"You...you guys keep up!"
Xu Youqing glanced at him, and after Xiang Yu put his phone in his pocket, the two headed towards the high dam.
The water flowed swiftly below the dam. Feng Rou dragged Xu Youluo to the rusty iron fence by the dam with trembling hands. Looking at Xu Youluo's pale face, covered in bruises and bleeding, half-dead, her hands trembled.
"Hurry up!" Zhao Ming, standing to the side, kicked her.
After being discharged from the hospital, Zhao Ming seemed to be even stronger, and he kicked Feng Rou to the ground.
Feng Rou didn't react much. She got up and continued dragging until she finished the task, then quietly stepped aside, not daring to make a sound.
"They're here." Zhao Ming saw the two approaching figures with fierce glints in their eyes, looking eager and ready to pounce, like hunters locking onto their prey.
Upon seeing Zhao Ming, Li Yue quickened his pace and ran to Zhao Ming's side as if fleeing, fearing that Xiang Yu would catch up and punch him.
"I've brought the person here! Where's the money! Where's the money you promised me!" Li Yue grabbed Zhao Ming's sleeve in a panic, not daring to turn around or even deviate from the path to see Xu Youlu lying to the side.
He was not a good father; he couldn't even imagine the consequences of having two children.
"The black box under that tree over there." Zhao Ming gestured to the tree behind him. Li Yue scrambled over, opened the small box, and counted the contents. He confirmed that the banknotes were genuine and breathed a sigh of relief when he felt the texture of the paper.
'Bang!'
After a thud, Li Yue slowly collapsed to the ground.
"Ah!!!" Feng Rou screamed in terror as Zhao Ming slapped her across the face, making her see stars and bleed from the corner of her mouth.
He lay on the ground, too afraid to get up.
Xiang Yu and Xu Youqing witnessed this scene and frowned deeply.
"Don't worry, little girl. This is a tranquilizer gun modified from a pistol. Your biological father and stepmother are fine." Zhao Ming waved the gun in his hand and threw it aside. "Besides, I know this thing is useless to you two."
"What happens to them is none of my business." Xu Youqing noticed Xu Youluo, who was lying on the verge of death behind him. Her pupils dilated, but she forcibly suppressed the turmoil in her heart. "Zhao Ming, what do you want?"
“Zhao Ming? He’s a piece of trash.” ’Zhao Ming’ grinned and spoke in a non-human, mechanical voice, “He was taken down by a little girl. What a disgrace.”
The laughter was jarring, like sharp knives and forks scraping against glass, making a sound that shattered the soul.
Feng Rou lay on the ground, watching Xu Youluo struggle as she lay dying, letting out cries of agony like a trapped beast.
"ah!!!"
"Xiao Luo!" Xu Youqing cried out, clutching her temple. She swayed and collapsed to the ground, her intracranial trauma recurring, teetering on the brink of collapse.
Zhao Ming seemed dissatisfied with Xiang Yu's continued standing there. His seven orifices bulged, and he no longer resembled a human, only a sharp and piercing noise remained.
"Hiss." Xiang Yu clutched his chest and slowly squatted down, cold sweat beading on his forehead and his face completely pale.
"Two were in car accidents with split heads, and one had a heart problem." 'Zhao Ming' pointed out the reason why the three were on the verge of death, and laughed even more wildly, "They were already on the verge of death, why should they cling to life instead of going to the underworld!"
Seeing that Xiang Yu seemed unable to hold on any longer and stopped smiling, she strolled over to him and said, "Knowing that you two are close, I brought the snake here, and the turtle will definitely come looking for it, and you will come along with it."
Zhao Ming pressed closer, squatting down in front of Xiang Yu. "Which constellation are you? I just need to find a complete new constellation, and you're just right... You're so pitiful. This matter originally had nothing to do with you, but she insisted on dragging you into it."
"I did it voluntarily..." Xiang Yu bit her lower lip tightly to stay awake, pressing her hands against her chest until the skin turned white.
Blood spots gradually seeped from between Xu Youqing's fingers as she pressed her head down.
"Sister... Brother Yu..." Xu Youluo opened her eyes a crack and saw the scene in front of her. Her eyes reddened, and she rushed forward with all her might, only to be kicked in the chest by Zhao Ming.
Xu Youluo's back slammed hard against the rusty iron fence by the dam. The fence had long been eroded by various natural forces and was already very fragile. It broke directly after being hit like that.
Xu Youluo leaned backward due to inertia. His survival instinct made him grab the broken part, and the sharp tip covered with brownish-red rust pierced his palm, blood dripping down the lines onto the ground.
The photos in my pocket scattered like petals onto the surging river.
If Xu Youluo hadn't been caught, he himself would be the one going down now.
"Overestimating yourself." Zhao Ming stepped forward, intending to kick him into the river.
'Zhao Ming' stopped using the system's power to suppress him. Xiang Yu, enduring his heart discomfort, suddenly stood up and threw a punch.
Zhao Ming turned around and saw that he had been punched in the face and had fallen to the ground. He looked at Xiang Yu, who was about to throw another punch, and opened his mouth to let out a buzzing scream.
Xu Youqing's vision was blurry. She struggled to get up and grabbed a handful of sand, throwing it at the crowd.
"Cough cough!" 'Zhao Ming' is now in human form after all, and with sand in his eyes and mouth, he couldn't help but cough.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Xiang Yu went up and threw a punch straight at Zhao Ming's face until his face was a bloody mess and he could no longer make a sound.
In the distance, a siren broke the silence of the long night.
When they reached the high dam, Xu Youqing had already called the police and sent the audio recording of her conversation with Li Yue in the car to Xiang Yu, who then forwarded it to Sun Xiaoli.
It's all over.
Li Yue, Feng Rou, and Zhao Ming are suspected of kidnapping, and with other miscellaneous matters on top of that, life is going to be quite eventful.
After the incident, exhaustion overwhelmed her. Xu Youqing's physical condition was not as good as before, and she could only barely support herself to walk.
"Xiang Yu, are you alright?" Xu Youqing helped Xiang Yu up, then hurriedly looked at Xu Youluo, who was lying by the railing.
Feng Rou was probably provoked; she slumped to the ground, her eyes unfocused, muttering something incessantly.
Xu Youqing didn't even have the strength to look at her, and walked towards Xu Youluo with trembling steps.
She knelt down, gently cupped the back of his head, and held him in her arms, softly comforting him, "Don't be afraid, your sister is here."
After saying that, he took out his phone and called an ambulance.
Five police cars arrived, a scale of response completely disproportionate to the severity of the incident. Sun Xiaoli, who shouldn't have been there, got out of the car with the police officers.
"Xiao Yu, are you alright!" Sun Xiaoli ran towards Xiang Yu, who was standing precariously, and looked him up and down, her eyes filled with undisguised panic.
Xiang Yu's face was extremely pale at this moment. He pressed his hand tightly to his chest and shook his head.
Sun Xiaoli hugged him, repeating, "It's good that you're alright, it's good that you're alright."
The scene was chaotic. In the distance, Li Yue lay unconscious, a huge sum of money was in his arms, a modified pistol was thrown aside, Feng Rou was terrified and looked crazy, Zhao Ming was lying on the ground, and there were three high school students who had just come of age.
“Director Sun, this…” A junior police officer came over and looked at Xiang Yu’s still bleeding knuckles.
"Take the injured person to the hospital first." Sun Xiaoli glanced at the scene. "Take her to the hospital to give a statement... and bring her back to the station."
Feng Rou panicked when she saw Sun Xiaoli pointing at her in her police uniform.
An ambulance arrived shortly afterward, and medical personnel disembarked carrying a stretcher.
Xu Youqing helped the silent Xu Youluo onto the stretcher and wiped the blood and ash from his face.
"Sister...I'm sorry..."
"I was wrong too. Let's deal with it together when we get home, okay?"
Xu Youqing bit her lower lip tightly, her eyes reddening but she didn't cry.
Xu Youlu nodded emphatically, then burst into tears.
Xu Youqing wiped away his tears, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw the 'only remaining' photos on the edge of the fence. Dragging her tired body over, she picked them up one by one.
Zhao Ming and Li Yue were carried into the ambulance.
Zhao Ming seemed to have lost his soul, his gaze was blank, he just stared wide-eyed at the sky, his eyeballs were cloudy.
As Feng Rou was handcuffed and pulled up, she kept muttering to herself.
"Why? I clearly ran away with the money back then, why is it me again? Why am I so miserable? I haven't even been a rich wife for a few years..."
She stood frozen in place, refusing to move. Seeing that she was not cooperating, the police simply shattered her daydream, saying, "Stop thinking about it. Go in and reform yourself for a few years, and come out as a good person."
"Rehabilitation... I can't be rehabilitated, I don't want to, I don't want to be rehabilitated! I don't want to go to jail!"
Suddenly finding strength, Feng Rou broke free from the restraints of the police officer beside her, and trembling yet swift, she crashed headfirst into Xu Youqing, who was picking up photos.
"You're such a burden... It's all your fault! It's all your fault!! It's all your and your brother's fault!!!"
Xu Youqing turned around suddenly, but her body couldn't dodge in time.
"Watch out!" Xiang Yu reacted immediately and reached out to stop the out-of-control Feng Rou.
Her fingertips missed the hem of her dress, and she watched from a corner as Feng Rou bumped into Xu Youqing.
Two figures burst out of the high dam like kites with broken strings, plummeted, and were swallowed by the surging waves.
"sister!!!"
The figure fell heavily from the stretcher, tumbling and crawling, its screams piercing the sky, only to be drowned out by the sudden shouts and footsteps that erupted at the scene.
G City
In a private room of a restaurant, a glass of wine slipped from someone's hand and spilled onto the table.
"Is Yang Ge drunk? He can't even hold his glass properly, hahaha."
J City
Bai Zhi Qiu woke up from a nightmare with a start. The curtains were tightly closed, and the bedding beside her was ice cold. The person had woken up at some point, sat on the edge of the bed, lit a cigarette, and remained silent.
The heavy rain, which had been forecast since the afternoon, finally arrived in X City at night. Before the rain poured down, the wind howled as if it would topple tall buildings.
The stars and moon slowly moved eastward, clearly there, yet obscured by clouds, announcing that tomorrow would be gloomy.
The electronic mechanical sounds we've grown accustomed to have lost their former vitality.
—System: The Chosen Moral Exemplar System has been unbound. Dear hosts, the road ahead is long. May your future be smooth and free from hardship.
There will be a... future... meeting...
The last utterance was a distorted version of "I'm sorry," a farewell.
Chapter 91: The past cannot be undone, but the future can be changed.
Chapter 91: A Missed Opportunity: The past cannot be undone, but the future can be changed.
The students who are about to enter their final year of high school have already embarked on the all-out battle of comprehensive review, and they are all bent over by the power of knowledge, constantly complaining of their exhaustion.
"Liberal arts students use up their brain capacity, science students are killing their brain cells, it's too hard for kids, sob sob sob."
In the last geography class, we just finished a quiz. The students hadn't traveled the world, but they had already seen tourist attractions from various countries on the test.
"Brother Chen, I can't take it anymore." Yang Shuhuan collapsed in geography before he went crazy in math. He got six out of eleven multiple-choice questions wrong, which meant he was throwing away thirty points. Who the hell could stand that?
Starting in his senior year of high school, Gu Chen went straight into full-on study mode, putting aside any public service or practical activities he could, and absolutely not paying attention to them during the week.
"What's wrong?" Gu Chen turned around, took the other person's test paper directly, and told Yang Shuhuan to hurry up. "Which question?"