Something light and airy slowly landed on his head.
The strange sensation sent goosebumps all over his skin.
Meng Qingyi froze for a second, then quickly reached up to his head, only to find a light, stick-like object.
He quickly brought it in front of his eyes. There, a colorful fishing bobber glistened in the moonlight.
Attached to the bobber was a fishing line. To be more accurate, what had dropped down from above was, astonishingly, a fishing line without a hook.
This is...
After a split second of hesitation, his eyes moved to the end of the line, where a knot had been considerately pre-tied.
The knot was incredibly familiar; he had learned it from a survival magazine. Boys are powerless against cool but useless tricks like that. He had tried to teach it to his friends, but Ruoping and Du Kang had turned up their noses at it. Only one other person had agreed with him that being cool was reason enough.
And this particular knot was one of the most secure types.
All you had to do was slip the loop over an object and give the end a gentle tug to secure it firmly.
—It was as if whoever was on the other end had even considered how little room they had to move, cramped in the reeds. Like fruit that your mother has already peeled and sliced for you, this intelligent fishing line seemed to have grasped their dilemma instantly.
It was like a miracle from above; even the phrase "timely assistance" couldn't begin to describe it!
The boy's eyes lit up; he understood at once.
Suppressing his excitement, he took a deep breath and gave the line a gentle tug. As if it had a life of its own, the line was lowered further.
Qingyi looped the knotted end around a reed in front of him, estimated the required length in his head, and tugged the line again.
The line was lowered further with perfect coordination.
Finally, when there was enough slack to reach the reeds on the far side of their hiding spot, he tugged again, and the line went taut.
It seemed the intelligent line wasn't finished yet; after all, only one end had a pre-tied knot. Then, he heard what sounded like the sharp snap of metal cutting something.
Meng Qingyi knew that all he could do now was wait patiently.
His Adam's apple bobbed. His eyes were glued to the scene in front of him—
The man had stuffed all the reeds from the clearing into the pit. He straightened up and started walking toward their patch of reeds again.
And just then, the fishing line in mid-air suddenly dropped all at once. He didn't know how long he had been waiting for this moment.
Meng Qingyi snatched the line. Just as he'd expected, there was a freshly tied knot at the other end. Everything had been prepared; all he had to do was secure it to the reeds beside him.
But now was not the time to marvel at this.
The man drew nearer. He saw Ruoping instinctively look his way. In a flash, Meng Qingyi hooked the loop over the reeds in front of her at about throat level. Then, grabbing her clothes with one hand, he yanked her back. Caught by surprise, the girl fell backward, a gasp dying in her throat.
Meng Qingyi fell back with the momentum, and at the last second, he jabbed his elbow into Du Kang's stomach—
"Oof—”
"Fuck!"
The teenagers' screams burst out at the same time. The man stopped dead in his tracks and yelled.
"Who's there?"
His only response was a sudden rustling of figures in the otherwise still reeds. The man froze, then, as if realizing something, his eyes glinted menacingly. He raised his dagger and charged toward the reeds, ready to bring the blade down!
Everyone's breath caught in their throats. The blade glinted coldly in the moonlight, all eyes fixed upon it, but then—
"Ghk—ghk—"
With a sound like someone being strangled, the man, who had been in mid-charge, froze in place as if under a spell. He clutched at his neck, struggling futilely.
A short distance in front of him, Feng Ruoping had just scrambled to her feet. She was frozen by the sudden turn of events, unsure whether to run or stay put, when a familiar, crisp voice called out from above, making her eyes sting.
"Du Kang, Qingyi, now!"
Immediately, two shadows shot out past her. One tackled the man at the waist, throwing him to the ground, while the other cleanly pinned down the hand holding the dagger.
The chaotic situation was brought under control in an instant.
The girl whipped her head around and saw a boy, half-kneeling on the dirt path above them with his hands planted on the ground.
In the night, his eyes shone, and he flashed a rare, broad smile.
"See? Told you being cool was all that mattered."
……
After teasing Ruoping, Zhang Shutong shifted his gaze, confirming that the killer was subdued.
Qingyi didn't just know survival skills; he could also pull off a wicked-looking karate chop. It was a special technique that even Zhang Shutong hadn't mastered, the kind of family secret passed down to a son but not to an older brother.
He watched Qingyi land a solid chop on the back of the man's neck, and the man slumped silently to the ground. Only then could Zhang Shutong truly breathe a sigh of relief, though he didn't rush to go down just yet.
He may not have been in a hurry, but the girl, Feng Ruoping, came scrambling up the slope.
"Are you guys okay?"
He had expected a round of admiring, starry-eyed gazes, but instead, the girl covered her mouth, her voice catching in her throat.
"You... how can you say that..."
Although she was usually fiery, a girl was still a girl.
He saw this and gave a helpless smile, but he didn't plan on comforting her.
If she were the type who needed comforting, she wouldn't be Feng Ruoping—
"What are you still doing on your knees? We get it, you're cool, alright?" The girl promptly put her hands on her hips, her bossy tone masking the fragility from a moment ago.
Zhang Shutong pointed at his feet.
"See for yourself."
He hadn't been trying to strike a pose. To avoid making a sound and tipping off their target, he had parked his bike a good distance away, taken off his shoes, and, armed with his fishing rod, baton, and scissors, crept over in just his socks.
To be honest, the ground was freezing, and his feet were nearly numb.
"You're really... Aren't you cold?"
Ruoping's bluster immediately died down and asked worriedly.
She glanced around, then rushed to grab his shoes. After Zhang Shutong put them on, the two of them went down the slope together to get a better look at the man.
Du Kang and Qingyi also gathered around. Only Lu Qinglian went to the edge of the pit the man had dug, studying who-knows-what.
This girl's got guts.
Even he needed to steel himself before approaching the pit.
Then again, aren't you curious what the man who murders you in eight years looks like?
But he couldn't control what she was thinking, especially since that was something eight years in the future. Zhang Shutong started chatting back and forth with his friends.
Ruoping, who had probably been bursting with questions, immediately asked him what was going on. Hadn't he gone after the man? How did he know to come back?
"You guys all knew?" Zhang Shutong was a bit surprised. This was the one thing he hadn't anticipated.
"Qingyi deduced it. Your two excuses contradicted each other."
"Okay, fine. My mom only asked me to deliver something; she never urged me to hurry back."
He could cop to the second lie, but explaining the first one was too complicated, so he just let his mom take the fall.
"So how did you know to come back?"
"I saw Ruoping's call."
Zhang Shutong shrugged.
If you were to turn back time ten-odd minutes, he had been on his bike, faced with the choice to chase or not to chase. In the end, he had chosen the latter, for a simple reason.
First, his experiences over the years had taught him to trust himself, not to pin his hopes on the officer happening to stop.
And second, while he needed to find the murderer, the farther he went, the more unforeseen dangers there would be. He had been impatient in the moment, but after thinking it over, he realized it wasn't worth risking himself by going in alone.
So he had gone straight to find a place with a signal. When he saw Ruoping's missed call, he had rushed back. Looking at the situation now, he was truly glad he had made that choice.
Good thing he made it back in time.
But Du Kang was very confused.
"Then how did you know we were in trouble over here?"
"It's simple."
Zhang Shutong explained.
"You guys know Ruoping. If everything was fine, she'd be spamming your QQ. But all I saw was one phone call and no follow-up messages. That could only mean something had happened.”
"Of course, I had no idea the guy had looped back around, either. I just called the police and rushed back. I was being extra careful as I passed by here and didn't see any tire tracks, but then I saw you all hiding in the reeds, and a man digging a hole by the shore. And after that..."
After such a long speech, Zhang Shutong was a bit tired.
"Mhm, you can ask Qingyi for the rest."
Qingyi then explained the story of the fishing line. Best friends never hold back on the flattery, but in truth, they all knew each other too well to get overly excited about it.
Zhang Shutong scored three KFC meals out of it, one from each of them. As they were talking, they arranged to go into town on the weekend for Zinger Double Downs.
How can you guys even think about eating KFC right now?
The overpowering stench was making him sick to his stomach. He quickly told them to save the discussion for when they got home. Shining his flashlight, he gestured.
"Let's check this guy out first."
Of everyone present, no one was more eager than he was.
And it was true. He was the only one who wanted to unveil the murderer; the others had all run over to the pit, wanting to see what was inside, a mixture of curiosity and fear on their faces.
Zhang Shutong ignored them and shone the flashlight directly on the man's face. After a few seconds, he frowned, puzzled.
The man had a fat face and a shaved head, which made the scar running from his temple down to his chin clearly visible. Other than that, he had no notable features. Zhang Shutong racked his brain, but he had no recollection of ever seeing this man before— but that made sense. After all, he was the one who'd been killed to be silenced. He should take a photo and ask Gu Qiumian tomorrow if she knew him.
Just as he was thinking this and about to take out his phone, he heard Ruoping let out a cry and turned her face away. She stumbled back a few steps, looking like she was about to be sick.
"I told you not to look."
You could just imagine how gruesome it was.
"It's not that..." Ruoping said, pinching her nose. She paused for a long moment to compose herself.
"Just go look... No, I can't. The smell is too much. I have to get some fresh air..."
She must have been terrified and didn't dare to walk alone in the dark. Still trembling, she tugged on Lu Qinglian's sleeve.
"Qinglian, let's go up together. Don't look, I don't think I'll be able to eat for a week..."
The moment the two girls left, Du Kang also let out a retch and followed them up. Zhang Shutong called out after them.
"Since you're going up, you can call the police station."
He had called the police earlier, but he had only been able to say that something was happening in a wild field on the west side of the island. He didn't actually know which field it was, but Du Kang would be able to give clear directions.
Seeing that the three of them had gone up the slope and only Qingyi remained, Zhang Shutong pinched his nose in advance and crouched down next to his friend.
"What do you think is in there?"
Qingyi was also pinching his nose, his voice muffled.
Zhang Shutong shone his flashlight into the pit and froze for a second. Qingyi had already uncovered the contents. He had braced himself for all kinds of bloody sights, but he never could have imagined that what was inside would be something he knew all too well. It was actually…
A pit full of fish?
Fish?
Zhang Shutong glanced at the unconscious man on the ground as Qingyi spoke, holding his breath.
"We got it all wrong. This isn't a murderer. Du Kang was right..."
Never mind what Du Kang had said. Zhang Shutong now understood what was in the pit. He said in surprise.
"He's an electro-fisher?"
The large pit was filled with the rotting carcasses of fish, emitting a thick stench of blood and decay.
"Just an electro-fisher." Qingyi swore, a rare occurrence for him.
"Damn it," he said, frustrated. "I thought he was a murderer, you know? I was scared out of my mind. If I'd known he was just poaching fish, we wouldn't have needed to hide for so long. If only... sigh."
He said, shaking his head.
"It's pointless to talk about it now. It's easy for me to be wise after the fact. But even if he was just poaching, if it hadn't been for you, Shutong, Ruoping could have gotten hurt."
Zhang Shutong had no desire to take credit. He didn't care about that; as long as everyone was safe, that was enough.
Right now, he was just a little frustrated, not much better off than Qingyi— while it had turned out to be a false alarm, the process of taking the man down had been a winding one. When Du Kang and Qingyi tackled him, even Zhang Shutong had felt a thrill he hadn't experienced in a long time.
So it was you. The one who killed me, killed Gu Qiumian, and killed Lu Qinglian. You never expected to get caught on the very first day back, did you?
He'd had a fleeting sense that things were resolved too easily, but then, it had been just as easy for the man to kill him. Still, he'd never imagined that all they had caught was a poacher.
He really needed a cigarette right now.
But there were no cigarettes, only the overwhelming stench.
"I need some quiet..."
"Me too."
The two looked at each other, then simultaneously turned around to take a deep breath of the tiny bit of fresh air behind them before turning back to stare at the fish pit.
Qingyi was going through the man's belongings; he had already searched him.
"Look, this is the woven sack Du Kang was talking about. It's actually a bag for dead fish. The other thing he was carrying was the shovel... Oh, and this. Guess what this is, Shutong?"
Qingyi untied a poker-like object from the man's back.
"An electric fishing spear?"
"Exactly. And I thought it was a gun..."
Zhang Shutong looked at the completely exasperated expression on his friend's face and almost laughed. He was frustrated, too, but seeing someone else even more frustrated than himself seemed to make him feel a little better.
But the stench was too much, so he quickly clamped his mouth shut again and forced the words through his gritted teeth.
"Whatever, as long as we're okay. I was worried for a second you wouldn't get what I meant.”
"I'm telling you, I got a jolt when that thing landed. It was brilliant of you to think of that. Good thing it was me you dropped it on; I'm not so sure the other two would have gotten the hint."
Then Qingyi muttered.
"Tell me, how does Du Kang manage to stumble into everything..."
"What do you mean?"
"You don't remember? Last week he said he saw someone poaching with electricity. He even went and reported it, all righteous, but the cops didn't believe him, and neither did we. Turns out he was telling the truth. The person he saw then was probably this guy."
Hearing this, Zhang Shutong suddenly remembered.
He recalled that when he had gone to the police station that afternoon, the reason the officer hadn't believed him was because he had just been tricked by them last week. He'd said that a baby-faced boy had lied about someone electro-fishing, and the moment the officer left to patrol, the kids had gone to fish on the other side of the lake.
Even he had assumed it was just a fib the brats had concocted so they could go fishing. He never imagined it was actually true.
He didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Then again, it was a bit like Lord Ye's love of dragons; if the man really had been the murderer, it was unlikely they would have been able to deal with him so easily.
In any case, this unusual night was finally over. He had spent the whole evening wandering around in the cold wind, and now that the man's identity was confirmed, he realized how mentally exhausted he was. All he wanted was to go home and collapse into bed.
"But don't you feel like something's not right?" Qingyi suddenly asked.
The moment the situation was resolved, the guy's annoying habit flared up again.
"Spit it out," Zhang Shutong said, rolling his eyes.
"I was just thinking. Back then, when I had the tripwire set, didn't I specifically have Du Kang yell just to lure him over?"
"But if he's just poaching fish, that's not a huge crime. The worst he'd get is a few days in detention. So why pull a dagger?"
"That's true."
Zhang Shutong stroked his chin thoughtfully.
The matter was resolved, anyway, but they still had to wait for the police to clean things up, so they couldn't leave just yet. He was also interested in playing a little deduction game with his friend; the two of them used to enjoy it.
"Maybe he's a fugitive?" Zhang Shutong said casually. "Did you find anything on him?"
"A wallet, a Swiss Army knife, a lighter and cigarettes... Oh, and this, a cell phone." Qingyi patted the man down again.
"But we don''t know the password, so it's useless."
"Sounds pretty standard." Zhang Shutong got to his feet, but he still felt like something was off.
He frowned. It felt like he was on the very verge of putting it all together. The missing piece felt both significant and insignificant, but it remained just out of reach. Perhaps he was just too exhausted; he couldn't quite grasp the spark of insight.
Ironically, it was Qingyi, the one who had started the deduction game, who lost interest first.
"Forget it. He's just a bald poacher. Why are we wasting our time on him? It stinks here. I'd rather go home and read my novel. And look at Ruoping and them—they went up the path and haven't come back down. It's been forever. We're the only idiots still sitting here.”
Zhang Shutong mostly agreed. There wasn't much to analyze about a simple poacher. Yes, the man had acted strangely, but even a cornered dog will leap over a wall. Pulling a knife wasn't that bizarre under the circumstances.
So he followed his friend. As he walked past the unconscious man, Zhang Shutong gave him one last glance.
Yep, still just a scarred, bald man.
Wait...
Bald...
Bald?
Zhang Shutong froze. He rushed back to the man, but his eyes weren't on the man himself. Instead, he quickly scanned the items laid out on the ground, all the things they had found on him.
"What's wrong? You think of something?"
Qingyi turned back.
"Was he like this when you first saw him?" Zhang Shutong asked, his words starting to tumble out faster.
"And are you positive this is everything you found on him? You didn't miss a single thing?"
"Of course. His Swiss Army knife fell in the reeds just now, and I was the one who retrieved it. So what did you find?" Qingyi asked, confused.
A chill suddenly ran through him, cutting through the night wind. He locked eyes with Qingyi and said, enunciating every word.
"Then... where's the baseball cap Du Kang saw?"
Qingyi froze too.
"Th-That can't be right. The woven sack and everything else matches. Wait, I'll call him down and ask..."
With that, the two of them hurried up the slope. Before they reached the top, they saw Du Kang standing on the path. Qingyi immediately started complaining.
"Why are you hanging out with the girls instead of us? We need to ask you something. Get down here..."
But before he could finish, Zhang Shutong pulled him back. He instinctively looked back at his friend, only to see that his gaze was fixed on Du Kang's face.
Meng Qingyi followed his gaze and froze as well. Du Kang's usual grinning face was gone, replaced by an expression uglier than tears.
The boy's voice squeezed out through his teeth.
"Shutong, they're... there's more than one of them..."
...
"They're... there's more than one of them..."
The words had barely left his lips when a powerful flashlight beam flooded their vision. Zhang Shutong immediately yanked Qingyi down. The bright light was agonizing, leaving spots in his vision. He turned his head and squinted, struggling to make out the scene before him.
On the empty dirt path.
Behind Du Kang was Ruoping, her eyes red.
Behind Ruoping was Lu Qinglian.
And behind Lu Qinglian...
Was a tall, thin man wearing a baseball cap.