9
Many years passed before they finally opened their hearts to each other, but it was too late, and many things were beyond redemption.
How much longer can they live? They have three or four lives on their hands. Who would really believe that every time it was self-defense? The evidence is not that strong, and the people are dead. The situation seems to be in their favor, but in fact it is quite unfavorable.
Perhaps the rain has washed away almost everything. As long as Wei Dahao and the man's body are not found, there is still time to breathe.
They couldn't drive back to the city because Kong Yanchen's body had been discovered, and Nian Jinsi was now the prime suspect. The video went viral online, with many claiming to have seen body parts in a flowerpot. In reality, there wasn't any clear footage. Police had cordoned off the scene and were still investigating.
Once Nian Jinsi was confirmed as the murderer, Zhuang Xiaodie would be practically exposed. The police would likely trace the case back to Shentu Hai. In her spare time, Zhuang Xiaodie frantically recalled whether she had exposed Shentu Hai. The girl's home might still contain traces of Wei Dahe's blood, and Wei Dahe's home would also reveal their fingerprints. After all, no one had likely visited Wei Dahe's home since then.
At that time, we may be able to help Shentu Hai get rid of the crime as much as possible.
Is it really possible?
Not to mention that Ke Yan had seen their faces, and Nian Jinsi had even ventured into the amusement park, where surveillance cameras were everywhere. And what about Ke Yan? Would he report them? Would he turn a blind eye to this matter? But after all, someone had died—
They had very little cash left, and they were exhausted, driving day and night, not knowing where they were going. Finally, the car ran out of gas, and they had to ask villagers for help to fill it up.
But this was the last time they filled the carriages. They stole unripe fruit from the orchards,
"Or learn from Selma and rob the money." Nian Jinsi said jokingly.
"Are you crazy? That was a completely different era than now," Zhuang Xiaodie said. "I don't want to rob. Besides, if I try to rob now, the police will catch up with me in ten minutes."
Nian Jinsi sighed deeply: "Yes, we have nothing, nothing left."
None of them mentioned going back to Shentu Hai or the owner of the farmhouse restaurant, tacitly agreeing not to disturb them. If they could stay away and let the innocent remain innocent, then they would have nothing to regret.
The police have not found anything on Zhuang Xiaodie's head yet, which gives them more time to breathe.
Now every day is like a countdown. They sleep in the car, hide in the mountains during the day, and wash their bodies and clothes by the river at night. They eat very little, but communicate more frequently than ever before, constantly talking to each other as if tomorrow is the last day.
About a week later, one morning, while walking in the mountains as usual, Nian Jinsi heard some noise on the hillside not far away. Zhuang Xiaodie and she went to check and found an elderly woman who had fallen and was unable to get up. Her bamboo basket had fallen to the side, and the wild vegetables inside had spilled all over the ground.
Zhuang Xiaodie and Nian Jinsi looked at each other. This mountain top was sparsely populated. They had been here for a week before seeing anyone. If they left this old lady alone, she would freeze to death here at night or be eaten by animals in the mountains.
Finally, Nian Jinsi drove out, and the two of them loaded the old woman into the car. Following her instructions, they drove to her small mountain cottage. The old woman said she was the only one in the family. She raised a few chickens and planted some land. She and her son were the only ones left at home. Her son was far away in another province, so she lived alone.
Seeing her old age, Nian Jinsi asked her why she didn't live with her son or go to a nursing home, where at least there would be someone to take care of her. The old woman shook her head and said that few people who could walk would want to go to a nursing home. Compared to going to her son's house, she could feed the chickens and grow some vegetables at home every day and walk around. Isn't that freer than going to those two places?
It was a good idea, but Zhuang Xiaodie, looking at her injuries, felt that this kind of life was incredibly dangerous. Old people's bones become brittle, and a fall is devastating. Fortunately, the old woman fell on grass and shrubs, spraining her ankle but not causing any further damage. At this age, if she had suffered a fracture and lived alone, it's easy to imagine what the future would have been like if they hadn't happened to meet.
Following the old man's directions, the car turned into another small road at a certain bend. Not long after, we arrived at the old man's small tiled house. It was not big, only one story, with a small courtyard in front and back. There was a living room and two small rooms in total, and a toilet in the backyard.
A few chickens were pecking at the ground in the backyard. It had rained a couple of days ago, and the ground was still a little damp. Nian Jinsi parked the car in the front yard, and together with Zhuang Xiaodie, she helped the old lady into the house. Not long after the old lady sat down, Nian Jinsi was still looking for medicine, so she insisted on getting up and going to the backyard. Zhuang Xiaodie, thinking she needed to go to the bathroom, helped her go, but the old lady stood on one foot and had to bend down to pick up a chicken.
"I'll kill it for you, freshly killed, and make soup," the old woman said. "This chicken is tender and fragrant! It's different from the frozen feed chicken you get in the city!" As she spoke, she gestured, enumerating all the things that were not good about city chicken. Zhuang Xiaodie, unable to hold her steady, kindly persuaded her to go back inside and sit down while she took over.
So when Nian Jinsi found the safflower oil, he saw Zhuang Xiaodie flapping her wings with the chickens in the yard.
It's no wonder she was slow. Neither of them had eaten properly, and they had just carried the old man and helped him walk, which consumed a lot of energy. The chickens here were well fed and ran fast and fluttered. Zhuang Xiaodie ran behind them and leaned over to catch them, but the chickens dodged left and right, quickly and flexibly. For a moment, the yard was in chaos, with feathers flying everywhere.
She was catching chickens before Nian Jinsi sat down to apply medicine to the old man. Only after Nian Jinsi finished applying the medicine did she just barely catch a slow-reacting chicken - and that was under the old man's guidance.
Although Zhuang Xiaodie and Nian Jinsi had both killed real people, they had never killed a live chicken. At first, when the old man trembled and was about to take action with the kitchen knife, they felt it was dangerous and stopped him, taking the job upon themselves. But when they actually twisted the chicken's neck in their hands, it was a completely different feeling.
Resisting someone who wants to kill you is completely different from killing a defenseless chicken with its neck feathers plucked. Zhuang Xiaodie's fingers traced the exposed skin of the chicken's neck, a slight graininess. The chicken in her hands even flapped its wings less vigorously. Beneath her arm was a plastic basin, and within it sat a white porcelain bowl—the chicken's blood.
It's just one cut, the old man said, but you have to be quick.
Zhuang Xiaodie held the kitchen knife to the chicken's neck and slashed it ruthlessly. The chicken flapped its wings violently, but not a single drop of blood was shed.
It’s too shallow, it needs to be deeper, the old man gestured.
With the first cut, the second was much easier. Zhuang Xiaodie exerted some effort, but unexpectedly overexerted herself, slicing half of the neck open. Hot blood gushed out, covering her hands. Flustered, she aimed the crack at the porcelain bowl, and thick, bright red blood poured into it, shattering the pure white. Wei Dahao's body, the wounds of the man in the red car, and the shattered skull of the man in the farmhouse restaurant all flowed out along with the blood. Zhuang Xiaodie's body stiffened, the object in her hand twitching, and the men's bodies twitching, their eyes all looking over. She subconsciously threw the object in her hand, and the chicken fell into the basin, which she stepped on and overturned, spilling blood all over the basin.
The chicken flipped out of the pot and thrashed in the mud, leaving several bloody marks. The other chickens panicked and hid in the shed, clucking non-stop.
Finally, the chicken twitched a few times and lay motionless on the ground.
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