Chapter 19
He Jueyun stood on the river bank, looking at the gurgling water, his figure like a standing stone statue.
Passersby who spontaneously came to search kept walking around, and the names of "Wang Dongyan" echoed in the air for a long time. The dense muddy footprints on the roadside spread long and far into the distance, but none of them led to Qiong Cang.
Someone brought flowers and placed them on both sides of the road. Someone lit candles and prayed for her. Netizens spontaneously created related topics, hoping that she would return safely. Reporters stayed at the bridge, waiting for first-hand news.
Society is sometimes a very strange group. When it becomes ruthless, it is extremely cruel and can point its knife edge at innocent victims. And when they are kind, they are very gentle and can release kindness to a complete stranger.
What you call light and darkness all depends on which side you see and which side you are experiencing.
But they are not completely opposite. Those who keep moving forward towards the sun will always have hope to see the light of day again.
Every minute and every second of rescue was precious. However, as time progressed, everyone had given up hope in Wang Dongyan's survival. They just hoped to find her body as soon as possible, give everyone an explanation, and give this kind girl a result.
"You win." He Jueyun looked at the undulating river, "But that doesn't stop me from wanting to beat you."
His expression at this time could definitely be called ferocious.
What made He Jueyun most angry was not that Qiong Cang lied to him or acted on her own initiative. But because the woman who lied without changing her face actually replied with a calm "en" after he said he was worried about her and asked her to go and come back early.
"En"?
What qualifications does she have to say "En"? !
The police officer under He Jueyun came over and looked at his expression. He was a little afraid to approach him and hesitantly called out: "Boss... Do you want the people here to withdraw and go downstream? I think Wang Dongyan..."
He Jueyun said bitterly: "She won't die."
He Jueyun remembered Qiong Cang's words that if she could choose, she would definitely choose to live. If she wanted to commit suicide, she would definitely choose suicide without dying.
Would someone as smart as her compromise so easily?
How could she, the kind of fussy person who wants to drag the other person back to kneel down before their eighteenth generation ancestors after being knocked in the head, sacrifice her life for a few scumbags? Not even in games.
That would be a bad deal.
He Jueyun said firmly: "She will not die."
The policeman: "But..."
He Jueyun wiped his face vigorously, picked a stone on the roadside, weighed it, and held it in his arms.
What a coincidence.
He was not a person who gave up easily.
He said he would take her out alive, so he must take her out alive.
He Jueyun held the stone and walked onto the bridge.
Several rescue workers who were fishing on the river in a boat looked up and saw his actions. They felt something was wrong and stretched out their hands and shouted: "Hey——"
"Boss!"
By the time they reacted, He Jueyun had already jumped in with a "plop".
If you don't choose a good posture while diving at this height, you will be injured by the tension on the surface of the river water. At the moment of contact, He Jueyun felt a pain in his body and subconsciously wanted to let go of his hands. After submerging into the water, he was immediately healed by the gentle and soft liquid.
All the screams and shouts were diluted after entering the river, and the only thing that was clear was the water flow.
He Jueyun held his breath and swam forward with the help of the river.
The stone carried him to the bottom of the lake, avoiding the tools and sight of the salvage crew.
After swimming a few meters, He Jueyun let go of his hand and let his body slowly float up.
Holding the stone and throwing herself into the river was just Qiong Cang's way of showing her determination to die. She would not really sink with this stone.
He Jueyun looked up at the sparkling blue light on the lake, wondering what Qiong Cang would be thinking at this time.
Fang Qi said that Qiong Cang was a very calm person, and she would always look at things from the perspective of maximizing her interest.
Then, she needed time to let the news of her drowning spread throughout the Internet, and at the same time let everyone assume that she had died. Only in this way can she stimulate the public's sensitive nerves, spread the impact of the matter to a new range, and maximize the role of her death.
Therefore, she would try her best to swim until she was exhausted before landing, avoiding the best search area for early rescue, lengthening the battlefield and making it difficult for people to find her quickly.
Therefore, the rescue range drawn based on the flow rate was actually significantly smaller.
He Jueyun kept swimming forward along with the force of the current. This way of swimming was actually not strenuous and could save a lot of energy.
Gradually, He Jueyun smelled a stench in the water, which was somewhat similar to sewage from kitchen waste. The river water had become no longer clear, and there is some turbidity in the water.
There should be a pollution source ahead, causing this tributary to be affected.
He Jueyun came out of the water and took a deep breath, spitting out all the river water that flowed into his mouth.
He didn't believe that Qiong Cang was willing to sacrifice so much and come here to drink a lot of garbage water.
Heh, after all, she was such a fussy woman.
The flow rate would obviously slow down in the section ahead, and the width of the river would become much narrower. If she wanted to be washed ashore, this would be a good choice of place.
He Jueyun trusted his instinct, rowed towards the shore and walked out of the water.
He scratched his face twice with his hands, and covered his ears to recover his not-so-sensitive hearing as soon as possible.
When the tinnitus and chaotic feeling passed, he heard the faint sound of a cat coming from somewhere.
He Jueyun squeezed the water from his clothes and continued walking forward.
The muddy ground on the shore had become soft and wet due to the erosion of the river water. This section has already been visited by people, so many footprints have been left behind. The footprints were mixed together, making it impossible to accurately identify its original appearance.
He Jueyun breathed heavily and kept looking around.
Qiong Cang would not run very far or be very hidden, otherwise people would wonder if she was deliberately using death to create a gimmick. She should have stopped in the middle of a road, as if she could not support herself and fell down, waiting for someone to rescue her. A perfect ending to this performance.
The cat's meow became a little clearer again.
He Jueyun frowned and followed the sound of the cat to the foot of the bridge pier ahead.
There was a lot of unprocessed garbage piled here, some of which have been stepped into the mud, and some of which are piled up next to it. The stench mixed with the swamp made it difficult to approach.
He walked around the garbage dump and saw a black figure lying on the ground in a pile of overgrown weeds not far away.
The position where Qiong Cang fell was very hidden, and her body was covered by grass. If it weren't for a daring cat stepping on her head and making a high-frequency meow towards He Jueyun, even he wouldn't be able to notice it at a glance.
He Jueyun's heart beat rapidly and he ran in that direction. Seeing him approaching, the wild cat's fur exploded, jumped to the side, and ran away in a hurry.
"Wang Dongyan!"
He Jueyun shouted loudly, but his movements were very careful. He turned Qiong Cang over from the ground and checked her injuries.
The wound on her forehead became hideous because she had been soaked in the river water for too long, resulting in light blood stains all over her face. It should be infected by bacteria, and her body was feverish.
"Qiong Cang?" He Jueyun felt her breath, but couldn't feel her breath because his fingers were cold, so he patted her on the back and shouted, "Qiong Cang?"
Qiong Cang coughed and furrowed her eyebrows. Although her eyes did not open, she clearly revealed that she was still alive.
"That cat..." Qiong Cang said with difficulty, "it keeps stepping on my head."
This person was already trembling with anger: "I'm so angry!"
He Jueyun laughed out loud, and after he finished laughing, he said to her: "You deserve it!"
His laughter stimulated Qiong Cang, who opened her eyes with difficulty and glared at him.
He Jueyun picked her up and walked slowly to the shore.
When passersby saw them appearing, they were stunned for a few seconds before and then they reacted and screamed at the top of their lungs:
"Found her--"
"Wang Dongyan is found - here! Ambulance!"
The sound of "found her" kept drifting into the distance according to the most primitive human voice. There were even some hoarse crying sounds.
Enthusiastic citizens quickly caught up with them in their cars, urging the two to come up quickly and send them to the hospital.
The media who came after hearing the news only had time to capture the scene of He Jueyun getting into the car. They carried the machine and ran after the vehicle, asking loudly: "Still alive? Is Wang Dongyan still alive?"
He Jueyun stretched out his hand from the car window, made a victorious "V" towards the back, and shouted back: "Still alive!"
"Ahhhh-- good!!"
Cheers rang out one after another, and people who were strangers to each other couldn't help but high-five each other and shout loudly to vent.
This scene was clearly recorded by the camera.
The reporter quickly uploaded this exciting news to the Internet along with a few blurry pictures.
This was undoubtedly the most gratifying news in recent times. It had swept away all the previous dullness and given special power to the three words "Wang Dong Yan".
Later, the media got online to interview He Jueyun and learned about the key cat stepping on the head during the rescue process. They were very excited and also wrote it into the interview draft as a key link.
The relaxed netizens once again had the energy to make jokes.
"I declare that in the future, besides having the luck of stepping on dog shit, I will also have the luck of having my head stepped on by a cat! [doge]"
"That policeman is so handsome, he jumped into the river and searched for the person along the current! If he was younger, I would have married him."
"How did she get swept away so far? I see that the wounds have been soaked and rotten. Is she really okay?"
"Wait for notification from the hospital. We should really be thankful, otherwise we will have to live with guilt for the rest of our lives. As for those scumbags in No. 1 Middle School, stay in jail forever!"
"I burst into tears on the spot. It's great that kind people can be alive."
·
When Qiong Cang regained consciousness again, she was already lying in the hospital.
There was a large crowd of people standing around her, creating a dark mass around her.
There were reporters, police officers, students from No. 1 Middle School, and Ms. Wang.
Ms. Wang held her hand hard and saw her open her eyes, lying in front of her hospital bed and crying bitterly: "Dongyan, I'm sorry… My good daughter, it's all my fault!"
Qiong Cang tightened her fingers and turned her gaze to the other side.
The group of students represented by Xu You looked ashamed and nervous under her gaze. Xu You opened his mouth, and after thinking for a few times, he finally had the courage to speak out. His expression looked like he was about to cry. He led everyone to bow deeply to her and said loudly: "I'm sorry! You don't need to forgive us... I'm really sorry!"
Qiong Cang twitched her lips, and finally looked at He Jueyun, who was standing behind the crowd.
He Jueyun smiled knowingly and said: "Don't worry. The soft persimmon you picked is really soft.* His audio editing was exposed, and he said some things that he shouldn't have said in your video, and his mental defense almost collapsed. We started with him, made some insinuations, and successfully obtained useful confessions and some group chat records. Now we can clearly identify the crimes of that group of people. When the evidence is complete, they can happily get the prison real estate. As for reputation, there is none left."
*A reference to what Qiong Cang said in Chapter 15, that she was going to pick a soft persimmon/looking for people that are easy to bully
Qiong Cang nodded and thought of something again. After she opened her mouth, she found that her throat was hoarse and it was not very convenient for her to speak.
He Jueyun already understood and took the initiative to point in the direction of the window.
Qiong Cang looked along and saw Xiang Qingxi and Xu Manyan standing side by side outside the glass window, smiling and waving to her.
The smile was so bright that the light reflected from the glass blurred their faces.
Qiong Cang looked at the two of them and smiled gently.
The system's clearance prompt sounded at this time. After the countdown ended, the two players were ejected from the instance, and the screen in the live broadcast room went black, leaving only a line of text introduction.
Sanyao's netizens were still unsatisfied. They clicked on the reward while pretending to be cute* in the comment area, as if the arrogance at the beginning was just an illusion.
*卖乖, selling obedience/cuteness, meaning showing off one's intelligence and cleverness (like a good boi).
"Spread the flowers after clearing the dungeon~ Spread [Flowers] here and there. The boss loves you~"
"Welcome, boss, to come back to murder case analysis next time~ I’ve followed you, your little fans are waiting for you in love~"
"The plot exploration rate this time should be 100%, right? This dungeon can be blocked."
"Another dungeon where I got a swollen face. Leaving with satisfaction. [Holding face]"
*If I'm not wrong, at the beginning, people were doubting if she could really investigate this case, so now they had been slapped in the face (proven wrong) and left with a swollen face
"As expected of a boss with a score of 92, I knew from the very beginning that you are not an ordinary person! Just asking, when will you start the next dungeon?"
·
When He Jueyun logged out of the simulator, his head was a little dizzy.
He pressed his forehead to get his emotions out of the instance as quickly as possible.
A young voice shouted in his ear: "Q ge."
He Jueyun glanced over lightly, with an obvious murderous intent on his handsome face.
The young man scratched his head and giggled, pretending not to know. He held up the information and reported: "The system's final evaluation is perfect. Can we increase her dungeon selection privileges now?"
He Jueyun did not answer directly, but walked out and asked: "Where is Qiong Cang?"
"Here in the lounge, just logged out." The young man followed with happy steps, "Boss, do you want to go over and have a look?"
He Jueyun had a business-like expression on his face: "Yes. I want to confirm her mental state after the game to see if she really adapts to this game."
The young man curled his lips and mouthed words silently behind him.
--hypocritical. A man who abuses his power for personal gain!
·
The lounge where Qiong Cang was located had a huge floor-to-ceiling window. Various nutritional supplements and food were placed in the room, and there was a doctor on duty.
Since there were very few players who could meet the qualifications of [Murder Case Analysis], the lounge was still very quiet.
Qiong Cang was sitting near the door, with a paper bag at hand and a windbreaker on her body. She looked a little more lively than in the photo.
He Jueyun walked to the door, already pressed the fingerprint lock, and was ready to go in. Suddenly a pair of hands stretched out from the side and stopped him.
He Jueyun turned his head and found that it was his friend, Xie Qimeng.
Although the name sounds like a woman, Xie Qimeng was indeed a big man, and he was also a tall and muscular man at that.
He Jueyun smiled and said, "What's wrong? Are you in such a hurry to come to me?"
"Didn't I remind you?" Xie Qimeng said seriously, "You shouldn't let Qiong Cang participate in [Murder Case Analysis]."
It was precisely because of his impromptu advice that He Jueyun conducted one more qualification test on Qiong Cang.
He Jueyun looked a little more serious and said: "Qiong Cang meets the qualifications and has outstanding abilities. Sanyao has its own rules. Since there are rules, I choose to respect them."
Xie Qimeng said anxiously: "You don't know how dangerous she is!"
He Jueyun glanced at the figure sitting quietly inside and said with a smile: "I really don't know."
The author has something to say:
He Jueyun: This fussy woman must be...
Qiong Cang: How many bad things has this fussy man said about me in his heart? 【picking nose】
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And we've finally finished the first dungeon! Will be doing slower release from now (although it hasn't been really fast either...) but you know, real life and all :(
Thanks for reading!
Thanks a lot for completing the arc!
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