Breakout and chaos

The Hypnotist had miscalculated-or perhaps Li Douyu was simply too unlucky. She had barely taken a few steps before running straight into a Mercedes-Benz with no license plates.

Fail to seize an opportunity handed down by heaven, and suffer the consequences.

The girl's tear-streaked face, her pitiful expression, and the significance of this particular location made the decision clear: they had to take her, just in case.

Two thugs got out of the Mercedes-Benz. After firing a warning shot, they quickly subdued Li Douyu.

When they shoved her into the back seat, she was surprised to find a crying baby already inside. The child looked only three or four months old.

Fortunately, none of the four men in the car were ordinary human traffickers. The man in the front passenger seat wore sunglasses and was clearly the boss. He merely glanced at Li Douyu without saying anything.

Perhaps the baby's crying had become too irritating, because the man in sunglasses ordered Li Douyu to quiet him down.

In the back seat, Li Douyu held the baby and soothed him in a gentle voice. Before long, he fell asleep.

With the baby quiet, all four men in the car relaxed their furrowed brows.

When the vehicle entered the abandoned residential complex, Li Douyu could no longer hold back.

"Who are you people? You won't even spare a baby a few months old?"

The thugs on either side exchanged looks but offered no explanation. Instead, their boss in the front passenger seat spoke.

"This child's an orphan. I found him and saved his life. Isn't that a good thing?"

Li Douyu was about to argue when the baby showed signs of waking again. She hurriedly hugged him close and refused to let go.

As the Mercedes-Benz drove in, the abandoned complex evidently received a new order. Under the direction of a group of burly men, over a hundred children came downstairs in an orderly procession and lined up to board the truck.

Not one of them dared cry or make a fuss.

Wen Xuanjing was among them. He whispered to the girl behind him, "They have hidden sentries. At least five. The police won't get here in time, and even if they do, they won't be able to force their way in quickly. In half an hour at most, they'll move us out."

The girl nodded coldly. "We break out. I'll create chaos, and you take the chance to escape. They won't hurt the children for now."

"Are you crazy? They have guns," Wen Xuanjing hissed.

"I'm not crazy. They're all using satellite phones, and there's a signal jammer inside the complex. One of us has to get out and report to the company, or no one outside will know what's happening here."

"Fine. I'll create chaos, and you break out," Wen Xuanjing said.

"Can you fight as well as I can?" Nanmen Yingyun countered.

"I still have the equipment the company gave me."

"So do I."

"I'll do it." Wen Xuanjing refused to budge.

"Fuck off." The girl let loose.

Noticing that the nearby guards had let their guard down and were all carrying automatic crossbows rather than guns, the girl smiled at Wen Xuanjing, then stepped out of line.

"Get back in line," a guard barked as he approached.

"Don't get worked up."

The girl struck without warning, darting in front of the man with unimaginable speed. Her right hand hooked into a claw and tore straight into his Adam's apple.

"You..." Horrified, the guard touched the missing chunk of his throat, then collapsed limply.

The others noticed, but the night was too dark, and since their prisoners were all children, no one was particularly alarmed. They walked toward Nanmen Yingyun without even cocking their crossbows.

Nanmen Yingyun pulled something resembling a grenade from her school uniform and tossed it into the air.

A fierce white light and a terrifying blast of sound swept through the entire complex. Everyone was struck by intense ringing in their ears and overwhelming dizziness.

At that moment, an older child shouted from somewhere, "Everyone, run!" In an instant, all the children scattered into chaos, their crying and shouting filling the air.

Wen Xuanjing shot a fierce look at the red-clad figure beneath the blazing light, scooped up a two-year-old child, and sprinted along the route he had scouted earlier.

"The police have broken in!" Nanmen Yingyun pressed her throat and shouted in a man's voice.

At those words, what little order remained instantly fell apart. The children cried loudly for help, while the guards nervously looked toward the outside.

Seizing the opportunity, the girl snatched an automatic crossbow. Finding she did not know how to use it, she removed the bolts, gripped them in her hand, and closed in on the nearest man.

Then, like a spinning rose covered in thorns, the girl sent countless vivid blossoms of blood bursting beneath the brilliant light.

"Fuck, who started fighting?" The Hypnotist was shocked, but he did not let such a fine opportunity slip away. He drove his sons and younger relatives to wreak havoc everywhere.

"Son, go light a fire. Daddy's cold."

"Nephew, aren't there firecrackers in the truck? Light them."

"My good nephew, the truck's out of fuel. Bring the gasoline over."

As the flames surged up and a full string of five hundred firecrackers was set off...

The scene finally descended into utter chaos. The sentries around the complex began giving away their positions on their own, shouting questions about what was happening.

The Hypnotist fixed his sights on the ringleader he had been watching for some time and approached without drawing attention.

Wen Xuanjing kept throwing out all manner of things to create confusion, tossing flashbangs like the earlier one, smoke balls, and other equipment as he crouched low and hurried toward the complex's side gate.

After breaking past the final obstacle, Wen Xuanjing gritted his teeth and fled desperately with the child in his arms. By now, no one could spare him any attention.

The entire complex had descended into absolute chaos.

"Stay calm." Inside the Mercedes-Benz, the man in sunglasses reassured his two subordinates.

"Keep driving forward," he ordered.

But someone blocked their path.

Inside the car, Li Douyu's eyes suddenly widened.

Nanmen Yingyun's red school uniform had been shredded, revealing the pale blue Daoist robes beneath. She was drenched in blood, her long hair streaming behind her, but she still held a staff as she hurled herself toward the Mercedes-Benz.

She knew that successfully taking the man in charge inside the car hostage would be the key to turning the situation around.

The two burly men finally got out of the car, but before they could raise their pistols, the whistling tip of her staff smashed the weapons to pieces.

Had Zhang Youzhi been there, he would certainly have recognized that the girl's staff techniques were exactly the same as those of the homeless man he had seen in Crane City.

She was only slightly weaker in strength. In technique, she was even far superior.

She snapped several incoming crossbow bolts in advance, as though she could foresee them. Two broken bolts even shot straight toward the car window and lodged firmly in the windshield.

The man in sunglasses frowned deeply at the sharp bolt tips in front of him.

While the girl was still held back by his two subordinates, he picked up his pistol, chambered a round, and got out.

Only Li Douyu, the baby, and the driver remained inside.

Wen Xuanjing fled desperately with the child in his arms and ran into Si Weizhe and Bai Song, who had just arrived as backup.

"Cherry! Cherry's still inside! Go save her, save her!" Wen Xuanjing shouted hoarsely. Then his strength failed, and he fell into Si Weizhe's arms. His grip on the child loosened, and he collapsed to the ground.

Si Weizhe looked at the two crossbow bolts embedded in his back. After several kilometers of frantic running, his back had become a mangled mass of flesh and blood.

"Fuck! Where the hell are the company's combat department people?"

"Calm down. Save Xuanjing first." Bai Song knocked the two-year-old child unconscious and laid the child on the grass, then pulled a syringe from inside his clothes and injected Wen Xuanjing's vein. Next, Bai Song took out gauze and tried to stop the bleeding.

"I can't fucking take this." His eyes bloodshot, Si Weizhe handed Xuanjing over to Bai Song, got straight into the car, and charged toward the complex.

"Si Weizhe! Calm the fuck down!" Bai Song roared, only to be left choking on exhaust fumes.