"Are you a dog or something? Running after a car—what were you thinking?"
Meng Chao shot a glance at Tong Hao, who was slumped in the passenger seat, panting heavily, sweat beading on his forehead.
With a press of the accelerator, the car surged forward, closing in on a minivan not far ahead.
"Are you sure?" Meng Chao kept his eyes on the road. "Absolutely certain you didn’t mistake it?"
"No mistake," Tong Hao craned his neck. "My vision’s 20/20. No way I’m wrong."
"Good eyesight’s useless if your brain’s fried. You just took off without a word—did you think you could outrun a car?" Meng Chao clicked his tongue. "Look at you, drenched in sweat. There’s tissue under the seat. Grab some and wipe yourself down. Don’t you dare smear it on the headrest."
Tong Hao bent down, pulled out a few tissues, and wiped his forehead, then his neck, before blowing his nose. Finally, he crumpled the used tissues and stealthily tried to stash them behind him.
"Where do you think you’re hiding that?"
Meng Chao shot him a sidelong glare as he swerved to overtake another car.
"Step on it, Meng-ge, go faster." Tong Hao seized the moment to shift sideways and stuff the wad into his pocket. "That van up ahead is definitely Sun Chuanhai’s. I remember the license plate."
"True. This guy’s been weaving through backstreets the whole time, trying to shake us off. No way he’s clean."
"Faster, come on, step on it—"
"Shut up."
The two cars raced down the road, locked in a silent chase, disrupting the flow of traffic. Horns blared and curses flew as other vehicles scrambled to get out of the way. But Meng Chao had no time to care—his focus was solely on the minivan barely ten meters ahead, following its every turn, every maneuver, not daring to slacken for even a second.
Closer, closer, almost there—
Then, without warning, the minivan slammed on its brakes, screeching to a halt at the entrance of a bustling market.
"Tch—"
Meng Chao braked hard, jerking forward in his seat. Before the car had even fully stopped, Tong Hao shoved the door open and leaped out.
The minivan’s door flew open too, and the man inside bolted, darting into the crowded market and vanishing in an instant.
Tong Hao gave chase, shoving through the throngs of people, nearly knocking over a homeless man bundled in a tattered coat.
"Sorry, sorry!" He backtracked a couple of steps, hastily helping the man up. "You okay?"
The homeless man seemed startled, clutching his dirty cap as he staggered away. Tong Hao didn’t have time to dwell on it—he spun around, scanning the sea of faces for Xu Qingli.
There. A head poked out from the crowd not far away, glancing back in their direction.
"Police! Out of the way!"
Tong Hao shouted as he sprinted forward. The crowd instinctively parted, clearing a narrow path as the two men weaved through the market stalls in a frantic pursuit.
The man ahead was clearly flagging, his pace slowing. Tong Hao closed the gap, cornering him in a dead-end alley flanked by shuttered storefronts—nowhere left to run.
"Xu Qingli! Stop, or I’ll shoot!"
Finally, the man stumbled to a halt.
By then, Meng Chao had caught up. He exchanged a glance with Tong Hao, pulled out handcuffs, and the two approached cautiously, forming a pincer.
"Freeze! Hands on your head, squat against the wall."
To their surprise, Xu Qingli complied without resistance. Meng Chao cuffed him, then yanked him around by the shoulder.
"Xu—"
He froze.
The face staring back at him was completely unfamiliar.
"Who the hell are you?"
The man, cuffed and squatting, looked up with an ingratiating smile.
"Name?""Cheng Long."
"Why were you running?"
"Nothing, you guys suddenly started chasing me, so of course I ran—"
He shifted his feet and shot a glance at Meng Chao.
"Seriously, any normal person would run. It's a reflex."
Meng Chao's expression turned cold.
"Cut the jokes. You’ve been given a chance—start talking properly."
The man named Cheng Long lowered his head, staring at the cracks in the concrete floor, silent.
"Well? Are you going to talk, or should I?" Meng Chao pointed at him. "If I do, the outcome won’t be the same."
"I’ll talk, I’ll talk," the man rubbed his hands together. "I thought the owner had come after me, so I got scared and ran."
"What owner?" Tong Hao braced his hands on his knees, panting heavily. "How did this car end up with you? Did you steal it?"
"No, no, I swear. That’s a serious accusation."
The man sucked his teeth, his face twisted in distress.
"Officers, here’s what happened. That night, I went out for a few drinks with friends. On my way back, I took a stroll around the area, thought I’d walk off the meal. You know what they say—walk after eating, live to ninety-nine—"
"Get to the point. Stop wasting my time."
"Oh, right, right. So, as I was walking, I saw this car parked in the middle of the road late at night, keys still in the ignition. I figured it was abandoned—you know, like those zombie cars."
He looked up, trying his best to appear sincere.
"I thought, who’s so inconsiderate, leaving trash like this blocking the road? So I decided to do a good deed and drove it away. I even planned to return it if the owner ever came looking. But before that could happen, I ran into you guys."
"Quite the imagination," Meng Chao paused. "Wait—you said you went for a walk after drinking with friends? You little shit, you were driving drunk? Got some nerve, huh?" He jabbed him twice. "Just wait till you’re locked up eating prison food."
Tong Hao sidled over, lowering his voice. "Meng-ge, what do you want to do with him?"
"We don’t have time to waste. Call Lao Chen from the local precinct. Whether his story’s true or not, let him take the guy in first." Meng Chao glanced back. "Look at the way he’s holding his head—total repeat offender. Dig deeper, and he might cough up a lot more."
About ten minutes later, Lao Chen arrived. Meng Chao skipped the pleasantries, quickly handed over the details, then urgently pulled Tong Hao toward the market exit.
"Ugh, you think Xu Qingli did this on purpose? He knew we’d chase this car, so he left it in the middle of the road, waiting for someone to take it and throw us off track."
"Very possible," Meng Chao rubbed his nose and zipped up his jacket. "Cao Xiaojun, Wu Ximei, Xu Qingli—none of these three are easy to deal with."
"What’s next? We finally had a lead, and now it’s gone."
"We have to—"
Meng Chao froze.
In their rush earlier, they hadn’t locked the car. Now, the doors stood wide open, the driver’s seat ransacked.
"Unbelievable. Broad daylight, and they’re stealing from detectives."
He climbed into the driver’s seat, searching left and right. Luckily, nothing major was missing.
"Check if you lost anything."
Tong Hao scanned the front seats, then reached under the back seat, rummaging for a while before finally muttering,
"My bag’s gone."
"What was in it?"Tong Hao patted himself down—his phone and wallet were still on him.
"Nothing valuable, just some leftover buns and pancakes from breakfast. Probably picked up by a nearby homeless person."
"Alright, as long as there's no major loss," Meng Chao started the car. "Get in. Let's head back to that unfinished building and keep investigating."
Tong Hao nodded, leaning against the car door, his expression distant.
"What?"
Suddenly, realization struck him. His face paled, and he avoided Meng Chao's gaze.
"What is it?" Meng Chao sensed something was off and glared at him. "Spit it out."
"The notebook—"
Tong Hao muttered softly, his face and lips turning ghostly white.
"I just remembered... the notebook with the case records... I think it was in there too."
Meng Chao's heart tightened. He glanced around—bustling pedestrians surrounded them, carefree, brimming with trivial worries and joys. The entire town was adorned with lanterns and decorations, awaiting the Lunar New Year.
A bitter north wind howled, swaying the red lanterns overhead.
Creak, creak. The flickering light cast shifting shadows across his brow.
A murderous intent hummed in the air. He could hear it. For some reason, an instinct told him—today was the day.
Someone was waiting for nightfall.
And not just one person.
Meng Chao's heart sank, inch by inch, along with the setting sun at the alley's mouth, plunging into an abyss of endless night.
Meanwhile, just a street away, a disheveled homeless man watched the two across the roaring river of cars.
Xu Qingli took a bite of his cold bun, observing Meng Chao and Tong Hao's panic with a crooked smile. He tucked the black backpack into his arms, pulled his hat low, and quickly turned, vanishing into the depths of the alley.
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