Chapter 36
Li Ren collapsed into the filth he had created, sobbing and crying, his heart filled with endless grievance and regret.
He had never suffered such hardship or been so cheated!
If we hadn't gone through that door, things wouldn't have turned out this way; they shouldn't have turned out this way!
It's all those two people's fault for meddling. What does it have to do with them that they come to him seeking justice?!
If only God would allow him to live, if only he could—
There was movement from the RV, the door was opened, and Li Ren began to tremble. He felt a phantom pain in his body. The 1.78-meter-tall man had nowhere to hide, and he hunched over, tears and snot streaming down his face.
Only Fang Xiaoyu said, "I'll stay here with her tonight."
Wang Le understood: "I'll take him a little further away, and we'll come back tomorrow."
"Wait a minute," Fang Xiaoyu called out to him, handing him her phone. It had no password and contained many entertaining videos and novels to help him pass the time.
"Thanks a lot."
Wang Le took it and handed over Li Ren's phone, which he had found, to her to handle. He said he hadn't opened it and then said, "It's nothing, tell her not to worry. You all need to rest, so you can sleep soundly tonight."
Fang Xiaoyu thanked her again, first putting the phone in the car, along with a sturdy hammer. Then she turned around and got out, listening to the sound of the hammer, pulled out the water hose from the RV and connected it to the public sink to fill the water tank, and then went to the convenience store to get new clothes.
Wang Le pulled Li Ren up.
Li Ren struggled violently, his body plummeting towards the ground: "Waaaaah! Waaaaah!"
Unfortunately, no matter how much he struggled, he couldn't overcome the other person's strength and was eventually dragged into the room behind the curtains.
Li Ren returned to the familiar spot, shuffling fearfully into the corner. Suddenly, he realized that it was just the two of them, grown men, again, and quickly moved forward, muttering, "Woo-woo, woo-woo—"
"Don't bother, calling for Dad won't help."
Wang Le avoided him, drew back the curtains to let in the early summer sunlight, and opened the window to let in fresh air.
He packed up the messy things on the bed and floor, along with the sheets, tied them up, and threw them aside. After thinking for a moment, he found a bunch of ropes in the sheets and tied the person up again. He loosened the tape to prevent the person from getting seriously injured before the night was over, so that he wouldn't have to wait until the next day for the victim's sentencing.
Sunlight streamed into his eyes, making his brown pupils appear extremely pale, with an inorganic coldness: "You should also 'enjoy' the tools you've collected."
As he spoke, he used whatever was available to place a dense cluster of needles around Li Ren, minimizing his range of movement.
After quickly treating the other person's wounds and ignoring his pleading eyes, Wang Le pulled out the bedside table separately, sat down on the floor, and continued copying from his notes on his phone.
If you ignore the disheveled Li Ren opposite him and only look at this corner, it looks like an ordinary afternoon, close to the end of the workday, with ordinary workers working hard.
For Li Ren, this was the most difficult night.
But for others, the night flew by.
While keeping watch, Wang Le copied a manual and spent the entire night scrolling through his silent phone.
Cheng Yuan took several showers, changed into new clothes, talked with Fang Xiaoyu for a long time, and slept in her bed for another night. When she woke up in the morning, she looked almost exactly the same as before, except that there were traces of gauze and bandages when she raised her hands and feet.
She declined Fang Xiaoyu's invitation to accompany her, but after learning that Wang Le had repaired the car, she made a point of thanking him early in the morning and helped him repair the body panels—this was a hobby of hers, and she had put in a lot of effort to study cars.
Fang Xiaoyu retrieved her phone. Having slept for several hours the night before, she was in the best condition and decided to drive the RV today.
Before leaving, Wang Le added several layers of restraints to Li Ren, wrapping him up like a rice dumpling to ensure that nothing unexpected would happen.
Fang Xiaoyu hugged Cheng Yuan and whispered to her that she had left a small gift at the convenience store checkout.
The three quickly said their goodbyes.
When Li Ren saw that the RV had disappeared, he moved his body like an insect, while making whimpering noises.
Cheng Yuan ignored her and dragged the person up the stone steps from behind, resting after climbing a few steps.
Li Ren realized something, his eyes widened in horror, and he struggled desperately, but he could only twist his shoulders and couldn't even roll down the stone steps on his own. He watched helplessly as he got higher and higher off the ground.
Cheng Yuan dragged the person to the highest point and began to wrap a new safety rope around him, tying a tight knot.
Li Ren was so scared that he wet himself. Yellowish liquid dripped down, completely soiling his already wet pants and leaving scattered stains on the stone steps along the way.
He wanted to kneel down and beg for mercy, but his body was bound like a dumpling and he couldn't move, not even bend over. His mouth was stuffed with cloth strips and taped shut, so he couldn't utter a single word of pleading.
After Cheng Yuan finished tying the rope, she left the person up there and stepped down by herself.
As soon as Li Ren saw the person leave, his tears stopped immediately, and a look of confusion appeared on his face. That's it?
The next second, he was overjoyed and silently mocked her weakness.
Look, she's just a woman. Does she even have the guts?!
Li Ren began to struggle against the rope, but it wouldn't budge.
He exerted even more force, and his body almost lost its balance and fell forward. He finally managed to steady himself, and looking at the bottomless abyss in front of him, his legs trembled, and he dared not move again.
Hearing noises coming and going repeatedly behind him, he began to wonder: Why haven't they left?
What is she doing?
Is she deliberately torturing herself? Trying to scare herself?
He was inwardly mocking and cursing, but mostly he regretted making a mistake and trusting the wrong person.
Every second up there slowly became agonizing, and when the wind picked up, I had the illusion of weightlessness.
He trembled, and finally Cheng Yuan returned.
I couldn't see her expression, I could only hear her voice.
But the tone was so gentle it was unsettling.
"Guess where the other end of the rope is tied?"
Li Ren asked, puzzled, "Hmm?"
Cheng Yuan: "You asked me to carry all the supplies to the room across the street. I knew you would be reluctant to part with them, but you brought them all over. Aren't you happy?"
Li Ren was overjoyed and twisted his neck to try to see, but unfortunately, he was out of the line of sight and couldn't see anything.
Cheng Yuan continued, "Your story will be posted right there, in the most conspicuous place, so that everyone who passes by can see it clearly."
His legs were still trembling. He was about to laugh when he heard this, but realizing her purpose, his pupils contracted: "Ugh!!"
Cheng Yuan laughed until tears streamed down her face: "So you can still understand human speech after all."
"Why couldn't you understand when I explained things to you properly before?"
Her tone suddenly turned cold: "Looking down on me?"
Li Ren shook his head violently.
"It's okay, this is the last time I'll talk to you properly."
"It's going to get hot soon, so I've found you a nice spot to get some fresh air. It's downstairs, do you like it?"
She took his head-shaking as a nod, just as he had done before.
"It seems she likes it."
"I'm not very lucky, I wonder how lucky you are."
"Was it rescued, or did you watch helplessly as food and supplies dwindled, and then—"
She leaned close to his ear and whispered, "Beng!"
Li Ren's heart clenched suddenly, and his pupils contracted and then dilated.
He turned his head sharply, tears streaming down his face.
"Stand still, I haven't finished speaking."
"Don't blame me for not warning you, if you struggle too much, you might fall down prematurely."
Li Ren dared not move; only his legs were still trembling.
"Didn't you say there are no police here, no laws to restrain us, and it's all about the survival of the fittest?"
"It's alright, I've found you a substitute, called 'Judgment of the Crowd,' how about that?"
"Look at you now, you're so pathetic. How can you not have an audience? After you go down, you'd better shout louder and pray that someone comes quickly, otherwise who knows how long you can last."
Cheng Yuan ripped off the tape wrapped around his mouth.
"The day you drugged me, did you ever imagine this day would come?"
Li Ren cried out in pain, and without her having to lift a finger, he desperately tried to push the cloth out with his tongue.
"The view from up there is really beautiful."
Li Ren suddenly heard this sentence, which sounded somewhat familiar, but he quickly tried to spit out the cloth in his mouth.
"Li Ren."
Cheng Yuan suddenly called his name, and he stopped instinctively, his eyes still wet with sleep and tears, turning his head blankly.
He saw a strange smile on Cheng Yuan's face and heard her light and clear voice, each word clearly reaching his ears.
"I suddenly felt so relaxed."
Li Renyou's eyes widened, his pupils dilated, and his memory was instantly transported back to that very day.
The cloth in his mouth was pushed open, and before he could even open his mouth, his body instantly lost weight and was lifted into the air.
"ah--"
Li Ren was finally able to speak. Seeing the bottomless abyss beneath his feet, he burst into tears and begged for mercy.
"I'm sorry, it's all my fault!"
"I shouldn't have done that to you, I deserve to die!"
"Yuanyuan, please, I know you're the kindest person."
"I will treat you well from now on. I will treat you like royalty."
"Maybe you're already pregnant with my child. A child can't be without its own father, Yuanyuan—"
He called out repeatedly but received no response, but then a rope descended from his side.
Li Ren was initially delighted, but what he saw was a bag containing water and food.
He remembered how he had deliberately starved her to make her obey, feeding her only a small bite of bread and a small sip of water each day.
He knew she wouldn't let him go up.
Enraged, he turned his pleas for mercy into cursing.
"You slut, you're the one who seduced me."
"I've slept with you countless times, what other man would want you?"
"You'll never get rid of me. Even as a ghost, I'll haunt you in my dreams!"
"You're a slut! A slut!"
Suddenly, the rope binding him loosened, and Li Ren plummeted downwards for a moment. He immediately cried out for help, begging for mercy and pleading for his life.
Cheng Yuan took a deep breath, left the soundproof wall, and could no longer hear the other person's voice.
She went to the convenience store and found the booklet she had left behind at the checkout counter, along with a bag of items.
Several pages were deliberately folded.
"Pregnancy self-test..."
"Medical abortion..."
Cheng Yuan's vision blurred for a moment, but the fog quickly dissipated, and she carefully accepted the gift.
She replaced everything inside and out of the red car, including the seats, washed it with a high-pressure spray gun, loaded it with supplies, and filled it with fuel.
Watching the service area melt away like snow, with old car parts scattered about, she smiled and drove off.
I haven't touched a steering wheel in a long time, but I don't feel any rustiness at all.
As Cheng Yuan rushed onto the highway, she was surprised to find that the highway had changed drastically. The once straight highway had suddenly branched off.
One has three lanes, and the other has six lanes.
Cheng Yuan chose the six-lane road without hesitation.
The moment she stepped on it, she suddenly felt incredibly relaxed, and the areas that had been aching stopped sending uncomfortable signals.
She stopped the car in surprise, tore off the bandage on her arm, and was astonished to find countless tiny specks of light attached to it, the wound inside visibly healing.
Behind her, which she could not see, the abandoned three-lane road, like a vanished service area, melted away like bubbles into the unknown.
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