Chapter 66: The Uncharacteristic Ma Wenwen

Inside the car, the blood-freezing, whimpering cry seemed to congeal the air. Le Dong's fingertips dug desperately into the steering wheel, his knuckles turning white.

In the rearview mirror, that heavy, shadowy silhouette sat silently in the back seat like a nightmare, and the biting chill and despairing sobs seemed to seep thread by thread from that shadow, wrapping around his neck.

"Hey! Dongzi?!"

A thunderclap of a shout suddenly exploded beside his ear, carrying a newly awakened hoarseness and panic.

Le Dong shook violently, as if struck by high-voltage electricity, and abruptly opened his eyes, which had been tightly shut for who knows how long. His vision focused instantly, and the scene ahead filled him with mortal terror.

Illuminated by the glaring headlights, the river water churned with muddy waves, mere inches from the front of the car, and they were charging at high speed toward a gap in the river embankment's guardrail!

"Damn it!" Adrenaline surging, Le Dong instinctively slammed the brake pedal all the way down!

"Screeech—!!"

The tires skidded for several meters, the car body hurtling forward with massive inertia. Le Dong gripped the steering wheel for dear life, his heart nearly leaping out of his throat.

"Crash!"

The front right side of the car scraped violently against the edge of the broken guardrail, finally coming to a breath-stopping halt less than half a meter away from the murky river water.

"Huu... huu... huu..."

The interior of the car was dead silent, save for the engine's heavy panting and the two men's wild heartbeats.

"I... what the hell... Dongzi, did you fall asleep?" Cai Kun, still shaken and pale-faced, clutched the Zhong Kui statue to his chest, his voice trembling.

Le Dong panted heavily, cold sweat streaming down his forehead.

He looked around in a daze—the car's interior was dimly lit, the stereo was quiet, and the back seat was completely empty. Where was there any crying? Where was there any dark shadow? That horrifying scene from just now seemed like nothing more than a nightmare born of extreme exhaustion.

"I... I actually fell asleep just now?"

Le Dong muttered to himself, raising a hand to wipe the cold sweat from his face with a chilling inward dread.

"No shit! What else could it be if not sleeping? Driving in your sleep?!" Cai Kun patted his chest, still terrified. "Scared the hell out of me. Get out and catch your breath, let me drive instead. In the middle of the night like this, we almost bought the farm!"

Le Dong didn't argue; he truly needed to calm down. He pushed the car door open, and the freezing night wind rushed in, making him shiver. Walking to the front of the car, he looked at the hood, which was practically suspended over the drop, and the churning black water below, as a wave of lingering fear washed over him.

He shook his head, trying to banish that bizarre "dream" from his mind.

Back inside the car, Cai Kun carefully reversed away from the dangerous riverbank and comforted Le Dong, "Alright, alright, false alarm. Catch some winks, I'll drive to the police station entrance."

The car was back on the road, moving much more steadily this time. Le Dong leaned against the passenger seat with his eyes closed, yet he felt no sleepiness at all. The sound of weeping and the image of the dark shadow flashed continuously in his mind, refusing to fade.

He couldn't help but steal a glance in the rearview mirror. The empty seat flickered in and out of visibility under the streetlights.

Finally, the car stopped outside the brightly lit municipal public security bureau building. Cai Kun turned off the engine and yawned. "We're here. Wait it out."

Time ticked away second by second, nearing midnight. Just as Le Dong's patience was about to run out and he was considering whether to go inside and ask, his phone suddenly vibrated in his pocket.

"Lin Xun" flashed on the screen.

"Hello? Officer Lin?" Le Dong answered immediately.

"We're out, over by the side door of the police building." Lin Xun's voice sounded somewhat fatigued.

"Got it, be right there!" Le Dong said, calling out to the snoring Cai Kun.

The two men hurried around to the side door and indeed saw Lin Xun standing under a streetlight, next to Ma Wenwen, whose expression was extremely unsightly.

"What's wrong with Master Ma? Acting like a wronged little bride..."

Following Cai Kun's muttering, Le Dong looked over and saw Ma Wenwen keeping his head down, his face a mixture of intense anger and deep regret. His already pale complexion now carried a sickly frailty, as if his very spirit had been drained away.

Le Dong's heart tightened. He lingered his gaze on Ma Wenwen's face for a few seconds, wanting to ask what was wrong, but seeing Lin Xun standing right beside them, the words died on his lips. This clearly wasn't the time to ask in detail.

"You okay?" Le Dong looked at Lin Xun.

"Let's get in the car and find a place to crash, we'll talk tomorrow." Lin Xun waved a hand, his gaze sweeping over the black Regal behind them. "Huh? Changed cars? Looks nice."

"Heh, 'nice' doesn't even cover it!" Hearing this, Cai Kun instantly perked up, his earlier fright and sleepiness wiped away. Beaming, he eagerly grabbed the car door first. "Officer Lin, get in. Let me tell you, we got a massive steal on this car..."

The four of them got in, with Cai Kun remaining in the driver's seat, babbling endlessly about how they acquired the vehicle.

Listening to Cai Kun's exaggerated boasting, Le Dong kept quiet, though his gaze involuntarily drifted back to the rearview mirror to observe the reactions of the two in the back.

Clearly, Lin Xun was somewhat skeptical of Cai Kun's bragging, while Ma Wenwen kept his head down, watching the neon lights flashing backward outside the window, completely ignoring Cai Kun's words. The trace of anger and frailty on his face had not diminished in the slightest.

Lin Xun pondered for a moment and said, "Ten thousand for this car is way too cheap. Are you sure there's nothing wrong with it?" His tone carried a professional caution.

"Of course there's nothing wrong! They even gave us the inspection report!" Cai Kun patted his chest in guarantee. "Officer Lin, don't you worry. Even though that Li Yang is an unfilial son, he's pretty righteous. I can tell he wasn't lying!"

Cai Kun's words left Le Dong somewhat speechless. He looked at the songs playing on the car's media screen, while the horrifying scene from inside the car earlier involuntarily surfaced in his mind.

He took a deep breath, turned his head, and paid special attention to Ma Wenwen's complexion—if this car really had something unclean in it, given Ma Wenwen's constitution and profession, he should have sensed something, right?

However, Ma Wenwen maintained his posture, staring out the window without a single abnormal reaction, as if the air inside the car and Cai Kun's bragging had nothing to do with him.

Le Dong secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Perhaps... he was just too tired and hallucinating?

Just then, as if remembering something, Lin Xun looked at Ma Wenwen and said, "Right, he might not be feeling well. His complexion was terrible back at the police station."

Hearing this, Le Dong immediately looked at Ma Wenwen and asked with concern, "Master Ma, what's wrong? Where does it hurt?" Hearing this, Cai Kun also peered over from the rearview mirror.

Ma Wenwen finally moved, his voice somewhat hoarse and carrying obvious fatigue. "It's nothing, just an old ailment. My eye trouble flared up a bit, I'll be fine after some rest." He still didn't look at anyone, his tone radiating a distant alienation that rejected deep conversation.

Seeing him like this, Le Dong knew he wouldn't get any answers, so he could only nod. "Then get a good rest at the hotel later."

With that, the car fell into silence for a moment.

Fortunately, the car soon stopped in front of an express hotel.

Lin Xun proactively went to the front desk to open two rooms and tossed a family room card to Le Dong.

As soon as the three of them entered their room and closed the door, Le Dong couldn't hold back any longer. He went straight to Ma Wenwen, who was sitting on the edge of the bed rubbing his temples, and asked, "Master Ma, what happened at the police station? Why did you look so terrible, and... so angry?"

Cai Kun also crowded over, full of gossip and worry. "Yeah, we're looking out for you here. Who pissed you off? Tell us and we'll go chew them out for you!"

Ma Wenwen raised his head, his face turning gloomy. He suddenly slammed a fist down onto the mattress.

"Damn it, no wonder my master was never willing to deal with official authorities.

Those people really love to talk big without feeling the pain, treating people like dirt!"

Le Dong and Cai Kun were startled by his sudden outburst.

Exchanging a glance, curiosity prompted them to silently pull up chairs and surround Ma Wenwen...