Chapter 20

The car accident happened so suddenly that some timid people couldn't help but scream loudly. Xu Mo and Liu Qian exchanged a glance, unable to hide their joy.

Xu Mo was filled with surprise: How did this car accident happen?

Liu Qian whispered, "Brother Xu, how did you do it?"

Xu Mo himself was also at a loss, not knowing how to answer.

Seeing his hesitation, Liu Qian thought he had some unspoken difficulties. Fortunately, he wasn't too concerned about the process of the accident, so he smiled and stopped asking.

Everyone on the bus was relieved that they hadn't gotten on that car. The big fat man looked extremely pale, cold sweat continuously streaming down his face. He wiped it several times but couldn't clean it off.

The driver backed the bus up, found an open area to stop, and turned around, saying, "There's been a car accident, and we can't move for now. We'll wait for the police to handle it." He then called the police.

A few girls started to cry, afraid to get off the bus. Some people, out of curiosity, got off the bus and leaned over the cliff to look down.

The SUV had fallen from a height of several hundred meters, crashing into the valley. The entire car was deformed, and the fuel tank had ruptured, causing a fire. The flames spread, igniting the surrounding shrubs and grass, and the fire grew larger.

In this situation, no one dared to go down to check the extent of the accident. As for the people in the car, falling from such a height, unless a miracle happened, there was no way they could survive.

Liu Qian pulled Xu Mo and whispered, "Brother Xu, the police will take at least an hour to get here from the city. Let's take this opportunity to return to the mountain lodge, retrieve the buried items, and transplant a few plants back."

Xu Mo thought for a moment and agreed, "But we need to be quick. Otherwise, when the police arrive and find us missing, they might suspect us."

Liu Qian continued, "The bus has only been out for a short time. If we take a shortcut, it will take us no more than half an hour to go back and forth. We have enough time to finish everything before the police arrive."

Xu Mo nodded in agreement. The two of them determined the direction and, taking advantage of no one noticing, quietly left the crowd, bypassed a few rocks, and headed towards the mountain lodge.

On the way back, both of them were still very excited, thinking about the sudden car accident, which felt like a dream.

Liu Qian couldn't help but curse a few times, as if to vent his previous worries and suppression. Then he clenched his fist, "They're dead, and we're safe. Even if the people Chen arranged come, they won't recognize us."

He reached into his pocket, took out a cigarette, and held it in his hand. When he opened the cigarette box, his hands couldn't help but tremble with excitement. He offered one to Xu Mo, but Xu Mo shook his head, indicating he didn't want it.

Seeing that Xu Mo didn't want it, Liu Qian didn't insist. He put the cigarette back in his mouth, put the rest away, and cursed again, "I was almost scared to death. All day, those three bastards forced me, and I didn't even have time to smoke. Thanks to this car accident, ha ha! Those three bastards must have done too much evil and received their punishment. Even the heavens are helping us. They died well, ha ha! They died well."

In his excitement, his words became incoherent.

Xu Mo understood his feelings and smiled faintly. He himself had also been very nervous all day.

"Hey!"

Liu Qian lit the cigarette and took a puff, then couldn't help but exclaim softly.

"What's wrong?" Xu Mo asked urgently.

"This cigarette..."

Liu Qian looked surprised, glanced at the cigarette in his hand, then took out the cigarette box and pulled out a few cigarettes, examining them carefully, "This... this isn't my cigarette."

"Not yours?" Xu Mo asked, puzzled, not yet understanding his meaning.

Liu Qian thought for a moment, then suddenly remembered something, "This is Ma Wu's cigarette. My cigarettes have dream powder in them, but this box doesn't. Look."

He pulled out a cigarette and showed it to Xu Mo, pointing to it and explaining, "When I add dream powder to the cigarettes, I make a small hole at the end of each one with a needle. This one doesn't have it."

He continued, "Ma Wu's cigarettes are the same brand as mine. If you don't check carefully, you can't tell whose they are. It must have been mixed up during the body search last night."

Ma Wu's cigarettes?

Xu Mo suddenly remembered something. If this was Ma Wu's cigarette, then Ma Wu must have taken Xu Mo's cigarettes. He had said he rarely smoked and carried them mainly to offer to others. So, even though he took the wrong ones, he didn't realize it because he didn't smoke.

Before getting into the SUV, he had offered a cigarette to the man surnamed Chen, who lit it when they turned onto the mountain road. That cigarette had dream powder in it.

"So that's how it is," Xu Mo realized.

Liu Qian was completely unaware and said regretfully, "What a pity my cigarettes were wasted. But it's good that Ma Wu is dead. Hehe, it's like he's buried with them."

Xu Mo didn't explain to him.

The two returned to the place where they had buried the items, retrieved them, and carried them with them. They also dug up two plants with green fruits, wrapped them in plastic, and returned the same way. Taking advantage of no one noticing, they got back on the bus and placed the plants under their seats.

The police car and ambulance arrived, sealed off the scene, and helped the injured. When the SUV fell, all five people inside died, and there were no survivors. The fire burned the bodies beyond recognition, and even Liu Qian's cigarette box was burned, so the cause of the accident couldn't be determined. In the end, the bodies were taken away.

The police asked a few questions to the people at the scene, mainly to the bus driver. They found out that the young man surnamed Chen didn't have a driver's license. Without other evidence, they classified the accident as a violation of traffic laws.

The bus and police car returned together. On the way back, everything was smooth. The people arranged by the man surnamed Chen didn't appear, possibly due to the presence of the police. Xu Mo and Liu Qian had a false alarm.

The only regret was that, due to the death of the young man surnamed Chen, there was no one in charge of the part-time job, and the wages couldn't be paid immediately.

How could the part-time workers agree to work without pay? They clung to the bus driver, who had no choice but to make a few calls and negotiate with the manager of the mountain lodge. The manager agreed to let them leave their names and come back the next day to collect their pay.

Xu Mo and Liu Qian didn't dare leave their names. They quietly left when others were leaving their names, effectively working for free.

When they parted ways, neither of them left their contact information. Although the three men surnamed Chen were dead, their accomplices were still around. Leaving contact information would mean that if one was caught, the other couldn't escape.

When Xu Mo returned to his residence, it was already past ten o'clock at night. The dormitory was still very cold, and after being away for a few days, it felt even more cold and unfamiliar upon his return.

He took out the bamboo tube containing the small green snake and the bottle of poison powder and placed them on the table. He filled a basin with water and immersed the roots of the plant in it.

When transplanting plants, the roots are inevitably damaged. Soaking them in water for a few days helps them survive more easily.

After doing this, he went to bed. He still had the same quilt. After lying down for a while, he felt cold again.

But this time was different from before. He opened the paper packet containing the dream powder, took some, and wrapped the paper back up. He lay down again, imagining himself exercising.

From last night to today, he had experienced countless things, several times being in dire straits and narrowly escaping death. He was mentally and physically exhausted and had no time to fully appreciate the dream-like feeling. Soon, he felt warm and fell asleep.

In the middle of the night, the effects of the drug wore off, and he woke up, feeling cold. He sat up in bed and reached for the paper packet of dream powder.

At that moment, he suddenly heard a few light 'ding ding' sounds, followed by something rolling. He focused and realized the sound was coming from the table.

He was surprised, turned on the light, and looked at the table. The bamboo tube containing the small green snake was rolling back and forth on the table, blocked by other items and unable to fall. The 'ding ding' sounds were made by the small green snake hitting the stopper of the bamboo tube.

Xu Mo walked over and picked up the bamboo tube. The small green snake inside seemed very agitated, constantly hitting the stopper, trying to get out. He could feel the vibrations clearly while holding the bamboo tube.

This small green snake, like the bottle of poison powder, was stolen by Ma Wu from the yard by the river.

Xu Mo had seen one before, in the valley with the green-fruited plants. At that time, the snake was hanging upside down from a stem, licking one of the green fruits. The white hairs on the green fruit, which were the raw material for the dream powder, were only half left.

Therefore, Xu Mo and Liu Qian suspected that the white hairs on the other green fruits had been eaten by the snake.

Xu Mo held the bamboo tube, feeling very conflicted. Although the snake was stolen by Ma Wu, he couldn't figure out what it was for.

He then picked up the bottle of poison powder. The poison powder was colorful, with gold, black, and green. It wasn't hard to guess that it was made from the dried