Chapter 7: Guessed the Beginning Right but Missed the Ending

"Alright, just lean them against the pillar." The woman raised her pistol and ordered in an icy voice:

"You two, go to the other side of the pillar, turn around, squat down, and put your hands on your heads."

The two men who hadn't been shot said nothing and obediently followed the woman's instructions. They turned around, squatted down, and clasped their hands tightly over their heads.

The two were clearly terrified by the gunshot just now and didn't dare resist in the slightest.

The two men leaning against the pillar, on the other hand, were putting on a tough front.

One of them had been shot in the abdomen, but he endured the searing pain and forced himself to say:

"Little lady, you sure hit hard — feisty! Guess this old man misjudged you."

The other gritted his teeth and said:

"Stop aiming, just shoot. Come on, aim for the head, it'll be quicker!"

The woman was unmoved and kept her gun trained on them.

The man shot in the abdomen suddenly stopped his bluster, his mouth hanging wide open, his gaze fixed on something behind the woman.

The woman keenly noticed his odd behavior and couldn't help but grow wary.

Fearing the man was up to something, she didn't turn around directly. Instead, she swiftly slid one step to the left, twisted her body, and glanced with her peripheral vision at the spot where she'd just been standing.

No one?

In that instant of hesitation, the woman suddenly felt her right wrist — the one holding the gun — seized in a violent grip, followed by a wave of searing pain.

Her entire arm went numb at once, and the hand holding the gun lost its strength and let go.

The woman whipped her head around in terror.

She couldn't believe what was happening before her eyes, nor could she understand how anyone could have closed the distance on her so fast.

But when she saw clearly who had laid hands on her, her heart jolted even harder… it was a mountain of a fat man!

Even though she'd just thrown out a feint, this fat man seemed to have read her mind and closed in on her with pinpoint accuracy.

What kind of reaction speed would it take to pull that off?

The thought had barely flashed through her mind when the fat man's other hand shot out and landed precisely on her neck.

The woman tried to struggle, but felt a press at the back of her neck, and her body instantly went limp as she lost consciousness.

Yu Dazhang picked up the pistol from the ground and let out a long breath.

From the woman's stunned look just now, Yu Dazhang knew she must be unable to figure out what had gone wrong.

"I predicted your prediction."

Even though the woman couldn't hear him, Yu Dazhang still explained in a low voice.

Things had been going pretty smoothly — he'd already stuck half his body out and the woman hadn't noticed.

The bad luck was all because of that man who'd been shot across the way. I mean, if you saw something, couldn't you just pretend you didn't?

He just had to stand there gawking like he'd never seen the world before.

Whenever Yu Dazhang thought back to the scene just now, he felt a chill of dread. If he hadn't reacted quickly, he might've been shot too.

Glancing at the unconscious woman on the ground, Yu Dazhang figured there was no need to cuff her.

The main team would be here any moment, and there was no way she'd wake up before then.

He went to the other side and patted the two men squatting on the ground:

"Get up, you're safe now."

The two lowered the hands clasped behind their heads, turned to look at Yu Dazhang, their faces full of question marks:

"Brother, who are you?"

Because of the special nature of criminal investigation work, the team rarely wore police uniforms on assignments, and Yu Dazhang was still in the casual clothes he'd had on at the matchmaking corner earlier.

"Who else but someone who could save you?" Too lazy to explain, he turned to check the injuries of the other two men.

"Bear with it, let me look at the wound."

Yu Dazhang lifted the clothing over the spot where the man had been shot in the abdomen and leaned in to look.

What he didn't notice was that the wounded man's eyes were now locked tight on the pistol at Yu Dazhang's waist!

Confirming that Yu Dazhang's full attention was on his wound, he slowly raised his hand, just about to reach for the gun…

"OW!! That hurts — damn, that hurts, hurts hurts hurts!" Yu Dazhang was startled and quickly pulled his hand back:

"What's wrong with you? What are you yelling about?"

"Just look if you're gonna look, why you gotta poke?! What kind of hands are those!!"

The man lowered the hand he'd raised and pressed hard against his abdomen.

In the end, willpower failed to overcome reflex — the man was now in so much pain his forehead was drenched in sweat.

"Sorry, I didn't expect it to hurt that much. Is it serious?" Yu Dazhang looked at him with genuine concern, appearing quite anxious.

"What do you think!! Can't you see the blood spraying like this?!"

Yu Dazhang leaned his head in again:

"Let me take another look."

"Get away from me! Now!" The man was like a bristling cat, swatting Yu Dazhang's reaching hand away with a slap.

"Alright then, hold it yourself."

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Yu Dazhang stood up helplessly and was about to check the other man's wound when he suddenly heard the sound of running footsteps from downstairs.

The main force had arrived!

"This is Yu Dazhang, come on up — the situation is under control!"

If he hadn't called out, the people below wouldn't have dared rush up rashly — after all, they'd come running because they'd heard gunshots.

Yu Dazhang gave his name to put them at ease.

Sure enough, a head quickly popped out at the stairway — it was Lu Zhongxin.

Just like a groundhog, the moment he showed his head, he immediately pulled it back in.

Quite cautious, huh… Yu Dazhang nearly laughed out loud at the sight.

"Master, don't worry — everything is under my control!"

The moment his words fell, Lu Zhongxin poked his head out again. This time he didn't pull back; instead, he quickly scanned the area.

"Clear, go!" With a low command, he rushed up the stairs and headed straight for the woman collapsed on the ground.

Stepping closer, Lu Zhongxin crouched down and placed his hand on the woman's carotid artery. Just as he was about to focus and feel for a pulse, he was interrupted by a line:

"Don't bother — I just knocked her out."

That sentence instantly froze Lu Zhongxin, as if time itself had stopped.

As if realizing something, he turned his head, his gaze locking onto the spot where Yu Dazhang was.

"Why did you knock her out?"

When Lu Zhongxin said this, he tried his best to keep his voice from sounding too agitated.

"To rescue the hostage, of course." Yu Dazhang's face was perfectly composed.

Looking at Yu Dazhang's utterly un-guilty expression, Lu Zhongxin knew he wasn't lying.

"In other words…" Lu Zhongxin pointed at the woman on the ground:

"She's not the hostage?"

Yu Dazhang's "Of course" had just reached his lips when he forcibly swallowed it back down.

What was the situation now? A kidnapping crime scene!

What kind of person was Lu Zhongxin? An old criminal investigator so rigid he was practically stubborn.

In a setting like this, with a person like that — would he really be joking around and trading barbs with him?

He was using the calmest possible way to tell him a fact… You fucking grabbed the wrong person — this woman is the hostage!

The reason Lu Zhongxin did this.

First, he was afraid of alerting the kidnappers near Yu Dazhang.

Second, he was afraid the colleagues coming up behind would learn that Yu Dazhang had grabbed the wrong kidnapping target.

If this could be covered up, then cover it up!

Yu Dazhang quickly caught on, swiftly drew the handgun from his waist, and pointed it at the four real kidnappers:

"Nobody move!"

"Look who's moving." One of the men who had been crouching on the ground went pale:

"Which side are you even on?"

(End of chapter)