Watching Lu Bai disappear into the shadows of the alley,
the two middle schoolers scrambled to their feet and exchanged a glance.
His buddy scratched the back of his head, sounding uncertain. "Come to think of it, doesn't that guy look kind of familiar?"
"Yeah, a little."
The middle schooler racked his brain for a moment, then his eyes suddenly lit up. "I think he's that Special Affairs Bureau team leader people were talking about online. What was his name again?"
Prompted by this, his buddy hurriedly pulled out his phone and looked it up. He confirmed it in no time.
"Right, right, that's him. His name's Lu Bai."
The middle schooler's excitement was plain to see.
"So, should we call the police?"
"Are you out of your mind? There's no reward for reporting him."
His buddy hunched his neck and beckoned to the middle schooler. "Let's follow him and take a look. Everyone online says he's a deranged serial killer. So why didn't he do anything to us? I'm sure there's something going on here."
"What's going on, my ass? You saw how he killed people. We got lucky and made it out alive, so stop trying to get yourself killed."
The middle schooler said it was a death wish, but his feet followed his buddy all the same.
The area beneath the duplex apartment building blazed with lights, with police cars and armored vehicles filling the open space.
The police had sealed off the street in both directions, and pedestrians and vehicles crowded the entire stretch.
At every entrance to the alley, police officers and special agents could be seen maintaining order.
Some even used loudspeakers mounted on their vehicles to disperse the crowd.
"Please don't push. Evacuate in an orderly manner!"
"Damn it! Why hasn't the