Boom—
Lightning tore through the night sky, and thunder rolled across the horizon. Heavy snow blanketed the world, covering everything in its path, hiding every trace of filth.
Snowflakes landed on Song Qingyi’s face, melting almost instantly, washing away the bloodstains. A bone-chilling cold seeped through her skin and into her veins.
Buzz—
The phone pressed against her chest vibrated. Song Qingyi’s eyelids fluttered as she finally drifted back to consciousness.
"Hiss... it hurts..."
Her entire body felt as if it had been crushed by a heavy truck; there wasn’t a single part of her that didn’t scream with pain. Song Qingyi pulled out her phone to try and call for emergency help, but the screen was shattered and unresponsive.
Just then, a call came through, and her fumbling fingers accidentally tapped "Answer."
"Hello, is this Ms. Song Qingyi?"
"I am Song Yifen’s attending physician. I am very sorry to be calling you so late, but your grandmother suffered a sudden heart attack at 1:48 AM. Despite our best efforts to resuscitate her, she has passed away..."
Snap—
The phone slipped from her palm, dropping into the muddy slush beneath her. A persistent buzzing filled her ears. She stared up at the night sky, unblinking, letting the icy snowflakes fall into her eyes, melting and mixing with the tears streaming down her face.
Grandmother is dead...
How could she be dead?
It was all too coincidental—her grandmother dying right after she had met with disaster...
Song Qingyi didn’t know how she managed to struggle into a sitting position. The pain radiating through her body no longer seemed to matter. She gritted her teeth, braced her elbows, and crawled out of the snow, inch by agonizing inch. With every movement, her fractured leg bones sent shards of blinding pain through her, but she was beyond feeling it now.
Just as she sat there in a daze, a burst of fire erupted from the bushes not far away. By the time Song Qingyi regained her focus, a car had already pulled up near the flames.
"Mr. Tang, should we call the police? It looks like there’s someone inside."
Fang Yu stepped out of the car with an umbrella to inspect the scene. Tang Zhiwei, sitting inside the vehicle, opened his eyes at the sound and glanced into the distance.
"Call. Tell them the location, then we leave."
"You got it." Acting on orders, Fang Yu pulled out his phone and dialed the emergency number.
Through the low-lying bushes, Song Qingyi saw the man standing outside the car. It was the assistant to that young master, Tang.
She couldn’t worry about anything else now. Song Qingyi used her hands and feet, dragging her broken leg as she crawled desperately toward them. She had to survive. She refused to just die here in the middle of nowhere. Her grandmother’s death was definitely suspicious. Her own life had fallen to pieces, but she couldn’t die here. She had to take revenge.
"Yes, that’s right, there’s someone at the vehicle. Please hurry." Fang Yu hung up after speaking. He glanced at the burning car again. It was strange; an unregistered car exploding in the middle of nowhere. As a fan of suspense dramas, Fang Yu suspected something was wrong. In the shows he watched, the driver was usually an international thief or a spy caught in an accident while fleeing, or perhaps someone hired to commit murder or cover up a crime.
"What are you dawdling for? Get in," Tang Zhiwei ordered, opening the window impatiently as Fang Yu lingered.
"Coming, coming." Fang Yu cast aside his wild theories and hurried to close his umbrella and get into the car.
Just as he pulled the door open, a voice drifted through the night.
"Help..."
Fang Yu froze. He looked around but saw no one, his gaze finally fixing on the burning wreck.
"Save me..."
The voice was clearer this time, hauntingly thin. Fang Yu felt goosebumps break out across his skin.
"M-Mr. Tang, did you hear something...?" Fang Yu asked, his voice trembling.
Tang Zhiwei took a deep breath, exerting his patience to slowly open his eyes. "I will repeat this one last time: Get. In. The car."
The moment Tang Zhiwei stopped speaking, the ethereal female voice drifted over again.
"Save me... please save me..."
Fang Yu shuddered, his scalp tingling. "This is so strange." He muttered as he climbed in, but his peripheral vision caught sight of a pale face reflected in the side mirror.
"Ah!"
"A ghost!" Fang Yu shrieked, nearly jumping out of his skin.
"Fang! Da! Tou!" Tang Zhiwei gritted his teeth. He looked up, and his gaze landed on the scene in the rearview mirror.
A flash of lightning illuminated half of Song Qingyi’s face, which was obscured by wet, black hair. She was crawling on the ground, her thin hands covered in mud, leaves, and streams of blood. She seemed indifferent to the pain as she inched her way forward.
"Whew—you scared me to death." Fang Yu let out a long breath, realizing it wasn't a ghost. "Mr. Tang, it’s Ms. Song. Should we help?"
Recalling the unpleasantness at the birthday banquet, Fang Yu hesitated. Tang Zhiwei looked at that bloodless face through the car mirror. His delicate brows furrowed slightly, and for once, he remained silent for a moment.
"Get out and take a look."
"Right." Fang Yu hurriedly grabbed the umbrella and pushed open the door.
Rounding the front of the car, Fang Yu finally saw Song Qingyi’s condition. Her legs were twisted, her lower body a bloody mess. Behind her, a long trail of blood was dragged through the snow.
"Save me... I can do anything... I don’t want to die..." Song Qingyi looked up at Fang Yu.
Unable to bear watching anymore, Fang Yu hurried back to Tang Zhiwei. "Mr. Tang, her leg is broken. Let’s take her to the hospital."
Hearing Fang Yu’s words, Tang Zhiwei looked thoughtfully toward the burning car. Because the car window was down, he easily heard Song Qingyi’s murmurs.
"Save me..."
"Get her in the car," Tang Zhiwei said in a low voice.
—
"Mr. Tang, her condition has stabilized, but she will need to be under observation for a while..."
Song Qingyi drifted back to consciousness. The first thing she saw upon opening her eyes was a sea of white. Looking around, she finally spotted the two men beside her.
"She’s awake!" Fang Yu exclaimed when he saw her eyes open. Tang Zhiwei and the doctor turned their attention to her.
"Ms. Song, how are you feeling?" Fang Yu asked. The doctor stepped forward to perform a check-up.
Song Qingyi didn't answer Fang Yu directly. She stared at the doctor checking her pupils and asked, "Are my legs still there?"
She couldn't feel them at all.
"Don't worry, Ms. Song. Qian Liao is our hospital’s best orthopedic surgeon. Your legs are fine; the anesthesia just hasn't worn off yet."
Fang Yu was impressed by her. To have been dragged through that, with her legs shattered, and still have the will to crawl out... When Qian Liao and the department heads saw her, they were shocked, saying that had she arrived even a few minutes later, she wouldn't have survived.
"Fang Yu, go outside and wait for me." Tang Zhiwei looked at his assistant, whose attention was entirely on Song Qingyi, his expression unreadable.
"Oh." The named assistant shrank his neck and stepped out.
"You're out of danger now, Ms. Song..." After giving her a few brief instructions, Qian Liao also left the intensive care unit.
Silence descended.
"Thank you," Song Qingyi broke the silence, speaking solemnly.
Tang Zhiwei tapped his fingers against his thigh, and upon hearing her voice, he asked slowly, "Do you know who harmed you?"
A car accident on a snowy night, a burning unregistered car—it was all too bizarre.
"I don't know." Song Qingyi hadn't expected him to bring that up immediately.
"Do you need me to help you call the police?" Tang Zhiwei asked again. Though he loathed Song Yueyue and was annoyed by the Song family, he wouldn't let someone die just because of personal grievances.
Song Qingyi shook her head with a bitter smile at his words. Calling the police now wouldn't bring justice; it would only push her back into the abyss.
"Thank you, Mr. Tang, but that won't be necessary."
She was all alone now; merely surviving was a stroke of immense luck.
"Was it the Song family who did this to you?" Tang Zhiwei caught the detail.
Song Qingyi didn't answer. She only looked up at him with a bitter smile. "Mr. Tang, thank you for saving me. I will repay you one day. But for now, I would like to ask you one more favor: please take me to Furong Town."