The air reeked of explosives. A yellow off-road vehicle lay overturned in the sand, its windows shattered until only one remained, glittering shards scattered everywhere. Sand battered the vehicle's shell in the wind, making a dense patter like rainfall.
All four airbags had deployed. Four people—two men and two women—hung upside down inside the vehicle, suspended by their seat belts, their faces covered in blood.
When Song He and Xie Yuanxun arrived, Black Glasses had just finished tossing a small stun grenade into the vehicle. After a muffled boom, the man and woman in the back seat began convulsing violently. Black Glasses then pulled a Tear Gas canister from his pocket and threw it inside to smoke them out.
"Don't come any closer! There might be a bomb in the vehicle!" Black Glasses turned around and glanced at the two students hurrying over behind him. "Throw me the green case! I'll handle this!"
Song He flung the green case in his hand from a distance and didn't dare approach.
Xie Yuanxun lay prone on the ground with a shotgun in his arms, aiming at the people inside the vehicle like a sniper.
Black Glasses opened the green case and pulled out two pairs of handcuffs. He roughly yanked open the door, dragged out the man and woman in the back seat—both crying and vomiting—and cuffed them briskly.
Song He craned his neck and watched from far away. He couldn't make out either of their faces; both were smeared with blood and sand, and they kept vomiting mouthful after mouthful. It was nauseating. They wore common orange desert assault jackets, the kind travel enthusiasts favored. He saw no weapons.
"Throw me the gun! Then get the hell back!" Black Glasses held out a hand toward Xie Yuanxun.
Xie Yuanxun ran over,