Seven minutes and twenty-three seconds later.
On the outskirts of Zhongjing City, at the entrance to the highway leading out of town.
Police cars were parked diagonally across the highway entrance, forming a makeshift barrier that stopped the dense stream of traffic.
The constantly flashing red and blue emergency lights washed over the crowd, illuminating the unease and anger on their faces.
"Get out of the way! You liars! Let us through!"
"We want to leave! We want to get out of the city!"
In the crowd, a middle-aged man grabbed the collar of a traffic officer standing in front of a car and cursed at him furiously. Driven by rage, he looked ready to throw a punch at any moment.
Facing the agitated crowd, the young traffic officer was shoved so hard he could barely stay on his feet. He could only scramble out of the way. Afraid of further inflaming them, he shouted over and over, trying to calm them down:
"Everyone! We're not restricting your freedom! We're protecting you! Too many people are leaving the city right now. If you do this, we can't guarantee your safety!"
"Think about the children you've brought with you, about your parents! Once you leave the city, where will they get food? Where will they get water? If anything happens, we won't be able to help you!"
"Trust us. We can solve this. We will definitely...!"
Before the young traffic officer could finish, the middle-aged man he had stopped seemed to reach his breaking point and unleashed a torrent of abuse:
"Help us? Solve this?! You liars! My daughter has been missing for half a month! You said you'd help me find her. Where is she? Where's the person you were supposed to find?!"
"Don't think I don't know you're tricking