93

“Momo, I can take the tape off your mouth, but you must not scream. To be honest, there isn’t a single living soul in this cemetery. Even if you tore your throat apart, no one would hear you…”

The sudden promise of hope made Zhang Momo nod as hard as her neck could twist. The moment the tape was torn from her mouth, pain shot through her lips, and before the strip was even fully removed, a heart-rending cry burst from the room:

“Help! Help me!”

The old man startled, displeasure rising on his face. Yet after only a moment, it gave way to resignation. “If you don’t believe me, go on shouting…”

He tossed the tape aside, and the empty space once again echoed with those desperate cries until Zhang Momo’s own throat felt as though it were smoking. Only then did she collapse in defeat. She looked at the old man in misery and saw him calmly settle back onto the bed.

This road was blocked. Zhang Momo was overwhelmed by despair, but even in despair, she still had to think of a way out. After a long silence, she looked at the man who had once been as dear to her as an uncle, her eyes full of pleading.

“Uncle Hu, please let me go. You know as well as I do that what happened to Brother Xiaosong was truly an accident! I swear that neither Nianqing nor my father ever intended for Brother Xiaosong to die! You have no son anymore, but you could still take me as your daughter. For all these years, I’ve always thought of you as my own uncle. Why do this? Uncle Hu, turn yourself in, will you? Right now, no one can say for certain whose fault all of this was, but if you surrender, you can still live the rest of your life in peace. You even hired someone to—” Zhang Momo bit her lip, and in the end forced out the words through her hoarse voice, “—assault Nianqing and take nude photos of her. If you turn yourself in, it won’t count as a serious crime. But if you keep hiding like this, what are you going to do with the rest of your life?”

She spoke through blood and tears, and by the end, even she could no longer tell whether her words came from the heart or were merely a desperate bid to save herself.

But after hearing her out, Hu Yongnian’s face filled with bewilderment. Zhang Momo, having steadied herself, saw that expression clearly, and her confusion deepened. Uneasily, she called out, “Uncle Hu?”

The old man was silent for a long while. Then he said, “So you really never knew about this!”

It sounded like a murmur to himself, yet also like a ruthless decision being made. Beneath the look of grinding malice, his gaze once more fell upon the pistol on the bed.

Zhang Momo did not know why, but she was seized by an overwhelming terror. Instinctively, she tried to divert his attention.

“Uncle Hu... what... what are you talking about? What do you mean I never knew?”

Hu Yongnian stared at her coldly for nearly half a minute. “The police are charging me with attempted murder. Tell me, if I were to go to prison, could I still live long enough to get out?”

Attempted murder?! The words struck Zhang Momo dumb. Who had he tried to murder? Her first instinct was to shake her head. “Impossible, Uncle Hu, how could that be?”

Before she had finished speaking, a horrifying smile suddenly spread across Hu Yongnian’s face. It was a grin impossible to name, one that made a single glance feel as though it would plunge a person into an ice cellar; buried within it was also a strange, self-satisfied pride. “You don’t need to know... you don’t need to know... I knew it. It was all that Xiang Zuo bastard’s doing!”

“What does Xiang Zuo have to do with this?” Zhang Momo cried out. If her hands and feet had not been tightly bound, she would almost have leaped up. What did Xiang Zuo have to do with any of this?

The darkness in Hu Yongnian’s eyes intensified, curdling into savage hatred. “If he hadn’t pressed me every step of the way, why would I be trapped here, living worse than dead? I had already arranged my visa and was ready to go abroad. If it weren’t for his meddling, how could I not even leave this city!”

An ominous premonition swelled in Zhang Momo’s heart, confusion flooding over her in waves. Sweat poured down her face in panic, but Hu Yongnian had no intention of explaining further. He searched out her phone, narrowed his eyes, and after a long moment of pressing at the screen, seemed to send a message.

All of Zhang Momo’s cries and pleas were now nothing but air. In the old man’s relentless, unwavering actions, they had no power at all. Her anxiety swelled until it felt ready to explode, yet he picked up the handgun from the bed and stood, heading for the door.

“Uncle Hu, where are you going?! Listen to me, I haven’t finished speaking yet—wait...”

Hu Yongnian slowly turned back. This time, his expression was utterly still, devoid of all ripples. “Momo, there’s no need to say any more. This matter will end tonight. I won’t be coming back. After this, we will never meet again. There’s an environmental inspector in charge of this cemetery. If I don’t show up for work, they’ll discover you sooner or later. Live your life well from now on.”