The police car sped toward Xiqiao Street. By then, Xi Wan had already taken off her forensic investigator uniform and changed into a black tactical suit, looking sharp and commanding. But at that moment, the valiant female officer had a hint of gossip in her eyes as she curiously glanced at Ling Lie.

“He provided important information,” Ji Chenjiao cleared his throat. “Bringing him along might be useful.”

“You make me sound like a tool,” Ling Lie chuckled and greeted Xi Wan, “Hey, beauty, your cafeteria food is amazing.”

Just as Xi Wan was about to share her favorite dish—spicy crayfish with tofu—the team channel buzzed with Shen Qi’s voice, “Holy crap, brother! Mei Ruixue has multiple purchase records on Xiqiao Street. I just contacted the seller—she bought five gas canisters! What is she trying to do? Blow up a building?!”

Xi Wan gasped and instantly lost all appetite for her crayfish.

Ji Chenjiao had already discussed the possible complications with He Feng. At Building 2, Lane 4 of Xiqiao, He Feng had found Mei Ruixue’s tricycle. The SWAT team hadn’t yet arrived, but once they did, they would deploy immediately.

Ji Chenjiao, however, made separate calls to both He Feng and the SWAT team to inform them of the confirmed gas canister threat and instructed them to hold their positions for now.

He Feng was anxious. “That building is full of elderly residents. It’s going to take a while to evacuate them. Time is life!”

“Exactly—time is life,” Ji Chenjiao said calmly. Resting by his feet was a sniper rifle case—prepared for the worst-case scenario.

“Try not to provoke Mei Ruixue. If she was willing to prepare gas canisters, she’s capable of threatening or protecting herself with them when police show up,” Ji Chenjiao said as he traced the rifle case with his fingers. “If she loses control emotionally, she could detonate.”

He Feng said, “Which is why I’m saying we need to evacuate immed—”

Suddenly, he paused. “Too late.”

Ji Chenjiao replied, “Exactly. If this building were full of young, able-bodied people, I’d say evacuate, and I wouldn’t interfere. But since it’s full of elderly folks who move slowly, any evacuation will alert her. And evacuating old people isn’t fast.”

He Feng took a deep breath. “Understood. I’ll keep watch. You guys move fast!”

After hanging up, the car fell into silence again. After a moment, Xi Wan turned from the passenger seat and glanced at Ling Lie.

Ling Lie asked, “Do I seem super suspicious now?”

Ji Chenjiao said nothing. Xi Wan awkwardly replied, “Just a tiny bit.”

Ling Lie nodded. “Fair. I mean, if I weren’t in cahoots with Mei Ruixue, how would I know about the gas canisters?” He leaned toward Ji Chenjiao and added teasingly, “Right, Captain Ji?”

Ji Chenjiao: “You want me to ask how you knew?”

Ling Lie: “Not telling you.”

Ji Chenjiao: “…”

Now was hardly the time for banter. The major crimes unit was still twenty minutes away. Ji Chenjiao focused on the scene photos He Feng had just sent.

Meanwhile, Mei Ruixue was growing frantic. She suspected the police were on to her. She checked the door lock repeatedly, then went to the window to peer outside cautiously.

The old street looked empty and quiet.

What now? Anxiously, she scrolled online, seeing nothing but people cursing the kidnapper and wishing death on anyone who harmed children.

“But I didn’t hurt him… He ruined my son’s life…” Mei Ruixue threw her phone aside and sobbed into her hands.

A thudding sound came from the back room again—someone pounding on the bed. Mei Ruixue rushed in. Zhou Zongyi was clutching his stomach in pain, clearly trying to say he was starving.

Mei Ruixue’s heart softened. She was a mother, too.

“No yelling!” she warned, holding up an IV needle as a threat. Zhou Zongyi nodded furiously.

She went to finish cutting the half-prepped meat, stir-fried it with mushrooms, then added some quick-fried greens and served it all on a plate of rice. She brought it into the room.

Before tearing off the tape from his mouth, she warned him again.

Maybe he was just too hungry—Zhou Zongyi didn’t make a sound. He picked up the plate and began devouring the food. Mei Ruixue let out a small sigh of relief. Perhaps the police wouldn’t find her so soon.

She sat down and ate a bit herself—until she heard a car outside.

Tensing up, she carefully went to the window and peeked out, hiding behind the wall. What she saw made her jerk back in panic, both hands flying to her mouth.

A police car had pulled up! The cops were here!

She instinctively looked toward the gas canisters beneath the window—two of them. She didn’t want to be caught. If they caught her now, what would happen to Zongzong? At the very least, she had to stay with him until he got into a good high school!

Would the police let her go? Could she bluff them? If they didn’t back off, she’d blow up the entire building!

I won’t really do it, she kept telling herself, swallowing dryly. I’ll just scare them. Then they’ll let me go. I can go to jail—but not now. Just give me two more months…

In the back room, Zhou Zongyi suddenly cried out again. Mei Ruixue’s head throbbed with rage. She rushed in, slapped him, and shoved a gag into his mouth.

He Feng, hearing the child’s cries, grew even more anxious.

Finally, the SWAT and major crimes teams arrived.

The SWAT’s plan was to climb up and break in through the window for a fast takedown, while a sniper would position himself in case of emergency.

Given that Mei Ruixue had taken a hostage and had multiple gas canisters, the threat level was extremely high. The police had the legal right to shoot her to protect civilian lives. But they wouldn’t fire unless absolutely necessary.

Snipers needed incredible judgment and pinpoint precision.

Ji Chenjiao said, “I’ll go.”

The SWAT team leader, Zhou Weng, had trained with Ji Chenjiao and knew him well. “Yeah, in this situation, you’re more suited than my own men. She’s not a terrorist. Try to save her.”

Ling Lie sat in the car, watching Ji Chenjiao assemble the sniper rifle with swift, practiced hands. “Looks fun.”

Ji Chenjiao didn’t even look up. “I’ll buy you a water gun later.”

Both men froze for a second. Ji Chenjiao hadn’t meant to say that. Ling Lie burst into laughter, breaking the tense atmosphere.

Mei Ruixue completely panicked. No matter how she tried, the tape wouldn’t stick back on. Zhou Zongyi, now full and with renewed strength, was crying louder and louder. The police had started speaking through a loudspeaker. Her mind was a complete mess, like a pot of gluey paste. In her chaos, she suddenly found a fugitive’s desperation and grabbed an unwashed kitchen knife from the cutting board. Holding Zhou Zongyi tightly, she moved toward the window.

The knife was pressed against his neck, making him cry even harder.

“Please… please just let me go!” Mei Ruixue’s face was deathly pale, her hand holding the knife trembling violently. “Don’t arrest me, not today. After July, I’ll turn myself in!”

The blade had already cut through Zhou Zongyi’s skin—thin lines of bright red blood sent a jolt through everyone’s nerves. SWAT officers were climbing up from below—she could see them. He Feng urged her to let the boy go.

“No!” Mei Ruixue shouted. “If I let him go, you’ll arrest me! My son can’t be without me!” She sobbed as she yelled, “If you won’t let me go, I’ll die with him!” With that, she suddenly shoved Zhou Zongyi aside and raised a gas cylinder. “Stay back! I’m begging you!”

At that moment, Ji Chenjiao had already reached the rooftop of the building across from hers. Through the rifle scope, he locked eyes on Mei Ruixue.

This woman was clearly no seasoned criminal—she was recklessly exposing her head and not even using the hostage to shield her vital spots. If she had a criminal record or had done something truly heinous, Ji Chenjiao’s finger on the trigger would have already pulled.

Instead, he adjusted the scope and let his gaze move past Mei Ruixue to scan the inside of the room.

It was an old apartment layout—the kitchen and living room weren’t separated, which allowed him to see all the way to the entrance. Two gas tanks sat there. According to Shen Qi, Mei Ruixue had bought five in total: one connected to a makeshift stove, one in her hand… one was still unaccounted for.

He Feng tried to stall. “Come back with us. Don’t hurt the child. I’m just afraid you’ll hurt him. As long as Zhou Zongyi is safe, you’ll be fine! Whatever you’re going through, we’ll help you!”

Mei Ruixue shook her head. “Don’t lie to me. I committed kidnapping—if I go back, I’m going to prison! Let me go, and I’ll give him back to you! Otherwise I’ll blow everything up!”

He Feng shouted, “Mei Ruixue, don’t do anything crazy! Think of your son!”

Mei wailed, “That’s exactly why! Because of my son! He’s about to take his high school entrance exams—I need to be there to cook for him!”

SWAT officers kept climbing—getting closer to the fifth floor.

“If you come any closer, I’ll blow this place up right now! We’ll all die together!” Mei Ruixue was falling apart, her attention fixed entirely on the officers scaling the building.

Her hand was trembling—it looked like she might trigger the explosion at any moment. What she couldn’t see was Ji Chenjiao’s rifle barrel, now locked precisely onto the center of her brow, his finger already pressing lightly on the trigger.

Ji Chenjiao’s breath was so soft it barely existed, his eyes sharp as a hawk’s. The moment Mei Ruixue showed any sign of activating the gas tank, a bullet would pierce her forehead in an instant.

But this was the worst-case scenario—and the hardest to judge.

That was why Ji Chenjiao had taken the shot himself. He had to make the perfect call. If he hesitated for even a second, the entire building could go up in flames. If he was too quick, a life could be lost needlessly.

While the standoff continued, on another side of the building, Xi Wan had already silently climbed down from the rooftop to a side window of the interior room.

In Ji Chenjiao’s plan, the real breach wasn’t going to come from the officers below—it was going to come from her.

Like a swift swallow gliding through a blue spring sky, she landed softly on the cold cement floor. She now appeared in Ji Chenjiao’s scope, but Mei Ruixue, who was still screaming downwards, didn’t notice a thing.

The two gas tanks at the door weren’t the immediate threat. The one in Mei Ruixue’s arms was. She could detonate it at any time. Taking her down would require incredible speed.

Xi Wan crept closer. Zhou Zongyi spotted her and abruptly fell silent. The sudden quiet made Mei Ruixue suspicious—just as she began to turn, Xi Wan, still not fully in position to subdue her, acted anyway. She lunged.

Mei Ruixue instinctively tried to detonate the cylinder—but she was too late. Xi Wan had her completely pinned, locking down both her body and arms.

Ji Chenjiao finally relaxed a little. When Mei Ruixue started to turn, he had nearly pulled the trigger.

Officers waiting outside burst into the room and quickly removed all the gas tanks.

The rescue operation was swift and clean. Some elderly residents didn’t even realize what had happened.

Mei Ruixue was escorted into a police car, crying and shouting, “Please don’t lock me up! My son needs me! I’m begging you!”

The frightened Zhou Zongyi was escorted to another police car by Xi Wan. As the door opened, his sobbing abruptly stopped.

Ling Lie waved. “Hey there—”