“Are you sweating on your face?” Yang Jian asked in the taxi.
“No, it’s just a bit hot in the car. It’s normal to sweat when it’s over thirty degrees outside,” Old Wang, who was driving, replied.
“The sound of your car is getting louder. It doesn’t seem like tire noise. Something feels off,” Yang Jian said.
“That’s the shock absorber making noise. It’s not a big deal,” Old Wang said.
Yang Jian said, “I think I heard something fall suddenly from the back when you drifted around the corner just now.”
“Really? My car is a bit old, so it’s normal for something to fall when I drift around corners at high speeds,” Old Wang said.
Yang Jian said, “Why have you been stepping on the brakes?”
Old Wang suddenly stepped on the brakes, but the speed of the car kept increasing and couldn’t be stopped.
“Don’t worry, it’s fine. I can handle it. It’s just a temporary brake failure. It was probably broken by that guy last time,” Old Wang said.
“…,” Yang Jian’s expression became strange. You’re just shifting the blame, aren’t you?
“What are you doing, making a phone call? You dare to make a phone call while driving,” Old Wang said.
Old Wang dialed a number in front of Yang Jian and said, “Hello, wife? It’s me, Old Wang. Nothing happened, I just picked up a criminal investigator earlier and might be delayed for a while. I won’t have dinner tonight, you put the kids to bed first, that’s it… Oh, by the way, wife, there’s something I’ve been wanting to tell you. I love you.” After saying that, Old Wang put his phone in his pocket, took his hands off the steering wheel, took out a cigarette, lit it, and looked out the window with blurred eyes, exhaling a smoke ring deeply.
“The wind today is a bit noisy, and the sunset is a bit earlier than usual. The night view of Dachang City is still good. I just don’t know if I’ll have a chance to appreciate it again.”
Yang Jian said, “Brother driver, why are you talking about these things? You should be focusing on the road. Don’t you know it’s dangerous to drive at this speed?”
“I know,” Old Wang flicked the cigarette ash, “but the brakes have completely failed. Can’t you see my feet dancing on the piano? Holding the steering wheel doesn’t make much sense now. If the speed can’t be reduced, I can only drive into the river in the city after a minute. Do you want a life jacket? I have two here, bought them when the city flooded before.”
“…,” Yang Jian’s face turned dark. He didn’t mishear just now. This Old Wang’s taxi was going too fast and something went wrong with the drift.
“I’m not good at swimming. I’d better jump out of the car.”
“No, jumping out of the car at this speed will be fatal. Trust me, after rushing into the river, don’t panic. Wait until the car sinks and the water pressure inside and outside the car equalizes. Then I will use this window breaker to smash the glass. By then, I can escape through the window and float to the surface within ten seconds,” Old Wang said seriously.
“Okay, I’ll trust you again.” Yang Jian looked at him, who seemed so professional, and gave up the idea of jumping out of the car.
The next moment, Old Wang turned the steering wheel and drove onto the sidewalk, avoiding pedestrians, and directly into a nearby artificial river. Everything went according to his plan. The car plunged into the water, then stalled and sank. Perfect.
However, a moment later, Old Wang laughed bitterly, “Man proposes, God disposes. Today, it seems that God wants to take my life. Why did the car flip and fall into the river bottom? The car windows are already buried in the mud and completely sealed. The window breaker in my hand is completely useless. If I break the window now, the mud will rush in, and I will die even faster.”
At this moment, Yang Jian sat with a black face in the passenger seat, head down and buttocks up. Water was pouring in from all sides, and he was about to suffocate. Indeed, he shouldn’t have trusted this old driver. If it weren’t for his courage, he would have been played to death by this old driver today.
“Young man, do you have a girlfriend? Look, this is my lovely daughter. She’s in the fourth grade this year. Isn’t she beautiful?” Old Wang took out a photo at this moment, showing a touch of sadness. He had completely given up hope and started to accept the impending death.
“Let’s not talk about this. I just want to ask, haven’t you been driving for twenty years without flipping a car? Even your wife was won through a race,” Yang Jian asked.
Old Wang said, “I haven’t flipped a car, but I have been in a car accident. I met my wife in the hospital. She’s a nurse…”
“Alright, alright, let’s not talk about it anymore.” Yang Jian patted his shoulder. “From now on, Old Wang, drive more steadily, and never think about drifting around corners. Not for me, but for your nurse wife and lovely daughter.”
“No, if there’s a next life, I want to be a race car driver. It’s my lifelong dream,” Old Wang firmly refused.
“It’s not appropriate to talk about dreams in this place. Let’s change the subject,” Yang Jian sighed and a red light enveloped Old Wang. The next moment, the two of them disappeared at the bottom of the river and appeared on the nearby sidewalk.
“Ah!”
Old Wang fell directly to the ground, looking around with a face full of confusion. Weren’t they just at the bottom of the river? How did they suddenly appear on the sidewalk? Right, that young man. Looking left and right, there was no trace of Yang Jian. He disappeared like a ghost.
After a while, Yang Jian returned to the previous Xiaoqiang Club. It had been completely sealed off, and the police were investigating and gathering evidence of Wang Xiaoqiang’s crimes.”Officer Yang, what’s the situation? Has Wang Xiaoqiang been successfully apprehended?” The previous director hurried over to ask Yang Jian as soon as he saw him.
Yang Jian replied, “The matter with Wang Xiaoqiang has been resolved. I personally killed him. I’ve already reported the situation. It happened at the site of the car accident. As for his body, there’s no need to look for it. You guys can’t handle this kind of corpse. I’ve already taken care of it.”
“That’s great.” The director sighed in relief, somewhat excitedly shaking Yang Jian’s hand. If Wang Xiaoqiang had escaped, he would have been in big trouble.
“Yang Jian, you came back just in time. Have you noticed that the sky seems a bit off? It’s getting darker and it’s not even night yet.” Sun Yi said as he walked.
“I’ve noticed that. If I’m not mistaken, it’s likely a brewing supernatural event… Judging from the current situation, the scope of this supernatural event seems quite large.” Yang Jian nodded solemnly. If a supernatural event were to break out, it would be more serious than the one in Huanggang Village. The event in Huanggang Village only affected a single village, but this one seems to be affecting an entire city.
“I’ve received the latest news. Dachang City has been sealed off. An emergency meeting is being held. The situation is more serious than imagined. Yang Jian, how about a temporary truce? If we fight amongst ourselves at this time, we’ll only die faster.” Zhao Kaiming hobbled over with his cane.
He knew that after Yang Jian had dealt with Wang Xiaoqiang, either he or Ye Feng would be next. The sudden supernatural event was a good opportunity for a temporary truce.
Yang Jian squinted at Zhao Kaiming, “You sure know how to pick your moments. Are you scared now that Wang Xiaoqiang is dead?” Zhao Kaiming’s truce was not due to the brewing supernatural event, but because he was intimidated by Wang Xiaoqiang’s death and had become wary.
“This could be a large-scale supernatural event. These rarely happen domestically. Once they do, it’s not as simple as a few dozen or a few hundred casualties. It’s possible that the entire city will be destroyed. You must have some people you need to take care of, right? Relatives, friends? Instead of wasting energy fighting over this, we should take care of ourselves first. I’m very sincere.” Zhao Kaiming said.
Just as Yang Jian was about to speak, his satellite-located phone rang. “Hold on, I have a call.”
“Hello, who is this?”
Liu Xiaoyu’s voice came from the phone, “Yang Jian, a very special supernatural event is happening in Dachang City. The situation is extremely critical. From now on, we need to keep in touch 24/7 for immediate coordination and information exchange.”
“There’s no need for constant contact. I’m afraid you won’t be able to handle it.” Yang Jian said.
“???” Liu Xiaoyu was a bit confused, then continued, “Also, Professor Wang couldn’t leave Dachang City in time for some reason and now he can’t get out. Dachang City is currently in a state of isolation. People outside can’t get in and people inside can’t get out. So, before our support arrives, we hope you can ensure Professor Wang’s safety. He absolutely cannot die in this supernatural event.”
Yang Jian said, “What does this have to do with me? I’m only responsible for handling supernatural events, not protecting people. If you want someone to protect Wang Xiaoming, you should hire a bodyguard, not come to me.”
“There’s a reward for this mission.” Liu Xiaoyu said.
“I’m not interested in money.” Yang Jian said.
“If you accept this mission, you’ll have the right to mobilize all the gold reserves in the banks of Dachang City. They don’t care if you use it for public or private purposes, as long as Professor Wang survives.” Liu Xiaoyu said.
Yang Jian immediately asked, “Where is Wang Xiaoming now?”
“I’ll notify you of the specifics. Please be mentally prepared.” Liu Xiaoyu said.
At this point, Yang Jian looked at Zhao Kaiming again and said, “Some people are alive, but they’re already dead. Some people are dead, but their spirit is still alive. Wang Xiaoqiang was right, we should indeed have a temporary truce in the face of great danger. Fighting amongst ourselves will only lead to mutual destruction.”
“I hope we have the opportunity to cooperate in the future.” He extended his hand.
“It’s enough if you agree to a temporary truce.”
Zhao Kaiming didn’t shake hands. He didn’t want to lose another arm to Yang Jian. He had also received the mission to protect Professor Wang. This was a crisis, but also an opportunity. Continuing to fight internally would be unwise.