If it were this morning, he might have doubted the authenticity of the narrator's words, but after the day's experiences, he had no choice but to believe.
Different choices lead to different outcomes. For example, if he had eaten that spoiled leftover meal this morning, he might still be in the hospital now. But he didn't eat it, so the outcome changed, leading to the events of the day.
Now, the narrator's hint was that if he and Wang Xing left, nothing would change. Li Zijun would still get hurt because no one else knew about this except him, unless...
"What's up, Qingzi? Why did Sister Jun leave, and what about you two just now... is he one of your admirers?" Wang Xing asked suspiciously upon seeing the two of them leaning together.
This comment snapped Su Qing back to reality. He quickly grabbed Wang Xing by the back of the neck: "Let's go, hurry!"
"Boss, the bill!"
The next second, Wang Xing was dragged away from his seat, pulled along by Su Qing.
"Wait...wait a minute, I haven't finished eating..."
"Forget eating, if we wait any longer, we'll miss the whole event."
Even though this woman had beaten him from childhood and even kicked him off the bed out the door, he couldn't just stand by when something actually happened.
According to the narrator's hint, the location where Li Zijun was attacked was by the river in Beixiang Park, and there was only one assailant.
He knew Beixiang Park; after all, he had studied there for four years, just north of the old alley, and the park was in a semi-abandoned state. Further north, it verged on the wilderness.
Although Li Zijun was a formidable woman, compared to a man, she still had a disadvantage in strength, so he took Wang Xing along.
The two men, along with a formidable woman, would have the upper hand in a three-on-one fight, not to mention that Sister Jun had a gun.
Meanwhile, in an alley across from the university's back gate, a large number of undercover police officers were gathered.
Inside a small yard, there was a crowd of people, with four individuals pressed to the ground and more than a dozen plain-clothes officers standing around.
"Captain Zhao, we've caught four," reported a young man with a crew cut to a middle-aged man in a black shirt.
"What's going on, where's the other one?" Zhao Minghui asked, as he was in charge of this operation, and letting even one escape would be a failure.
"Captain Zhao, that Wang Dahai is really cunning. We stormed in and he was nowhere to be seen, he ran straight out the back door heading north," undercover officer Du Qiang replied reluctantly.
"North, notify Team B, they must block him!" Zhao Minghui ordered loudly.
"Yes!"
Things weren't going smoothly on Su Qing's end either.
"Sorry, the number you have dialed is temporarily unavailable, please try again later, sorry..."
As he ran, Su Qing tried to call Sister Jun to give her a hint not to pursue towards Beixiang Park.
But obviously, during this tense capture moment, the police were strictly maintaining internal communication, and their phones were on silent to prevent unforeseen incidents.
Although he acted quickly, by the time the two of them caught up, Li Zijun's figure was already out of sight. Left with no choice, they headed straight for Beixiang Park.
He'd thought about calling the police, but knew there wasn't time, especially since nothing had happened yet.
"What's wrong, Qingzi, say something! You're stressing me out," Wang Xing asked anxiously.
Having known Su Qing for so many years, this behavior was almost unprecedented.
Hearing this, Su Qing replied while running towards Beixiang Park: "Old A, my sister might be in danger, there should only be one of them. You'll have to help me this time. Don't worry, if there's danger, I'll go first."
Wang Xing was bewildered: "Qingzi, do you know something?"
With no choice, Su Qing had to explain that what he heard from Li Zijun when they were close was that this was a police organized capture operation.
"Really, an undercover capture is that intense?"
"But aren't we just being like useless teammates?" Wang Xing initially grew excited but quickly regained his composure.
After all, if the police had planned a capture operation, they would surely be prepared. Rushing in blindly could not only put themselves in danger but also jeopardize the capture, possibly even leading to casualties.
Hearing this, Su Qing began to feel inexplicably restless. How could he explain this? Should he say he gained superpowers from a mushroom poison now?
"Old A, we've been brothers for so many years, you know I wouldn't joke about this. Trust me, just this once!"
Su Qing said seriously, with tightly furrowed brows.
Seeing this, Wang Xing felt a chill run up his spine but didn't ask further: "No problem, however you want to do it, we'll do it that way. At worst, I'll put my hundred-plus pounds on the line today."
That warmed Su Qing's heart, even though Wang Xing usually didn't care about anything, never took life seriously, and had even abandoned him when he was mushroom poisoned for the sake of a goddess. But when real trouble came, just a "trust me" from Old A and he would come without hesitation.
The two of them sprinted, taking a shortcut, reaching Beixiang Park in less than five minutes. The park was overgrown with weeds and the fitness equipment was rusty from disrepair.
They crossed a basketball court without a frame and headed straight for the riverbank on the west side of the park. At that moment, the narrator reappeared.
[Attention, Officer Li Zijun is one hundred meters ahead, at the corner, fighting a bandit. In thirty seconds, she will be stabbed in the abdomen with a dagger.]
[What boy can resist the allure of being a hero saving a damsel in distress, bringing honor to the family? Girls can't resist it either...]
Su Qing didn't hear any of the rest. His mind was filled with the image of Li Zijun getting stabbed, and his eyes turned ferocious.
"Old A, quick, it's up ahead!" Su Qing shouted, charging forward.
Gasping, Wang Xing cursed: "Damn, if I go out with you again, I'll be a dog!"
With that, he gritted his teeth and followed.
A hundred meters—in their school days it might have taken just over ten seconds. But they had already run here, physically drained. No matter how desperately they pushed themselves, they couldn't go any faster over this short distance.
By the time they reached the corner, nearly twenty seconds had passed, and Su Qing had never felt a hundred meters so long.
As they rushed over, they immediately saw two figures wrestling on the ground.
A sturdy, scruffy-bearded man was holding a dagger, trying to stab the person beneath him, who was holding onto the man's arm. It was none other than the just departed Li Zijun. The knife had already torn her clothes, a spot of red seeping through. Her gun had long been knocked away, now lying on the grass not far from the two, the situation dangerously dire.
Though Li Zijun was a formidable woman, her strength naturally couldn't match a man's, so the dagger was slowly pressing down, about to pierce her abdomen.
Without a moment's hesitation, Su Qing was filled with rage, and a fierce affluence of invective burst forth:
"Fuck your mother!"
...