Chapter 52: A Spectacular Death

Shudian Town. A red sports car moved gloomily along the equally dreary main street.

The town itself wasn’t large, covering barely a dozen square kilometers. From one end to the other, even accounting for traffic lights, the journey shouldn’t take more than ten minutes.

Yet, the sports car had been driving for over half an hour. It stopped and started, never traveling more than a block at a time, and each stop lasted several minutes.

Inside sat a beautiful girl, one hand resting on the steering wheel, the other clutching a pair of binoculars.

Hua Wu.

Radiant Hua Wu, troubled Hua Wu.

She couldn’t help but feel downcast. Ever since that night at the Celebrity Club when she parted ways with Chu Tianfeng without a word, she hadn’t seen him. Every day she dialed his number—once when she woke, again before bed, and sometimes in the middle of the day whenever he crossed her mind.

But the call never connected. Her phone always returned the same mechanical message: “Sorry, the subscriber you dialed has turned off their phone or is out of service. Please try again later.”

She was genuinely worried. So many people were searching for him, and he was injured. She had no idea how he was faring.

Each time she recalled Chu Tianfeng wandering around with instant noodles, searching for hot water, her heart ached terribly.

“Excuse me, do you have hot water?”

“Tea will do.”

…

His helpless, forlorn gaze was etched deep within her soul.

She wanted to find him, longed to see him.

Yesterday, rumors spread that Chu Tianfeng had appeared in Shudian, and since then, she’d tirelessly scoured every corner of the town, visiting every street, alley, and film crew.

Now, another street—another gloomy avenue.

Hua Wu pressed the brake and idly lifted her binoculars.

Suddenly, her hand trembled.

She spotted Peng Yongliang and Yuan Qi!

She knew full well it was Peng Yongliang who’d spread the rumor—she’d searched for him everywhere. Normally, he would be loitering around her, but these past few days he seemed to be playing hide-and-seek, nowhere to be found.

Now, the two stood outside a cake shop, flirting with the salesgirl.

Finally! If she could find Peng Yongliang, she’d be one step closer to finding Chu Tianfeng.

Unable to contain her excitement, she released the brake and floored the accelerator. The car shot forward like an arrow, roaring toward the pair.

Peng and Yuan were mid-flirt when the engine’s roar startled them. They spun around, terror-stricken.

They bolted into the shop, glancing nervously over their shoulders.

Peng Yongliang, sharp-eyed, recognized the distinctive license plate and the driver—Hua Wu.

“Miss Hua, I swear I won’t do it again! Next time, I really won’t!” Peng Yongliang waved his hands frantically, thinking she’d come to punish them for their antics.

Screech—

The sports car halted abruptly outside the cake shop.

With a bang, the door was kicked open, and Hua Wu nearly leapt out.

“Get out here!” she demanded, pointing at Peng Yongliang.

---

“Miss Hua, let’s talk about this,” Peng Yongliang stammered, gesturing nervously at the car. “I’ll come out, but you have to turn off the engine first.”

Seeing their trembling faces, Hua Wu rolled her eyes. “I wouldn’t waste my time hitting you two. Get out here, now!”

Nevertheless, she walked back to the car, switched off the engine, and pulled out the keys.

Relieved, Peng and Yuan exchanged their fearful expressions for sly grins, approaching her with feigned enthusiasm.

“Miss Hua, are you looking for me?” Peng Yongliang patted his chest theatrically.

Hua Wu glanced around and whispered, “Have you seen Chu Tianfeng?”

A few tailers lingered nearby, but none close enough to overhear.

“Of course! He nearly killed us,” Peng Yongliang replied, tossing his head. “Ask Yuan Qi if you don’t believe me.”

Yuan Qi quickly chimed in, “That’s right. Two nights ago, we bumped into him near the One Night Dance Hall. We were also chatting up girls, and Chu Tianfeng—without a word—beat us up.”

Hua Wu couldn’t help but laugh, but then grew serious. “Which dance hall?”

“One Night Dance Hall,” Peng Yongliang answered. “The one by the station. If you don’t believe me, I have photos.”

He pulled out his phone and searched, producing two pictures. One showed a back view, the other a blurred profile. Anyone familiar with Chu Tianfeng would recognize him, despite the poor quality.

“Ridiculous! Tell me honestly—when were these taken?” Hua Wu tossed the phone back.

“Two nights ago, of course,” Peng Yongliang insisted.

“The station area had a power outage then. All the lights were out. Explain the streetlight in your photos.” Hua Wu crossed her arms.

“Huh?” Peng Yongliang looked at Yuan Qi.

Yuan Qi paled, at a loss.

“Maybe you’re mistaken?” Peng Yongliang turned awkwardly to Hua Wu.

She remained silent, her gaze fixed on him.

“Alright, maybe I misremembered. Maybe Chu Tianfeng was there the night before,” Peng Yongliang lied smoothly, not even blinking.

Hua Wu still said nothing, eyes locked on him.

“Okay.” Peng Yongliang raised his hands in surrender. “He passed through the area that morning.”

“And the photos?” Hua Wu was unconvinced.

“They’re from a while ago. That evening, Chu Tianfeng called us, asked us to spread the word that he’d appeared in Shudian. We happened to have some old photos taken by a friend, Zheng Haorui, so we used those.”

“He asked you for help? And you actually did it?” Hua Wu, incredulous, looked as though she’d seen a ghost.

She knew all about the friction between Chu Tianfeng and Peng Yongliang. Yuan Qi’s story of Chu Tianfeng beating them up was believable, but Peng Yongliang claiming Chu Tianfeng asked for help—and that Peng just agreed—was utterly preposterous. Not even a fool would believe it.

Absurd! Completely absurd! Hua Wu felt Peng was mocking her intelligence.

“Alright, I’ll tell you everything,” Peng Yongliang said helplessly. “He placed a curse on us. We had no choice.”

“What?” Hua Wu was astonished.

This time, she truly believed him. Her intuition told her Peng Yongliang wasn’t lying.

“It’s true.” Peng’s eyes flashed with fear. “Chu Tianfeng learned some sinister trick somewhere. He put something inside us—no hospital can detect it.”

“What happened? Tell me everything,” Hua Wu prompted, recalling the strange arts she’d seen Chu Tianfeng perform, and now convinced.

---

“It was like this: two mornings ago, Chu Tianfeng disguised himself as a woman,” Peng Yongliang paused, watching her reaction. “He came out of the station and ran into us. We thought he was a temp actor at the Shudian film city and kindly offered to help him find work. Instead, he knocked us down without warning and put some weird thing inside us.”

His words were half-truths, but Hua Wu, knowing his character, could easily discern fact from fiction. Chu Tianfeng disguised as a woman and disciplined them was plausible; the claim they offered him work was pure nonsense. With their reputation, encountering Chu Tianfeng in disguise was bound to provoke some mischief.

“And then?” The thought of Chu Tianfeng in women’s clothes made Hua Wu both amused and exasperated.

“He threatened us to do his bidding, or suffer worse than death,” Peng Yongliang complained. “After we agreed, he let us go.”

To smear Chu Tianfeng brought Peng some satisfaction, but he knew Hua Wu wouldn’t easily believe him.

“And after that?” Hua Wu frowned.

Peng Yongliang shrugged, “We left. Nothing more.”

“Did you see which way he went?” she pressed.

“Didn’t notice,” Peng shook his head. “I don’t want to see him again.”

Hua Wu looked to Yuan Qi for confirmation.

Yuan Qi pointed east, “I think he went to the film city. He might still be inside.”

“Oh? Why?” Hua Wu was puzzled.

“We’ve been hanging around the station and haven’t seen him leave,” Yuan Qi replied, as if certain. “Maybe he found a new job inside, playing dead bodies again.”

“You’ve never played a corpse?” Hua Wu’s temper flared.

“We’ve all played corpses,” Yuan Qi seized the chance to curse Chu Tianfeng. “But he’s different. He loves playing dead, and he does it so well! Everyone says he’s made for it. Director Yang and Director Zhang often praise how convincingly he dies, how spectacularly!”

Thinking of his injured shoulder, Yuan Qi gritted his teeth in hatred.

“You die spectacularly! Your whole family dies spectacularly!” Hua Wu, already seething, finally found a vent for her anger.

She waved her car keys so vigorously that Yuan Qi half expected them to be a dagger.

“Don’t listen to him, he’s just babbling,” Peng Yongliang intervened, kicking Yuan Qi. “Apologize to Miss Hua.”

“Oh, Miss Hua, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it,” Yuan Qi whimpered. “But Chu Tianfeng really does love playing dead.”

“Hmph!” Hua Wu’s eyes blazed. She regretted turning off the car, or else she’d let Yuan Qi show how spectacularly he could play dead.

“Chu Tianfeng might still be in the film city. We really haven’t seen him leave,” Peng Yongliang quickly changed the subject.

“That’s impossible. Think about it—if he were still in Shudian, would he want you broadcasting his presence?” Hua Wu retorted bitterly. “Unless it wasn’t his idea for you to spread the word.”

“You might be right,” Peng Yongliang laughed awkwardly.

“Hmph!” Hua Wu said no more. She turned, opened the car door, and slipped inside.

Moments later, the car became a crimson streak, vanishing at the end of the street.

“Damn woman! I’ll see how long you can act tough. If you ever fall into my hands, I’ll ride you for three days and nights!” Peng Yongliang shouted after her, raising his middle finger at the departing red shadow.