With a dull thud, Xue Rui reached out and caught the incoming rock. The sound of it hitting his palm was drowned out by the blaring horn.
"Hiss…" Xue Rui grimaced, the impact sending a stinging pain through his palm.
"What's wrong?" Gu Muxue, startled by the sudden blare of the horn, turned to see Xue Rui's pained expression.
Fighting through the pain, Xue Rui said, "It's nothing. Just a hand cramp."
"I think I just saw Ergou run by," a little boy said.
The driver, who had just opened his door, saw that Xue Rui had caught the rock and breathed a sudden sigh of relief. He shot Xue Rui a grateful look. If it weren't for him, the driver would have been derelict in his duty for letting Gu Muxue get hurt in the village.
Xue Rui stared at the now-empty corner. The boy, Ergou, had bolted the instant he threw the rock and had vanished without a trace.
'Is human nature fundamentally good or fundamentally evil?'
