Chapter 4

Chapter 4

I jolted awake.

The pain of having my throat slit lingered. I propped my hands on the desk, clutching my throat in terror, my heart racing.

I was in my familiar bedroom. From behind me came Grandma’s muttering: “Song Song, stop studying. The exam is tomorrow, so get some rest early. Do you have your admission ticket? Bring extra pens.”

I immediately checked the time: June 6th, 10:00 PM.

In other words, I had returned to the past again-back to the moment before the killers arrived.

Was this an infinite loop?

I held my head and trembled as countless questions whirled through my mind.

First of all, the attack wasn’t a coincidence. The problem was that our neighborhood was a dilapidated complex from the seventies or eighties. It was old and in disrepair, but there were other residents. Why did they choose my house specifically?

Before I could think further, there was a knock at the door.

This time, I chose to push a cabinet against the door, trying to buy more time.

The next second, a cold axe hacked through the door. Bang-!

The wooden door splintered, shards flying everywhere.

One of Fat Kun’s eyes pressed against the gap, staring at me with a giggle.

“Little sister, playing hide-and-seek? Then Big Brother will play with you… real… nice…”

The door was smashed open with a roar. I resolutely raised a hammer and charged at the criminal.

I don’t remember how many times I was killed.

I used everything available in the house-pesticide, hammers… I even put agricultural poison in the noodles beforehand, hoping that when Grandma cooked for them, they would be poisoned to death.

No matter what I tried, we both died.

No, there is no unsolvable equation, only the wrong approach to solving it.

Without a way to communicate with the outside world, how could I get the police here as fast as possible?

Waking up again, I silently turned my gaze toward the kitchen.

Grandma was in the kitchen kneading dough. “Song Song, check again if you have your admission ticket. What about the pens? The eraser? Tomorrow morning, Grandma will make you a ‘Top Scholar’s Roll’ breakfast…”

She had many unopened bags of flour.

And there was a line in the middle school chemistry textbook:

Combustible dust, when accumulated, has a tendency to spontaneously combust.

A few minutes later, a deafening explosion suddenly rang out, and searing flames pierced the rainy night.

“Heavens, there’s an explosion and a fire over there!”

Lights in the other buildings began to turn on one after another as people were jolted awake from their sleep.

“Evacuate everyone! Has anyone called the police? There’s a fire! Save them!”

A minute ago, I had sent Grandma to Aunt Su’s house on the second floor to borrow candles.

My home was on the fifth floor. In the entire building, only the second floor was still inhabited. In the last loop, I had successfully climbed down the water pipe to the second floor, but just as Aunt Su was about to call the police, a dark shadow dropped onto the balcony.

Ma Jiu had jumped down nimbly with a knife. If Fat Kun was greedy and lustful, then Ma Jiu was a devil who took pleasure in killing. That time, I had dragged Aunt Su and her husband down with me.

This time, I wouldn’t make the same mistake.

At 10:03 PM, the knocking sounded again, right on time.

The moment the criminals broke down the door, they were knocked back by a surging heatwave.

The chance had come. Holding my breath, I leaped from behind the sofa and rushed out of the house.

In the light of the fire, Fat Kun spotted me.

They exchanged a look. Ma Jiu rushed straight into my home, while Fat Kun swung his axe and closed in on me step by step. Amidst the swirling dust, the blade sliced through the air, grazing my shoulder.

He missed his mark, but I also lost my footing and tumbled down the stairs.

Fat Kun was quick to react. Using his physical advantage, he pinned me down and grabbed my hair, pummeling me. “Still running? I’ll kill you!”

My head was bleeding profusely. Through my fading consciousness, I saw a hideous Fat Kun raise his axe.

But I felt no fear. Instead, there was a faint smile.

This time, I had finally gotten Grandma out. Dying wasn’t a total loss.

The axe swung down. I closed my eyes and accepted my fate, followed by a scream.

But it wasn’t mine-

It was Grandma. She had turned back into the fire at the critical moment and thrown herself over me.

She took the blow of the axe with her own body!

Blood splattered across my face. Outside the building, police sirens wailed. Fat Kun and Ma Jiu fled in a hurry. This was the only time in many loops that I had successfully waited for the police.

But it was useless now.

“Grandma, don’t sleep! Please! Look, the police are here!”

A gravelly roar tore from my throat, but the blood wouldn’t stop. It kept gushing out. The axe had nearly split her poor body in half.

Grandma’s lips trembled as she squeezed out her last breath: “Song Song… go…”

I had lost her again, and again, and countless times over.

“Why? What exactly is wrong!”

I pounded the ground in a frenzy of frustration. Just then, a detail flashed into my mind.

Ma Jiu hadn’t tortured us this time, so why did he still know where the money was hidden in my house?

Grandma didn’t trust banks and had hidden a sum of cash under the bed. It was the compensation from my parents’ car accident years ago-eighty thousand yuan remained.

Fugitives on the run needed money and couldn’t withdraw it from a bank. My home only had the old and the young.

It was the perfect choice.

The question was, the killers escaped prison at 5:00 PM. How did they know about my family’s situation?

Just… who was the one providing them with information?!