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墨書 Inktalez
Liu Yinyan died just like that, slumped in the chair like a piece of rotten meat. Blood flowed slowly, dripping from the railing to the first floor. The sound of dripping echoed like an old-fashioned clock at home, and no one spoke; it was eerily quiet. Only the gunshot seemed to reverberate in the workshop, making one's head buzz.
A blank space.
"Damn it! What are you doing? Screw you!" Gu Chen's voice rang out. "Wu Meng, how are you?"
Because the railing next to the first floor was locked, Gu Chen was unaware of what was happening on the second floor. So he couldn't be sure who had been hit by that shot.
Hearing Gu Chen's shout snapped me back to reality. "I'm fine!"
I glared at Wu Zui and shouted, "What the hell do you want?"
Wu Zui scratched his head in confusion and replied, "What do you mean? Didn't you hear? He is willing to take responsibility for what happened thirty-five years ago. An eye for an eye, a debt must be repaid; this is a principle everyone understands. Don't you get it? You always say that nothing escapes the net of justice; isn't this exactly what you wanted?"
I yelled back, "Get the hell out of here! When did our matters become your business? You know what it means for justice to be served? Fine, just wait! I will personally arrest you! I will make sure to kill you—for Liu Yinyan and for that poor woman who died a year and a half ago!"
Wu Zui clasped his hands together, his fingers moving back and forth like a young girl’s gesture. "Alright, I'm waiting for you, but today there won't be any opportunity."
"Let’s play a little game," Wu Zui suddenly turned around and kicked Liu Fei'er to the ground.
The railing on the second floor was old and worn out, with many sections already broken. Liu Fei'er crashed heavily against the railing, breaking several bars. The chair and her were precariously balanced on one remaining bar, teetering dangerously as if it wouldn't hold much longer.
I rushed over, trying to grab the leg of the chair. But the railing broke anyway, and Liu Fei'er fell along with the chair. The workshop's second floor was over five meters high, and with her hands and feet bound, if she fell, it would likely end badly.
I lunged forward, one hand grabbing the rope binding Liu Fei'er while my other hand clutched tightly onto the horizontal railing above. But Liu Fei'er weighed nearly ninety pounds; I couldn't hold on for long with just one hand. If I let go of the railing, I feared I would fall just like Liu Fei'er.
Wu Zui smiled slightly, adjusted his mask, and said, "Wu Meng, we will meet again soon. I'm leaving."
Scarface glanced at me and tossed the gun my way. "If your gun is empty, don’t pretend to be someone else with it. What’s the point?"
The gun landed at my feet, just within reach.
Meanwhile, those people continued to walk into a room.
I felt the muscles in my right arm tense up, starting to ache faintly.
At that moment, I had several choices. One option was to let go and pick up the handgun that still had one bullet left in the chamber. At this close range, I was confident I could shoot Mask Man in the back of the head.
But doing so might mean Liu Fei'er would die, and if Mask Man died, Gu Chen and I could also end up dead.
Another option was to kick the gun over to Gu Chen by the stairs, letting him use it to break the not-so-sturdy railing and come up to save her. I leaned halfway out from the second floor, just able to see Gu Chen.
A few people entered the room, and without thinking further, I shouted and kicked the handgun down. It landed not far from Gu Chen's feet.
"Quick! I can’t hold on much longer!" I yelled.
Gu Chen reached out with his foot and pulled the gun under him, then brought his feet together to trap it between them. Like a gymnast, he straightened his legs and slowly lifted them from the front until he raised the gun above his head.
He glanced left, and the handgun fell right into his hands.
A gunshot rang out.
Gu Chen flipped and dashed up the stairs.
At that moment, I felt as if my hand had lost all sensation; my entire arm was numb, throbbing with pain like needles piercing through it. My hand began to tremble uncontrollably, threatening to let go of Liu Fei'er at any moment.
Liu Fei'er looked at me, her face filled with fear. She didn't dare to breathe, afraid that any movement would be the last straw that would cause me to drop her. But I was already struggling; holding up ninety pounds with one hand was beyond my capability.
I felt my hand grow heavy, and before I knew it, I let go. Just then, another hand reached down—Gu Chen had finally arrived.
Gu Chen shouted, his muscles bulging as he lifted Liu Fei'er up to the second floor.
"They went into that room and haven't made a sound since!" My right hand was completely useless, so I could only point with my left.
There had to be something suspicious in that room; otherwise, how could so many people enter without making a sound? There must be a passage leading outside, but who knows if those special police had sealed off the area.
In the meantime, Gu Chen had rushed to the door. He kicked it open and glanced inside. As I untied Liu Fei'er, I shouted, "What's going on?"
Gu Chen called back, "There's an iron rod inside leading underground. They might have dug a tunnel in advance; they planned their escape long ago. I'm going down to check; you call for backup!"
"You don't have a gun; be careful!" I yelled.
"Don't worry; I know what I'm doing." With that, Gu Chen slid down.
I grabbed Liu Fei'er and ran outside.
Not far from the north side of the factory were the continuous mountains. If they made it into the hills, finding them would be another problem. Gu Chen might be right; we could seal off every exit above ground, but we couldn't block an underground passage we didn't even know existed. No wonder they dared to put themselves in such a situation—they were prepared.
"Don't shoot! Don't shoot!" I shouted as I opened the factory's large iron door.
Seeing me emerge safely, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
"Where's Gu Chen?" Captain Shao asked. "What about Liu Yinyan? We heard gunshots but didn't dare to act recklessly. The workshop on the second floor has no windows; we can't see what's happening inside."
I quickly said, "The kidnappers dug an underground tunnel in the workshop. Gu Chen went through the tunnel to chase after them. Liu Yinyan is dead; call an ambulance to take Liu Fei'er away. We need to head north immediately to intercept them. Based on the situation inside the factory, that's the most likely direction for their escape."
"Action! Action!" Upon hearing my words, Captain Shao activated the communication system and arranged, "Everyone, set up defenses at all the intersections to the north. They may scatter while escaping, so pay attention to the suspect descriptions: a man between twenty and twenty-five years old wearing a black mask; a seventeen or eighteen-year-old man carrying a backpack and wearing a hat; a man with a scar on his face; an old man dressed in black; a man in a bright suit; and two mixed-race women. Move out!"
Turning his head, Captain Shao said, "Mary, accompany Liu Fei'er to the hospital and notify her family. Guan Zengbin, take your team to the factory to examine Liu Yinyan's body. Liu, take a team to follow the tunnel from the room."
"Understood."
"Let's go, get in the car," Captain Shao said to me.
We got into the car and drove towards the northern intersection.
Noticing that my right hand was hanging limply, Captain Shao asked, "What's wrong? Is your right arm injured?"
"It should be fine; just bear with it," I replied. "What happened earlier? Why didn’t you all react at all?"
Captain Shao explained, "Shortly after you went in, all the cameras went dark. We had no idea what was happening inside and didn’t dare rush in. The second floor has no windows, so even the SWAT team couldn't see what was going on in the workshop. We had no choice but to wait for your updates. The kidnappers fired three shots; even if we charged in, it wouldn’t have ended well."
I understood that Captain Shao was considering the bigger picture. If those three shots were aimed at us, rushing in would have been futile; if they weren't aimed at us, then there was no need to charge in.
"The Mask Man fired two shots; the last shot was fired by Gu Chen," I said. "The first shot didn't hit anyone; the second shot killed Liu Yinyan, and Gu Chen fired the third shot to break the railing."
Captain Shao took a deep breath and said, "As long as you and Gu Chen are okay, that's good. I'll report Liu Yinyan's situation to higher-ups. However, you all might be sent somewhere else since Liu Yinyan was an important figure. His death implicates us all."
I nodded. Honestly, I didn't mind where we solved this case; leaving Dongxing City was no big deal to me. I just wondered how Gu Chen and Guan Zengbin felt about it. After all, in big cities, there are more opportunities and chances to meet with leaders, which makes promotions easier.
"By the way," I continued, "that Mask Man told me his name is Wu Zui; I don't know if it's true or not. Also, he claimed he was the murderer from Case 75 a year and a half ago!"
"What?" Captain Shao exclaimed in surprise, asking, "Did he say it himself?"
I nodded, looking at Captain Shao. "It was him. That poor woman and that mysterious note."
"Could it be that the case has nothing to do with Zhao Mingkun?" Captain Shao rubbed his head. "Clearly, the things on that note should only be known by Zhao Mingkun. Could there be some connection between them?"
Suddenly, both Captain Shao and I leaned forward sharply.
The driver slammed on the brakes.
"What’s going on?" Captain Shao asked, a bit angrily.
"Look, look!" the driver pointed ahead.
We looked up to see cars ahead of us coming to a halt, with all the drivers getting out. Pedestrians were flooding onto the roadway, completely blocking traffic. Our vehicle couldn't move an inch, and the police cars behind us were also stuck with no way to advance.
"Damn it!" Seeing this scene, Captain Shao slammed his fist against the seat in front of him. "Get out! We’ll search on foot!"
Cunning; the kidnappers were truly too clever.
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