Zhang Shutong was first stunned, but his body imdiately reacted. He took a quick step forward, about to call for everyone to rush over and seize the gun.
But who could have anticipated—with a muffled thud, the girl's seemingly casual kick exploded with incomparable power. The man's body instantly flew backward like a kite with its string cut, his body tilting back, feet leaving the ground—
Lu Qinglian imdiately shifted her footwork. Her airborne foot quickly touched ground, then her ankle twisted. The sole of her shoe made a teeth-grinding friction sound against the dirt road as it drove her entire body to suddenly exert force!
The girl's other leg followed imdiately. She turned and kicked backward, striking the long gun with perfect precision.
Bang bang—two kicks in the blink of an eye. The first kick knocked down the man, the second kicked away the weapon. In the next second, the man in the baseball cap, along with his gun, had been sent flying backward, crashing heavily onto the dirt road behind him.
Dust flew everywhere. The girl calmly retracted her leg, her long robe falling to her side.
"..."
The evening of December 5th, 2012.
Zhang Shutong and his friends encountered a man with a gun.
The man had taken his classmate hostage.
Then the man went flying.
Zhang Shutong and the others were all dumbstruck. If one were to use a popular phrase with a strong sense of the era to describe their state, it would be—
" and my little friends are all shocked."
—It wasn't until the man's intermittent groans and curses sounded from the ground that the few of them snapped back to reality. Qingyi rushed over and gave him a hand chop. Ruoping ran to Lu Qinglian's side, urgently asking if she was alright. Du Kang followed beside them as well.
Zhang Shutong went to pick up the long gun not far away. Only when he held the gun in his arms did his heart finally settle.
Just in those few monts, he'd already broken out in a cold sweat. Now with the night wind blowing, he only felt his back turn cold.
Really, there won't be any more accidents, right?
The experience of this evening could be described as full of twists and turns—first the patrolling police, the bald guy electrofishing, and now this man with a gun. Each one more dangerous than the last... He pinched the bridge of his nose and couldn't help but glance at Lu Qinglian.
Ruoping was supporting her shoulder, asking this and that with a look of amazent and admiration. The other girl would sotis nod her chin slightly, sotis shake her head, just as always.
It was as if what she'd just kicked away wasn't an ard criminal, but the shuttlecock that girls loved to play with most.
Thinking back to that kick just now, Zhang Shutong still felt a sense of unreality.
He'd known before that Lu Qinglian was a mysterious person, but this was a bit too exaggerated. Was this girl really a temple keeper at that Green Snake Temple and not at Shaolin Temple?
When he was in high school, he'd actually practiced self-defense techniques for a while. After all, you couldn't save the world without so martial arts skills. Though by the end he was only a bit stronger than ordinary people, he still had basic discernnt.
The girl's two kicks just now—whether in reaction, power, or accuracy—were all top-notch. Forget his high school self; even himself eight years later wouldn't be enough for Lu Qinglian to fight with just one hand.
Compared to fighting ability, Zhang Shutong was better at using his brain. He felt his mind was still controllable, but combat power wasn't sothing you could have just by saying so.
Now was the ti to use his brain.
"Shutong, co take a look at this," Qingyi called from the side.
He walked over and saw that the other had found a burlap sack. Fine sounds were coming from inside, like it contained a few chickens.
Zhang Shutong first felt through the bag, then the two of them shifted positions and made full preparations before opening the bag mouth and shining a flashlight inside. It really was close relatives of chickens—
Inside the bag lay two half-dead large birds. Their beautiful yellow feathers had long since beco listless. The two exchanged glances, confirming their suspicions.
"Yellow Ibises?" Qingyi asked hesitantly.
"Should be. I've only seen specins," Zhang Shutong said, prying apart the birds' crests with a frown. "Didn't they say these were almost extinct? Those two are pretty capable to have found them."
This type of bird was a species unique to the island. He forgot what level of protected animal they were nationally, but getting caught with them would really an a few years in prison.
"No wonder that bald guy pulled out a knife..."
"Electrofishing was just incidental for them. Look at this gun," Zhang Shutong picked up the long gun. He'd only been interested in cold weapons before and hadn't studied guns as much as Qingyi. "Air gun?"
"Yeah, let see... Oh, it's even PCP. Pretty advanced." Qingyi took it and examined it, almost wanting to strike an aiming pose. "This thing has serious killing power... So they really were here to poach?"
"Yeah, just two poachers, and we happened to run into them," Zhang Shutong sighed. "But look, the birds aren't dead. They must have shot sothing else too."
Of course, this matter wasn't sothing the few of them could worry about. They'd hand it over to the police in a bit.
Zhang Shutong continued his analysis:
"So what Du Kang saw at that ti was this baseball cap guy. They were two people from the start. Baseball cap went west, and that bald guy ca over later."
Qingyi slapped his thigh upon hearing this:
"I knew it! My fault, my fault. Actually, we heard the bald guy on the phone saying sothing about students, not being seen, and so on. At that ti I thought he'd seen Du Kang, but turns out it wasn't him who saw Du Kang..."
"But this baseball cap guy, reminding him," Zhang Shutong picked up his words.
"Ah..." Qingyi felt sowhat self-reproachful.
Zhang Shutong patted his shoulder with a few words of comfort, then called Du Kang over to ask about his earlier experience. He roughly pieced together the whole thing:
First, there was no such thing as "being surrounded."
The poachers had always been two people—baseball cap in front, baldy behind. It was just that baseball cap later doubled back from the west and happened to run into Ruoping and the others.
At that ti, the three of them had gotten onto the dirt road. After learning that what the bald guy had buried was fish and not a person, their hearts relaxed. Plus the sll down there was unpleasant, so they deliberately went farther away.
On the other side, that baseball cap man went to et up with his companion. When he got nearby and didn't find his partner, he happened to see three students instead.
At that ti, Ruoping was closest to him. By the ti they discovered him, the man had already raised his gun and taken her hostage.
Then the three of them were herded at gunpoint to the fish pond. Originally Ruoping didn't want to expose Zhang Shutong and the other's presence, but they were talking sowhat loudly down below—anyone who wasn't deaf could hear them. So the man prepared to wait for the rabbit by the tree stump.
At this point the hostage was still Ruoping, but for so reason the baseball cap guy—probably seeing Lu Qinglian in her long robe with restricted movent, maybe thinking this girl looked easy to bully—had a brain fart and swapped the two, laying the groundwork for the bang bang two kicks that followed.
After waiting only a few minutes, Zhang Shutong and Qingyi ca up. After a few seconds of standoff, baseball cap was KO'd by Lu Qinglian's kick—
Speaking of this, Ruoping only then rembered her phone and imdiately picked it up with heartache. Fortunately it wasn't broken, just knocked open. These days phone back covers could basically all be removed, and they were mostly plastic, not too fragile.
—But that didn't stop Ruoping from kicking the baseball cap guy's crotch twice, making several boys' hearts turn cold watching.
After calling the police again, they sat exhausted on the curb. Thinking back on tonight's experiences, they felt so lingering fear.
The few of them looked at each other, all able to see the others' bright eyes in the night. Not knowing who poked whom, soone couldn't help but laugh, and they started joking around again.
Qingyi was playing with the air gun. He'd always only seen them in magazines and had never touched a real one. Thinking that the air gun would be confiscated soon, he suddenly felt reluctant.
Du Kang loved courting death the most. Taking advantage of sitting far from Ruoping, he said weren't you scared to tears just now, oh how embarrassing, even sticking out his tongue to make a face.
Ruoping imdiately stood up saying I'll make you cry too, about to go pinch his ear. Du Kang cried for rcy, saying don't forget I saved your life in the reed marsh.
Ruoping pursed her lips, saying that was the frog who saved you, if there's thanks it's to the frog...
Then soone brought up whether they should write about tonight's events in their next Chinese exam essay. There happened to be four of them. Starting from fishing, each person would write one section, just writing their own experience.
And since Ruoping's Chinese was always excellent, her essays were always used as model compositions in various classes—no worry about no one discovering it. Pieced together it would be a complete story, absolutely thrilling.
Besides, after hanging around for four years they'd finally beco upperclassn. How could they not harvest so admiring gazes from underclassn? After graduation they could also leave behind a legend.
Talking about this, everyone imdiately got excited and started discussing the division of labor on the spot.
Zhang Shutong thought to himself, why not build you three a statue? Add in, and the four of us standing at the school gate would definitely be more impressive than Gu Qiumian's dad.
Besides, he had major objections. Those three had plenty of things to write about— catching frogs in the reed marsh, getting scared to tears in the reed marsh, tying fishing line in the reed marsh... a wide range of topics.
All he could write was "On Why Apple Phones Have No Signal," but arguntative essays weren't popular in middle school. This was inherently disadvantaged.
It was really cold. Zhang Shutong sneezed and hurriedly turned his head, but saw in the distance, at the end of the road, red and blue lights flashing.
The police siren sounded.
The police had finally arrived.
...
The island's police car was a pickup truck. A policeman got out and was just about to ask who called the police when the few of them shifted their butts aside, revealing the two unconscious n behind them, shocking him badly.
They then threw their bicycles in the truck bed and squeezed on top to go to the police station to give statents.
Halfway through, that Officer Xiong ca back. Seeing Du Kang, he was about to glare, but was held back by a colleague. The two lowered their heads and said sothing.
When he raised his head again, he held it in for a long ti, his face turning red. Finally he just patted Du Kang's shoulder, acting as if he hadn't seen anything, and left.
—Who told Du Kang to wipe his fishing rod right in front of him? The toilet paper in his hand was nearly wiped through, wiped with such montum and flair.
Ruoping was even smiling beside him asking:
"Oh my, aren't you tired from wiping? Want to drink so water? I see this spot isn't clean yet. Why does it look so black? Oh, the fishing rod was originally black. Never mind, keep wiping..."
They really put on quite a show, but since the few of them had done good, not only did they have to endure it, they had to give praise and send a banner of comndation to the school.
Turns out those two poachers were repeat offenders. Only after interrogation did they learn that it wasn't just those two birds—this ti these two had done a big job. They'd also killed a bunch of foxes, badgers, pangolins and such, all placed in their car not far from where they were fishing.
As for why they buried the fish, it was because they'd put dead fish in the car and the bald guy forgot about them. The fish rotted and stank from being covered up.
At the sa ti, another matter beca clear—why the last ti around tonight, when they were fishing, they hadn't encountered the electrofishing people. Turns out it was also related to Du Kang. When he was moving the stool, he ran into baseball cap guy, who got worried and went back with baldy to take a look.
An expert was then invited to the police station—actually soone who castrated chickens, but with no more ferries this late, they had no choice but to treat a dead horse as if it were alive.
For a ti there was chaos and commotion.
Ruoping's mother also ca. Du Kang and Qingyi just called ho to report they were safe, saying they'd be back soon. The boys on the island were just like this—used to running wild. As long as they didn't stay out all night, their families didn't worry too much.
After everything was finally done, they yawned their way out of the police station. The ti had reached past nine o'clock.
The hos of the other three were all in the north—not by coincidence, but because the residential area was just that one section.
Only Zhang Shutong was an exception. His ho was in the east. Because his parents had been transferred here for work and had no need to build a house, the family of three currently lived in the employee dormitory building built by Gu Qiumian's father.
But though it was called a dormitory building, the conditions were actually similar to a three-bedroom, two-living-room comrcial apartnt—a full ninety square ters.
Normally they'd separate like this too—three people going one way, Zhang Shutong going his own way, everyone going to their own hos to find their own moms. But this ti there was a variable—what about Lu Qinglian?
Only then did Zhang Shutong belatedly rember sothing. Green Snake Mountain was also in the east. The two of them seed to be going the sa way. Otherwise how would he know about that small shop at the mountain's foot? Though the mountain's location was farther east than his own ho.
Ruoping then said he absolutely must see Lu Qinglian ho before going back himself. It was so dangerous this late at night—he couldn't let a girl walk alone. Zhang Shutong thought to himself, if we go back together, it's not protecting her but her protecting .
But that was just a joke. There was nothing to hesitate about in such small matters, so he nodded in agreent.
This ti Du Kang also learned his lesson. He didn't get jealous or cling to go along. He just solemnly patted Zhang Shutong's shoulder, saying you two be careful on the road, making Zhang Shutong feel he'd made considerable progress.
After settling things, everyone waved goodbye.
Zhang Shutong was so sleepy his eyelids were fighting. At this point he didn't care about any propriety between n and won. Getting Lu Qinglian ho quickly was the priority. He was about to pat his bicycle to have her get on, only to realize there was no seat in back—he'd long since modified it into a box.
No wonder that Du Kang kid was so straightforward...
But the police station wasn't too far from the mountain. The small island itself wasn't big—otherwise why call it a small island?
Five kiloters north to south, about 2.5 kiloters east to west, total area approximately 9 square kiloters. The island's permanent population was about 8,000 people. Even so, it was already the largest inland island in northern China.
Besides, the police station wasn't at the westernmost point, so walking from here to the mountain would take at most 20 minutes.
Zhang Shutong then pushed his bike with Lu Qinglian walking beside him. The two passed through the urban area.
The so-called urban area was just a tofu block pieced together from a few main streets—departnt stores, restaurants, mobile phone service centers, supermarkets and such. The signs didn't light up. The only light source was street lamps. The island's residents also had no nightlife. Looking around, the street lamps on both sides painted the asphalt road surface yellow.
A small shop still had its lights on. Zhang Shutong asked Lu Qinglian if she wanted water. The girl shook her head, so the two continued forward.
"Your family must be worried?" Zhang Shutong only now rembered she had no phone and hadn't notified anyone after all this ti.
"It's fine. She knows I went out tonight."
The "she" from her mouth should refer to her grandmother. He'd heard Du Kang ntion at the funeral that these years Lu Qinglian had depended on her grandmother.
But where were her parents?
Also, he rembered Du Kang saying at that ti that before Lu Qinglian died, her grandmother had already passed away. In probably a few more years, the girl would be all alone.
But Zhang Shutong didn't want to pry into other people's family matters. The words ca to his lips, but he only said:
"If there's anything inconvenient in the future, you can contact the few of us."
Actually he didn't need to remind her. After this evening, Lu Qinglian was probably viewed as a comrade-in-arms by Ruoping and the others.
Better to chat about sothing lighter:
"When did you tell your grandmother?" Zhang Shutong asked casually. "After school?"
"At noon."
At noon?
But weren't you still not back at school then, sweeping snow at the temple?
Your grandmother had prophetic knowledge, knowing you'd go out at night?
Seems like she just doesn't want to talk about it.
Zhang Shutong understood this sentence as a signal that she didn't want to discuss family.
Imdiately after, he thought of another question that had puzzled him for a long ti:
"So what exactly did you co out for tonight?" Zhang Shutong asked curiously.
Before the girl could speak, he jumped in first:
"Don't tell it was to fight cri."
"You can temporarily understand it that way."
The girl replied flatly.
Zhang Shutong shrugged and stopped talking.
If he asked this question again he'd... he hadn't thought of what yet, but he definitely wouldn't ask anymore.
The two walked side by side for a stretch. Zhang Shutong thought of another puzzle:
"Your skills are so impressive, why did you hide at that ti?"
Hearing this, the girl stopped. She turned around, looked directly into Zhang Shutong's eyes, and said calmly:
"Because of you..."
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