Who Will Kill Me Tonight? - Chapter 2
Liang Jing sat in the police car, wrapped in a police coat. Her gaze was fixed on the scene outside the window. A large crowd had already gathered along the banks of the Liang Jiang River. Family members of the victims, dressed in mourning clothes, wept by the water’s edge, while onlookers clustered around, whispering incessantly.
She drew her gaze back and clutched her right hand tightly, but her fingers refused to stop their nervous trembling. Suddenly, she pressed a hand to her mouth, and gagging sounds filled the closed space.
8:30 p.m. the previous night, the moment Liang Jing fell into the water.
The bus had sunk nose-first into the freezing water, current pouring through the shattered windows. Her crushed body lay pinned beneath the vehicle in the muck of the riverbed until the shifting flow rolled the bus and stirred up a dark cloud of silt.
On the bridge above, the arm that had been caught on the twisted metal vanished, and all the blood evaporated like steam. A silver wristwatch fell with a sharp clink onto the pavement.
Two minutes later, someone called the police. Within ten minutes, patrol cars arrived first. Another ten minutes later, the search-and-rescue boats and ambulances arrived together. A man in a special police uniform squatted by the damaged guardrail and picked up the watch with a gloved hand.
Underwater, beams of light swept across the murky depths. Divers went down and swam towards the bus wreck. Their lights hit the interior of the bus, and what they saw chilled them to the bone.
Because the bus had plunged headfirst, all the passengers had been forced into the driver’s cabin; and heir pale, terrified faces pressed against the windows. Some had their faces lacerated by the shattered glass, exposing the bone beneath; others had their heads smashed against the steel, leaving only half a head. Some bodies were grotesquely twisted together, their limbs contorted like braided rope.
When the bus had rolled upright, the bodies jammed together like a wall of flesh at the front. A rough count showed there were about twenty or thirty of them. Elderly, young adults, and even children—none were spared.
In the dark murky water, dim light flickered across their death-stricken faces. None of them could have ever imagined that boarding a bus would mean never getting off again.
What had happened? What inside that bus had caused it to cross the double yellow line, veer into another lane, smash through the guardrail, and plunge into the river?
One diver pointed at the wreck, signaling for the black box. They broke through jagged glass and swam inside. The recorder was kept in a metal cabinet near the front but with the bodies piled there, the situation became complicated. The team had to move the bodies one by one before they could reach it.
Not far off, a pale hand twitched in the shadows. A stream of bubbles rose, vanishing into the dark current.
When Liang Jing regained consciousness, she found herself underwater. She didn’t know how to swim and instinctively held her breath, unsure of what to do.
Then, as she caught sight of the sunken bus, a scene flashed before her eyes.
Among all those screaming and terrified faces, there stood one anomaly. Because this face was smiling, it was exceptionally striking.
She couldn’t remember its features; her head throbbed, dizzy and faint. But if she saw that face again, she would recognize it immediately.
Yet she prayed she never would.
Everyone on that bus had seen her. Which meant he had too.
A chill ran through her. Could that man still be alive? If it was premeditated, then he surely was.
There was no time to think. Liang Jing stripped off her water-logged, heavy puffer jacket and flailed her limbs wildly. Finally, she caught the attention of the divers and escaped the terrifying waters of the Liang River.
“You! Stop right there!” Yuan Li had barely parked when Liang Jing bolted from the car and dashed straight into the hospital. He slapped the steering wheel in frustration and sprinted after her. He knew something was off about this girl!
But when he followed, she had already disappeared into the restroom. Moments later, the sound of retching echoed out—wet, violent heaves that almost sent his own stomach turning.
Liang Jing braced herself against the partition like a drunk person and wretched uncontrollably. Water mixed with silt poured out of her throat; even a small half-digested fish was vomited out.
She flushed it all away and collapsed by the toilet, staring blankly at the ceiling. Only when Yuan Li shouted from outside did her lashes tremble. Slowly, she dragged herself to her feet.
At the sink, she rinsed her mouth, spat, and splashed cold water on her face. Droplets trickled past the faint blue mole at the tip of her nose, catching the light with an unusual brilliance.
“You alright?” Yuan Li asked as Liang Jing stepped out. Waterdrops slid from her bangs; her hair which had almost dried before was soaked again.
She didn’t answer, only lowered her head and walked toward the registration hall. Yuan Li accompanied this cold and eccentric girl through the registration process, blood tests, and X-rays. The doctor concluded that aside from anemia, there was nothing seriously wrong.
Back in the ward, Liang Jing was lying in the bed, sleeping restlessly. As soon as Yuan Li approached, her eyes snapped open, sharp with suspicion, cutting straight through him.
Yuan Li felt his neck prickling with cold from Liang Jing’s stare. “The doctor says you’ll be fine. I paid for two nights’ stay. Chief Cheng might come by to ask questions, so just stay here. I have something else to do, so I’ll leave now.”
As he reached the door, he glanced back and saw the girl had already shut her eyes again wearily and fallen asleep.
According to his intuition, based on years of experience in the police academy, there was definitely something fishy about this girl!
As soon as he returned to the bridge, he noticed the unusually oppressive atmosphere among the police team. Yuan Li spotted Chief Cheng talking with a rescuer.
“Any chance the cabinet fell out the window?”
“Impossible. It’s always bolted in tight.”
Chief Cheng slammed a fist against the hood of the police car. “Damn it. I knew there was something off about this.” His jaw clenched. “If I find out which bastard did this—”
“Chief…” Yuan Li murmured, startled. It was the first time he had ever heard Cheng Jun curse, and he couldn’t help but find it intriguing.
Cheng Jun ignored him. “Take the underwater cameras, get shots of the cabinet’s position, and send them to forensics to check if it was intentional. Notify the rescue boats—once the bodies are brought up, haul Bus 702 as soon as possible.”
Only after issuing the orders did Cheng Jun lean against the car, pulling a cigarette from his pocket. His eyes were tired as he lit the lighter. “How is she?”
“The doctor said she’s fine, just anemic. But she threw up a lot when she came in. Probably swallowed too much river water,” Yuan Li reported.
Cheng Jun nodded, exhaled a puff of smoke. “The cabinet with the black box is gone. What’s your take?”
Yuan Li exclaimed in disbelief, “No way! Could someone have taken it from the bus while it was still moving?”
Cheng Jun took a few puffs to steady himself, then stubbed out the cigarette. “Fresh out of the academy, and you run into a major case like this. You are a lucky kid, Yuan Li. I’ve got a task for you.”
Yuan Li immediately stood up straight and said in a serious tone, “Chief, please give your orders!” He was expecting Cheng Jun to assign him an important task. Instead, he heard him say, “Keep an eye on Liang Jing. Report any developments to me immediately.”
“Ah…” Yuan Li was visibly disappointed.
“Everyone in the bureau is busy right now, and you’re the only one with free time. Think of it as training and hone your tracking skills. Don’t let a young girl catch you on your first assignment.”
Yuan Li, though disappointed, remained confident. “Don’t worry, Chief. How sharp can her counter-surveillance be?”
The disappearance of the black box added another layer of mystery to the case. What had originally seemed a matter of appeasing the families and writing a report was now shifting into something darker. If this wasn’t an accident but sabotage….
Chief Cheng tapped the hood of the car with his fingers. Solving this case wouldn’t be easy. The river had washed away most of the evidence. The bus wouldn’t be raised any time soon. For now, all they could do was identify the victims pulled from the water and comb through traffic cameras to find passengers who had stepped off at earlier stops.
And that figure in the yellow jacket—he couldn’t have vanished into thin air.