Chapter 14

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The clock rewinds to 12:25 p.m.
Sun Wei and Qi Tianming strolled hand in hand toward the northwest entrance, appearing as nothing more than an ordinary couple wandering through an amusement park. Yet their glances kept darting toward a wooden bench not far away.
The bench was placed roadside, with a patch of grass behind it. About a hundred meters to the left front was the roller coaster; to the right lay the pathway leading to the snack street, bustling with people coming and going.
No one sat on the bench because a sign next to it read "Wet Paint."
That Saturday marked the amusement park’s second day of trial operation, with half-price tickets. The trial would last until the next day, and some facilities were still being adjusted. The official opening was scheduled a week later.
“Attention, family members are approaching. Stay alert for anyone near the bench,” Tian Hong instructed from the surveillance room, eyes fixed on several screens among hundreds monitoring the park, speaking to the plainclothes detectives inside.
Sun Wei moved aside to avoid a family playfully crossing their path, whispering to Qi Tianming, “Here they come, three o’clock direction.”
Qi Tianming turned, pretending to tidy her hair, his gaze sweeping over the family approaching from across the bench.
A man in his forties with dark hair and a well-off appearance was pushing a wheelchair holding two black bags. He looked tense as he neared the bench, struggling to lift the bags off the wheelchair and shove them underneath.
He glanced around as if searching for someone, frequently checking his phone as if awaiting a call or message, hesitating before leaving.
At 12:29 p.m.
“Have any suspicious people appeared?” Sun Wei asked, pulling her hand from Qi Tianming’s.
Qi Tianming frowned. “Too many people suddenly approaching.”
“Too many?” Sun Wei turned to look back, noticing an additional layer of people had crowded the path without her realizing, some even stopping. Suddenly, the area around the bench was filled with people. “How come—”
“Attention, a parade float is approaching!” Tian Hong suddenly spotted on a monitor and quickly warned everyone.
A float shaped like the Black Tortoise from Journey to the West was coming from the right side of the bench. The four disciples stood atop, followed by performers dressed as various demons, continuously interacting with the visitors.
The crowd rushing over had come from that direction, trying to catch the toys—such as the headbands and pitchforks—being tossed by the four disciples before the float.
The situation was spiraling out of control.
Tian Hong’s instincts kicked in, urgently ordering, “Everyone move toward the bench, quickly! Watch for suspicious people near the exits.”
Sun Wei, Qi Tianming, and the detectives stationed toward the southeast sprinted toward the bench.
At 12:30 p.m.
A plush toy weapon thrown from the float landed near the bench. A group of adults charged over at the same time, and the float suddenly released clouds of dry ice fog to both sides, playing the iconic Journey to the West music, creating an illusion of the four disciples soaring on clouds.
The surrounding surveillance screens instantly filled with white fog.
“Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!”
Fireworks exploded on all four sides of the park on schedule, making the already lively crowd even more raucous.
“Damn!” Qi Tianming, at the front, bent down to look under the bench and cursed loudly into his miniature microphone, “Captain Tian, the bags are gone!”
“I didn’t see any suspicious people here,” Sun Wei frowned, scanning everyone around. Only excited visitors were visible; no one was carrying two large black bags.
Inside the surveillance room, Tian Hong’s jaw tightened. He turned to the park manager behind him: “Why wasn’t anyone told a parade float would pass through?”
The manager hesitated, “There have been several versions of the trial operation plan. We’ve been making adjustments. That... I forgot to mention—maybe it was meant to be a hidden surprise.”
“You’re risking my child’s life!” A woman in her thirties, elegantly dressed, suddenly stood up in the corner of the monitoring room. Her nail-polished finger jabbed sharply at the manager as tears welled up. “Your amusement park treats lives like dirt!”
The manager felt wronged: “This is a trial run; things are bound to be chaotic.”
Moreover, the park was the one suffering bad luck, being disrupted during the trial. If anything happened, it would affect the park’s reputation.
Tian Hong gripped his walkie-talkie: “Secure all exits. Five million in cash isn’t something that can be taken out quietly.”
He also instructed someone to calm the family members.
...
“Ah, I want to go for another round,” Lu Jin said reluctantly as he got off the roller coaster, removing his glasses and wiping them with his sleeve.

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Zhou Huaixia fixed her wind-tousled hair. “You go; I’m not going.”
She refused because it meant waiting in line again.
Lu Jin shook his head vigorously, even after tidying his hair: “Then let’s try something else.”
[Got it.]
A deep, gravelly voice suddenly whispered into Zhou Huaixia’s ear, yet no image appeared before her eyes, nor did she sense anyone’s illusion nearby.
Frowning, Zhou Huaixia glanced around. People were everywhere.
“What are you looking for?” Lu Jin asked, putting his glasses back on and scanning the surroundings.
Zhou Huaixia asked, “Did you just hear someone talking?”
“Of course I did.”
Before Zhou Huaixia could relax, Lu Jin pointed at the people around them: “Aren’t they all talking?”
Zhou Huaixia was speechless.
Fine then.
They tried other rides, still waiting in line. Lu Jin picked the more thrilling ones. Near closing time, as they were about to leave, Lu Jin took advantage of the thinning crowd to drag Zhou Huaixia onto one last attraction.
Afterward, both helped each other off.
“What a terrible ride, ugh—” Lu Jin doubled over, tears streaming, “Never again.”
Leaning on a lamp post, Zhou Huaixia was too dizzy to speak, afraid she might faint if she opened her mouth.
Staff members apologized one by one, explaining that the equipment had some issues; the rotation speed was too fast, causing discomfort to visitors. They gave each guest a handheld mini fan.
“It’s almost winter, and they’re giving out fans?” Lu Jin pinched his nose and stood upright, tucking the fan into his pocket.
[Kill them at the construction site later.]
Zhou Huaixia, who had been looking down, suddenly looked around. A garbage truck had just passed by, while seven or eight visitors across the way were still retching.
The voice had belonged to a man, not young, with an accent and a dark, rough tone.
It didn’t match the young visitors opposite but was exactly the same voice Zhou Huaixia had heard earlier that afternoon after getting off the roller coaster.
She tapped her temple with her palm but still saw no images.
Auditory hallucination?
Since learning that the dream about hanging herself had come true, Zhou Huaixia no longer ignored any unusual occurrences.
But... she didn’t know how to handle this sudden change in abnormal information.
If it was real, it meant someone was about to be murdered. Yet she didn’t even know who was killing whom, so she couldn’t report it to the police.
All she knew was a vague mention of a “construction site.”
Lu Jin waved his hand in front of Zhou Huaixia’s eyes, “Still dizzy?”
“No.” Zhou Huaixia snapped back to reality. Closing time had come, and visitors were leaving. She hesitated but followed Lu Jin outside.
By six o’clock, darkness had begun to fall.
Lu Jin had spent the whole day playing wildly and didn’t want to stand anymore. At the park entrance locker, he pulled out his backpack. “Zhou Huaixia, let’s take a taxi home.”
After waiting a while without a response, Lu Jin turned and saw no one. Then he looked back and found Zhou Huaixia lagging behind, head down, fiddling with her phone.
According to Lu Jin’s observations, Zhou Huaixia rarely used her phone. Her biggest hobby was sleeping—whether sitting, lying down, or standing in line, she could close her eyes and rest.
Lu Jin went back and stood beside her, discovering she was searching for construction sites on the map.
The brilliant future doctor, Lu Jin, let his mind race and suddenly grabbed Zhou Huaixia’s hand excitedly: “Tell me, what did you find?!”

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Zhou Huaixia looked up: “You...”
How did he—
Seeing her surprise, Lu Jin beamed, pushing up his glasses as he summarized seriously: “You found Liu Wenqian, the cat abuser. When you searched for rental photos of the workers’ apartments, when that sleazy man on the bus cursed at you, you searched for the police station.”
She replied, “Though I don’t understand where you got that info, I figure if you’re searching weird stuff on your phone, something might be going down.”
Of course, there were other small details she didn’t mention—like how Turtle Zhou’s typing speed would increase at such times, and her face would look dark and icy.
In a way, Lu Jin was right.
Zhou Huaixia wasn’t omniscient. She often needed to verify the authenticity of the information she received, and the simplest way was to search online.
She recalled that her previous dream entries had distance limits, and assumed this one did too.
The voice saying “later at the construction site” might be nearby.
But when Zhou Huaixia searched for nearby construction sites, she found one 2.3 kilometers away, and another 2.7 kilometers away, in exactly opposite directions.
“Zhou Huaixia, you didn’t deny it,” Lu Jin said, growing more convinced, “Something really is happening.”
“...I don’t know,” Zhou Huaixia felt a wave of helplessness, “I’m not sure.”
Lu Jin said earnestly, “Then let’s go find out.”
Zhou Huaixia shook her head: “It’s dangerous.”
In broad daylight, she could find a way to intervene, but at night on a construction site, even if there were only two people, she wouldn’t risk it on a guess.
Lu Jin stared into her eyes for a moment, speaking deliberately: “Zhou Huaixia, you want to go.”
“I want to go. I want to stay alive,” Zhou Huaixia said, hands in pockets, walking forward. “Let’s go back to school.”
“Aren’t you afraid of regretting it?” Lu Jin called after her, “What if something really happens?”
Zhou Huaixia paused but kept walking.
“The subway and bus are to the right. Where are you going?” Lu Jin hurried to catch up and grabbed her arm. “Come on, I’ll come with you to check.”
Zhou Huaixia turned her face away: “I said—”
“We’ll be careful. Quick in, quick out. Be ready to call the police if anything happens.”
She pulled a portable alcohol spray from her bag: “Not much else to use. Take this for protection.”
Zhou Huaixia frowned at the bottle: “Still too dangerous.”
They might be facing a potential murderer.
Lu Jin then pulled out a surgical scalpel, spinning it confidently between his fingers and whispered, “I’m good with knives. I’m probably pretty skilled at cutting.”
Zhou Huaixia was speechless.
They were going to confirm if there was a murderer, not to become murderers themselves.
Ten minutes later, a taxi stopped outside the gate of the construction site 2.7 kilometers away.
Lu Jin hid the scalpel under his sleeve and waited for Zhou Huaixia to get out on the other side.
Zhou Huaixia didn’t get out immediately. “Driver, could you wait here for half an hour? If we don’t come back, please call the police and report something happened at this site.”
The driver looked back, puzzled: “What are you two up to?”
Zhou Huaixia pulled out a hundred-yuan note and handed it over: “My boyfriend is with the foreman here. Just half an hour. I’ll give you another hundred when we’re done.”
The driver was stunned at the sudden windfall, taking the money blankly. After she got out, the driver muttered to himself: “Foreman? Male or female?”