Got You

Five people rode in the little van.

There was the driver behind the wheel, Bai Yin in the front passenger seat, and Shen Yu and the other two sitting in a row. Shen Yu was in the middle. The seats had all been thoughtfully removed to make room for his wheelchair, while the other two sat on small folding stools like bodyguards on either side of him.

Shen Yu looked around.

The driver said nothing and just kept driving.

Bai Yin said nothing and simply rested with his eyes closed.

Wen Wenyu said nothing and just sat up straight.

Lu Yanjin said nothing and kept blinking at him... Huh?

Blinking?

Shen Yu wanted to pretend he hadn't noticed, but it was too obvious.

Meanwhile, Wen Wenyu's hand quietly felt its way onto his thigh and began writing, stroke by stroke.

Shen Yu: "?"

Bai Yin, did you really hypnotize these two?

The doors aren't locked.

Those were the words Wen Wenyu wrote.

Beside him, Lu Yanjin was also examining the door on his side.

Shen Yu had a bad feeling about this.

He held Wen Wenyu's hand down and slowly blinked at Lu Yanjin.

Slowly.

He meant they should take their time and work out a plan.

The point was, why were they only discussing it with him? Why didn't the two of them discuss it with each other?

But the two of them acted as though they had received a signal to move.

They didn't care whether Shen Yu had understood at all.

Swish, swish—

As the van slowed down, both doors were pulled open at once. Wen Wenyu and Lu Yanjin each grabbed one of his arms and pulled him outward.

Shen Yu closed his eyes. "..."

That hurt.

Screech—

The driver slammed on the brakes. The wheels locked up, and a sharp, grating screech tore across the road. The van rocked violently, leaving faint black marks on the pavement as it came to an abrupt halt.

Lu Yanjin reacted quickly, knocking Wen Wenyu's hand away. He picked Shen Yu up, wheelchair and all, carried him straight out of the van, and took off running.

Wen Wenyu hurriedly jumped out as well and ran after Lu Yanjin.

The relaxed expression vanished from Bai Yin's face. He pulled open the door, took a black cylinder from inside his clothes, and fired it into the sky.

A pale yellow signal flashed past.

"After them."

Several black cars following the van had already stopped. Burly men in black with their faces covered poured out and followed close behind Lu Yanjin.

Shen Yu was miserable from all the jolting. The school uniform that had been on his legs had flown off somewhere, and he had no idea where. He gripped the armrests tightly, feeling the wind whistle past his ears as though he were on a roller coaster. "Brother Jin, you... let me... get down and walk."

"Hang in there, Xiao Yu." Lu Yanjin planned their route, trying to avoid the paths they had just taken.

He wasn't very familiar with this area.

It seemed they were far from the city center. The narrow roads and alleys formed a maze, and there wasn't a person in sight, but the footsteps gradually closing in behind him weighed on Lu Yanjin's heart.

Two burly men in black carrying clubs suddenly appeared directly ahead.

Lu Yanjin swung the wheelchair around and deftly pushed Shen Yu into an alley to the side. The space between the two walls narrowed. He had been trying not to run this way, but with their path blocked, he had no choice.

There was a fork ahead.

There was no end in sight on any of the three paths.

Lu Yanjin chose to turn left.

There was a trash can filled with garbage there. He spun around and kicked it, sending flying rubbish and an overpowering stench straight at the people close behind them. The overturned can became another obstacle in their path.

He kept running.

Shen Yu studied their surroundings too, trying to draw a map of the area in his mind.

But time was short, and there was a lot to do.

There were few landmarks, too.

There were mostly dark green walls covered in moss.

"They're here!"

Figures in black appeared in their line of sight again, accompanied by shouts. Lu Yanjin spun around and ran back toward the alley on the right that they had just passed.

Shen Yu almost lost his grip and was flung out.

Then he was suddenly pressed back against the chair.

Shen Yu: "..."

He would never sit in a wheelchair just because he was too lazy to walk again.

His heart pounded so hard it felt as though it might leap out of his throat the next second. Shen Yu clutched his chest, his face turning listless, and the color that had just returned to his lips faded again.

His gaze drifted to a utility pole jutting up above the wall ahead and to the right. Wires stretched forward from it, and Shen Yu felt as though he had found a lifeline.

"That way! Follow the wires, there have to be people!"

Lu Yanjin did as he said, and the two followed the direction of the wires closely.

They rounded another fork, and it suddenly grew bright ahead. They could see pedestrians coming and going on the road, and passing vehicles sounded their horns. Just a few more steps and they would be completely out of the shadow cast by the towering walls, standing beneath the sun.

"Stop."

But Bai Yin's voice cut through all the noise and reached Lu Yanjin's ears.

"Snap—"

At the same time, the crisp snap of fingers rang out with unusual clarity.

Lu Yanjin stopped, his eyes full of struggle. He clutched his head as a tearing pain suddenly struck his brain. He was using his willpower to fight the drug's control.

But in less than a second, he used all his strength to shove the wheelchair forward, sending Shen Yu rolling away.

"Go!"

Then his strength gave out, and he dropped to one knee, gasping for breath.

"Lu Yanjin!" Shen Yu struggled to his feet from the wheelchair. His legs were a little weak from the long, bumpy ride, and the moment he stood and turned around, he began falling backward, unable to stop himself.

He didn't fall.

Shen Yu collided with a hard chest. The person wrapped an arm around his waist, restrained both his hands, and rested his head in the crook of his neck.

"Got you."

"Bai—Xiao—Fan—!"

The furious, gritted words came from the person in his arms.

Bai Xiaofan looked down. The young man's pale skin was tinged pink with indignation, and the eyes that had been so calm at the police station were now full of anger because of him.

An indescribable pleasure flooded through his entire body. Not even dissecting animals had brought him as much delight as those words.

His eyes curved into a smile. Though he knew perfectly well, he asked, "What's wrong?"

Their bodies pressed tightly together, right at the boundary between light and shadow. Sunlight flickered across Bai Xiaofan's face, but inside he was dark, savage, and vicious. Shen Yu was immersed in shadow, but inside he was clear and radiant.

"Let him go!"

Lu Yanjin staggered to his feet again.

Bai Yin frowned and snapped his fingers.

Nothing happened.

He snapped them again.

Still nothing.

Instead, Lu Yanjin felt around his waist and discovered his gun was missing. He pulled a dagger from his thigh and charged at Bai Xiaofan.

Then the dagger stopped in front of Bai Xiaofan.

Wen Wenyu was dragged out by two men in black, his head hanging low. A wound clearly caused by a blow marked his head, and blood dripped from it, drop by drop. His gold-chain glasses were gone, and his neat suit had been reduced to tatters. He was a complete mess.

A gun was pressed against the top of the unconscious Wen Wenyu's head.

It was a silent threat to Lu Yanjin.

Bai Xiaofan couldn't even be bothered to look up. Seeing that Shen Yu kept staring at the person in front of him, he pouted in annoyance and raised a hand to cover his eyes. Trembling lashes brushed his palm again and again, tickling it faintly.

The rigid body in his arms excited him even more.

Shen Yu said in a hoarse voice, "Let them go, and I'll go with you."

Lu Yanjin: "No..."

Before he could finish, Bai Yin physically put him to sleep.

He looked at Lu Yanjin with curiosity, eager to take him back and dissect him to see why he could withstand his drugs and mental control. Then... he could improve the drug.

Bai Xiaofan's breath brushed the side of the young man's neck. Utterly puzzled, he said, "Even if I don't let them go, aren't you still in my hands?"

Shen Yu sensed his unusual attitude toward him. After a long pause, he said, "Then you'd better not let me find a chance to kill myself."

Bai Xiaofan had to admit, the threat worked.

No matter how beautiful a work of art was, once it was dead, it was worthless.

"Fine, but Xiao Yu, one life for one life. Choose which one of them dies." Feeling the young man's chest rise and fall with anger, Bai Xiaofan smiled in delight.