Red Peacock [English] (Original Novel by Ju~On, translation by LuckyCasualty)

25. Roc-y road to Confrontation...

Ten days later, the doctor allowed Lù Yī Péng to return home to continue his recovery. Before leaving, he stopped by to see Duàn Fēng, who had been moved from the ICU to a sterile room due to concerns about an infection from his burn wounds.

Upon seeing Lù Yī Péng enter, Duàn Fēng immediately spoke up, "Inspector, you're leaving the hospital today, right?"

"Mmm," Lù Yī Péng nodded, looking at his colleague, who was still heavily bandaged. Seeing this, Duàn Fēng continued, "Why the serious face? The nurse just changed my bandages, and I feel much better now. The pain from before has eased quite a bit."

Lù Yī Péng took another look at Duàn Fēng. He knew that this police officer's burns were second-degree, meaning the skin was not completely destroyed, but the pain must be intense since the skin has the most nerve endings. Lù Yī Péng couldn't help but admire Duàn Fēng's resilience in talking so cheerfully.

Seeing that the other man remained still, Duàn Fēng asked further, "Inspector, you're not just here to see me as a mummy, are you? You're going to handle the person who planted the bomb in our car, right?"

Besides the investigative team, Lù Yī Péng had not shared this plan with anyone, but he had briefly mentioned the Róng Family case and the possibility that Róng Shì Zhǐ might be the one who planted the bomb. It seemed that Duàn Fēng could see right through his thoughts.

"Be careful, Inspector. I know you're skilled, but you're not as tough as a car hood," Duàn Fēng said.

Lù Yī Péng laughed, "I'm not going to let him use me as target practice."

Duàn Fēng looked at him seriously, "Inspector, I'm waiting for you to come back to work with me. So... when I'm doing my physical therapy, you have to come and see me. You need to see my new face, too."

Lù Yī Péng bit his lip, and finally managed a smile, "Mmm... I'll definitely come to visit you."

After finishing his conversation with Duàn Fēng, Lù Yī Péng changed clothes and got back into the car with three police officers. His plan was to return home, leaving two officers stationed outside, and then pretend to switch shifts periodically. Róng Shì Zhǐ would likely take the opportunity to catch him. After that...

The four officers drove along the highway. As they turned off onto a deserted bypass road, they noticed a tow truck following them.

"Is there a broken-down vehicle around here?" the driver noted. "I haven't heard any radio reports about it."

"It might have been called to tow a car to a garage. There's a garage around here. It seems to be in a hurry, driving so fast," another officer said.

The driver decided to move to the left to let the tow truck pass.

"It is driving so hurriedly. I've never seen a tow truck drive this fast before," the other officer commented.

Lù Yī Péng frowned, "Why would a tow truck be in such a rush?"

"Don't know," one of them replied. But before he could say anything else, the driver shouted, "Hey!!"

There was a screech of brakes, and Lù Yī Péng's face almost slammed into the back of the seat. Fortunately, the seatbelt held him in place. The sound of metal grinding followed a split second later, and then the airbags deployed automatically.

"What's happening!?" Lù Yī Péng shouted as soon as he regained his composure.

The officer sitting in the driver's seat mumbled through the airbag, "The tow truck stopped suddenly."

"!!!"

Before anyone could say anything, the sound of heavy metal hitting the car echoed again. The car was lifted up.