Chapter 45: Pursuit

Qiong Cang instinctively felt a piercing gaze lock onto the back of her head, and the footsteps of the group behind her slowed down as well. This made her realize that the person leading the pursuit was likely an experienced criminal investigator with a sharp instinct for criminals. If she showed even the slightest hint of guilt, he would immediately spot the weakness.

Qiong Cang hardly hesitated. Adopting a subtle southern accent, she immediately shouted toward the intersection ahead, “Oh, hurry up, will you? I’ve rushed you hundreds of times and you’re still not out! What is there to look at anyway? It’s just a couple fighting! Don’t you know what time our train is?”

Her actions did not dispel the doubts of the people behind her. As the lead commander of this pursuit, Zhang Wuping sensed something unusual about Qiong Cang and began closing in on her direction without drawing attention.

Having worked in public security for many years, his professional creed was never to overlook the slightest suspicion. This habit had helped him avoid danger and capture criminals on numerous occasions. After all, criminal investigation left no room for wishful thinking.

Even Qiong Cang felt her heart rate accelerate as the distance between them closed. She stood in place, forcing her muscles to remain relaxed while letting her gaze wander ahead, playing the role of someone waiting.

Suddenly, a ringtone sounded from her jacket pocket. The accompanying vibration made her fingers twitch in surprise.

The ringtone was a generic melody, but Qiong Cang had never realized a phone’s ringtone could sound so loud. Looking annoyed, she shoved her hand into her pocket and swiped the green icon to answer.

The caller was the taxi driver Qiong Cang had booked earlier.

“Hello? You’re already here? Sorry, please wait a bit longer. Just park the car outside the bank first, we’ll be right over, really!”

Qiong Cang spoke loudly, pacing in place with one hand in her pocket. She made no deliberate move to avoid them, allowing the police officers approaching from behind to see a bit of her profile.

“Park at the entrance of the alley? That works too. A3686B, right? Okay, okay, got it, we’re already here. Right away, won’t even take five minutes. Thank you, driver, thank you.”

Qiong Cang hung up the phone, clicking her tongue and muttering curses as she looked down to fiddle with the screen, doing who knows what.

Zhang Wuping quickened his pace and was already about two meters behind her.

Just then, a young man ran out from around the corner in a hurry. Seeing the police officers, he slowed his pace and looked at them with a curious gaze.

Qiong Cang strode forward to meet him, putting distance between herself and the people behind her, while scolding, “Aren’t we in a hurry? Why aren’t you running! Is watching the commotion really that interesting?”

The young man she pointed at was stunned, not reacting for a moment. Seeing her walking near the police, he assumed she was a plainclothes officer on duty nearby and instinctively started jogging as she instructed.

Qiong Cang tapped the screen, put away her phone, and leaned in to naturally drape her arm over the young man’s shoulder. She used half of her body to block Zhang Wuping’s line of sight while nudging the young man to turn to the side.

“Go to that alley entrance, this way is closer. Show some speed.”

Zhang Wuping called out, “Excuse me, com…”

Before he could finish his sentence, a chorus of terrified screams echoed from not far away, likely from the building where the incident had been reported. The chaotic shouting of multiple voices, even from over a hundred meters away, was enough to make one’s hair stand on end.

Several new Players grew anxious. Feeling that Zhang Wuping had been acting strange for a while, they urged him, “Captain, what are you doing? The key to this pursuit game is racing against time! There’s definitely something happening over there!”

In the span of just those two sentences, Qiong Cang had already hurried away with the young man, and the taxi at the alley entrance honked its horn. Seeing that the two of them were physically close, their relationship seemed genuine, and their actions were completely natural, Zhang Wuping couldn’t help but wonder if he was indeed being overly suspicious.

They currently only knew that the theme of this Instance was a pursuit, but they did not know what crime the fugitive had committed. According to the report, it was hostage-taking and assault.

It was highly unlikely they would run into the fugitive by coincidence right after responding to the call. Besides, it had been over ten minutes since the game loaded. Knowing that the police had already been dispatched, how could a Player still be lingering near the crime scene, waiting to catch a cab?

Zhang Wuping laughed at his own sensitivity and withdrew his gaze, saying, “Let’s go!”

Hearing the footsteps run off into the distance, Qiong Cang removed her hand from the young man’s shoulder. Looking at his bewildered expression, she asked in confusion, “What’s wrong? Aren’t you the person I’m carpooling with?”

“No,” the young man finally snapped out of it and asked, “Aren’t you a cop?”

“No!” Qiong Cang also looked startled and said, “The person I was supposed to carpool with never showed up. I was shouting toward the front for a long time. Wasn’t that you?”

The young man laughed helplessly, “What? You got the wrong person. No wonder you acted like we were old friends.”

Qiong Cang lit up her phone screen to show him, while pointing a long finger. “Look, it’s this car, right? This license plate number.”

“No, it’s really not me.” The young man waved his hand. “You got the wrong person.”

Qiong Cang looked embarrassed and said, “I’m so sorry about that.”

“It’s fine, I happen to be going this way anyway. I’ll head out first.”

Qiong Cang waved goodbye to the young man and quickly got into the taxi waiting ahead. She sat in the back seat and smiled, “We’re not going to the station anymore. Please take me to the central commercial street first.”

The driver readily agreed, “Sure thing.”

Qiong Cang put on her headphones and said, “Something came up at the company and I need to rush to a meeting. Please drive a bit faster.”

·

At this moment, the entrance of Ning Tingting’s home was already crowded with people. Because the narrow stairwell couldn’t hold everyone, some onlookers stood at the entrance of the first-floor stairs, looking up.

As soon as the police arrived, the bustling crowd immediately parted to make a path for them to pass through.

Zhang Wuping squeezed through the middle and asked, “What’s going on here? Didn’t the report say it was hostage-taking and assault? Why are you all standing around here?”

The onlookers answered him all at once.

“You’re finally here! Someone’s going to be killed in there!”

“The couple living here is fighting. They fight often, but this time it’s especially bad. Clattering and banging, it hasn’t stopped.”

“Sister Sun from the first floor was worried about them and came up to check, but she ended up getting dragged inside! Tell me, isn’t that kidnapping?”

“The person inside said they want to wait for the police to arrive to negotiate, but he’s in a real hurry, constantly asking if you’ve arrived. Just now he said he already cut off Old Sun’s finger. What should we do now?”

“I knew someone who beats his wife that brutally couldn’t be a good person. This man Zhou is too terrifying.”

While listening to the chaotic reports from the crowd, Zhang Wuping pulled a young officer next to him and gestured for him to check the situation from the neighboring balcony. If the opportunity arose, he was to climb over and take control of the situation.

The young man took the assignment and left eagerly.

“Report back at all times!” Zhang Wuping ordered. “Do not act on your own under any circumstances!”

The officer promised in a low voice over the radio, “Understood!”

Zhang Wuping made another gesture, signaling the surrounding crowd to keep quiet, then leaned close to the door and knocked.

“Hello, Mr. Zhou, I am a detective from the criminal investigation unit. You wanted to see me, and I’m here. If you have any demands, you can make them now. But we need to confirm the safety of the hostages first, is that alright?”

There was no response from inside.

Zhang Wuping glanced back.

“It’s been like this the whole time,” an eager onlooker who had been watching from the start said. “Give him a moment.”

As they were speaking, a strange, intermittent sound came from inside the room.

“Hold on.” Thinking he had misheard, Zhang Wuping raised a hand to cover one ear and said, “Apologies, I didn’t catch that. Could you repeat it?”

The voice repeated, “Prepare a car for me.”

Zhang Wuping was certain that it was a text-to-speech voice from some software. He frowned at the bizarre scene, but quickly replied, “Mr. Zhou, to be honest with you, even if we prepare a car for you, you won’t be able to escape. There are surveillance cameras all over the city. Where could you possibly go? Why don’t you come out and we can have a proper chat.”

The person inside replied, “Are you not being sincere?”

Zhang Wuping said, “We are sincere, but we need to confirm the safety of the hostages first. Please do not harm them. Let the two hostages speak, and we will immediately arrange a vehicle.”

“No.”

“Why?” Zhang Wuping asked. “Is it because the hostages have already been harmed?”

Zhang Wuping negotiated carefully with the other party. Unfortunately, due to the limitations of the text-to-speech tool, he could not judge the other party’s emotions from their voice, making it impossible to adjust the direction of the negotiation. There were also too many people around, and the whispering and murmuring severely disrupted the order of the scene.

Zhang Wuping nodded to his team members, gesturing for them to quickly clear the scene.

The onlookers were forced to retreat outside the cordon, their shuffling footsteps and low discussions causing a bit of a commotion.

Suddenly, someone in the crowd muttered in a low voice, “Are you sure the person inside is Mr. Zhou?”

Zhang Wuping turned around and located the young man who had spoken.

He Jueyun stood in the middle of the crowd with a backpack on, his expression calm and his demeanor steady. It was obvious at a glance that he was not a novice Player. However, he had kept a very low profile from start to finish, showing no intention of standing out.

He Jueyun approached and whispered to him, “Everyone is calling him Mr. Zhou, but if it really is him, why would he use a voice changer? In a domestic dispute, if there are casualties, the survivor isn’t necessarily the husband.”

Zhang Wuping had actually thought of this as well, but he had deliberately refrained from exposing it for fear of provoking the person inside.

He Jueyun handed over the documents he had just received, which contained the resident information urgently sent by the Department of Public Security, outlining the basic details of the couple.

Zhang Wuping quickly scanned it, handed it back to He Jueyun, and asked tentatively through the door, “Ms. Ning, is that you?”

It took about ten seconds before a response came from inside the room:

“You’re too noisy.”

“Agree to my demands and I’ll let you see the hostages.”

Zhang Wuping patiently reasoned with her, “Ms. Ning, listen to me. I know you’ve faced a lot of prejudice in society and are under a lot of pressure. If this was an accident, you can have your friends or neighbors testify for you, proving that you’ve suffered long-term abuse and physical and mental harm. We will also plead on your behalf. In the end, it’s possible to argue for self-defense or excessive self-defense¹. You’re still young, and you can absolutely start over. Open the door now and let us send someone in to provide medical aid, alright?”

The responses from inside were always intermittent, and the wording was very harsh, making communication difficult. This gave Zhang Wuping a bad feeling.

This situation could be because Ning Tingting was mentally traumatized after killing someone and could not reply calmly. Or, it could just be that the culprit was using the negotiation to buy time.

Zhang Wuping leaned toward the latter. After all, this was an escape game. But even if both sides knew this full well, with the culprit holding hostages and the police lacking sufficient intelligence, he still could not force a breach. That would be a serious violation of regulations and highly out of character.

Zhang Wuping took a few steps back, making sure his voice couldn’t be heard from inside. He gestured for He Jueyun to come over and whispered his request, “Have them repeat what they heard to you again. Be thorough. We need to confirm exactly who is in this room and what happened at the time.”

He Jueyun followed the instructions.

The reply from the officer from earlier came through the radio.

“Captain, the curtains on their balcony are drawn, and there are stainless steel security bars welded on the outside. We can’t see the situation inside from the neighboring balcony, and there’s no way to climb over. I listened for a bit, and there’s no obvious noise inside.”

“Go to the building opposite and look toward the second-floor living room,” Zhang Wuping said.

“Yes, sir.”

Zhang Wuping asked again, “Are there any agile guys in the team?”

“Yes. I’m a national second-class athlete, and I do a lot of rock climbing.”

Several others volunteered one after another.

Zhang Wuping called out a few names and said, “Climb up the outer walls of the living room, bathroom, and balcony to see if you can get a clear view of the situation inside. Make sure to stay hidden. Don’t let the culprit spot you.”

“Understood.”

During this time, footsteps echoed in the stairwell as more and more Players responsible for the pursuit arrived at the scene from all directions.

Zhang Wuping’s train of thought was interrupted again and again. Dealing with this ragtag bunch gave him a massive headache. He ordered, “Anyone who hasn’t arrived yet, stay away for now. And don’t walk around the arrest perimeter in police uniform, it’s too eye-catching! Everyone stand by and wait for my instructions!”

·

Meanwhile, Qiong Cang had long since left the residential area and was heading toward the main city district.

Since it was a holiday, the streets were congested and traffic was moving slowly. Fortunately, her driver was an experienced veteran who wove through the gaps and preferred back alleys, quickly bypassing the gridlock near the scenic area.

The netizens followed Qiong Cang’s perspective, feeling that once she got into the car, all was peaceful and quiet.

“Why doesn’t she take advantage of her freedom to run to the station and escape?”

“Isn’t that risky? Once the police find the body, they’ll definitely search the major stations and airports immediately. If they track down which bus or train she boarded, wouldn’t they just be waiting to catch her like a sitting duck?”

“Just came back from the Pursuers’ Live Stream Room. It’s a total mess over there, they don’t even know what they’re supposed to be doing.”

“After all, there are a lot of amateurs, but they have the advantage of numbers.”

“They were suddenly forced into a kidnapping plot, and they still have to follow official procedures. They must be completely lost.”

Translator’s Notes