By seven o’clock, the cause of the accident was identified—it was due to electrical wires being stolen the previous night, which were then incorrectly reconnected by an electrician in the morning, leading to the accident when the power was turned back on. By eight, the police got involved, detaining the security personnel on duty the previous night. Zhou Yuqian, feeling anxious, left a bodyguard to maintain order and instructed his secretary to handle the aftermath, ensuring no worker was arbitrarily questioned by the police. With the situation under control, he wearily approached his car.
The sky was overcast, with occasional cold raindrops falling. He pulled out two plane tickets, water droplets falling on the paper, blurring the blue text, revealing the destination. But he knew it was the last flight to Dalian at midnight, the closest place where it was snowing. He had planned to surprise her by returning at ten, but now, looking at the smeared ink, a surge of frustration rose in his chest. He angrily crumpled the tickets and threw them behind him. The rain was coming down in earnest now, the white ball of paper lying quietly on the wet ground, along with his long-planned surprise.
The luxury sedan sped along the highway until it reached the junction of the two cities, where there were two routes: one was the national highway, flat but longer, and the other was a winding mountain road, which, although less maintained and bumpy, could save an hour if one was in a hurry. Zhou Yuqian decided to make a final effort and turned onto the mountain road. The road twisted and turned with cliffs on the side, the car’s headlights piercing through the thin mist, their beams stretching into the distance. He focused intently on the road conditions, navigating around potholes, until he reached the foggy peak where visibility was severely reduced, forcing him to slow down. The mountain silence was eerie; not a single car passed by. Feeling increasingly uneasy, he pressed the accelerator, eager to leave this place. As he descended, his sense of unease grew, as if something was about to happen, but he didn’t fully trust his intuition, especially since he had driven this road several times before. Just as he reassured himself and laughed at his own paranoia, the car jolted violently, and a loud bang of a tire bursting shattered the silence. Before he could react in panic, the car veered towards the cliff. He quickly turned the steering wheel inward and slammed on the brakes, stopping the car just before it could crash into the rock wall. Sweating profusely, he cursed his luck, got out of the car, and saw the flat rear tire. Helplessly, he opened the trunk to retrieve the tools. Not far behind him, several dark figures were quietly closing in, surrounding him in the middle. As he turned around with the jack in hand—
Lai Hui sat up abruptly from the couch, her hand touching her cold forehead, wiping away the sweat, calming her racing heart. The darkness outside the window was as dark as her nightmare. What were the shadowy figures in her dream? They seemed like ferocious beasts, baring their fangs, making hissing sounds, relentlessly chasing her. How terrifying! She turned on the floor lamp, drew the curtains with her bare feet, having forgotten when she had fallen asleep. She must have been lying on the sofa waiting for him, only to drift off while waiting. Glancing at the clock on the wall, the hour hand pointed to one o’clock. He must have been held up by something, unable to return, she reasoned understandingly, though her heart wasn’t so forgiving. Almost as if she was angry with herself, she thumped up the stairs to the bedroom on the second floor, buried her head under the covers. After a while, she peeked out, staring blankly at the ceiling. It was one o’clock, marking her 26th birthday, yet if the damn man wasn’t coming back, at least he should call, right? Leaving her here alone, what did that mean? The more she thought about it, the more stifled she felt. She reached for the phone, convincing herself before dialing that she had every right to be unreasonable on her birthday! Moreover, she was supposed to return to City A the next afternoon; it was reasonable to check his schedule for planning. With her mind made up, she dialed the number, only to find his phone was off, and the morning’s unease engulfed her once more. After countless tries, the same flat tone persisted. Almost without thinking, she called his secretary.
“He left at eight, but he hasn’t come back at all!… It’s impossible, his phone is off, something must have happened!… Why didn’t you follow him…” The voice on the other end tried to console her, reasoning that only an hour had passed, no one believed something could happen in that time. Suddenly, Lai Hui remembered her recent nightmare and how restless she had felt all day, becoming more convinced that something had happened to Zhou Yuqian. She angrily banged the receiver on the cradle a few times. When the other end quieted down, she said, “Whether something has happened or not, send someone to look for him now. You must inquire at every police station along the route. I want a response within an hour!”
Half an hour later, a call came from a police station in a small town at the city border. Someone had reported a black JAGUAR parked on the mountain, with the owner missing. Just as the officer reported the license plate number, a sound of collision was heard from the other end, followed by silence. As the officer was about to hang up to contact the next family, a trembling voice came through, “Yes, that’s his car!”
At 2:30 AM, Lai Hui arrived at the scene. Not far from the car, several sharp stones lay in the middle of the road, likely the culprits that had slashed the tires. The car’s valuables had been ransacked, even the spare tire was gone. There were some scattered footprints along the road, with a long scrape mark extending to the cliff’s edge. The police officer, professionally and coldly, analyzed to Lai Hui—”There are two possibilities: one, he was pushed off the cliff during a struggle; the other, the robbers killed him and then threw his body off the cliff before escaping!”
Lai Hui could barely breathe, her ears buzzing, yet every word reached her clearly. Dragging her heavy steps to the cliff’s edge, she saw nothing but endless darkness below. Zhou Yuqian—could he be lying down there? She rushed forward, grabbing a police officer by the sleeve, shouting urgently, “Then go down and look for him, no matter what the situation, whether he’s alive or dead, you must find him!”
The officer seemed to understand her urgency, speaking gently, “Please calm down, we need to first gather information from the person who reported the incident, and we also need to wait for reinforcements from the precinct and the armed police. Searching for someone in these mountains isn’t easy, especially at night…” Lai Hui interrupted him.
“How much longer? Give me a specific time!”
“Two hours at the most!”
“Two hours to gather people and information, how long will the search take? Don’t you know it’s winter? If he’s lying out there, he’ll freeze to death even if he’s not already dead!” She choked, hating her own inauspicious words, quickly wiping away tears with her sleeve, and added, “He might be seriously injured, every second counts. Are you trying to kill him by not looking for him?”
The officer was helpless; only two people had come to the scene, and it was the dead of night. Even if they managed to get more people, finding someone wouldn’t be guaranteed. To avoid upsetting the family, he kept silent, seeing his colleague recording something by the car with a small miner’s lamp, he walked over silently. Lai Hui followed, grabbing the miner’s lamp. As the white light flickered, she stepped back a few paces, coldly stating, “If you won’t search, I’ll do it myself!”
