I Return From Hell

Chapter 78: Chapter 74: Mengyuan Bar, What a Coincidence

The police station.

Having just returned, Chen Xiao couldn’t help but pinch the bridge of her nose, her face etched with exhaustion.

”Chen Xiao, how did things go on your end?”

Qian Yihao asked.

”How do you think?”

”Zhao Guohui is being temporarily held there for various examinations and questioning. He won’t be back anytime soon.”

Chen Xiao said, ”For now, it’s just you and me in charge here.”

”Anything unusual on this side?”

”Yes.”

Qian Yihao spoke up. ”That sunflower seed has already sprouted. It’s three times the size of a normal sunflower seedling.”

Chen Xiao nodded.

”Has Xie Shaokun’s letter arrived?”

she asked again.

”Don’t even ask!”

”You don’t think Xie Shaokun is just messing with us, do you?”

Qian Yihao paced back and forth several times before saying impatiently, ”It’s been over two days, and still not a word.”

Little Song knocked and entered.

”Brother Hao.”

”Sister Xiao.”

He waved the envelope in his hand excitedly. ”A letter came.”

”It’s signed Xie Shaokun.”

Hearing this, Qian Yihao’s and Chen Xiao’s eyes lit up.

”Quick, open it!”

Qian Yihao urged.

A few minutes later.

”He gave us the times and locations for six Mist Events all at once?”

”One of them is in this city, and the other five are in two neighboring cities.”

Qian Yihao was stunned. ”This Xie Shaokun... he even knows when Mist Events in other places will happen?”

If this was true, then...

Xie Shaokun’s value was far greater than they had ever imagined.

In that moment, his admiration for Zhao Guohui’s judgment grew. He realized that cooperating with Xie Shaokun could drastically reduce civilian casualties and accelerate the country’s understanding of the Mist Events.

”Quick!”

”Get ready immediately.”

Chen Xiao’s pretty face hardened, and she could no longer remain calm. ”I have a feeling our haul this time will be much, much bigger.”

Their last cooperation with Xie Shaokun had shown initial success, and now they had received advance intel again. As a result, their superiors were taking this extremely seriously. An elite team, handpicked from various regions, was now permanently stationed here.

A thousand strong, they were ready to engage in a Mist Event at a moment’s notice.

This was to avoid a repeat of the last time, when their preparations had been inadequate.

Just then, Little Song spoke up. ”Do you think Xie Shaokun will use this as a chance to participate in another Mist Event? We could request more support, find the locations of the other Mist Events, and then lock them down.”

”If Xie Shaokun is at one of them, we can use this opportunity to capture him!”

At his words, Chen Xiao and Qian Yihao glanced at each other and fell silent.

The letter contained no extra information, and certainly none of the ’conditions’ they had been expecting. In other words, this Xie Shaokun wasn’t greedy at all; he had dutifully honored their agreement.

If they were the first to break their tacit understanding, then...

No one knew what the consequences would be, nor could they afford to bear them.

”Xie Shaokun must have anticipated we’d try something like this.”

Chen Xiao recalled what happened last time and shook her head. ”I’m afraid the events are set to begin very soon.”

”Right.”

Little Song nodded as well.

He realized his words had likely put Chen Xiao and Qian Yihao in a difficult position.

”How about we report this up the chain and let the higher-ups decide what to do? For now, let’s get moving so we don’t miss the Mist Events.”

Qian Yihao suggested.

Everyone agreed.

...

...

’The Mist Event Xie Shaokun and Little Nannan are about to enter has no security cameras nearby. The location is relatively remote, and it’s happening at night, so it won’t be easily discovered.’

Xia Yu had, of course, considered that the authorities would use this as an opportunity to capture Xie Shaokun. After all, based on last time, the authorities would surely guess they’d pull the same trick again: use other Mist Events as a distraction!

To that end, she was already prepared:

Of the six Mist Events she’d told the authorities about, three were fake. Their start times were off by more than an hour, and their locations were all in the two neighboring cities.

So...

’Shouldn’t be a problem.’

She had done everything she needed to do.

Now, she had to focus all her attention on the upcoming Mist Event.

An hour later.

The sky had already begun to darken. Xia Yu finally reached the vicinity of Mengyuan Bar. Avoiding the cameras, she slipped inside.

Twenty minutes later.

’Fewer than a hundred people! But the foot traffic will pick up, so the headcount should be over a hundred by the time the Mist Event starts.’

’There are cameras around, but they’ve already been destroyed.’

’The bar’s security... ’

Xia Yu quickly compiled the information she needed.

The crowd was too transient, so to keep her identity hidden, she wouldn’t take off her mask until the moment the Mist Event fully began.

’Ten minutes left.’

All preparations were complete. Now, she just had to wait for the Mist Event to start.

Xia Yu finally had a spare moment to turn her gaze to the woman in the next booth. ’She looks a little familiar... It couldn’t be her, could it?’

The woman’s voice, along with her companion’s, drifted over.

”Ye Zi, how did you handle that thing? Hitting and killing someone is no small matter.”

”I was scared at first too, but then I found out that if I just paid them some money, his family wouldn’t press the issue. Guess how much I paid?”

”How much?”

”200,000! 200,000 for a life, tsk tsk. Pretty cheap, right?”

”Cheap? Ye Xue, how can you think like that? You killed someone!”

”Song Zichao, what’s it to you? Was that old man who died related to you? Was he your dad?”

”Keep that filthy mouth of yours running, and see if I don’t slap you.”

A conflict erupted in the next booth, but their other companions quickly held them back.

Although they didn’t have a full-blown fight, it was clear that the group of young people had split into two factions, one led by Song Zichao and the other by Ye Xue. The conversation between them dwindled significantly.

’What a coincidence.’

Xia Yu never would have imagined that she would run into the ’blind driver’ from a few days ago here. ’A person like that has no reason to live.’

She looked at Ye Xue as if she were already a dead woman.

”Are you fucking blind?”

”You stepped on me, you know that? My brand-new shoes! Is this how you do your job as a bartender? Get your manager over here.”

Not far away, a young man with a cunning look in his eyes yelled out.

Soon, the bar manager, a very capable-looking woman in her thirties, came over, followed by two of the bar’s bouncers.

The commotion attracted the attention of quite a few people.

Xia Yu’s attention was also drawn over. Understanding the personalities of these living people beforehand could be a great help for the actions to come.

A few minutes later.

The bar manager resolved the issue without disrupting normal business.

The young man who’d gotten his foot stepped on and his two companions returned to their booth. As they passed by Xia Yu, their voices could be heard. ”Zhao An, you did that on purpose, didn’t you?”

”Brother Huan knows me best, haha... If I didn’t make a big scene, how would we get so much free booze? When you’ve got no money but still want to party, this is what you do. I’ve tried this trick a few times now, and it works like a charm every time!”

”Badass!”

”Brother Huan, Brother Chen, drink up, have fun. It’s all on the house anyway.”

”Hahaha.”

The three of them shared a knowing smile.

Xia Yu averted her gaze and looked toward the bar.

There, a tall, well-proportioned, and rather handsome man with a melancholic air was trying to hit on a girl who looked pure and cute.

He kept shifting his butt, adjusting his position as if he had hemorrhoids, inching closer and closer to her.

Unfortunately, the innocent-looking girl seemed to be very guarded and wasn’t giving him any openings.

Soon enough, the girl’s male companion returned from the restroom. The fidgety man had no choice but to leave and search for his next target, and his gaze quickly landed on Xia Yu.

His eyes lit up.

He strode over.

”Hey beautiful, all alone?”

”Wearing a mask to a bar?”

The fidgety man sat down across from Xia Yu as if they were old friends and asked his questions.

Xia Yu didn’t shoo him away. Instead, she glanced at the time and said, ”I can take it off in one more minute.”

”???”

The fidgety man froze.

What a strange thing to say.

But he liked all kinds of beautiful women, strange or not.

Who could blame him for being so magnanimous with his affections?