You Mingxu reacted at this point, roaring "Move away!" as she pushed at the man's chest. But he was quite tall and strong; when she pushed him away, he pounced back at her, hugging her. His large hands seemed to be stuck to You Mingxu's slender waist, refusing to move.
"Don't chase me away..." came a low but pleasant and magnetic voice, "I'll behave..."
You Mingxu: "..."
She looked into his eyes, which were very clear and pure. It felt completely natural for him, a stranger, to act coquettishly towards her, looking wronged. The hands with which he held her were stubborn and willful, but they didn't invoke in her any sense of male desire.
You Mingxu felt a bit of a headache and began to realize that this man might not be normal... but she also questioned whether he was just pretending.
Before she could react further, Gu Tiancheng walked over with a cold face and large strides, grabbing the man's collar, ready to swing at his head.
You Mingxu: "Wait a minute!"
Despite the man's sluggish and immature talk, his physical movements were swift. He swiftly turned his head and amazingly evaded the incoming fist, jumped out of the sleeping bag with his hands bracing against it, and started to run.
The tent was quite cramped. Gu Tiancheng was trying to catch him from inside. But You Mingxu rolled over and got up from the ground, extending her hand and grabbing the man's collar. As the man was already outside the tent, he had to suddenly stop and found Gu Tiancheng in front of him.
You Mingxu also crawled out. Ming Tao and the others were dumbstruck.
The man glanced at Gu Tiancheng and was so frightened that his whole body trembled. He quickly hid behind You Mingxu, grabbing her hand and pressing his face hard against her back, shrinking his body as much as he could. It was as if everyone wouldn't notice him, who was at least one meter eighty tall, hiding behind You Mingxu, who was much shorter and slender than him.
Everyone: "..."
You Mingxu, very rarely, felt baffled.
Initially, when this man was hiding in her sleeping bag, he almost scared her half to death. But his subsequent actions seemed those of a mentally incapacitated person, not scary at all. Even now, as he's huddled behind her with his hand tightly clasping hers, all sweaty, it seemed as if he was genuinely terrified. His head was pressed against her back as well, leaning so low to accomplish this, softly rubbing against her back like a small animal, tickling her. As if doing this, he wouldn't be caught by Gu Tiancheng or seen by everyone, quite like an ostrich burying its head in the sand.
Then he was muttering something very quickly under his breath, too fast to make out what he was saying, only hearing his mumbled, panicked hums.
If this man was pretending, then he was doing a very good job at it.
Ming Tao exclaimed, "He's wearing my clothes and shoes!" You Mingxu had to admit that she smelled a hint of sausage residue from his mouth.
The theft case seemed to have been resolved.
Zou Fuyu cautiously stood as far away from this man as possible. Song Lan said, "So everything that happened earlier was because of this madman? He did all of it?"
Everyone was staring at the man, causing him to shrink back even more, becoming even more nervous. Despite being tall and big, he hunched over like an old man.
You Mingxu slowly turned to look at him; he sensed it and raised his head, looking at her timidly.
And so, You Mingxu's heart "thumped" again.
Because he was crying again! This time, however, there were no sobs. The tears were flowing silently, his mouth clenched tight, his face pale with fear, but his eyes were filled with stubbornness.
This person must have been a good-looking but awkward child when he was young — this out-of-tune thought suddenly slid across You Mingxu's mind.
Somehow, her heart suddenly became relieved and relaxed. She didn't think about whether this person was pretending or not, she just calmly stared at him. He stared back at her blankly for a while, seeming to sense the comfort in her eyes, and gradually, a very faint smile spread over his pale, mud-stained face.
He had fair skin, with a slight bluish tinge above his lips where his beard had been cleanly shaved off. His eyebrows and eyes were dark and bright, his nose was high and straight, and his hair was jet black. This smile made him look very pure, clean, and handsome.
You Mingxu was stunned, her confusion deepened. Who was this man? Why did he appear at this time and place? Could it really be...?
Suddenly, she noticed an extremely sharp gaze pointed at her from the side. Turning her head, she met Gu Tiancheng's pitch-black eyes. His gaze was a bit heavy, different from the depth he usually showed. His pupils were dark, his mouth tightly closed, he even looked somewhat unhappy. His gaze fell on her hand, which was tightly clenched by the man.
As their gazes met, You Mingxu felt her heart pounding hotly. On second thought: this man has a vigor in every move he makes; he really knows how to stir a woman's feelings.
She avoided Gu Tiancheng's burning gaze, but she had already heard him coldly command, "You, come here. Stop hiding behind a woman."
You Mingxu did not intend to blindly trust this dimwitted stranger of unknown origin. She just wanted to carefully observe him and get to the bottom of it. Hearing Gu Tiancheng's words, she freed her hand from the man and stepped back. The man's reaction was rather confused. He lingered in place for a while, looking up at You Mingxu as if wanting to approach her again for support, but he didn't dare to.
Others backed away as they saw this, leaving a large space around the man. The camp lights and flashlights in a few people's hands were switched on, casting a dim light on everyone's faces. The atmosphere suddenly became tense again.
"I'm telling you…" Ming Tao's voice was low, but everyone could hear it, "Don't think this weird man looks like an idiot, harmless. He ate the food, he stole the clothes. Right under our noses, he took things without us noticing. He even knows how to tamper with tires. Do you know, there're serial killers who lack organizational skills, like him. They're mentally ill, and they kill indiscriminately when they're agitated. We can't just let him go like this".
"Don't let him go?" Zou Fuyu asked incredulously, "Do we arrest him?"
"Yes, we arrest him." Gu Tiancheng answered indifferently, "No matter where he came from, we just hand him to the police, just to be safe."
His word carried weight, and everyone fell silent.
You Mingxu agreed internally, glanced at the young man standing alone in the middle, who now seemed to realize that there was no goodwill amongst the group. His mouth was tightly closed, his hands clenched into fists by his sides, still shrinking back, looking very weak and inferior.
Suddenly, as if he thought of something or responded to what everyone had said, he slowly stood up straight. In an instant, he looked somewhat like a normal person. Then he touched his nose and said: "Murder... huh... murder... a lot of murders... killed seven..."
A chill seemed to pass over everyone's heart. How stark the silence was. The handsome man with a mental disorder standing before their eyes now filled them with dread.
A thought crossed You Mingxu's mind; Ming Tao had previously said four, but he said seven?
"Watch out!" Gu Tiancheng bellowed. Suddenly, the man became aggressive with a stubborn look on his face; he turned and pounced at Zou Fuyu. You Mingxu had been close to him before and knew that he had probably trained in some kind of martial arts and worked out regularly. Though he was not a top-notch expert, he was agile and strong. Zou Fuyu screamed in fright as he pounced at her. You Mingxu and Gu Tiancheng both rushed forward.
The man had just grabbed Zou Fuyu's arm and was about to pull her into his arms when Gu Tiancheng grabbed him by his back. Gu Tiancheng was relentlessly tough; he landed a heavy blow on the man's waist. The man grunted in pain and let go of his hold. You Mingxu quickly pulled Zou Fuyu away to safety behind her. Song Lan dashed over and took the frightened Zou Fuyu a few steps back.
"Go to hell!" Ming Tao yelled. With a loud "clang", the rock in his hand smashed heavily into the back of the man's neck. You Mingxu gave a start, subconsciously wanting to stop him, but it was too late.
The man staggered, and before he fell to the ground, his eyes met You Mingxu's. His gaze became blank; he reached up to touch his head, pain etched across his face, his brow furrowed tightly.
"Why... hit me?" he murmured before collapsing and passing out. You Mingxu noticed that blood was already seeping out from his black hair at the back of his head.
The remaining people were panting heavily, exchanging glances with each other.