Chapter 30: Hostage

Thud!

The men in black suits slammed headfirst into the fire escape's iron door, but failed to break it open; only through the crack did they see the handle wrapped up in a fire hose.

The suit-wearing leader whipped his head around to look at Wei Caiyan, who had both hands stuffed in her pockets, head tilted, whistling—an expression that said it was none of her business.

"Tch."

The suit man clicked his tongue in annoyance, told his companions to fall back a few steps, then stepped up to the door and gave it a vicious kick.

Strength far beyond that of an ordinary person sent the door flying; the iron door tumbled down the stairwell, raising a clanging, clattering, rumbling racket.

The enormous noise made plenty of people on both sides of the corridor push open their private-room doors to peer outside.

"Who's being so loud?"

Han Letian, still holding a microphone in his hand, came out frowning to look around, only catching the backs of a group of black-suited men hurrying up the fire escape.

"What are these guys doing, cosplaying The Matrix? Speaking of which, where did Sheng-ge and Shao Wangshu go?"

The two Han Letian was muttering about had already climbed to the top floor, pushed open the door, and stepped out onto the building's rooftop.

The view here was wide open, a cool breeze drifting by. An airplane carved an arc of white across the high sky, like a smiling face.

Tatta-tatta-tatta.

The dense sound of footsteps came from below; the black-suited men, faces taut, pushed through the door and nearly collided with one another.

"Do you trust me?"

Li Cheng turned his head and asked the girl seriously.

Shao Wangshu drew in a deep breath, then nodded firmly. "Mm!"

In that case—

Amid the girl's startled cry, Li Cheng gathered her into his arms and swept her up in a princess carry. Then he pushed off the ground, accelerated into a sprint, stepped off the low railing, and leapt off the rooftop.

The black-suited men felt the blood rush to their heads; they rushed to the railing's edge and saw Li Cheng, holding Shao Wangshu in a princess carry, land lightly on the rooftop of a relatively shorter neighboring building, his knees bending sharply to absorb the impact.

He set Shao Wangshu down, turned and waved at the black-suited men, then pulled the girl along as they kept running, heading downstairs from the rooftop entrance—thanks to fire safety regulations, the rooftop doors of high-rise buildings were not allowed to be locked.

"Damn it."

The suit-wearing leader slammed the railing, turned to look at Wei Caiyan with her hands stuffed in her pockets, and said in an unfriendly tone, "Why didn't you help stop them just now?"

As fellow Shao family guards, the suit man's supernatural strength was far too conspicuous—if suddenly revealed, they'd have to call the Special Affairs Bureau to scrub surveillance footage and wipe ordinary people's memories, which was a real hassle.

Wei Caiyan's supernatural power, on the other hand, was far more covert.

"Me? I was afraid of a slip-up, of hurting them." She shrugged, an attitude of utter indifference.

"You—" The suit man's eyelid twitched; he swallowed his anger, and as he ran downstairs, he issued orders to his subordinates below through his earpiece: "Young Lady Wangshu has been taken. Target: male, seventeen, short hair, brown hoodie and blue jeans."

Bang!

Li Cheng pushed the door and walked out of the building, pulled Shao Wangshu onto the bicycle, turned around, and headed toward Chengxi.

The slow-on-the-uptake black-suited men either hurriedly drove in pursuit from behind, or checked maps, trying to loop around ahead to cut them off.

Sitting in the back, Shao Wangshu felt the panic, anxiety, and guilt in her heart gradually scattered by the evening wind blowing in her face; she unconsciously tightened her arms around Li Cheng's waist.

"Remember that drone you gave me?"

Li Cheng tilted his head slightly, smiled, and took out of his pocket a drone about the size of a large power bank, pressed the start button, activated follow mode, and sent it into the air.

Then he put on one side of his Bluetooth earpiece and dialed Yuan Zhixia's number.

"Hello? Do me a favor—I'm being 'hunted,' I need directions." Li Cheng rattled off at top speed: "I've launched a drone, serial number xgazs1894651, the password is—"

The roar of an engine rose ahead; an SUV suddenly shot out from a side intersection and blocked the way.

Li Cheng sharply veered, swerving into a narrow alley.

"I'm busy too, you know. I'm not some Doraemon you can summon at will."

From the earpiece came the crunch-crunch of Yuan Zhixia eating chips, along with the unhurried click-click of a mouse's left and right buttons.

"Next time the school paper wants an interview, I'll keep skipping." Li Cheng said helplessly.

"Deal."

Yuan Zhixia, lying in bed with her laptop, snacking, tossed aside the chip bag, sucked the seasoning off her fingertips, and began typing rapidly on her keyboard.

She linked into the drone, adjusted its altitude, expanded its field of view;

hacked into the surveillance cameras along the route, pinpointed their exact location and the number of pursuers;

opened the map software, calculated real-time traffic congestion, and plotted an escape route.

"Ride forward for two minutes, turn left at the second intersection—there's a residential complex there, with a stone bollard at the entrance."

Yuan Zhixia said at a steady pace: "There's a car blocking you at the intersection a hundred meters ahead. First pass the stone bollard and turn right, enter the parking lot, exit from the six o'clock direction, then ride for another two minutes and head under the bridge."

The black-suited men driving in pursuit behind felt only that the bicycle ahead was like a slippery, impossible-to-grab loach.

Every time they were about to cut it off, it would find a new route, using red lights, traffic, and pedestrians as cover to keep slipping out of the encirclement—about to vanish from sight entirely.

In the passenger seat of an SUV, the suit man's eyelid kept twitching; flames on the back of his hand flickered, not quite catching.

"Boss, should we open the Shadow Realm?" the driver asked weakly, seeing his expression.

"..." The suit man's face was full of indecision.

Opening the Shadow Realm in the bustling city center was especially dangerous—not only would they have to explain the situation to the Special Affairs Bureau afterward and write up a mountain of statements, but it could also attract some unclean things.

Fortunately, the voice of the middle-aged man on the other end of the phone cut through his indecision: "The person who took Wangshu—is he her classmate?"

"Yes." The suit man said in a low voice: "She looks very happy."

"..."

The other end of the line was silent for a long while, then said: "I understand. Stop the pursuit. Just follow behind."

All the vehicles slowed in unison, trailing behind the bicycle, driving at a leisurely pace.

"Not chasing anymore? Boring."

Yuan Zhixia, watching through the drone and the street surveillance cameras, saw the change in the pursuers and clicked her tongue in mild boredom—she had only just gotten interested, and hadn't had her fun yet.

"Don't forget to request leave for the next school paper activity."

She gave the instruction, then guided the drone to land and fly back into the basket in front of the bicycle.

The call ended, and the Bluetooth earphones automatically began playing music from the music app. Li Cheng's heart stirred, and he handed the other earphone to Shao Wangshu to put on.

"feltliketheweightoftheworldwasonmyshoulders"

It feels like the weight of the whole world is pressing down on my shoulders

"pressuretobreakorretreatateveryturn"

To be crushed, or to just give up in the face of difficulty

"facingthefearthatthetruthhaddiscovered"

Facing the fear of the truth being discovered

"notellinghow, allthesewillworkout"

No one tells you where the road lies

"buti'vetoofartogobacknow"

But I've already gone too far to turn back

"iamlookingforfreedom"

I am searching for freedom

"lookingforfreedom"

Searching for freedom

As the sun set in the west, Li Cheng carried Shao Wangshu on his bicycle up a winding mountain road, stopping at a flat patch halfway up She Mountain's slope.

The two got off, strolled over to the pavilion, leaned against the stone pillars, and gazed out at the distant city.

The setting sun gradually sank, dyeing the steel forest gold. Dense streams of vehicles traveled between the elevated highways, roads, and bridges—looking both like red blood cells shuttling through the veins of this giant called the city, and like ants, toiling all day, each returning to its own nest.

Rustle—

A black vehicle rolled slowly over the gravel, its engine cutting off at a slight distance. The man in the black suit and Wei Caiyan stepped out in tacit unison, watching the two chatting and laughing up ahead from afar, without approaching.

It was not until the sun had set and the roadside lights along the mountain road flickered on that Shao Wangshu finally left the pavilion, waved goodbye to Li Cheng, and got into the SUV.

The man in the black suit stepped over at just the right moment, the pyramid-shaped instrument in his hand projecting a 3D holographic image of a stern-faced middle-aged man—judging by the voice, Shao Wangshu's father.

"So you're that classmate of Wangshu's?" The middle-aged man studied Li Cheng, then suddenly said, "Thank you."

Thank him for what? For helping the Shao family discover a security loophole? Or for keeping Shao Wangshu company through a happy day?

Li Cheng had no interest in making small talk. He gave a wave and watched the convoy drive away.

(End of this chapter)