Chapter 23: A Sudden Departure and a Dire Vision

After Duan Yulan finished speaking, before Qiao Xia could say anything else, she elegantly departed.

This left a bewildered Qiao Xia, enduring the myriad gazes from the crowd, feeling utterly exasperated.

Duan Yulan’s appearance had been sudden, and her departure was equally abrupt.

It was as if a cloud had drifted across the sky; then, with a flick of her sleeve, she had briskly vanished without a trace of lingering attachment.

It was almost as if the woman who had just embraced and kissed him for a second time wasn’t Duan Yulan herself at all…

“Qiao Xia, was that your girlfriend just now? She’s truly beautiful.”

“Indeed. Such a pretty young lady, is she a student from your school as well?”

“Does your girlfriend have a sister?”

Just as Qiao Xia found himself unable to withstand the barrage of gazes and contemplated retreating, the crowd seemed to sense his intention. They all converged around him, chattering away, eager to inquire about the relationship between him and Duan Yulan.

Upon hearing their questions, Qiao Xia’s mouth twitched involuntarily. He desperately wanted to declare that he had no relationship with Duan Yulan whatsoever, and certainly wasn’t her boyfriend!

However, Duan Yulan had just passionately kissed him in front of everyone. Qiao Xia knew that even if he denied it, no one would believe him.

Thus, he decided to say nothing at all, merely offering a faint smile to the crowd.

“Honk! Honk!”

Thankfully, at that precise moment, the bus driver waiting outside the residential complex, having grown impatient after a long wait with no one appearing, promptly blared the horn, emitting a remarkably loud sound.

Hearing this, the crowd, who had been eager to press Qiao Xia with more questions, immediately forgot about him. They scrambled towards the bus, fearing the driver might simply depart without them.

Knowing Qiao Xia was a resident of the complex, they figured there would be plenty of opportunities to catch him later. At worst, they could just ask him in detail once they returned.

After all, Qiao Xia couldn’t escape.

As the crowd dispersed, Qiao Xia noticed a few lingering gossips who weren’t even attending the gathering. Seizing the opportunity, he quickly slipped away, dashing back towards his home.

The trouble Duan Yulan brought him seemed to grow with each encounter!

Back at school, her unpredictable actions towards him had led to Li Lin Guan coming to cause trouble.

Now, being spotted by these gossipmongers at the complex entrance, he fully expected them to find various ways to corner and question him, trying to pry out every bit of information about Duan Yulan.

The thought alone gave Qiao Xia a splitting headache, making him wish he never had to leave his home again.

Moreover, he hadn’t even had a chance to ask about the black bracelet’s origin… And what exactly did Duan Yulan’s parting words mean?

‘An unexpected event tomorrow?’

‘Wait for her on the school’s teaching building rooftop?’

It all felt so utterly baffling.

Besides, all he wanted now was to stay far away from Duan Yulan; he certainly didn’t want to obediently follow her instructions.

If only he could return to his quiet, ordinary daily life, Qiao Xia would even be willing to become a monk and chant scriptures!

[Danger detected. Future Sight activated.]

[100 yuan automatically deducted. Future vision constructing… Construction successful. Activating now.]

Sometimes, life brought unexpected surprises, making Qiao Xia almost disbelieve his own ‘luck’ could be this good!

Since returning from school, he had encountered danger twice already.

With this one, it would be three times!

‘Damn it, is fate toying with him?’

‘Why is it always him who gets unlucky?!’

As darkness enveloped his vision, Qiao Xia, now utterly accustomed to it, thought to himself how truly unlucky he was. Simultaneously, the future vision constructed by his Golden Finger was complete.

Once his eyes could perceive the scene again, Qiao Xia immediately opened them to a familiar corridor, a familiar Liu Ge, and a familiar hammer. At this point, he was beyond even the desire to complain.

‘Looking at this situation, has Liu Ge really latched onto him and won’t let go?’

‘Escaping from the hospital only to immediately stake out his home and wait for him—it must be said, Liu Ge’s love for him is truly profound!’

“Liu Ge, please, try to be rational. Murder leads to prison! We don’t even have a major conflict. You don’t actually want to kill me, do you?”

Qiao Xia was sprawled on the ground, pushing himself backward with his hands, all while pleading with Liu Dali.

Meanwhile, his incredibly expensive lighter and old phone, originally in his pocket, had fallen behind Liu Ge. They were now useless as distractions to draw Liu Ge away.

As Qiao Xia observed the future vision, only his consciousness remained his own; everything else was beyond his control.

His speech and actions, for instance, were precisely those of his future self, ten minutes from now, playing his part authentically.

Therefore, Qiao Xia, unaware of the full sequence of events, could only continuously observe his surroundings, attempting to deduce what had transpired.

Given that the old phone was undamaged, Qiao Xia surmised he hadn’t thrown it. It was more likely it had accidentally slipped from his pocket.

Observing the positions of the phone and lighter, not far from the elevator, he theorized that Liu Ge, who had been lying in wait, might have ambushed him before he could even throw anything. He would have then fallen to the ground, and his belongings would have dropped.

Subsequently, terrified by Liu Ge wielding the hammer, he would have scrambled backward repeatedly, leading to the current predicament.

“Qiao… Xia… you… go to my house… find… the diary…”

However, just as Qiao Xia braced himself to be struck in the head by a hammer once more, Liu Ge, whose movements had been stiff, suddenly spoke.

Qiao Xia froze, bewildered. Liu Ge hadn’t uttered a single word all day, so why was he speaking now?

Furthermore, he was telling him to look for a diary at his house. Why?

A multitude of questions piled up in Qiao Xia’s mind, momentarily eclipsing his fear. He instinctively looked towards Liu Ge.

He then watched as Liu Ge’s free right hand stiffly reached into his clothing pocket. After pulling out a syringe filled with liquid, he directly aimed the long needle at his own thigh.

However, perhaps due to the tension in his thigh muscle, the needle didn’t penetrate; instead, it snapped cleanly off.

At that very moment, Liu Ge’s eyes turned bloodshot, as if about to weep crimson. After a violent tremor wracked his body, the syringe clutched in his hand shattered, and a transparent, water-like liquid continuously dripped from between his fingers.

Immediately after, Liu Ge’s other hand, still gripping the hammer, swung it violently towards Qiao Xia’s head.

[Pre-enactment concluded. Returning to reality.]

Upon his return, Qiao Xia instinctively clutched his head where the brutal blow had landed. The excruciating pain lingered like a phantom limb, taking a considerable time to subside completely.

Fortunately, it lessened considerably as time passed, allowing Qiao Xia to think clearly once more.

After the incident with Grandpa Li’s kidnapping, Qiao Xia understood that even without relying on his Golden Finger’s ‘reverse outcome’ ability, he could still avert danger himself. Just like the scene he’d witnessed, he could simply choose not to go home. No matter how much Liu Ge staked out his place, he wouldn’t be there to meet him.

However, the syringe filled with liquid piqued Qiao Xia’s curiosity immensely.

Observing Liu Ge’s actions, it seemed the liquid in the syringe had a miraculous effect on treating him!

If that was the case, he absolutely had to find out what that liquid was!

And what about the diary in Liu Ge’s house?