Si Teng (Rattan) – CH 065

Chapter 65

Trouble suddenly arose at the last moment. Zhou Wandong was insanely furious. He strode over, grabbed Jia Guizhi by the collar, lifted her up, and slapped her several times.

Jia Guizhi regained her senses. She looked at Zhou Wandong, then at Zhao Jianglong’s body. Her legs gave way, and she sat down in the pit, saying, “Our Old Zhao is beyond saving.”

Zhou Wandong bent forward, a fierce expression on his face. “Regardless of whether your man can be saved or not, I’ve done everything I was told to do. What do you say about the Nine-Eyed Dzi Bead?”

Jia Guizhi raised her head and stared at Zhou Wandong for a long moment, then slowly lowered it. As her eyelids closed, a fierce glint suddenly flashed in the depths of her eyes. She said, “Don’t worry, you won’t be at a loss.”

Zhou Wandong felt relieved by these words, and he nudged Qin Fang again. “What about him? What do you think? Do you want to…”

He leaned to the side, blocking Qin Fang’s gaze, and made a clicking gesture to Jia Guizhi. Carrying a dead Zhao Jianglong would be fine, but the living was harder to control than the dead. Qin Fang, that kid, had ulterior motives. What if he ever thought of calling the police? It would be impossible to stop him.

Jia Guizhi hesitated. She had originally cared nothing about Qin Fang’s life or death. Of course, it wasn’t just her; Miss Bai Ying was the same. Since she had ordered the Qin family’s descendants to pierce his heart with a sharp spike, she naturally didn’t care about his life.

But now, things had changed. The so-called body at the bottom of the valley had disappeared. She could no longer count on that so-called “resurrection energy” to save Old Zhao…

Jia Guizhi’s heart suddenly skipped a beat.

No, no, no, that wasn’t necessarily the case. What if the body at the bottom of the valley had simply been moved? As long as it could be found, and as long as Qin Fang was there, there would always be a chance. Although Old Zhao’s body would rot over time, what difference did it make? Hadn’t the body at the bottom of the valley been there for sixty or seventy years?

When she looked up again, her tone had returned to calm.

“Help me bury Old Zhao first. We’ll deal with the rest when we get back.”

***

After burying Zhao Jianglong, Jia Guizhi didn’t rush to leave. She paid close attention to her surroundings, hoping to find some clues.

After a brief glance, her gaze settled on the area surrounding the pit.

Although the surrounding ground was cracked and broken, the marks left by the car were still visible. A car couldn’t possibly drive into a place like the valley floor; it could only… fall down.

The wreckage of the cars at the bottom of the valley caught her attention. There were about two or three of them, most of them rusted and decayed, clearly showing their age. Only one was still in relatively new condition. Even more strangely, there was an open suitcase next to it.

Zhou Wandong also noticed something was amiss. He walked over to the car, leaned through the broken window, and peered again and again. He then walked over to the wreckage of other cars to compare them. When he returned, his brow furrowed unnaturally, and he said, “How strange.”

Jia Guizhi was a little nervous. She brushed aside her suspicions. “What’s strange?”

Zhou Wandong glanced toward the clifftop. “Logically, given the winding mountain road up there, a car that falls down usually has been in an accident or couldn’t brake in time, meaning the driver is still inside. Murder and robbery are possible, but pushing an empty car down is unlikely. I checked those cars, and they all had human skeletons, but this one doesn’t. And the trunk is still open…”

He kicked the trunk and gestured. The car’s location. “Typically, suitcases are kept inside cars. No matter how hard they fall, they’re unlikely to fall out. Even if they do fall out…”

He kicked the suitcase’s zipper with his toe again. “See? It’s all the way down.”

Jia Guizhi’s heart was pounding, and her voice trembled as she spoke. She gestured for Zhou Wandong to look closely at the pit. “There are traces of a car crashing there, but there’s no car in that location. The car is so heavy; there might be wild animals at the bottom of the valley, but they wouldn’t have the strength to move it. Could someone have come down, moved the car aside, and taken the people inside, along with some… luggage?”

By the end, she felt close; she was on to something.

The car had originally crashed into the grave. It was very likely that when the people moved the car, they discovered the body underneath and took it away.

Fortunately, the car was still there. If they could find any clues about the owner, they could follow the clues to the “rescuers” and thus, the body.

Jia Guizhi, unable to contain her excitement, practically threw herself over to the trunk, rummaging through the pile of clothes. Finding nothing of value, she paused for a moment before suddenly reacting and prying open the door again, trying to get inside.

Zhou Wandong had roughly guessed her thoughts and tapped the hood impatiently. “Why bother? Isn’t there a license plate? Just go up and check the owner.”

Damn! License plate!

Qin Fang cursed inwardly.

License plates, sometimes, really mess things up.

***

Another day’s trek back, and by the time they reached the main road, it was already dinnertime.

Jia Guizhi was half-local. Having sold her original property, she had to temporarily stay at a vacant house halfway up the mountain owned by a local acquaintance. Before heading up the mountain, she stopped by to say hello. Firstly, there were no restaurants nearby, so she wanted to grab some food. Secondly, she wanted to inquire about any recent major car accidents that would necessitate a rescue operation down to the valley floor.

The hostess who greeted her, though Tibetan, had been traveling to Xining for business and spoke good Chinese. While filling her bag with potato milk, she shook her head. “I haven’t heard of that. You know the ninety-nine bends. If you fall down, there’s no chance of survival. Who would go down to save you? The path is difficult, and without a map and experience, an ordinary person wouldn’t be able to find their way.”

After filling the bag, she found a kerosene lamp and lit it for her, apologetically. “Houses up there are hard to live in. There’s not even electricity. I asked you to come down to stay, but you refused.”

Jia Guizhi hummed a few perfunctory nods.

After watching her leave, the hostess suddenly remembered something. Yesterday, a Han Chinese man went door to door asking about the house halfway up the mountain. She had replied, “It’s mine; I’m renting it to a friend.” The man seemed quite interested and even asked where her friend was from and what she did for a living.

Should she tell Guizhi about this?

She ran to the door and saw Jia Guizhi already heading up the mountain. The flame of the kerosene lamp was flickering, as if it would go out at any moment.

Forget it. It wasn’t a big deal. Besides, Guizhi had a burly man with her this time, so it wouldn’t be a problem.

***

The house on the mountainside was dark and cavernous. When she arrived that day, she took a quick look. It was bare and dank, and it didn’t look habitable at all. She’d been hiding all this time, not even getting a good night’s sleep, and she hadn’t even touched the edge of the Nine-Eyed Dzi Bead. It was a lot of suffering.

Zhou Wandong felt resigned. As he was about to enter the room, he brought up the same old topic. “What’s the deal with the Dzi bead? Businesses require a deposit, and I’ve been busy until now, and I haven’t even seen a cent.”

Jia Guizhi coldly replied, “What’s the rush?”

Damn, what’s the rush? If he weren’t wary of her, he’d have wanted to stab her with a dagger. Zhou Wandong’s rage was flaring. Glancing at Qin Fang, his rage seemed to find an outlet. He grabbed him by the collar and slammed him against the door. “What’s the rush? Tell her why I’m in such a hurry.”

With a bang, the door opened, and Qin Fang fell through, landing heavily on the ground. Someone in the room sat up and screamed, “Who? Who? Who?”

The voice sounded familiar.

The light from the kerosene lamp streamed in, flickeringly illuminating the corner where the sound had come from. Yan Furui, startled awake, half-reclining and shielding himself from the light with his hands. He was covered in Si Teng’s mink coat, a rough bed made of books and other things on the floor. When he saw Qin Fang, he was still drowsy. “Are you… Qin… Qin Fang?”

The light suddenly swung away from Yan Furui and shone in the other direction.

There, Si Teng sat silently on a chair in the center of the empty room. Her hair was styled in an old-fashioned bun, her hair reaching down to her ears in the style known in old Shanghai as “hand-pushed waves.” Wisps of hair hung down the sides, seemingly springing into swaying curls with a simple tug. Despite the cold weather in Tibet, she wore a thin cheongsam, the hem of which brushed her calves, the hem embroidered with winding vines. Her bare feet, clad in high heels, shone a lustrous hue on her fair feet.

In the dim light, she seemed unreal, as if she had stepped into the wrong era, yet she remained calm and unhurried, sitting down gracefully.

The kerosene lamp began to flicker violently. Jia Guizhi’s face paled, and she kept backing away. Her trembling hands could barely hold the lamp handle, and the lamp fell. Just as it was about to hit the ground, a thin vine swooped in, piercing through the handle as if with eyes, and hoisted the kerosene lamp high. Then, with a few crackling sounds, a dozen or so thin vines stretched out from the wick, their tips nailed to the wall. Flames quickly erupted from the oil-soaked vines. In an instant, a curtain of fire seemed to unfold overhead, illuminating the room with extraordinary brightness.

Zhou Wandong gasped, reached out, and pulled out the dagger from his waist, cursing, “Where the hell did this come from?”

Si Teng ignored him and leaned over to help Qin Fang up. Seeing his bruised face, she felt both distressed and amused. She asked, “Did you get beaten up?”

Qin Fang’s eyes burned, and he felt embarrassed. Before he could reply, Yan Furui, who had just come to his senses, scrambled to his feet. “Oh, Qin Fang, Miss Si Teng and I have been waiting for you for two days. How…how did you get beaten like this?” Si Teng glanced at Zhou Wandong at the door. “Did he hit you?”

She brushed aside Qin Fang and walked toward Zhou Wandong. Jia Guizhi’s jaws chattered loudly, her back pressed against the wall, but her legs felt limp and weak. Zhou Wandong sensed something was wrong, and a sudden panic gripped his heart. He raised his dagger and pointed it at Si Teng, threateningly. “You, don’t come over here. Just stand there. Do you hear me?”

Si Teng stopped, smiled at Zhou Wandong, and said, “My back hurts when I see you.”

Back pain? Zhou Wandong was confused. In the past, he’d say something harsh to someone he couldn’t afford to offend, usually something like, “I’m offended when I see you,” or “Get away from me! You’re offending me.” But this time, it was something new. Back pain? What’s wrong with me getting in your way?

A strong wind blew, causing the flesh on his face to move rustlingly. It was as if a force was rushing through his body, and Zhou Wandong was thrown out like a bullet from a gun. With a bang, his lower back hit the body of the white van, and both he and the truck turned over. When he landed on the ground, he saw the overturned tires of the pickup truck spinning in a funny way.

Did his back hurt? He didn’t know. He couldn’t feel it. Maybe he’d never know what back pain felt like in this life.

Jia Guizhi slowly slumped to the ground, a look of extreme terror flashing through her eyes. She murmured, almost in a whisper, “Miss Bai Ying?”

Si Teng gestured to Yan Furui, “Take Qin Fang down to rest first.”

She smiled and leaned closer to Jia Guizhi. “Are you Jia Guihong’s great-granddaughter? Let’s… talk.”