A madman in France? How come he's always at crime scenes!

"This camera hasn't been replaced in hundreds of years, has it?"

Fang Lue looked at the screen in the Shuangtang Town Police Station's monitoring room, which was filled with static, and couldn't help but mutter to himself.

The police officer was somewhat embarrassed: "The station has limited funds; we're lucky if we can even use them."

"stop."

Wu Liang shouted, and the scene froze at the moment Wu Liang and the other two walked into the supermarket.

Across the street, a man lingers in the lower right corner of the screen, seemingly turning his head, before disappearing from the view.

"This person knows there are surveillance cameras here."

Fang Lue dragged the progress bar back and forth several times, trying to zoom in on the dark shadow. But the resolution was too low, and zooming in resulted in nothing but pixelation.

Sun Jin went outside to make a phone call, and when he came back, his expression wasn't good.

"Team Leader Zhao said not to make a fuss about this for now. The local police will send someone over to assist us first thing tomorrow morning. We should be careful tonight."

Fang Lue closed his notebook: "So what do we do now?"

"Let's stay in town for the night." Sun Jin put his phone back in his pocket. "I'll go see Shen Xuejun again tomorrow morning. Given his condition today, it's pointless to ask him anything."

……

There aren't many hotels near Shuangtang Town; they're clustered across from the bus station.

The proprietress was a middle-aged woman with curly hair. She glanced at Sun Jin's jacket with a somewhat timid look in her eyes.

The room is on the third floor.

Wu Liang pushed open the door and looked around. The decoration was rather simple, and the lights were flickering. It was only good enough to live in.

Fang Lue came in and handed over a boxed lunch: "Make do with this, Attorney Wu, you don't mind, do you?"

Wu Liang had little appetite and was still pondering the look in Shen Xuejun's eyes.

Fang Lue had already sat on the opposite bed and ate half a box of rice, offering his review: "The rice here isn't good, but the vegetables are alright."

Wu Liang suddenly spoke up: "Officer Fang, what do you think Shen Xuejun is afraid of?"

Upon hearing this, Fang Lue recalled for a moment.

"Afraid? What does he have to be afraid of? We're not here to arrest him."

"So he's not afraid of us," Wu Liang nodded. "He's afraid of the person at the door."

Fang Lue stopped eating and fell into deep thought.

Wu Liang continued speaking.

"That person appeared after we went in. He disappeared just as we were about to come out. He even had counter-surveillance awareness and knew the location of the camera feeds."

"He... is watching Shen Xuejun."

Fang Lue didn't quite understand. "Why are you staring at Shen Xuejun? That old man has been here for so many years since he got out of prison."

"That's why I've never been able to figure it out."

Wu Liang sighed.

"Including what Shen Xuejun said about offending someone back then, what could be the reason that would make such a big boss like Shen Xuejun now willingly become a coward in this small town?"

Fang Lue took another bite of rice, his voice muffled, "It's hard to say. It's not like in a TV drama, where a big shot sends an assassin to watch him, ready to kill him at any moment..."

At this point, Fang Lue paused, looked up, and met Wu Liang's gaze.

"Holy crap!"

Just then, the door was pushed open.

Sun Jin stood at the door, still holding his phone in his hand.

"Team Leader Zhao has made arrangements. The Feishui City Bureau will send two people to assist tomorrow morning. I need to go to the city tonight to complete the formalities. You all get some rest. Meet in the lobby at seven o'clock tomorrow morning."

Fang Lue glanced at Wu Liang.

Wu Liang said, "Okay."

The sound of leather shoes faded into the distance in the corridor. Fang Lue lowered his voice:

"Should we talk to Captain Sun?"

"What did you say?"

"Shen Xuejun may be in danger."

"What evidence do you have?"

I'm out of ideas for a strategy; I can't exactly say it's inspired by a TV drama.

"...Then let's go ourselves."

……

The night in Shuangtang Town is even more intense than in Tongcheng. Just after nine o'clock, only streetlights and a few stray dogs remain on the streets.

Sun Jin drove the police car away, so Wu Liang and his companion had to hail a taxi.

The driver was a chatterbox; from the bus station to the east end of town, a distance of three kilometers, he had already reviewed the quality of all the restaurants in the town.

"Remember this, never go to Li's braised pig's trotters. Last time someone found a fly in their food, and that damn Li guy insisted it was from fermented black beans."

"Master, that person wouldn't be you, would it?"

Fang Lue sat in the passenger seat and chatted excitedly with the driver.

Wu Liang leaned against the back window, the streetlight casting intermittent light and shadow on his face.

"Master, is Shuangtang always this deserted at night?"

"That's right." The driver turned the steering wheel, and the tires rolled over a section of gravel road.

"After nine o'clock, even the dogs on the street are too lazy to bark. Only the supermarket you went to is still open. The owner always stays open until ten o'clock. I can sometimes buy a bottle of water when I pass by on my way back to work."

Wu Liang's brow twitched.

"Master, what do you think of this boss?"

The driver recalled:

"He's alright, but he doesn't really associate with anyone. He doesn't go back to his hometown for the Lunar New Year. Some people say he used to be a big businessman, but he went bankrupt."

"How did you figure that out?" Wu Liang asked.

"I don't know, it's just what the neighbors are saying."

We arrived at the supermarket; the roller shutter door was half-closed, letting in a sliver of light.

"Huh? You're closing early today." The driver was a little surprised.

Wu Liang paid the fare, opened the car door, and a gust of cool air rushed in.

The instant his toes touched the ground—

A figure darted out from under the roller shutter, crouching low and moving extremely fast.

It seemed like it was carrying something in its hand, as its reflection flashed.

A black SUV immediately slid out of the alley next to the supermarket, and the moment the door popped open, the man jumped into the back seat.

Before the car door could be closed properly, the engine roared to life, kicking up a cloud of dust.

"not good!"

Fang Lue's pupils contracted, and he turned around and grabbed the roof of the taxi.

"Master—" Wu Lianggang began.

Fang Lue had already pulled out his police ID and slapped it in front of the driver.

"Police investigation! This vehicle has been requisitioned!"

His voice suddenly became deep and stern. The driver was stunned for a second before getting out of the car. Fang Lue practically jumped into the driver's seat without even fastening his seatbelt. He turned the key with his left hand to start the engine and revved the engine with his right foot.

The taxi engine let out a roar as if it were about to fall apart.

Wu Liang shouted, "Strategy!"

Fang Lue glanced at him sideways.

"I'm chasing someone! Go check on Shen Xuejun!!!"

After saying that, he shifted gears and released the clutch.

The taxi's rear wheels slipped half a circle on the gravel road before speeding away, its taillights quickly shrinking into two red dots in the night.

Without further hesitation, Wu Liang turned and rushed towards the supermarket.

The roller shutter door got stuck when it was pushed up to chest height. Wu Liang crouched down and crawled inside, and the moment he stood up, he immediately thought to himself, "Oh no!"

Shen Xuejun collapsed on the floor between the cash register and the shelves.

A pool of dark red blood was flowing on the ground, gushing out from his right side and soaking his undershirt.

Wu Liang rushed over and knelt down, placing his hand on Shen Xuejun's neck, but the latter's pulse became weaker and weaker with each beat.

"Shen Xuejun! Can you hear me!"

Shen Xuejun's eyelids twitched, his lips parted, and his voice was barely audible. Wu Liang quickly leaned closer to listen.

"...Tan...Tan..."

Then there was silence.

Wu Liang tore off his shirt sleeve, crumpled it into a ball, and pressed it against the wound, the fabric instantly turning red.

He quickly took out his phone and dialed Zhao Anmin's number.

"Feed?"

Zhao Anmin's voice was still hoarse from being woken up.

Wu Liang stared at the still-spreading pool of blood on the ground, speaking rapidly:

"Shen Xuejun has been stabbed! The assailant just ran away, and Fang Lue gave chase in his car! Quick, call for help!"

The bed creaked open on the opposite side, and the hoarseness in Zhao Anmin's voice vanished instantly: "Who else is on your end?"

"No! Call an ambulance first!"

Wu Liang gave the address, and then the beeping sound of another landline keypad came from the other end of the phone.

Before hanging up, Zhao Anmin said, "You don't have any police equipment, so don't move around. Backup is on its way!"

Wu Liang pressed down hard on Shen Xuejun's chest, but the latter was already motionless.

"damn it!"