Midnight Movie (Conclusion)
The phone in Ying Yan’s hand trembled, as if strongly agreeing.
She frowned, and the red silk ribbon wrapped around her surged like a living thing, coiling tightly around the phone.
—Forced shutdown!
The red phone: “……”
It might not be human, but this ghost she had taken from the abandoned house was truly a rascal!
Run! Run fast! He’s catching up!
Dawn approached, the stars faded, and the sky shifted from deep blue to pale purple, with a hint of orange at the horizon. Amid the dim morning light in the snow-covered mountains, a small black dot appeared.
The dot moved slowly at first, but after passing a certain spot, its speed suddenly increased.
With a pop, the dot fell into the snow and stopped moving.
Under the blanket of snow, the jagged mountains and pits became a smooth white carpet.
An outsider unfamiliar with the terrain could easily stumble badly.
Zhao Yin, fallen into the snow, wiped her tears and gritted her teeth to climb up.
Her cotton jacket was soaked through, snow filling her clothes, leaving her face pale and her body shivering uncontrollably.
So cold… so cold… she wanted the porridge her mother used to make!
The snow-covered pit wasn’t deep. Zhao Yin used her small hands and feet to claw at the stone walls, struggling to climb out.
She glanced back and caught a shadow in her peripheral vision.
He’s here! He’s caught up!
Fear pulsed in her chest, and her instinct to survive surged even stronger.
Her small, exhausted body found strength, and she ran forward desperately.
I want to live! I want to go home!
After running blindly for a while, Zhao Yin became disheartened—she seemed, perhaps, maybe, lost!
The endless white snow stretched in all directions: no roads, no signs, no trees…
It seemed there was nothing but snow.
As loneliness and despair spread, she looked down and saw a trail of large footprints.
She lifted her tiny feet to compare, her eyes lighting up, and decisively followed the tracks.
The kidnapper was short, with small shoes, and couldn’t have made such big prints.
No matter who she encountered, it was better than falling back into the kidnapper’s hands.
Hope often unleashes astonishing strength.
Zhao Yin, cold and hungry, blew warm air into her hands and rubbed her stiff fingers as she hurried along, doing her utmost to escape the villain’s clutches.
A seven- or eight-year-old doesn’t fully understand death.
She only knew that her slightly older sister had been dragged away, a scream had sounded, and then she appeared again, frozen like the large stone at the door—cold, rigid.
She didn’t want to become a stone.
After following the footprints for a while without stumbling or falling into a pit, Zhao Yin spotted a red phone booth.
Overjoyed, she dragged her exhausted legs in a small run, unaware of the little black dot trailing behind.
As the distance closed, the “little black dot” revealed itself: a man about 1.5 meters tall, plain-looking, slightly overweight.
He wore a black down jacket, hands hidden in his sleeves, gripping a blood-stained fruit knife.
Li Yuecang had already caught up when the little orange (Zhao Yin) had rolled into the snow pit.
But he didn’t immediately grab her; instead, he let her tumble far across the snow, giving her hope that she might escape—only to crush it later.
—This was his perfect ending, designed for the last piece of fruit.
At the same time, Ying Yan’s gaze was drawn to the red and green lights flashing simultaneously, revealing a scene on the wall.
The original phone booth was shrouded in an ominous red, with blood streaming in all directions, converging at the feet of an eight- or nine-year-old girl.
Due to her small stature, Yuxiong could easily reach the phone, but she had to stand on tiptoe to touch it.
She pressed each familiar number carefully, then hit confirm.
A half-open door revealed a faint shadow.
Within the half-minute the call took to dial, Ying Yan’s mind raced through several possibilities.
Using her photographic memory, she recognized the number immediately.
It belonged to the weary elderly couple who coincidentally had lost a child.
But would this call accurately locate the current timeline?
Or were they far from here, able to arrive in time to save their beloved Yinbao?
And if Yinbao were saved, why would they later grasp at every possible lifeline, as if drowning, to make phone calls?
After weighing pros and cons, Ying Yan seized the fleeting moment and swapped the wires just as the call connected.
Having done this over ten times before, she executed it quickly and flawlessly.
The call went through.
“Hello, this is the Mountain Pool Police Department dispatch. How may we help you?”
Before the child outside could respond, Ying Yan spoke quickly:
“A perverted murderer is trying to kill a child, location: Mu Qiqi Snow Mountain!”
“This is not a joke—I’m about to die!”
To emphasize the urgency, she rationalized her presence and added dramatic detail.
Sure enough, the operator immediately took it seriously: “Police and ambulance are on the way. Please hold on!”
Hearing the unfamiliar voice, Zhao Yin’s mouth opened wide in astonishment, forming an “O.”
She timidly called out, “Sister, I want to call Mom!”
Though she trusted the police, a scared child’s first instinct is always to find their parents.
The immediate crisis was not over.
Ying Yan kept her eyes on the shadow outside, calculating how long it would take for the intruder to arrive.
Her hands pressed against the wall, her desire to escape overwhelming.
But it was useless; she was still trapped in the small square space.
And Yuxiong was not there.
Multi-tasking, Ying Yan gave a distracted instruction:
“I know. Listen, climb onto the table, grab the phone cord, and as soon as someone appears, wrap it around their neck tightly.”
In a crisis, other concerns could wait.
The priority was keeping the child alive.
Fearing the child might hesitate, she softened her tone: “Don’t be afraid—the phone spirit will protect you.”
Hearing this, Zhao Yin turned and saw a scene that made her eyes widen instantly.
She scrambled onto the cabinet, using all her limbs, and instinctively did as Ying Yan instructed.
At that moment, the door creaked open.
The short, stocky man in the black down jacket entered, gripping the fruit knife, grinning as he approached the phone.
“Little Orange, I finally found you!”
“The anger of the strong is directed at the stronger; the anger of the coward is directed at the weaker”—such is the dark side of human nature.
Li Yuecang had been bullied as a child for being short, never escaping the shadow; instead, he gained superiority by tormenting the weak, becoming a shadow over others.
At this moment, terrified Zhao Yin was the weak one in his eyes.
She raised the phone cord, voice quivering: “Don’t—don’t come! The phone spirit is protecting me!”
Seeing that he ignored her, she swung the cord as instructed, successfully wrapping it around Li Yuecang’s neck.
Unexpectedly, the cord was too short.
The other end dangled from his shoulder, looking comically small.
Li Yuecang didn’t care, stabbing the fruit knife toward the girl’s chest.
If it landed, Zhao Yin would have died.
Ying Yan pressed her entire body against the wall, still unable to get out!
Despite her experience, she couldn’t bear to see a young life end before her eyes.
However, the bloody scene didn’t occur.
The knife bent 180 degrees at the moment it would have struck, narrowly missing its target.
Even better, as the distance closed, Zhao Yin managed to grab the other end of the cord.
She twisted it into a braid, using all her strength to tighten it.
Li Yuecang gasped for air, face red, hands clawing at the cord around his neck.
The useless knife slipped to the floor.
He hadn’t expected to be beaten by a child.
The difference in strength between adults and children is huge; eventually, Little Orange would exhaust her strength and fail.
At that moment, he would give her a lesson she would never forget.
Both Ying Yan and the child sensed this truth.
They felt the cord tighten painfully, the raging brute expending all his power.
But Li Yuecang didn’t anticipate two things:
First, the police were already on the way.
Second, a two-meter-tall Yuxiong could arrive at any moment.
Speak of the devil, Yuli returned fully loaded and saw a fierce man trying to break free and harm a child.
She immediately flew into a rage, swinging a palm with all her strength and smacking the back of the man’s head without hesitation.
An adult bear’s strength is no joke.
Li Yuecang didn’t have time to react, being thrown to the ground.
Yuxiong immediately sat on him, preventing any counterattack.
The fruit knife, having barely touched the floor at the right angle to attack its negligent owner, quivered and stopped.
Li Yuecang, originally dazed, was pinned down.
He saw the terrifying brown bear growling furiously, face pale, trembling all over.
Zhao Yin was far calmer. She climbed down and touched the bear.
Feeling no resistance, she buried herself into the soft brown fur, taking a deep breath.
So soft! So warm! So comforting!
This must be what it feels like to be protected by the phone spirit.
Yes, when Mom and Dad arrive, she would take the red phone back, and as her grandmother said, offer incense three times a day.
Within ten minutes, long wailing sirens echoed across the empty snow mountain…