Fang Chao sat in the room with eyes wide open in fury, staring at the dagger in his hand and the feces on his clothes, his mind filled with thoughts of how to deal with those two bastards later. Liu Zhi crouched warily behind the door, silently watching the courtyard gate.
After a long wait, the courtyard gate opened from the outside, and Gang Ge and Xiao Mao walked in, chatting and laughing as they headed straight inside.
"Chao Ge, they're back," Liu Zhi whispered.
Fang Chao instantly snapped back into combat mode, moving like a nimble wolf to the other side of the door, listening intently to the sounds outside.
The laughter and footsteps of the two grew closer.
"Huh? Why is the lock broken?" Xiao Mao asked.
"That idiot kicked it in yesterday. But we won’t be living here anymore—ahh!"
As soon as Gang Ge stepped inside, Fang Chao grabbed his head and slammed it into the ground, simultaneously driving the dagger into his palm, pinning his right hand to the floor. Before Xiao Mao behind him could react, Liu Zhi yanked him aside, subdued him with a single move, and without hesitation, snapped one of his fingers. The two looked up and saw the murderous faces of the very fugitives they had framed, instantly terrified out of their wits.
"You’re Xia Tinggang, right? Let’s see how tough you really are." Fang Chao pulled out another small blade, crouching down to stare at the trembling Gang Ge. "Stealing our case, getting us wanted—nice play!" He slashed the blade, and a line of blood appeared on Gang Ge’s thigh, accompanied by a sharp scream.
"You dare scream? Scream again, and I’ll carve out your tongue." Fang Chao pressed the blade to his lips, forcing him to grit his teeth against the pain. But the moment he clenched his jaw, Fang Chao sliced his thigh again, twisting the blade on the way out to flip up a thin flap of flesh.
"Spare me, boss! Please spare me!" Gang Ge sobbed in terror.
Seeing this, Xiao Mao knew there was no escape. He immediately threw out the black plastic bag in his hand. "You’re after the money, right? It’s all here."
Liu Zhi saw U.S. dollars spill out of the bag and excitedly crouched to count them. At that moment, Xiao Mao grabbed a nail-studded wooden plank from the ground and swung it at Fang Chao, leaving a bloody hole in his back. Enraged, Fang Chao turned and lunged, grabbing Xiao Mao’s head and slamming it into the wall. Xiao Mao wrapped his arms around Fang Chao with all his strength, grappling with him.
Liu Zhi turned to help, but with Xiao Mao clinging tightly to Fang Chao, he couldn’t intervene. Fang Chao didn’t need help anyway—he had the upper hand, delivering two sharp elbow strikes to Xiao Mao’s back, causing him to vomit blood. Just as Xiao Mao was about to let go, his hand fumbled in the chaos and found a gun tucked behind Fang Chao’s waist. He pressed the trigger blindly—the safety was already off. A gunshot rang out, blasting a bullet hole into the wall, sending fragments flying. All four froze for a moment, and Xiao Mao seized the chance to yank the gun free, pressing it against Fang Chao’s forehead.
In an instant, Fang Chao and Liu Zhi froze.
"Don’t move, or I’ll shoot," Xiao Mao threatened shakily, gripping Fang Chao tightly.
Liu Zhi leaped onto Gang Ge, pulling out another dagger and pressing it against his temple. "Shoot, and I’ll kill him right now. You’ll die too."
Fang Chao smirked coldly. "My brother here’s ex-military. Even with a gun, you’re no match for him.""I don't care, killing you should be enough."
Fang Chao narrowed his eyes slightly. He had a fifty percent chance of grabbing Xiao Mao's arm and flipping him to the ground, but that was all—just fifty percent. If the move failed, he'd lose his life. Hesitating, he could only say, "Little brother, what do you want then?"
"Let my boss go first."
Fang Chao sneered, "Do you think that's possible?"
Xiao Mao screamed hysterically, pressing the gun hard against Fang Chao's temple. "Are you letting him go or not!"
Seeing this, Liu Zhi, worried for Fang Chao's safety, slowly raised himself up, only for Fang Chao to shake his head at him and say, "We can't let him go."
"Are you letting him go or not?! Don't push me!"
"Here's the deal—you keep the gun, and we take the money. How about that?" Fang Chao thought that as long as the other loosened his grip on the gun, he could overpower him in an instant.
"We're keeping half the money."
Liu Zhi angrily retorted, "Why should we? That's our money to begin with."
To everyone's surprise, Fang Chao immediately agreed, "Deal!"
"Fine," Xiao Mao said, his eyes fixed on Liu Zhi. "Take half the money and go. I'll let your boss go later."
Fang Chao said coolly, "That's not how things are done."
"If I let both of you go now, you'll turn on us right away. What then?"
"I play by the rules."
"Why should I believe you?"
"Well—" Fang Chao couldn't think of a reason to convince him.
The four of them stood in a tense standoff.
Just then, the door was suddenly flung open. Zhang Debing, gripping a gun, barged in with his men. Taking in the scene inside, he froze for a second—why were there four people? What were they doing? The next moment, he snapped into action, pointing his gun at Xiao Mao and Fang Chao and shouting, "Nobody move!"
Another one of his men pulled out a gun and aimed it at Liu Zhi on the other side, while three others brandished long knives, surrounding the two groups from behind.
As the situation took another sudden turn, Fang Chao and Liu Zhi, though still unclear about what was happening, exchanged a glance. Seeing the knives, they knew these weren't cops. Liu Zhi spun around and slashed the arm of the man beside him, while Fang Chao seized the moment of Xiao Mao's distraction to grab his hand, wrench the gun away, and kick him flying.
Suddenly, two gunshots rang out. Zhang Debing turned and fired directly at Liu Zhi, who clutched his stomach as blood seeped out, collapsing to the ground. But in that instant, Fang Chao raised his gun and aimed it at Zhang Debing.
Now, the standoff was this: Zhang Debing's gun was pointed at Liu Zhi in front of him, Fang Chao's gun was trained on Zhang Debing from a few meters away, and one of Zhang's men had his gun aimed at Fang Chao. The remaining men stood on either side, ready to act.
Zhang Debing looked at Fang Chao, his face devoid of fear. "Put the gun down."
"No way," Fang Chao replied, equally fearless.
"If you shoot, you might kill me, but we'll kill all of you. If you've got the guts, go ahead. I'll count to three. If you don't drop the gun, I'll kill him first." Zhang Debing walked over to Liu Zhi, who was pale and sweating, and pressed the gun to his head.
"One—two—"
Fang Chao threw his gun to the ground.
"Brother Chao!" Liu Zhi lifted his head through the pain, looking at Fang Chao with gratitude.
Fang Chao gave a bitter smile and said lightly, "Guess we're beat."Zhang Debing nodded in satisfaction and gave him a thumbs-up. "You're a real man!" If they hadn't touched his boss, he would've wanted to recruit both of them.
The others tied up all four present and pushed them to the ground.
Zhang Debing signaled to his underlings, and three unarmed men ran out. Moments later, two inconspicuous cars drove into the courtyard. One underling got out to close the gate, then Zhou Rong and Hu Jianren stepped out. The three underlings escorted Zhang Yi'ang, Li Qian, and Du Cong—all bound with ropes and gagged—into the house.
They brought the three inside, removed their gags, and similarly pushed them into a corner. Now, all seven people on the ground were tied up, and everything was under Zhou Rong's control.
Zhou Rong slowly strolled into the room. Hu Jianren closed the door but found the lock broken, so he could only leave it slightly ajar. Zhou Rong surveyed the seven, his gaze settling on Fang Chao and Liu Zhi. He pointed at them. "These two."
Zhang Debing stepped forward and frisked them, finding a USB drive in Fang Chao's inner pocket. He handed it back to Zhou Rong, who clutched it tightly, taking a deep breath. "Finally back in my hands. You two nearly scared me to death."
Fang Chao glared at him. "What do you want?"
"What do you think I want?" Zhou Rong smirked, then slapped his forehead. "Oh right, I first thought it was just you two, then four, but now there are seven. What's the deal with you seven?"
The seven on the ground exchanged glances, confused by his words.
At that moment, Zhang Yi'ang whispered very softly to Li Qian, "He's going to silence us. Escape when you can."
Li Qian glanced at him sideways and saw a bloodied razor blade clutched in his bound hands—the same one Fang Chao had used to cut Gang Ge's thigh.
Opposite them, Zhou Rong continued interrogating Fang Chao and Liu Zhi. "Talk. Who sent you to rob my house?"
"Who dares order me around?" Fang Chao sneered.
"Spunky!" Zhou Rong nodded, then backhanded him.
Fang Chao showed no fear. "Go ahead, Boss Zhou. Killing all seven of us means the death penalty if you're caught."
"Ah, but you don't know—if I don't kill you seven, I'll still get the death penalty if caught." Zhou Rong grinned. "If you want a quick death, tell me everything about the robbery. Otherwise, I'll make it slow."
Fang Chao suddenly spat a mouthful of blood straight at Zhou Rong's face.
Wiping his face, Zhou Rong flew into a rage. Several underlings rushed forward and kicked Fang Chao brutally in the face.
Meanwhile, Zhang Yi'ang had freed himself and quietly passed the razor to Li Qian. After loosening his ropes, he seized the moment when the others were beating Fang Chao to leap up, grab Liu Zhi's discarded knife from the table, and charge at Zhou Rong.
Zhang Debing turned and fired. Bang! A splash of red exploded from Zhang Yi'ang's buttock, but he ignored it, flipping onto Zhou Rong and yanking him close, pressing the knife to his throat. "Stop! One move and he dies!" His butt throbbed in agony as he limped backward, dragging Zhou Rong against the wall as a shield."You... even if you kill me, you won't get away with it," Zhou Rong stammered, his face turning pale as the knife pressed against his neck.
"At least I can take you down with me!"
Zhang Debing and his underling both had their guns aimed at Zhang Yi'ang's head.
Zhang Yi'ang coldly snapped, "Even if you shoot, I'll slit his throat before I die. Do you dare test that?"
"N-no... we can't test that," Zhou Rong cried out in panic. "W-what do you want?"
"Let her go." Zhang Yi'ang's gaze shifted to Li Qian, who had just cut through her ropes and stood up, only to be blocked by two other knife-wielding underlings.
"I said let her go! I'll count to three—one—two—"
"Let her leave!" Zhou Rong shouted.
The underlings stepped aside. But then, Hu Jianren blocked the way. "We can't let her go."
"I said let her go!" Zhang Yi'ang pressed the knife harder, and the sharp blade nicked Zhou Rong's throat, drawing blood.
"Let her go, let her go, hurry!" Zhou Rong urged frantically.
"Rong-ge, we can't let her go," Hu Jianren stood firm.
"I said let her go!"
"Rong-ge, if we let them leave today, all of us will be locked up tonight. We can't listen to you on this."
Zhang Debing glanced at the four underlings, and their eyes all agreed with Hu Jianren. Though they were all desperate, none wanted to end up in prison if there was a way out. Zhang Debing lowered his head in hesitation and muttered, "Rong-ge, Old Hu is right. We—can't let her go."
Zhang Yi'ang threatened hysterically, "Do you believe I'll kill your boss?"
"D-don't kill me!"
Hu Jianren sneered coldly, "Then you'll die even more horribly!"
Zhang Debing stared at Zhang Yi'ang's legs—both pant legs were soaked in blood—and snorted, "You won't last much longer. Let her go, and we'll make it quick for you. If you dare act, I'll rape your girlfriend first, then kill everyone here, and finally take my time finishing you off!" With that, he strode straight toward Li Qian.
"Get away! I'm a cop!" Li Qian shrieked, stumbling backward in fear.
"You're a cop?" Zhang Debing halted.
Hu Jianren scoffed, "Someone like you? A cop?"
"I... I am a cop."
Hu Jianren laughed derisively. "Never seen such a weak cop before."
"What about me?" Zhang Yi'ang barked.
Hu Jianren turned to him, frowning. "You... you're a cop?"
"She's a cop, I'm her superior—of course I'm a cop. Let her go now, and I can say you surrendered. I have the authority to show leniency."
"You have that much power?" Hu Jianren studied him for a few seconds. "Which one are you from the Public Security Bureau?"
"There aren't many in the Three Rivers Estuary Public Security Bureau with that authority."
Hu Jianren sized him up for a moment before nodding slowly. "Never expected... truly never expected cops these days to have such guts. To think you, a high-ranking leader of the Criminal Police, would personally charge into the front lines. What a Three Rivers Estuary Criminal Police Captain—Wang Ruijun. Admirable, admirable!"
Zhang Yi'ang frowned. "I'm not Wang Ruijun."
"Then who are you?"
"I was sent by the Provincial Public Security Department."
"You—" Hu Jianren pointed at him excitedly. "You're Zhang Yi'ang?"
"Who else would I be?"
"I thought you were Wang Ruijun."
"I'm Zhang Yi'ang.""So you're Zhang Yi'ang."
"Of course I'm Zhang Yi'ang."
After verifying each other's identities, the standoff continued. Zhang Yi'ang's blood was slowly draining away, his face growing paler, and even his hands began to tremble. He knew time was running out. Gritting his teeth, he forced out, "It's not too late for you to surrender now. Zhou Rong, we’ve had our eyes on you for a long time. Every time you step out, we’ve been tailing you. Now that you’re here, the police have already set up outside, just waiting to arrest you. If you kill anyone here, everyone involved will get the death penalty. Do you even know who she is? The niece of the Deputy Minister of Public Security—far more important than your Zhou Weidong. If anything happens to Li Qian, we’ll turn Three Rivers Estuary upside down to hunt you down!"
His righteous demeanor moved Li Qian, who had been frozen in fear. She straightened her back slightly.
"Not necessarily," Hu Jianren sneered. "Xiao Mi is your informant, right? We confiscated his phone before he left. By now, he’s already led the police out to the suburbs."
"You—" Zhang Yi'ang felt a wave of dizziness. He looked at Li Qian—he had doomed her. A sense of despair washed over him.
Suddenly, a gunshot rang out. A bullet pierced through the door gap and struck Zhang Debing in the back. He collapsed with a thud, coughing violently as he struggled to get up, but he couldn’t move.
The door swung open, and a group of eight or nine men rushed in, all armed, shouting for everyone to freeze.
The five bound on the ground lifted their heads and exhaled heavily in relief.
"There really are police!"
"We’re saved, we’re saved!"
"I’d rather go to prison than die here!"
Even Fang Chao and Liu Zhi were nearly moved to tears by the police’s timely arrival.
Zhou Rong’s men quickly dropped their weapons, raising their hands and crouching down. Zhang Yi'ang, weakened from blood loss, finally allowed himself to collapse, ready to pass out. Li Qian hurried over to support him.
Zhou Rong cried out, "Officers, this has nothing to do with me! I’m the victim here—help me!"
"Hahahaha, Boss Zhou, I’m here to save you!" A familiar laugh echoed through the room. Zhou Rong and his men looked up to see Zhu Yifei and Huo Zheng strolling in leisurely.
"How… how is it you?" Everyone was stunned.
"Tie them up, tie them all up," Zhu Yifei waved his hand. His numerous subordinates, all armed, easily took control of the scene, binding everyone tightly so they couldn’t move.
Zhu Yifei’s eyes swept the room and immediately landed on the chime bells that Gang Ge had casually tossed aside earlier. Delighted, he picked them up and handed them to Huo Zheng for safekeeping. Then he grabbed the black plastic bag, quickly counting the cash inside—the deposit—before pocketing it. With a laugh, he walked over to Zhou Rong and looked down at him. "Boss Zhou, never thought it’d end like this, huh? In the end, the Local Tyrant just can’t beat the powerful newcomer."
"You… why are you here?"
"I’ve been following you the whole time. You’re good—shook off the police, but you couldn’t shake me."
"Why are you tying us up? What grudge do you have against me?"
"Grudge? Hmph—I don’t even want to bring it up!" He raised his foot and viciously kicked Zhou Rong in the face, breaking his nose and teeth. Zhou Rong howled in pain, unable to speak.
"Oh, right—" Zhu Yifei turned to Li Qian. "You two are cops, right?"Li Qian looked at him fearfully and nodded slowly.
"Comrade officers, just now Zhou Rong and his gang said they were going to kill you. I heard everything outside and stopped their violent actions in time. Doesn't that count as an act of bravery?"
Li Qian trembled and nodded again.
"Comrade officers, don't be nervous. My grudge with Zhou Rong won't extend to others. I'm not like him—I don't kill people. Brothers, let's go."
Huo Zheng ran over in confusion and asked, "We're leaving just like that?"
Zhu Yifei spread his hands. "What else?"
"But there are so many people..."
"Zhou Rong wanted to kidnap and silence these people. What does that have to do with us? Oh right, I should help them call the police." He searched Zhou Rong's phone, pressed the man's finger to unlock it, and dialed 110 directly. "Comrade officers, I'm reporting a crime. Zhou Rong has kidnapped a group of people, including two police officers. What are your names—" He turned to look at Li Qian.
Li Qian answered timidly, "Zhang Yi'ang and Li Qian."
"I'm not lying to you. Do I look that bored? Their names are Zhang Yi'ang and Li Qian. The one called Zhang Yi'ang claims to be a leader in the Public Security Bureau. He's seriously injured. You'd better come quickly. The location is... well, you can find it yourselves." With that, he hung up.
"Oh, right, Boss Zhou, we'll borrow your cars while we're at it."
They walked outside and got into two very inconspicuous small cars Zhou Rong had driven there. One of the underlings went to open the courtyard gate. Just as the two cars started up, they saw a police car heading straight for the courtyard from outside.
"We've been swamped these past few days. Everyone at the station got transferred to the bureau, leaving just a few of us to handle everything, big or small."
"Ugh, towing vehicles is clearly traffic police work, but they dumped it on us."
"It's a problem with the policing system. The report involved vehicle theft, so it got assigned to us. If we don't handle it, it won't be cleared from the system."
"We could've waited a few days. It's not urgent."
"At noon, some woman from the bureau called me and grilled me for over ten minutes about the case, even pulling up records. I bet it's because that Du Cong complained to the bureau. If we don't tow that damn taxi, they'll accuse us of dragging our feet. Sigh, everyone at the bureau is a higher-up. If they order us to tow, we have to tow."
The two local police officers grumbled as they drove the police car toward the courtyard, followed by a large tow truck.
Both vehicles entered the courtyard, only to see two small cars parked by the opposite door, with several people inside staring at them.
"What are all these people doing here?" The two officers were about to stop when—BANG!—a bullet shattered the windshield. They instinctively ducked. Immediately, multiple guns emerged from the two cars opposite, opening fire on the police car and the tow truck behind it.
The tow truck driver had never seen anything like this. Terrified, he ducked his head and stomped randomly on the accelerator, sending the truck barreling forward.
The people in the two small cars saw the massive vehicle coming straight at them but had no time to dodge—Zhou Rong had deliberately chosen small, inconspicuous cars. The first car was sent flying by the impact, flipping midair before crashing violently to the side. Its occupants were knocked unconscious on the spot. The second car was sent spinning several times before smashing straight into the house.After the chaotic scene, the two police officers in the car slowly raised their heads. The site was already unrecognizable, and terrifying screams from multiple people echoed from inside the house. They stood there in a daze, as if in a dream.
They never dreamed that a simple car towing job would nearly get them shot to death.
Moments later, the door of a small car opened, and a badly injured Huo Zheng crawled out. Two police officers, acting on professional instinct, moved to apprehend him, only for him to raise his gun and fire at them again. As regular patrol officers without firearms, they could only duck for cover once more. Huo Zheng walked to the other side of the vehicle, yanked open the door, and dragged out Zhu Yifei, who was unconscious and covered in blood. He shouted "Brother Fei!" repeatedly but got no response. Left with no choice, Huo Zheng hoisted Zhu Yifei over his shoulder with one arm and staggered forward. The two officers cautiously raised their heads and started the car, intending to run him over. Huo Zheng fired at them again but missed due to the distance. Exhausted from dragging Zhu Yifei, he had to set him down and called out remorsefully, "Sorry, Brother Fei." Wiping away tears with a rough hand, he hurried off.
While calling for backup, the officers carefully got out of the car to inspect the house. Stepping inside through the massive hole smashed in the wall, they were utterly stunned by the scene before them.
What on earth had happened here?
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