Chapter 22 Part 5

With a "pang."

Lu Yan stood up and said, "We're adults. Whatever decision you make, you only have to answer to yourself."

Lu Yan was undoubtedly a mature and calm person. It was the kind of maturity honed from struggling and hustling in society, something that couldn't be hidden no matter how much he joked around or did idiotic things.

They were clearly around the same age.

Most people were still attending classes on a university campus, while he was making a living everywhere, holding on to a band on the verge of breaking up.

Ten o'clock at night.

Squad 63 gathered at the entrance of the Seventh District and held its second meeting.

They boarded the small minivan Brother Wei had rented one by one. The wind was strong at night. Lu Yan wore a thin hoodie, his hands in his pockets. He got in the van with his head down, looking cool and chic, really giving off an "on a mission" vibe.

The minivan started slowly, moving with difficulty along the bumpy road.

Brother Wei had printed out the suspect's file and photos and handed them out. "Wang Qiang, male, previously committed several fraud cases in Jizhou, 43 years old, has been married twice..."

The van rolled over a gravel road, and the passengers swayed along with it.

Lu Yan flipped through the file, pausing for two seconds on the word 'Jizhou' before nonchalantly looking away. "This is so detailed. He lives... right here in District Three?" That was really close.

The black minivan drove for a distance before finally hiding on the street opposite District Three.

Brother Wei: "Remember, Squad 63's operational slogan is: Play it safe and steady! Tonight, we tail him! We tail him to death!"

The entirety of District Three was brightly lit.

A low-key minivan was parked at the entrance of District Three. A person was hunched furtively at the van's window, holding a pair of binoculars aimed at the entrance.

As Brother Wei watched, he felt something was wrong. "...Wait a minute, why are there so many people?"

Zhang Xiaohui said nervously, "What's wrong? Are there a lot of them?"

Although the allure of one hundred thousand was great, Lu Yan was good at restraining his desire for money. "Can we win? If not, let's just retreat."

Xiao Heng sneered, "What else can you do besides run?"

"..." Lu Yan said, "This is called being prudent. You don't know shit."

In this tense and exciting atmosphere, a pair of hands suddenly knocked on their van window.

!

"Move it, now!"

The window rolled down. The man outside was in a uniform with the words "Traffic Police" on it.

The traffic cop said again, "You can't park here! You want a ticket!"

Brother Wei: "..."

Lu Yan: "..."

Xiao Heng: "..."

They got out of the van.

However, the scene after they got out left Squad 63 dumbfounded.

The bushes at the entrance of District Three were crammed with a dense crowd of people! At a glance, there were probably dozens of heads. Those dozens of heads were lying in wait quietly in the bushes. They had tools tucked into their waists; cleavers and axes reflected a cold light in the night.

—They were all enthusiastic citizens from the Lower District.

Brother Wei: "I told you, there are a lot of people."

Zhang Xiaohui: "A lot."

Lu Yan shook his head. "This is way too many."

Xiao Heng was as venomous as ever. "Are they filming an episode of 'Animal World'?"

Wasn't it just like 'Animal World'?

This was an encirclement.

Lu Yan looked at the sea of heads, a headache coming on. He never thought a one-hundred-thousand bounty would have such a strong appeal to the residents of the Lower District.

"Excuse me, please make way." Lu Yan bent over and pulled Xiao Heng along as he squeezed into the crowd.

"This spot is taken," a voice said.

Lu Yan looked down and met a familiar face, a face with a familiar scar.

"..."

Scar: "Fuck, how is it you, kid?"

Lu Yan also found it strange. "You're catching a fraudster? Aren't you in the fraud business yourself? Aren't you afraid of getting yourself caught?"

Scar said indignantly, "Know yourself, know your enemy! You've never committed fraud, so do you understand the heart of a fraudster? Do you know his mood when he was buying that orange juice!"

Lu Yan: "..."

Just then, someone shouted, "He's out! He's out!"

The moment the words fell, dozens of people in the bushes rushed out with lightning speed.

The one charging at the very front was Brother Wei. Years of experience in debt collection had given him strong legs. Fearless of obstacles, he ran like the wind, sprinting down the road with his burning passion and dream.

A whole crowd of people followed behind him.

"What are you standing around for?" Lu Yan pushed Xiao Heng. "Even if one hundred thousand is divided by a hundred people, that's still a thousand yuan each. Run!"

Xiao Heng: "..."

He was dragged forward by Lu Yan.

In his ears was the hot night wind carrying the scent of summer, and the sound of dozens of people running in unison.

They passed through several alleys, turned into another residential area, and then swarmed out again.

A strange spectacle appeared on a certain street in the Lower District.

The fugitive Suspect Wang, wanted by the entire city's police force, was chased for eight straight blocks by more than fifty enthusiastic citizens after accidentally showing his face while buying orange juice at Trust-Mart Supermarket.

This battle could simply be recorded in the district's history annals.

Xiao Heng had lived for over twenty years, and before coming to the Seventh District, he had never imagined that there were people in this world, such a group of people, who lived so dramatically, so fervently, and so arduously.

His gaze fell on a weed by the roadside struggling to grow out from between the cracks of the flagstones.

That blade of grass was exactly like Lu Yan.