Through contact with the Anping County Public Security Bureau, the next morning, Song Ning would depart with two comrades from the county government who were going on a business trip to Yu City. After arriving in Yu City, they would help her contact someone to arrange a way to get to Rongcheng.
The Southwest Military Region's base was located in Rongcheng.
In short, arrangements would be made for her all the way.
After bidding farewell to Lan Ying, Song Ning followed the two government officials and got into a jeep. The two comrades were from the government's education department. The older one was addressed as Section Chief Fang, and the younger one was called Little Zhang.
The jeep left Anping and headed north, driving towards Yu City.
However, the weather was bad, and not long after leaving the city, it started to rain.
The further north they went, the heavier the rain became.
Around six in the afternoon, the car arrived at a place called Bijie County.
This place was already at the border between Guizhou Province and Sichuan Province. From here on, the roads would all be winding mountain paths.
For safety reasons, the car turned into Bijie County, and they checked into the county government guesthouse.
When handing over the keys, the waiter specifically instructed, "Due to the weather, the hot water supply stops at eight o'clock. If you want to shower, don't miss the time."
Song Ning looked up at the clock on the wall behind the service desk; it was already past seven.
After settling in, Song Ning remembered the waiter's words and took her toiletries to shower.
In this era, the bathrooms were communal. The outer area had washbasins, and the inner area was the shower room. The outer and inner areas were separated by a half-height wall, more than a person tall, at the east end of the corridor.
However, Song Ning only saw the women's shower room at the east end. The men's shower room might be at the other end of the corridor.
The shower water was quite hot. After a bumpy afternoon, being able to take a comfortable shower was a rare treat.
Even rarer was that the washroom had a large mirror.
For a guesthouse of this era, it was considered high-end.
The previous Public Security Bureau guesthouse didn't have one; she had only gotten a general idea of her appearance from the glass door.
Now, looking clearly at her familiar face in the mirror, Song Ning sighed deeply.
Heaven brought her here, with the same name and the same face. What did it all mean?
It's just that this face's skin was a bit rough and dull, her hair was too long and a bit dry and yellow, clearly malnourished, and she had a heavy fringe that completely hid her good looks...
She turned and went downstairs to the front desk, borrowed a pair of scissors from the waiter, and cut off half of her waist-length hair. She also thinned out her heavy fringe. Although the tools weren't ideal, it didn't stop her from giving herself a significant makeover.
When she returned the scissors, feeling refreshed, she found that the lobby, which had been empty and quiet moments ago, was now crowded with people and luggage.
Several people wearing red armbands were moving through the crowd, organizing things. It was noisy and bustling.
Several waiters were at the front desk, looking overwhelmed.
The waiter who lent her the scissors saw her and hurried over, shouting to her:
"The long-distance bus station at the bottom of the hill is flooded, so all the stranded passengers have been arranged to come here. It's very crowded right now, so hurry back to your room and rest!"
"Oh! Okay! Thank you!" Song Ning also hurried a few steps forward, leaning over to return the scissors, then turned and squeezed out of the crowd.
She thought to herself, if the long-distance bus station was flooded, she wondered if the road to the north was also flooded.
However, after walking a few steps, she subconsciously looked back, feeling as if a gaze was fixed on her amidst the noisy crowd.
When she looked closely, everyone was busy registering or complaining; no one was paying attention to her.
She quietly climbed a few steps up the stairs, feeling an inexplicable unease.
At the corner of the stairs, she looked back again—
This time, she met a sinister gaze head-on.
In a corner of the long bench against the wall in the lobby sat a man wearing a knit cap.
Everyone else was pushing forward, afraid of not getting a room if they registered late.
He, however, was hunched over, sitting there with his hat brim pulled low and his collar pulled high, obscuring most of his face, coldly observing her from behind the crowd.
Song Ning felt a chill run down her spine and quickened her pace up the stairs.
The room was on the third floor, and her room was on the right.
Upon reaching the third floor, she looked back again. Fortunately, the stairs were empty.
After thinking for a moment, she looked down from the handrail and saw a black hand moving quickly and silently upwards on the handrail of the second-floor stairs—
Someone was quietly and rapidly ascending the stairs.
Although it was raining, the temperature had dropped.
However, it wasn't much colder here than in the deep mountains. It was already April by the lunar calendar, May by the solar calendar. Most people were just wearing a spring jacket.
That hand—was wearing gloves.
It was that person from before! The one wearing a knit cap in this season!
He—had actually followed her!
Song Ning felt a tingling sensation on her back, and a chill spread through her entire body...
She took a sharp turn and ran to the left.
Section Chief Fang and the others lived on the left.
325, she remembered the room number.
However, there was no one in 325.
Song Ning knocked several times, but there was no response from inside.
She looked back again and saw that the person had already reached the third floor and was looking around.
The floor below was noisy and crowded.
However, the corridor on the third floor was empty and quiet.
The person immediately locked onto Song Ning. After a brief pause, he quickened his pace and pursued her.
Song Ning had never traveled far before being abducted, and she hadn't met many people after being abducted.
Therefore, Song Ning was almost certain who this person targeting her was.
Clearly, he was stranded here due to the heavy rain. He recognized her and didn't want to be exposed, so he wanted to silently eliminate her, a "potential threat."
Song Ning gave up knocking and continued to run forward, patting on the doors on both sides as she ran, trying to get someone to come out.
Unfortunately, the person behind her was too fast. Song Ning soon reached the end of the corridor.
There was a door open there. As she had predicted, it was the men's shower room.
But at this moment, she couldn't afford to worry about that. She immediately flashed inside and closed the shower room door.
Unfortunately, when closing the door, she discovered that because it was a communal shower room, the door had no lock.
A door without a lock couldn't stop the person outside at all.
Song Ning's heart sank, but she immediately heard the sound of water coming from the inner room—
Someone was showering inside.
The corridor wasn't very long, and footsteps could already be heard from outside.
The outer area was the washroom, with no place to hide.
Song Ning didn't want to barge in directly, so she flashed behind the door—
In just a moment, the footsteps stopped in front of the door.
The door was immediately pushed open...
When the person's upper body had already entered, Song Ning made her move.
She reached out, twisted his shoulder, and with a move of clamping the arm and kicking the knee, she quickly kicked towards his knee...
The man was prepared. Although Song Ning's kick made him stumble, he immediately counterattacked, reaching out to grab Song Ning's face. Judging by his movements, he was also a martial artist.
Song Ning wasn't flustered. She directly locked his arm—pressing down with her arm. However, the opponent was significantly taller than her, and her strength was not enough to subdue him in one move. Just as she was about to switch tactics...
She saw the man in front of her "plop—" and fall directly to the ground, no longer moving.
Behind him, a man with a towel still tied around his waist had not yet lowered his raised arm.
It was a familiar face—
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