Chapter Thirteen: The Farewell Kiss

  "This kid has quite a personality." Wang Xing said, leaning on the steering wheel.

  "What a character, such a big fool." Ma Ling curled her lips.

  Wang Xing smiled and started the car, shouting: "Get in."

  "You go yourself." Ma Ling walked in the direction where Liu Handong had disappeared.

  "Didn't you say he's a big idiot? Why are you still going to look for him?" Wang Xing shouted at Ma Ling, who was walking away.

  "I'm glad." Ma Ling replied with a sentence and also disappeared into the darkness.

  "Nowadays young people... have a generation gap." Wang Xing muttered two sentences and stepped on the accelerator, leaving.

  Ma Ling caught up with Liu Handong: "Hey, we meet again."

  Liu Handong walked quickly, "This doesn't count."

  "How can you just give up? You're being lazy." Ma Ling grabbed Liu Handong's arm.

  "Alright, I'm Liu Handong, male, 27 years old, unmarried, no house, no car, no money, and no job."

  Ma Lingdao said: "I just asked you your name, what's with all this nonsense, what are you getting at?"

  Liu Handong said: "I didn't mean it."

  "Where are you going now?" Ma Lingdao asked.

  "Going home, I haven't been back home to see my mom for a long time." Liu Handong said as he walked.

  "Where is your home?" Ma Ling quickly caught up.

  Jiangbei City

  "Where is Jiangbei? I've been to Jiangbei."

  "A bend in the river north."

  "Come on, I'm not checking your household registration, are you planning to walk back to Jiangbei? It's over 300 kilometers."

  Liu Handong stood under a bus stop sign: "I didn't say I was going back."

  Ma Ling also stood shoulder to shoulder with him under the bus stop sign.

  It's 9:30 at night, the last bus crossing the river arrived, there were not many people on the bus. Liu Handong got on the bus, took out a wet ten-yuan note from his pants pocket and threw it into the ticket box, and sat in the last row. Because this is an air-conditioned car, the window of the last row can be opened, which is convenient for escaping.

  Ma Ling and he sat together.

  The bus continued to move forward, got on the Huaijiang Bridge, and in front of it, there were red and blue police lights flashing. The police set up a checkpoint to inspect vehicles, all social vehicles had to be checked, and the trunk had to be opened for the police to see.

  Beside the roadblock, SWAT team members held Type 79 submachine guns, as if facing a formidable enemy. Police dogs were eager to pounce into action. Traffic police wearing reflective vests waved their signs, occasionally stopping a car for inspection.

  The bus stopped and three SWAT police officers boarded it, shining their flashlights on passengers' faces to check their IDs.

  Liu Handong tensed up, his muscles tightened, and he was ready to strike at any moment.

  Ma Ling clung tightly to him and whispered: "Kiss me."

  Liu Handong hesitated for a moment, then hugged Ma Ling and started kissing her passionately. The two were entwined in the back seat of the bus, completely absorbed in each other, ignoring the police.

  The police flashlight shone over, and after flashing twice, they got out of the car. Intelligence showed that the suspect was accompanied by a 14-year-old girl, but the two passionate people in the back seat were clearly not them.

  The bus started again and escaped danger.

  After crossing the Huaijiang Bridge, they got off at the first stop. The new city on the north bank had just started construction, and under the streetlights, it was desolate and empty.

  The bus drove away, and Ma Ling slapped Liu Handong in the face.

  "What's wrong with you?" Liu Handong exclaimed in shock.

  "You're playing tricks on me." Ma Ling said.

  "Didn't you ask me to kiss you?" Liu Handong covered his face, actually it didn't hurt that much.

  "Who allowed you to get so close?" Ma Ling asked sternly.

  "Then I'll start again." Liu Handong swept Ma Ling into his arms, a passionate kiss sealing her lips shut.

  Ma Ling symbolically resisted for a moment, his body tense like a bow, and then softened, hooking Liu Handong's neck to cooperate with him.

  It was unclear how much time had passed, perhaps a minute or an hour, but Liu Handong finally let go and helped Ma Ling tidy up his clothes: "I should leave."

  "Be careful." Ma Ling said.

  "Uh-huh."

  "After the storm passes, come back and find me, I'll be driving bus 520, you know."

  "Got it." Liu Handong walked away with big strides.

  Ma Ling stood dazed and disoriented under the streetlight for a long time.

  ……

  The command center for the Tiehua Street shooting case, Deputy Director Hao Guanghui was in charge of directing, a batch of firearms were seized, an unlicensed vehicle was found, and according to investigation, it was a stolen vehicle two days ago. One thug was sent to hospital unconscious. However, when reviewing the surveillance footage on Tiehua Street, it was discovered that all the cameras were malfunctioning.

  Eight firearms were left at the scene, including standard-issue military pistols, homemade pistols, smuggled foreign military rifles, civilian shotguns, and an expired American-made hand grenade. Most of the bullets had been fired, with bullet holes riddling the walls of the house, bloodstains on the stairs, and fragments of flesh and brain tissue on the ceiling. The gruesome scene even shocked veteran detectives who had seen it all.

  This is not murder, it's war.

  Six killers were killed, mostly in the yard, four were lying in the corridor, with bodies piled on top of each other. One person's head was blown open by a rifle bullet, two people's heads were hit by handgun bullets and died, one person was shot six times and became a sieve, and another was hit by a No. 12 shotgun shell in the chest, with the upper body becoming a blood gourd. After inputting the facial features and fingerprints of these people into the system, it was found that there were released prisoners and fugitives, mostly vicious criminals with homicide cases on their backs.

  These casualties were allegedly caused by two people, one of whom was a civilian policeman named Ma Guoqiang from the fireworks dispatch station, and the other was Liu Handong, an unemployed vagrant.

  Before that, the criminal police were investigating Liu Handong because he was a suspect in a kidnapping case. After locating him through technical means, they were about to go to Tiegu Street for arrest, but unexpectedly, this group of killers seized the opportunity first.

  Ma Guoqiang was shot and lying in the hospital, still unconscious from anesthesia. His sidearm, an outdated 54-style handgun, had gone missing. The police confirmed that it had been taken by Liu Handong. A citywide manhunt for Liu Handong is currently underway. Checkpoints have been set up at train stations, docks, airports, and major transportation routes, as well as exit toll booths. Community police are searching hotels, internet cafes, and rental houses in an effort to find Liu Handong and the missing handgun.

  Mayor Jin personally called to give instructions, requiring the police officers involved in the operation to overcome all difficulties, fear no sacrifice, resolutely safeguard the lives and property of the people, and bring the criminals to justice. Deputy Director Hao, on behalf of the task force, made a military-style pledge to crack the case within three days.

  In fact, in less than three days, the thugs who were unconscious woke up and confessed everything under the strong psychological offensive of the public security police. They were a small team of eight professional killers who did not know each other, hired by a man named Jun Ge. He drove a black Highlander, had scars on his face, and promised 100,000 yuan to each of them after the task was completed. Their mission was to kill a couple living in a small building.

  This man called Jun Ge, Hao Guanghui is not unfamiliar with. Gu Changjun, graduated from Jiangdong Provincial Public Security College in 1991, has worked in the police station, security detachment, and criminal police detachment. He values loyalty and reputation, and has close ties with people in society. Later, due to involvement in prostitution and gambling, he was ordered by Song Jianfeng, the head of the provincial public security department, to be expelled from the public security force. It is said that many leaders spoke on his behalf, but Song Jianfeng insisted on expelling Gu Changjun, even sacrificing one of his favorite subordinates, criminal police officer Wang Xing, who was also expelled.

  Gu Changjun is a person of Wang Shifeng, the chairman of the Shifeng Group. The rise of the Shifeng Group is entirely due to the support of Mayor Jin. To put it bluntly, the Shifeng Group is just a tool for Jin to make money.

  Moving against Gu Zhangjun would inevitably involve Wang Shifeng, and arresting Wang Shifeng would be equivalent to slapping Mayor Jin in the face. This is a very obvious truth, so Deputy Director Hao hesitated to issue an arrest warrant for Gu Zhangjun, he was waiting, waiting for the upper-level game, waiting for Gu Zhangjun to make his move.

  As for why Gu Zhangjun wanted to kill the girl named Shu Fan, it's not the focus of the case. The Shifeng Group has always wanted a piece of land that belongs to Qingshi High-tech and they are unwilling to sell. It's reasonable that the Shifeng Group would find someone to get rid of Xia Qingshi's beloved daughter to give them a warning.

  The Ministry of Public Security has regulations that gun cases and homicide cases must be solved, so Hao Guanghui is under great pressure. He thought Gu Changjun should have gone far away by now, so he made a further report to the provincial bureau and waited for instructions from his superiors.

  The provincial department's Song Jianfeng immediately arrived at the scene, gave a few instructions, cleaned up the scene, and blocked the news. Neither can let the masses produce panic psychology nor can they alarm the criminal behind the scenes.

  Song Ting immediately ordered the arrest of Gu Zhangjun.

  A white Jetta drove over the police cordon and came, everyone in the temporary command center walked out, only to see Wang Xing sticking his head out: "Song Hall, Hao Bureau, I've brought you something."

  Under the gaze of everyone, Wang Xing stopped the car, opened the rear door, and dragged out Gu Changjun who was still unconscious.

  A pungent smell of urine filled the car, Gu Changjun was so scared that he lost control of his bowels, and the Jieda car was stinking beyond measure.

  It's time to change cars after getting the bonus, Wang Xing thought to himself.

  The leaders looked seriously at Gu Changjun who was covered in mud and then looked at Wang Xing.

  "He hired someone to commit murder and there's solid evidence. It was him," said Wang Xingdao. "There's another accomplice in the hospital."

  Song Jianfeng waved his hand and two plainclothes policemen came forward and dragged Gu Changjun away.

  Hao Guanghui said: "Wang Xing, how did you get involved in this? By the way, where is Ma Guoqiang's gun?"

  Wang Xingdao said: "Lao Ma's pistol fell in the hospital, his daughter is keeping it. As for why I got involved, that's a long story..."

  "What about Liu Handong?" asked Hao Guanghui.

  "I'm leaving." Wang Xing replied.

  "Why don't you catch him." Hao Guanghui stamped his foot.

  "Why catch him, I'm not a cop, I'm bored out of my mind to catch him." Wang Xing spread his hands, pretending to be innocent.

  Hao Guanghui was furious and speechless. Wang Xing was originally his subordinate, and the list of leaders who insisted on expelling Wang Xing included him as number one.

  Song Jianfeng watched with cold eyes, without saying a word.

  Inside the command center, Wang Xing recounted the situation he had grasped, and everyone present was an old hand at criminal investigation. They exchanged glances with each other, and this case wasn't complicated. Gu Changjun had attempted to kidnap Xia Qing's daughter Shu Fan but ended up losing his own brother's life instead. He then hired someone again, still aiming to kidnap Shu Fan while also taking out Liu Handong. Unexpectedly, things didn't go as planned, and they ran into Ma Guoqiang and Wang Xing on the scene, rendering their hitman useless.

  Qingshi High-tech is a high-tech enterprise founded by college students from scratch, which is completely different from Shifeng Group, a gray enterprise that relies on entertainment and real estate. If Shifeng Group is a shark, then Qingshi High-tech is a blue whale, but the blue whale can't beat the shark.

  "So where is Shu Fan now?" Song Jianfeng asked.

  Wang Xing leaned over and whispered a sentence in his ear. Song Jianfeng nodded with a smile: "You little devil, you're really clever."