The place where Qi Le was held was close to the suburbs. It was past midnight and there were few passing vehicles. Shunzi looked around and couldn't find a taxi at all. The car carrying the two turned a corner and then disappeared completely in sight.
Shunzi, “…”
Shunzi stared in a daze and pulled out his cellphone again.
Third Brother had turned around and stopped at the side of the road when he received the call. Since Shunzi hadn't managed to follow them and couldn't tell him what they were doing in time, it was useless for him to worry any more. The roads went in all directions. Furthermore, the hope of finding them at night was very slim. His eyes looked fierce as he frowned. “What the hell happened?”
Shunzi gave a brief account of the incident, including the fact that the guards of the psychiatric hospital were mercenaries and the money was ten paces from the wall.
Three Brother listened quietly and got lost in his thoughts. Right now, there were two possibilities. The first was that Yi Hang head lost his memory again and was fleeing for his life. The other was that the two men had acted together to deceive them. If the former was the case, then he could be sure that the money was in the psychiatric. If it were the latter, then he must find out whether Zheng Xiaoyuan’s words were true or not to determine the location of the money. However, the two men may call the police and tell the police his destination, so he shouldn't go to the psychiatric hospital again tonight.
Seeing that he was silent, Shunzi asked, “Third Brother, what should I do?”
Third Brother quickly thought for a moment. “Take a taxi to Lu’s neighborhood. If you see them, catch them. I’ll head there first.”
Shunzi replied that he would and continued to look for cars in the empty streets.
Third Brother hung up and drove away. They had been exposed. It would be difficult to kidnap them again in the future. It was better to take advantage of the momentum and the dark night to start work. Although the place where they had been held and psychiatric hospital were in the suburbs, they weren't in the same area. However, the direction they were headed to, whether to the sanatorium or to the city, was about the same. He started earlier than the two men, and could certainly arrive at the neighborhood a step ahead of them. If there is they were alone at the time, he would kidnap him. If there was someone around… he and Shunzi would either go out of the country to take shelter from. Or else, they could desperately fight on.
Over on this side, Qi Le and Yi Hang were relieved to have successfully cast off Shunzi. Yi Hang looked back in shock, his voice shaking as he asked, “Will he chase after us?”
“I don’t know.” Qi Le pulled up his sleeve and lowered his head to untie the rope. Yi Hang’s little heart pounded and his face turned pale. After seeing this, he calmed down a little and stretched out a hand to help. They could only use one hand. The rope was tied too tightly so they couldn't untie it even after some time.
The driver glanced through the rearview mirror and saw the two whispering to each other. He couldn’t help being more alert. It was late at night, and the place they were headed to was the suburbs. He was afraid of a carjacking.
Qi Le placed his hand by the window, looked at the street lamps outside, and continued to try to untie the rope. Yi Hang was pulled by him and was trying to maintain his balance while helping him. “Where are we going?”
"We're close to your home, so let's go there first.” Qi Le paused slightly and lowered his voice. “Or should we go to the police station and report this to the police first?”
“No, what if I'm locked up too?” Yi Hang was frightened.
Qi Le suddenly remembered that the man had embezzled public funds, so he had to forget about it. His used some strength and finally succeeded in untying the rope. He moved his wrists and told the driver to drive elsewhere, not the psychiatric hospital.
The driver muttered "Mmm." He hadn't heard their conversation clearly earlier, but vaguely heard the words “report to the police", "what if", and "locked up”, and immediately panicked. Had these two committed a crime or were they temporarily changing the location of the crime? He sighed regretfully inside. The two men looked like decent people. They were young and could do anything else, yet they were determined to commit crimes.
Qi Le wanted to call Gu Bai, but he didn’t have his cellphone with him. He looked at the driver and said, “Sir, can I borrow your cellphone? My battery is dead.”
“Ah, what a coincidence." The driver said dryly, “Mine's dead too.” He thought that the speed dial on his phone was set to 110, so he could call the police at any time. Naturally, he couldn’t' hand it over, especially to suspected criminals.
Qi Le sighed at once and looked at Yi Hang. “Why didn’t you ask for your phone back earlier?”
“I was afraid to.” Yi Hang sniffled, “It's already great that I managed to accomplish all that, so be grateful."
Qi Le thought that he was right. They could only wait till they arrived at Lu Yanbin's apartment. He rummaged through his pockets and unsurprisingly, his wallet was gone. The idiot was probably in the same situation as himself. He looked at the coat he had taken with him and threw it to Yi Hang so he could go through it. Then, seeing that he only pulled out a handful of change, he sighed again.
Along the way, the driver observed from time to time and felt that they weren't very much like criminals. But he still had to guard against them. No matter what the two men were up to, it was better to be more careful. He looked at the buildings along the road and caught a glimpse of the police station when he was approaching the neighborhood. He drove past it a little, slowly came to a stop and turned back with a smile. “The gate of the community is just in front. I'll have to trouble you to walk a little. I'm late and have to hurry home.”
Yi Hang froze when he saw the fare on the meter in front of him. He bowed his head and silently counted the change in his hand, then coughed dryly. “Sir, you’d better turn in. We’re ten yuan short. We'll get our friend to pay the rest.”
The driver didn’t hesitate for too long. “It’s okay. Anyway, I also came back from the outskirts. You guys are on the way. It doesn’t matter if it’s ten yuan less.”
Yi Hang was happy. He handed the money and got off with Qi Le. Qi Le watched the taxi leave and rubbed his chin. “Since he was late, why did he agree to take us to the psychiatric hospital just now?”
Yi Hang blinked. “Yes, why did he?”
“I don’t know.” Qi Le shook his head, his gaze sweeping across.”There's a police station nearby… Um, what did we say when we talked in the car?”
“We talked about where to go. Then you said go to the police, but I was afraid to go…” Yi Hang suddenly shut up, obviously understanding what had happened.
Qi Le, “……”
Yi Hang, “…”
Qi Le pouted. “Forget it, it’s not far anyway.” He took two steps forward and suddenly stopped. “What if your man went out to look for you and isn't at home?”
Yi Hang felt that the possibility of this was very high. He turned over his pocket and hunched his shoulders in defeat. “I don’t have the key.”
Qi Le frowned. They were now penniless and had no phone. If Lu Yanbin wasn't in the apartment, they could only wait downstairs. If Third Brother didn’t give up and made his way over, they would be in big trouble.
Seeing that he remained silent, Yi Hang suggested, “We can get someone to lend us their phone to make a call.”
“It's so late. Who can we borrow a phone from?”
Yi Hang thought about this, pointed a finger and asked weakly, “……Should we try the police station?”
Qi Le was surprised. “Good idea, let’s go.”
The two men turned around and entered the police station. They looked up and saw a police officer on the phone standing at the entrance of the office building. He had turned his back to them so they couldn't see his exact appearance. The two thought that they were so lucky. They quickly walked towards him, only to hear the man say into the phone weakly, “I didn't plan to hide it from you. I was going to tell you that the last batch of ammunition was sold three months ago after I'm done with work tonight. Just look at how good I've been these past three months. I have been a servant of the people every day… Wife, I'm doing it all to support my family. I have made all the mafia business legal and so many of my men are waiting for me to support them.” Seeing someone approaching, he quickly turned back and changed into a smile. “Hello, my name is Luo. May I help you?”
Yi Hang, “=口=”
Qi Le, “=口=”
“…” Qi Le tried his best to calm himself. “Is there a locksmith nearby?”
“No.” Luo thought for a bit and said, “You can get the property manager to help you call one.”
“Oh, thank you, officer.”
“You’re welcome. I'm merely serving the people.”
Qi Le thanked him again, pulled Yi Hang away and looked at the sign at the entrance in shock after leaving. “Fuck, this is really a police station. Yes, I thought I had transmigrated. Fucking hell, this guy is way more frightening than Third Brother. The world has really gone crazy…”
Yi Hang turned pale. “I think we should go back and take a look. What if he's at home?”
“That makes sense.” Qi Le nodded and slowly walked towards the community.
Officer Luo was still on the phone at the moment. “Wife, let me explain. Why would I give you a half-hearted answer? I love you so much… Huh?” He suddenly remembered something and looked up, but found that the two men had left. He couldn’t help but wonder. “They really like the people in the photo… Oh, there was a kidnapping case during the day, I seem to have just met the hostages. Oh, it’s not a big case. It's really not important enough for you to handle it. Don't come over. You really don’t have to… Hello? Hello?” He silently looked at his phone, took a second to respond, and immediately ran out to find the hostages.
Qi Le and Yi Hang walked all the way along the main road of the community, past four high-rise buildings, and were about to arrive at the apartment. Fearing that Third Brother would come after them, Qi Le began to walk in the dark and slowly detoured as they moved forward, looking around anxiously as he walked. Unfortunately, someone happened to be hiding in their circuitous route. Worse still, the man had apparently seen them. Their gazes met across the street lamp. Qi Le waved and shouted, “Third Brother!”
Third Brother, “……”
Yi Hang, “=口=!!!"
Yi Hang went crazy, quickly covering his mouth and pulling him away. Third Brother cursed and immediately opened the door and hopped in his car. He turned on the engine and started chasing after them. Yi Hang looked back, sped up and roared at Qi Le, “Why did you call him?"
“What do you know? He has seen us. If I pull you away, he will chase after us. I could only shout to let him know that I'm actually on his side.” Qi Le sped up as well, but still pretended to be dragged away by Yi Hang. “In case we get caught again, I will say that you forgot everything again.You didn't listen to my advice and insisted on running away. This way, we can still live. And if your man is at home, he will certainly have heard me shouting just now. Maybe he'll come down.”
“…Fine then. Now what? He’s driving!”
Qi Le looked around. There was only one main road. It was an open space here. The distance between buildings was wide enough for vehicles to travel. Moreover, there were few trees and nowhere to hide. He crossed a high-rise building again, turned his eyes to the rows of cars parked downstairs and immediately pulled Yi Hang over and pressed him in front of the car in the corner. “Squat down. I’ll hold him off. Use the chance to escape and get someone.”
As soon as he said that, he ignored him and quickly ran past six cars before stopping. Then, he lay miserably on an off-road vehicle. Right then, the car behind happened to whiz past. Third Brother stopped sharply, got off and picked him up. “Where is he?”
Qi Le gasped and pointed to the car in front of him. He lowered his voice. “Shh. Third Brother, lower your voice. I refused to run with him. He threw me here and ran away. God knows where he's hiding. He's around here anyways. We were going to look for you tonight, but he lost his memory again.”
Third Brother stared at him, then looked around. He found that only the cars could be used as a hiding place here. It would take him too long if he were to search by himself. He chose to trust him for the time being and nodded. “We'll look for him together.”
Qi Le was relieved. “I'll take the front of the car and you take the back.”
“No, I'll take the front. You take the back.”
Qi Le didn't mind. He obediently ran to the back of the car. The front lights from Third Brother's car shone brightly, while the area behind the car was a little dark. Yi Hang squatted in the corner, trembling as he observed the situation. Seeing that Third Brother was going to the row in front of the car, he immediately hid behind the car. As they moved forwards, he slowly moved back. While the Third Brother’s attention was on the front, he quickly shuffled to the side of the building, got up and ran out of the community. Just as he turned a corner, he bumped into someone.
Officer Luo looked him up and down and asked, “Are you Yi Hang? Your friend reported you missing in the afternoon.”
“…” Yi Hang took a second to respond. He immediately rushed over, grabbed him by the shoulder and shook him hard. “A-a-are you really a policeman?”
“Of course. How can I be an imposter?” Officer Luo patiently appeased him. “Calm down, where’s the other guy?”
“He's holding back the kidnapper.” Yi Hang gulped. “Save him!”
Luo patted his shoulder comfortingly. “No problem. Go to the office and wait there first. It’s safe there. I’ll save your friend.”
Yi Hang nodded, took two steps and suddenly turned back. “Can I use you phone? I want to make a call.”
Officer Luo threw his phone to him and left quickly. Yi Hang didn’t know if this man was reliable. He thought about it and decided to go to the police station. If there were other policemen on duty there, he would ask them to save Qi Le. As he walked, he dialled Lu Yanbin's number and called him.
Lu Yanbin had searched the whole night and was preparing to go home. He was shocked when he heard his voice. “Xiao Hang?”
Yi Hang sniffled. “Mmm.”
“Where are you? Where is Zheng Xiaoyuan?”
“I am preparing to go to the police station outside the community. Zheng Xiaoyuan is still holding back Third Brother in the community.”
“I’ll be right there.” Lu Yanbin hung up, quickly called Gu Bai, then stepped on the accelerator and rushed back.