Pure Accident (Part 1)

The night was as dark as ink, and in the blackness, heavy rain crazily poured down from the sky, the sound of raindrops on the tent crackling like firecrackers. At a distance, people's voices couldn't be heard clearly. However, not far away, through the curtain of rain, chaotic sounds still faintly drifted over.

"Ah... let go... don't..."

"Fuck... don't move, or I'll kill you..."

"Brother Dao, don't, her family..."

"What about her family, I..."

"It's not safe today... better wait a couple of days..."

Carefully shifting her body, Lingjing pressed close against Jiaming, trembling slightly. In the pitch darkness, rainwater seeped in from under the tent, and even though it was summer, it still made her feel cold.

"Jiaming, what are they going to do to Sister Yahan..."

"Uh." Jiaming thought for a moment, then shook his head, playing dumb. "I don't know... don't worry, it'll be fine."

Now both children sat in this tent without any tools, their hands and feet bound with rope. At least on the surface, they could only huddle together in this sitting position. Testing the tension of the ropes, Jiaming narrowed his eyes.

Breaking free from ropes like these was actually simple, but if he rushed over now, they still had a hostage in their hands. He had no weapons on him, and his body wasn't trained to be that tough yet. He'd hold back as much as he could, hoping that what he'd said earlier would actually work. Otherwise...

He glanced at the little girl beside him. In the darkness, he could feel her looking back at him. Lowering his head, he gently pressed his forehead against hers and repeated, "Don't worry, it'll be fine."

If that bastard really intended to go through with it, even if it meant scaring people, he'd have to try once. At least he couldn't let any dark shadows linger in Lingjing's heart.

Having made that resolve in his mind, fortunately, after a moment, the Triangle-eyed man came over with Zhang Yahan, her hands bound. It seemed Scarface had finally been persuaded by Triangle-eyed. After all, they'd only been in the forest for a day. Though the heavy rain had covered many of their tracks, the chance of being caught was still high. Under these circumstances, they ultimately wanted to leave themselves an escape route.

That meant these two were just ordinary thugs. Dealing with them would be simple. The problem was, how to do it without making them suspicious...

"Get in there! I saved your ass once..." The triangle-eyed man shone a flashlight into the tent, then shoved Zhang Yahan inside. The rain outside was too heavy; just the short distance between the two tents had left them both half-soaked. Especially Zhang Yahan—she must have struggled on the ground for a long time. Her hair was disheveled, her clothes in disarray, making her look utterly miserable. A hint of a smile appeared at the corner of Jiaming's mouth, while Yahan shot him a fierce glare before being pushed into the tent to sit down.

Triangle-eyed followed in after her, holding a flashlight in one hand and the double-barreled short gun in the other. It seemed the two bandits had already agreed on the order for keeping watch. After tying Zhang Yahan's legs, he sat down to one side, placing the short gun on the inside of his left hand.

With four people in this tent, it felt quite cramped. Triangle-eyed took up nearly half the space, leaving the other three to sit back-to-back, squeezed together. Having stolen tens of thousands of yuan this time, Triangle-eyed was clearly restless, shifting his body from time to time, pulling out a stack of bills to greedily count under the flashlight's glow, then carefully wiping the short gun with a cloth a few times. Occasionally, he'd stare at Zhang Yahan with a lustful gaze. Whenever that happened, the young female teacher would instinctively move her body a little closer to the two children.

After about an hour of this, the flashlight finally went out. The incessant sound of rain outside the tent seemed to envelop everything in a bottomless abyss. No other sounds existed—only rain, rain, rain.

Under such a dark night, exhausted and weary, Lingjing soon fell asleep nestled against Jiaming. But Zhang Yahan's mind was a tangled mess; she dared not sleep at all. If what that Scarface had been about to do had actually happened, she'd rather be dead. From what they'd said, if the police didn't catch them in a couple of days, they'd definitely... And that troublesome kid—she'd actually felt touched when he came to rescue her, only for him to do something like that.

"...If you wanted money, why not just go to Sister Yahan? Her family is the Jianghai Zhang Family, they're loaded. Tens of thousands is nothing."

By revealing the fact that her family was wealthy, she'd not only become a target for rape, but these two might also take her hostage for ransom. That meant they wouldn't let her go anytime soon, while the two children might be released as dead weight. He was too clever... Of course, a child couldn't think of that. I must be overthinking it...

Her heart was full of resentment. So when the little boy's body suddenly pressed against hers, she instinctively tried to move away. But in the next moment, her hands, tied behind her back, were grabbed by him.

He was untying her ropes!

Her heartbeat suddenly quickened. She had no time to wonder how this little boy had freed himself from the ropes. But if her hands could move, there was hope. Rather than face the worst outcome, it was better to take a gamble!

A flash of lightning suddenly streaked across the night sky, briefly illuminating the scene inside the tent. On the side closest to her, Triangle-eyed had a dagger at his waist, while the gun was placed on the other side. Should she go for the knife or the gun... Trembling, she reached out her hand.

Breathing quickened, heart raced. For a moment, the sound of her pulse and breath nearly drowned out the storm outside the tent. She slowly crouched up, reaching her hand toward the dagger at Triangle-eyed's waist.

I have to get it, I have to get it. No mistakes, no mistakes...

Relying on that fleeting impression, she reached out. The short moment felt as agonizing as a lifetime. Finally, her fingers touched the hilt of the dagger. Just as she was about to pull it out, another hand suddenly pressed down on it.

"What are you—mmph!"

Triangle-eyed let out a shout, but in the next moment, it seemed as if something had blocked his throat, cutting off his voice. The hand that had pressed down also let go, trembling. Though she didn't know what was happening, Yahan seized the chance to pull out the dagger. Then another flash of lightning came, and she finally saw the scene before her.

That kid named Gu Jiaming had somehow gotten hold of the short gun, and now the entire barrel was shoved into Triangle-eyed's mouth. The sight that appeared before her in that instant made Yahan almost think it was an illusion. She hurriedly grabbed the flashlight, but before she could turn it on, a shout came from the other tent.

"What's going on!?"

The faint light of a flashlight flickered outside the tent. Scarface was clearly heading their way. Yahan's mind raced. She was about to tell Jiaming to give her the short gun when suddenly, the gun went off!

Flames shot out from the short gun, and the whole tent shook. Lingjing screamed in fright. Through the curtain of rain, Scarface's pained cry suddenly rang out. Yahan turned on the flashlight. Triangle-eyed had already lunged at her, but as he rose, he seemed to slip, his body tilting. His attempt to grab the dagger instead caused his other leg to swing right into it, and the dagger sank straight into his thigh. Then an even more miserable wail erupted inside the tent.

Seeing this man writhing and screaming beside her, Yahan could only instinctively back away. In the light of the flashlight, Jiaming, who had just fired the gun, abruptly threw the short gun away, then directly pulled the dagger out of Triangle-eyed's thigh. Holding it in his hand, blood splattered everywhere. Jiaming's hands trembled as he gripped the knife, his face a picture of panic: "I, I, I... I killed someone... Don't move!"

This shout was aimed at Triangle-eyed. In truth, the short gun could only fire one shot at a time. If Triangle-eyed came to his senses and gritted his teeth to pull the dagger from his leg to threaten the three of them, Jiaming would have no choice but to act.

"Jiaming!" Seeing his panicked state, still holding the knife, Lingjing hugged him with a sob. As for Zhang Yahan, she cautiously said, "It was an accident. It's okay, Gu Jiaming. It's okay. Come on, give me the knife..."

An accident. And so, it seemed, it had all ended satisfactorily.