Translator: Dj2203
Editor: Dj2203
Advance chapters available for patrons on Patreon. And a chapter can be sponsored by buying me a ko-fi.
The roar of the helicopter echoed through the night sky, deafeningly loud.
The blinding beams of searchlight tore through the rain, scattering and converging in mid-air before finally coalescing into a bright spot of light beneath the overpass, firmly locking onto the black sports car speeding along the road.
The Bugatti weaved through the overpasses, and every time it changed direction it seemed like it was about to crash into the guardrail, but it always managed to straighten the angle at the last moment and forcefully return to the center of the road.
Xing Cheng gripped the steering wheel tightly.
The tires kicked up mud and dust, screeching horribly across the road like the roar of a wild beast unwilling to be trapped in the night. The rear of the car swung wildly from side to side, nearly plunging the car and its occupants into the icy river below the bridge.
The intricate network of viaducts successfully blocked the helicopter from behind, but he knew this wouldn’t last long.
Although they had temporarily shaken off their pursuers, the situation had not improved at all.
“Stop immediately…stop…or else…”
“Hiss—”
The car radio emitted a hoarse, metallic sound, and a male voice repeatedly issued a cold warning.
Xing Cheng smashed the radio’s dashboard to pieces with a single punch, staring intently ahead, his eyes already bloodshot.
The rain was getting heavier.
….
“Dr. Xiao Lu, are you off work?”
“Hmm,” Lu Dangui smiled at the cleaning lady as he took off his white coat, his eyes crinkling into crescent moons, “I’m just packing up to go home.”
The clock struck eleven, and the S University Affiliated Hospital remained brightly lit. The elevator doors slowly closed, and the incessant noise outside disappeared along with them.
Silence reigned all around, broken only by the hum of the elevator’s wheels. Lu Dangui’s smile faded, he let out a long sigh and leaned against the glass wall behind him.
After a busy day, this was the only time he could enjoy a moment of peace.
He was about to be officially hired, and the director called him into his office tonight to ask what his plans were for his future career, since he was going to stay at the hospital.
“Xiao Lu, work is work, and life is life. You need to learn to balance them.”
“In our line of work, it’s all about endurance. Someone as young as you working so hard, even the strongest body can’t withstand it.”
After rubbing his temples a few times, Lu Dangui sighed almost imperceptibly.
He couldn’t very well tell the director that he wasn’t just working hard, but that he was genuinely short of money.
If it weren’t for the fact that the doctor’s salary was indeed quite good after he became a full-fledged doctor, he would have been struggling to pay for his little darling’s medical expenses and daily living costs.
The elevator stopped midway, and a group of psychiatric nurses on night shift entered. The girls, who had been chatting happily, stopped talking as soon as they saw the people inside and greeted Lu Dangui warmly.
“Dr. Lu, why are you in such a hurry today?” someone joked. “Could it be that you’re rushing home to be with your girlfriend?”
Lu Dangui reached out and held the elevator doors shut for everyone: “It’s too late, and I’m worried about my sister being home alone.”
Dr. Lu’s sister? The nurses were all quite curious.
“I remember now,” one of the nurses said. “Last week, a girl came to the front desk looking for Dr. Lu. The little girl was in a wheelchair and had difficulty walking, so I helped her register—”
Halfway through her sentence, the nurse noticed a change in the atmosphere in the elevator and quickly shut her mouth.
Lu Dangui simply smiled and did not respond.
The elevator stopped in the lobby on the first floor. He stepped out first, turned around and said goodbye to everyone in a gentle voice: “Thank you for your hard work, everyone. See you next week.”
The elevator doors slowly closed, and a muffled rumble of thunder came from outside the building.
Lu Dangui raised his hand and pressed his temples a few times before opening the ride-hailing app on his phone.
Why did it have to rain at this time of year…?
There were already more than fifty people ahead of him in the queue, and that number kept rising with each refresh. He kept refreshing the page, completely ignoring the “Please do not operate frequently” warning on the screen.
He just wanted to get back to the apartment as soon as possible. Wenfei was timid, and he couldn’t leave her home alone during a thunderstorm.
Lu Wenfei was probably already asleep; she hadn’t replied to her brother’s messages for a long time.
“A heartless little rascal.”
Lu Dangui thought to himself.
He was also worried that she would be scared alone in this weather.
Since his younger sister lost both legs in an accident a few years ago, he, as her older brother, had been taking care of her. Wenfei would be starting university at S University next month and moving into a dormitory arranged by the school. The two siblings would no longer be able to see each other all the time like they do now. Lu Dangui felt a bit like his sister was being married off, like water spilled from a cup[1].
He was lost in thought while aimlessly scrolling through messages on his phone.
The phone vibrated slightly in his hand, and a breaking local news item popped up on the screen, immediately catching his attention.
“A serious car accident occurred on Xijiang Avenue five minutes ago. The number of casualties is currently unknown. The highway leading out of the city is thus temporarily closed. Please be aware of the accident site and avoid the area.”
“Emergency ambulance is on its way, please make way!”
A sharp horn blared from behind, startling Lu Dangui.
Before he could react, an ambulance sped past him and rushed out of the hospital gate.
The passing ambulance splashed him with rainwater, and Lu Dangui stumbled in front of the barrier gate, barely managing to regain his balance.
He wasn’t angry. Saving lives was the priority; the ambulance’s rush meant the situation was extremely urgent.
He wondered who was so unlucky, in the middle of the night…
Lu Dangui brushed the water droplets off his body and turned his attention back to his phone, ready to finish reading the news he had been reading.
The accompanying photo showed the scene of the car accident: a very stylish black sports car crashed head-on into the wall of the overpass, with soundproofing material fragments scattered all over the ground, leaving the area in complete disarray.
Looking up from his phone screen, Lu Dangui gazed in the direction where the hospital ambulance had sped towards with its siren blaring.
S University Affiliated Hospital was located in Xicheng District and was indeed one of the hospitals closest to the scene of the incident.
…Could it be such a coincidence?
….
Xing Cheng raised his head.
Several helicopters were hovering above the sports car, their searchlights forming a large net of light that completely covered the vehicle, rendering it immobile.
200…180…160…
He practically floored the accelerator, but as the fuel ran out, the steel beast let out a feeble wail and began to gradually give up.
As the speedometer on the dashboard continued to drop, Xing Cheng knew he was about to lose everything.
He was trapped with roadblocks ahead and pursuers behind. He had reached a dead end.
The people in the helicopters overhead were shouting at him, demanding he stop immediately. He was still a hundred meters from the roadblock, with a rock wall on his left and a precipice on his right, below which lay the sea boiling in the thunderstorm.
His left wrist was numb, hanging down in a bizarre, twisted position beneath the seat. Xing Cheng, however, seemed completely oblivious to the pain. He slowly turned his head, staring at the passenger seat.
Lightning flashed through the rain, and thunder roared in the sky. Several dark figures suddenly appeared in Xing Cheng’s rearview mirror. The motorcycle convoy had approached without anyone noticing and surrounded the Bugatti.
“Park!”
Xing Cheng heard the leading man roar, “Stop!”
Dream on.
Xing Cheng narrowed his eyes and suddenly laughed.
These beautiful eyes, which had captivated countless young girls on the big screen, suddenly revealed murderous intent!
He drew his pistol from his waist, aimed it at the man in black standing in front of him, and pulled the trigger without hesitation.
However, the expected gunfire did not occur.
Xing Cheng paused for a moment, then looked down at the gun in his hand.
But he found that his hands were empty, he had nothing at all.
It was as if the pistol he had just seen was merely a figment of his imagination.
The roar of helicopters once again filled the night sky.
The sports car was burning through its last bit of power as it sped forward, and he had less than ten seconds to think.
That’s enough.
He can lose, but nobody can win.
Xing Cheng lightly placed his right hand on the steering wheel, closed his eyes, and leaned back in his seat.
8,7,6…
In this way, at least he could take that secret to his grave, which could be considered a decent ending.
5,4,3…
Xing Cheng stretched his muscles and gripped the steering wheel tightly.
2,1——
Xing Cheng opened his eyes and suddenly turned the steering wheel all the way to the lock.
One side of the sports car tilted up at a terrifying angle before flipping over completely. Driven by airflow and friction, the car spun and began to disintegrate before even fully bottoming out.
The voice coming from the helicopter’s loudspeaker was distorted with fear: “Young Master Cheng!!!!”
The murderous intent in Xing Cheng’s eyes gradually faded, and a long-lost calm appeared.
He finally kept his promise.
He wasn’t sick, and he wasn’t the young master these people were talking about…
He was…
….
Who was he?
Xing Cheng’s eyes suddenly widened in fear.
He struggled to turn his head, trying to make out the face in the rearview mirror that was both all-too-familiar and all-too-unfamiliar amidst the sports car’s whirlwind destruction.
Bang.
….
“Hello, hello—is this Mr. Lu?”
After waiting for nearly half an hour in the heavy rain, the ride-hailing driver finally called Lu Dangui.
The phone was very noisy, filled with the honking of various vehicles: “Mr. Lu, there seems to be an accident near Xijiang Avenue. There’s traffic control, so I can’t get through for the time being. Would you like to cancel your order?”
“…Okay, thank you for your help.”
After hanging up the phone, Lu Dangui felt his eyelids twitching.
It was past midnight, and since the roads were closed, there was no way he could get back to his apartment outside the city. He might as well spend the night in the office and go back tomorrow morning.
Lu Dangui closed his phone, turned around and went back to the lobby, intending to take the elevator back to the psychiatric ward.
The evening wind, carrying a torrential downpour, lashed against the glass doors of the hospital building. Just as he reached the entrance, he suddenly noticed something flickering in the distance beyond the rain curtain.
Several points of light moved swiftly across the night sky, appearing and disappearing like fireflies, as if they might be extinguished at any moment by the thick rain.
Lu Dangui stopped and stared intently at the dark night sky.
What happened that necessitated deploying helicopters in this weather?
After buying a bowl of instant noodles from a self-service machine on the basement level, Lu Dangui returned to the elevator and pressed the button for the psychiatric ward, but the elevator stopped in the lobby on the first floor first.
The elevator doors slowly opened to both sides, and several medical staff poured in; they were all familiar faces from the emergency department. The group didn’t even have time to greet Dr. Lu before pushing their transfer carts into the elevator.
“Go to the sixth floor, turn onto the operating room!”
A paramedic shouted an order.
Lu Dangui was closest to the elevator buttons. Seeing that his colleagues didn’t have free hands, he quickly took out his access card and swiped it to help them go to the sixth floor.
The injured man was a young man with a respirator mask on his face and his eyes tightly closed. He was leaning back on the bed, with a small cut on his forehead from the impact, and bright red blood dripping down his brow bone, staining his white collar.
His neck and left arm were temporarily immobilized; it was estimated that he had suffered a sprain at best and a fracture at worst.
The man seemed to still retain a sliver of consciousness. Hearing the surrounding noise, his eyelids twitched slightly, and he frowned slightly.
Under the bright white light, Lu Dangui saw the mole at the corner of the man’s eye.
The beauty mark under his eye, soaked in thick blood, possessed a cruel yet suffocating beauty.
The elevator stopped on the sixth floor, and the paramedics hurriedly pushed the gurney out the door.
At the end of the corridor, a sign that read “Rescue in Progress” flashed red, as if waiting for death to arrive.
As he watched the elevator doors slowly close in front of him, Lu Dangui’s gaze lingered on the man’s clenching and unclenching hand.
Many familiar scenes flashed through my mind, and a strange sense of déjà vu quickly spread throughout my brain.
Lu Dangui froze on the spot.
This person… he seems to know him.
Guys, ads are my only source of revenue, so please do not turn on the AdBlock when you are accessing this website…. Thank you, this would be a great help…
You can buy me a ko-fi and sponsor a chapter on: https://ko-fi.com/midnightrambles
Or access extra chapters on: https://www.patreon.com/bePatron?u=45665005
If you support me, I would be able to provide more chapters….
Previous • Table of Contents • Next
[1] The Chinese idiom “Married daughters are like spilled water” (嫁出去的女儿，泼出去的水) signifies that once a daughter marries, she belongs entirely to her husband’s family, breaking ties with her birth family. It represents the traditional belief that she is no longer a responsibility or a part of her parents’ home.
