Chapter 190: A Great Merit

Chapter 190: Chapter 190: A Great Merit

Zhang Wei Qiang was now only a few steps from the small ledge where everyone was gathered. A sound from behind made him turn instinctively. He watched the bus plummet until it disappeared from view, the sound of everyone’s sharp, collective gasp unnervingly clear in his ears. He stopped climbing, freezing in place, and remained stiffly motionless for a long, long time.

"Mommy—!" On the small ledge, Yao Hui Zhen’s daughter, Liu Li, let out a piercing shriek.

Watching her sob so wretchedly, the others couldn’t help but feel a mix of sorrow and pity. At the same time, they all thought that if it weren’t for Zhang Wei Qiang, that woman’s fate would have been their own. With that thought, their gazes toward the still-frozen Zhang Wei Qiang—his face a mask of complex emotions—filled with gratitude.

"Hurry and come up. Don’t blame yourself. You did everything you could." The old man who had been the first to follow Zhang Wei Qiang over with his grandson sighed, consoling him. "Everyone has their own fate. This was hers. You can’t be blamed for it."

"Yeah, that’s right! There’s no way this is your fault. You can only blame her..."

Everyone else nodded in agreement—everyone except Liu Li. She screamed in fury, "You’re all lying! It was him! He’s the one who killed my mother! If he hadn’t refused to bring her over, she wouldn’t have fallen with the bus! He’s a murderer!"

While screaming, Liu Li rushed to the edge of the ledge, flailing her arms crazily in Zhang Wei Qiang’s direction. Her little face was twisted in a hateful glare, as if he were her mortal enemy. She looked vicious enough to lunge over and take a bite out of him. "You’re a murderer! You killed my mother! I hate you, I hate you! You’re going to die a horrible death—!"

"...What’s wrong with this kid?"

Even though the small ledge wasn’t large, everyone took a few steps back in unison, preferring to huddle together more tightly than be too close to Liu Li. Their gazes, once sympathetic, now turned to disgust. After a brief silence, more people began to shake their heads and sigh. "Like mother, like daughter, I guess. Who could possibly like a person like that?"

"Exactly. He saved her, and she bites the hand that feeds her. Honestly, what was the point of saving her? This is just asking for trouble."

...

On the road above, the magistrate and deputy magistrate of Changxi County, along with all the relevant heads of the county’s traffic police, had arrived. The rescue team was also on standby, ready to deploy at a moment’s notice.

Shao Qingyang felt a wave of relief. He directed everyone’s attention toward the bus on the cliff face below, then gave a brief, clear summary of the situation as he’d learned it from Gu Nuan Nuan. Just as he was speaking, they all watched as the bus, which had been dangling from the side of the mountain, began to plummet.

’We were still too late.’

Everyone’s heart sank.

"Quick! Get down there and see what the situation is! Find out if everyone has been moved to the small ledge—"

At this point, Shao Qingyang could only pin his hopes on Zhang Wei Qiang. ’I just hope he managed to get everyone out of that bus. Even if not everyone, getting most of them out would be good enough—’

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone sprang into action in an orderly fashion. Several fully-equipped rescue workers fastened safety ropes around their waists, leaped over the edge, and began rappelling down the cliff face...

Although Gu Nuan Nuan couldn’t see the bus fall from where she was, she heard the commotion below. Between the daughter’s accusations against her uncle and the murmur of the crowd, it wasn’t difficult to guess what had happened.

She let out a silent, cold snort. Her heart wasn’t the least bit moved.

’But something still felt... off.’

Gu Nuan Nuan thought hard for a moment, then it hit her. ’That’s it! Why wasn’t anyone surprised that the woman hadn’t followed my uncle back to the ledge? Why hadn’t a single person even asked? They were even comforting my uncle, telling him he’d done his best and shouldn’t feel guilty. It’s as if they all knew exactly what had happened.’

’It’s impossible that every single one of them would just assume, so matter-of-factly, that the woman was the type to choose money over her own life, right?’

Puzzled, she turned to Cao Cao. "Cao Cao, is the ledge really that close to the bus? Close enough for people in both spots to hear each other talking?" ’That has to be the only explanation.’

"The ledge and the bus’s original position weren’t that far apart, but they definitely weren’t close enough to hear conversations like you said, Master," Cao Cao replied, its main stalk wiggling with a hint of a snicker.

"’Originally?’" Gu Nuan Nuan raised an eyebrow, a look of realization dawning on her. "You did something, didn’t you?"

"You guessed it, Master! I just used the plants and the wind to carry the sounds from the bus, so everyone on the ledge could hear them clearly." Cao Cao nodded repeatedly, looking up at Gu Nuan Nuan with a smug expression that begged for praise. Gu Nuan Nuan fought the urge to clap her hands and burst out laughing. "And it was one-way, wasn’t it? So the woman thought no one could hear her conversation with my uncle, but that was just what she *thought*, right?"

"Exactly."

"Excellent work. I’m giving you major credit for this," Gu Nuan Nuan said, reaching out to pat Cao Cao, not holding back on her praise.

"Heh heh..." Cao Cao smugly wagged its little tail.

Feeling much better, Gu Nuan Nuan turned her attention back to Shao Qingyang and the others. The atmosphere over there was tense. No one spoke; everyone was just staring anxiously down the cliff face. She watched for a few moments, grew bored, and let her gaze wander to the road in the distance. That’s when she spotted the sedan Shao Qingyang had been in earlier.

’Looks like that driver, Xiao Li, has picked up whoever he was sent to get.’

’If I remember correctly,’ Gu Nuan Nuan thought, ’Manager Shao told his driver to go pick up his grandfather and his nephew. With how devilishly handsome Manager Shao is, his family’s genes must be top-notch. It’s a rare opportunity to see three generations of their family all at once. And his little nephew... he might not be the unbearably cute type, but he’s bound to be ridiculously handsome...’ Her curiosity piqued, she fixed her gaze on the car.

"How can that be?"

She hadn’t been watching long before the car pulled up and stopped. Gu Nuan Nuan was a little disappointed to see only an old man get out, and he didn’t resemble Manager Shao in the slightest. The moment he was out of the car, he and the driver, Xiao Li, rushed over to Shao Qingyang. Xiao Li’s face was a mask of anxiety. "Manager Shao, it’s bad! The Old Master... they’re missing!"

"Missing? How can living, breathing people just suddenly disappear?" Shao Qingyang asked back in stunned disbelief.