My Life with Narration

Chapter 401 - 397: The End of the Line

"What exactly happened, say something!" Li Zijun asked while driving.

Su Qing, sitting in the passenger seat, was visibly restless, his expression full of seriousness.

Was Zhang Guoxin close to him? Naturally, he wasn’t, but since the narrator had hinted at him, he felt he should change this worst possible outcome.

Maybe he was too young, too inexperienced, and Zhang Heng, the murderer, left a deep impression on him.

This was a person who was pitiable, helpless, and even tragic.

In his thirties, with nothing to his name, betrayed in marriage, a loved one indirectly caused to death, mocked, and finally even his child’s last veil of decency was torn away.

Then, even after being caught for murder, he still condemned himself with conscience, even considering ending it all.

Even the narrator had hinted that he wasn’t dangerous to strangers, meaning that to outsiders that night, he seemed very dangerous, but only he knew he was absolutely safe.

Zhang Heng had chosen to trust him initially, so now he wanted to try his best to change this outcome.

[Turn left 300 meters ahead]

"Turn left at the next intersection," Su Qing said, glancing at the time on his phone, his face full of tension, because three minutes had already passed.

He didn’t have much time left.

Hearing this, Li Zijun pressed the accelerator as much as he could, but this was, after all, a city, so he couldn’t go very fast.

After he rushed out and didn’t see Zhang Guoxin’s figure, he took Li Zijun to drive after him.

"Can’t you say anything, are you dumb?"

"I need to find Zhang Guoxin, go straight ahead!" Su Qing spoke.

"Zhang Guoxin? Didn’t he just leave? He’s already gone on a motorcycle, can’t you just call him? Why go chasing after him?"

Shen Yi said, reaching for her phone to ask.

"Watch the road, drive!!" Suddenly, Su Qing shouted, startling her.

"Why are you shouting!"

"Listen to me, hurry up, I have something urgent and need to see him!" Su Qing quickly said.

There was no way he could explain it to them, he couldn’t just say Zhang Guoxin was going to have a car accident. If he said that, it would be impossible to explain later.

The only way now was to find him within ten minutes, and with his intervention as a variable, he could help him avoid this disaster.

Moreover, he believed he had this ability.

"You’re being all mysterious again, I really can’t deal with you!" Li Zijun rolled her eyes at him, then focused on driving.

Although Li Zijun didn’t know why, she still chose to give him the utmost trust. Anything else could be discussed later, what if it was really something urgent?

She wasn’t like those women in idol dramas, who would get more inquisitive the more anxious someone was, not letting them leave until everything was clear.

She would inquire, but it wouldn’t delay her action, and seeing Su Qing’s expression, she even managed to temporarily suppress her curiosity.

Quickly, under Li Zijun’s superb driving skills, the two of them weaved through the city streets, with his directions, they were gradually narrowing the distance between them and Zhang Guoxin.

"Slow down, slow down, slow down the riding!" Su Qing muttered as he looked at the time on his phone and still saw no sign of him.

[Turn right 100 meters ahead, go straight for 200 meters, and you’ll encounter Zhang Guoxin!]

Finally, when less than a minute was left, the narrator’s prompt finally gave the final reminder.

But at the same time, Li Zijun hit the brakes; it was a red light, and their car stopped in the middle of the road, surrounded by other cars.

"Shit!!" Su Qing cursed, flinging open the car door, and before Li Zijun could react, he dashed out.

meters, one minute, it seemed like a lot of time, but even a world record takes half a minute, and that’s on a track, while he had to run through a vehicle-filled street.

Fortunately, he didn’t have to run all 300 meters, as long as he could catch Zhang Guoxin’s attention.

With this in mind, he sprinted at full speed, the light drizzle having turned to a steady rain, with a tendency to get heavier, accompanied by the cold wind, and Su Qing dashed through the empty street.

In less than 20 seconds, he reached the junction a hundred meters ahead, continuing to look for Zhang Guoxin while running.

But he couldn’t find him, he was nowhere in sight.

"Where is he, where is he? The narrator said he’d be here, so he must be here!"

With this thought, he summoned all his strength to keep running forward. Finally, after running more than another hundred meters, he saw a figure on a motorcycle slowly coming from the right-front junction.

"Stop! Stop, dammit, stop!" Su Qing shouted while running.

But the sound of rain, the wind, and Zhang Guoxin being on a motorcycle combined to drown out his voice, making it powerless.

As he shouted while running, a medium-sized box van emerged from the other end of the road where Su Qing was; since there were no cars on the road, it was moving fast.

In an instant, he realized his target. He waved to signal the box van to stop, shouting to get Zhang Guoxin to hear him.

"Stop!!" His voice cracked as he screamed, finally catching the attention of Zhang Guoxin on the motorcycle.

By this time, Su Qing had almost completed the 300 meters, with Zhang Guoxin across the street.

Seeing that Zhang Guoxin finally noticed him, Su Qing was about to smile, but then he was horrified to see that Zhang had indeed noticed him, but his hand on the throttle hadn’t loosened, and the motorcycle was still moving forward.

’Screeeech~~’

A sharp and piercing sound of brakes echoed through the air.

With a ’bang,’ the vehicles collided.

The motorcycle and Zhang Guoxin’s body were directly hit and flung into the air, tracing an arc in front of his eyes.

In an instant, Su Qing’s mind went blank, his pupils contracting, as if time around him had slowed down. He seemed to see Old Zhang’s expression in mid-air and the blood petals that had yet to fall.

At the same time, he slipped, losing his balance completely, and fell heavily to the ground, splashing water.

Before he could lift his head, a series of collision sounds followed, along with the sound of the motorcycle skidding on the ground.

When he looked up again, the truck had already crashed into a nearby streetlight. Zhang Guoxin and the motorcycle had been flung at least 20 meters away, slowly staining the ground bright red.

Hoo~~

The cold wind swept over, rain sliding down his face, his clothes already soaked through. He slowly got up, somewhat dazed, murmuring, "No way, I’ve already caught his attention, I’m the variable, should have changed something, he’s noticed me already, he’s already noticed me!"

Stumbling as he got to his feet, he jogged over towards Zhang Guoxin. When he saw Old Zhang lying motionless on the ground, with a large pool of blood beneath him, a strong sense of defeat overwhelmed him.

He had thought that with the narrative at his side, in some sense, he was a ’god’ who could alter a person’s fate, and so he came.

But even though he knew in advance what was going to happen, he still couldn’t change the outcome.

This was the first time since having the narrative that he knew the outcome and wanted to change it, yet he failed.

Two minutes later, Li Zijun found him as she drove up. Upon seeing the accident scene, she exploded, her eyes reddening, but in the next second, she saw a familiar figure crouching in front of a person covered in blood.

"Wake up, wake up, call 120, call the police!" Su Qing shouted. The driver was also beside him. After a brief reaction, due to the model of the car, the driver finally came to his senses, hurriedly getting out to check. Upon seeing Old Zhang, the middle-aged driver was stunned, only snapping out of it after being shouted at.

At this moment, Zhang Guoxin’s abdomen was pierced by a piece of glass, spewing a massive amount of blood, impossible to cover, his bones obviously shattered beyond count.

Blood was coming from his mouth and nose, possibly from bones piercing his internal organs.

In this state, he didn’t even dare to move him, afraid of causing further injury.

"Off...officer...please...don’t tell...my son..."

On the brink of death, Zhang Guoxin saw him, blood bubbling from his mouth as he spoke, but before he could answer, he lost consciousness.

"Are you okay, are you okay?"

At this moment, Li Zijun rushed over, pulling him up. Seeing him covered in mud, bloodstains on his body and hands, she hurriedly asked.

"Sister Jun, I’m... okay, he..."

Hearing he was okay, Li Zijun hugged him tightly.

"Why did you run, you scared me to death!"

Then she pushed him away and crouched down to check Zhang Guoxin’s injuries. A glance was enough to know that the chance of survival was slim.

"I have an umbrella in the car, don’t move him lightly, did you call 120?"

Su Qing nodded and quickly went to get the umbrella. Soon, many vehicles gathered around and some kind-hearted people got out to help.

After a while, under Li Zijun’s calmness, the traffic police and the ambulance all arrived at the scene.

Despite being surprised by Zhang Guoxin’s fate and why Su Qing was in such a hurry to find him, Li Zijun had no time to ask until the ambulance took the person away. Only then did she return to the car.

Though she couldn’t say she was deeply saddened, witnessing someone die right before her eyes was a huge shock, especially with such gruesome injuries.

He was so close to succeeding. If only there hadn’t been that red light, if only he’d run a bit faster, if only his voice had been a little louder.

This was his first time witnessing death, though it had nothing to do with him, the disappointment of having had a chance but not succeeding hit him hard.

"Sister Jun, he..."

Li Zijun shook her head without speaking, and Su Qing fell silent.

The rain outside poured down harder, reaching a heavy downpour, pattering against the car with loud bangs.

After a long while, he finally spoke, "The Zhang family, does this mean it’s wiped out now?"

At that moment, he felt a little sorry for Zhang Heng. How pathetic to let a woman ruin his whole family!

"Don’t overthink it, it has nothing to do with you. We did our best. I’ll take you home; take a hot shower and get a good night’s sleep, got it?"

The moment these words fell, a narrative sounded in Su Qing’s mind.

[The honest and simple Zhang Guoxin’s heartbeat stopped on the ambulance. Before dying, he was still worried about his son. Not having a parent bury their child was the only consolation.]

Hearing the narrative prompt, he knew that the honest, simple old man was gone.

"Mm, I know," Su Qing nodded and smiled.

"You, don’t be scared, take a bath and sleep. Turn the page on this. Don’t carry any psychological burden. We, as criminal police, encounter similar things often," Li Zijun, seeing he wasn’t in high spirits, hastily reassured him, fearing any psychological shadow would be left on him.

Though she was still a woman, just a few years older than him, her first thought in such a situation was to comfort her younger brother.

"Sister Jun, don’t you want to know why I was in such a hurry to find him?"

"Why would I want to know that? As long as you’re okay, don’t worry, let’s go, I’ll take you back!"

"Alright!"

...