The Beginning

Chapter 9: The Ninth Cycle of Time (III)

Li Shiqing's last experience with a police investigation was not a good one, so to this day, whenever she hears the word "investigation", she looks a bit pale.

But she is not one to let her own nature get the better of her, and since Boy will ask for her opinion, she has to respect others' as well.

So she hesitantly asked.

"What do you think?"

"My advice is to co-operate with the police investigation."

Xiao Heyun is unaware of Li Shiqing's poor 'experience' and gives his opinion straight away.

"First of all, we don't know if we succeeded in terminating the time loop this time we got off. We don't even know how we entered the 'time loop' from the hospital the last time. What if we got off the bus this time and we got lucky and didn't time loop again?"

Boy pushed up his glasses and continued, "If we don't go back into the time loop, it means we've managed to escape this nightmare, and then we have to think about what comes next in our lives."

"We can't leave a 'suspect' stain on us."

In fact, they both know that this is highly unlikely.

The last time they were all trapped in a ward, one was still in a seriously injured state, but they still somehow appeared on the bus.

But one must always have some hope for oneself.

"As well as that, we need to figure out what's going on."

Boy sighs when he thinks about it, "We died so many times before we found out that the bus was in trouble because there were explosives, and so many times before that time cycling, we thought the crash was an accident or thought the explosion of the car had something to do with the tanker collision."

"Because we were in the car each time, the authorities were confused and the time available to respond was short, there were so few clues to know."

Li Shiqing nods.

"But not so with the police, who can definitely analyse the explosives just by surveying the scene of the accident. Not only do they need information, we need it too, otherwise we'll just be like headless flies relying on 'death' to move things forward every time."

Glasses Boy looks on the bright side of things, "If we can manage to push back and get help from the police, maybe the rest of our situation will not be so difficult."

It is clear that Boy is a very methodical 'planner', but Li Shiqing, who has been through the 'enquiry', is not so optimistic.

"What if the police don't believe us at all?"

Things had come to a head and she naturally understood why the two officers' attitude towards her had changed so quickly.

If the police found explosives at the scene of the bus explosion, and one of the two remaining survivors returned to the scene in a daze and was blown up half dead, and the other ran away from the bus and later claimed to have lost his memory, how could the latter one be more suspicious?

After all, with so many lives at stake, it was humane to consider her physical condition and just ask for information in the ward.

"There would be the possibility of not being able to trust the police at all, after all we really don't know anything."

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Boy gives a nonchalant, enigmatic smile.

"So, we need to have a plan ......"

--

The two men made up their minds to cooperate with the police, so after discussing their plan, they both turned on their phones.

As expected, as soon as the phone was switched on, there were countless missed messages popping up, many of which were unfamiliar missed calls, as well as calls from family members.

Li Shiqing panicked at the sight of her uncle's and her parents' phone calls, greeted Boy uneasily, and went to the empty seat in the corner to call her family back.

Even though she knew the world might not be real, she could not turn a blind eye to the fact that her family was worried about her well-being.

Boy is quite the opposite.

He didn't bother with any phone calls, but skilfully opened all the social networks on his phone and searched for useful information about the car accident case.

As time drifted on, news of this bus explosion spread around the internet saying anything and everything.

Local forums and microblogs were fine, at least they were reliable, mostly saying that a bus had hit a tanker, but other places were different, with many "splicing" the smoke from the scene with other disaster scenes, some saying that a chemical plant had exploded, some saying that a gas station had caught fire, and some saying that someone in the bus had spontaneously combusted.

It was only at about 2.20pm that the police issued a statement explaining that there had been a crash on River Road at 13.45pm and that casualties had been reported, so that this made-up situation could be improved.

"At two twenty minutes past two, the police released official information online at ......"

Boy rubbed his chin and muttered to himself.

Unlike high speed trains and aeroplanes, bus explosions make it difficult to verify the identity of the victims in the event of such a major accident, except for the bus driver.

Not to mention the fact that passengers were getting on and off the bus all the time, and that many of those who ended up on the bus had been burned beyond recognition, making identification of the deceased by their appearance and belongings a difficult task.

The police will be informed of the situation, and most likely they are also looking for passengers who have been on and off this bus and want to know more about the situation.

As it happens, looking through the bottom of the police bulletin, there are a number of comments that jump to interviews with those who had been on the bus, but the available information is largely absent.

After all, buses are short journeys and few people pay attention to the people and situations around them, patronising them not to overstay their welcome.

Xiao Heyun has been rummaging around for a while, memorising all kinds of useful information on the internet, digesting it in his mind and trying to filter out the useful bits.

On the other hand, Li Shiqing dialed her mother's phone with great anxiety.

The call was answered in almost seconds and as soon as she heard her daughter's voice, Li Shiqing's mother burst into tears.

"You stupid kid, why didn't you know to call to report a big event like this!"

"Mom ......"

Li Shiqing called out softly, tears flowing down her face without a sound.

"I'm fine."

"How are you now? Are you safe there? Did you go back to school?"

Li Shiqing's mother scolded and asked, "Where the hell have you been? When I saw the accident on the news, my heart jumped and I wondered what was going on. You said we only have one daughter like you, and it was hard to bring you up ......"

"Mom, I'm fine, I'm fine. I got off the bus early."

Li Shiqing fought back a choked sob and gave her family a message of safety.

Mum cried and cried and started laughing again.

"I'm glad you're okay, I'm glad you're okay! Your dad couldn't get through to you on the phone, and several of your teachers and classmates said they couldn't find you, so he drove off in his car! I need to call your dad before something happens on the highway! By the way, what's going on there? Why do they say that the bus you were on exploded?"

"Well, the bus hit the tanker."

Li Shiqing didn't want to worry her mother too much and only told her about the car crash, "Luckily I didn't want to stay in the car anymore because I met a pervert groping me before, so I got out of the car early, so nothing happened."

"What a blessing! I can't believe I have to thank someone for what happened! It's a good thing nothing happened to you, otherwise how would your father and I have survived, Dad and Mum are too old to withstand such excitement!"

Mum was crying and laughing, thanking the gods and goddesses on the other end of the phone, and repeatedly telling them, "Emotion, remember, nothing is as important as your life, be careful out there, and put safety first, okay?"

"I ......"

Li Shiqing was going to say that she would be careful, but the words got stuck in her mouth.

Of course she knew that nothing was as important as her life, but now, her "life" was no longer in her hands.

What she is doing requires her to "put her life on the line" over and over again.

"Emotion?"

Mum prodded uneasily.

"I got it."

Li Shiqing's voice trembled in response to her mother, and as if suddenly remembering, she found a reason to dismiss the subject.

"Mum, I heard that the police are looking for me to assist in their investigation, I'm going to contact them now, so I won't talk to you much. You tell Dad not to come, I'm safe here, it's just a false alarm, there's no need to make a special trip."

"That's only if your dad listens! Hello ...... hello?"

Li Shiqing hung up the phone with a grit of her teeth, forcing her heart to hold on to her family.

Before she thought it was a dream, Li Shiqing had the courage to call home of her own accord, but after she recovered all her memories, she was afraid to do so.

Fear of no one answering the phone, fear that the person on the other end of the line doesn't even know who they are, fear of being helpless after comforting each other, fear that they don't have the courage to face it all.

It is clear that each experience of the time cycle is short, but each time it is like years.

Time had gradually blurred in her case, and space had become an unbridgeable gap, yet as all these barriers slowly faded away into a familiar chant on the other end of the line, courage returned to her body.

"I can't give up hope, I still have my family waiting for me to return safely."

She cheered herself up.

"I've got company and we'll figure it out together."

They will all go back!

After giving her family the message, Li Shiqing returned to her companion, Boy wisely ignoring the tear stains on her face and simply exchanging some of his findings with her.

This time they were "dropped off" at a location further away from the previous one, presumably not as close to the cameras, and Xiao Heyun was not spotted at the scene, so the police were much slower to identify the passengers than last time, as evidenced by the timing of the caller alert.

After the police were unsuccessful in contacting them through their mobile phone numbers, they had to try to locate them by visiting and contacting their families, contacting schools and contacting their workplaces, hence the pile of missed calls in their mobile phones.

While Li Shiqing drew 'strength' from her family, Xiao Heyun also gained useful information from a wealth of online messages.

"It should not have been a premeditated terrorist attack, there was nothing on the internet before;"

"There was also no one and claim, no one took the hostage in the car and demanded anything, we time cycled so many times and there was no police involvement;"

"It is now certain that the news of the explosives in the car also did not have any buzz online, it is possible that the police have blocked the news for fear of causing panic among the public, or they may have got some clues that are not immediately available to the public without definite evidential support ...... "

Boy looked at Li Shiqing with a worried look.

"But either way, it's bad news for us."

No leads, no results, meant they were at risk of facing terrible charges and suspicion.

"I don't have a relationship."

Li Shiqing, who has accepted the reality of the situation, worries about Boy instead in order to ease her nerves, "I've already been through this once and am mentally prepared, but you, on the other hand, better be prepared for a 'storm' from the police."

"It's okay, don't we already have a plan ......"

He spoke with a smile.

"We just need ......"

Before he could say anything else, Li Shiqing's mobile phone rang.

Looking at the caller ID, she said softly to Boy, "I think it's the police", before clearing her throat and picking up the phone.

"...... Well, yes, that's fine, I'm willing to cooperate with the police in their investigation."

Li Shiqing nodded as she said, "Where are we now? We're on the top floor of that 'Caf de Coral' supermarket on River Road. Yes, there are others, and the other passenger who got off the train is also with me ...... Well, OK, we'll meet you at the entrance to the supermarket on the ground floor in ten minutes and won't wander off."

"We've just got ten minutes to get ready ......"

Hanging up the phone, Li Shiqing smiled at the nervous Boy and reached out to beckon the fast food waiter.

The two drinks they ordered at the table were a decoration, untouched for half a day.

Li Shiqing ordered two set menus that could be served immediately and asked him to bring them right away.

"There's no telling how long it will take to toss ......"

She made a face at Boy and flirted bitterly.

"Let's start with a 'severed head meal'."