They Picked the Wrong Hostages!

The staff and customers inside the store felt a buzzing in their heads, and their minds instantly went blank.

All the color drained from Song Qiuya's face.

She was in the busiest part of Yicheng, at a premier jewelry brand with branches nationwide. With public security in Huaxia now practically ironclad, she had never dreamed she would personally experience something that only happened in movies.

Chen Lin's scalp prickled, and every hair on his body stood on end.

What century was this?

There were still fucking armed bandits robbing jewelry stores?

This clearly wasn't the robbers' first job. Their roles were defined, their movements practiced. Two stood guard with guns, their muzzles sweeping steadily across the crowd. The eyes beneath their masks were utterly cold, as though they were inspecting livestock in a slaughterhouse.

Everyone there, including Chen Lin, immediately crouched down with their hands over their heads.

No one dared make an unnecessary sound.

The other three robbers tossed out several enormous black duffel bags, then pointed their guns at the sales staff frozen behind the counters, ordering them to put all the gold inside.

One saleswoman in her thirties was so terrified that her legs went weak. Her hands shook like leaves in an autumn wind, leaving her unable to comply.

The robber leader standing opposite her didn't show even a trace of impatience.

He simply raised his pistol calmly.

Bang!

The gunshot exploded through the enclosed space, making everyone's eardrums ache.

A flower of blood bloomed brilliantly across the saleswoman's chest.

She didn't even manage a scream before her body crumpled. She twitched twice on the floor, then went completely still.

That shot shattered everyone's last psychological defenses.

The remaining sales staff tapped into the desperate strength of people facing death. Their hands moved so quickly they blurred as they frantically swept handful after handful of gold jewelry into the duffel bags.

All that remained inside the jewelry store was desperately muffled sobbing and the harsh clatter of gold jewelry striking together.

Fear tightened around everyone's throats like a net.

Song Qiuya went completely limp, practically hanging off Chen Lin.

Chen Lin could clearly feel every muscle beneath her well-tailored business skirt suit trembling violently.

Chen Lin's face turned livid.

A searing fury, tinged with the taste of rust, surged from his chest straight to his head.

They really dared to kill people!

Yet the calm he had gained from practicing the Taiyin Breathing Technique pressed down on that reason-destroying impulse like a slab of ancient ice.

There were five of them, all well-trained, armed, and willing to kill without hesitation.

Even if his strength far surpassed an ordinary person's, stopping bullets with his flesh was pure fantasy.

Charging them now would be no different from walking straight into their gun barrels.

There was no opening.

None at all.

"Master, don't rush. We can help you!"

Just then, Clear Wind's crisp, slightly anxious little-girl voice flashed through his mind like lightning.

Chen Lin focused, answering swiftly with a thought. "How?"

"Master, Bright Moon and I can attack those two bad guys standing guard at the same time and short-circuit their brains for a little bit! But we're too weak. We can only stun them for a few seconds at most! You can use that chance to take their weapons!"

Clear Wind's childish words made Chen Lin's heart thump hard.

A mental attack?

These two little ones had actually been hiding a trump card like that?

He instantly ran through the plan in his mind.

It sounded incredibly tempting, but its chances of success were close to zero.

He wasn't an elite soldier or a secret agent. He had never even touched a gun and wouldn't know how to take the safety off if he grabbed one.

If he failed and enraged these desperate criminals, everyone here would die with him.

Sensing the rejection in Chen Lin's thoughts, Clear Wind immediately became dejected.

Clear Wind had thought those black weapons would go pew-pew as soon as someone picked them up.

As for Bright Moon, already timid by nature, the little one had long since curled into a terrified ball of fur in Chen Lin's arms, not daring to send out even a single thought.

The robbers were extremely efficient. In less than five minutes, all three duffel bags were stuffed full.

Just then, piercing police sirens approached along the streets outside, tearing through the air.

More than a dozen police cars roared up, surrounding the entrance to the Zhou Xiaofu jewelry store.

Riverside Avenue was completely sealed off.

The Zhou Xiaofu jewelry store occupied an unusual location, directly opposite People's Park along the river. The park's dense trees and complicated terrain made it impossible to find a suitable sniper position.

Outside the cordon, Yicheng City's deputy mayor, An Changlin, looked livid.

Yicheng was nationally renowned as a civilized tourist city. If an armed robbery and murder this heinous was mishandled, it would deal a devastating blow to the city's reputation.

"Deputy Mayor An, Chief Xia, we've confirmed that the robbers shot and killed a member of the sales staff! There are still fifteen hostages inside!" Li Xiang, Criminal Police Brigade Chief, hurried over and reported in a hoarse voice.

Inside the jewelry store, the robber leader heard the sirens and saw the mass of police outside, but a cruel smile curled his lips instead.

He grabbed the cute young saleswoman who had served Chen Lin twice, pressed his gun hard against her temple, and dragged her to the entrance.

"You Yicheng cops are pretty quick," the leader called out, his voice dripping with mockery. "It's an old line, but I still have to say it. If you don't want all these hostages dead, back off!"

"What are your demands?" An Changlin took the megaphone, suppressing his anger as he spoke in a steady voice.

"You're in charge? You can make the decisions?"

"I'm An Changlin, deputy mayor of Yicheng!"

"Deputy Mayor An. Good!" The leader gave a satisfied laugh. "Have your men fall back three hundred meters. And our friends in the park across the street should leave too. Otherwise, this young lady's head is going to burst!"

An Changlin's heart sank.

They had accomplices outside keeping watch.

Helpless, he could only order Xia Xuejun, the director of the Public Security Bureau beside him, "Pull back! Have plainclothes officers blend into the crowd immediately and find their lookouts!"

Seeing the police begin to retreat, the leader nodded in satisfaction.

"You're very cooperative, Deputy Mayor An. As a show of good faith, I've decided to release thirteen hostages!"

He waved a hand, and the other four robbers immediately hauled twelve people roughly out of the crowd.

Together with the saleswoman in his grip, that made exactly thirteen.

"Get lost!"

The thirteen hostages scrambled toward the distant police cars as though they had been granted a pardon.

In the blink of an eye, only Song Qiuya and Chen Lin remained in the once-crowded store.

Two robbers pressed cold gun barrels hard against their backs.

The other three each carried a duffel bag filled with gold.

Holding the pair hostage, the robbers swaggered out of the jewelry store, crossed the deserted road, and headed straight toward the river.

"Where are the snipers?" An Changlin asked anxiously.

Xia Xuejun shook his head in anguish.

The two robbers holding the hostages moved back to back, keeping the hostages at their sides. There was no clear shot.

An engine roared on the river as a speedboat raced toward them.

It was their getaway boat.

Chen Lin stumbled as he was shoved along, but his mind had never been calmer.

His gaze scanned every detail of the five robbers like a precision instrument.

The opening was here.

The three robbers carrying the duffel bags had tucked their guns back into their waistbands.

Each bag held at least fifty kilograms of gold.

The two-hundred-odd-meter walk from the jewelry store had already visibly drained their strength. Their steps were growing unsteady, and fine beads of sweat dotted their temples.

This was a once-in-a-lifetime window.

Silently, Chen Lin sent Clear Wind and Bright Moon an order through his thoughts.

"Get ready to act."