Chapter 40

Bloodstone 5, Car Accident

After spending some more time with Emma, Anger checked the time; it was almost nine o'clock. He stood up, called Mofei, and said they should head back.

Mofei frowned slightly, “Are you really planning to walk back now?”

Anger just smiled.

“Didn’t you come by car?” Emma asked.

“Uh... right,” Mofei nodded.

An elderly lady nearby spoke up, “It’s better not to walk back at this hour. There have been quite a few incidents of pedestrians being hit by cars lately.”

Emma looked at Anger with understanding and shook her head, “Anger, you shouldn’t risk your and Mofei’s lives like this.”

After hearing this, Anger thought for a moment and said, “Then, we'll stay the night.”

Mo Fei looked at him and said, "It's not a problem." After a moment's thought, he asked Emma, "Does the sanatorium have a car we could borrow?"

"Oh, you can use my car," Emma said cheerfully. "It's a small one, I hardly use it." With that, she went upstairs to fetch the keys for Mo Fei and the others.

Emma's car, a tiny Beetle, was indeed suitable for the elderly. Mo Fei and Angel, along with Ace, got into the car, bid farewell to Emma and a few other elderly ladies who came to see them off, and drove away.

As the car slowly left the sanatorium, Mo Fei asked Angel, "Should we stake out somewhere to see if that car appears?"

Touching his nose, Angel replied, "No need, let's just head back to the gallery."

Mo Fei turned to look at him and asked, "Aren't you interested in the ghost car?"

Leaning back in his seat, Angel muttered nonchalantly, "Tired."

Mo Fei said nothing more and continued driving back, when suddenly...

There was a loud "bang" of a violent collision ahead, followed by the screeching of brakes and the sound of something heavy falling into water.

Mo Fei was momentarily startled and exchanged a glance with Angel. He accelerated, driving quickly forward. As they turned onto the main road, they saw an old, blue, battered truck skewing off into the distance, disappearing into the vast night.

"The bridge railing is broken," Angel pointed out, directing Mo Fei's attention to the damaged part of the bridge. Mo Fei immediately steered the car towards it. They both got out, and Ace leaped out of the car window too. Mo Fei and Angel ran to the edge of the bridge and saw a silver-grey sedan in the water, slowly sinking.

Through the rear window, a small hand seemed to be tapping on the glass.

"There's someone inside," Angel had just finished speaking when Mo Fei grabbed a tire iron from the car and shed his coat.

"What are you doing?" Angel asked Mo Fei.

"Wait here," Mo Fei said, holding the iron, and jumped into the river.

"Mo Fei!" Angel stood on the bank, watching as Mo Fei swam towards the car, gestured for the person inside to move back, then smashed the car window with the iron. Simultaneously, the car suddenly sank rapidly. Mo Fei took a deep breath and dove in after it.

Angel watched from the bank. After a moment, a few bubbles surfaced on the lake, then all was calm again.

"Mo Fei," Angel called out, knowing it was futile at this moment but unable to help himself.

Just then, two dog barks echoed from nearby. Angel turned to see Ace barking at him from the edge of the bridge. In front of Ace was a small mound leading under the bridge. Angel hurried over and, knowing his own lack of balance, simply slid down. Ace followed, running down to the riverbank and barking towards the water.

"Mo Fei!" Angel shouted on the riverbank, but the surface of the river remained eerily still.

At that moment, Angel spotted a farmhouse in the nearby field. After a brief pause, he yelled towards it, "Is anyone there?"

Ace dashed into the field, barking furiously at the farmhouse. His barks soon echoed through the village, inciting most of the dogs there to join in. Before long, lights in several houses flickered on.

Just then, a light illuminated a nearby shack. An elderly man ran out, saw Angel, and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Someone's fallen into the water!" Angel had barely finished speaking when a splashing sound erupted from the river.

Whirling around, he saw Mo Fei breaking the surface, gasping for air, cradling a coughing little girl in his arms. The girl appeared to be only about four or five years old.

"Mo Fei!" Angel exclaimed with relief. The old man who had run up behind him also saw this and shouted, "Oh no, someone's fallen in the water!" While saying this, he ran back to fetch a gong, ringing it as he ran towards the distant area, shouting, "Someone's fallen in the water!" His commotion lit up the lights in the distant row of village houses. Many people rushed over. Mo Fei, with the little girl, swam to the shore. Angel reached out to take the girl from him. Mo Fei climbed ashore, utterly exhausted, and sat on the bank, panting.

"How is it?" Angel asked.

Mo Fei shook his head and said, "There was a man and a woman in the front seat, but it seems they're already dead."

At that moment, many villagers rushed to the scene. Some called the police, while others dived into the water for a rescue effort. Several excellent swimmers dove in, but when they resurfaced, they shook their heads, saying, "The front of the car is completely smashed. There’s no hope for survival."

Soon, the police arrived. The officer in charge of the area, Officer Huang Yuan, recognized Angel. While directing divers to retrieve the car, he asked Angel, "How come you're here?"

Angel was busy drying Mo Fei's hair with a blanket. The medical team had already wrapped the little girl in a blanket and were taking her to the ambulance.

"We were just passing by," Angel explained. "We saw a blue truck."

"Another blue truck," Officer Huang muttered, rubbing his head. "This is the fifth case already... and still no clues."

"We heard about it from a taxi driver on our way here," Mo Fei added. "But wasn't it supposed to only hit pedestrians? Why would it hit a car this time?"

Officer Huang shook his head. "I don't know either..."

Angel, watching the little girl sitting dazed in the ambulance, suddenly asked, "Mo Fei... doesn’t she look familiar to you?"

Mofei paused, looked carefully, and after a moment’s thought, said, "Uh? We were just at Emma’s place... I think."

"She was holding a teddy bear, sitting on a stone bench next to an old lady, with a young man and woman by her side, probably her parents," Angel recalled. "They were in a silver-grey sedan. They must have left just a bit before us."

"So, you mean visiting the elderly at the sanatorium?" Mo Fei frowned.

Angell pondered for a moment, then asked Huang Yuan, "Do you have all the information on the previous victims?"

Huang Yuan nodded and said, "I didn't bring it with me. I'll give it to Os after we get back. This case has been escalated to a serial murder, and Os should be in charge now."

Angell nodded without saying more. Mo Fei sneezed, and Angell quickly reached out to him, saying, "Let's head back for now... We can discuss the rest tomorrow."

"Alright," Huang Yuan agreed, patting Mo Fei on the shoulder. "Thanks to you, that young girl's life was saved."

Mo Fei smiled and walked with Angell towards the bridge. Glancing back, he saw the little girl still sitting naively in the ambulance, looking up at him and Angell, her face expressionless.

Then, the two opened the car door and headed back to the gallery.

Shivering from the cold, Mo Fei took a hot shower and then went to the kitchen to make ginger tea.

Wearing a black sweater, Angell sauntered down the stairs, stopped at the kitchen doorway, and wrinkled his nose, remarking, "That smells quite strong."

"You should have some too," Mo Fei said. "Ginger tea helps prevent colds."

Angell lingered at the kitchen doorway, then walked in, hands in pockets, to stand beside Mo Fei.

"Aren't you cold?" Mo Fei asked, noticing Angell's light clothing. "You should wait in the room."

As Angell gazed out the window, Mo Fei sensed he had something on his mind and asked, "What's up?"

After a moment's thought, Angell said, "If we had walked back instead of borrowing the car, we would have left earlier than that family. It might have been us who got hit."

Mo Fei chuckled and replied, "But we didn’t walk back, did we?"

Angell nodded and added, "And because of that, we were able to save that little girl."

"Exactly," agreed Mo Fei with a nod.

Angell gave a slight smile, pondered for a moment, then turned to go upstairs.

Once Mo Fei finished brewing the ginger tea, he used the extra ginger juice to knead some flour and made a few ginger sugar cookies. Carrying the tea and cookies, he went upstairs. After looking around the room and not finding Angell, he noticed that the light in the studio was on.

He entered the studio and, as expected, found Angell painting, with Ace lying obediently at his feet.

This time, Angell was working on a long, cartoonish or sketch-like watercolor scroll that almost resembled reality. From the doorway, Mo Fei could see the canvas divided into many panels, each depicting a blue truck under the night sky, veering off into the distance. When viewed sequentially, it gave the impression of the truck driving further away, gradually disappearing into the night... as if the scene Mo Fei had just witnessed was vividly recreated.

Standing at the door, Mo Fei watched Angell finish painting before saying, "It's very lifelike." Angell turned, saw Mo Fei, and gestured him over, "Come have some ginger tea first."

As Angell approached the door, he remarked, "What happened to that little girl is truly tragic... Did you notice earlier?"

"Yes," Mo Fei nodded. "She was wearing a cute dress, and the doll in her hand was interesting... She seemed very close to her parents."

"Her parents must have adored her," Angell said. "There’s nothing more heartbreaking than losing those who love you the most... The elderly lady they were visiting is equally pitiable."

Mo Fei nodded and added, "For her, losing her loved ones must be the worst... Fortunately, a child was spared."

"Emma will probably call tomorrow," Angell said, setting down his cup of ginger tea and walking out the door to pick up a coat hanging behind it.

"Are you going out?" Mo Fei asked.

"Yes," nodded Angler, "to make a deal."

"A deal?" Mofei quickly changed his clothes, and Ace insisted on accompanying the two of them, so the trio set out.

The direction in which Angler was hurrying led to an auction house.

"Are you going to get the car?" Mofei asked.

Angler smiled and replied, "Yes, and also to meet Mr. Thief."