Go all out

Chapter 17: Nightmare

“What’s wrong?” Tian Zhan asked curiously. “Something happened to my master. I need to go to the hospital to check on him.” As I spoke, I had already jumped down from the tree. “I’ll go with you,” Tian Zhan said, trying to jump down too. “No need. I’ll go by myself. You stay here and wait for the village chief.” No sooner had I said this than I was already running toward the village entrance. I held my breath as I reached it and, spotting the bus heading for the city, hurriedly boarded it. Sitting in my seat, my mind was in a whirl. What did the doctor mean when he said “something happened”? Is my master dying? How could this happen? At that thought, my eyes welled up with tears. My master had raised me since I was a child, and I hadn’t even had a chance to repay him for all he’d done for me. In a daze, I made it to the bus station—I don’t even remember how I transferred buses. By the time I arrived at the hospital, it was already dark. I rushed into the hospital, ran to my master’s ward, pushed open the door, and saw a nurse tending to him. “Are you a family member of Li Jiu?” the nurse asked, glancing at me. “Yes, I’m his apprentice. What exactly happened to my master?” I hurried over and asked. “Your master is actually fine, but a doctor here happened to walk by just now and saw someone injecting some kind of drug into his IV line. Fortunately, the doctor stopped them in time, but that person jumped out the window and ran away,” the nurse said, looking at me. Hearing this, I froze in my tracks. Someone injected a drug into my master’s IV line? My master is such a good person—how could anyone want to harm him? “Was that person a man or a woman?” I asked nervously, thinking of my mom. Although she wouldn’t go to the trouble of injecting something if she were going to kill him, she was, after all, the one who had put my master in this condition! “It was probably a man,” the nurse said. “A man?” I muttered to myself. What kind of man would want to kill my master? Could it be an enemy from his past that I didn’t know about, or something else? I walked over to the window. We were on the second floor, and on the windowsill—besides the shards of glass—there was indeed a large footprint, likely left by that man. “Here’s why we called you in: since someone is trying to harm your master, the hospital recommends that you call the police immediately.” “Call the police?” I froze, looking at my master lying there, his face pale. Calling the police would certainly be safer, but what if they figured out how my master got injured and then sent a unit up the mountain to surround and attack my mom? I hesitated. “But you don’t have to call the police. Our hospital can arrange for someone to look after your master around the clock, but…” the nurse said slowly. “How much will it cost?” I asked. “About four hundred yuan a day.” “Okay, arrange for someone to take care of my master day and night,” I said after thinking it over. “All right, go pay the fee. Explain the situation clearly, and the person collecting the payment will understand.” “Okay.” I nodded. After staying in my master’s room for over ten minutes, I emptied my wallet almost completely to pay for two days’ worth of care. By the time I boarded the bus back, it was already 7:30—the last one of the day. Sitting in my seat, I watched the night scenery flash by outside the window. Ever since I can remember, my master never seemed to have had any conflicts with anyone—so why would a man want to kill him? I just couldn’t figure it out. What’s even more of a headache right now is that I’ll have to pay several thousand yuan in medical bills the day after tomorrow, and I only have a few dozen yuan left on me. No matter what, I have to open for business tomorrow. If no one comes tomorrow, then I’ll have to figure something out the day after tomorrow. There’s no way I can let the hospital stop my master’s medication. Distracted, I took a ride to the village entrance to look for Tian Zhan and see if the village chief had returned yet. But when I got to the village chief’s house, I saw the lights were on—he was already back. I reached for my phone to call Tian Zhan. Since it was pitch dark, I crept over to the big tree, but didn’t see him. Just as I dialed the number, I suddenly heard a blood-curdling scream. This was immediately followed by a furious roar, then a chaotic commotion of a struggle—which came to an abrupt halt. I was startled. I recognized the angry roar as Tian Zhan’s, but the blood-curdling scream was… A knot formed in my stomach, and I took off running toward the village chief’s house. The gate was open, and at a glance, I saw a body still twitching in a pool of blood on the floor of the hall. I froze on the spot; my feet felt as if they were rooted to the ground, and I couldn’t take a single step. I didn’t dare to look—or rather, I didn’t have the courage to look. My mind went blank as I stared blankly at the body in the pool of blood. He was drenched in blood, but I recognized the clothes he was wearing at a glance—they belonged to the village chief. The village chief was dead—killed by my mother. In that instant, a whirlwind of emotions swirled through me. Driven by guilt, my feet finally obeyed me, and I took a step forward and walked inside. In the pool of blood, the village chief’s stiff face was frozen in terror. His eyes were wide open, staring intently at me—that gaze seemed to be telling me that I was the one who had killed him! His chest had been completely gouged out—a truly harrowing sight. At that moment, I found it incredibly hard to breathe. How many more people would my mom have to kill before she stopped? “Xiaotian, you’re just now getting here?” Tian Zhan walked in through the back door, looking dejected. I stared at him blankly, unable to speak. Tianzhan pulled a bottle of water from his backpack, took a few big gulps, and then asked, “How’s your master?” “He’s okay… Did my mom kill him?” A bitter taste filled my heart as I asked the unnecessary question in a low voice. “I didn’t get a good look. That thing was moving way too fast just now—I couldn’t keep up with it at all,” Tian Zhan said, sounding a bit frustrated. My mom is a wolf—how could a human possibly catch up to a wolf? “It’s just a shame the village chief died so unfairly. I never would’ve thought that the moment he returned, that thing would strike. Looks like it’s been waiting here for a long time.” “So what do we do now?” I asked softly. “I’ll call and send someone over to take care of the village chief’s and Uncle He’s bodies first. It’s not right for them to just be lying there like that.” Saying this, Tian Zhan walked over to a corner and pulled out his phone to make a call. A minute later, Tian Zhan finished his call and walked back over. He formed a strange hand seal and touched the village chief’s forehead, as if sensing something. “That guy took the village chief’s ghost with him too. He’s a really cautious one.” Tian Zhan looked resigned. He thought for a moment, then turned to me. “ “That’s the third one in the photo.” I know what “Tianzhuan” means; this confirms our earlier analysis—the person my mom killed matches the photo. As for the age we analyzed earlier, it seems a bit irrelevant now. However, I have a vague feeling that there might be a connection between this photo and the victims’ ages that we haven’t considered yet. If we can figure that out, we might finally understand why my mom committed these murders. “But the fourth person—the photo’s so blurry. How can we tell who it is?” I said, shaking my head. “I’ll send this photo to a certain place tonight and have their specialized technical department see if they can restore it as much as possible,” Tian Zhan said. “You have a dedicated technical department?” I was taken aback. After all, Tian Zhan was part of the Paranormal Investigation Team—weren’t the members there all masters of Taoist arts? “Of course we do. The National Paranormal Investigation Team has over a hundred members—all of them extraordinary individuals. We have an intelligence division, a specialized forensic division, and departments like ours that handle actual cases. I just happen to prefer working alone.” “Oh, but restoring a photo like this can’t be done that quickly, can it? It should take at least a few days at the earliest.” Tian Zhan nodded. “That’s exactly why this isn’t a viable solution! I want you to come with me up the mountain tomorrow!” “You want me to take you up the mountain so you can kill my mom?” I said calmly, looking at Tian Zhan. Tian Zhan shook his head helplessly and said earnestly, “All I can tell you is that as long as your mother isn’t yet beyond saving, if you stop her now, you might still be able to save her life!” “Are you saying my mom can still be saved?” I felt a surge of hope. “If you stop her now, the organization might have a ten percent chance of sparing her. But if she keeps going, she’s as good as dead!” “One in ten?” That’s practically the same as nothing. Tian Zhan placed both hands on my shoulders and looked at me solemnly. “Xiao Tian, I’ve taken what you told me this afternoon to heart. So by doing this, I’m saving her—and I’m saving you, too. Do you understand?” “Mm-hmm.” I nodded. After we’d waited here for nearly an hour and a half, two black cars pulled up in front of the village chief’s house. The doors opened, and four people—three men and one woman—stepped out with cold, impassive expressions. Two of the men were police officers, while the other two were dressed in black. I instinctively glanced at them, but I couldn’t read anything from their faces either. This meant they were no slouches either. Tian Zhan walked straight over, handed the photo to one of the women, exchanged a few brief words with her, and then the two of them drove away. Next, the two police officers glanced at me and began handling the village chief’s body. “All right, let’s head back. Get a good night’s rest, and we’ll head up the mountain tomorrow!” Tian Zhan said as he walked over. “Mm-hmm,” I nodded. After we got back, we both lay down without saying a word. But I just couldn’t fall asleep. The last time my master and I went up the mountain, I was fine, but my master was seriously injured. And tomorrow, I’d be going up the mountain with someone else—I was worried something might happen to Tian Zhan too. “Tian Zhan, are you scared?” I asked softly. “No, I’m not. You’ll protect me,” Tian Zhan said with a smile. It’s true—if I hadn’t fallen asleep that night, my mom probably wouldn’t have attacked my master right in front of me. “Don’t worry about that. I’m different now than I used to be.” “Mm-hmm.” Silence followed, and Tianzhan soon fell asleep, his snoring filling the room. As for me, I just stared blankly at the ceiling. I don’t even know when I fell asleep, but that night I had another dream. In the dream, my mom opened her mouth wide and bit down hard on Tian Zhan, taking one bite after another as if she were going to devour him whole. I screamed at her, but she ignored me. Gradually, the light faded from Tian Zhan’s eyes, and blood flowed more and more…