Terrorist

But then Fang Qi’s heart stirred.

Could she possibly mean…?

“Are you saying…”

He leaned forward slightly, staring at Lin Xiaoyou in the rearview mirror.

“What we’re facing isn’t some mysterious ‘twist of fate,’ but…”

He narrowed his eyes.

“Some kind of power is ‘hunting’ us?”

Lin Xiaoyou blinked.

“What are you talking about, Senior? You’re overthinking it!”

“That’s not what I meant at all! What I’m really saying is… hey!”

Her words cut off abruptly. Her almond-shaped eyes narrowed, and her eyebrow arched.

“Senior, look ahead! I think it’s coming again!”

“The oncoming lane! Watch out!”

Liguang spoke at the exact same moment.

She was still straddling Fang Qi’s lap, but her head had turned toward the front, her crimson eyes flickering rapidly.

Fang Qi focused his gaze.

Not far ahead in the oncoming lane, a medium-sized truck was driving toward them.

It wasn’t moving fast, the body of the truck was steady, and nothing seemed unusual.

The driver was a man in his forties, his expression normal.

It looked like just an ordinary truck, right?

Suddenly, a colorful object flew over from the roadside.

It was a ball.

Then…

A little boy dashed out from the sidewalk!

He looked about five or six years old, wearing a blue cartoon T-shirt, with a innocent smile on his face!

He didn’t notice the truck heading toward him at all. He was just chasing his ball, running into the middle of the road.

“Xiao Bao!!!”

A young woman rushed out from the sidewalk, her face twisted in utter terror!

She reached out to grab the child’s collar, but it was too late.

The truck driver’s eyes bulged!

He slammed on the brakes and yanked the steering wheel hard!

“Squeal—!!!”

The screech of tires!

The medium-sized truck swerved sharply at high speed, its entire body tilting violently!

The left wheels lifted off the ground!

The cargo in the back let out a booming crash as it all slid to one side!

Then…

The entire vehicle came barreling sideways into the lane where the pink “chopped pepper fish head” car was driving!

Fang Qi’s pupils contracted!

Here it was again!

But Lin Xiaoyou had already anticipated it!

She had turned the wheel early and floored the accelerator!

“Vroom—!!!”

The pink car let out a furious roar!

The entire vehicle executed a sharp, clean drift at extreme speed!

The rear of the car scraped past the front of the tilting truck!

In that instant…

Fang Qi saw the panicked face of the little boy outside the window.

He stood frozen, eyes wide, mouth open but unable to make a sound. His ball was still bouncing on the road.

He saw the mother who had rushed out to grab her child.

Her hand was still outstretched, her face frozen in pure terror.

And in the truck that had already tipped over, the driver’s terrified expression.

His hands were gripping the steering wheel tightly, his eyes enormous—a pure, unmistakable fear.

Fang Qi’s eyelids twitched slightly.

…He wasn’t a ghost.

He was an ordinary person.

“BOOM—!!!”

A massive crash sounded from behind.

Fang Qi didn’t turn around.

Liguang held him firmly in place.

Her silver hair brushed against his cheek, and her scent—sweet like strawberries—filled his nose.

He stayed silent.

“Did you see that, Senior?”

Lin Xiaoyou’s voice came from the front seat, her tone no longer as excited.

Fang Qi was quiet for a moment.

“…Liguang.”

He spoke softly.

“That little boy and that truck driver…”

“Are they people ‘that your crimson eyes can’t detect’?”

The silver-haired girl lifted her head slightly, looking toward the rear window.

In her crimson eyes, red data flickered faintly.

Then she gently shook her head.

“No, Master.”

Her tone was serious.

“They are both ordinary people.”

“At least, with my current abilities…”

She buried her head back into the crook of Fang Qi’s neck.

“…this was purely an accident.”

Fang Qi slowly narrowed his eyes.

A pure accident, huh…

A child’s ball flies into the road. The child runs to get it. The driver swerves to avoid the child, and then…

They crash into each other.

On the surface, it really did look like just an accident.

That child wasn’t a ghost.

That mother wasn’t a ghost.

That driver wasn’t a ghost.

They were all flesh-and-blood ordinary people who could feel fear and scream.

But the timing, the location, the angle of this “accident”…

Every single detail pointed directly at them!

Just like all the “accidents” before.

So…

…Was it really the world itself that was “correcting” them?

Hunting them down again and again, failing each time, only to keep coming back.

Increasingly frequent. Increasingly blatant. Increasingly…

Desperate?

“So you see, Senior!”

Lin Xiaoyou grinned at him in the rearview mirror.

“That’s why I said this world isn’t up to par!”

She gave the wheel a light turn, guiding the pink car around a parked bus and merging back into the sparse traffic.

“If it can’t kill us, it throws a tantrum. So pathetic!”

“What a weakling!”

She stuck out her pinky finger, making a mocking gesture.

“This world’s methods are seriously lacking!”

Fang Qi rubbed his forehead. He felt like his head was in a mess.

“So…”

He paused, organizing his thoughts.

“What we’re facing now is really ‘the twisting of fate’?”

Lin Xiaoyou didn’t answer immediately.

Fang Qi continued thinking, muttering to himself:

“But since it didn’t ‘twist’ successfully, it just keeps attacking us over and over? Like…”

“Like it’s constantly running a self-check and fixing bugs.”

Liguang suddenly finished his sentence.

Her crimson eyes flickered, her voice soft.

Fang Qi froze.

Fixing bugs?

“Exactly!”

Lin Xiaoyou slapped the steering wheel, letting out a crisp crack.

“Me, Lin Xiaoyou—”

She held the wheel with one hand and pointed at her own nose with the other.

“—I’m the bug that shakes the whole world! And the world can’t kill me!”

Her round little face beamed with triumphant delight!

Her expression was practically begging to be hit.

But Liguang narrowed her eyes slightly.

Still straddling Fang Qi’s lap, she slowly turned her head toward the rearview mirror, looking at that smug round face.

“Miss Lin. Don’t get too cocky.”

Her voice was gentle and kind.

“If you haven’t died… it’s definitely because Master is protecting you.”

Her crimson eyes gave another faint flash!

Fang Qi was stunned.

Huh?

Me?

“I’m protecting her?” he asked instinctively.

What had he even done?

“Oh dear…”

Lin Xiaoyou touched her head, then blinked at him through the rearview mirror.

“Senior, what Liguang said… might actually be right!”

Her tone was light, but her expression was subtly serious.

“Based on what I’ve observed so far…”

She tapped her fingers lightly on the steering wheel twice.

“Senior, the reason I’m still alive might just be because…”

Her almond-shaped eyes curved.

“You and Liguang are here.”

…?

“After all,”

Lin Xiaoyou tilted her head, her eyes turning into crescent moons.

“This insignificant little bug of mine is being targeted by some…”

She pointed her finger at Fang Qi through the rearview mirror.

“external ‘virus’!”

“And…!”

He turned his finger again, pointing at the silver-haired girl who was straddling Fang Qi’s lap, staring expressionlessly at him.

“The ‘partner’ he personally created since childhood…”

“Is being protected!”

Fang Qi’s eyes flickered.

A virus?

Was he referring to him?

Hah.

How fitting.

A being from beyond this world—an “invader,” the one Gu Xi called “the disruptor of fate.”

He didn’t belong to this world’s script, so he himself was the biggest variable.

If this world was a digital one, calling him a virus…

Wasn’t that exactly right?

And Liguang…

She had been drawn on paper ever since she was three.

Her name was given by him, her appearance designed by him, her core programming forged by his parents.

He was a virus.

And she was the partner created by that very virus.

The two of them…

Might both be existences that the rules of this world couldn’t fully control.

And Lin Xiaoyou, this ordinary girl smart enough to deduce the essence of the world yet lacking any “permissions” to protect herself…

Was it precisely because she stayed with them that she managed to escape “fate’s assassination” time and again?

Come to think of it, that actually made sense…

“Whoa!”

Lin Xiaoyou suddenly cried out in surprise.

“Here it comes again!”

“The small intersection to the right ahead!”

Liguang spoke at the exact same moment!

Her arms, wrapped around Fang Qi’s neck, tightened abruptly!

Fang Qi snapped back to reality!

He saw a truck emerge from the small intersection on the right ahead!

Its cargo bed was packed with thick steel pipes…

“Boom—!”

It crashed into a height limit bar!

The bar twisted and deformed on impact!

The steel pipes in the truck bed, driven by enormous inertia, all shot forward!

Several thick pipes impaled the cab and burst out through the windshield!

The remaining pipes in the bed began spilling forward at terrifying speed!

“Whoa!!”

Lin Xiaoyou shouted again!

At the same time, she yanked the steering wheel hard and slammed on the brakes!

The pink little pepper-head fish car executed a perfect drift at high speed!

The body practically skidded sideways!

But those steel pipes were already raining down toward them like a storm!

There was no way to dodge!

Fang Qi only felt a sharp pain on his neck—

Liguang’s teeth suddenly clamped down hard!

She was about to bite!

He closed his eyes instinctively.

Was this where it ended…?!

But—

“Clang—!!!”

A deafening crash of metal!

Steel pipes slammed into the side window and door!

The noise was like an explosion going off right next to his ear!

But the glass didn’t shatter!

The door didn’t even buckle!

The pink little pepper-head fish car was sent tumbling sideways from the massive impact!

And then…

Fang Qi felt himself spinning uncontrollably!

His head buzzed and throbbed!

Everything before his eyes whirled chaotically—

Liguang’s silver hair, the sky outside the window, the inverted street scene, all blurred together!

The car started rolling!

But his body…

Was still locked firmly in the seat by Liguang!

Her legs gripped his waist, her arms wrapped around his neck—she held him in place like a precision mechanical device.

Lin Xiaoyou’s howls of agony rang in his ears—

“They’re using sneak attacks!”

“This world has no honor!!”

Rolling, rolling, rolling!

Spinning endlessly!

And then…

Fang Qi felt a sudden jolt.

Huh…?

He was sitting upright…?

He slowly opened his eyes.

The pink little pepper-head fish car, after several tumbles…

Had actually righted itself!

He was now sitting in the back seat!

In the exact same position as before the roll.

Liguang was still straddling his lap, still holding his neck, still biting the side of his neck… as if nothing had happened.

He blinked.

Outside the window, the road was flat.

The sky was above. The roadside trees stood straight.

Fang Qi was stunned.

…What?!

This car was this amazing?!

“…It didn’t even break?!”

“Vroom—!!!”

The answer came in the form of a furious electric motor roar and a violent surge of acceleration!

The pink little pepper-head fish car shot forward again!

Lin Xiaoyou was still in the driver’s seat, hands firmly on the wheel.

Her round little face was dotted with a few glass fragments, but her almond eyes were full of excitement!

“How could it break!”

“This is my modded car, after all!”

She flashed Fang Qi a grin through the rearview mirror.

“Didn’t Xiaoqing tell Senior before? My car…”

“Even if it crashes into a big truck, it won’t be a problem!”

She spun the wheel with one hand, and the little pepper-head fish nimbly dodged a parked taxi.

“I was worried about chipping the paint and having to pay for repairs before, so I never dared to drive recklessly! Now that Senior is covering everything—”

She stomped the accelerator again!

“I! MUST! DRIVE! CRAZY!”

“Vroom—!!!”

The pink little pepper-head fish car surged forward like a genuine pink lightning bolt!

Fang Qi, pressed into the back seat by inertia and Liguang, stared wide-eyed!

After tumbling several times, there were only a few tiny cracks on the windshield!

As for those steel pipes that had slammed into the side door—now that he looked closely…

There were indeed a few shallow dents on the door?

But that was it!

Holy crap…!

This car was seriously impressive…!

Military-grade modifications!

Lin Xiaoyou must have sunk most of her money into this car, right?!

“Ring—!”

His phone suddenly rang.

Fang Qi pulled it out of his pocket, and the name flashing on the screen made him pause for a moment.

[An Lian]

He exchanged a glance with Liguang. The silver-haired girl was still biting his neck, but her mismatched eyes also glanced at the screen.

He answered immediately.

“Hello?”

“Xiao Qi!”

An Lian’s voice came through the receiver, stripped of its usual cool steadiness, tinged with obvious panic.

“On the streets… on the streets, there’ve been so many car accidents! The news says it’s a terrorist attack! Are you… are you okay?! Did something happen to you guys?!”

Fang Qi opened his mouth.

Sudden mass accidents on the streets. The news calling it a terrorist attack. Were they okay?

He looked down at himself—completely unharmed, except for a row of teeth marks on his neck and his wrinkled collar from Liguang’s clutching.

He looked at the front seat—Lin Xiaoyou was enthusiastically speeding, her ponytail whipping around, her round face dotted with glass fragments but otherwise unharmed.

He looked out the window—their pink little pepper-head fish car was tearing through one chaotic block after another at insane speeds, with explosions and towering flames roaring behind them.

For a long moment, he didn’t know what to say.

“Hello? Xiao Qi? Are you really okay?! If it’s too dangerous, don’t come—!”

An Lian’s voice grew more urgent.

Fang Qi finally…

Let out a helpless laugh.

“Sister An Lian.”

He said, his tone tinged with resignation.

“That ‘terrorist’ you mentioned…”

“I think that’s me.”

“…”

A long silence on the phone.

“Me too!”

Lin Xiaoyou shouted from the front seat!

“I’m a terrorist too!”

The silver-haired girl lifted her head from Fang Qi’s neck, her lips slightly glossy. She tilted her head a little and said softly:

“If Master is a terrorist, then Liguang is one too.”

His tone was serious.

“…What…?”

An Lian’s bewildered voice came through the receiver.

Fang Qi could already picture the look on her face.

On that cold, clear face, there must be nothing but confusion—her gray eyes slightly wide, her lips parted, unsure of what to say.

He took a deep breath.

“An Lian, stay at home.”

His voice was firm.

“Don’t go anywhere. I’ll be there soon!”

He turned his head to look at the driver’s seat.

“Lin Xiaoyou, how much longer?”

Lin Xiaoyou immediately winked at him in the rearview mirror.

“Almost there! I won’t take any detours!”

With one hand, she whipped the steering wheel around, and the pink compact car executed a sharp drift, swerving into a relatively quiet main road.

“Less than ten minutes! Guaranteed!”

An Lian was silent on the other end for a few seconds.

Then she let out a soft sigh.

“…Then you two be careful.”

Her voice regained some of its usual cool steadiness, but there was still a suppressed tremor beneath it.

“Don’t worry about me. I—”

“Watch out ahead!”

Liguang suddenly shouted a warning.

“Hold tight!”

Lin Xiaoyou let out an excited, almost manic yell.

At the same time, she jerked the steering wheel hard!

Sudden braking, drifting, a rush of G-force—

Fang Qi’s body was flung to one side again by the momentum.

But once more, Liguang kept him locked firmly in place—

The silver-haired girl had her legs clamped around his waist, her arms wrapped around his neck, perfectly still through it all.

“Holy… crap!”

Fang Qi finally let out a curse.

This whole ride…

Had been way too intense!