Chapter 1808 — The Car Accident
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
"Young man, you look troubled." An old man came over and sat down beside Gu Pengzhan on the bench. It was a little odd for him to call Gu Pengzhan a young man, but given the old man's age, the description was not entirely unreasonable.
"Heh, it's nothing." Gu Pengzhan naturally had no desire to share his suffering with a stranger, so he merely gave a faint smile.
"If something is weighing on your mind, if you have a problem you cannot solve, then go and die." The old man spoke as though he were simply talking to himself.
"Die?" Gu Pengzhan was taken aback. A look of bewilderment suddenly flashed through his eyes. Then he abruptly rose to his feet and staggered forward, charging straight toward a van speeding past.
With a deafening bang, the van sent Gu Pengzhan's body flying. The shriek of brakes followed at once.
The old man, however, rose to his feet and left without sparing Gu Pengzhan so much as another glance. He was the hypnotist in disguise!
The police car and ambulance arrived at the scene soon afterward. The van driver had not fled; he crouched on the ground with his head bowed, his face pale with terror, looking utterly helpless.
The ambulance took Gu Pengzhan away and rushed him to the hospital, siren wailing all the way. The police stayed behind to investigate the scene. From the dashcam footage in the van, it appeared that Gu Pengzhan had attempted suicide, deliberately throwing himself into the vehicle's path. At least, that was what the recording showed. Yet until the injured man's or the dead man's identity had been confirmed, they could not determine whether he had truly intended to kill himself. Only after a full investigation could they decide whether the driver was liable.
The results of the investigation came soon enough. Gu Pengzhan, formerly chairman of the Gu Group, had recently suffered a disastrous failure in his business investments, losing everything he had. In light of that, his motive for suicide seemed perfectly clear.
Moreover, according to the owner of a nearby newsstand, who had witnessed the entire accident, Gu Pengzhan had indeed thrown himself into the vehicle's path. The newsstand owner had first seen him sitting dejectedly on the roadside bench. Later, an old man had passed by and exchanged a few words with him. Gu Pengzhan had then risen as if possessed and hurled himself at the vehicle approaching from ahead.
The old man was certainly suspicious. Perhaps he had said something to provoke Gu Pengzhan, or perhaps he had tried to dissuade him and, failing, had only stirred up Gu Pengzhan's rebellious streak and driven him to suicide. But the newsstand owner had not gotten a clear look at the man's appearance. His attention had been drawn entirely to the accident, and he had not even noticed when the old man left.
With the newsstand owner and the dashcam footage as evidence, the van driver naturally had no liability to bear. Gu Pengzhan had not died at the scene, but he had been taken to the hospital's intensive care unit. Upon receiving the news, Uncle Qing hurried to the hospital.
Gu Mengyao knew nothing of these events. She had been waiting in vain for a call from her father, so she dialed him again, only to find that no one answered. She tried once more, but there was still no answer.
Gu Mengyao thought nothing of it, assuming that Gu Pengzhan was in a meeting. Just as she was about to wait a while before calling again, Elder Zhang appeared in the guest room once more.
"Have you made your decision?" Elder Zhang still wore the same mild, composed smile as before, but his words were utterly formal. Though he was an Earth-level expert, he used the same tone with every customer who came to trade for or purchase rare treasures of heaven and earth.
That was also the way of survival in Snow Valley. Even cultivators could not live without eating or drinking, and they needed money to purchase other treasures of heaven and earth for cultivation.