The car drove along the bustling city streets, Yan Shouyi staring out the window at the pedestrians, lost in thought.
Whether Long Feicheng was intentionally distracting Ding Li or was simply a chatterbox, he talked non-stop the entire way, rambling to Ding Li about anything and everything.
Ding Li initially replied sporadically, but later, finding Long Feicheng too talkative, he simply turned on the car radio, hoping to drown out Long Feicheng’s voice.
To his surprise, Long Feicheng nimbly turned off the radio and continued to chat with Ding Li, making Ding Li’s head ache to the point where he wished he could kick Long Feicheng out of the car.
While waiting at a red light, Ding Li silently glanced at his watch, seemingly concerned about the time.
Noticing this detail, Long Feicheng deliberately asked loudly, "Director Ding keeps checking the time. Are you perhaps in a hurry? Perhaps we should call a designated driver instead!"
Hearing Long Feicheng's words, Yan Shouyi turned his head, and Meng Guohui also opened his eyes.
A hint of anger flashed in Ding Li’s eyes before he quickly concealed it, "Checking the time is just a habit. I am a very punctual person."
"Oh, I see!"
As the light turned green, Ding Li slowly pressed the accelerator. The taxi behind them, however, was not pleased. Regardless of whether it was a Rolls-Royce or a Lamborghini, if it blocked a taxi's path, it would still be honked at. Thus, the taxi behind honked incessantly, creating an irritating racket.
But Ding Li insisted on driving slowly.
As the car crossed the intersection, a truck suddenly swerved out from the road on the left!
The truck sped forward, crashing directly towards Meng Guohui’s position without deviation!
At that very moment, Yan Shouyi saw a white fox tail wrapped around the truck driver’s neck!
The fox tail was tightly strangling the driver’s neck, making his face turn blue, appearing on the verge of suffocation. His eyeballs even rolled upwards, let alone his ability to see the road!
It was indeed that fox, intending to kill Meng Guohui!
*Bang!*
With a loud crash, the truck collided with the rear of the Audi. The Audi, losing its balance, rolled several times on the road!
Yan Shouyi and the others were also impacted, their heads ringing.
Fortunately, the car stopped after a few rolls. Yan Shouyi recovered his senses and quickly unbuckled Meng Guohui's seatbelt, "Director Meng, are you alright?"
Meng Guohui looked somewhat disheveled at this point, with a large gash on his forehead, blood gushing out.
Confirming Meng Guohui was unharmed, Yan Shouyi immediately got out of the car and pulled open the passenger door.
Long Feicheng tumbled out of the car and sat on the ground, still shaken. "Damn it, this is murder! This truck driver clearly intended to kill us!"
Pedestrians at the intersection saw the accident and flocked over. Some kind-hearted onlookers climbed onto the truck and dragged out the unconscious driver.
With the driver unconscious, it was impossible to ascertain the cause of the accident. Everyone could only call for an ambulance and traffic police to handle the situation.
Meng Guohui also got out of the car, and together with Yan Shouyi, they opened the driver's seat door and dragged Ding Li out.
"Ding Li, don't pretend to be dead!" Meng Guohui slapped Ding Li twice. "Are you trying to kill me? Speak! Hurry up and speak!"
Ding Li showed no reaction, his eyes closed as if dead. Yan Shouyi frowned, felt Ding Li's pulse, and quickly stopped Meng Guohui:
"Director Meng, Ding Li is indeed unconscious, and he has sustained severe internal injuries. If you move him now, you might very well kill him."
Meng Guohui immediately calmed down and asked, "Ding Li wanted to harm me, but I'm not dead, and he's in critical condition? Why?"
"Perhaps his plan was not thorough enough."
Yan Shouyi paused, then recounted how he smelled body odor on Ding Li and saw a fox tail around the truck driver's neck.
Upon hearing Yan Shouyi’s words, Meng Guohui felt a chill run down his spine.
Was it not Ding Li who wanted his life, but that fox spirit?
Otherwise, why wasn’t he dead, and Ding Li instead in a life-threatening situation?
"Director Meng, first, think carefully about what grievances you have with that fox spirit," Yan Shouyi said. "Xiao Long, you stay with Director Meng. I'll go check on the truck driver."
"Okay!"
Long Feicheng readily agreed. Although he was also afraid of the fox spirit, there were people all around now, and the fox spirit wouldn't dare to appear easily.
Kind bystanders had carried the truck driver to the side of the road. Seeing Yan Shouyi approach, an elderly man advised him not to be rough and to wait for the police.
Yan Shouyi was speechless. Did he look that scary?
He waved his hand and explained, "You misunderstood. I'm here to see if this driver is alright."
If the driver was not bribed by Ding Li but was instead controlled by the fox spirit, then the driver was also a victim. Yan Shouyi had no intention of blaming him.
Upon reaching the truck driver, Yan Shouyi crouched down and examined the driver's neck.
Indeed, there was a deep ligature mark there, proving that Yan Shouyi had not been mistaken earlier. The fox spirit had indeed appeared.
A faint scent of body odor also wafted from the driver, not very noticeable, but Yan Shouyi still caught it.
"Foxes are called fox immortals, along with the weasel (Yellow Immortal), hedgehog (White Immortal), mouse (Gray Immortal), and snake (Willow Immortal), forming the Five Immortals. Their intelligence is extremely high, and they are quite spiritual, especially foxes," Yan Shouyi murmured to himself. "Foxes are cunning and hold grudges. Once provoked, they will seek revenge relentlessly until they achieve their goal. What exactly is the grievance between this fox spirit and Director Meng?"
"Huh? What's this?"
Yan Shouyi suddenly found a petal on the driver's clothes.
The petal was pink and oval-shaped, with thick, smooth leaves, and it gave off a faint fragrance. If Yan Shouyi guessed correctly, it was a hydrangea petal.
A rough truck driver shouldn't have a petal like this on him. There was no one else in the truck, so this petal must have been left by the fox spirit.
Holding the petal, Yan Shouyi returned to Meng Guohui.
"Anything you found?" Long Feicheng asked curiously.
Yan Shouyi directly showed the petal to Meng Guohui, "Do you recognize this?"
Meng Guohui blinked in surprise and said, "This is a hydrangea petal?"
"How do you recognize it?" Yan Shouyi was confused. Meng Guohui, a rough and tough man, didn't seem like someone who would tend to flowers.
Meng Guohui then said, "My wife loved hydrangeas the most when she was alive, especially this pink variety. We used to have many planted in our yard, but after my wife fell gravely ill, all the hydrangeas in the house withered."
Long Feicheng stopped being foolish and keenly grasped the connection. "The fox spirit carrying a hydrangea petal. Could it be that the fox spirit is also related to Director Meng's wife?"