The taxi driver's face had gone pale. He forced a dry laugh: "Well, I wish you success."
"Thanks. Can I turn off the phone now?" Chen Ge flashed what he hoped was a friendly smile. "It's all just a misunderstanding."
"Of course, of course." The driver readily agreed, tapping his phone a few times. He drove another two or three meters when the car's walkie-talkie suddenly lit up red. He lightly touched a finger to it, and before he could speak, a gruff voice came through.
"Old Liu, you're heading to Xicheng Private School too? I was wondering why anyone would be running to that place in the middle of the night. I've got a fare headed the same way — we're not far apart. By the way, what was that you posted in the group chat? 'I'm being held hostage'?"
"It's nothing, nothing. Just focus on driving." The driver wiped the sweat from his forehead and hung up.
"That should've been 'I'm being kidnapped,' shouldn't it? Sir, where's the basic trust between people?" Chen Ge raised an eyebrow. He was worried the driver might actually call the cops. "Stop here."
"Done!" The driver pulled over without a second word, his calves still trembling.
Chen Ge checked his belongings, shouldered his backpack, and got out. As he closed the door, he glanced up and noticed the scrolling text on the taxi's roof display — I'M BEING HIJACKED. CALL THE POLICE!
"Quite the repertoire you've got there."
He watched the taxi speed off as if fleeing for its life. A dozen seconds later, everything within a hundred meters fell into dead silence.
No moon or stars were visible in the sky — it looked like it was about to rain. The clouds hung low and heavy, blocking out every trace of light.
Chen Ge turned on his phone and checked the time. Eight minutes left until the deadline.
"While I was in the car, someone on the walkie-talkie said they'd also picked up a fare headed to Xicheng Private School. Someone heading this way after one in the morning — could it be related to me?" He filed that thought away. If it weren't for the time limit, he would have set up an ambush along the road to see who was following him.
"Eight minutes left. Better to get inside the school first — scoping out the terrain counts as claiming the initiative." The area around Xicheng Private School was nothing but wasteland. Not a single light in sight, just a road that grew narrower as it cut through the woods and scrub.
He switched on his phone's flashlight and walked nearly a hundred meters along the road before finally reaching the school's main gate.
Chains and fencing had rusted together. The gate was locked shut. Through the iron bars, he could see nothing but pitch-black darkness.
"How do I get in?"
Chen Ge paced outside for a moment, then tossed his backpack over the wall. He took a running start, jumped, grabbed the top of the wall, and climbed over.
The campus wasn't large — he could see the boundaries at a glance. In the darkness stood several black silhouettes of buildings, like a handful of solitary night watchmen.
The school's sign had been removed. In truth, Chen Ge didn't know the school's real name — only that everyone called it Xicheng Private Academy.
Overgrown bushes obscured the path, and something scraped against his legs from time to time, leaving them itching and stinging.
"I arrived within the time limit. Next task: go inside and find Zhang Ya's red dancing shoes." Chen Ge pulled a hammer from his backpack and gripped its cold handle. He felt a good deal steadier now.