Chapter 42: The Truth

  The captain didn't say a word until we got into the police car and took off. I had already started to feel dizzy, although someone who knew first aid had applied pressure to my wound, bandaged it, and even used a tourniquet to stop the bleeding, but nothing could stop the fresh blood from gushing out. As I lay in the car, I was basically waiting for death. I didn't know if I could make it to the county hospital, maybe a blood transfusion would allow me to hold on for a little while longer, but I didn't have much hope.

  Because of my situation, let alone the captain, even Zhao Yan who didn't get along with me was speechless. Only Yang Xiufeng stayed by my side, futilely trying to suppress my wound, having already cried until she became a tearful person. It made my heart ache, but I tightly grasped her hand and leaned into her arms, barely wiping away her tears: "Little Feng, don't be so sad, as long as you're not disgusted with me, even if I died, I would still stay by your side to take care of you. If you don't believe me, you can ask the older sisters..."

  Nature would not believe my words, but Yang Xiufeng believed, perhaps this is the only comfort. Yang Xiufeng turned back to San Gu Niang with tears in her eyes, and no one else could see San Gu Niang except her. Sobbing, her voice was filled with sorrow: "Sister, really can it be?"

  The answer is affirmative, regardless of the truth or falsehood. At this time, no one stimulated Yang Xiufeng, and San Guniang just sighed on the side. I died so young, it's really a pity, but they couldn't stop anything, and no one could have imagined that things would develop like this. Unfortunately, nothing can be regretted now.

  The vehicle was shaking on the road, I felt more and more dizzy, only feeling very cold, as if I was about to leave my own body. It was as if I was in a cold place, loneliness and fear were staring at me, but I had no strength to struggle. Some people say that when you are dying, you will recall every detail of your life, but I don't know, at least not now. In my heart, apart from the unwillingness, there is only the longing for life and the fear of death. I really don't want to die.

  In a daze, I seemed to see Li Hongjun's ferocious face coming to find me, mocking me for underestimating him. Everything was still going according to his plan. Suddenly, I realized something - perhaps Zhao Yan's actions were all part of Li Hongjun's scheme. When she snatched the photo earlier, maybe it was Li Hongjun who intentionally let her do so. Otherwise, with Li Hongjun's skills, how could Zhao Yan have possibly taken it from him? Maybe I would burn his belongings, and before he died, Li Hongjun had already planned for this, which is why he cast a blood curse on me. But as I was about to die, I still had some lingering worries, feeling like I had forgotten something.

  I felt the blood flowing out of my body, and later I didn't know where I was. With my eyes closed, I couldn't feel anything outside. My body was very cold, and the only thing that could give me some warmth was Yang Xiufeng's hand and the tears falling on my face, which made me not completely lose my will. As for the captain's call, I had long since stopped hearing it. It turns out that dying is just so pure.

  Just as I had given up on everything, waiting for the moment when my consciousness would disappear, but suddenly I felt that the blood flowing out seemed to be flowing back. I don't know if this feeling is true or false, but my consciousness was getting stronger and stronger. I even heard the captain calling me again in my ear: "Liu Hai, you mustn't sleep, listen to me, you don't want to die, do you? Hold on, you must hold on, you absolutely can't fall asleep——"

  As I opened my eyes, it was Yang Xiufeng's despairing face. Tears fell with a hint of coolness. I suddenly raised my hand to wipe away her tears and softly sighed: "Xiaofeng, don't cry anymore, or you'll look bad."

  I struggled to sit up, but it made the captain stunned for a moment. Obviously I was already a dying person, and just now I was on my last breath, my body had already cooled down, how could I still get up? Was it a flash of light before death? Even if it was a flash of light before death, it shouldn't be that severe, right?

  Of course, I had no idea what the captain was thinking about, but when I looked at my own legs, I was stunned. It turned out that my feelings were real - the blood had indeed flowed back, because the gauze used to bandage me, which had originally been soaked through with blood, and even the seat was covered in blood, but now it was all gone. There was no trace of blood on the seat, and the gauze only showed a faint hint of blood. Even Yang Xiufeng's hands, which had been covered in blood, were now spotless. Everything seemed as if nothing had happened, as if we had just experienced a collective hallucination.

  I stared blankly, unable to believe it. After a brief moment of hesitation, I quickly unwrapped the gauze and indeed, the wound had stopped bleeding. There was only an eerie hole left, and my body no longer felt icy cold. Although I was still weak all over due to blood loss, at least I was no longer in danger of dying. The blood that had flowed out earlier seemed to have flowed back on its own, leaving only the earliest bloodstains dry. Everything was so bizarre - what exactly was going on?

  "What... how is this possible?" Captain Wang's mouth was agape, his face filled with incredulity. He even rubbed his eyes, wondering if he was seeing things, but no, this was real. What on earth was going on? This was simply impossible. And what about the bloodstains? If it were just a matter of him not being dead, he could accept that, but those bloodstains had vanished too - how could he accept that? Captain Wang's doubts made him slap himself hard, and in the quiet carriage, the sound was loud and painful enough to tell him this wasn't a dream.

  I didn't believe it myself, and I suspected that I was dreaming. But I wasn't stupid enough to slap myself awake. Instead, I reached out and gave Captain Wang's arm a forceful twist. As a result, Captain Wang couldn't help but let out a muffled groan, his voice hoarse with pain: "Why did you twist my arm?"

  I scratched my head in embarrassment and just smiled wryly: "It's nothing, I'm just like a dream, I don't know what's real or not, it's just to see if I'm dreaming or not."

  Captain Wang's face twitched, but he didn't have the mood to argue with me. He just glared at me and said, "Why don't you go turn yourself in?" But it really felt like I had sat through a dream, although the dream was real. As for what was true or false at this point, it couldn't be distinguished. However, the fact that I came back to life was still a good thing. Letting out a sigh of relief, he suddenly asked, "Liu Hai, you didn't die, did you?"

  "This question is like asking if I want to die, it makes me feel strange in my heart: 'I shouldn't be dead yet, but why did this happen, the blood curse has been triggered, I should have died from bleeding, this is Li Hongjun's curse, but how...how didn't I die? Is Li Hongjun just trying to scare me, this isn't his style..."

  "Alright, little Hai, don't think about it for now, just rest for a bit." Yang Xiufeng's face was filled with surprise and delight, she wiped away her tears, and hugged me tightly, wanting to pull me into her arms. At this moment, there was no awkwardness between us.

  As I looked at Yang Xiufeng's surprised face, I also relaxed, no matter what, this was a good thing, at least I didn't die, the blood curse hadn't fully taken effect, it was just a false alarm - a false alarm, my body stiffened, and I suddenly realized something wasn't right. Li Hongjun wouldn't have spared me, based on my understanding of human nature, he wasn't someone who showed mercy. Even if he didn't want to become a zombie and killed himself, that was mainly because he didn't want to become that thing, as for not wanting more zombies, I reckon it was also for his daughter's safety. If I'm right, the evil energy on the dagger probably had something to do with Li Hongjun too, which means he had killed people before. Would someone like him show mercy just because of me? Moreover, he had put a blood curse on me. If there was only one reason, it was that I hadn't fully triggered the blood curse's effect. The reason I went through all that was because I did something against Li Hongjun's wishes. But I didn't die, so what I destroyed wasn't actually very important, or maybe it was just a smokescreen. Li Hongjun saw through my thoughts and knew I wouldn't tell his daughter about his death, so he gave the photo to Zhao Yan, who then called him. However, Li Hongjun still wasn't at ease, fearing that I would destroy what he had painstakingly brought back, so he put a blood curse on me to ensure his daughter could come and accept his legacy. Now, I've almost completely burned all of his legacy, leaving only one thing - the photo of his daughter. It was because of the photo that I was spared, which means all the secrets were hidden in that photo. Everything I did was for nothing, no wonder I didn't die.

  "Picture..." I suddenly sat up, grabbed Captain Wang's shoulder: "Where is Zhao Yan? The secret must be on that photo, destroy that photo..."

  Captain Wang was stunned, unsure of what secret it was, and looked at me with a puzzled expression. He patted my shoulder: "Don't get agitated, take your time to talk about it, what's the secret?"

  I shook my head, I wasn't clear either, but my intuition told me that the secret was pointing to the location of that zombie. Li Hongjun was so powerful, yet he died at the hands of a zombie without getting anything, so he escaped back and left behind the secret there for his daughter. That's why he gave me the blood curse on his deathbed, it was to make me protect his daughter, because in his eyes I'm stronger than ordinary people, I understand some things, and have some helpers, of course mainly because Li Hongjun didn't have time to find other helpers. It must be like that.

  "I'm not sure, I'm just guessing, probably Li Hongjun left the place where the zombie was in that photo, when his daughter comes, the photo will naturally be returned to her, and she must also know Li Hongjun's purpose this time, she will definitely go find that place, what Li Hongjun couldn't do, his daughter will complete, but the key is that zombie is not something we can handle, otherwise Li Hongjun wouldn't have to commit suicide, can his daughter handle it? Li Hongjun doesn't care if the zombie will come out or not, he wants something else, it must be like this——" I pulled Wang Team Leader's arm, and hastily said a few words, don't know if Wang Team Leader could understand.