In a sense, his guess had really been correct.
"You mean that man Du Kang mentioned?" Ruoping asked.
"Yeah, it's abnormal, isn't it?" Meng Qingyi asked Du Kang again, "Did you see clearly what characteristics he had?"
"Uh, I didn't pay attention. He was wearing a baseball cap, had a burlap sack slung over one shoulder, and seemed to be carrying something in his other hand? That's all I remember."
"That's exactly why it's strange."
"Stop being so mysterious—just say it. Besides, maybe he came to fish too?" Ruoping urged. Everyone knew Qingyi was a mystery buff.
"What does Shutong think?" To everyone's surprise, Qingyi threw the question to him. "What does it indicate?"
"It indicates he came from somewhere nearby," Zhang Shutong thought for a moment. "And he wasn't here to fish."
"Why?"
"If Du Kang didn't see wrong and that person really had a burlap sack on his back, it indicates two things. First, whatever was inside was very heavy—an ordinary bag would tear, so it wouldn't be fishing equipment."
"Maybe his family only had that kind of bag, so he just made do. My grandma likes to use fertilizer sacks when buying groceries too." Ruoping pouted.
"Your grandma is used to being frugal, but someone who can afford a complete set of fishing equipment wouldn't skimp on a bag." Qingyi took over.
"Then what's the second thing?" Ruoping turned to look at him.
"Second, this place is far from the city center. Since he was carrying something heavy on his shoulder, he couldn't possibly have walked all the way from downtown. But when Du Kang saw him, the man was on foot, which means he has a base nearby—maybe a vehicle, maybe something else."
"So what was he doing here?"
"That I don't know, but think about it—normal people don't wear hats in the middle of the night, so I was right when I said Shutong should be careful."
"Fine, you two have convinced me." Ruoping was straightforward about it, though after speaking, she knocked Du Kang on the head, complaining, "Look at you—you were the first one to see him, so why didn't you think of any of this?"
Du Kang grimaced: "Come on, big sister, you were on my side just a moment ago..."
"Hmph."
"Alright, let's go. We can talk about any problems in the group chat when we get back."
Zhang Shutong said while shining his flashlight around.
"Then let's go back. It's already 7:40. If we hadn't waited for you, Shutong, I would have been home watching my shows ages ago. Now I can't even catch up..." Ruoping nodded along.
It was perfectly normal for girls to love TV dramas.
"Me too, I still have to study when I get home." Qingyi prepared to retrieve his fishing rod.
Besides reading, he didn't do much else.
"Right, right, I need to go back and check on my frog."
Everyone immediately fell silent.
"Wha—what?" Du Kang warily slipped his hand into his pocket.
Even Zhang Shutong had a mouthful of complaints he wanted to spit out.
Fortunately, Ruoping beat him to it:
"You're asking what?" She mimicked the earlier reasoning tone. "First, you really did dig up a frog? Second, Du Kang-tongxue, could you please not put your hand in your pocket?"
After speaking, Ruoping smiled with relief:
"Did you think! Anyone would! Fight you for your frog!"
As her voice gradually rose, the frog in Du Kang's pocket seemed to wake from hibernation and croaked.
Du Kang quickly changed the subject:
"Let's hurry home then, your show has already started..."
"Don't take it lightly." Zhang Shutong reminded them. "Since we've already noticed something's off, you all need to be careful these days. You all have your phones, right? Remember to call the police, and don't try to be heroes."
Du Kang clutched his head: "No problem, no problem. By the way, you've suddenly become so talkative today."
Zhang Shutong ignored his comment:
"Also, if we encounter this kind of situation again in the future, follow my lead. If I can't handle it, you all just run immediately, then call the police. Can you remember that?"
His gaze swept across each face. Seeing everyone nod in confirmation, Zhang Shutong relaxed slightly, then looked at Lu Qinglian:
"That includes you too. It's best not to deviate from your usual routes."
Although theoretically she wasn't in danger, tonight's encounter made Zhang Shutong understand one thing: theory was just theory.
Just like in his original life, Lu Qinglian wouldn't have come fishing with them tonight, Du Kang wouldn't have run back to get the stools because of it, and he wouldn't have seen that man who was possibly the murderer while carrying the stools—
Since so much of the past had already changed, although things were still within a controllable range, who could say for certain that even bigger accidents wouldn't occur?
Besides, Lu Qinglian had neither a vehicle nor a phone. If she really encountered danger, she could neither run away nor call for help—she was worse off than the rest of them.
Fortunately, Lu Qinglian nodded upon hearing this. Although she still had no expression, and although she really only nodded once, that was enough.
Zhang Shutong continued:
"You guys pack up first. I still have something to do."
"'You guys'?" Ruoping asked. "What are you going to do now?"
"Return a phone call. My mom just called me."
With that, Zhang Shutong showed his phone, grabbed his bicycle, and rode up the dirt slope.
But in reality, that wasn't it at all—he was planning to call the police.
This wasn't some save-and-reload game. The opportunity was right in front of him—if he missed it, it would be truly gone.
Besides, "Regression" had already disappeared. Unlike before, he no longer had countless chances to trial-and-error or gather information. Now that he'd finally caught a clue about the murderer, and the person was very likely nearby, of course he had to strike while the iron was hot.
So Zhang Shutong had no intention of going home tonight.
He just wanted to find an excuse to safely trick everyone into going home first.
"Many hands make light work" was true enough, but he didn't want to drag his close friends into this.
Feeling his way in the dark to the dirt road, Zhang Shutong looked at his screen and immediately frowned.
Still no signal?
He hadn't expected things to fail at such a critical moment.
He walked a few more steps in a farther direction, but the call still wouldn't go through. Zhang Shutong reluctantly put away his phone.
Then he'd have to ride there.
While the patrol officer hadn't gone far, if he hurried after him now and called him back, there should still be time.
He could only shout down below:
"You guys go together. My mom's angry, so I'm heading back first. I'm leaving this to you, Ruoping—watch over them. When you all get home, call me back."
After all, their homes weren't in the same direction anyway, so this excuse had nothing suspicious about it.
After speaking, without waiting for them to pepper him with questions, he mounted his bike and left.
...
"Hey, Zhang Shutong!" Feng Ruoping called out, only to find that the young man had already ridden off on his own.
The girl complained discontentedly, "Really, what's with this guy?"
Now it was all on her alone. She suddenly felt like a worried mother hen... Actually, that was too old—more like a zookeeper.
But she was used to it. Just as she was about to call everyone to pack up, Qingyi suddenly asked:
"Don't you think Shutong was a bit strange today?"
"Not really—he's always like this, a lone wolf..."
"Do you remember what he said when he came back earlier?"
"What?"
"His mom asked him to bring something over."
"Oh, I think that's what he said."
"Just now too, he said his mom sent him a message urging him." Qingyi fished his fishing rod out of the water and wiped it off. "Have you noticed a problem?"
"Oh come on, stop being mysterious."
"These two statements contradict each other." Meng Qingyi stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Look, we all know his parents work at the research institute and don't usually come home, right?"
"So?"
"Then here's the problem—if his mom took the day off and happened to come home today, why would she ask him to deliver something? And if his mom wasn't home today, how would she know he didn't go home?"
Feng Ruoping froze: "Right, so Shutong he..."
"Probably went after that man Du Kang mentioned."
The girl immediately became anxious. "That won't do—who knows if there's danger? If he runs over there alone and something happens..."
Before she finished speaking, she saw Qingyi looking equally eager to try:
"Shutong is really not being a good friend about this. Let's go too."
"You can forget about it!" Ruoping shot him a glare. "I'm calling him right now to get him back. Really, none of you let me worry..."
However, the voice from the other end of the phone said the user was not in the service area.
Feng Ruoping stamped her foot:
"Then let's all go find him together."
With that, she called over Du Kang and Lu Qinglian. Du Kang had nothing to say about it, so she apologized to Lu Qinglian:
"Qinglian, why don't you wait here for a bit? Once we find Shutong, we'll come back together?"
It was so late—they definitely couldn't let her go back to the mountain alone, but right now they were already short-handed, and they didn't know what was going on with Shutong. If they really split someone off to escort her back, Feng Ruoping wouldn't be too happy about it.
But having her accompany them to find someone didn't seem appropriate either, so they could only ask the girl to wait in place until they returned.
Lu Qinglian shook her head. "Let's go together."
After reaching an agreement, they were about to leave when footsteps sounded overhead again.
Du Kang was the first to complain:
"What the hell, is this never going to end? Why are they back again..."
Before he could finish, Meng Qingyi covered his mouth:
"Shut up, didn't you notice..."
The young man's voice dropped to an extreme low:
"He's not using a flashlight."