95

When Song Jiakai arrived at the Heavenly Longevity Cemetery with a team from the criminal investigations unit, the sight that met him was enough to chill him to the bone. At first glance, he even wondered whether the person before him was really Zhang Momo. Her hair was a mess, blood streamed from her forehead and from the corner of her mouth, her hands were bound behind her back, one shoe had long since disappeared, and she was inching forward in small jerks along the dark path.

He stood frozen, utterly unable to move. Fortunately, the investigators behind him were veterans of far grimmer scenes; they rushed past him at once. Only after they had loosened the ropes around Zhang Momo’s wrists and ankles did Song Jiakai finally come back to himself and pull her into his arms. “Where are you hurt? How did you get like this...”

He did not know when tears had begun to fall. He only held the pitiful woman tightly against him, so tightly it hurt, and the calm in his heart a moment ago had already splintered into chaos, leaving him unable to say anything truly meaningful. Unexpectedly, the woman in his arms would not accept his comfort. Her hands seemed untouched by injury; with startling strength, she shoved him away and struggled to leap forward again.

“Xiang Zuo! Tell Xiang Zuo now—Hu Yongnian is going to kill him!”

She was truly shouting, her eyes bloodshot. After that cry, she tried once more to move ahead.

“I’ll call!” Song Jiakai no longer cared about any scruples over Xiang Zuo’s name. He hurriedly tossed his phone to the person behind him. “Xiang Zuo’s number is in there.” Then he scooped Zhang Momo up again in a bridal carry. “I’m taking you to the hospital. Don’t move. Is your left leg hurt? How do you feel?”

He carried her forward quickly, too busy to heed the officer behind him suggesting they wait for an ambulance. In the blink of an eye they reached the car, but Zhang Momo struggled free and jumped down from his arms. “I’m not going to the hospital. Go find Xiang Zuo! Go find him! Toward Heavenly Longevity Lake!”

She cried and shouted as if mad. Song Jiakai’s heart ached all the more, a sour pain rising in him. “The police are already on the way. You can’t even stand on your leg. You’re hurt like this—go to the hospital first!”

But Zhang Momo had no time for arguing with him. Supporting herself on her two uninjured arms, she somehow found enough strength to shove Song Jiakai to the ground. She yanked open the car door and climbed in. By the time Song Jiakai had scrambled to his feet, the car had already shot off like an arrow loosed from a bow.

She only had one leg she could use—how was she supposed to drive?

“Zhang Momo! Have you lost your mind? Stop right now!”

The madwoman did not stop. She only drove faster and faster. Song Jiakai was beside himself, leaping into a police car and chasing after her. Yet midway along the road, that frantic car and its driver abruptly came to a stop. In the brief instant while Song Jiakai was still gripped by fear and had no idea what had happened, he saw several police cars approaching from the opposite direction.

He had been staring only at her and had forgotten to look at the other vehicles. So when he saw them, he burst out of the car and ran toward Zhang Momo. At that same moment, a man jumped down from the police car coming toward them and ran forward as well.

Inside the car, Zhang Momo’s left leg had long since gone numb, and her right foot trembled violently on the brake. But none of that mattered. What mattered was that through her tear-blurred vision, she saw Xiang Zuo leap down from the car ahead. Her tears obscured his face, but she could see his hurried stride and both of his intact hands with perfect clarity. He was fine. He was whole. He was safe.

Only then did the tears spill freely down her face. Whether from relief or joy, she could not have said; on the dirty face that was no longer even recognizable, a smile finally bloomed. And then, just like that, she fainted peacefully.