Zhang Heng drove the A4 off the elevated highway and continued for a while. When he saw that the pursuers behind him had not followed, he eased off the gas.
The earlier gunfire and car crash had drawn the police's attention, so Zhang Heng did not head toward the city center. Instead, he continued beyond the Fourth Ring Road. As he gradually left the city behind, the traffic outside the window thinned as well.
Zhang Heng avoided the highway, choosing provincial roads before turning onto county roads. After half an hour of driving, he could already see ridges of farmland by the roadside, along with rows of two-story houses. They looked newly built, with faint lights shining from within. Families sat together in their first-floor living rooms, watching some variety show.
Zhang Heng slowed to twenty miles per hour and drove another thirty kilometers or so. That string of battles had looked quite spectacular, but it had not actually posed much danger to him. After all, he had surveyed the area a day in advance, hidden his weapons, planned his escape route before setting out, and contacted Shen Xixi to deal with the sniper.
So it was hardly surprising that he had fought his way out. Yet once he was temporarily out of danger and his taut nerves relaxed their guard, Zhang Heng unexpectedly felt, for once, that he did not know where to drive next.
In his original plan, after shaking off the pursuers and waiting for time to stop at midnight, he would return to the city, switch from the A4 to his own Polo, and then drive far away from this city.
Yet he had made no arrangements for the gap in between.
Since he still had to go back later, Zhang Heng ultimately decided not to