Chapter 3: The Invisible Car

“What are you doing, Jin Junkai?” At this moment, Liu Yingxue’s eldest sister, Liu Yinglin, and her second sister, Liu Yingruo, both rushed in from outside the campus.

They had witnessed the scene from the gate.

Eldest sister Liu Yinglin shouted loudly.

Jin Junkai, startled, withdrew his hand.

No sooner had he pulled his hand back than a heavy fist landed squarely on his face.

Stars exploded before his eyes.

When he finally saw clearly that it was Li Yucheng, humiliation and rage flared within him.

“And who are you? Where did this stray dog come from? What right do you have to hit me for this slut?” Jin Junkai pointed at Li Yucheng, cursing furiously.

Liu Yingxue’s two sisters, ready for a fight, looked about to lay hands on Jin Junkai as well.

Principal Su Jinyu saw trouble brewing and hastened to persuade Jin Junkai, “Jin, it’s best if you leave for now. Staying will only make things worse.”

Jin Junkai, seething, pointed at Liu Yingxue and spat, “Just wait till we get home, I’ll settle the score with you. How dare you find yourself another man!”

Liu Yinglin, her fury barely contained, snapped, “Jin Junkai, enough of your nonsense!”

Jin Junkai slunk out through the school gate.

“Everyone, let’s move to my office,” Principal Su Jinyu invited.

Once inside, Liu Yingxue recounted to her sisters the matter between Jin Junkai and Wang Xiaoqian.

As she spoke, her eyes flushed red and she began to cry again.

The others consoled her patiently.

Teacher Lin poured tea for everyone and set it on the table.

Wiping her tears, Liu Yingxue said gratefully, “If it hadn’t been for Teacher Lin and Brother Li, I might not have survived today!”

“Second sister, go buy some malted milk and canned fruit for the principal and Teacher Lin to thank them for saving our little sister,” Liu Yinglin instructed Liu Yingruo.

Principal Su and Teacher Lin hurriedly declined, “No need, no need, that’s too much.”

Second sister Liu Yingruo agreed and went out to buy the gifts.

Li Yucheng glanced at Liu Yingxue, as if wanting to speak.

Liu Yingxue quickly shot him a look to silence him—Doctor Lan had warned her that Li Yucheng knew about the plan to “create humanity for the apocalypse.”

Liu Yingxue was afraid Li Yucheng would let the secret slip and frighten everyone.

Otherwise, they’d all think they were mad.

“Miss Liu, what will you do now that things have come this far?” someone asked.

Liu Yingxue forced herself to answer, hoarsely, “I will divorce him, no mercy.”

“It’s too much—little sister, I support you,” the eldest comforted her.

Just then, second sister returned with the gifts and handed them out.

Everyone politely declined.

At that moment, in the principal’s office, an old television set suddenly flickered and began to broadcast a mysterious signal.

At the same time, the universal watch on Liu Yingxue’s wrist began to vibrate.

Liu Yingxue hurriedly asked Teacher Lin to take her sisters to the school canteen to order some dishes as a token of thanks.

Principal Su smiled, “I’ve already made arrangements. Let’s all go together.”

Warmth filled Liu Yingxue’s heart. “Thank you, Principal Su. Sisters, go along with Teacher Lin and the principal. I’ll join you after I calm down.”

Teacher Lin, ever considerate, said, “Anyone in your shoes would feel the same. Li Yucheng, stay here with Miss Liu. I’ll call you when the food is ready.”

Li Yucheng nodded.

Thankfully, nobody had noticed the signal on the television.

Once they were alone, Liu Yingxue pointed at Li Yucheng’s universal watch. “Brother Li, you agreed to their plan.”

Li Yucheng smiled wryly. “Partly to save you. But also, I think they actually make sense.”

“But where are we supposed to find suitable people to complete the task?”

Just then, the old television started playing again. On the screen, Lan Xiaoyue and Shi Jiangfeng appeared.

They seemed to be conveying urgent information to Liu Yingxue.

In the image, the two stood in a futuristic laboratory, the background alive with flickering gene sequence diagrams.

Their expressions were grave. Shi Jiangfeng, holding an encrypted file, announced, “Liu Yingxue, urgent mission! In the future, the Japanese have sent a spy who carries a hundred million viruses capable of causing genetic mutation, infiltrating into Daxia.

Due to a malfunction during space-time transfer, the spy is currently somewhere in our city.

You must act immediately, find this virus carrier, and escort them here safely.

Remember, this concerns not only the success of the ‘Creation Plan’ but is also crucial to whether Daxia can survive in the future.”

The transmission ended abruptly. Stunned, Liu Yingxue felt the weight on her shoulders grow heavier—a secret operation affecting humanity’s fate was unfolding in silence.

She took a deep breath, suppressing the storm within.

This was not a simple mission—it was an opportunity that could rewrite human history.

But panic threatened to consume her.

In this vast sea of people, how was she to find that Japanese spy?

Li Yucheng understood the turmoil in Liu Yingxue’s heart.

There were too many inexplicable things in this world.

Since this “creation for the future” mission had fallen upon them, it must mean the people of the future recognized their abilities.

Li Yucheng’s lips curved into a faint smile. “Miss Liu, don’t worry. Settle your husband’s affairs first—then we’ll focus on the real task.”

“That’s all we can do. After all, I owe them my life,” Liu Yingxue said, setting aside her sorrow.

Her heart was now filled with the resolve to undertake this momentous mission.

At that moment, Teacher Lin came to call them for dinner.

After the meal,

everyone said their goodbyes.

Liu Yingxue’s two sisters insisted on staying with her instead of returning home.

With no alternative, she brought them to her single dormitory.

Teacher Lin had already cleaned Liu Yingxue’s room thoroughly.

Late at night, the three sisters crowded onto one bed.

Her sisters took turns comforting her, but Liu Yingxue’s mind was not only occupied with tearing apart a faithless man,

but also with the urgent task of finding the Japanese spy.

When her sisters finally fell asleep from exhaustion,

Liu Yingxue quietly got up.

She went outside the dormitory and used her universal watch to contact Lan Xiaoyue and Shi Jiangfeng, asking if they could arrange some means of transportation.

She didn’t even own a battered bicycle.

Lan Xiaoyue immediately summoned, across time and space, a small transforming car.

This car could fly through the night sky when no one was around.

When people were present, it could fly invisibly.

In daylight, it could disguise itself as an ordinary contemporary car and travel on roads.

When not in use, it could remain invisible in the air, parked anywhere in open space. Most astounding of all, the car powered itself by absorbing various forms of natural energy.

No need for fuel, no need to charge, utterly silent.

It would never attract attention.

Liu Yingxue was overjoyed—truly, every misfortune carries the seed of unexpected fortune.

To test whether this invisible car was really as magical as promised,

she used her universal watch to contact Li Yucheng, and together they quietly walked to the campus gate.

Liu Yingxue pressed the car icon on her watch.

A red, boat-shaped little car appeared before them.

The car’s midsection resembled a cabin, with pointed ends, and two seats each in the front and rear.

Such a boat-shaped car must be the transport of the apocalyptic future.

“Brother Li, why don’t you ask Doctor Lan for one too?”

Li Yucheng scratched his head in envy. “Doctor Lan and Doctor Shi said I’m just your assistant for now—not qualified for a car.”

Liu Yingxue sighed in regret.

They walked to the car.

Its doors opened automatically.

They took their seats in the front.

There was no need to drive—the car was entirely automated once you entered your destination.

A voice sounded from the display: “Please state your destination.”

Liu Yingxue answered offhandedly, “Jin Family Village.”

“Miss Liu, that scoundrel isn’t worthy of you—why go there? Can’t bear to divorce him?”

“No,” Liu Yingxue blushed. “I just want to see if Jin Junkai is with Wang Xiaoqian and collect some evidence.”

In just a few sentences,

they had arrived at Jin Family Village.

Liu Yingxue turned the car invisible and stood not far from her own yard.

The gate was wide open.

It was already midnight.

Jin Junkai and Wang Xiaoqian were still flirting in the yard.

“Brother Jin, you’re all mine this time,” Wang Xiaoqian cooed, settling onto Jin Junkai’s lap.

He wrapped her in his arms and murmured, “No, I can’t divorce her yet. The Party Secretary had dinner here just the other day and said he wants to promote me to team leader.”

“What do you mean, Jin Junkai? Still thinking about that slut and refusing to divorce her?” Wang Xiaoqian leapt from his lap, hands on her hips, furious.

“Baby, don’t be angry. Once I’m team leader, I’ll make money. Then I’ll divorce her and marry you,” Jin Junkai vowed.

“You’re not completely heartless, then.” She pouted and nestled back onto his lap.

“Come on, let’s go to bed. It’ll be dawn soon.”

“Carry me to bed!”

Jin Junkai scooped Wang Xiaoqian into his arms and carried her inside.

Liu Yingxue recorded everything on her universal watch.

She didn’t know why, but she was trembling with rage, tears streaming silently down her cheeks.

Li Yucheng felt her pain keenly.

His own wife had left him for an urban household registration, and insulted him before another man.

Thinking of this, he felt a pang of sympathy for Liu Yingxue.

He drew close, gently grasping Liu Yingxue’s shaking hand. “Don’t be angry. Let’s go back.”

Liu Yingxue steadied herself and summoned the invisible car.

They got in, and the car drove them back to the school.

Upon arrival,

Li Yucheng gave her a gentle hug. “It’s late. Go rest, or your sisters will worry.”

Back in her dorm,

she found both sisters sound asleep—exhausted, no doubt, from searching for her these past days.

She quietly took off her outer clothes and lay down at the edge of the bed. Though weary, she ached so much at the thought of those two traitors she could hardly breathe.

It wasn’t until nearly dawn that Liu Yingxue finally drifted into sleep.

The school’s leave for a miscarriage lasted half a month,

so Liu Yingxue didn’t need to work during this period.

Her sisters left a note at dawn and slipped away quietly.

Around eight or nine in the morning, Li Yucheng called.

He asked if she wanted anything to eat—he could fetch it for her. Since many teachers were at school during the day, he didn’t dare visit her openly, to avoid gossip.

Still not recovered, Liu Yingxue told him not to worry—she just wanted to sleep and clear her head.

Li Yucheng didn’t press her.

She slept straight through until after two in the afternoon, when her universal watch beeped.

She checked—it was a message from Lan Xiaoyue and the others.

The gist: the Japanese spy had been spotted near the township health clinic.

Liu Yingxue and Li Yucheng were to hurry there at once.

She was anxious.

“Doctor Lan, what are this spy’s distinguishing features?”

Lan Xiaoyue smiled, dimples appearing. “He has a very distinctive mark—a small sun tattooed on the nape of his neck.”

“If you know where he is, why not arrest him yourselves?” Liu Yingxue asked, puzzled.

“We can’t appear among people of this era unless absolutely necessary. We don’t want to hurt innocents.”

“But why come to the 1990s for genes? Why not go to the twenty-first century?”

“Alas, by the twenty-first century, humanity had already degenerated—their genes are useless.”

Liu Yingxue was not fully convinced. Surely they were hiding even more crucial reasons.

But that was only her suspicion.

Broad daylight made her wary of asking Li Yucheng to join her—people might gossip.

After hiding the invisible car, she walked to the health clinic on foot.

Head down, she pondered how to check for a sun-shaped mark on someone’s neck.

Unexpectedly, she walked straight into a woman’s chest.

It was none other than Wang Xiaoqian.

In the heat of the day, Wang Xiaoqian was wearing a scarf on her head, looking utterly ridiculous.

She looked up and, seeing Liu Yingxue, immediately cursed, “You again! Haunting me like a ghost. You hit me—pay up!”

“Pay you? What a joke. Did anyone see me bump into you?” Liu Yingxue replied scornfully.

“You shameless woman!” Wang Xiaoqian hurled even filthier insults.

“I wonder who’s really shameless—covering your face in this heat. Only a mistress would dare not show her face.”

The universal watch on Liu Yingxue’s wrist acted on its own, sending out a flash of light. Wang Xiaoqian screamed as if her eyes had been slashed with knives.

She squatted down, shrieking, “What did you do to me, you bitch!”

Seizing the opportunity, Liu Yingxue yanked off her scarf, curious to see what new tricks this mistress was up to.

As the scarf came away, Liu Yingxue was stunned.

Wang Xiaoqian’s head was a patchwork of black stubble. Her once long, straight, glossy hair was gone.

Liu Yingxue was first surprised, then couldn’t help bursting into laughter.

“Wang Xiaoqian, retribution—retribution indeed! You never thought your punishment would come so soon, did you? Was it from seducing someone else’s husband that you ended up like this?”

One woman shrieked, the other laughed. Doctors came out to hush the commotion, and patients’ relatives gathered to watch.

Everyone chattered and speculated.

Liu Yingxue, feeling a wave of satisfaction, finally felt the weight lift from her chest.

Suddenly, in the crowd, she spotted a man with a crew cut and a white sun-shaped mark on the back of his neck…

Could this be the spy she was searching for?