「Northwest Ningchuan.」
In the bustling city center, a lone young man staggered as he sprinted wildly through the streets. Sweat drenched his clothes, but he was completely oblivious.
As he ran, he yelled into his phone, "Cui Ru, please, tell where you are! Please, can you just tell ? I'm in Ningchuan city now!"
"Don't co! Don't co! Brother, I'm begging you, don't co!" On the other end of the line, the girl nad Cui Ru cried out, her voice a terrified sob.
"Cui Ru, please tell ! I'm begging you!" the young man yelled, running aimlessly.
He couldn't stop. He was terrified that if he did, he would completely break down, that if there was a mont of silence, he would lose his mind and spiral out of control.
"No! No! Don't! I won't tell you! Don't look for , just don't look for !" Her crying rose to a sharp shriek as Cui Ru, in the throes of a ntal breakdown, scread hysterically.
"If you don't tell , I'll kill them! Anyone who's had anything to do with you recently, I'll kill every last one of them! I'll kill them all! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL!" By the last word, the young man was completely unhinged.
"No, Brother, don't! Murder is against the law! You'll go to prison, you'll be executed! Mom and Dad can't lose you! Don't do it, Brother, please don't!" Hearing her brother's hysterical roar, Cui Ru suddenly stopped crying and began shouting, shaking her head frantically.
"Tell where you are! Tell , and I won't go kill them! Otherwise, I'm going right now! This instant! I'll slaughter every single one of them!" His tone softened for a mont before turning ferocious again.
"I… I'm… I'm at the Ningchuan Grand Hotel… eighteenth floor, room 1804! AH! AHHH!"
After revealing her location, Cui Ru seed to spiral into a frenzy. She let out a few more shrill screams before smashing her phone on the ground, burying her hands in her long hair as she scread and sobbed hysterically.
Listening to the heart-wrenching cries from the other end of the line, the young man's fingernails dug into his clenched fist, piercing the skin. Crimson blood dripped to the ground, but he seed to feel nothing at all.
Layers of sweat covered his pale face as he muttered to himself, "Ningchuan Grand Hotel, 1804… Ningchuan Grand Hotel, 1804…"
Muttering like a man possessed, he leaped in front of an oncoming taxi, blocking its path.
"FUCK! Are you insane? It's early in the morning, you got a death wish?!" The taxi driver slamd on the brakes and rolled down the window, roaring in anger.
The young man ignored him, quickly circling around to yank open the passenger door and slide in. "Ningchuan Grand Hotel!" he shouted urgently. "Fast, fast, fast!"
In the rearview mirror, the driver caught sight of the young man's terrifying expression and his blood-drenched palm, and he froze. "I-I-I have to go back for my shift change," he stamred. "N-Not taking any more fares!"
BANG!
The young man slamd his fist into the back of the passenger seat. "I said, go fast!" he snarled.
"I… I… I—!" The driver panicked.
"If you don't fucking go now, believe , I'll kill you!" The young man lunged forward, his bloody hand snapping around the driver's throat.
"Go! Go! I'll go! I'm going!" The driver was on the verge of tears. Faced with the man's savage expression and bloody hand, he was left with no choice.
"Fast! As fast as you can possibly go!" the young man roared, releasing his grip.
"Okay, okay, okay!"
Completely ruled by fear, the driver released the handbrake and floored the accelerator, causing the taxi to shoot forward. Gritting his teeth, he didn't even dare to wait for the red light ahead and blew right through it.
In less than five minutes, under the young man's deadly threat, the driver drove at two hundred percent over the speed limit, running three red lights to screech to a halt in front of the Ningchuan Grand Hotel.
The mont the words "Ningchuan Grand Hotel" appeared outside the window, the young man ripped open the car door and bolted inside like a madman. He didn't pay the fare; penniless, he couldn't have paid it anyway.
The taxi driver, feeling as though he had just taken a trip to the Ghost Gate and back, couldn't care less about the fare. Believing it was best to avoid further trouble, he whipped the taxi around and sped away.
Inside the Ningchuan Grand Hotel, the young man kept muttering the number "1804." He charged into an elevator and stabbed the button for the eighteenth floor with his bloody finger.
"Faster… faster… faster!" He rubbed his hands together incessantly, as if in a trance.
Soon, with a DING, the elevator doors opened.
He staggered out and swept his gaze across the hallway. When his eyes locked onto the sign pointing toward 1804, he broke into a desperate sprint.
"Cui Ru, open the door! Open up! It's , your brother! Open the door!" He pounded his fists against the door marked 1804, his voice a frantic yell.
Inside, the disheveled girl with her hands buried in her hair began to tremble violently when she heard his voice. In an instant, her face was completely consud by fear.
She didn't want her brother to see her like this! She didn't! She didn't!
One minute passed, then two. After the door had been pounded on for a full two minutes, she remained frozen, trembling, unable to move an inch.
Outside the room, the young man could no longer bear the tornt. He took two steps back, then charged forward, launching a powerful kick at the door. With the full force of an elite soldier from the Northwest Military Region, the door crashed inward with a deafening BANG. The next instant, he leaped inside.
"Cui Ru!"
Seeing the girl staring into space with a vacant expression, not even reacting to the door being kicked in, the young man rushed over and pulled her into a tight embrace. "Cui Ru, don't be afraid! Don't be afraid! I'm here! Your brother is here!" he stamred, his voice trembling uncontrollably.
"WAAAH!!!"
Held in her brother's arms, the girl's quiet despair erupted into a fresh wave of sobs.
"Brother!!!"
That single word was utterly heartbreaking, helpless, and wretched.
"Don't be afraid, I'm here. I'm here," he soothed, resting his chin on her head as his own tears stread down his face. His trembling voice was a clear confirmation of what he already suspected. "Cui Ru, tell what happened! Why didn't you want to live anymore? Tell ! Tell !"
He turned his face away and sniffled, trying to stop his tears, but then his eyes fell upon several stacks of hundred-yuan bills on the nightstand.
In that instant, his tears stopped. His jaw clenched tight as a furious rage blazed in his eyes.
"Brother, don't ask! Please don't ask!" Cui Ru cried out, suddenly struggling free from his embrace. She clasped her head in her hands and began to wail again. "I'm begging you, don't ask! Please, don't ask!"
"I will kill him. I will definitely kill him." Staring intently at the cash on the nightstand, the young man clenched his fists, his expression twisted into the ultimate picture of ferocity. He enunciated each word with a bone-chilling coldness.
"Brother, no! We can't fight him! You'll die! Don't do it! Please, I'm begging you, don't!"
Hearing his chilling declaration, the girl's sobs ceased. She grabbed his arms, her face deathly pale as she trembled and pleaded frantically.
No one knew her brother's personality better than she did.
If her brother's future, his entire life, was ruined for her sake, she would rather die.
She would rather die!!
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