Chapter 159
Chapter 159
In the café, the two sides ultimately parted on bad terms.
The group from the Intelligence Department followed Mushroom Head.
As for the police, they went after Dai Chunli.
Wearing sunglasses, Dai Chunli walked along and cried the entire way.
The moment she thought about how she had clearly failed to accomplish anything, yet might still lose twenty or thirty years of her life, her tears simply would not stop falling.
She had originally been counting on Jiang Li dying so she could take that enormous sum of money and enjoy a comfortable retirement.
Who would have thought that Jiang Li would still be alive, while she might be the one to die first?
Hidden behind her sunglasses, Dai Chunli secretly shed tears.
There was nothing the police could do about this matter either.
Even if her teeth were knocked out, she could only swallow them along with the blood.
When she stopped at an intersection to wait for the red light, she heard the “Neighbors from the same residential complex waiting for the light with her” gossiping beside her.
A curly-haired auntie said loudly to her old best friend, “Remember that thing I told you about last time, the child who ended up in a vegetative state? Do you know what happened?”
Her old best friend asked curiously, “What happened? Did they find the culprit?”
At those words, Dai Chunli’s ears instantly pricked up.
She quietly edged half a step closer and listened carefully to their conversation.
“Find what culprit? They never caught the murderer at all!” the curly-haired auntie said indignantly.
“And the even more pitiful thing is, Xu Xiaobao… that child died! Sigh.”
The curly-haired auntie and her old best friend both sighed at the same time, shaking their heads in regret.
Dai Chunli’s heart leaped with joy.
The grief she had felt just moments ago instantly dissipated by more than half.
Xu Xiaobao was dead. Then what she had done… had died with the only witness!
Dai Chunli had completely dodged this threat of prison!
Dai Chunli reined in her emotions and cleared her throat, doing her utmost to suppress the wild delight rising in her chest.
The two people beside her continued talking.
“Tell me, with the world in such chaos now, do you think that child’s wronged spirit might go looking for the murderer to take revenge?”
“That… is hard to say. I think it would!”
The two of them kept going back and forth beside her, and the more Dai Chunli listened, the colder her spine became.
At present, the Strange Tale within Huaguo had not yet been completely eliminated.
Bizarre incidents still happened from time to time.
For all she knew, Xu Xiaobao really might turn into an Aberration and come after her for revenge.
Goosebumps rose all over Dai Chunli’s body.
She hurriedly pushed those thoughts away.
No, no!
How could that be possible? It was all just alarmist nonsense.
Once someone was dead, they were dead. What revenge could there be?
Just as Dai Chunli was thinking this, she seemed to hear a young, childish voice faintly calling her.
“Aunt Dai…”
Dai Chunli abruptly raised her head.
She looked around, but saw no one.
“Aunt Dai…”
This time, Dai Chunli looked across the road.
On the other side of the crosswalk, a Little Boy was standing there, head tilted, staring unblinkingly at her.
The Little Boy’s eye sockets were filled with black.
When he smiled, stringy blood dripped from the corners of his mouth.
That was… Xu Xiaobao!
Dai Chunli’s heart suddenly gave a hard thump.
She took off her sunglasses, wanting to get a clearer look.
But at that moment, a bus sped past, temporarily blocking Dai Chunli’s line of sight.
When Dai Chunli looked across the road again, the Little Boy had vanished without a trace.
The light turned green.
The two old best friends beside her linked arms and hurried away.
Only Dai Chunli remained standing where she was, unable to recover her senses.
That child… had he really come looking for her?
While Dai Chunli was still in a daze, something behind her seemed to tug at the hem of her clothes.
“Aunt Dai, were you looking for Xiaobao just now?”
Xu Xiaobao grinned at Dai Chunli and smiled.
…
Over at the Ghost Face Organization’s side.
The Intelligence Department had sent a group of people to follow Mushroom Head.
However, this contact from the Ghost Face Organization was extremely cunning.
After passing through several busy commercial districts, Mushroom Head avoided their line of sight and changed her appearance.
In the end, the people from the Intelligence Department only found the clothes the woman had thrown away in a trash can, along with the silicone padding she had strapped to her body to disguise herself as fat.
The Intelligence Department returned empty-handed.
Today’s tracking mission ended in failure.
They would have to make new plans from the beginning.
That afternoon.
The Intelligence Department escorted Jiang Li to her father’s grave to pay their respects to the deceased.
Father Jiang’s death had been classified as a sacrifice in service to the nation.
As such, state personnel had arranged for his body to be buried beside Jiang Li’s mother.
Jiang Li stood at the front, gazing at the two stone tablets before her.
Her father’s tombstone was brand-new. Her mother’s was old.
But judging from its appearance, her mother’s tombstone seemed to have been refurbished and repaired as well.
In front of the two graves lay many bright, colorful bouquets of condolence flowers.
All of them had been brought voluntarily by the people of Huaguo, who had come to express their gratitude and mourning for Jiang Li and Father Jiang.
It was the depths of winter.
Today, the first snow had suddenly begun to fall.
Snowflakes landed on Jiang Li’s shoulders, then slowly melted into water.
Without a word, Xiao Wu walked over to the black sedan and retrieved a black umbrella.
He raised it over Jiang Li’s head, his tall, slender figure standing beside her.
“Don’t catch a cold,” Xiao Wu said.
Jiang Li’s Eyes were red as she glanced at him.
“Thank you.”
Her throat was clogged with tears. She choked for a long while before finally forcing out those words in a normal voice.
Sensing that Jiang Li was in a bad state, Xiao Wu gave a slight shake of his head and said nothing more.
Beside them, Xia Guofeng and Elder Fan both looked at Xiao Wu at the same time, their mouths pursed in identical expressions of disdain.
Xia Guofeng thought to himself: Something’s not right with this kid. He looks suspiciously like he’s trying to get close to her…
Elder Fan: He wants to gain Jiang Li’s trust, then enter the Aberration World and wipe Jiang Li out in one fell swoop! How terrifying! His motives are unforgivable…
Realizing they were suspecting him, Xiao Wu clenched his fist and gave a soft cough.
Then he spoke to the air as if talking to himself.
“Jiang Li is Huaguo’s Chosen One, and she will soon have to return to the Aberration World. If she catches a cold and develops a fever in there, a great many things may spiral out of control.”
Xiao Wu’s explanation was reasonable.
But Xia Guofeng and Elder Fan still slanted their Eyes at him, their faces full of disdain.
A moment later, Xiao Wu simply stuffed the umbrella into Jiang Li’s hands. “In that case, you can hold it yourself. I still have some work to attend to, so please excuse me.”
Xiao Wu inclined his head slightly, politely took two steps back, then turned and left the cemetery.
When the other experts saw Xiao Wu leave, they exchanged glances and silently departed as well.
They left the Space to Jiang Li.
After standing there for so long, how could any of them fail to see that this child was deliberately putting on a brave face?
With so many experts watching, Jiang Li had stood before her parents’ graves, holding back her tears the entire time, not letting a single one fall.
After the experts had walked some distance away, they all hid in a nearby bamboo grove, craning their necks to look at Jiang Li up ahead.
They saw the black umbrella tossed onto the ground. Jiang Li knelt amid the wind and snow, her head buried low.
Her shoulders were trembling terribly.
The sound of the Girl’s grief-stricken sobs came in broken gasps.
Her crying mingled with the winter snow, only to be swallowed by the cold wind.
Xia Xiaoqiang had something to do that afternoon and had not come, so no one was there to keep Jiang Li company.
A group of grown men looked at the lonely, helpless Young Lady, and could not help sighing one after another.
“She’s only just graduated from university. Her parents hadn’t even had a single day to enjoy life, and now they’re both gone. Ah…” Xia Guofeng shook his head regretfully.
Xiao Wu also spoke. “I investigated Jiang Li’s family relationships. She has no direct relatives in Huaguo, and she lost contact with her distant relatives long ago.”
Elder Fan sat in his wheelchair. Listening to their conversation, his gaze filled with pity.
Looking at Jiang Li, Elder Fan sighed. “Our Fan Family does have money. We aren’t lacking in power or status either. Unfortunately, what we lack are descendants.”
After considering it for a moment, Elder Fan said indignantly, “Right now, the Fan Family has no heir. In any case, I think Jiang Li is quite a fine child.
If this child can return safely from the Aberration World, I’ll acknowledge her as my granddaughter!
I refuse to believe that in a Huaguo this vast, she has to be left with no one to rely on!”
Elder Fan’s sense of justice was overflowing.
Xia Guofeng chimed in as well. “Exactly. That villa you recently contributed-why not just give it to her too?”