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"After Shi Huacheng was imprisoned, I knew he had always wanted to get Shi Huacheng out, but he was at a loss for how to do it." Zhao Mingkun looked at me seriously. "For all these years, he has been recruiting fugitives from all over the country. I don't know what his intentions are; I only know that Dongxing City will soon be thrown into chaos by these people."
"So you want to find him?" I asked.
Zhao Mingkun nodded. "For ten years, I've been trying to teach him what kind of person he should become, but things have gone awry. He has become the very person I least wanted to see. You all are the same; despite your efforts to distance yourselves from this world, you still ended up back in it. It's fate."
"But what will you do if you find him?" I said. "Do you still expect Wu Zui to turn back now?"
"He can't turn back; none of us can."
A heavy sigh escaped him.
"Forget it," Zhao Mingkun said. "Let's talk about your girlfriend. Where did she go missing? Where should we start looking?"
I furrowed my brow and sat down on the ground, slowly saying, "The last time I saw Guan Zengbin was on the back mountain of Xingdong Village. The murderer had tied her to a bed, but based on the personality traits of the murderer, she wouldn't kill anyone. When we checked afterward, we confirmed that Guan Zengbin should be fine. However, judging by the clothes piled up, it was clear that Guan Zengbin didn't leave on her own."
Zhao Mingkun spoke up. "Xingdong Village has many paths besides the main road. The roads are narrow; cars can't pass through, but motorcycles can. However, if it was a motorcycle, transporting such a large person wouldn't be easy. And why wasn't she dressed? What was she wearing at the time?"
I closed my eyes and replied, "She was wearing a thick fleece jacket suitable for late winter and early spring. Why?"
"That's quite thick," Zhao Mingkun said. "Wearing something so bulky would make movement difficult. It wouldn't be easy to get through certain places."
"What places are you talking about?" I asked.
Zhao Mingkun shook his head. "It's still unclear right now, but to figure this out, we need to find someone who knows about it. Do you think we can go back into that cave?"
After pondering for a moment, I said, "We can't go back now; Liu is in charge of this matter. Given Liu's meticulous nature, that underground space must be guarded by someone, and we wouldn't be able to get in at all. Moreover, the person who knew about this—the one who built that underground space—Wu Xiufen is already dead. There are too many paths in that underground space; someone unfamiliar with its layout might not find their way out."
"What do you think this is all for?" In the darkness, I couldn't see Zhao Mingkun's face anymore, but I heard him say, "Think about it: if it were just to build an underground space, would it need to be constructed like a maze? And what exactly was this underground space built for? If it was merely to provide a living space for the murderer, then it's far too large for that."
I nodded seriously and said, "That's right, this definitely wasn't built on a whim by Wu Xiufen. However, I don't know what it was built for."
"Blueprint," Zhao Mingkun replied. "Constructing such a complex underground maze couldn't have been done without a design and structural plan. So, where is this blueprint? Is there any chance we could see it?"
I snapped my fingers and said, "I remember that Wu Xiufen has a bad habit of putting everything in her drawer. Her drawer is filled with all sorts of things. If the blueprint is still around, it must be in Wu Xiufen's drawer. Perhaps then we would know how Guan Zengbin was taken away."
Zhao Mingkun smiled and said, "Then we must go to Xingdong Village and hope that the blueprint is still there."
"However," I interjected, "how do we get there? There are bound to be police on the main road."
"Motorcycle," Zhao Mingkun replied. "I'll find a motorcycle tomorrow, and we'll walk. I just don't know if there will be police at Wu Xiufen's house."
I stated firmly, "There won't be! The murderer has already been caught, and Wu Xiufen's connection to this case has been clarified. Now they need manpower everywhere to catch me, so there won't be any police there. However, we can't stay too long. The villagers should have received notice to keep an eye out for us."
Zhao Mingkun nodded, glanced out the window, and said, "Let's sleep; it's getting late."
I looked around at the empty surroundings and asked, "Are we really going to sleep like this?"
Zhao Mingkun stood up and repositioned the bottle to ensure it would serve as a warning. After making sure of that, he said, "How else can we sleep? We can't take the blankets with us; that would be too obvious. I've been here for seven years; you must be hoping someone can prove your innocence soon; otherwise, you'll suffer for it."
Before getting to know him, I only thought of Zhao Mingkun as a mysterious fugitive, somewhat resembling an ancient bandit. But after interacting with him, I realized that this kind of life is truly unbearable for an ordinary person. There’s no entertainment, no enjoyment—only endless loneliness.
It was only nine o'clock now, but usually at this time, young people's lives were just beginning.
"I thought," I said while looking at Zhao Mingkun curled up in a corner, "your life would be full of fun; you could do whatever you wanted."
Zhao Mingkun snorted coldly. "People are like that; always envying each other. So I don't want you to become like me. A fugitive is just a fugitive—afraid to buy what they want or do what they wish. It's like being a cockroach hiding from light; as soon as the light shines on it, it scurries into dark crevices. Living in fear and waking up from nightmares—that's the life of a fugitive. No matter how much money you have, you can't spend it."
Empty as it was, I believed her words.
After a moment of silence, I asked, "How's the wound on your stomach? It's only been less than a week."
Zhao Mingkun replied with a hum, "It's nothing serious. The wound isn't particularly deep; otherwise, I would have bled to death by now. I just lost too much blood in the sewer. I wonder if the police have noticed me yet."
I furrowed my brow. Since Liu had managed to bring back so many things from the City Bureau in the sewer, how could such obvious traces go unnoticed? Suddenly, I recalled Liu's hesitation when he returned. Did he know about this?
If he knew about my entanglement with Zhao Mingkun, it would likely confirm that I was a murderer. After all, being with a murderer is hardly normal. The reason I wanted to kill the Murderer was also tied to this.
A night passed without conversation. While I was still asleep, Zhao Mingkun had already woken up.
When Zhao Mingkun called me awake, it was four in the Early Morning. Looking out the window, it was still pitch black; the darkness before dawn is always particularly deep, with only the streetlights shining and all the Households' lights turned off. Zhao Mingkun wiped away the traces of our sleep with a cloth before beckoning me to follow him outside.
At this moment, all the Households were asleep, and everything around us was silent.
In such a quiet environment, I didn't even dare to speak loudly for fear of disturbing the serene atmosphere. "So early?"
Zhao Mingkun nodded and said, "Four in the Early Morning is when people are most tired and sleeping the deepest, especially for night owls like you who probably only fell asleep around three. By four, you're sleeping like a pig. At this time, no one can disturb us."
I retorted, "You've already stepped into an old person's routine."
As I stepped out of the building, a motorcycle was parked downstairs—an inconspicuous one at that.
"When did you get this?" I asked in confusion. "I didn't even notice."
Zhao Mingkun mounted the motorcycle and said, "That's because you slept like a dead pig. With your level of alertness, you'll be caught in less than a week. Stop dawdling."
"Get in," Zhao Mingkun said with a smile.
I noticed there was a bag on the motorcycle, containing the leftovers from our meal yesterday and that bottle.
Seeing me looking at the bag, Zhao Mingkun spoke up, "Remember the first rule of fleeing: never leave any traces behind. We will never return to this house. Let's go to Xingdong Village."
The sound of the motorcycle wasn't very loud; it seemed deliberately chosen not to disturb anyone. The morning breeze made me feel a bit cold, and I instinctively hugged Zhao Mingkun. She paused for a moment but didn't say anything as we drove off. I could feel her warmth, comforting and making me a little drowsy.
There wasn't a single person on the road. I never knew that such a big city as Dongxing City also needed its moments of rest; not everyone was awake at night. Zhao Mingkun's hair brushed against my cheek, tickling me slightly.
"Hold on tight, don't fall asleep," Zhao Mingkun said.
I nodded without saying anything. Suddenly, I felt a wave of loneliness wash over me; it seemed that as we sped along on the motorcycle, the world was gradually drifting away from me. Feeling the warmth of Zhao Mingkun's life beside me, I suddenly remembered something: for seven years, she had no one by her side. How lonely must that life have been?
Indeed, a fugitive is still a fugitive; no matter how much money one has, it cannot be spent freely. Even with all that wealth, one would still wake up from nightmares, still alone in solitude.
How lonely she must have been during those seven years.
In a daze, I lost track of time until Zhao Mingkun shook me awake. "Stop sleeping! If you can sleep like this, I really admire you."
My drool had dampened her shoulder.
"We've arrived at Xingdong Village."
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