Diagnosis: Friend [Rebirth] - Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Footsteps were approaching. Based on the sound, there were roughly seven or eight people.

Inside the haystack, it was pitch black. One couldn’t see a thing, which made the sense of hearing exceptionally keen. The people outside were slowly closing in on the pile. The man-high stack of straw, leaning against a thick tree trunk, had previously gone unnoticed.

Until a dog barked.

The man in the lead looked up, shining his flashlight as he walked toward the dog. He picked up the small black puppy; the dog nuzzled his hand for a second or two before continuing to bark insistently in a specific direction.

A few meters away stood the haystack.

The man stroked the dog, a sinister grin spreading across his face, the tattoos on his shoulders quivering. “Good dog.”

Several people, clutching flashlights and steel pipes, approached the haystack. One of them raised his weapon, ready to smash it into the pile, but the man stopped him. Suddenly, the sound of a phone vibrating rang out. They fished out their phones only to find it wasn’t theirs. Their gazes converged on the haystack, and they began to snicker like hunters who had cornered big game.

A rustle came from inside the straw. Jiang Qing pulled out Gu Yining’s phone; the caller ID showed “Tan Baozhu.”

Gu Yining declined the call.

In the faint glow of the phone screen, Gu Yining put a finger to her lips, signaling “shh.” She shook her head gently, indicating that Jiang Qing should stay put. Then, she kicked aside the straw at the entrance and crept out. Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced back at the hole; Jiang Qing was hidden deep enough that she couldn’t be seen from the outside.

Before Gu Yining could even stand fully upright, a gust of wind rushed at her from behind. She ducked to the side, and the cold edge of a steel pipe whistled past her eyes. As the boy holding the pipe prepared to lung forward again, the man suddenly cleared his throat, and the others halted their movements.

The man said, “Kneel down and kowtow to Rongrong. When she’s satisfied, I’ll let you go.”

Gu Yining looked up, her dark pupils fixing on Li Rong, who stood behind the man.

Li Rong had a man’s jacket draped over her shoulders. Hearing this, she tilted her chin up. Meeting Gu Yining’s cold gaze, she felt a momentary surge of panic, but then she remembered how many people were standing by her side while Gu Yining was alone. She regained her arrogance. “Letting you kneel is going easy on you. Make sure those kowtows sound loud. If I’m happy, maybe I’ll let you off.”

Gu Yining laughed softly. “Just a few kowtows? Such a small thing. Is it really worth such a big production, Sister Rongrong?”

Li Rong raised her flashlight to shine it directly at Gu Yining.

Worth it? Of course it was worth it. She had suffered at Gu Yining’s hands several times. If she didn’t give her a brutal beating, the resentment in her heart would never fade. The piercing light of the flashlight flickered over Gu Yining’s face; the girl looked devastatingly beautiful in the chaotic light. Several people nearby were clearly dazed for a moment. Li Rong narrowed her eyes. “Come over and start kowtowing. If you’re too late, I’m taking the offer back.”

Gu Yining lowered her head and walked toward Li Rong.

Suddenly, the sharp, urgent wail of a siren rang out. It seemed to come from not far away, piercing through the dense woods and circling the ears of the group, instantly causing a wave of whispers.

“Boss, maybe we should pull out. The feds are here!”

The man frowned, turned, and grabbed the speaker by the collar, spitting in his face: “Didn’t we search her phone? Which bastard called the cops! Fuck!”

Having finished, the man looked at Li Rong. She glanced back at him. “Maybe they aren’t here for us. This area is a mess; what’s a little siren noise? If you’re that cowardly, then get lost. I am definitely giving this girl a lesson today—”

Before she could finish, someone kicked her hard in the waist. Li Rong collapsed, and the steel pipe in her hand clattered to the ground. “F*ck! *** you, Gu Yining, you’re asking for death!”

Gu Yining leaped to grab the pipe from the ground and spun around to swing at the man attacking from behind. The pipes collided with a sharp, piercing clang.

Hearing the sirens getting closer, a few of the more cowardly ones took advantage of the chaos to slip away.

Li Rong scrambled up from the ground and spat out a mouthful of bloody water. “Useless trash!” Seeing a boy standing there dazed, she snatched the pipe from his hand and swung it at Gu Yining.

The boy saw his companions leaving and realized this was a golden opportunity to prove himself, but since his weapon had been taken, he looked around frantically until he spotted a brick on the ground.

Gu Yining seemed to sense something and dodged to the side. The steel pipe swung straight toward the man in front; he raised his hand to block it, jarring Li Rong back. In the confusion, Gu Yining found an opening and landed a kick on her.

Li Rong fell backward with a thud onto the haystack. As she struggled to rise, a pair of warm hands clamped around her neck. A cold blade pressed against her pulsing artery; with a slight slip, a thin line of blood appeared on her neck.

She didn’t dare move again.

Jiang Qing supported Li Rong as she stood up, her grip never loosening for a second.

The remaining men were surrounding Gu Yining. Flashlights lay on the ground, casting cold, silver light off the steel pipes.

Jiang Qing shouted, “Nobody move, or I’ll kill her!”

Her voice wasn’t loud—it sounded like a block of ice dropping into water, somewhat muffled, yet exceptionally authoritative.

The men turned to look at her and saw the prominent red line on Li Rong’s snowy-white neck. Teenagers are prone to impulse, especially when dealing with a girl who looks weak and clearly doesn’t know how to fight or show restraint; it’s easy for things to turn fatal. Thus, the men attacking Gu Yining stopped.

Gu Yining looked toward Jiang Qing, her throat bobbing.

Jiang Qing was holding a small knife, trembling as she pressed it against Li Rong’s neck. Fearing that Jiang Qing might impulsively end a life, Gu Yining moved to run to her side.

Before she could take a single step—a heavy thud echoed from the back of her head.

Immediately followed by a clatter as a mud-stained brick rolled across the ground.

Behind Gu Yining, the boy remained in his stance, holding the air where the brick had been. Crimson blood began to pour onto the ground. The boy suddenly realized he had caused a disaster and turned, trembling, to the man for help: “Boss…”

The man gritted his teeth. “Who the fuck told you to hit someone in the head with a brick! Fuck! Someone’s gonna die! Run! What are you standing there for!”

The police sirens suddenly blared louder as people burst into the woods. Li Rong froze in place as the person behind her had already flown toward the stiff, kneeling girl on the ground.

Scalding blood ran down her cheek in a steady stream.

Gu Yining didn’t seem to understand the situation yet; she only felt that her head was as heavy as a lump of iron. Her mind was buzzing chaotically as she stared down at the dark red liquid on her hands.

Her kneeling posture couldn’t support her body, and she began to fall forward.

She was caught in a warm, familiar embrace.

Screams and chaos intertwined. The dying girl lay in a trembling embrace; cold tears splashed onto Gu Yining, diluting the blood on her skin slightly, only for it to be covered again by fresh blood. That wash of red could not be wiped away.

Gu Yining wanted to look up at that person, but her head was so heavy. She used all her strength but couldn’t manage the movement. She hit the person’s chest with all her weight.

Suddenly, she began to cry silently.

“Qingqing, it hurts… it hurts so much…”

Zhou Xuening finished her meeting and pushed open her office door. She immediately saw two file envelopes on her desk.

She closed and locked the door behind her. Sitting at the desk, she massaged her aching temples, her gaze lingering on the yellow covers of the envelopes. After a long moment, she sat up straight and began to open one of them.

The paper was covered in dense text. Zhou Xuening scanned directly to the most important data.

The DNA report results matched the investigation—just as expected—yet her breath hitched for an instant. Her fingertips traced the smooth paper. She sat with her head half-bowed, lost in thought.

After an unknown amount of time, her hand began to ache from holding the report. She stood up and fed the thin sheets into the shredder. The machine buzzed as it pulled the paper in with powerful force.

She hadn’t looked at the second file yet.

That answer was also expected. Zhou Xuening didn’t look particularly excited; she simply found Gu Shao’s contact info on her phone and dialed. Her voice was much softer than when she was working: “Are you coming back today? I have something very important to tell you.”

When the call ended, her eyes swept over her call logs and she noticed several missed calls from the same person. There was also a message.

She had called the police immediately and headed to the address Jiang Qing had sent. However, the area was vast, with winding paths and abandoned structures. By the time they found Jiang Qing, the incident had already happened.

Jiang Qing was holding a girl covered in blood; Zhou Xuening guessed it was Gu Yining. The police immediately contacted the emergency center. Within twenty minutes, the ambulance arrived, and paramedics worked together to lift the injured girl inside.

Jiang Qing got in immediately. Zhou Xuening, looking at the girl’s blood-stained palms, followed her in. The paramedics were performing emergency measures; Gu Yining let out occasional moans of unbearable pain.

Zhou Xuening remembered back in the woods, while waiting for the ambulance, the girl had broken down in tears, calling Gu Yining’s name over and over. Tears fell like broken strings of pearls. Her whole body had been shaking with sobs.

Now, she was clearly much calmer.

The girl sat on a low stool in the back, her elbows on her knees and her hands clasped in front of her lips as if in prayer. Tears continued to fall from her eyes. She stared intently at the girl lying there, her eyelashes trembling along with her body.

Zhou Xuening reached out to pat her back, whispering: “Don’t worry. She will pull through.”

They reached the hospital quickly, and Gu Yining was rushed into the operating room. Zhou Xuening called Gu Shao, telling him to come to the hospital immediately. When the call ended, she turned to find the girl staring at her.

The girl’s face was deathly pale from the tears, her lips devoid of color. Beneath eyelashes wet with tears, her dark pupils locked onto Zhou Xuening. “Didn’t you promise me you’d send someone to protect her?”

She spoke without expression, yet two more lines of tears fell.

“I’m sorry.” Zhou Xuening felt a sourness in her throat. She blinked, meeting the girl’s gaze. “I did, but something urgent came up two days ago and I recalled them. I didn’t think this would happen.”

After a moment of silence, the girl wiped the tears from her chin and suddenly asked: “Is the DNA report out?”

Zhou Xuening’s breath hitched. “It’s out. The Gu family is coming. They will use the best medical resources to save her. Don’t worry.”

The girl stopped looking at her and looked up at the red “In Surgery” sign above the door. Her eyes were stinging. As she blinked, Zhou Xuening stood in front of her, blocking her view.