Klasse 0 der 10

Kapitel 52

Snowflakes fell, and Ma Nan curled up, feeling cold and hungry. Ba Rong bent down with pity, gently picked him up, and slowly walked into the depths of the snowy night.

Ma Nan opened his eyes; he was still lying on the edge of the bed. His body was limp, without any strength. The dream was still vivid in his mind; he remembered that those things had actually happened. On that snowy night, Ba Rong had given a child hope for life, allowing him the chance to taste happiness in the future. The old man was dead, and his life had not been fully recovered. He was filled with joy and sorrow, but his life was gone ...

If he were given another chance, would he choose to live freely and happily with his people?

Ma Nan had a headache; the dream had pierced his heart.

He closed his eyes to calm himself down, and when he regained some strength, he slowly stood up.

He was still in the same room, but soon he realized something was wrong. He looked around; everything was the same, except that he was alone in the room.

Yangmei and he both smelled the fragrance in the box at the same time, and they both fell into a deep sleep. But now, Yangmei is gone.

Also, the box that should have been on the ground is gone.

Of course, Yang Mei might have woken up before Ma Nan and gone somewhere else. But Ma Nan still felt something was wrong. Now, besides him and Yang Mei, only the household registration police officer and Liu Hongzhong remained in the room. The last person Yang Mei wanted to see was the household registration police officer, so why would she leave Ma Nan behind and go somewhere else after waking up?

Ma Nan slowly walked out of the room, first listening intently. The surroundings were extremely quiet, as if the silence belonged to another world.

Regardless of what was about to happen or had already happened, Ma Nan knew he had to face it. So, after only a slight hesitation, he slowly walked forward.

Passing through door number 5, there was a pool of blood on the floor. This was the room where the man with the tattoo on his face had died, but now, his body was gone too. Ma Nan wasn't surprised; if a living person could disappear, what chance did a dead one have? There must be secret passages hidden in these rooms, allowing free access, but these passages must be extremely well-hidden, perhaps even controlled by mechanisms. Without knowing their secrets, even if you knew where the door was, you wouldn't be able to open it.

The Ba people used these hidden doors to tamper with things.

Ma Nan continued forward without stopping. Gate 6 was now in sight when he suddenly heard a slight noise. Listening carefully, it sounded like a person whimpering with their mouth gagged.

Ma Nan strode forward and quickly arrived at Gate 6. The first thing he saw was a woman tied to a chair in the center of the room, her mouth sealed with duct tape. She was twisting her body and making indistinct noises.

This woman is, of course, Yang Mei.

Ma Nan immediately guessed what had happened—he and Yang Mei had both fainted, and at that moment, the murderer appeared, brought Yang Mei to this room, and tied her to a chair. The intention was clearly to kill her, but for some reason, he hadn't had a chance to do so yet.

Without hesitation, Ma Nan immediately went inside, squatted behind a chair, and began to untie the rope binding Yang Mei.

Yangmei struggled even more fiercely, and her sobs grew louder.

Ma Nan suddenly realized that Yang Mei should have calmed down when she saw someone coming to rescue her, so why was she even more agitated? Unless, she knew that the person who came to rescue her couldn't save her at all.

Ma Nan immediately sensed the presence of danger, but it was too late to escape it.

Hearing a noise behind him and turning around, he was struck hard on the back of the head. A sharp pain shot through him, his vision went black, and then the world began to spin. He collapsed to the ground, his consciousness fading.

He didn't know how much time had passed when he slowly opened his eyes. He immediately felt a splitting headache and his vision was blurry, but he still saw Yang Mei and the man standing in front of her.

Yang Mei was still tied to the chair, but she had stopped struggling. Fortunately, although her face was not visible, her straight back was clearly visible, indicating that she had not yet been harmed. However, the danger still existed, and it was already imminent. In front of her stood the man, dressed in a black robe and wearing a mask, with the words "Executioner" glaringly obvious on his forehead.

He held a knife in his hand, which was already above his head and about to be chopped down.

"Stop—!" Ma Nan could only let out a loud roar, using all his strength.

But he also knew he couldn't save Yang Mei. He had just woken up and didn't even have the strength to stand, let alone save anyone. The Ba people probably brought him here so he could witness the killing firsthand.

When Ma Nan let out that roar, he had even closed his eyes. He couldn't bear to see blood splatter and a young life vanish in an instant.

The knife didn't fall, and Yang Mei didn't die; it was the masked man who fell.

At that critical moment, someone rushed in from outside, grabbed the masked man by the waist, lifted him up, and slammed him heavily against the wall. The masked man fell to the ground, letting out some low groans.

The person who saved Yang Mei was the very same household registration police officer she so deeply resented.

When the police officer approached Yang Mei, his expression was one of indescribable sorrow, like a child who had done something wrong and knew he would never be forgiven by the adults.

He tore off the tape from Yangmei's mouth, seemingly wanting to say something, but then sighed and went behind her to untie her.

Suddenly, the masked man stood up and charged forward without a word. The police officer, before he could even get up, was knocked to the ground. Yang Mei was also knocked down; her hands and feet were still tied to a chair, preventing her from getting up, but she could see the fallen police officer.

Before the police officer could fight back, he was kicked hard in the head. Just as he was feeling dizzy, the masked man seized the opportunity and kicked him several more times. In this way, the police officer had no chance to fight back at all.

Blood flowed from somewhere, staining his face. The beating continued. At first, he could barely protect his vital parts with his hands, but eventually, he lay motionless on the ground. But his eyes remained wide open, looking at Yang Mei beside him, and in that moment, his gaze revealed a strange serenity.

Did he know that he had saved Yang Mei, and that if he were to die for her, he could earn her forgiveness?

Yang Mei was already in tears. She screamed, trying to stand up, but her legs were bound, and she couldn't get up at all. At that moment, she seemed to have forgotten what the police officer had done to her. In a moment of crisis, the relationships between people suddenly became pure and simple.

The masked man seemed exhausted from kicking, panting heavily, but he still refused to give up his attack. Suddenly, as if frozen in place, he froze completely. Then, his body tilted to one side, and he slowly turned around.

A knife was stuck in his back. Ma Nan stood behind him.

It turned out that Ma Nan had finally mustered up some strength, and when the masked man was beating the household registration police officer, he picked up the knife on the ground and stabbed him hard in the back.

The masked man finally collapsed, his body still convulsing.

Ma Nan first untied Yang Mei, who then cried as she picked up the police officer from the ground and wiped the blood from his face with her sleeve. The police officer seemed unable to speak, but his expression was unusually satisfied.

“I wish I could die for you, so you could believe that I truly love you,” the police officer said.

Yang Mei cried even harder, her helpless gaze falling on Ma Nan. Ma Nan knew how she felt, sighed, and stepped forward to help her lift the police officer onto the bed.

Yang Mei seemed to realize something only then, and as she stood up, she moved further away from the police officer. Although the officer didn't say anything, his eyes suddenly looked disappointed.

Ma Nan slowly walked up to the masked man, bent down, and took off the mask from his head.

This person was Liu Hongzhong.

Liu Hongzhong was not dead yet, staring at Ma Nan with desperate, terrified eyes. What surprised Ma Nan even more was not that Liu Hongzhong was actually the murderer, but that there was a piece of gauze covering his nose, taped shut around the edges. The white gauze was already stained red with blood, and blood was still seeping out.

"Why did you kill Yang Mei?" Ma Nan's mind went completely blank for a moment.