Speedster on the Old Road

Having become herself again, Zhou Mei left the wedding planning company, glanced back, and sighed. "I never imagined that the first time I walked through the doors of a wedding planning company, I'd stir up such a grand drama. I wonder whether, when I really get married, it'll be this glorious."

"That shouldn't be hard, right? It was only thirty-eight hundred!" Lin Xiaosu said.

"Thirty-eight hundred is nothing, of course, but the Aoshi Jewelry Store throwing around millions so boldly today—that's a dream that'll never come true!" Zhou Mei said. "Ruolan, right?"

Miao Ruolan smiled lightly. "I don't have dreams like that! I think spending millions on something like this is stupid. I'd even say that if I had to put on airs like rich people, I couldn't stand it for a single day."

"Fine, fine, you're so noble!" Zhou Mei shot her a sidelong glare. "For lunch today, whoever's noble pays!"

"Why should I pay? We helped you solve a case, and we didn't even charge you. You should treat us!"

"Fine, fine, all right, all right! My cousin runs a villa up by the east gate, an agritourism place. Let's go eat there and make her waive the bill!" Zhou Mei stepped on the gas, and the car left the city, heading toward Azure Waters Villa.

At the same time, the county town had been thrown into complete chaos.

The provincial department's on-site meeting had only just ended when another meeting was convened at lightning speed.

The attendees included the four major county committee leadership groups, police officers from across the province, road administration, and the entire judicial system.

The meeting had only one topic: the major 5.16 case!

The order was to act immediately, handle the case as a special case, place no upper limit on anyone involved, and arrest them all!

The Special Investigation Team had already been established, officers had already been deployed, roads throughout the region were sealed off, and the armed police had mobilized!

One after another, the big shots who could make Phoenix City's mountains shake and earth tremble with a stomp were arrested.

Whenever police cars arrived at an organization, everyone inside was terrified.

No one knew who from their own unit had been caught until that person was dragged out and taken away. Only then did they know that person was finished.

One after another, batch after batch...

Only Azure Waters Villa outside the city remained peaceful and tranquil.

Plate after plate of homestyle dishes was served.

Zhou Mei kept watching the messages in the group chat.

Her cheeks remained flushed as well.

The major 5.16 case had shaken the entire province.

She had participated in this major case from beginning to end. It could even be said that she had always been on the front line. When merits were rewarded in the future, she had to earn herself some shining police stars this time, no matter what...

Suddenly, a message popped up.

Zhou Mei's expression abruptly changed...

"What happened?" Lin Xiaosu said.

"Four of the Five Tigers have already been arrested. Only their leader, Tiger Brother, had an accident. He broke out of Golden River Villa after killing three people, then headed north along the Golden River!"

"North of the Golden River is mountainous terrain!" Miao Ruolan's heart jolted.

That was right. To the north were mountains. He intended to hide in them.

Once a vicious murderer like him entered complicated terrain, he would be extremely difficult to find. Even if they found him, subduing him would be difficult. Tiger Brother was no ordinary man.

"Golden River Villa is only ten li from here!" Lin Xiaosu said. "Chase him!"

"Exactly! We may be the people closest to him... Let's go!" Zhou Mei rushed out of Azure Waters Villa, jumped into the car, and with a roar, charged toward Golden River Villa.

Five minutes after her car sped away, two police cars followed. Captain Zhang was sitting inside one of them.

The moment he received the emergency message, he had rushed over from the county town, but he was still five minutes too late.

Zhou Mei drove extremely fast, nearly at the fastest speed she could manage.

Lin Xiaosu had already activated his Heavenly Insight Eye. From far away, he spotted a police car at the entrance of Golden River Villa and could even see the bloodstains on the roadside.

"What way do we go?" Zhou Mei shouted.

There were two roads ahead of Golden River Villa, both leading into the mountains. One was newly built, while the other was an old road. The new road was certainly easier to travel. Up ahead was a bridge spanning a gorge, and from there they could reach Dingxi Province.

The old road, meanwhile, went straight through the mountains.

For a moment, she had no idea which road Tiger Brother would choose.

"The old road!" Lin Xiaosu said.

Zhou Mei had originally been speeding toward the new road, but upon hearing Lin Xiaosu, she sharply spun the wheel. The car nearly grazed a boulder ahead before racing onto the old road.

Miao Ruolan's face changed.

At this speed, on roads like these...

If they overturned, she and Lin Xiaosu might still have time to react, but she herself would definitely be in trouble.

There was little traffic on the old road. Countless fallen leaves covered it, making it look rather dilapidated.

The car raced past, sending leaves swirling into the air. An old cow up ahead was startled and suddenly turned its head, nearly dragging the old man leading it into the ditch.

Yes, this place already had the full look of the countryside.

Fortunately, the village-to-village road project of previous years had reinforced roads everywhere. Since the state was paying, they might as well spend the money, and that was why this road surface was still fairly smooth.

Ten li, twenty li, forty li... They drew closer and closer to Golden Mountain, but Zhou Mei never saw any sign of a vehicle having passed ahead.

Her heart began to drum as well. Had they chosen wrong?

If they had, then they would never catch him.

The province's on-site meeting had only just been held, and its reach was limited to this province. Even if Dingxi Province received notice of joint defense measures, their response would always be half a beat slower. As long as Tiger Brother seized that gap, crossed into Dingxi Province, changed cars, and disappeared into the crowd, catching him would be harder than climbing to the heavens.

She suddenly felt that she must have been wrong. If she were Tiger Brother, with the goal of entering Dingxi Province as quickly as possible, she would never take the old road. She would definitely take the new road.

Why did I trust him?

He had never even interacted with Tiger Brother at close range before. Even if his nose was keener than a police dog's, he couldn't smell Tiger Brother's scent.

Just then, Lin Xiaosu lifted his gaze. "There!"

Zhou Mei looked up and saw a vehicle above them on the mountain road. It was a Road Leopard.

The Road Leopard was large, powerful, and had exceptional off-road performance.

It was Tiger Brother's favorite ride.

That vehicle had just crossed the midpoint of the winding mountain road above.

Her own car had only just reached the foot of the mountain.

The straight-line distance looked to be no more than seven hundred meters, but the actual distance between the two cars was more than ten kilometers.

Worst of all, this winding mountain road simply could not be driven fast.

Even experienced drivers had to proceed with utmost caution. Otherwise, one careless mistake would send them plunging over the side. Once they fell, there was a ninety-nine percent chance their lives would no longer be in their own hands.

"Zhou Mei, let me drive!" Lin Xiaosu said.

"This..." Zhou Mei's heart skipped. Just how good were his driving skills? She could not drive fast here herself. Could he really do it?

"If you drive, you definitely won't catch him!" Lin Xiaosu said. "Stop!"

The car abruptly came to a halt!

Lin Xiaosu and Zhou Mei switched seats.

They had switched, but Zhou Mei's heart was still pounding.

Miao Ruolan spoke up. "Xiao Su, didn't you say you never got a driver's license?"

Damn it!

Zhou Mei's heart leaped into her throat. You did not even have a driver's license, yet now you were gripping the steering wheel? Oh my god, I must have gone mad...

"A license... that stuff is just superficial!" Lin Xiaosu hit the gas, and the car shot forward.

A curve lay directly ahead.

He sharply turned the wheel, and the car swept past the cliff face ahead. Both women screamed at the same time...

They had no idea how to describe what followed...

Lin Xiaosu's driving was perilous beyond measure. Every time, he escaped danger in the split second when there was no room to slip a hair between life and death. The sweat had only just seeped onto their backs when another danger appeared...

Zhou Mei clutched her seat belt tightly and stared at the cliffs flashing before her like a revolving lantern. She did not dare let out a single breath.

Even Miao Ruolan grew tense.

But soon, she began to feel something strange. Lin Xiaosu's driving made people's hearts leap into their throats, yet his expression was incomparably calm.

That expression gave her a certain sense of security.

At some point, he had even opened the Window on his side. As the wild wind rose, his hair flew freely, making half his face seem even more at ease and unhurried, like a man strolling calmly through a pavilion no matter how fiercely the wind blew and waves crashed.

Looking at the calm on his face, Miao Ruolan's thoughts quietly drifted elsewhere...

Back to that morning that had just passed...

Perhaps the man before her did not remember when she had called him "husband," but she remembered...

She remembered the flutter in her heart at that moment...

On the winding mountain road above, the Road Leopard sped over their heads once again...

The distance between them had already been cut in half!

Tiger Brother in the Road Leopard also spotted the car below. The face beneath his thick beard turned livid.

"Boss, it's Zhou Mei's car!"

"Zhou Mei! She and that dog bastard from the Lin Family forced us into a corner with no way out!" another man shouted.

"They dare chase us in such a piece of junk? Kill them!"

Tiger Brother said darkly, "Stop at the curve ahead! Set a trap!"

The trap was quickly set, and the Road Leopard raced away.

After that delay, Lin Xiaosu once again narrowed the gap between the two cars. Three minutes after the Road Leopard sped off, his small car raced past and rounded the curve ahead.

The moment they rounded it, Zhou Mei screamed, "There's a roadblock!"

Two large boulders lay on the road ahead.

The placement of those boulders was extremely sinister. They could not be seen from this side of the mountain road. The instant one rounded the bend, the roadblock would be right beneath the wheels. Under normal circumstances, if the car did not slow down, it would definitely hit one of the boulders. Once it did, it would tumble into the hundred-zhang abyss below.

When Zhou Mei cried out, the car was already too late to change direction.

Her heart nearly burst straight out of her chest.

Yet Lin Xiaosu lightly turned the steering wheel, the movement tiny.

With a boom, the left wheel struck one boulder. The impact lifted half the car into the air, but that very lift carried it sideways, allowing it to pass through the gap between the two boulders, a space less than two meters wide.

On the mountain road above, Tiger Brother's eyes widened. Damn, that was possible?

"Was that luck, or were his driving skills really that badass?" The two men in the back seat looked at each other in dismay.

"Who cares... Boss, give me the gun. I'll take him out!" one man in the back seat shouted.

"Third Son, good man!" Tiger Brother stretched out his hand and placed a pistol into his good brother's hand.

The car stopped by the roadside ahead.

Third Son got out of the car.

Lin Xiaosu did not see any of this.

But the moment he sped around a curve above, a man suddenly appeared ahead!

The dark muzzle of the gun in his hand rose. The instant Lin Xiaosu's small car rounded the bend, he fired!

The shot was extremely accurate!

It was aimed at Lin Xiaosu's head!