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墨書 Inktalez
I took a few steps forward and looked at Zhao Mingkun. At that moment, she was clutching her waist and then lifted her head to look at me. In the pitch-black environment, I couldn't see where she was injured. However, I caught a whiff of blood and realized that she was bleeding.
I hurried over, noticing that beads of sweat were forming on Zhao Mingkun's face. She gritted her teeth, seemingly enduring intense pain. Her breathing was heavy, and her whole body trembled slightly. I immediately looked at her hand pressed against her waist and gently pulled it away, revealing a long gash in her clothing.
Blood was slowly oozing from her wound; it clearly hadn't hit an artery, or else the blood wouldn't be flowing so slowly. But the wound was deep, with flesh protruding from it, measuring at least ten centimeters in length—quite a shocking sight.
As I examined the wound, one of Zhao Mingkun's arms draped over my shoulder, and she leaned heavily against me. At that moment, I didn't have time to think; I quickly removed my outer shirt and then took off the clean shirt underneath.
My outer jacket had gotten dirty when I fell earlier, covered in sewage and filth, making it unsuitable for bandaging her wound. The shirt beneath was still clean, so I folded it several times into a square and pressed it against Zhao Mingkun's injury, wrapping the sleeves around her slender waist tightly.
Zhao Mingkun leaned against my shoulder and smiled weakly. "Your reaction time is pretty quick."
A wave of sadness washed over me; I found it hard to accept that Zhao Mingkun was in such a state. In my mind, she had always been a capable Queen who could handle anything—her intelligence and abilities far surpassed mine. The gentle Zhao Mingkun resting on my shoulder seemed like a different person altogether.
"Can you still walk?" I asked as I put on my shirt jacket, trying to suppress my emotions and sound rational.
Zhao Mingkun supported herself against me. Although she trembled slightly all over, she didn't show any signs of distress in her voice. "This little injury is nothing. I've had worse injuries before and managed just fine; don't worry about this one."
"How did you end up like this?" I asked.
Zhao Mingkun paused for a moment before replying, "When I chased after him here, the murderer had just approached a fork in the road. Without thinking much, I rushed in but didn’t expect the murderer to be lying in wait there. He suddenly had a machete in his hand; luckily, I dodged quickly; otherwise, I wouldn’t even be able to speak right now."
At that moment, my foot was also in excruciating pain, but compared to Zhao Mingkun's suffering, it seemed insignificant. I didn’t mention my own pain to her; instead, I focused on shifting my weight onto my other foot as we moved forward together.
Sweat from Zhao Mingkun's face dripped onto my hand, yet she tried to sound casual as she said, "I saw that man; he’s about 1.7 meters tall, dressed all in black with a buzz cut and sharp eyes."
"Are you sure it's a man?" I asked.
Zhao Mingkun seemed to catch the implication in my words and replied, "Did you all think the murderer was a woman?"
I shook my head and said, "The image of the Murderer we've gathered from various people is different, with both male and female descriptions."
"Let's move on," said Zhao Mingkun. Two spots of light shone down from above; it was another manhole cover. I wondered what lay above—was it a bustling street or a deserted path? If it was a vehicle road, it would be too dangerous.
I stopped, closed my eyes, and tried to listen to what was above.
Zhao Mingkun said, "Go ahead. There should be a manhole cover about twenty meters to the left up ahead."
I frowned and looked at Zhao Mingkun. "How do you know that?"
Zhao Mingkun snorted and replied, "To evade capture by you all, I have to memorize the pathways above and below. Otherwise, I would have died several times already. But I can't move in the dark like the Murderer does without being affected at all."
Hearing Zhao Mingkun's words, a realization struck me. If there were many Murderers, could they all adapt to the darkness? The Murderer had spent years—decades even—in such dark environments. Were there really that many people in Dongxing City who lived in darkness?
Lost in thought, we reached the spot where Zhao Mingkun indicated.
There was indeed a manhole.
I lifted the cover and looked around. It turned out to be in the middle of an alley, with two streets outside where cars occasionally passed by. I opened the manhole cover and climbed down. Zhao Mingkun, injured at the waist, couldn't exert much strength. At that moment, I didn't care about anything else; I grabbed her large leg and pushed her up.
After much effort, we finally made it to the surface.
Looking at Zhao Mingkun, my black shirt was now soaked with blood, appearing damp and grimy. With every movement, sweat beaded on her brow, clearly indicating her pain. Zhao Mingkun opened her phone, pressed a few buttons, and said, "There's an inn not far from here; let's go there."
I supported Zhao Mingkun and turned to her. "That wound is at least ten centimeters long. If it doesn't stop bleeding soon, you'll bleed out. We need to get you to a hospital right away; do you want to perform surgery on yourself?"
Suddenly, Zhao Mingkun's expression turned cold. One hand rested against the wall while she wrapped the other around my neck. Perhaps due to the pain, her forehead leaned against mine. Our eyes were only a few centimeters apart; I could even see the patterns surrounding her brown irises.
Her calm words brushed against my face like a gentle breeze, stirring something within me.
“Wu Meng, the most important thing for a person is to always remember their identity. No matter the environment, no matter how tired you are or if you are facing life-threatening danger, you must understand your identity.” Zhao Mingkun pressed firmly against my forehead and said, “Go to the hospital; I will truly die if we don’t. Do you understand?”
Zhao Mingkun's tone was incredibly authoritative, carrying an undeniable dominance that left no room for rebuttal. “Take me to that hotel, then go to the nearby market and buy some gauze and thread. Remember to pick up some shirt buttons while you're at it. And don’t buy medical gauze; there are towels made of gauze available now.”
I understood what Zhao Mingkun meant—he was worried about being discovered with an injury. This awareness of counter-surveillance explained why he had managed to evade capture by Captain Shao and the others for so long.
The longer we delayed, the worse Zhao Mingkun's injuries would become; this was not the time for idle chatter. Since Zhao Mingkun had given orders, I had no choice but to comply.
I shook off my coat; although it had a slight odor, it wasn’t too strong or damp. I draped it over Zhao Mingkun and zipped it up so that outsiders wouldn’t see the blood-stained shirt underneath. This way, we wouldn’t raise any suspicions.
We took a taxi to the hotel. Zhao Mingkun still found time to tease me during the ride, acting as if nothing was wrong at all. I knew he was deliberately putting on a facade. Sure enough, when we got out of the car, he gritted his teeth and endured the pain while pretending to be jovial in front of the innkeeper.
At the hotel, no identification was needed to book a room. After settling Zhao Mingkun into the room, he lay on the bed and said through clenched teeth, “If you want to catch me now, I really can’t run anymore.”
I ignored his words and turned to head downstairs.
“Hey? Why not buy some condoms?” the sleazy innkeeper joked with a grin, waving his hand dismissively. “Young people these days love excitement; look at you—you’ve twisted your ankle but can still get it on?”
I smiled faintly but didn’t respond.
Following Zhao Mingkun’s instructions, I made my way to the market.
There were indeed gauze towels for sale in the market. I touched one; it was slightly thicker than regular gauze but should work well enough. I also bought a box of needles and thread along with several shirt cuff buttons.
Just as I was leaving the market to hurry back to the hotel, my phone suddenly rang—it was Guan Zengbin calling.
I hesitated, unsure whether to answer the call. After thinking it over, I realized we had been chasing for at least over an hour, and Gu Zengbin and the others must be anxious. There was no signal in the sewer, and they couldn't reach me; by now, they must be worried sick.
After some contemplation, I decided to pick up the phone while walking toward the hotel, listening to Gu Zengbin's voice.
"Wu Meng?" Gu Zengbin sounded surprised, then relaxed a bit. "Where have you been? We've been trying to contact you for so long. Do you know how worried we are? Are you okay? Where are you right now?"
His barrage of questions left me momentarily speechless. I finally managed to respond, "While I was in the workshop, I discovered the Murderer's methods of killing and escaping. I didn't have time to inform you before I chased after them. Unfortunately, the Murderer wasn't affected at all in the dark environment, but I was."
"The Murderer got away," I sighed.
Gu Zengbin sighed too and reassured me, "As long as you're okay, Wu Meng. We were so worried when we couldn't reach you for over an hour. Please come back soon. We're still at the factory; that English Letters has appeared on the ground..."
"Okay, don't worry. I just came up from the sewer. Let me tidy up a bit, and I'll head back right away."
"Alright." Gu Zengbin sounded much more relieved. "We'll wait for you."
I fell silent for a moment, unsure of what to say next.
I could feel that Gu Zengbin's concern was genuine. I knew he had a longstanding grudge with Zhao Mingkun.
Just as Zhao Mingkun said, if we caught her now, there would be no escape for her.
What choice should I make?
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