Chapter 22: Got It

The sedan in the rearview mirror was getting closer and closer. Wen Qi gripped the handle above the passenger seat. Wei Qingxuan’s relentless pursuit felt like an invisible net tightening around her.

Her breathing nearly stalled.

“Xie Hejing, go faster. At this speed he’s going to rear-end us. If we get out with our bodies intact, that’ll be heaven’s mercy.”

The moment she finished, the young Taoist in the back let out a howl and shot upright, face pale. “No way, we’re not dying here, right?!”

“Patriarch Qing, please bless us! Don’t let me go down like this. I haven’t even gotten this month’s salary yet, I don’t even have a girlfriend!”

Wen Qi’s head throbbed from his yelling, her heart hammering wildly. “Stop shouting. Pray we get away. If we make it, I’ll give you a big red envelope.”

“Cough, really?” The Taoist instantly swallowed his sobbing tone and straightened his jacket. “I just calculated, this will be a close call but safe. We’ll definitely shake him off.”

The speed of his change made Wen Qi suspicious all over again. “Are you actually professional?”

After being questioned multiple times, the Taoist indignantly pulled out his certification and thrust it forward. “Look closely. It’s real.”

“Then why-”

“Stop arguing.” Xiang Weishi leaned out the rear window to look back. The murderous momentum of the car behind made his scalp tingle. “I can almost see his face.”

Wen Qi’s brows knitted together. There was no better solution. She couldn’t help shouting, “Xie Hejing!”

Xie Hejing’s hands on the steering wheel were steady. His profile was sharp and cold. He glanced at the dashboard and pressed harder on the accelerator.

The car shot forward. Tires shrieked against asphalt, slicing through the night. A flicker of exhilaration lit his eyes. “Hold tight.”

The next second, the car swerved sharply left. Chaos erupted in the back seat.

The Taoist clutched his peachwood sword covered in talismans and nearly slid off the seat, barely grabbing the headrest in time. “This is more thrilling than when a wild boar chased me behind the temple!”

“My peachwood sword is precious,” he muttered, protecting it carefully. With one hand he rummaged through his bag and pulled out a yellow talisman, trying to stick it on the window. “Let’s put up a disaster-warding charm. He won’t catch up.”

“Stop messing around.” Xiang Weishi smacked the talisman from his hand, though he himself leaned forward so far his head nearly touched the front seat. “This is what I call exciting, way more fun than ghost hunting. Wen Qi, where did you meet such a pro? What’s his name? He can actually keep up with Xie Hejing.”

Wen Qi had no mood for jokes. “Wei Qingxuan. I’ve known him since I was in my mom’s womb.”

“Known him since childhood? A childhood sweetheart?” Xie Hejing asked smoothly, still fully in control.

Xiang Weishi’s eyes widened. “That kind of relationship? Even rabbits don’t eat grass near their burrow. Wen Qi, this is the consequence of eating grass near home.”

“Hey! Look at the mirror, his car’s disappearing,” the Taoist suddenly said.

They all looked.

Wei Qingxuan’s car was falling back, shrinking into a dot.

Wen Qi stared at the mirror, her heartbeat slowly returning to normal.

They’d finally shaken him.

“Nice one,” Xiang Weishi whistled and fell back into his seat. “Chase scene over. Let’s go to my place later, I’ll treat you to drinks.”

“I’m not going,” Wen Qi said. “I need to prepare to leave Zhian.”

“Leave Zhian? Where are you going?” Xiang Weishi asked instinctively.

“College registration.” She kept glancing at the mirror, but everything was quiet now. “I’ll leave in a couple of days. Wei Qingxuan won’t find me.”

“Not necessarily,” Xie Hejing said calmly.

She turned to him. “Why? I never told him where I’m going.”

“With a tracker on you, you don’t need to,” he said with a faint laugh. “Your childhood sweetheart’s pretty smart.”

Xiang Weishi leaned forward again. “Or Wen Qi’s too dumb to notice she’s been tagged.”

“Get lost,” she snapped, already patting herself down.

Her fingers touched the silver bracelet on her wrist.

Wei Qingxuan’s apology gift from a few days ago. She’d worn it without thinking. Under the car’s dim light, she saw the once-matte bead glowing faint red.

“Damn, it’s this?!” She nearly tore it off. “That lunatic.”

“Don’t throw it,” Xie Hejing warned, steering around a roadside barrier. “It won’t help.”

“He’s been following the signal the whole time? Then we ran for nothing?” Xiang Weishi exclaimed.

Xie Hejing glanced at the dark mirror. “There’s only one main road out of this area. He knows it well. If you ditch the tracker, he’ll just block the exit.”

Wen Qi’s heart sank. She squeezed the glowing bead. “Then what? We can’t just get trapped at the intersection.”

“We drive straight through,” Xie Hejing said lightly, already revving the engine.

Her eyes widened. “Straight through? What if he goes crazy and crashes into us?”

Given how he’d been chasing her without hesitation, she truly believed he might.

Xiang Weishi and the Taoist both stiffened.

Xie Hejing glanced at her and smiled faintly. “Then we’ll see whether he cares about you. As long as you’re in this car, he won’t crash. Not even a little.”

Before anyone could respond, the Taoist muttered, “Should I calculate another fortune-”

“Useless,” Xiang Weishi cut him off. “Now it’s just whether Wei Qingxuan dares to ram us. That psycho’s just like Xie Hejing, chasing someone like it’s life or death. Can’t you be gentle? No wonder you both get dumped.”

“?”

Xiang Weishi hurriedly added, “Not you. At least Nan Xu doesn’t hate you.”

“…”

Xie Hejing ignored him. “Get ready.”

The air tightened instantly.

The intersection drew closer. Streetlights swept across road signs. Wen Qi glanced at the glowing bead on her wrist. “A few hundred meters. Will he really block it?”

The Taoist muttered about not burning incense before leaving home. Xiang Weishi leaned forward again. “When we reach the intersection, roll down the window so he sees you. Otherwise he’ll think we dropped you off and charge us.”

“Wait,” Wen Qi said suddenly. “I used his phone to call you before. Give it to me, I’ll talk to him.”

“Right!” Xiang Weishi scrambled for the phone and handed it over. “Talk nicely. Don’t provoke him. He’s unhinged.”

“I know.”

She pressed call.

The ringing echoed in her ear, each beep pounding against her chest.

Just when she thought he wouldn’t answer, the call connected.

Heavy breathing came through. Wei Qingxuan’s voice was filled with fury. “Want to die?”

“No.”

“…”

His tone softened instantly, though anger still lingered. “Wen Qi? His phone. You’re still with him?”

She realized immediately he was drowning in jealousy. She shot Xiang Weishi a warning look to stay quiet.

“No. We split up. It’s late, I just needed a phone.”

“Then come to me.”

“No.”

“Then why call me? And with his phone?” His suspicion sharpened.

“You go home first. There’s no point chasing like this.”

Silence.

Then a low laugh. “Qi Qi, you guessed where I am, didn’t you?”

She said nothing.

“If you come back now, I’ll pretend none of this happened.” His voice softened further, pleading and threatening at once. “Qi Qi, I won’t force you. You can like whoever you want… you can even keep him in your heart. But you can’t run away with him. Okay?”

Her grip tightened.

Before she could speak, Xiang Weishi muttered under his breath, confused, “Wait- run away with who? Who’s in your heart? Me?”

His voice wasn’t loud, but it carried clearly.

Wei Qingxuan’s tone changed instantly, fury exploding through the speaker. “Xiang Weishi?! You’re still beside her? Wen Qi, didn’t you split up?”

“I… I don’t like him!” she shouted over the noise.

“He took my person. He’ll pay.” The line went dead.

When she called back, he didn’t answer.

The violence in his voice left her ears ringing.

Xiang Weishi shrank back. “Damn. I just asked one question.”

The Taoist muttered, “Should’ve sealed your mouth with a talisman.”

Wen Qi bit her lip.

“Here,” Xie Hejing said calmly.

She looked up.

At the intersection, in the shadows, a black car sat sideways across the road.

Wei Qingxuan’s car.

Its headlights were off, like a predator lying in wait.

“There he is,” she cursed under her breath.

Xie Hejing didn’t slow down.

When they were less than twenty meters away, the black car’s headlights blazed on.

Tires screeched.

Wei Qingxuan slammed the accelerator and charged straight at them.

“Holy- he actually dares!” Xiang Weishi shouted out the window. “Wen Qi’s in this car! Calm down!”

“???”

The Taoist squeezed his eyes shut, clutching his sword. “Patriarch, save me!”

Her heart nearly burst.

At the last second, she screamed, “Wei Qingxuan!”

His car shrieked to a stop, leaving black skid marks across the road. It halted less than half a meter from their hood.

The smell of burnt rubber drifted in.

Silence.

Through the blinding headlights, she could barely see him, his hand gripping the wheel, the wound from shattered glass still bleeding.

Xie Hejing remained steady. He nudged the steering wheel slightly. “Move.”

The car in front didn’t.

After a few seconds, Wei Qingxuan’s door opened.

He stepped out and strode toward the passenger window.

“I told you,” Xiang Weishi muttered, “he’s coming to hit me.”

“He’s heading for the passenger seat,” the Taoist whispered.

All eyes turned to Wen Qi.

She inhaled sharply. “He’s out of the car. Can we slip around?”

Xie Hejing’s fingers turned the wheel slightly. “We can try. Tight gap.”

“Tight is fine.”

Wei Qingxuan reached the window…

“On three,” she whispered. “One. Two-”

Before she could say three, the car lunged forward.

They shot past his car, brushing dangerously close.

Wei Qingxuan reached out instinctively, but grabbed only air.

“Wen Qi!”

As they gained distance, she rolled down the window and flung the bracelet toward him.

“Wei Qingxuan,” she called, smiling with mischievous defiance. “I threw away your tracker. Next time you want to block me, wake up earlier.”

“Wen-”

Their car turned the corner and vanished into the night.

Silence fell.

Wei Qingxuan stood there, ears ringing, unable to hear his own heartbeat. The world felt hollow.

After a long moment, he returned to his car.

He wiped the blood from his hand expressionlessly.

On his phone screen, the small red dot, the signal he’d been tracking, continued moving farther and farther away.

His eyes lowered slightly.

“Got it.”