Chapter 3

Yuan Yin City is a small city that was originally an old county town. After being upgraded to a county-level city, its name sounds better, but in reality, it is no different from the old Yuan Yin County.

About five miles north of the city center, in the suburban area, there is a small island formed by alluvial plains, separated by the Lu River, which can only be crossed by a small boat.

The Lu River banks around the island are lined with many yellowish-brown trees. On weekends, people often bring their families to play and have fun by the Lu River.

Over time, the island and the opposite shore's pebble beach and woods have collectively been called the Yellow Forest, becoming a favorite place for people to visit. On rest days and weekends, it is always very lively.

However, this liveliness only applies to the daytime, not the night. Since the area is a mix of urban and rural, the nearest farmer's house is several dozen meters away from the pebble beach behind the woods. The few households on the island are unlikely to come out, so the pebble beach is almost deserted at night.

But some students who are afraid of their parents and acquaintances finding out about their relationships often sneak out after school to meet here at night. Students tend to seek out dark places when they are secretly dating, and the Yellow Forest area is an excellent spot for secret meetings.

On the evening of September 8th, Yang Xue and Su Zi happened to come here for a date and play, only to encounter a sudden disaster!

The key point is that in 2005, due to Motorola and Nokia still dominating the market, mobile phones were still very expensive. In Yuan Yin City, an underdeveloped area in Shuchuan Province, mobile phones had not yet become widespread, with one phone per person.

As students, Yang Xue and Su Zi, due to the strict rules of their school, were not given phones by their families. Moreover, pagers had already been phased out two years earlier, so it was impossible to contact them directly.

According to the time Yang Xue mentioned later, they encountered the vicious criminal around 9:10 PM, which was less than half an hour from now.

Therefore, Xiao Qi kept urging He Hao to pedal faster.

"Are you trying to kill me?" He Hao panted, "Why don't you try it? Damn, it's a good thing I have a gear-shift bike, or I would have been exhausted long ago! Are you not satisfied?"

Despite his complaints, He Hao had never seen Xiao Qi so hurried and tense before. Knowing that something was unusual, he gritted his teeth and pedaled the bicycle as fast as he could toward the Yellow Forest.

Thanks to his efforts, they finally arrived at the pebble beach by the Yellow Forest at 8:50 PM.

"Ah... I'm exhausted!" He Hao, drenched in sweat, threw the bike to the ground and plopped down on the pebbles, panting heavily. "Xiao Qi, what are you doing here in the dark? You're not trying to take advantage of me because you fancy my looks, are you?"

"Get lost!" Xiao Qi cursed without turning his head, looking into the darkness.

The river water reflects the moonlight, illuminating the pebble beach, but even so, Xiao Qi could not see anything beyond twenty meters.

This was due to his good eyesight; if it were the nearsighted He Hao, he could barely see a living person five meters away.

Clearly, Yang Xue and Su Zi were not there.

Thinking about it, this area is close to the road and easily discovered. If Xiao Qi were in their shoes, he would have continued deeper into the pebble beach along the shore.

Gritting his teeth, Xiao Qi decided to head into the pebble beach. "Stay here. If I don't return in half an hour, go to the nearby farmer's house and call the police, got it?"

"What's going on?" He Hao's face changed, and he quickly grabbed Xiao Qi. "Are you going to catch someone in the act? Did the fairy fall in love with someone else? That's impossible!"

"It's not that, don't ask! Remember what I said!" Xiao Qi tried to break free.

"No way!" He Hao gritted his teeth and followed him. "I'll go with you, just in case something happens and you need help."

"You..."

Xiao Qi didn't want him to get involved because this was a dangerous situation. The vicious criminal had a homemade gun!

But a thought suddenly flashed in Xiao Qi's mind. "Master He, do you know how to do ventriloquism?"

He Hao looked at him in shock. "How did you know I learned ventriloquism during the summer? I didn't tell anyone!"

It turned out he had already started learning. That was good.

"Never mind, can you mimic police sirens and adult voices?"

"Hehe, of course I can! Don't believe me? Listen!"

He Hao proudly began to demonstrate, making "wail wail" sounds for the police siren and shouting "Stop, don't move, I'm a police officer."

Although not as perfect as his future skills, it was already quite good and should be enough to scare a farmer.

"Come on, follow me! Whatever happens, don't speak or move. When I tell you to mimic the police siren and police voice, shout loudly, got it?"

"Okay!"

He Hao got excited. "Are you going to scare some naughty couple? If they are naked and doing something bad, and you shout... ha ha, that would be quite a show! I'm in for a treat today!"

Ignoring his excitement, Xiao Qi pulled He Hao into the woods.

The woods run parallel to the pebble beach. Generally, after about ten meters of pebble beach, you reach the Lu River.

Xiao Qi didn't want to walk directly on the pebble beach because he was worried that the four of them, including himself and He Hao, would not be a match for the criminal with a knife and a homemade gun.

The most terrifying thing was that the criminal was mentally unstable.

Xiao Qi didn't dare to take the risk of whether a madman would attack them.

Unconsciously, they had already walked for about ten minutes. Xiao Qi and He Hao tried to stay at the edge of the woods to get the best view of the pebble beach.

Suddenly, Xiao Qi stopped, his whole body trembling slightly.

"Did you find the naughty couple?" He Hao whispered.

Xiao Qi didn't speak, pulling He Hao back two steps and slowly squatting down.

Following Xiao Qi's gaze, He Hao saw a pair of figures sitting on the pebble beach and immediately started preparing for his mischief.

Xiao Qi was extremely tense, his eyes darting around, worried that the criminal might suddenly appear behind him.

Gradually, the air seemed to freeze, making it hard for Xiao Qi to breathe.

He Hao, on the other hand, was not at all tense, only excited and preparing to use his ventriloquism skills.