Life doesn’t always go according to plan, and no one knows when or where an unexpected event will occur.
The first-year students at the high school had started their winter break, and the campus had become quieter. The second-year and third-year students would only be off close to the Chinese New Year. Jiang Mu had recently ranked within the top thirty in her grade on a test, thanks to her strong performance in math, which boosted her overall score. However, she couldn’t seem to share the good news with Jin Chao.
On Saturday evening, Zhao Meijuan took Jin Xing to the bathhouse again. Jiang Mu returned home in the dark, and just as she put down her bag, she received a call from Xiao Yang. In a hurried tone, Xiao Yang said, “Not good, Lightning has been taken.”
Jiang Mu dropped her bag and rushed out of the community to grab a taxi to Speed Repair Shop. Xiao Yang was waiting at the car shop. When she arrived, she learned that Jin Chao had been gone for several days. Tie Gongji had gone to pick up a car from a customer, and San Lai was out too. Xiao Yang had gone to a small shop at the other end of the street to buy cigarettes. Lightning had originally been lying in front of the shop, but when he went to pay and returned with the cigarettes, Lightning was gone, and all he could see was a van speeding away down the street.
Jiang Mu was immediately stunned. Her instincts told her that this was no simple matter; no one would just randomly take a dog.
At that moment, Tie Gongji returned with the car, and she rushed over to ask, “Where is Wanji Car Shop?”
After hearing Xiao Yang recount the situation, Tie Gongji sighed and said, “I know where it is, but the Wanji Car Shop has several locations in Tonggang. Even if they took Lightning to one of them, we wouldn’t know which one.”
“Then we’ll search them one by one,” Jiang Mu said firmly. She opened the back door of the car and got in. Xiao Yang locked the roller shutter and sat in the front passenger seat. Tie Gongji immediately turned the car around and headed for the nearest Wanji Car Shop.
The car stopped in front of Wanji Car Shop. The lights above the shop’s entrance were still on, and two young workers were cleaning up. When they saw Tie Gongji leading a guy and a girl into the shop, they greeted them sarcastically, “Didn’t you say you’d never step foot in Wanji again? What brings you back now?”
Tie Gongji shot a glare at the boy and asked, “Has anyone here been to Speed Repair Shop?”
The boy, around Jiang Mu’s age, looked disheveled and said with a cocky tone, “What would you want to go to Speed Repair Shop for? You guys even hired a girl now?”
Jiang Mu furrowed her brows, but Tie Gongji didn’t waste time arguing with him. He led Xiao Yang and Jiang Mu into the repair room and office, searching through the area. Jiang Mu stood at the entrance, observing the apprentice. He wore a dirty jacket and baggy corduroy pants, with red stains on the cuffs, as though his clothes hadn’t been washed in years.
After searching the first car shop without any results, Tie Gongji and Xiao Yang took Jiang Mu to a second one, but once again, they found nothing. Jiang Mu was growing desperate and asked, “Does Wanji have any other shops in Tonggang?”
Tie Gongji replied, “There’s a bigger one, but it’s unlikely. Crazy Jin works there. I just called him.”
“Can we call the police?”
Xiao Yang hesitated before replying, “The police probably won’t search all of Tonggang for just a dog.”
With no other option, Tie Gongji turned the car around. Jiang Mu sat in the back seat, her heart heavy with worry. Tonggang wasn’t a large city, but searching for a dog here felt like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Lightning had been with her since she was little, from stumbling around when he was a puppy to growing into a strong and dignified dog. She had never raised any other pets before, and Lightning was her very first true pet. She didn’t know if other dogs were as sensible as Lightning, who would stay by her side when she was scared, comfort her when she was sad, and jump around happily when she was excited. No matter when she came to Speed Repair Shop, Flash would always greet her with the utmost enthusiasm. When she left, he would walk her to the edge of the road, and many times, after she got in the car and looked back, Lightning would always be standing by the roadside, wagging his tail until he could no longer be seen.
For Jiang Mu, Lightning was family. From the moment she and Jin Chao talked about wanting to adopt him, she had decided that no matter what the future held, she would never abandon Lightning. Facing the fact that Lightning had suddenly been taken, Jiang Mu couldn’t stay calm.
Xiao Yang suggested printing some lost dog posters, but Jiang Mu knew that Lightning wasn’t lost, he had been kidnapped. Posters wouldn’t necessarily help.
The car drove on towards Speed Repair Shop, and Jiang Mu’s gaze was fixed firmly outside the window. Every time she saw a dog on the street, she tensed up, her nerves tightening. As the night grew darker, her vision became more blurred, and the passing streets turned into a blur of neon lights. Suddenly, something flashed in her mind. She tapped on the back of the front seat and said to Tie Gongji, “Let’s go back to the first car shop.”
Tie Gongji quickly turned the car around and drove back to the first car shop. The boy in corduroy pants who had been there earlier was surprised to see them again, “Why are you back?”
Jiang Mu rushed up to him and said, “Put your hand out.”
The boy, confused, tilted his head, and asked, “Who are you?”
Jiang Mu raised her eyebrows sternly, and without saying a word, Tie Gongji grabbed his wrist. Jiang Mu then said, “Look at the paint stains on his sleeve.”
As soon as Jiang Mu finished speaking, the boy suddenly began struggling, cursing as he said, “What the hell are you doing? Are you crazy?!”
Xiao Yang rushed up to help, and another man from the car shop came over, shouting, “Tie Gongji, are you here to cause trouble?!”
However, by this time, Xiao Yang had already grabbed the boy’s sleeve and smelled it. His face changed dramatically, “It smells like blood.”
Jiang Mu looked up and asked Tie Gongji, “Are there any places in this shop we haven’t checked?”
Tie Gongji loosened his grip on the boy and was about to charge forward when two more rough-looking mechanics came down from a metal staircase. One of them, holding a socket wrench, shoved it towards Tie Gongji and yelled, “Do you think Wanji is your home? Do you think you can come and go as you please? Step any closer and see what happens.”
Jiang Mu’s blood was boiling. She clenched her fists tightly and thinking that Lightning might be locked up somewhere in this shop, she couldn’t hold back and screamed, “Lightning! Lightning…”
There was no response. The man holding the socket wrench walked up to Jiang Mu, mocking her, “What are you shouting for? Calling his soul back? I’m the thunder here, not Lightning.”
Jiang Mu glared at him with intense hatred, and the man raised the socket wrench, saying, “Why are you looking at me like that? Beg me, maybe I’ll help you ask where Lightning is.”
He was about to bring the wrench down on her face. Jiang Mu was just about to dodge when suddenly a shadow loomed behind her. A hand gently moved the wrench aside, and a man’s voice followed: “Ning Huo, I just got here and already see you bullying a little girl. Didn’t Boss Wan have a heart-to-heart talk with you last time?”
Jiang Mu turned around quickly and saw Jin Fengzi, accompanied by two people, who had arrived at the scene. Ning Huo, slightly surprised, asked, “What are you doing here?”
Jin Fengzi directly pushed Jiang Mu inside and said, “Business meeting. Let’s see why your shop’s performance never improves.”
After being pushed into the car shop by Jin Fengzi, Jiang Mu rushed upstairs without thinking, but Jin Fengzi reminded her from behind, “Come down. If you’re looking for something, look at the back.”
Jiang Mu’s steps abruptly stopped, and she quickly ran back down to the back area. A mechanic wearing corduroy pants blocked her path. Jiang Mu turned around and glared at Jin Fengzi’s group. Jin Fengzi, a large and menacing figure, looked at the young boy with a sinister smile, “Looks like you’re asking for trouble. You dare block someone from Jiu Ge’s team? You want to lose your hands?”
The boy froze for a moment, and Jiang Mu bypassed him, running toward the back of the car shop. Tie Gongji, familiar with the place, led her to the back door. When the door was opened, a large pool of blood immediately caught her eye.
Jiang Mu’s mind buzzed, and when Jin Fengzi and the others caught up, they peered in and cursed quietly, “Damn.”
Jiang Mu shouted Lightning everywhere, but there was no response. At this point, she had lost her fear and stormed back, demanding answers from the group, “Where’s the dog? I’m asking, where’s the dog?”
Ning Huo, still indifferent, replied, “What dog? Is killing a chicken in our place illegal now?”
Jiang Mu was shaking with anger, and Jin Fengzi stepped in front of her, pressing Ning Hu, asking, “Where are Xiao Bian and Da Guang staying now?”
Ning Huo stared back at him with no expression, replying, “I don’t know.”
Jin Fengzi said with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes, “Fine, if we don’t get this sorted today, none of us are leaving work.”
After saying that, Jin Fengzi took out his phone and made a call. During this time, Jiang Mu felt a chill creeping up her spine. The blood on the ground in the back had not fully dried yet. When they first arrived at this car shop, it was possible that Lightning was locked up there. In the span of just a few minutes, she couldn’t bear to imagine what had happened, so much blood, what had occurred? Everything was making her look more and more terrifying as her face turned pale.
A few minutes later, Jin Fengzi told Jiang Mu that the dog might be in Wushi Village, but the exact location was unclear.
Jiang Mu contacted San Lai. He had just returned from his mother’s house. After hearing about the situation, he went straight back to the shop and brought Xishi with him. Xishi, out of the four kids, disliked Lightning the most. When she was young, she would even decide whether to feed Lightning milk based on her mood. But strangely, when Xishi ran into the backyard and smelled the bloodstains, her mood suddenly became agitated.
Ning Huo and the others started contacting people, and Jin Fengzi directly smashed his phone and stayed in the shop watching these few people.
Tie Gongji and San Lai immediately took two cars and drove to Wushi Village. Wushi Village wasn’t far from Tongren Li, it was an old area full of single-story houses. The narrow alleys were cramped. After they got out of the cars, Xishi dashed ahead, with San Lai holding onto the leash, while Jiang Mu and Tie Gongji followed behind.
Wushi Village was large, with one village, two villages, all the way up to five villages. Despite the cold winter, everyone was sweating. A few grown men stood at the street corner, lighting cigarettes. Xishi, dragging its tongue, was panting, but even in this state, it didn’t sit still, still pacing around and drooling.
Jiang Mu, who hadn’t had a drop of water for hours, was already too tired to run, but thinking about that pool of blood, she didn’t want to waste a second. Grabbing the leash from San Lai’s hand, she dashed toward another alley with all her might in a race against time.
After about ten minutes, Xishi strangely came back again and kept circling around that area. Jiang Mu felt something was wrong and took it to stop at each door.
Finally, in front of an iron door with a weathered and faded “Fu” character, Xishi suddenly became extremely impatient and began to bark at the door.
Jiang Mu immediately slapped the iron door and shouted to the inside, “Open the door, open the door.”
Their movement attracted the attention of the neighbors around. The stingy people standing at the street corner also heard Xishi’s bark, put out their cigarettes, and followed the sound into the alley.
At this time, the iron gate opened, and a head poked out from inside and asked impatiently, “Who is it?”
As the iron gate was opened, Xishi’s bark became more and more ferocious. Jiang Mu recognized this person, the flat-headed man who had caused trouble in Speed Repair Shop, known as Xiao Bian. She asked, “Is Lightning inside?”
Xiao Bian was also surprised to see Jiang Mu and went up to lock the door. Jiang Mu stretched out her foot to block the iron gate, but Xiao Bian didn’t care about her at all. Seeing another wave of men coming from the other end of the alley, he desperately pulled the iron gate. Jiang Mu’s calf was clamped by the iron gate, and he pounded the door fiercely in pain.
Tie Gongji and his companions rushed over and broke the door open. However, when the iron door broke open, everyone was stunned. A bloody dog was hanging under the persimmon tree in the yard, with a rope tied around its neck. Its black fur was soaked in blood and kept dripping down. Its mouth was tied with many hemp ropes, and its eyelids were drooping, making it unable to resist. Even after Xishi’s fierce bark, it still did not respond, and no one knew whether it was dead or alive.
When they suddenly saw the bloody and cruel scene, not only Jiang Mu but even the men behind her were shocked.
Tie Gongji kicked Xiao Bian and cursed loudly, “You are worse than a beast.”
Da Guang came out of the room and shouted, “It’s just an animal anyway. Since you are here, let’s eat dog meat together?”
Normally timid Xiao Yang was suddenly enraged by the sight and rushed forward to fight with Da Guang. The yard erupted into chaos, and Jiang Mu trembled as she shouted at San Lai, “Knife, scissors…”
She couldn’t care less about the bloodied Lightning in her arms. Desperately holding it, San Lai ran into the rented room, found a pair of scissors, and cut the rope that hung Lightning. Jiang Mu quickly cradled Lightning in her arms.
Xiao Yang was beaten to the ground by Da Guang, holding his head, but he screamed hysterically, “Brother Jiu won’t let you off! You just wait…”
Da Guang roared, “Let him come! He ruined Wanji’s business and wanted to mess with the interests of the alliance. Boss Wan won’t let him off. Do you think he can really do anything to us? Does he think he hasn’t had enough in prison?”
The night was so quiet without a trace of wind. Jiang Mu stood under the persimmon tree, holding the blood-soaked Flash in her arms. The deep, bottomless lake in her mind suddenly drained completely. She saw the dark hole at the bottom, surrounded by countless iron cages, and beyond those cages lay a world she had never touched—a world that terrified her, a world full of sin, a world welded shut by the law.
It felt as if thunder and lightning struck her mind, cold waves crashing against her heart, sending a chill through her body from the inside out.
Jiang Mu had never been so scared before, scared that a living being would quietly fade away by her side. Her body kept trembling, her eyes fixed firmly on the front of the car, but she didn’t dare urge San Lai any further.
Fortunately, there was never traffic in Tonggang at night, and the car quickly arrived at a veterinary hospital. Jiang Mu picked up the unconscious Lightning and followed San Lai inside.
The process was chaotic. She didn’t even catch a glimpse of the doctor’s face before Lightning was taken from her hands.
After the doctor’s examination, Lightning was immediately scheduled for surgery. There weren’t many well-known veterinary hospitals in Tonggang, and because of San Lai’s work, he had gotten to know some pet doctors. This one was considered one of the best in Tonggang. If even he couldn’t help, Lightning wouldn’t make it through.
Unfortunately, San Lai couldn’t stay long. Xishi was still in Wushi Village, and the situation with Tie Gongji and the others was unclear. He had to rush back immediately but was worried that Jiang Mu wouldn’t be able to handle it alone, so he contacted Jin Fengzi to come quickly.
Not long after San Lai left, Jin Fengzi arrived at the veterinary hospital. When he saw Jiang Mu, covered in blood, sitting alone in the cold plastic chair, he was shocked. The young girl was trembling all over, and he couldn’t tell if it was from the cold or from fear.
He sat opposite Jiang Mu, unable to say anything comforting for a long time. Besides, he wasn’t really good at comforting others. He thought about saying “take care” or “stay strong,” but Lightning wasn’t dead yet. If the dog died later, those words would just be a slap in the face.
After thinking for a while, Jin Fengzi, being straightforward, simply asked, “Hey, do you want a drink to calm your nerves?”
Normally, Jiang Mu didn’t drink at all, but now, she couldn’t control the waves of cold spreading through her body. She nodded at Jin Fengzi. He immediately ran to the convenience store next door, grabbed a bag of canned drinks, opened one, and handed it to Jiang Mu.
As the night grew deeper, Jiang Mu’s stomach remained empty. After downing a can of beer, her stomach warmed instantly, and her mind also became much clearer. She silently gripped the can and suddenly asked in a dull voice, “Do you think Lightning will die?”
Jin Fengzi really couldn’t answer that question. If it were just a cat, he could have made some joke, saying it had nine lives and that losing one still left eight. But Lightning was a dog, so he could only mumble something vague, “Probably not, right? It’s been around Youjiu for so long, it must be tough.”
Jiang Mu kept her head down, her hair covering her face. Her voice was muffled as she asked, “How long have you known him?”
“Who? Youjiu? Let me think… it’s been like seven or eight years, ever since we were messing around with cars.”
Perhaps out of fear or nervousness, the beer can in Jiang Mu’s hand kept making a soft sound as she squeezed it. In the silent hospital, the crisp sound echoed. She and Jin Fengzi sat in silence, drinking their beer across the corridor. Maybe it was the alcohol, or maybe something inside her had suddenly ignited, but the fog in her mind cleared.
The sound of the can stopped abruptly. Her figure was hidden behind her hair, making her expression unreadable. The voice, however, squeezed out from her throat, “Jin Chao… has he ever killed someone?”