Love Me if You Dare: Pristine Darkness

Fang Qing was halfway up the mountain when he heard the sound of an explosion. He lifted his rain-slicked face and looked further up the mountainside, where the flames were reaching up to the heavens. He had no time to think about it carefully before a rapid series of explosions was heard, from far to near, and the entire mountainside went up in flames.

“Get down!” he hollered, and led his team to throw themselves to the ground.

The explosions went off continually, and they seemed to be occurring in several locations on the mountainside. At present, the rain was still pouring down in buckets, and it felt as if the entire world only consisted of booming noise, portending the imminent arrival of something catastrophic.

His face and mouth full of muddy water, Fang Qing stared at the flames of the explosions all over the mountainside. All of a sudden, his mind reached a realisation.

He recalled what An Yan had said before: because the geologists had predicted an immense landslide on the mountains around Pu Luo city, the entire county seat had been moved elsewhere.

He also recalled the reply of the geology expert they had specially consulted before arriving at this place: the geological condition of Pu Luo is extremely poor. Although that predicted large-scale mountain landslide has not occurred in 60 years, with each passing day, the possibility of it occurring goes up a notch . . .

“Not good!” Fang Qing leapt up from the ground and looked at the scattered houses down the mountain. He hollered, “Quickly, we have to rescue the residents and get them all out of here!”

He fished out the satellite phone from his pocket and speedily relayed his concerns and suspicions to the command centre, also suggesting that they make evacuation and withdrawal their immediate priority. After hanging up, he was the first one to set off running towards the houses!

——

You know, at the same time, the two of us, so different, might find ourselves in totally different worlds. 

You are sitting quietly under the bright lights, I am running wildly in the darkness and rain. 

Beijing, the broadcasting studio of some famous television station.

Jin Xiaozhe, the film and television queen who has long been known for her dedication to her craft, was currently participating in the live broadcast of a variety show. Because the time had not been managed well, the airing of the live broadcast would very likely be delayed till the early morning.

At this time, the night was quiet and lonely, but the lights shone brightly. Jin Xiaozhe sat backstage, looking delicate and refined, yet with a distant manner. She was due to go on stage in ten minutes. Through the door were spectators and fans who were still eager and passionate despite the late hour.

However, it was clear to her manager and assistants that something was not quite right with Jin Xiaozhe’s state of mind today. She sat where she was, looking as if her thoughts were elsewhere, despite it being the time to rehearse her lines. Her fingers kept turning over the jade prayer beads around her wrist while looking repeatedly at the clock on the wall.

“Do you feel uncomfortable somewhere?” her manager asked in a low voice.

“No.” Jin Xiaozhe once again looked down at her cell phone. She had not received any calls.

Of course she would not receive any phone calls tonight. The previous night, Fang Qing had called her, told her that there was going to be a big operation tonight, and asked her not to wait for his call. She had laughingly replied, she would have important work tonight as well, when would she have the time to be concerned about him?

She had not lied; this was one of the top-ranked variety shows in the entire country. By going on this show, she would only become even more of a ‘hot’ item.

However, for no reason, she had felt somewhat uneasy the entire day.

What was this feeling? She kept feeling that something bad was going to happen. But she had no clear idea what it was.

“Teacher Jin, you should be going on stage now,” a staff member of the programme said, a broad smile on her face as she extended the invitation.

Her manager immediately smilingly replied, “Ok, straight away.” He lowered his head to look at Jin Xiaozhe and ask, “Are you sure you can do it? Is everything ok?” Jin Xiaozhe took a deep breath and stood up. “I’m ok,” she said. Her manager reached out his hand for her cell phone, which he usually hung on to for her. This time, in an unprecedented move, she thrust the cell phone into her pocket, as if she had forgotten the routine, but also seemingly intentionally. It was too late to say anything, however, as the staff member was now escorting Jin Xiaozhe to the stage.

As she walked along the dark passageway, Jin Xiaozhe took a few slow, deep breaths, willing herself to place all thoughts of Fang Qing on the back burner for now. She had never been someone to act impulsively When the stage lights came on and the applause thundered all around her, she put on her practised gentle and beautiful expression, with just a touch of coolness in her smile. In her eyes and mind, there was only this stage.

——

Fang Qing rushed through the heavy rain. The several houses that he saw were sparsely lit, and there were people sticking their heads out of the window. At one glance, he saw that they were all ordinary citizens.

“We are the police! Get down the mountain! Follow us down the mountain now! Get away from here! There’s going to be a landslide!” Fang Qing and the other police officers yelled.

The citizens all fell into a panic, but they still wanted to take some belongings with them, so they took some time to get going. When Fang Qing saw this, he blew his top and roared, “There’s no time! Get going!” They were still reluctant to leave their homes, so Fang Qing and his men had to forcibly drag them away.

The sound of explosions gradually ceased, flames blazed all across the mountainside, and the rain poured down even more heavily, so that it was hard to distinguish any other sound. However, Fang Qing could faintly hear a series of rumbling sounds coming from the mountain.

Was it the landslide?

Was it the landslide that had been predicted 60 years ago?

Was it going to arrive on the heels of the destruction of all Buddha’s Hand’s caches of weapons and ammunition?

What on earth were those masked killer lunatics doing? Fang Qing felt the red-hot inferno of fury rising within him. He grabbed hold of one of the citizens and shouted, “Are there any more people on the mountainside? Have they all evacuated?”

Trembling, the citizen pointed to the side and said, “The temple . . . just now, when the explosions started, two families ran to the temple . . .”

Fang Qing cursed vehemently, pushed the citizen aside and looked at the dilapidated temple not far away. If the landslide really did descend upon them, the temple would be instantly pulverised! He told his men, “You take them down the mountain first, I’ll get the others from the temple.” As soon as he had finished speaking, he dashed off without hesitating.

Was there any light in the temple? As Fang Qing ran in, by the light of his torch, he saw that the entire floor was covered with water — the rain had leaked in from the rickety roof. Although the temple was small and narrow, the roof was high. Several Buddha statues in a state of disrepair and festooned with spiderwebs towered over him in the dark. His sharp ears and eyes made out a faint rustling sound and indistinct figures, but he could not hear or see them clearly.

Fang Qing immediately hollered, “I am the police. Right now, the police have taken control of the whole of the town of Pu Luo. A landslide is going to take place any time, you have to come out now! Follow me down the mountain! Otherwise the consequences will be too terrible to think about! Quick!”

After a beat of silence, the rustling grew louder, and someone asked hesitantly, “Are you really the police?”

Fang Qing said, “Yes! Let’s go! Quickly! I guarantee your safety!”

At last, several people gradually emerged from the darkness. Fang Qing shone his torch on them; almost all were frail elderly people and small children, so he could not find it in himself to get angry. He simply gently urged them, “Let’s go, quickly! Come with me!” At the same time, he took off his raincoat and draped it over an old grandfather and his grandson.

They started moving out, one at a time. Fang Qing stood at the rear to ensure their safety.

At this time.

At this time.

Rumbling.

It was a kind of aggressive, fierce sound that no words could adequately describe. If you ever heard it yourself, you would know this is the terrible and oppressive sound that nature makes when it destroys everything. When the residents heard it, they were shocked to a standstill. Fang Qing’s eyes widened in a flash. Even a man of courage like him went numb for a moment.

“Run!” he roared! Behind the temple was a steep mountain ridge which offered no protection at all.

The people awoke from their stupor and frantically ran outside! There was the sound of pressure being exerted on the roof of the temple and the peng peng peng of something continuously striking the roof! What was coming?!

Those who had already fled outside looked at Fang Qing and the stragglers bringing up the rear who were just running out of the door. All of a sudden, a child slipped and fell and started crying loudly. Fang Qing’s footsteps instantly came to a halt. As a police officer, some of his actions and reactions were purely based on instinct. Just like the previous year, at Ke Qian’s small home, when he had seized An Yan and thrown them both out of the door based on his keen sense of sound and gut instinct. The both of them had only survived due to that. It was the same now. His brain was still unable to come up with an appropriate reaction when his body started moving. He caught up the child and tossed him out of the door with all his strength.

That was the last millisecond.

The child had just flown out of the door when he heard an almighty rumble from all directions, like a vast flood smashing towards them. He saw the temple’s roof beams collapse in a split second, as if they were nothing but shattered toy wooden blocks, and fall towards him.