Hot-Button Incident

Upon hearing the news of the fugitive, the young and middle-aged men still living in Chongyun Village immediately became excited. The news spread like wildfire, with relatives calling out to relatives and playmates calling out to playmates. No one wanted to sleep; they all got up and had a blast!

Soon, a large group of people, armed with a jumble of "weapons" including hoes, sticks, rakes, and even kitchen knives, gathered at Liu Caifu's house in a menacing manner. To an outsider, it would have looked like someone was coming to cause trouble.

Looking at this large group of young people who were wide awake, howling in the rain, and most of them without raincoats or umbrellas, Liu Caifu was a bit overwhelmed.

He originally only intended to notify a few close relatives and young people to go and investigate, but unexpectedly, the deafening thunderclap woke up the entire village.

So they chatted for a bit in the WeChat group and soon found out that the escaped prisoner reported in the news had entered their village. Deputy Director Liu was just about to "gather" people to "search for" the fugitive when things immediately became lively. Everyone grabbed whatever they could get their hands on and came over, showing a strong sense of "every man has a responsibility when the village is in trouble."

Liu Caifu had a strange feeling, as if these young men weren't going to catch a fugitive, but rather to a banquet.

Moreover, at least half of them were filming videos with their phones, enthusiastically explaining their experiences, seemingly planning to Douyin) and WeChat Moments later.

However, this, coupled with the loud thunder that had just woken up everyone in the village, young and old, and the fact that they all learned about the fugitive through their mobile phones, made the search of the village much simpler.

When the police arrived at the village, Liu Caifu had already led his men to search the village and basically confirmed that the two fugitives were no longer there. Of course, even if they had been there before, with such a commotion, they would have fled long ago.

The police learned about the situation in detail from Liu Caifu and the Liu brothers, and then carefully searched the Liu brothers' house, especially the clothes they found that had been thrown down the hillside. They then confirmed that the people who broke into the house and stole their clothes were the two fugitives.

Further investigation of the mountain path revealed footprints under some trees that had not been completely washed away by rain, indicating that the two fugitives had indeed entered the mountains overnight.

Because of the heavy rain and the late hour, for safety reasons, the police officers pursuing the suspects rested at the home of the Liu Zhengyi brothers. They used satellite maps and communicated with the villagers to understand the terrain in the mountains and formulate a pursuit plan. They would enter the mountains when the rain subsided.

Upon hearing that the police needed local guides to enter the mountains, a group of young people volunteered—these guys, who had been woken up by thunder in the middle of the night, were quite disappointed at failing to catch the fugitive in the village.

However, many of these young people work away from home year-round and don't really know much about the situation in the mountains. They can't answer a few questions and are just there to watch the excitement and take videos.

Originally, several villagers in their forties and fifties would have been a better fit, as they were more familiar with the conditions in the mountains and often went hiking. However, considering their physical strength and the current situation in the mountains, the police leader preferred to bring a young man in his twenties.

In the end, it was the brothers Liu Zhengyi and Liu Gaoshang who were taken away by the pursuit team, because they often skipped school and ran around in the mountains since they were in school, so they were quite familiar with the mountainous area around their village.

Around 4 a. m., the heavy rain gradually stopped. Although the ground was still muddy and the mountain roads were slippery, the pursuers did not wait for dawn but went straight into the mountains.

Not long after sunrise, the sky cleared, and the pursuit team arrived at the place that had been ravaged by the lightning storm the night before. They were just passing by when they unexpectedly discovered two corpses that were completely unidentifiable to the naked eye.

However, based on other items that weren't completely burned and some that couldn't be burned, the pursuit team initially confirmed that the two unlucky guys struck by lightning were indeed the two escaped convicts.

Upon receiving this confirmation, everyone in the pursuit team except for the two "guides," Liu Zhengyi and Liu Gaoshang, turned to look at one of the team members.

The man was also stunned, never expecting that his casual joke in the car would actually come true.

Then, he subconsciously looked up at the now clear blue sky.

The news of the two fugitives being struck by lightning and killed spread quickly after the brothers Liu Zhengyi and Liu Gaoshang returned to the village.

This case is a major one that has attracted widespread attention. After the remains were taken back and their identities were confirmed through other means, the police also issued a statement through the media.

The news that two escaped prisoners were struck dead by lightning has astonished not only the villagers of Chongyun Village who witnessed the capture, and people in several cities and counties near Wushu Mountain Prison, but also netizens across the country.

When many people see news headlines posted by friends in WeChat groups or Moments, their first reaction is often to think it's fake news, just another clickbait article from a marketing account.

Unable to resist my curiosity, I clicked on it and was shocked to find that it wasn't fake news or taken out of context, but a police announcement. The two fugitives had indeed, truly, and clearly been struck dead by lightning!

As a result, by evening, the topic of "fugitive being struck by lightning" trended on various social media platforms.

Then all sorts of bizarre discussion topics emerged, such as "Does one's sin value need to be extremely low to attract lightning strikes?", "Did the two prisoners know they were about to face a tribulation and quickly escape to the mountains to avoid implicating their fellow inmates?", "Has the Thunder God already passed the civil service exam?", "Has the State Grid begun to be integrated into the law enforcement system?", "As Lu Xun said: 'Good and evil will eventually be rewarded, and the cycle of karma is real; if you don't believe it, look up and see who the Thunder God spares,'", and "The net of lightning is vast, yet nothing escapes it."

Even on Zhihu, questions like "What is it like to be struck by lightning?", "What do you think about the escaped prisoner from Wushu Mountain Prison being struck by lightning and killed?", and "How to avoid being struck by lightning in the mountains?" all appeared in the top ten of the trending topics.

That same evening, some people in Chongyun Village and several surrounding villages also managed to capture the brief lightning storm in the mountains from a distance using their mobile phones or other video equipment. Although the distance was great, the clarity was poor, and the image quality was mediocre, the photos posted online were still enough to convey the terror of the thunderstorm and further amplified the discussion.

In particular, a girl who was filming selfies at home recorded a shocking thunderclap coming from the distant mountains, giving the impression that the entire sky had been smashed apart by something.

Various discussions, popular science articles, witty remarks, and fabricated stories abound.

This news quickly became a national hot topic.

However, the few people in Chongshan Village who personally experienced this "hot topic" all had different feelings.

When Chu Xiuwen saw the lightning storm in the mountains last night, his first thought was of the news from last month in Citong City and Purple Huan Mountain.

At that time, Purple Huan Mountain also experienced heavy rain and a spectacular lightning storm. It was said that someone saw a "Fire Phoenix" and even took videos and photos. However, later, some people debunked the claim, saying that it was probably just a burning drone or something.

When he first saw the lightning storm, besides thinking about the thunderstorm at Purple Huan Mountain and marveling at the power of nature, he didn't think too much about anything else.

But when the Liu brothers returned to the village with the news that the two fugitives had been struck dead by lightning, Chu Xiuwen was surprised, but couldn't help but think of Xiang Kun and the Many-Armed Monster.

First, all the incidents he knew of involving the Many-Armed Monster were related to "punishing" criminals or rescuing people, and the lightning strike on the fugitive should be considered a similar incident; second, he knew that Xiang Kun was related to the Many-Armed Monster; third, Xiang Kun was likely in the mountains last night; fourth, based on the information he obtained from his previous conversation with Xiang Kun returned to Citong City the night before Valentine's Day, which means that he was also in Citong when the lightning storm occurred at Purple Huan Mountain.

All of this combined, although it cannot be confirmed that the lightning storm was related to Xiang Kun, and the connection is even somewhat far-fetched, Chu Xiuwen's intuition has clearly shifted, and he has a vague guess.

When Chu Xiuwen discovered that the "Many-Armed Monster" seen by Xiang Kun and Old Master Guo when they were dying of heart attacks, as well as the "multi-armed monster" seen by several criminal suspects as mentioned by Old Xu, his understanding of the world had already been shaken once, and he is still in a state of uncertainty, doubt, and contemplation.

This vague speculation further challenged his traditional understanding built up over decades, giving him moments of disbelief that the world was not quite real, and moments of doubt that he might be suffering from paranoia.

Even after Liu Caifu received a call from Xiang Kun, telling him that although Xiang Kun and Dr. Xia went into the mountains last night, they came out very early. They only stayed at the Research Base construction site for a while, but were trapped by the heavy rain, so they didn't return until almost dawn, Chu Xiuwen still had a question mark in his mind.

However, Chu Xiuwen did not tell Liu Caifu or anyone else about his conjectures and doubts. First, his conjectures were too exaggerated; second, he had no substantial evidence; and third, regardless of whether his conjectures were true or not, telling others would only do more harm than good.

He decided to go back and contact Qi Haoguo again to test the waters. Judging from the guy's series of actions and the multi-armed wooden carving in his new Tongshi Town, he should know more than he did.

Compared to Chu Xiuwen, Liu Caifu's thoughts were much simpler. He breathed a sigh of relief upon learning that Xiang Kun was alright.

But he also noticed that Chu Xiuwen was acting strangely. Ever since the Liu brothers returned from the mountains and learned that the two fugitives had been struck by lightning, "Brother Chu" had been preoccupied. People who didn't know the situation might have thought that he had some kind of relationship with those two fugitives.

As for the Liu brothers, Liu Zhengyi and Liu Gaoshang, they were initially very excited because they received a promise from the police that the information and clues they provided were very important and directly helped the police find the two fugitives. Although the two fugitives were eventually struck by lightning and killed, they would still receive the majority of the reward money.

Then they learned from Liu Caifu that Mr. Xiang had been stranded at the construction site last night due to the rain.

On the way back to his own home after leaving Liu Caifu's house, Liu Gaoshang couldn't help but say:

"Mr. Xiang. Xiang was lucky. Otherwise, if they had really been in the mountains, whether they had encountered those two fugitives or that lightning storm, they would have been finished. Brother, why didn't Mr. Xiang go into the mountains to take pictures and do research during the day? Why did he have to go at night in this terrible weather? And that Dr. Xia, such a delicate and beautiful woman, also came into the mountains with him... Brother, do you think Mr. Xiang has some kind of special fetish? Does he just like to have sex in harsh environments...?"

Before he could finish speaking, Liu Zhengyi slapped him on the head and cursed, "Watch your mouth!"

Liu Gaoshang rubbed his head, stunned, and asked, "Brother, you really hit me?"

Liu Zhengyi lowered his voice and said, "Don't you understand that loose lips sink ships? Show some respect to Mr. Xiang! Don't forget we're going to be working for him later!"

Liu Gaoshang glanced back and then left and right. They were walking on a bumpy path, and there was no one around. The nearest house was dozens of meters away. He said to his brother with a pained expression, "Mr. Xiang isn't here. I'm not stupid; I won't say anything to him..."

"With your personality, what if you let something slip? You'd better show some respect for Mr. Xiang from the bottom of your heart." Liu Zhengyi glared at him and said. Although he was much shorter than his younger brother, his aura was completely opposite. Moreover, Liu Gaoshang had been crushed by him since childhood, and had long since developed a high degree of obedience.

Liu Gaoshang nodded, but still didn't quite understand. He muttered under his breath, "Brother, aren't you... a little too... Mr. Xiang know?" In his memory, his brother was very domineering and had never treated anyone like this. Even when he was eagerly trying to get along with Liu Feibao, the two brothers still gossiped a lot about Liu Feibao and other "big shots" in private.