Chapter 588
Blood
The sound of rain.
It's that sticky, persistent sound of rain again, as if it can never be wiped away.
Han Zhou's phrase "four years ago" was like a rusty key, unexpectedly unlocking the keyhole of his memories.
In an instant, icy rain, the pungent smell of sulfur, and the ear-splitting bang all poured out from the gap.
Zhong Ling looked at Han Zhou, but her gaze went unfocused, passing through him and returning to the winding mountain road where it was always raining heavily.
That's the road leading to the Wushan Scenic Area.
The weather was fine when we set off, but as soon as we entered the mountain road, the sky suddenly turned cloudy and a downpour began.
The road ahead also became rugged.
The windshield wipers swung futilely from side to side, scrambling open one blurry curtain of water after another. Father gripped the steering wheel, driving very slowly.
"The weather forecast clearly said it wouldn't rain today. The weather forecast in Lincheng is never accurate." He said this with feigned distress, but a smile was on his face.
"But this is no longer within the Lincheng area; Wushan Scenic Area is in Jingcheng."
The mother, sitting in the passenger seat, smiled slightly and turned to hand the two sisters in the back seat a bag of sliced apples.
"Xiaoling, don't press your face against the glass."
She gently reminded Zhong Ling, who was wearing an earphone and looking at her phone.
"Ah."
Zhong Ling smiled somewhat embarrassedly, immediately sat up straight, took the fruit, and turned to look out the car window.
In the rain, the mountains and trees were blurred into dark shadows. Not far ahead, a dark cave entrance could be vaguely seen at the foot of the mountain. Several figures in raincoats were busy at work, and a dilapidated pickup truck was parked next to it, its headlights particularly glaring in the rainy night.
"Mom, what do those people do?" she asked curiously.
"not sure."
The mother peeked out and smiled faintly, "It must be the construction team."
"Do you still have to work in such heavy rain?"
“After all, he’s an adult now,” the father replied with a smile.
"Adults don't necessarily have to work very hard."
His mother glanced at him and said, "It just started raining. We'll probably have to stop working soon."
As she spoke, she suddenly noticed that her eldest daughter seemed a little absent-minded, and asked with concern, "Xiaoyin, what's wrong? Is something on your mind?"
"without……"
Zhong Yin snapped out of his daze and was about to shake his head when he heard his younger sister whisper, "Brother Wukong often complains that the weather forecast in Lincheng is inaccurate."
"Little Bell..."
She looked embarrassed and annoyed, and immediately pinched her younger sister's cheek. The latter did not dodge, but just giggled.
"So that's why you were thinking about Wukong again."
Mentioning this somewhat distant name, the father, who was driving, recalled for a moment and smiled, "But speaking of that child... it seems like the last time we met was five years ago, wasn't it?"
Hearing this, Zhong Yin, who was playfully fighting with Zhong Ling, looked a little gloomy. She took an apple from the bag, took a big bite, as if swallowing all the grievances of the past years, and said irritably, "What do you mean the last time we met? That was clearly the last time we met."
To be honest, it's quite strange to remember a guy you've only known for a short time for five years. But instead of advising her to let go, her mother smiled and said, "Why don't you try calling him again?"
"I do not want it."
Zhong Yin took another bite of the apple, making a crisp chewing sound, and mumbled, "Every time I call, it's a dead number. So stupid."
My mom is really something. Other mothers, even if they don't get angry when their daughters are scammed and the person they like leaves them with only a dead number, will definitely stop them from calling that number again. But my mom is different. She always encourages herself to keep calling.
Zhong Ling glanced at her sister's expression and whispered, "Sister tried calling last night, but she still couldn't get through."
As soon as she finished speaking, Zhong Yin reached out again and tickled her, making her giggle once more.
The mother smiled as she watched the two playfully interacting, then suddenly asked, "Little Silver, if you were to see Wukong again, what would you say to him?"
Zhong Yin paused in his actions, as if he had thought of something. He lowered his head somewhat embarrassedly, then suddenly raised his face and said fiercely, "Of course we should beat him up first. Who leaves a dead number before leaving?"
"Maybe Brother Wukong just gave the wrong number," Zhong Ling said softly, taking an apple out of the bag and offering it to her sister's lips.
"Then he deserves a beating even more."
Zhong Yin held the apple in her mouth, took out her phone, and looked down at the string of numbers in her contacts that she knew by heart. Her tone was somewhat disappointed, "That guy has my number too, but he's never called me..."
Zhong Ling looked troubled. In this matter, Brother Wukong had indeed gone too far. She thought for a moment and cautiously asked, "Could it be that Brother Wukong has also forgotten your number?"
"Then they deserve to be beaten even more!"
Zhong Yin rolled her eyes. "You can't even remember a phone number, let alone memorize it—"
"Remember what?" the mother asked with a half-smile.
"...Let alone remember us." Zhong Yin turned her face away, looking slightly guilty.
Zhong Ling smiled bitterly. It seemed that no matter what, on the day they met again, Brother Wukong would inevitably get a beating from his sister.
She sometimes felt strange. Even though they hadn't been in contact for five years, and Brother Wukong had only left a disconnected number before he left, it seemed that her parents, her sister, and even herself all felt that they would meet again someday.
Is this fate?
Just as she was thinking this, her mother asked again, "Xiaoling, if you meet Brother Wukong in the future, what do you plan to say to him?"
"I?"
Zhong Ling was taken aback. She hadn't really thought about that. Although she had a deep impression of Brother Wukong, the two of them didn't actually interact much back then. She only remembered that Brother Wukong liked to pinch her cheeks. If they met again, she would probably still feel very embarrassed.
Just then, the father interrupted with a smile, "When you see him again, ask him if he still remembers his promise from back then. Don't take it as a joke; your mother and I took it seriously."
Zhong Ling felt a little awkward.
Of course she remembered what the so-called promise was. Brother Wukong had said that he would take responsibility for his sister and her. Although she didn't understand why he would say such a thing at the time, now that she thought about it, she felt that his words were strange.
After all, shouldn't responsibility be directed towards the girl you like? Brother Wukong is already responsible for his sister, so why bring up himself?
Zhong Yin was also a little embarrassed and quickly complained, "Mom, Dad teases us about this every now and then, and you don't even do anything about it."
Upon hearing this, the mother simply smiled and said, "Dad didn't mean to tease you; we really took it seriously."
Looking at his two daughters' embarrassed expressions in the rearview mirror, the father laughed heartily and couldn't help but say, "I wonder if you two will still be like this when you get married in the future."
"What marriage? Isn't it too early to bring this up now..." A certain face immediately flashed through Zhong Yin's mind, her ears turning slightly red, while the shy Zhong Ling had completely buried her head in her chest.
The father didn't reply, his hearty smile still on his face, silently watching his two daughters in the rearview mirror.
The car had been driving for quite some time, and Zhong Ling was feeling sleepy. So she lowered her head again and continued watching the video she hadn't finished watching earlier, planning to take a nap after she finished.
The video is a travel guide for Wushan Scenic Area. It not only marks the most worthwhile attractions and recommends tour routes, but also thoughtfully includes a guide to accommodations with excellent value for money.
She habitually opened the comments section and found that everyone was sharing their experiences in the comments.
"Speaking of Wushan Scenic Area, the Holy Mother Temple at the top of the mountain is a must-see. It is said that as long as you offer incense and worship the Holy Mother and make a sincere wish, you can change your luck. Friends who have been having bad luck lately and are suffering from Mercury retrograde should really give it a try."
"Why go to a temple to worship the Holy Mother? I have several here; can I offer incense to them?"
“Friend, I advise you to have reverence for the Virgin Mary. I’ve heard that most of those who are disrespectful to the Virgin Mary have suffered great misfortune and eventually die of old age or illness.”
The netizens who posted the first two comments are clearly staunch materialists who scoff at these metaphysical theories and whose words are full of mockery.
But the third comment was much more serious.
"I've also heard that the Holy Mother is the goddess who controls fortune. Many wealthy people go to temples to spend money to avoid disaster. As long as you are sincere, the Holy Mother will change the bad luck of unlucky people. But if you are not sincere, unlucky people will only become more unlucky."
"Is it really that mysterious?" someone asked. "Then how do you know if someone is truly sincere?"
"Shouldn't we at least donate two thousand yuan to the temple for incense?"
"...You wouldn't happen to be a shill hired by the景区 staff, would you?"
"Believe it or not, when you get to Wushan Scenic Area, it's best not to make a lot of noise. If you disturb the Holy Mother's peace, you'll be in big trouble."
Turn bad luck into good luck...
Zhong Ling left the comments section, pondering the sentence with some curiosity.
From childhood to adulthood, she has never been very lucky. She would often trip and fall on flat ground. She would carry an umbrella for a week, but it would only rain on the day she didn't bring it. When queuing to buy milk tea, she was always the last one to sell out.
Of course, these are just minor misfortunes. Her older sister is usually by her side. If she falls, her sister will catch her in time. If she doesn't have an umbrella, her mother will always bring it to her. If she can't buy milk tea, her father will drive out to buy it.
Compared to those minor misfortunes, having such a family makes her luckier than most people.
But given the chance, who wouldn't want to be a little luckier?
Thinking about this, she also wanted to try offering incense at the Temple of the Holy Mother, but wouldn't two thousand yuan be too much...? Would two yuan be okay?
As I hesitated, the video automatically switched to a commentary on a horror movie, with a hideous ghost face appearing on the screen.
Because she was wearing headphones, the terrifying roar seemed to explode right next to her ears, and Zhong Ling couldn't help but let out a gasp in surprise.
"what!"
"What's wrong, Xiaoling?"
The mother and sister turned to look at each other at the same time, and the father also cast a concerned glance at the rearview mirror.
But her screams did not stop there; instead, they grew even sharper, completely drowning out the torrential rain and the sudden clap of thunder.
Because the next second—
"Di-"
A piercing siren, almost tearing eardrums, suddenly burst forth from the curtain of torrential rain ahead.
The sound was too abrupt and too urgent, like an icicle piercing the sticky, rainy night.
Not far ahead, the old-fashioned farm vehicle, which had been slowly moving and was fully loaded with timber, seemed to suddenly stop. The vehicle jerked violently and came to a stop crookedly on the flooded road. Without even a hint of warning, the hazard lights went off, and it just stood there in the middle of the lane without any warning.
"Sit tight!"
The father let out a low growl and almost instinctively slammed on the brakes, while simultaneously turning the steering wheel sharply to the right, attempting to barely swerve around the obstacle on the right.
But all of this happened too fast.
The roads were already slippery in the rain, and the tires spun futilely in the water and mud, making a screeching sound. The car body, like a runaway wild horse, veered heavily to the right.
Zhong Ling felt her body being thrown forward by the enormous inertia, her forehead slamming heavily against the back of the driver's seat, and her vision blurred.
Immediately afterwards, the car emitted a teeth-grinding screeching sound as its right front wheel veered off the slippery road surface and slammed hard into the gravel shoulder of the roadside.
"boom!"
Fortunately, the father held the steering wheel firmly. The car lurched violently but did not overturn. It just lay across the roadside like a wounded wild animal, with white smoke billowing from the hood.
Are you all alright?
The father, panting heavily, turned around and saw that his wife and two daughters were all safe and sound, with only minor injuries. He breathed a sigh of relief.
Zhong Ling clutched her throbbing forehead, her vision filled with shimmering light spots and watermarks. She tried to open her mouth to say she was alright, but her throat was so dry that she couldn't utter a sound.
So she could only frantically wave her arms and legs, unable to tell everyone that a fire had appeared at the foot of the mountain.
Boom!!!
The next second, a loud bang came from afar, as if the whole world had exploded in her ears. It was not the sound of rain or thunder, but a roar from the abyss beneath her feet.
A visible blast of air, carrying mud and gravel, pierced through the rain and shot straight up from below the cliff, causing the entire car to bounce. The windows were instantly covered with a spiderweb-like pattern, followed by a series of deafening crashes—
That was the sound of the mountain being overturned, the sound of rocks collapsing.
Zhong Ling didn't know what happened after that. She fell into a coma and when she woke up again, she was in the hospital.
But in the last moment before she completely lost consciousness, her senses became strangely sharp.
The world seemed to have sunk into the deep sea.
The aftershocks of the explosion transformed into a dull, distorted roar outside her eardrums; she couldn't hear anything clearly except for her sense of touch, which was amplified infinitely.
She felt her sister's body trembling, and she felt herself being dragged, her body aching from the rough ground, but she paid no attention to it.
Because she could clearly feel warm liquid winding down her sister's wrist, dripping onto her cheeks and lips, carrying a metallic, fishy smell.
Although it was quickly diluted by the cold rain, she could still taste the liquid.
That wasn't rainwater.
It was blood.
[Note: Zhong Ling's current memories do not include the part where she mentions Han Zhou.] (End of Chapter)