Chapter 308: Gray Wolf Caught in the Spotlight, A Warm Welcome to Our Foreign Friend on Stage

At full speed,

In just over ten minutes, all the police vehicles had arrived at the entrance of Lingling Circus.

Just as previously arranged,

The moment the officers stepped out of their cars, their first move was to seal off all exits of Lingling Circus.

From that moment on, any visitors or staff wanting to leave the park had to undergo extremely strict identity verification, along with a thorough check for any signs of suspicious activity before they could be allowed through.

Although they had already obtained the facial data of Ghost’s human-skin mask through Qiang Wei’s connections,

Given how cunning these fugitives were, such rigorous identity checks were still absolutely necessary.

Only by doing this

Could they ensure that Ghost wouldn’t slip away again during this operation.

…

While the accompanying officers were busy locking down the exits,

Su Ming, along with Lin Tian, Chen Sheng, and the others, immediately made their way to the Circus Hall, where the crowd was densest.

Just as they had predicted,

Although Ghost knew very well that K wanted him dead, he was also certain of one thing… K would rather see him escape than be captured by the police, which could lead to the exposure of Lan Caier’s Secret.

So, after confirming that he had avoided the execution squad, Ghost would most likely follow K’s plan and attempt a clean escape.

After all, credit where credit’s due—when it came to evading law enforcement, K was a master. His decisions and judgments were always spot-on.

If he didn’t have that kind of precision, there was no way he could’ve built such a massive drug trafficking network in Dragon Country, nor could he have remained hidden for so many years before finally being discovered.

…

By the time Su Ming and the others arrived at the Circus Hall,

Gray Wolf had already stashed his suitcase somewhere and used his foreigner status to persuade a staff member to let him in through a back door.

He entered the Circus Hall, which had already stopped ticketing and was closed to all visitors.

At that moment,

As he walked through the entrance tunnel and took in the general layout of the venue, Gray Wolf’s expression darkened, and his brows furrowed in frustration.

Because in his line of sight…

The entire venue was arranged in a semicircle, with the circus stage at the front.

Though the layout wasn’t a full arena-style setup, the seating still numbered in the thousands—possibly even over ten thousand.

What made it worse… was that more than half the seats were already filled with spectators.

In other words,

If he wanted to find Ghost, he’d have to comb through thousands of scattered audience members to locate someone whose exact seat he didn’t even know.

And due to the nature of circus performances, the lighting in the venue was very dim. Only the stage was illuminated, which made the task of finding Ghost even more difficult.

Gray Wolf felt a heavy weight settle in his chest, though he wasn’t panicking just yet.

He pulled out his phone, hoping that with the help of high-tech navigation, he could pinpoint Ghost’s exact location.

But when he opened the link in the text message and saw that his own location was overlapping with the red dot indicating Ghost’s position,

His expression finally turned a little unnatural, and his brow twitched involuntarily.

He glanced up at the Circus Hall ceiling, realizing that the building’s structure was interfering with the GPS signal, preventing a more precise location fix.

After a few seconds of silence,

Feeling the situation grow more complicated, Gray Wolf let out a helpless sigh. For the first time, a thought crept into his mind—maybe he shouldn’t have taken this mission.

It wasn’t that he feared difficulty, or even the possibility of dying after completing the mission.

But having to dig out Ghost from such a massive venue, with no clue where he was sitting, was just too torturous.

Despite the growing frustration and regret in his heart, Gray Wolf’s body remained disciplined. He crouched low and began moving through the aisles.

Using the faint glow from the stage, he started scanning each row, looking for any sign of Ghost.

Thirty seconds.

One minute.

Two minutes.

…

After three full minutes of crouching and searching,

Gray Wolf realized he had only checked less than a tenth of the seats—barely a tiny corner of the entire venue. A sense of dread began to creep in.

At this rate, he might not even find Ghost before the circus show ended.

Just as Gray Wolf was feeling completely at a loss,

The dimly lit venue suddenly lit up in full, even the upper tiers of the audience were now bathed in bright spotlights.

A magician in a tailcoat stepped onto the stage. With just a wave to the audience, he triggered a wave of cheers and screams from the crowd.

Clearly,

This was the most famous part of the circus performance—the magic act.

The magician, already well-known across Dragon Country, had taken the stage, and the audience’s enthusiastic response was only natural.

After greeting the crowd, the renowned magician immediately got into character.

He performed two simple tricks, then raised his right hand toward the audience and shouted,

“Next up!”

“I’ll be performing a grand illusion—Underwater Escape—and I’ll need a volunteer from the audience to help me out.”

“The main task is… to bind my hands and feet so that I can’t move, making it impossible for me to escape from a sealed tank filled with water.”

“Of course, no need to worry. I’ve already signed a liability waiver with the circus. If anything goes wrong during the act, you won’t be held responsible.”

“Alright, enough talk. Let’s not waste any more time.”

“Anyone in the audience who wants to come on stage and witness this world-shaking magic, please raise your hands and cheer!”

As soon as the words left his mouth—

The entire audience erupted into screams and cheers. Some curious children even jumped up from their seats, waving both hands excitedly, as if afraid the Magician on stage might overlook them.

Amid the cheering crowd—

Sitting dead center in the venue, blending in completely with the audience just as K had advised, Ghost stared at the stage ahead. Surrounded by the thunderous applause, his eyes were filled with memories.

Years ago, back when he was the Circus Magician of Lingling, he and his wife—who was also his assistant—had basked in this same kind of passionate applause and adoration.

But at some point, things began to change. They started running short on money. The meager salary they earned no longer seemed enough to support a future. In the end, they chose a path from which there was no return.

Ghost’s emotions were conflicted.

He had already made up his mind… Once he escaped the police pursuit this time, he would vanish without a trace and start a new life in another country.

After all, the tens of millions of dollars sitting in his bank account were more than enough to live lavishly for a long time—maybe even for the rest of his life.

While Ghost was lost in memories and dreams of the future—

Gray Wolf wasn’t idle either. Taking advantage of the venue’s bright lights, he began scanning the crowd for any sign of Ghost.

One glance.

Two glances.

Three glances.

…

No telling how many times he looked, but eventually, Gray Wolf confirmed that Ghost wasn’t seated in the section he had entered.

Just as he was about to check the next area—

The Magician on stage had already noticed the only person standing in the aisle, and with that distinctive foreign skin tone, he stood out like a sore thumb.

Without a hint of hesitation, the Magician signaled to the lighting technician and shouted excitedly.

“Lighting tech! Put the spotlight on our foreign friend in the aisle!”

“Looks like he just can’t wait to get involved. Maybe he wants to expose my tricks or something.”

“But no matter what, let’s give a big round of applause and welcome our guest to the stage!”

The moment he said that—

The crowd burst into enthusiastic applause, and all eyes turned to Gray Wolf.

The sudden spotlight stunned Gray Wolf for a moment. His body tensed instinctively, thinking his identity as a hitman had been exposed.

But hearing the applause around him and seeing the Magician waving him over again and again, even though he couldn’t understand a word of Chinese, Gray Wolf felt his scalp go numb.

Was he being asked to assist with the magic show? If he went up there, how was he supposed to keep looking for Ghost? How would he complete his mission?

But in the very next second, as he looked out at the cheering crowd and the beckoning Magician, a realization hit him like lightning.

If he stood at the very center of the stage, wouldn’t that give him a much better view of the entire venue? A wider vantage point?

At the very least, he wouldn’t have to go aisle by aisle, wasting who knows how much time.

In that moment—

The fear and anxiety on Gray Wolf’s face vanished, replaced by a surge of anticipation. Bathed in the spotlight, he began walking slowly toward the stage.

Just moments ago, he had been on the verge of collapse, thinking he might never find Ghost in time to complete the mission.

And now, out of nowhere, this unexpected opportunity had fallen right into his lap.

Gray Wolf almost wanted to cross himself right then and there, shout to the heavens—

God bless me!