"Be careful, okay?"
Lukas's expression softened as he patted Tingting's head.
"Yup, don't worry!"
Lukas nodded and hoisted the bag of extra weapons onto his shoulder.
"Does anyone have a hat?"
"Huh, yeah but why?"
Lukas took the cap from a boy and slapped it on Wu Shen's head.
"You'll be coming with me."
Wu Shen simply nodded and they left together with a few others.
"No! I can't just leave my Goddess to suffer like this!"
Yu Jing clung onto Tingting's leg and refused to leave.
'This guy was quiet but now he's acting up again.'
"Shut up. She'll be fine. Let's just get going already." Zhifan frowned at Yu Jing and urged him to move. At that moment, he desperately wanted to kick him.
"But-!"
"It'll all be okay. Now go quickly."
Xiaozhi held back her annoyance and gently pried Yu Jing away from Tingting. She handed the sobbing Yu Jing over to Mike.
"Ah, nearly forgot. Zhifan, untie the ropes. It'll look too weird."
Mike threw these words over his shoulder and dragged Yu Jing away.
"Ah, yes." Zhifan's face scrunched up in displeasure. He wanted to ask the girls to do it but stopped when he saw Tingting's bloodied palms and Xiaozhi's awfully long nails. Neither would be much help. The police would arrive and catch them in the act.
A heavy hand pat his shoulder.
"I'll do it for you. You can go ahead."
Zhifan chuckled.
"As if you can do anything on your own."
Xiaodong snorted as he crouched to undo the ropes.
"Says the one who can't untie a rope."
"I can hear the sirens already!"
Tingting urged the two with her eyes to just leave the ropes and run.
"Can we just punch each other and say we were also captured?"
Xiaodong remained unbothered as he focused on his task.
"You think that'll work?"
Zhifan scowled at Xiaodong. He peeked out of the entrance and measured the distance left for the police to arrive.
"Hey, this rope's seriously not coming lose! F*ck!"
Xiaodong fumbled with the rope and tried to pry it apart.
"Come on, hurry up!" Zhifan became increasingly anxious as he checked outside.
"You don't see me trying!?"
His face reddening like a ripe tomato, Xiaodong dug his nails into the knot and twisted it free. He sighed in relief as it loosened and dropped to the floor.
At this point, the police cars had parked in the open space and were coming out to inspect the place.
Zhifan spotted the officer approaching the warehouse and turned back to Xiaodong with a face full of anxiety. Noticing that the men hadn't even moved when the rope was untied, he couldn't help but ask,
"Are you not even gonna try to run?"
"..."
The men had nothing to say. It had to be said that they were too dumbfounded to make sense of the situation. Not only that, but they were suffering from bullet wounds. With what extra energy would they be able to run right now?
Tingting frowned. The setup looked really strange right now. It was the girls who were meant to have been caught and abused, yet the men sat lifelessly on the ground. Who exactly was the victim here?
The entrance suddenly swung open and a tired officer stood alone with his colleagues positioned by their cars.
"Hey!"
His eyes scanned the warehouse, his expression changing from fatigue to confusion with every passing second. Finally, his gaze landed on Zhifan and Xiaodong.
"Hey, who are you?"
"Umm, we got captured too and..."
Xiaodong's eyes rolled around as he struggled to answer the officer in front of him. It was no use. No matter what he said, he'd be taken to the station. He'd never let that happen!
"Argh! I don't care anymore! Move!"
Xiaodong shoved the officer aside and sprinted away.
"Hey, wait!" Zhifan kicked the officer who tried to get back up and ran after Xiaodong.
"..."
"..."
Both sides were speechless.
This whole exchange had lasted for about 15 seconds.
A door slammed shut and a car engine roared as an officer expressionlessly drove in the direction the boys had run.
The beaten officer coughed in embarrassment and held out his hand to the girls.
"Are you two okay? We'll take care of these men immediately."
At his words, the previously motionless officers moved and handcuffed the men.
'They're not going to say anything about why the men aren't moving?'
"We'll have to take you to the station too. Is that alright?"
"Yes, of course." Xiaozhi thought the policeman strange, but said nothing about it.
"Then, please come this way."
While they stuffed everyone into the cars, a few officers did a quick inspection on the place but found nothing in particular.
The bodies Mike had previously dumped into a corner was dragged away by another group of boys to be buried in a different location.
The officer sniffed. He felt that something was seriously strange about this situation.
"Very clean for a gang's hideout."
"The girls said they had a shootout after all."
"You think the other gang took everything?"
"Most likely."
"Let's just go now."
"Are you sure." The other officer paused and looked at his colleague.
"It's not like we'll find much."
"I suppose you're right."
The men sighed as they head back to the cars.
. . .
Tingting peered through the glass and made a sound of confusion.
"Huh? This isn't the way to the station."
The officer driving answered her,
"We're taking you to the hospital."
"Huh?" Tingting grew puzzled at their destination.
"You all need to get treated."
"Oh..." She had forgotten about the men.
"They'll most likely get arrested, so don't you worry too much."
"Thank you officer." Tingting smiled as she drew her gaze away from the window.
Once the officer no longer paid any attention to her, she dropped her head and played with her fingers.
She had to be careful. If she made any mistakes, she could get herself into serious trouble.
Imagining the worse that could happen, her heart clenched.
Xiaozhi, who sat beside her, noticed Tingting's minute trembling.
Her slender fingers reached out and squeezed the soft cheeks of Tingting.
Tingting cried out in pain and looked up at Xiaozhi. Her eyes seemed to relay the message that she did not understand why her face had been attacked all of a sudden.
Xiaozhi simply laughed and leaned her head back. Soon, her eyelids fluttered shut and her body relaxed.
'She's sleeping now?'
Tingting touched the area that had slightly reddened and stared wide-eyed at the older girl next to her.
After a minute or two of considering pinching Xiaozhi's cheek too, Tingting decided to forget about it and closed her eyes to rest as well.
At the sight of the drooling girls in the back, the officers chuckled.
"Well isn't that lovely."
"Reminds me of my two-year old."
"Who would ever want to hurt them?"
"Indeed. What were those thugs thinking?"
"No idea. Whenever I think about that happening to my kids, it just makes me want to-"
Noticing that Tingting had stirred, the officers quickly stopped talking, leaving the rest of the journey in silence.