Chapter 3: A Bumpy Journey

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Splash, splash, splash~

With a creak, the restroom door was slowly pushed open once more.

There stood Flower Thousand Words, covered in blood, calmly washing the stains from her body beside the sink.

The icy stream rinsed away equally icy blood—a scene enough to make the armed personnel outside the door break into a cold sweat.

A closer look revealed that this madwoman, Flower Thousand Words, had a head of glossy black hair cut neatly to her ears. She stood a little over five feet seven.

Her face was white as polished jade, framed by handsome, delicate features. Beneath two pairs of fluttering, slender lashes lay a pair of eyes filled with unfathomable mystery.

Below her blood-red gown were a pair of beautiful legs so alluring they made restraint nearly impossible.

Her slender, fair feet stood bare upon the floor, impossible to ignore.

Had the madwoman's long dress not been splattered with blood, and had she not been barefoot, she truly would have qualified as a textbook eight-out-of-ten beauty.

As the old saying went: lips like vermilion, fingers like peeled scallion roots, dainty steps, and a beauty unmatched beneath heaven.

Indeed, the more enchanting the woman, the more dangerous she was.

Upon seeing this major criminal of the White Lotus Cult, the armed captain known as Bee cleared his throat and spoke with exemplary courtesy.

"Good evening. We are from the Seven-Forty-Nine Subsidiary Food Company. Please cooperate with our investigation."

Hearing that she was about to be taken into custody, the madwoman Flower Thousand Words merely turned toward her reflection in the mirror and gave herself a wicked smile.

"Life is like a game. Some people watch you make a fool of yourself, while others are willing to risk everything for you."

Her vague, utterly irrelevant, mist-shrouded remark left everyone who heard it completely dumbfounded.

What the hell did that even mean?

Did every gifted individual facing arrest enjoy spouting nonsense like this?

As he wrote and rewrote the scene, Nightwatch gradually came to terms with it.

What else could they expect? They were all gifted individuals. Their behavior and speech were bound to be unusual—and mystery was part of the package.

Afterward, the armed personnel standing at the doorway followed Yu Kongcheng's instructions. They remained extremely gentlemanly at the entrance, quietly waiting for Flower Thousand Words to finish washing up.

…

The scene shifted to the narrow corridor outside the restroom.

Several people were crouched against the cold wall.

Li Hetang clutched the book cover left behind by Min Wenhua, staring miserably at the gaps between the tiles.

Written across the piece of bark in elegant handwriting were only a few brief lines…

Just then, one of the armed men pulled a bulletproof ceramic plate, smashed to powder, from inside his jacket. He gave Li Hetang a bitter smile.

"Brother Tang, your legwork hasn't diminished with age!"

At those words, Li Hetang prepared to lash out again.

But Yu Kongcheng merely smiled and reached into Li Hetang's backpack, pulling out his cigarettes and handing them around to the four people present. Xiao Yulou, naturally, was included.

With a click, the lighter sprang to life, its orange flame flickering.

As smoke billowed through the corridor, Li Hetang suddenly rolled his eyes and turned toward Yu Kongcheng.

"Hey, you! How can you just loot someone else's bag? Do you think we're playing Battle Royale?"

The other man only smiled as though it were none of his concern.

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"Tom Bro, that's enough. Didn't you loot this polar combat suit off me too?"

Faced with that retort, Li Hetang gave an embarrassed laugh.

When you took something from someone, you were naturally reluctant to criticize them for taking something from you. Such truths had remained unchanged since ancient times.

Then Li Hetang suddenly remembered what he had forgotten and called softly into the restroom.

"Sister O, you can bring the children out now!"

The moment he said this, one of the armed men whose face could not be seen blurted out in astonishment.

"Brother Tang, what's going on? You two already have children?"

Li Hetang nearly choked to death on his cigarette at the soldier's idiotic question.

…

Time passed in a flash. The group gathered their belongings and walked out of the shopping center.

A chilly wind rustled through the night beneath an endless autumn moon.

Two large military-green trucks were parked by the roadside.

Seeing such an ostentatious arrangement, Yu Kongcheng immediately turned to the armed personnel beside him.

"Hey, is this how you carry out a mission? Making such a spectacle of yourselves in public—aren't you afraid of having to write a report?"

The armed squad leader hurriedly replied in a low voice.

"Don't worry, K. The roads nearby have already been sealed off, and the surveillance footage has been blocked. The company is handling the cleanup as well."

After learning the details, Yu Kongcheng finally nodded in satisfaction.

"At least you know how to do your job."

Meanwhile, Li Hetang stood before the children and offered them a kindly smile.

"Don't be afraid, little ones. Uncle Cat entrusted you to me, and I won't let anyone mistreat you. We'll go back to base for a medical examination first, then we'll be able to send you home."

Despite their differing ages, the children remained astonishingly quiet. Not one of them cried or made a fuss.

After a moment of calculation, Li Hetang secretly activated his ability and carried the children, one by one, into the military-green truck.

Once every child had been loaded, Xiao Yulou pouted, stretched out both arms, put on an adorably coquettish expression, and simpered,

"Uncle, I want to be carried too!"

At that moment, Li Hetang, dressed in his polar combat suit, stood utterly bewildered in the wind.

With one breath, the features on his face twisted together. He opened his mouth and cursed.

"Scruffy brat, do you know that showing off is shameful? Go hug your own grandfather!"

Xiao Yulou, with his ethereal, otherworldly bearing, merely flicked the sleeve of his Taoist robe, supported Gu Mo, and helped him into the truck.

The engine roared, and the two heavy trucks sped away with everyone aboard.

As the vehicles jolted along, Code Name O and Li Hetang sat shoulder to shoulder in the front passenger seat, watching the night scenery streak past the windows.

Although neither of them said a word, each waited for the other to speak first. Yet both secretly wished this beautiful moment could remain suspended forever.

As for Bee, the squad leader behind the wheel, he had already caught a powerful whiff of romance.

Sigh…

Love was such a rotten thing. Naturally, one of them had to be the first to break through that paper-thin barrier.

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Just think about it.

If the Cowherd had not acted the scoundrel and stolen the Fairy's clothes, would he have gotten a wife?

If the White Snake had not schemed, pretending to visit the lake and borrow an umbrella, would she have found a husband?

If Pan Jinlian had not flaunted her charms and struck Ximen Qing with a bamboo pole, she—

Bah, enough of that!

Since Li Hetang and Code Name O had no intention of breaking through that barrier, let us return to Yu Kongcheng.

…

With another shift of the scene, we found ourselves inside the truck.

A strange fragrance spread through the vehicle like a bomb detonating.

The bizarre wooden chest that had nearly cost Gu Mo his life rested peacefully in the center of the truck bed, as though time itself had forgotten it.

No matter when or where it was, the uncanny chest constantly exuded waves of cold air, leaving everyone utterly baffled.

At that moment, Yu Kongcheng, still wearing the patient uniform of a psychiatric hospital, stood out conspicuously among the armed personnel.

On the bench opposite sat Xiao Yulou in black robes, along with Gu Mo, who was unconscious.

Of course, Flower Thousand Words—the White Lotus Cult's infamous criminal and resident madwoman—was smiling as she sat beside Gu Mo.

Her bloodstained gown could not conceal her two legs, smooth and warm as polished jade. At the ends of those slender, jade-like legs, her mischievous toes bobbed up and down.

Only then did everyone understand the meaning of the phrase “legs worth staring at for years.”

Wasn't that how the song on those short-video apps put it?

“A sister's legs are not for retreat,
but spring water winding by the riverside.
A sister's waist is not merely a waist,
but the curved saber of the Grim Three-Saber!”

For a moment, the dull, stifling truck bed was filled with springtime allure and boundless romantic intrigue.

Judging from the calm, indifferent expression on Flower Thousand Words's face, the mad girl seemed entirely unconcerned about the imprisonment awaiting her.

Could being locked up actually become addictive?

Suddenly, the heavy truck seemed to roll over something hard.

With a bang, everyone in the vehicle bounced into the air.

Gu Mo, still unconscious, took advantage of the motion and let his head fall onto Xiao Yulou's shoulder.

Then, for reasons known only to herself, the madwoman reached out and placed Gu Mo's head on her own fragrant shoulder.

At the sight of this bizarre scene, Xiao Yulou—the lecherous Taoist—immediately objected.

The scruffy Taoist in black robes flicked his sleeve, snatched Gu Mo's head back, and reclaimed the shoulder.

The madwoman struck again, placing Gu Mo's head on her shoulder once more.

This absurdly melodramatic scene instantly began playing out inside the truck.

What the hell? This was supposed to be horror and the supernatural. When had it turned into a middle-aged soap opera? The strange was becoming truly strange!

Watching this unfold, Yu Kongcheng cleared his throat and planted one foot atop the bizarre chest in the middle of the truck.

Flower Thousand Words, her gown drenched in blood, stared fixedly at Yu Kongcheng, as though plotting some devilish scheme…