I didn't need to turn around to know that the three trucks chasing us had already rushed down the cliff side by side. One of them was facing us from behind, and the other two should be flanking us from the left and right.
Monk Shi shouted as he ran: "The car behind us is coming, what should we do?"
"Follow me!" I drew out the Rakshasa and barely opened my eyes amid the flying sand and rocks, then chopped at the lock behind the car door.
The ordinary iron lock could not withstand the sharpness of the Rakshasa, and after the flash of the knife, the iron lock broke. However, the door of the cargo compartment did not open instantly as I expected, and remained tightly closed.
It's bad! Someone doesn't want us to get on the bus! I ran after him for a few meters, then suddenly jumped into the air and kicked the car several times with both feet: "Open the door quickly!"
Although I was fast, my internal energy was eventually exhausted. After kicking out more than ten times, the internal energy I had built up was no longer enough to support me moving forward in the air, and I had to fall back to the ground.
At the same time, Shi Heshang also shouted loudly: "Hurry up and retreat, the car is catching up!"
At this time, the trucks coming down from the left and right sides were already approaching the rear of the car in front. Just as Shi Heshang and I were about to move to the left or right, the cars that were catching up behind us squeezed in the middle at the same time. The front of the two cars pressed against the rear of the car in front with a loud bang, squeezing Shi Heshang and me into the narrow space.
Before Shi Heshang and I could retreat, a suffocating pressure suddenly hit us from behind - it was a sign that the car behind us was approaching. If we didn't leave this space surrounded by three sides, we would soon be squeezed into the carriage that had not been opened until now, and crushed into meat patties.
As I continued to move forward, I raised my head and looked at the roof of the carriage. There were already several hideous figures on it. The clothes they were wearing were entangled in five clearly visible wooden sticks and were blown wildly by the wind. The people we brought here have become human-headed puppets? Chen Hanxing and the others failed to stop them
Monk Shi shouted angrily: "Zhaozi, you go first, I will cover you! Quick-"
"Wait a minute..." I just shouted three words, and the door of the carriage in front of me suddenly opened, and two pairs of white hands stretched out from the car at the same time: "Hurry! Get in the car!"
"Let's go—" I took a deep breath and ran forward without even looking at who the other person was. I held her hand and rushed into the car.
As my feet touched the edge of the car, I heard the other person suddenly scream and threw herself into my arms—Guan Qingyan!
The person who held me was Guan Qingyan. She wanted to pull me into the car, but she couldn't bear my weight, so I pulled her over instead. I just reached the point where my strength was exhausted and there was no place to use my strength. Even if I wanted to push her back, it was too late. I could only shout, "Let go!"
If Guan Qingyan let go, I would fall under the car, but she would still have a chance to return to the car. What I didn't expect was that Guan Qingyan actually hugged my neck at that moment, so there was no other outcome for the two of us except falling under the car together.
Just as I leaned back, Nangong Ling, who was standing next to Guan Qingyan, suddenly reached out and grabbed my sleeve, threw me and Guan Qingyan into the car together.
When I fell into the car holding Guan Qingyan, I instinctively pushed my toes on the ground and flipped my body in the air, sending Guan Qingyan, who was originally facing away from the car, onto the top. I fell on my back and hit my head heavily on the car.
"Wu Zhao, you..." Guan Qingyan screamed and stood up. Suddenly, there was another violent shock from behind the car. Guan Qingyan, who had already stood up, fell on me again, and her forehead just hit my lips. When the salty and hot blood poured into my mouth, Guan Qingyan stood up in a hurry: "Wu Zhao, are you okay?"
I didn't have time to say anything to Guan Qingyan. I pushed her aside and looked towards the door. The door of the carriage had been shut tightly at some point. Shi Heshang, who looked expressionless, and Nangong Ling, who was biting her lips, were standing on either side of the carriage, neither of them willing to speak.
At this time, I also clearly felt that the car had slowed down and was slowly moving forward. Now the five trucks had reached the bottom of the slope and were moving along the open space towards the distant building.
I was listening to the noise outside the car, but Guan Qingyan, who was standing next to me, whispered, "Wu Zhao, there's blood coming out of the back of your head."
I reached out and touched the back of my head, only to find that it was indeed covered in blood. Guan Qingyan carefully handed me a handkerchief: "Wipe it off!"
"No need." I turned and looked at Chen Lei, "Sir, should we talk?"
Chen Lei narrowed his eyes and asked, "What does Mr. Wu mean?"
I looked at him and said, "Should I call you 'Chen Lei' or 'Human-headed Wooden Buddha'?"
"Ah—" Guan Qingyan, who was closest to Chen Lei, screamed in fear and hid near me. I gently pushed her behind me and looked directly at Chen Lei: "You still don't want to say anything now?"
Chen Lei laughed and said, "I am Miaokong, a poor monk. I have dealt with Ning Nitian several times before. Seeing Ning Nitian's successor again after hundreds of years can be considered a fate between him and me. I can only say that Ning Nitian's successor is indeed not a mediocre person. I am just very curious, how did you find out my identity?"
I said in a deep voice, "From the beginning, I never trusted you. According to common sense, you should be the first one to die at the hands of the evil spirit of Shenmu Temple without anyone to protect you. But you survived and waited for us to show up at the right time. Don't you think this process is too coincidental?"
Miaokong answered irrelevantly: "What I need to remind you is that you can call us wood spirits or wood souls, but don't call us demon spirits."
I continued, "So, after I saved you, I tried to test you once. I deliberately chopped your head with the knife in the warehouse just to test your reaction."
I pointed to my nose and said, "I just didn't expect that you would be willing to give me your nose."
Miaokong smiled faintly and said, "It's just a shell, it's not mine, why would you be reluctant to part with it? But I'm curious, if I hadn't dodged at that time, would you have chopped me down with your sword?"
"Yes!" I looked at him with a half-smile, "I'm not good enough at wielding a knife, but I will definitely chop off your head with one blow, and I won't regret it. Killing you can at least help me eliminate some of my doubts, right?"
Miaokong nodded and said, "That's right! Ning Nitian's style of doing things, 'not to let the world betray me', has indeed been passed down from generation to generation. You clearly know that I am a wood spirit, why did you still take me back?"
"You have been refusing to show up, isn't it because you want me to send you back?" I asked, and then said, "A few months ago, you escaped from Chen Hanxing by luck, but you didn't dare to easily reveal your whereabouts. You keep committing murders and drawing everyone's attention to Miss Guan, just to find the right opportunity to return to Shenmu Temple."
"It's a pity that Chen Hanxing has been dealing with you for too long. He has been guarding the area near Shenmu Temple, making it difficult for you to cross the line. That's why you set your sights on me, right?"
Miaokong nodded and said, "That's right. Since you know everything, why did you send me back?"
I said calmly, "I sent you back because I want to cooperate with you to kill Duan Yunfei."
"Oh?" Miaokong raised his eyebrows, "Did I hear it right?"
I said word for word: "You heard it right!"
Before Miaokong could speak, Nangong Ling shouted, "Wu Zhao, what do you want to do? How brave are you to cooperate with the evil spirits to murder the sorcerer? Do you want to be exterminated by the sorcerer?"
I turned around and pointed at Nangong Ling: "Shut up! Do you dare to swear that you really don't know what Duan Yunfei is doing?"
"Duan Yunfei already knew that Chen Lei was Miao Kong. Otherwise, he wouldn't have asked Ji Liping to come to me. Wasn't Ji Liping's performance at the beginning intended to make me lock my target on Chen Lei?"
"At that time, as long as I had the slightest doubt about what Ji Liping said, I would dig up Chen Lei's past and quickly find Chen Lei. As long as Chen Lei's words could arouse my suspicion and make me sneak up the mountain to test him, he would have a hundred ways to follow me up the mountain."
I stared at Nangong Ling and said, "You deliberately helped Duan Yunfei to change the time limit for exchanging guardians from three days to six days. Wasn't the purpose to give me time to test Shenmu Temple?"
"It's just that you didn't expect that I would end up spending nearly three days in the criminal police team for nothing."
I looked at him coldly and said, "If I'm not mistaken, those Guan's employees were also sacrificed by you and Duan Yunfei in a planned way, right? The fewer people you protect, the more likely it is that you can drag it out for six days. When the next exchange comes, I will still be tricked into the mountains by you. Am I right?"
"No! You are wronging me..." Nangong Ling said in panic, "Brother Shi is with you, I won't hurt him! Brother Shi, believe me, I really didn't do it!"
Monk Shi glanced at Nangong Ling coldly: "I believe in my brother."
"Brother Shi, you..." Nangong Ling's tears flowed down.
But I didn't even look at her again, and turned to look at Miaokong: "Duan Yunfei has hurt me and my friends time and time again. I can't sleep or eat well if I don't take revenge. What I want is to keep him!"
"Yeah!" Miaokong nodded and said, "You sent me back, I should thank you indeed, but this little favor is not enough for Shenmu Temple to help you get revenge. I think, why don't we discuss the conditions again?"
I looked at him and asked, "What do you want me to do?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thank you all for your support, and stay tuned for the next episode!
Thanks for the tips from Yinzi, Jiuai and Doudou! (To be continued)