Chapter 323: Chapter 321: Coming for You

After dark, Duan Wenrui and the police chief went to patrol Yanjing Village.

Zhuang Yanzheng had slept for half the day. When he woke up, his voice was even hoarser, to the point where he could barely speak.

Lu Zhishen touched his forehead. It was burning hot; he had a fever.

They found a doctor in town who prescribed some medicine.

Before taking the medicine, Zhuang Yanzheng seemed fine aside from his hoarse voice.

But about ten minutes after taking it, Zhuang Yanzheng felt like he’d been poisoned. He couldn’t keep his eyes open, couldn’t even stay awake while standing. It was like a forced shutdown.

He went to bed halfway through dinner and slept straight through to the evening.

Lu Zhishen went to wake him once. He got up, drank some water, then flopped back onto the bed and fell asleep again.

Lu Zhishen felt his neck, then his chest.

"It’s nothing. I’ll be fine after I sleep it off. Stop feeling me up," Zhuang Yanzheng mumbled before falling asleep again.

Lu Zhishen was a little worried about his condition, so he stayed by his side.

Su Miaoyi and Chu Xingrou both came to check on Zhuang Yanzheng. Seeing him asleep, they returned to their room.

"The doctor said the medicine would cause drowsiness, but I didn’t expect it to be this bad," said Chu Xingrou.

"Let him sleep. Lots of rest will help him recover faster," Su Miaoyi said. "You should sleep too. You haven’t had much rest either."

"Okay."

Chu Xingrou lay down to sleep. Su Miaoyi turned off the lights and then lay down as well.

The wind picked up again that night, rattling the windows.

Su Miaoyi hadn’t been asleep for long when the rattling window woke her.

She lay there for a while with her eyes closed.

’Finally got a chance to lie down and sleep, only to be kept awake by the noise.’

She opened her eyes, staring into the pitch-black room.

’You seem a little uneasy. Worried something might happen with Tian Min?’ the voice in her head asked.

Su Miaoyi fumbled for her phone and checked the time.

It was already past midnight.

Putting her phone away, she closed her eyes again.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK, KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.

Judgment and punishment are now descending.

The guilty will not be spared,

The Sheep God has come to your home.

The sound of the nursery rhyme rang out. Su Miaoyi’s eyes flew open, and she sat up.

The rhyme continued, coming from outside.

She got out of bed and went to Chu Xingrou’s side. "Xingrou, Xingrou."

Chu Xingrou opened her eyes, but she wasn’t fully awake yet. "Sister Miaomiao, what is it?"

"The nursery rhyme."

Just as she finished speaking, there was a knock on the door. "Su Miaoyi."

It was Lu Zhishen’s voice.

Chu Xingrou snapped to her senses, quickly sitting up and getting out of bed.

The two of them left the room.

Lu Zhishen and Zhuang Yanzheng were standing outside.

The four of them exchanged a look and headed straight outside.

Outside, the sound of the nursery rhyme was louder. Lu Zhishen said, "It’s nearby. And there’s more than one player."

The sounds of the rhyme were out of sync, some near and some far.

The people from the police station next door had all come out too.

"Four directions," Zhuang Yanzheng said, listening for a moment, his voice hoarse.

This time, it wasn’t in Yanjing Village, but near the police station.

Zhuang Yanzheng looked at the officers remaining at the station and split them into four groups, one for each direction.

Su Miaoyi and Chu Xingrou led a team north.

Zhuang Yanzheng and Lu Zhishen led a team west.

The remaining two teams were led by people from the substation to investigate.

Zhuang Yanzheng had intentionally grouped his own people together. They were on unfamiliar turf, and this way they could look out for each other.

After what happened with Zhao Yongliang, the only people they could truly trust were the four of them.

They quickly split up and headed in the four directions.

Su Miaoyi and Chu Xingrou took three officers north, following the sound of the rhyme until they quickly found the speaker.

The location wasn’t far from the police station—it was an empty lot.

They had been here yesterday and seen the townspeople singing and dancing.

The speaker was tiny, only about the size of a palm.

Su Miaoyi shone her investigation light on the speaker but saw no fingerprints.

The speaker was very new, as if it had just been bought.

However, the version of the nursery rhyme playing was the unrestored one, which was grating to the ear.

Su Miaoyi turned the speaker off.

She shone her flashlight around the area. It was wide open.

’If the speakers were placed in four directions, what is this person’s target?’ Su Miaoyi wondered. ’The police station? But what’s at the police station? To split our forces? Then who are they targeting?’

As she was thinking, a scream suddenly erupted from the east. "Help!"

It was very close and sounded like it came from a resident on the edge of the empty lot.

The five of them immediately ran east.

The empty lot was pitch-black; there were only streetlights at its edge.

Su Miaoyi ran into the illuminated area. She suddenly felt something was wrong, as if something was watching her. Before she could even process it...

...the voice in her head suddenly said urgently, ’Dodge right!’

As the voice spoke, Su Miaoyi’s own instincts kicked in. She grabbed Chu Xingrou and the officer behind her, pulling them quickly to the right.

At the same time, a gunshot rang out.

A bullet hit the ground.

Right where Su Miaoyi would have been if she had kept running forward.

"Find cover!" Su Miaoyi shouted.

The five of them scrambled for cover.

As Su Miaoyi ran behind a tree, a bullet landed right beside her.

She ducked behind the tree and drew her gun.

’Congratulations, you hit the jackpot. They’re after you,’ the voice in her head said.

Su Miaoyi scoffed and racked the slide of her pistol. ’Me, not you?’

The voice in her head chuckled. ’You just applied for that gun, and you’re already using it.’

Su Miaoyi’s fingers stroked the body of the gun as she assessed the situation.

’Judging by the sound, the sniper must be some distance away. It’s too far and too dark to pinpoint their exact location. Plus, they’re likely on the move. This tree isn’t very safe.’

"Xingrou," Su Miaoyi called out.

Chu Xingrou was behind another tree. Hearing her name, she looked over.

Su Miaoyi gave her a hand signal, telling her to circle around and notify Zhuang Yanzheng while she drew fire.

Chu Xingrou nodded.

Su Miaoyi fired two shots out from cover.

Under the cover of the gunshots, Chu Xingrou and another officer moved out.

The two officers who remained with Su Miaoyi also opened fire.

The sniper fired at Su Miaoyi again.

’They really are moving. But they’re not getting closer. They’re moving north-south.’

Su Miaoyi looked at the bullet that had landed nearby. ’If my aim were this pathetic, I’d never choose a sniper rifle for an assassination.’

’One of Mia’s people. Just like Mia, all they do is trace silhouettes,’ the voice in her head said.

Su Miaoyi scanned her surroundings and took off her jacket. ’You think this is Twenty-one?’

’Don’t you?’

’Yeah, I think so too.’ With that thought, Su Miaoyi threw her jacket out from cover.

The sniper fired again.

Su Miaoyi dashed out in the other direction, raising her hand and shooting out a streetlight.

The area was suddenly plunged into deeper darkness. The sniper fired a blind shot in the direction she had run.

But Su Miaoyi hadn’t gone that way at all; instead, she had retreated back behind the same tree.

’Walking the dog?’ the voice in her head quipped.

’One more time,’ Su Miaoyi replied internally, ’and Xingrou should be able to find their position.’

She waited for a moment, calculating the time, then turned on her flashlight and threw it.

The sniper immediately fired at the flashlight.

The shot hit the flashlight dead on.

After that shot, they immediately fired another one toward the other side of the tree.

Shooting the flashlight was instinctual, a reaction to the light. Shooting at the other side of the tree was based on the assumption that Su Miaoyi would run in the opposite direction again, just like last time.

’Finally hit something,’ Su Miaoyi remarked, looking at her ruined flashlight.

’They were pretty accurate with the jacket, too,’ the voice in her head added.

’So they can hit anything except a person, is that it?’ Su Miaoyi retorted.

’Can’t say about other people, but they definitely can’t hit us.’

...

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