Winter Time Rendering

Chapter 25: Chapter 8: This is Bad

But later, someone told him exasperatedly, "Bullshit!"

"Those are girls, girls, you damn idiot! If you’re not going to make a move, can’t you introduce a few to me?"

Zhang Shutong was just confused.

Take Du Kang’s crush on Lu Qinglian, for example. He could understand that. Regardless of their relationship, they had at least grown up together on the small island, from the same elementary school to the same middle school. Putting himself in those shoes, he got it: a pretty girl is always around, you inevitably exchange a few words, you see her smile, her long hair, her scent... falling for her is the most natural thing in the world. But the "girls" his classmates talked about? What was that all about?

They didn’t even know each other. He really couldn’t understand it.

Since he couldn’t understand it, he couldn’t figure out how to deal with it either. He eventually came up with a solution: he set his social media profile to private and changed his birthday. Unfortunately, he dropped out of school during his sophomore year, so he never got to see if it worked.

He had only ever liked one girl in his entire high school life.

She was a senior in the same club. She had countless admirers, and to be honest, Zhang Shutong was a bit apprehensive. In the popular slang of the time, she was the "school beauty" type; there was no reason she would take a liking to an ordinary guy like him.

Although "ordinary" here deserved quotation marks. Back then, he was always playing the vigilante in and out of school, thinking he was a total badass. But that sort of thing didn’t give him any bonus points when it came to winning over girls, did it?

You couldn’t just put on a serious face and say, "I’ll tell you a secret, I have superpowers," and expect the girl to gasp and throw herself into your arms. It wasn’t that easy to get the girl. Just look at how much trouble Peter Parker went through for Mary Jane.

Later, he transferred to a school in another city, but she unexpectedly took a bus to visit him once.

That day, they found a bench in a park. It was too dark to see each other’s expressions, so they spoke intermittently. The senior kept her head down, staring at her shoes, while Zhang Shutong looked up at the moon. The girl then started talking to him quietly about the future, but he remained silent, because he couldn’t see a future for himself.

The moon was solitary, the park bench was cold, and the future she spoke of, while beautiful, felt impossibly distant.

After that, he suddenly realized he really wasn’t suited for romance.

’What are you even supposed to do in a relationship? Go on dates, maybe? See movies? Plus dinner, walking hand-in-hand under the moonlight, kissing a girl’s lips at some romantic moment... But as long as Rewind existed, he could never return to a normal life.’

They say everyone is born with a mission. In that case, the mission for the human named Zhang Shutong was to fight this damn ability to the death, and only in death find rest.

Unexpectedly, a few hours ago, he really had fought until he "died," and in dying, he had finally found his "rest."

An afternoon had passed since he’d returned to his school days.

A change in environment can have a huge effect on a person. Not much time had passed, yet he already felt his mood lightening. So, if he were to describe the outcome in a lighter tone, he could very well say:

"I always thought I only had one ability, called Rewind."

"But I never expected to have a second one, called Prophet."

Thinking this, Zhang Shutong wanted to laugh. He felt he did have a sense of humor, even if others might not agree. But it was like how Gu Qiuyan never thought her drawings looked like weird faces; it was fine as long as everyone could amuse themselves in their own minds.

——As for what was really going on with that body of water called the "Forbidden Zone," even he had no idea. All he could do was be as careful and cautious as humanly possible, while also trying to think up a joke to keep his mind sharp.

Lost in thought, the great Prophet arrived at the waters where he had met his demise just as the sun was beginning to set.

He then recalled what Du Kang had said before the Rewind: a fisherman had seen someone active near the Forbidden Zone before the incident.

Gu Qiuyan disappeared on December 10th. Today was December 5th. With only five days left, he was bound to find some clues.

Logically, he should have been trying to deduce the killer’s motive. But Zhang Shutong was no professional detective. His knowledge of Gu Qiuyan was limited—or rather, extremely scarce. He didn’t even know that what she’d drawn on the glass was a sheep. It was hard for him to make any deductions.

’It would be better to start with the circumstances of her disappearance:’

’I’ve come up with three possibilities so far:’

’One: A random event. Although the probability is low, it can’t be ruled out that she came here for a walk on a whim, got separated from any crowds, and created an opportunity for the killer.’

’Two: The killer scouted the location in advance and deliberately lured her here to make his move.’

’Three: The killer also scouted the location in advance, but the initial crime scene wasn’t the "Forbidden Zone." He kidnapped her first and then brought her here.’

This area was completely deserted; no wonder it took two days for her to be found after she went missing.

Zhang Shutong temporarily ruled out the first possibility. He couldn’t decide between the latter two, but based on what Du Kang had said, it was certain the killer had scoped out the location beforehand.

Now, it was time to test his theories—

He parked his bike and scanned his surroundings. No one was in sight.

He had thought that with the recent snowfall, he’d be able to spot any tracks if someone had been active in the area. But for some reason, the snow over here had all melted away.

He would just have to get closer.

The road around the lake hadn’t been built yet; under his feet was just an ordinary dirt path. Farther in, it turned to mud. Because of this, he parked his bike a little ways away and turned it around, ensuring he could hop on and flee at the first sign of trouble.

It was almost dark, so there was no need to cover his face. Flashlight in his left hand and an extendable baton in his right, Zhang Shutong let out a breath and stepped softly into the reeds.

He immediately frowned. The ground beneath his feet felt wrong—