The dust flew upward and slowly drifted down. Yan Xie was stunned for a long time before he came up with a sentence: "You've got potential…"
"Back then I used to…," Jiang Ting clapped his hands and stood up, still panting a little: "Catch and fight the criminals, and was in the top three in the division, huff, huff…"
Yan Xie pondered for a while, then asked, "Management or Criminal Division?"
Before he could finish his sentence, he received a death glare from Jiang Ting who was in front of him.
The cellar wasn't dug very deep, with a height of about twice that of a person. At the bottom, there were empty shelves covered with messy tarpaulins. It was a bit like a vegetable cellar in the north and barely had enough room for two people to stand face to face, even turning around was hard. Yan Xie took the lead and climbed down, and looked around for a while with a flashlight. Jiang Ting crouched above his head and asked, "Have you found anything?"
"..." Yan Xie suddenly waved his hand: "Come down!"
"What's wrong?"
"I don't have time to explain, come down quickly!"
Jiang Ting didn't know why, so he went down to the cellar, and before he had time to stand firm, he was suddenly grabbed by Yan Xie.
"You — uh…"
The flashlight fell to the ground with a bang and rolled twice. The halo reflected the crossed feet of the two, moving up to their tightly pressed knees and thighs. The sounds of fabric rubbing and gasping were particularly clear in the quiet underground. After a while, the sound of swallowing saliva began, and Jiang Ting made a low "um" sound.
"You won't allow me to pinch?" Yan Xie asked in a low voice, forcibly pressing him against the mud wall. In the small space, it took no effort for him to make Jiang Ting unable to move: "But I want to pinch you."
"..."
The surroundings were silent, the halo was dim, and the entangled breathing was restless. Jiang Ting's kissed lips were half open. Yan Xie rubbed his thumb over and over them again, and after a while he lowered his head for another kiss, reflecting an inseparable silhouette.
"You…"
"Hmm?" Yan Xie bit Jiang Ting's ear, and said hoarsely, "What's wrong with me?"
Jiang Ting pushed him away and tried to climb up, but Yan Xie hurriedly grabbed him: "Don't go, don't go… I didn't lie to you, I really found something! Here."
Like he was performing a magic trick, he squatted down and picked up the flashlight, and lifted up the pile of messy tarpaulins, only to see a mass of black things on the shelf, wrapped tightly. After taking it out and opening one layer after another, a pile of hard rectangular objects wrapped in white paper bags were revealed.
Jiang Ting patted it with his hand and knew what this brick-like thing was — cash.
"There's quite a lot," Yan Xie motioned for him to look at it. "There are words on it."
Jiang Ting lowered his head, and in the light of the flashlight, he saw the words written on the white paper bag with a black pen: Two hundred fifty thousand.
The faces of the two of them were a little obscure in the interlaced beams, and after a long while, Yan Xie suddenly asked, "Usually the killer gets half pay beforehand, and the other half was given after the work is done, right?"
Jiang Ting said, "How should I know, I've never been a killer before."
Yan Xie was squatting on the ground, and Jiang Ting was standing behind him. Due to the limited space, the two were still close together. Yan Xie looked back at Jiang Ting, his face was a little weird because he was trying to hold back his smile, and he said slowly, "I didn't expect you to be so cheap in Wang Xingye's eyes, only half a million…"
Then he looked at Jiang Ting's face and hurriedly made up a sentence, "It's okay, you are worth five hundred million in my eyes—five billion! You are priceless!"
"Go away," Jiang Ting finally couldn't help laughing and scolded him, putting his knee on his back: "Pack up and hurry back. It seems like we found something on this trip."
Yan Xie reluctantly stood up. He still wanted to make out, but Jiang Ting, who had been prepared for a long time, leaned back. After struggling for a while, he had no choice but to give up. He used his hands to support himself and climb out of the cellar.
The fresh air of summer night greeted him. Jiang Ting had not yet exited the cellar. He took a deep breath of fresh air and turned around to ask Jiang Ting to hand over the 250,000 cash. Suddenly, he caught a glimpse of something and stopped immediately.
——On the wall of the backyard in front of him, the moonlight clearly reflected a few lurking shadows. One of which had already come down, two were lying on the top of the wall about to climb down, and the person in lead was flashing the surroundings with a flashlight. Yan Xie, who was half out of the ground, froze immediately.
Immediately after: "There's someone there!"
"Who?!"
This change happened very suddenly, Yan Xie caught a glimpse of the gun in the other party's hand, and immediately guessed the identity of the person who came, he blurted out: "Fan Wu?"
Fan Wu was the one who took the lead with the flashlight. He was about to pounce when he suddenly heard his name being called, and he staggered back due to his conditioned reflex. In the gap of one-hundredth of a second, Yan Xie pressed Jiang Ting behind him back into the cellar, then pulled out his pistol on the spot, and warned sternly: "Don't move! Police!"
The first reaction of the outlaws when they heard the police was to turn around and run away, and the two people on the wall immediately jumped out. However, they hadn't yet jumped out completely when suddenly footsteps approached from the front of the house. The thin policeman from the local police station unexpectedly rushed in, and when he saw the situation in the backyard, he was immediately stunned: "They, they have guns?!"
Yan Xie suddenly realized the situation. At present, most of the low-level police officers didn't bring bullets when they went out, and at most, they would only bring empty guns to pretend — but this skinny guy didn't even care to pretend, straight up calling out!
"Run! Go and call for help!" Yan Xie blurted out.
At the same time, Fan Wu also reacted: "There's only one person! Don't be afraid, attack if you want the money!"
The two people on the wall jumped down in response, and there were suddenly four gangsters in the backyard. The thin policeman didn't wait for Yan Xie to repeat himself, and immediately rushed out the door!
People often only have a few seconds to make choices, and sometimes even a few seconds were too long. When something really happened, only the subconscious mind decides — at least when Yan Xie would recall it afterward, there would be only one thought in his mind: What would've happened to Jiang Ting in the cellar if he had run away?
Jiang Ting didn't have a gun and couldn't run, and what was even worse was that he was still guarding the 250,000 cash. These people would never spare Jiang Ting's life just because he handed over the money with both hands. They were outlaws who even dared to kill the police!
Yan Xie's heart became chaotic, and he avoided the opponent's bullets with lightning-fast speed. At the same time as he stepped forward, a bullet was shot and brushed against the soles of his feet, bright sparks flashing. The light was fleeting and the moment it disappeared, Yan Xie had already rushed in front of Fan Wu and kicked him in the chest without hesitation!
Fan Wu didn't expect that this criminal police officer would dare to stand up against the four of them alone. He immediately cursed and missed the shot at close range in panic, immediately afterward, his gun was kicked by Yan Xie accurately and fiercely, and it fell to the ground. At this time, another gangster rushed forward to hold him, but as soon as he touched his clothes, Yan Xie grabbed his arm with his hand and slammed him to the ground with a sharp over-the-shoulder throw, and with a "Crack!" the other party's wrist was broken.
"Aaaaahhhhhhh—, as the gangster screamed out, Fan Wu used the flashlight as a weapon and slammed it on Yan Xie's head. The aluminum flashlight just happened to hit Yan Xie's forehead and warm liquid flooded down.
However, Yan Xie didn't feel any pain during the fight, and the smell of blood stimulated the fierceness in his bones even more. He forcibly seized the flashlight and beat up the other party with it several times. He also hit another gangster who rushed up to him until blood flowed out from his head.
Fan Wu roared angrily: "Go! Kill him!"
In the night, several people rushed up at the same time, trying to grab the gun in Yan Xie's hand — Usually, just trying to grab the gun would be enough for a person to squat in prison for ten years, but at this time, the lure of money and the fear of being arrested made the criminals lose their minds. In the chaos, Yan Xie felt that he was being held from behind, at the same time, his fingers holding the gun were forcibly pulled open. Immediately, the blood rushed to the top of his head, he clenched his teeth, raised his hand, and pulled the trigger!
Bang!
Bang!
"Blood, blood… aaaahhhhhh! There is blood!!"
——In the dark, someone knelt down and swayed slightly, and then the corpse fell to the ground, making a muffled sound.
The sound wasn't considered heavy, but it was like a heavy hammer hitting everyone's heart, making everything freeze in an instant. The air solidified for about two or three seconds. Fan Wu suddenly reacted, and a sharp roar with a changed tone broke out on the ground: "Quick, take his gun!!"
Yan Xie pulled back but lost his balance due to the three-person attack. Staggering, he dropped the Type-92 to the ground, and immediately a gangster rushed up to grab it, but Yan Xie reacted quickly and kicked the Type-92 away. Immediately afterward, he was dragged up by Fan Wu and was punched in the face, spitting out bloody saliva.
"F*ck you!"
Yan Xie had always been the one to beat people, while no one would beat him. These few beatings had brought out all his ferocity. At that moment, the two gangsters failed to hold him back, and they saw him jumping on their leader and knocking down Fan Wu. The two fought fiercely on the ground. Suddenly Yan Xie's hand touched something, he picked it up and used all his strength to throw it hard——
Bang!
The metal collided with the human skull, and let out a sound.
Fan Wu's eyes were wide open. He still maintained the gesture of clenching his fists, but blood quickly appeared in his eye sockets, and scarlet blood rolled down his cheeks. Immediately afterward, blood flowed from his nose, the corners of his mouth, and even his ears, and in the blink of an eye, his entire head turned into a blood gourd.
"Dai, Brother Dai…" one of the gangsters stuttered as he took a half step back, trembling: "You- your head…"
Fan Wu's shoulders shook, causing half of his body to twitch as if he wanted to touch the broken half of his skull—but apparently couldn't do it anymore. There was a sharp squeak in his throat, and he stared at Yan Xie with a stunned expression.
"Brother Dai is dead, he beat Brother Dai to death…"
Yan Xie looked at the blood-stained aluminum flashlight in his hand, and couldn't get back to his senses for a while—It was obvious that this thing also knocked on his forehead just now, but how did it break the other party's skull?
"Quick, run…" A small gangster trembled and roared like crazy: "Their backup is coming, run!"
The short man jumped up and ran in the other direction, and Yan Xie ran after him: "Stop!"
The moonlight suddenly flashed through the clouds, and at the same time, another gangster with a butch cut suddenly caught a glimpse of something not far away. He didn't even think about it and rushed over to grab it. As soon as he grabbed it, he became overjoyed — it was Fan Wu's gun that was kicked away by Yan Xie.
His sanity completely disappeared, and he immediately raised his gun at Yan Xie: "Stop, stop right there!"
Before he could finish speaking, Yan Xie pounced on the short man, rolled up, and punched him with his right fist, causing the man to spray blood from his nose and mouth before he could even resist. Immediately afterward, he pulled out the handcuffs from the back of his waist, twisted the short man's hands backward, and before he could handcuff him, he heard the sound beside his ears——
Bang!
The scorching heat passed by, Yan Xie suddenly raised his head, and immediately his pupils shrank.
He was directly facing a pitch-black muzzle, aimed at him by the butch-cut man!
In just half a second, it felt like the world had frozen. The butch-cut man raised the gun at Yan Xie with both hands, his eyes were bloodshot, and fierce light burst out.
If he still has a half-normal human mind, he would turn around and run away with the gun at this time, the farther he runs, the better. But at this time, the ferocity of a desperate gamble, the resentment of the defeat, and the gambler's psychology stimulated by blood had already occupied all of his mind. He only felt a buzzing sound in his ears, while biting his back molars, he aimed at Yan Xie and pulled the trigger—
Bang!
The bullet spun and pierced through the night sky, bringing up a long stream of blood.
"Ah… ah… aahhh!"
The screams sounded intermittently, the butch cut fell to the ground with his palm on his arm and kept rolling, and his gun had already flown beyond the wall. Yan Xie followed the gunshots in disbelief, and in the night, he saw Jiang Ting standing a few steps away, holding the gun in one hand, gasping for breath.
The moonlight clearly reflected on the side of his face. His skin soaked with cold sweat was shimmering in the light and his lips were completely blue-grey.
——His eyes were closed.
Who knows from where the short man got the strength, but he broke free from Yan Xie, who was caught off guard, and ran out of the backyard wall like crazy. In an instant, another figure jumped out from the top of the wall, landed on the ground, and quickly stepped forward, jumped up again, and kicked the short man on the spot over and over. The short man couldn't get up and was greeted by metal handcuffs wrapped in a strong wind. The beating almost caused him to spurt out his teeth and he screamed in pain.
The person who came was murderous. They stepped on the small gangster on the ground with one foot, handcuffed him, then raised their head and shouted: "Captain Yan! Consultant Lu! Are you all right?"
That was indeed the backup called by the thin policeman — Han Xiaomei.
Just as Yan Xie was about to respond, he saw Jiang Ting hurrying towards this side as if he had woken up from a nightmare.
——Yan Xie didn't know what he was thinking, maybe it was just a brain convulsion, or the moment of life and death he had just experienced gave him an opportunity to have some inspiration burst into his subconscious, and the phrase "we're fine" was suddenly swallowed back, and immediately afterward he lay on the ground silently.
"…Captain Yan?" Han Xiaomei didn't know why "What's wrong with you?"
Jiang Ting's footsteps paused for a while.
"Captain Yan?"
Jiang Ting's already bloodless face turned even whiter, and he almost stumbled to catch up with the front half of his knees. In the moonlight, Yan Xie's eyes were tightly closed, and most of his face was covered in blood.
"…Yan Xie," Jiang Ting tried to check his breathing, and he didn't even notice that his fingers were shaking violently: "Wake up, Yan Xie?"
"..."
"Yan Xie! Don't play around!"
Jiang Ting's voice cracked at the end, and he was at a loss for words, so he could only pick up Yan Xie's upper body and apply pressure to the wound on his forehead. Although the blood was hot, his whole body was shaking as if soaked in ice water, and every word was coming from between the clattering sound of teeth: "Yan Xie, wake up, please wake up… call an ambulance, call an ambulance!!"
Han Xiaomei also panicked, the phone fell to the ground as soon as she took it out, and she threw herself on the ground again to pick it up frantically.
Yan Xie's consciousness was lax: "Jiang, Jiang Ting…"
"Don't sleep, don't fall asleep!" Jiang Ting's eardrums roared, and he couldn't even hear what he was shouting: "Yan Xie, look at me! Look at me! Don't sleep, please!"
Yan Xie raised his head slightly as if he wanted to say something, Jiang Ting immediately lowered his head and approached, only to hear him whisper in his ear: "So you… in the end… will you marry me…"
Jiang Ting's expression suddenly became blank.
"This is my last — cough-cough-cough, my last wish, please accept it… pff-hahahahahaha——"
Yan Xie finally couldn't hold back his laughter. He couldn't even laugh twice before his wound was affected, so on one hand he was breathing heavily because of the pain, and on the other hand he was patting the ground and laughing heartily.
Jiang Ting was stunned.
Han Xiaomei was also stunned.
"Hahaha, hahaha…Ouch!"
The frantic laughter stopped abruptly because Yan Xie saw Jiang Ting pull his shirt with one hand, punched that handsome face with a savage punch, then got up as Yan Xie gasped and walked away without looking back.
...…
Ten minutes later, in the Mercedes-Benz G65.
"I was wrong, I was wrong, okay? It wasn't intentional, it wasn't intentional. I was really a little dizzy at the time… Oh, my dear, are you still angry? Would you like to punch me again? Come here, hit harder."
Yan Xie tried to stick to Jiang Ting like an octopus, but before he was firmly attached, Jiang Ting turned around abruptly, leaving him with only a cold back.
Han Xiaomei was squatting by the door of the car, snorting and eating watermelon. She spat out two seeds, and said fiercely: "You deserve it!"
"Hey, why are you like this kid? You don't try to calm down the adults when they're fighting, but instead, fan the flames?" Yan Xie immediately turned his head and slapped Han Xiaomei on the back of the head to teach her a lesson: "Eat, eat, eat, you only know how to eat. What was the situation in the backyard just now when you arrived? Why didn't you wait for me and your Consultant Lu to naturally become cold corpses, and then go to take a leisurely walk?"
Han Xiaomei stuffed her mouth with watermelon: "As soon as I heard that police brother calling for help, I ran over immediately! In the middle of the night, I have to climb slopes and take detours again and again. Do you think it's easy for me to find the scene?!"
The "police brother who called for help" and the public security director were carrying the bodies of the two criminal suspects out of the backyard and escorted the handcuffed butch cut and the short man into the car. Yan Xie laughed and rubbed his hands, but fortunately, the darkness covered his red face.
"It's okay, brother, I don't blame you." Yan Xie covered his blood-stained forehead with a towel, and said, "You guys didn't have guns, so you really can't fight, it's just that this girl is too fierce."
The thin policeman laughed with him: "I- I'm going to collect the illicit money and bullets in the backyard…" Then he hurriedly covered his hot face and slipped away.
As soon as the outsider left, Yan Xie immediately reverted to his old ways. Regardless of the fact that his face was still covered in blood, he grinned and pushed Jiang against the car door: "Oh, let me see our angry Captain Jiang, Inspector Jiang, Beauty Jiang… Come and be good, can't I be wrong? I won't do it next time, okay? Sigh.
Jiang Ting was squeezed into the back seat corner, almost unable to avoid him, and finally, he couldn't help but say angrily: "Yan Xie!"
Yan Xie immediately said, "Huh?"
The two stared at each other at close range in the narrow and dark car, and suddenly Yan Xie lowered his head and quickly kissed Jiang Ting's eyelids. After a while, he asked in a low voice, "Are you still angry?"
"..."
"Don't be angry anymore?"
Jiang Ting's white forehead twitched slightly, and after a while, he finally squeezed a few words out of his teeth: "…you, how did you grow up and haven't been beaten to death until now?"
Yan Xie said triumphantly: "Because I look handsome!"
"Captain Yan, Captain Yan!" The thin policeman ran breathlessly with 250,000 cash: "I have it here, your illicit money!"
Yan Xie immediately let go of Consultant Lu as if nothing had happened: "What do you mean my illicit money, look at what you just said—don't put it in the trunk of the car, there are two dead bodies in the trunk. Come and put the money in the passenger seat. I'll let Consultant Lu hold his ransom when he goes back later. Is your police station car already on the road?"
The thin policeman didn't understand the meaning of the ransom, so he was dumbfounded: "Yes, yes. Our director has already notified the higher-ups, and will follow the car in person later."
Han Xiaomei was squatting by the car door. After she finished eating the watermelon, she casually wiped her sticky hands on the pants of the police uniform twice and stretched her neck to look up and down at the 250,000 yuan wrapped in paper. She tsked and said: "To be honest, I have never seen so much cash in my life."
Yan Xie said: "Then you are really pitiful, Brother Yan decided not to let you be so pitiful. Well, after we go back, let's just pick up one or two million in cash from the bank, or three or four million…"
"And then?" Han Xiaomei asked expectantly.
"Then take a picture for yourself and save it." Yan Xie smiled slightly: "Otherwise, what do you want to do?"
Han Xiaomei almost rolled her eyes.
"..." Suddenly Jiang Ting in the back seat leaned over, frowned, and forcefully carried the cash to the back seat.
"Huh?" Han Xiaomei didn't understand why: "What's wrong, Consultant Lu?"
"Give me the flashlight."
Jiang Ting took the flashlight that Yan Xie had handed over and pointed at the words "Two hundred and fifty thousand" on the top of the white paper bag which had scribbled strokes but in a neat font. It looked like it had been written in a hurry, and the handwriting was light brown, kind of like crayons.
"Do you wear makeup?" Suddenly Jiang Ting asked.
Han Xiaomei said unexpectedly: "Not often… sometimes, what's the matter?"
Jiang Ting touched the word "Two hundred and fifty thousand" with his fingertips and frowned: "I think that these four words look as if they were written by those eyebrow pencils you little girls use.