Who Will Kill Me Tonight? - Chapter 1

The Liangjiang Bridge stretched between two cities. It was a double-decker structure with trains passing underneath and a dual carriageway with a bicycle path above.

Liang Jing had missed her bus earlier and now stood at one end of the bridge. She tightened her thick yellow puffer jacket around herself. The white fox fur-lined hood framed a plain, pale face with thin single eyelids, a small nose, pale lips, and skin so fair it seemed nearly translucent.

Yet, there was something strangely appealing about her.

Perhaps it was the faint blue mole on the tip of her nose that accentuated her otherwise unremarkable features with a melancholic beauty.

The wind howled, threatening to sweep her away. Liang Jing frowned at her wristwatch. It was 8:15. Neither early nor late.

She leaned against the railing and peered down at the river below—deep, dark, its currents invisible but fierce. Anyone who fell in would be swallowed without a trace.

The cold was biting. Liang Jing blew warm breath into her palms, a flicker of doubt crossing her eyes.

The bridge was long, and crossing it would take half an hour. Surprisingly few cars traversed it tonight, maybe because it was a weekday. A train rumbled beneath, shaking the entire structure as if it might collapse.

Liang Jing gripped the railing and hesitantly moved forward. When a motorcycle roared behind her, she stopped to let it pass, her eyes unconsciously darting around.

All good.

Safe.

No suspicious people, no drunk drivers.

Halfway across, Liang Jiang’s heart began to race, and her pace quickened.

Hurry.

Get off this dangerous bridge.

Liang Jing didn’t notice the bus swerving sharply in the distance until its headlights stabbed through the darkness, blinding her. Liang Jing raised a hand to shield her eyes, just in time to watch in horror as the vehicle barreled straight toward her!

First, her body collided with the front of the bus, pain exploding through her without mercy. Then she slammed into the railing, her flesh tearing and leaving a bloody mess. In that instant, Liang Jing caught a glimpse of the terrified faces inside the bus. She heard the screams and the driver frantically spinning the steering wheel to stop the bus from plunging over.

Her arm was wedged between twisted railings while her throbbing head and broken body were dragged into the icy river alongside the bus.

“At 8:32 PM last night, Bus 702 crashed into the guardrail on Liangjiang Bridge and fell into the river. The Liangjiang City Public Security Bureau received the call at 8:33 PM and immediately dispatched search and rescue teams. The number of passengers remains unclear, and the cause of the accident is under investigation. This is Zhu Lin, reporting live from the scene.”

The bridge had long been cordoned off. Below, search and rescue boats combed the waters. After the cameraman cut the feed, Zhu Lin leaned forward, peering down. The thought of a bus full of people sinking into the frigid depths—trapped with no escape—made her chest tighten.

In all her years as a reporter, she had never witnessed anything more horrifying.

A young man in a police uniform came over and said, “Wrap up your report and leave. Don’t linger here.”

Zhu Lin asked quickly, “Were there any survivors?’’

“By the time we arrived, the bus was gone. It fell from such a height. Even if someone survived the impact, they would have been knocked unconscious and drowned. How could there be any survivors?”

“Besides, who except the driver wears a seat belt in a bus?”

Zhu Lin stared blankly as the officer left. The cameraman next to her asked curiously, “Zhu-jie, why didn’t you mention Chief Cheng? You are his girlfriend. Shouldn’t you go see him?’’

Zhu Lin smiled bitterly. “We broke up a long time ago. There’s no us bringing it up.”

“Broke up? How can that be! Chief Cheng is young and promising, and Zhu-jie, you are a well-known reporter. You have received numerous tips from him over the years. Why did you break up so suddenly?”

Zhu Lin shook her head. “I wanted him to leave the front lines. It’s too busy and dangerous, but he disagreed. I am a reporter who is constantly flying around for work, and he is a policeman, always buried in cases. I didn’t want a relationship where I barely saw my boyfriend throughout the year. So, I suggested we break up. He agreed.”

“Do you regret it, Zhu-jie?”

She hesitated, then murmured, as if convincing herself, “No. I don’t regret it. Maybe I won’t find another man as exceptional as him, but I’ll find someone who gives me peace. Let’s go. We are in the way.”

Several police cars were parked in the center of the bridge. The young officer hurried to one of them, where a man was lying in the passenger seat, resting with his eyes closed.

“Chief Cheng, I delivered your message. Anything else I can do?”

“Shut up.’’ The man’s face was covered with his police hat. He hadn’t slept in over thirty hours. He was still on duty when Bus 702 fell and had to rush over without even getting the time to tidy up.

The trainee officer quickly shut his mouth. At that moment, a voice came from outside saying that another body had been recovered. The man who was originally lying inside pushed up his hat and stepped out of the car with long legs. “Identify the deceased and notify the family—”

“Chief Cheng, she’s still alive.” The police officer who reported the information said a moment later.

Cheng Jun was halfway through his sentence when he was hit back. “After a night in the water, you’re telling me we fished out a living person?”

With how disastrous the incident had been, no one would believe this.

Cheng Jun placed his fingers on his brow and rubbed them. “Call an ambulance. Focus on stabilizing her first.”

The officer hesitated. “She’s awake.”

Cheng Jun kicked the man’s shin. “Next time you pause mid-report, you’ll lose your legs. Take me to her.”

It was truly bizarre.

Cheng Jun knew the situation was dire from the moment he arrived and conducted a preliminary on-site inspection. No one knew how many people were on the bus. It was a weekday, so it was unlikely to be empty. The death toll would only be determined by the black box and recovery efforts.

Yet, after a night, a survivor has appeared?

This was the Liang River, wide and fast. Even if this person had escaped from the bus and could swim, they should have been swept far away by the surging current.

On a rescue boat’s deck, a girl wrapped in a police coat shivered violently. Her lips and eyelids were swollen purple. She clutched a thermos and stared blankly at the steam.

“Did you find out anything?” Cheng Jun asked a nearby officer.

“She won’t talk.”

Cheng Jun crouched in front of the girl. His black uniform bore polished badges on his shoulders. Beneath the brim of his police cap was an unexpectedly handsome face with deep and handsome features, but the thin scar between his eyebrows suppressed his youthfulness and made him appear sterner.

“Little girl.” Cheng Jun lowered his tone and spoke as gently as possible.

“Liang Jing. I’m a junior in the Department of Stomatology at Liangjiang University.” Liang Jing stared at the thermos and said slowly, “I tried to kill myself by the river. The current carried me here; your people rescued me.”

“Officer, you’re not much older than me. Don’t call me ‘little girl.’”

Cheng Jun chuckled. “You’ve got quite the temper.”

“Can you take me to the hospital now? That cursed bus falling into the river had nothing to do with me. I am freezing and want to sleep.” Liang Jing rubbed her fingers. “I need to rest.”

“Hey, girl, we rescued you, and you act like this?” The trainee officer next to Cheng Jun couldn’t stand it anymore and muttered, “Why would someone who tried to commit suicide still want to sleep?”

“Yuan Li, watch yourself,” Cheng Jun scolded. “You are an intern; don’t act like an officer. Go back and write a report!”

Turning back to the girl, Cheng Jun smoothly changed the subject. “This watch is yours, right?”

There was a silver watch in a transparent bag. The glass cover was shattered, but the hands were still ticking. Liang Jing scraped the edge of the thermos lid with her nails. “No.”

“I see. Yuan Li, take her to the hospital. Get her properly examined and notify her family.”

“I don’t have any family.” Liang Jing looked up at Cheng Jun, her eyes sweeping over the transparent bag held in his long fingers. “I am an orphan living on student loans.”

Cheng Jun watched Yuan Li take the person away, and a policeman next to him asked, “Chief Cheng, can we believe her?”

“We’ll see what the black box says first.” He handed over the bag. “Get forensics to examine the fingerprints. This watch was found near the broken railing with no blood. Surveillance showed someone in a yellow jacket getting hit at the time, but the video is too blurry to tell if it was a man or a woman.”

“That person was really unlucky. To be hit like that…I am afraid their body was smashed to pieces.”

Cheng Jun murmured, “But how could there not be a trace of blood at the scene? That’s a bit too strange.”