Chapter 24 She waded through the flowing sewage, rising high...
Before receiving the system notification, Fu Qing was looking at cars at a car dealership not far away.
The system is only responsible for infrastructure construction. Off-campus transportation is obviously not within the scope of items sold in its store. Fu Qing needs a vehicle for transportation and to stockpile goods before the apocalypse.
But before she could make a decision, the system's piercing alarm suddenly went off.
"Yongxin Road Pedestrian Street"...
Fu Qing is a local, and a map automatically popped into his mind, reminding him that the pedestrian street was just one block away.
Without hesitation, she left the car dealership and ran down that road.
Within a certain area of the pedestrian street, both motor vehicles and non-motor vehicles are prohibited from passing through; it's faster to run than to borrow a car.
Based on her knowledge of the area, Fu Qing found a shortcut and ran to the nearest point, where she saw a large crowd running towards her in a panic.
They were all people who had escaped from the chaotic pedestrian street and bumped into her, the one going against the flow.
Fu Qing wisely abandoned the idea of pushing through the crowd, nimbly darted to the side of the road, and took a side path. After turning the last bend, a wide road appeared before her—Yongxin Road Pedestrian Street.
This pedestrian street, which is usually bustling, was now eerily quiet, with shopping bags, clothes, and shoes left behind by pedestrians everywhere.
There were some dark red marks on the ground, and several people were groaning in the corner, clutching their wounds.
Near the guard post at the entrance to the pedestrian street, several uniformed people were lying down. Fu Qing's eyes sharpened, and he finally understood why the incident had escalated to this extent.
From the very beginning, the rioters targeted those most likely to cause him trouble.
Off-road vehicles are already huge and powerful; if they lose control and crash, unless you use an armored vehicle, you simply can't stop these unstoppable behemoths. Tire spikes need to be laid in advance, but there's simply not enough time to deal with an off-road vehicle that suddenly appears.
If the patrolling police officers on duty here had missed the initial opportunity to shoot and blow out the tire because they were worried about the surrounding crowd, and the tire had instead crashed into the crowd, the consequences would have been predictable.
In the distance, the faint sound of police sirens could be heard. Judging from the distance, Fu Qing was not going to waste any more time and ran towards the place where the screams were the most intense.
She finally saw the SUV that Song Rushuang had described.
And it was eyeing the two people in the tree with predatory intent.
System notification: [Host, the student calling for help is in the tree.]
How did she end up in the tree?
Fu Qing frowned subconsciously, feeling bewildered, but before she could think any further, she picked up a brick from the ground, gripped it in her hand, and smashed it forcefully against the shop window next to her.
Large shards of glass shattered with a loud crash, successfully attracting the attention of the SUV driver.
Fu Qing could feel the other person staring at her through the car window; their cold, sticky gaze was like a viper's tongue, coldly licking her body.
The tree was just between the two people standing on the platform, allowing them to see each other clearly.
Fu Qing remained expressionless, staring directly at him without moving, then defiantly tossed the brick aside and dusted off his hands.
She heard the engine growl as she had hoped, like a furious roar.
As the SUV started moving forward, she turned around and suddenly darted off in the opposite direction.
The distance of a few dozen meters could be covered in the blink of an eye with the car's powerful acceleration. But perhaps the driver was worried about losing control due to the high speed and didn't floor the accelerator, thus giving Fu Qing a chance to escape.
The road she was running on was the same one she had taken on her way here. Thanks to Song Rushuang's warning, Fu Qing had anticipated the situation before coming and had paid special attention to the road conditions. Now, she was running towards the square at the end of the pedestrian street with a clear goal.
Halfway through the race, she suddenly changed direction and turned onto another side road. The SUV behind her followed her into the turn almost without stopping, her skillful tail-swinging maneuver clearly demonstrating professional-level skill!
If Song Rushuang had seen this clearly, she would have understood that its earlier sluggishness when turning was a deliberate act, a trap to lure the hunter into a snare. It was utterly insidious and vicious.
Fu Qing, relying solely on his advanced senses, guessed the changes in the vehicle behind him and made a highly rational judgment: the driver's driving skills were also exceptional.
She made some minor adjustments to her plan, while simultaneously sketching out a mental image of the driver.
Calm, cautious, yet bloodthirsty and insane, he is more terrifying than a simple madman.
After turning that bend, she was faced with a straight road with no more obstacles to hide from. Fu Qing was thinking about how to use the terrain to cover herself when she noticed that the person behind her had slowed down and turned on the headlights. The swaying shadow in front of Fu Qing intensified the pressure and fear of the chase.
Did he think she had nowhere to escape, and instead start teasing his prey?
Fu Qing suddenly realized this, and the corners of his lips couldn't help but turn up.
At this moment, she returned to a familiar state, hovering between life and death.
With his adrenaline surging, his mind became unusually clear, and Fu Qing stepped into the square.
There was a Mid-Autumn Festival event being held here before. Food stalls were lined up, and white plastic tables and chairs were scattered everywhere. Because they were in such a hurry to escape, they were pushed and knocked over, and drinks and food were spilled everywhere, leaving a mess.
Without a second thought, Fu Qing slipped inside, weaving nimbly between the tables and chairs. Just as she expected, the SUV that sped out of the pedestrian street didn't try to dodge, but instead crashed straight into the area where the tables and chairs were.
The food stalls were lined up in a row, and he was afraid that Fuqing would escape into the gaps between them and disappear under the cover of the stalls.
The plastic tables and chairs did not serve any purpose in stopping them; they were pushed aside and knocked away. Just as they were about to reach the end, Fu Qing suddenly stepped onto one of the plastic tables. Using the height, he suddenly exerted force with his legs and leaped onto the top of the stall.
The stall was just a wooden frame with a fabric canopy, selling handicrafts. It couldn't support an adult's weight at all. Fu Qing didn't linger on it. With a gentle push of her palm, she landed as lightly as a cat, landing perfectly on the cement ground behind the stall.
There was a path where two thickets met, and pursuers would naturally assume she was trying to escape by taking a new route.
With sirens blaring close by, in his anxiety, he could only react in one way—
With a deafening crash, the SUV smashed into the stall in front of it, the wooden frame collapsing and the goods and canopy falling to the ground, scattering across the hood. As a flash of bright red appeared at the bottom of the road, the SUV driver had no time to react. The front bumper slammed into a fire hydrant hidden behind the stall, the car came to a heavy halt, and was forcibly stopped by an obstacle that had risen from the ground, producing a terrifying thud.
The fire hydrant was knocked askew by the speeding vehicle, and a huge jet of water several meters high sprayed out, instantly obscuring the driver's entire view.
Fu Qing wanted that one moment.
Without the slightest hesitation after landing, as if she had calculated the driving route of the SUV, she swerved and rolled to the side, taking advantage of the brief half-second before the stall was knocked over to roll into the blind spot of the driver behind her, leading him to follow her direction with his eyes, and further ignoring the fire hydrant hidden under the car.
As the SUV was forced to stop, Fu Qing appeared like a ghost next to the driver's side window, gripping the roof rack crossbar with one hand and elbowing the corner of the window with his other fist.
The car window shattered violently, shards raining down on the other person's head. Fu Qing saw a face covered in blood.
The driver who committed these atrocities was a young man in his early twenties, overweight with a puffy face; no wonder he would use the power of machinery to kill.
When he saw Fu Qing, a bloodthirsty madness flashed in his three-white eyes.
The man pulled a gleaming short knife from under the passenger seat and slashed at Fu Qing with a whooshing shout: "Die!"
Before he could even touch Fu Qing's face, she swiftly grabbed his wrist holding the knife, dislocating it with a crack. His right hand instantly lost its strength, and the short knife clattered into the gap between the seats.
The man stared in shock at his twisted and bent wrist, clearly not expecting her to move so quickly. Before he could react and cry out in pain, Fu Qing grabbed his collar with one hand, unbuckled his seatbelt with the other, and then pulled him out of the driver's seat through the broken car window!
Everything happened in a flash. It was as if he was a cruel and crazy hunter one second and a trapped beast the next.
The man was already overweight, and normally it would have been impossible for him to climb out of the car window. But at this moment, under Fu Qing's strange strength, he was terrified to find himself helplessly lifted off his seat.
Although the car window was broken, some sharp shards were still stuck on the edge of the window frame. As they moved, they pierced deep into his skin, slowly sinking in under the pressure of his fat.
The man could no longer hold back and let out a scream.
Fu Qing acted as if she hadn't heard him, throwing him on the ground like a bag of trash.
During this process, countless shards of car window were embedded in his body. The man was curled up on the ground, his facial muscles trembling with pain. Suddenly, a pair of short boots appeared in his blood-blurred vision.
The flowing water washed away the bloodstains on the car, staining the ground red. She stepped across the flowing sewage and looked down at him from her high vantage point.
"Don't, don't touch me." The man hunched his shoulders, his obese body lying on the ground, his pleading posture ugly and despicable.
The piercing sirens wailed as they drew closer; she didn't have much time left.
Fu Qing stepped on his shoulder, the hard sole of her boot pressing against a shard that hadn't fully penetrated his shoulder. She leaned forward slightly amidst suppressed pleas: "Now, answer my questions."
"If you dare to tell a lie, you'll have an extra piece of your body that needs to be dealt with."
*
Watching helplessly as the SUV drove straight towards Fu Qing, leaving her standing there, Song Rushuang, perched in the tree, remained stunned for a long time.
Only when the shadows of the person and the car disappeared around the corner did she suddenly come to her senses: "Principal!!"
Song Rushuang slid down the tree like a monkey, and before she even landed, she was caught in the arms of Xu Mingyu and Song Jianguo, who rushed up to her.
"Xiao Shuang." Xu Mingyu's eyes were red as she patted Song Rushuang's back. "You scared me to death! You're not allowed to do that again!"
Song Jianguo looked her up and down and, finding her alright, hurriedly went to retrieve the limping girl from the tree.
Just then, several police cars and ambulances quickly drove into the pedestrian street, and many fully armed police officers and medical personnel jumped out of the vehicles and quickly and orderly organized a rescue operation.
The injured police officers were also helped up and carried onto stretchers along with the immobilized crowd.
Song Rushuang quickly broke free from her mother's embrace and rushed forward: "Quickly send an ambulance to find that SUV, I can give it directions."
She didn't suggest sending other vehicles because she knew there must be several police cars and riot control vehicles following the surveillance footage to find the escaped SUV.
But they may not be aware of Fu Qing's existence.
"Xiao Shuang?" Song Jianguo asked, puzzled.
Xu Mingyu frowned. She had been focused on her daughter and only vaguely remembered that the SUV seemed to have chased after a figure.
...Was it lured away by someone, which is why Xiao Shuang was able to get down from the tree safely?
Realizing that her daughter was saved because someone sacrificed themselves, Xu Mingyu couldn't sit still any longer. This meant that person was very likely still in danger: "Someone lured the car away just now, which is how the others were saved. You have to hurry and save them."
Song Rushuang repeated, "I can give directions."
The officer in charge of the on-site rescue was startled. He glanced at the two men and immediately ordered, "Get in the car."
He pointed to a riot control vehicle and then signaled for an ambulance to follow.
As the car door closed, everyone noticed two more people getting in: Song Jianguo and the blonde girl. The latter limped, but was determined despite her disability. Before being forced out of the car, she said, "I remember what the driver was wearing. If he abandons the car and tries to run away, I'll be able to recognize him."
The officer didn't speak. The car was full of heavily armed police officers, so there was no need to worry about their safety. Saying anything unnecessary at this moment would only waste precious rescue time. Song Rushuang had already pointed in a direction: "They went that way."
The vehicle started quickly, and the officer continued to ask, "Tell me the details. Do you know that person?"
He sensed something was wrong from Song Rushuang's emotions.
"Yes." Song Rushuang was extremely anxious. "That's our principal. I sent a message in the school group to warn everyone before, uh, and she saw it. She's just an ordinary person, and she doesn't have any protective equipment. Please help her."
She knew the principal was formidable, but how could two legs outrun four wheels? Especially since the driver was so ruthless.
Once they catch up... Song Rushuang dared not think about it.
Upon hearing that an innocent bystander was responsible for diverting the ramming vehicle, the expressions of the police officers in the car immediately turned serious.
Song Jianguo was also horrified: "That's your principal?!"
He recalled Song Rushuang's description of the school not long ago: "When your principal saw the news, his first reaction was to rush to the scene to save the students..."
He choked, and in the silence, he felt his eyes burning and stinging: What a wonderful teacher he was.
He felt at ease entrusting his daughter to such a school.
No, if something happens to the principal, can the school still exist?
"Quick, quick, save them!" Xu Mingyu said urgently.
Everyone on the bus was already picturing a scene of a "heroic teacher sacrificing himself to protect his students," and their expressions grew increasingly somber.
Recalling the horrific scene on the pedestrian street, they couldn't help but pray for the safety of the female teacher.
Fortunately, after turning the corner indicated by Song Rushuang, there was a straight road, and they successfully spotted the SUV as they entered the square.
The SUV was parked on the side of the road. Several riot control vehicles and police cars, which relied on surveillance cameras for directions, arrived earlier and surrounded the SUV. Through the flashing red and blue lights, the situation inside could be vaguely seen.
There were two people next to the vehicle, one lying down and one standing. The one lying down seemed to have lost consciousness, and several medical staff were carefully lifting "her" onto a stretcher.
Song Ru's eyes immediately reddened: "Principal!"
She jumped out of the car in a few steps, ignoring her parents' worried attempts to stop her, and rushed into the crowd, only to be quickly stopped by police officers with guns at their feet.
"That's our principal! She's trying to save me, she wants me to see her!" Song Rushuang said, her voice trembling with sobs, as she struggled desperately.
As he looked up, he inadvertently met the subtle gaze of the policeman under the helmet.
Song Rushuang was stunned for a moment, then looked over the policeman's shoulder and saw Fu Qing.
She leaned leisurely against the SUV, playing with a blood-stained shard of glass. When she heard the sound, she turned her head in slight surprise and met Song Rushuang's gaze.
Song Rushuang clearly sensed something unspeakable in the principal's silent gaze.
She also read aloud the meaning: "Is this my student? Maybe we should pretend we don't know each other."
Song Rushuang: "..."
She stopped crying sheepishly and sniffed, "Principal... Principal."
Fu Qing paused for several seconds before finally letting out a soft "hmm".
At least they didn't pretend not to know me.
Song Rushuang didn't know whether to cry or laugh.
At the same time, the people behind her finally caught up with her daughter/helpful bystanders who were running faster than a rabbit, and stopped beside her.
They glanced at the unconscious bandit lying on the stretcher, riddled with holes, and then at Fu Qing, who was innocently playing with the "murder weapon," and gasped.
Finally, everyone turned their complicated gazes toward Song Rushuang.
Commander: ...This is the "ordinary person" you described who is powerless to even kill a chicken?
Xu Mingyu and Song Jianguo: ...This is the kind-faced, animal-loving teacher you described?
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