Chapter 128

With a loud bang, echoing through the South City Port, tear gas rounds shot out from the barrel, splattering a mist of bullets, filling the air with the smell of gunpowder.

At 6:45 PM, Xie Jianing launched an attack against the searching police force, his whereabouts fully exposed.

“Captain Tian! The target has launched an attack! One officer injured, shot in the shoulder!”

“The suspect is on top of the 16th row, second column of containers! Requesting backup!”

“Everyone, be careful! Bullets will ricochet off the containers!”

“The suspect is moving fast! Hurry up and cut him off!”

Soon, the officers engaged in combat with Xie Jianing encountered a problem. In the narrow dark alley, the tear gas bullets would bounce off the container’s metal plates upon impact, creating ricochets that were difficult to dodge.

Gunshots continued to ring out, tearing through the night sky, turning the South City Port into a scene of fierce battle.

Xie Jianing took the initiative with his gunfire, catching the officers off guard. His elevated position made it easy to defend and difficult to attack.

As night fell and the darkness deepened, Xie Jianing was familiar with the terrain here. The officers had been scattered in their search and couldn’t regroup in time. Although there was assistance from port security, it was evident they couldn’t control this armed assailant.

With the advantage of timing, location, and personnel, this murderer held all the cards!

At this moment, Xie Jianing ran swiftly atop the containers. Engaging two officers who were close to catching up, Xie Jianing suddenly turned around, sneering, and fired several shots at the detectives chasing him below. Each shot from the tear gas gun produced small ricochets that flew rapidly through the alleyway, changing direction abruptly upon hitting the containers, making them impossible to defend against.

In the blink of an eye, another officer was injured, lying in a pool of blood.

The harbor security personnel were intimidated by his reckless behavior and didn’t dare to approach.

With sparks flying in the alley, amidst the fierce battle, Zhang Ziqi hurriedly pulled his injured colleague to take cover in the gap between the containers. Fortunately, the tear gas gun’s power was limited, and the two injured officers were not critically wounded.

Tian Ming glanced at the intense battle there but didn’t dare to leave the ship. He said over the intercom, “The land route is blocked, but the water route is difficult to block. If this guy gets on the ship, we won’t know where he’ll go. Search for cover, narrow the perimeter. Damn it, I refuse to believe that with so many of us, we can’t catch him.”

“Captain Tian, you don’t know, this guy is crazy, charging forward like he doesn’t care about his life!” Zhang Ziqi’s voice came through the channel, mixed with the sounds of gunfire.

Tian Ming said, “He has four lives on him, daring to confront the police! In this situation, shooting him dead would be commendable!” After a moment of thought, he added, “Tear gas rounds are limited. He can’t carry too many bullets with him. Be careful, once he runs out, it’ll be easier to catch him.”

While speaking, Xie Jianing, running on the upper level of the containers, looked at the situation below. He reached the end of a stack of containers. At the top end, there was a horizontal bridge, but below was a dead end.

Xie Jianing glanced at the distant gangway and cargo ship. With a gun in one hand and holding onto the railing with the other, he slid down from a height of over six meters. With the intense movement, his breathing became heavy, and his gasping sounded like a ferocious beast.

Several officers were led to this location by him, wanting to catch up with Xie Jianing. Either they needed to climb onto the containers or bypass the obstructing containers. They could only watch helplessly as he escaped.

“F*ck! This kid is too cunning, leading us into a dead end! And he escaped from above, leaving us behind in one go!” New developments kept coming through the channel.

“Captain Tian, be careful, this guy is heading in your direction! He may be trying to get on the ship!”

Shaking off several officers, Xie Jianing was now not far from the ship docked on the shore. Holding the gun, he sprinted towards the searching ship. It was a plan he had already devised, and he hadn’t even thought about whether he would be caught after boarding the ship, or where he would escape to.

The setting sun gradually disappeared below the horizon, as if invisible hands had blocked the sunlight. The sky darkened gradually, and amidst the sea breeze, there was the smell of gunpowder mixed with the stench of blood.

“F*cking little beast!” Seeing Xie Jianing rushing over, Tian Ming emerged from cover, firing several shots from his gun in rapid succession.

Xie Jianing ran at full speed, surprisingly not dodging or evading, but charging straight ahead.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Several gunshots rang out, bullets flying past Xie Jianing’s side. One grazed his arm, leaving a blood trail on his right hand. This minor injury only seemed to further provoke Xie Jianing’s ferocity. He ran to within five meters of Tian Ming, raised his shotgun, and fired.

Tian Ming’s gun happened to run out of bullets, and just as he was about to reload, there was a moment of hesitation, a slight delay. Meanwhile, Zhang Ziqi, who was rushing over, hurriedly provided cover fire, shooting a bullet far behind Xie Jianing. The bullet hit Xie Jianing’s back, passing through his ribcage and spraying blood. However, Xie Jianing seemed unfazed, sneering as he pulled the trigger.

The detectives all understood that the person before them was a fearless, pain-insensitive lunatic!

“Watch out!” At a critical moment, Qiao Chu pulled Tian Ming aside. Several stray tear gas pellets still managed to hit Tian Ming’s thigh, leaving blood stains on his pants. Qiao Chu’s arm was also splattered with a few spots, as the hot pellets pierced the skin, causing intense pain.

At this moment, a police car drove into the midst of the intense battle at the port. Despite the rain of bullets, it elegantly stopped not far away, and then Song Wen opened the car door and rushed out.

At this critical moment, it was the police car with Song Wen and Lu Siyu that arrived first.

Xie Jianing had already rushed onto the gangway at this time. His eyes were bloodshot, and he turned around to aim his gun at the injured officers. As he raised his gun, Song Wen rushed out quickly, charging to within a meter of Xie Jianing. His face turned cold, ignoring the danger, he forcefully pushed up with his right arm to push the gun barrel in Xie Jianing’s hand upward. With a gunshot, a tear gas round was fired into the air.

Song Wen circled around with his right hand, grabbing the hot barrel of the gun, ignoring the momentary burn to his palm. The gun in his other hand was pressed against Xie Jianing’s left shoulder blade, and with a shot, blood spurted out. Xie Jianing felt a sharp pain in his arm and let go of the gun.

Song Wen wanted to raise his gun and shoot again, but Xie Jianing pushed forward, using his uninjured hand to forcefully pull. With great strength, Song Wen’s wrist was injured, and the gun in his hand slipped and fell to the ground.

Both men were now unarmed, and the nearby Tian Ming and Qiao Chu were already injured and lying on the ground. The supporting officers were all ten meters away, leaving them to resort to hand-to-hand combat.

Xie Jianing charged forward with all his strength, his face twisted in a grimace, while Song Wen used his agility to evade two of his attacks, landing a punch on Xie Jianing’s injured rib.

As Xie Jianing staggered backward, Song Wen took out handcuffs from his waist, cuffing Xie Jianing’s right hand. Xie Jianing struggled desperately, and in the chaos, Song Wen spoke, “Xie Jianing, you’re not getting away today!”

Xie Jianing froze for a second, as if he had long expected this outcome.

Finally, the sun set, gathering its light, leaving only a distant golden edge on the sea. Darkness was about to envelop the earth and sky.

At this moment, the fat man on the ship stuck his head out and shouted, “Hurry up!”

Tian Ming’s earlier judgment was correct. This was indeed the human trafficker’s ship, and those people only cared about money. At this point, they still wanted to take Xie Jianing away, showing no fear of the police pursuit.

This shout awakened Xie Jianing as if from a dream, and suddenly he regained his spirit.

No! Even if I have to die, I can’t die on the shore!

Xie Jianing’s face showed a fierce light as he suddenly pulled out a small knife from behind and stabbed towards the unprepared Song Wen.

Song Wen dodged to the side, but the blade still cut through flesh, leaving a long bloodstain on his waist. His clothes were torn at the waist, the wound was deep, and the pain surged instantly to his brain. Song Wen let out a low groan, biting his lip and pressing his hand against the wound, hot blood slipping through his fingers.

Taking advantage of Song Wen’s distraction, Xie Jianing didn’t want to engage with him. He turned and ran, sprinting towards the boat! Almost simultaneously, a figure followed him and boarded the fishing boat.

It was Lu Siyu. He and Song Wen got out of the car almost simultaneously, but Lu Siyu was a step slower. When they arrived here, they caught up just as Xie Jianing broke free from Song Wen’s restraints. Without much thought, Lu Siyu’s first reaction was to intercept on the boat. The culprit had already injured several people in a row, and they couldn’t let him escape again!

Song Wen tried to chase, but because of the wound on his waist, he was a step slower and missed the chance to board the boat.

In that instant, the engine of the boat roared to life, carrying Lu Siyu and Xie Jianing swiftly across the dark water. In the blink of an eye, they were several meters away from the shore.

Xie Jianing still wanted to run, but he was already injured in several places. As the boat started moving, he almost slipped and fell. He grabbed the railing next to him with his hand, trying to hide in the cabin.

Lu Siyu came to his side and reached out to pull Xie Jianing back, who was trying to enter the cabin.

Xie Jianing turned around, his eyes red, looking at Lu Siyu as if a ferocious beast charging towards him. Lu Siyu steadied his mind, aiming every blow at Xie Jianing’s wounds. Within a few moves, he pressed the desperate Xie Jianing onto the deck.

Lu Siyu noticed that Xie Jianing’s hand was already handcuffed. He reached out to grab Xie Jianing’s other hand, intending to handcuff both of them together. However, at this moment, Xie Jianing suddenly stretched out bloody hands and grabbed his arms.

“I remember you…” Xie Jianing narrowed his eyes, staring at Lu Siyu who was pressing him down.

He had seen him before, but the last time he saw him on the street, he was still dressed as a woman, standing next to a car. At that time, he was hiding in the shadows, unable to help but take a few more glances at him from afar…

At that time, Xie Jianing was still marveling at how there could be such a beautiful woman in the world…

He wanted to find him, to have him, to kill him. He had already marked him as his prey, absolutely not to be owned by anyone else.

Everyone wanted him dead, but he refused to let them have their way.

Even in death, he wanted to take someone down with him!

In that instant, Lu Siyu felt a strong force pulling him, and he widened his eyes, trying to break free. But the person in front of him turned into a beast, locking his arms tightly around him. Xie Jianing suddenly made a surprising move. He hugged Lu Siyu and plunged into the deep sea below the deck of the boat.

With a splash, both of them fell into the water!

“Lu Siyu!” At the moment of falling into the water, Lu Siyu seemed to hear Song Wen calling his name. Then, bone-chilling cold covered his whole body, penetrating deep into his viscera and marrow…

It was already mid-autumn, and the weather had cooled down in the morning and evening. Both of them fell from the dock into the chilly water. They were separated by the rising tide. Surrounding them was cold water, feeling like countless ice shards piercing their bodies, with the tide surging, making it difficult to maintain their balance.

In the water, Lu Siyu hesitated for a moment, but still chose to swim towards the culprit.

As darkness fell and visibility in the water was low, blood flowed from Xie Jianing’s body as soon as he fell into the water. He used all his strength to swim forward.

Lu Siyu felt his whole body immersed in icy coldness. He tried to steady his mind and search for Xie Jianing’s whereabouts. Both of them swam forward for a few meters. Lu Siyu heard Xie Jianing’s voice underwater, accelerated his strokes, and finally caught up with Xie Jianing. Then, Lu Siyu turned underwater, grabbed Xie Jianing’s throat with one arm, and tried to hold onto the handcuffs on Xie Jianing’s hand with all his might.

Xie Jianing struggled desperately, as if mad, trying to break free with all his strength. Several times, the handcuffs slipped through Lu Siyu’s fingertips, grazing his fingers.

Underwater, it was a silent battle.

Their bodies floated and sank with the rising tide, intermittently.

There were some iron supports built during construction along the dock, with water level markings on them. Amidst the struggle, they swam past one of these iron supports. Lu Siyu held onto the handcuffs on Xie Jianing’s hand, gritting his teeth as he hooked onto the iron support.

With a thud, underwater, Xie Jianing’s hand was firmly locked to the iron support.

Today, Xie Jianing couldn’t escape no matter what.

The entire struggle lasted only a few dozen seconds but was extremely exhausting.

Lu Siyu finally breathed a sigh of relief. He felt he was nearing his limit, swimming upwards to try to surface for air.

At this moment, Xie Jianing, no longer fearing life or death, continued to resist. Watching Lu Siyu’s movements, he suddenly reached out with his other hand, grabbing him tightly, attempting to drown him in the water.

With one hand handcuffed to the iron support, Xie Jianing’s hand became his leverage. He used the cuffed hand to grab the iron support, exerting force, and fiercely kicked Lu Siyu under the ribs.

The last air in his body was squeezed out, Lu Siyu coughed silently underwater, bubbles escaping from his mouth and nose. The icy seawater was about to enter his lungs, but he held his breath, not choking. However, with no air left in his body, he knew he couldn’t hold on for much longer.

The bulletproof vest, originally for protection, now weighed him down like lead, dragging his entire body downwards. With Xie Jianing’s kick, Lu Siyu’s body moved backward with the water current, drifting several meters away. He felt something mesh-like entangling his feet…

Unable to breathe, unable to break free, with no air left in his body…

The more he struggled, the deeper he sank.

Lu Siyu keenly felt the sensation of suffocation. His eyes widened, unable to see anything amidst the icy and piercing seawater. He could only sense a faint glimmer of light in the direction of the water surface, which soon disappeared completely, enveloped by darkness…

With no oxygen left in his body, his heartbeat slowed down, staying for a long time in the cold water, his body temperature being taken away. A sense of despair enveloped him.

In the next instant, the entire world quieted down. This sensation wasn’t as uncomfortable as he imagined; instead, it was quite peaceful.

Lu Siyu reached out a hand, trying to grasp something, but there was only the cold seawater around him, endless. He felt a sense of regret in his heart. There were still many things he hadn’t done, many truths he hadn’t uncovered, many answers he hadn’t found, and many words… he hadn’t said to that person.

But at this moment, his consciousness was beginning to blur, as if invisible hands were tightly strangling his throat… He had approached death countless times before, and now, the feeling of death was the most real…

Fu Linjiang and the policemen who arrived later finally reached the dockside. They witnessed the entire struggle on the boat.

When Lu Siyu and Xie Jianing fell into the water together, they had already been carried away from the shore by the boat by several tens of meters.

Song Wen reacted first. He shouted Lu Siyu’s name, disregarding the wound on his waist, taking off his bulletproof vest, and jumping into the water.

Then, the boat abandoned the fallen Xie Jianing and quickly sailed away.

The detectives watched as the dark sea churned a few times in the distance, then gradually everything returned to calm.

“What are you waiting for? Prepare to go down and rescue!” Tian Ming limped over anxiously, and everyone’s faces were filled with worry.

Darkness shrouded the earth, and the lighting control device set up on the dock had already reached its preset time. With a slight sound of electricity passing through, the entire port suddenly lit up. In an instant, from complete darkness, it became brightly illuminated, with orange light strips everywhere, illuminating the various colored containers, making the entire port look like a dreamy city.

Looking down from the shore, only the dark surface of the water could be seen, making it impossible to see the situation.

Two detectives who had arrived earlier jumped into the water, and after a dozen seconds, they swam out. “The water is deep, and with the tide changing, we don’t know where they’ve been washed to.”

A few seconds later, another person floated up. “The visibility underwater is too low…”

Tian Ming urged, “Get more people down there, hurry and search!”

Drowning only takes two or three minutes. With each passing second, Lu Siyu became more and more endangered, and there was no movement from Song Wen, who jumped in later and was also injured.

Suddenly, bubbles emerged from a spot on the water’s surface. The people felt a glimmer of hope and looked towards it with the aid of the lights. They saw Xie Jianing emerging from underwater, gasping for breath. Someone tried to grab him, but suddenly found that his hand was handcuffed, fixed to an iron rod nearby, unable to move.

This murderer couldn’t escape in the end.

“He’s handcuffed, what about Lu Siyu…” Fu Linjiang said, his gaze shifting to the dark and calm sea. Everyone’s hearts sank, fearing that this time he might be in grave danger.

Tian Ming took a few steps forward, pulled out his gun, and pointed it at Xie Jianing’s head from a distance, asking, “Damn it, where’s the cop you dragged down?”

Xie Jianing looked at them, lifted his head, and let out a strange chuckle. If he could delay for just one more minute, Lu Siyu might never resurface.

In the icy cold water, Lu Siyu fell into a state of confusion, surrounded by darkness. He felt he had reached his limit and was about to faint.

Death was imminent.

He was trapped at the bottom of this dark water, and beyond the dense darkness, it felt like countless demons were watching him, ready to tear him apart. Just as he fell into despair, countless dots of light suddenly penetrated through the water, dispersing the darkness. Lu Siyu opened his eyes underwater and looked up. The entire world suddenly brightened, as if someone had lit up the starry sky.

In the depths of the ocean, a blurry figure swam towards him.

Lu Siyu saw that it was Song Wen.

It was said that before death, people would fall into illusions, and many experiences in life would flash before their eyes like a lantern show. Family, friends, long-forgotten memories were awakened from the depths of the brain.

In the translucent blue sea, Lu Siyu felt that Song Wen was emitting a soft silvery-blue light, especially his handsome face, as if he were a creature that shouldn’t exist in the human world. He couldn’t help but widen his eyes and look at him.

Lu Siyu initially thought it was a hallucination before his death, that it must have been his obsession that made him see him at this moment.

He kept looking at Song Wen until he approached, confirming that it wasn’t his hallucination. He could even see the wound on Song Wen’s waist blossoming with blood underwater.

Lu Siyu remembered that this darkness was what Song Wen feared the most, and he was also injured. But at this moment, Song Wen seemed to be indifferent to all of that…

Lu Siyu watched as Song Wen swam to his side, grabbed him, and the next moment, Song Wen’s face gradually enlarged, his warm body pressed against him, his gaze gentle…

The boundary between life and death was just a thought away.

In the cold seawater, Lu Siyu was embraced by someone, held in Song Wen’s arms.

Whether it was fate between them or telepathy, for some reason, whenever they were between life and death, this person would appear by his side… holding him tightly. That person seemed to be a warm sunshine, breaking through all the darkness around him.

Lu Siyu slowly closed his eyes, feeling something warm and soft touch his lips, his lips were pried open, and a precious bit of air entered his mouth through the gap.

It was a gentle kiss.

Everything around was blurry, as if it were a dream, making it feel unreal. But it wasn’t an illusion… he could touch the person’s body, feel their breath. In this over one-meter-deep sea, in this quiet place, the two floated gently with the waves…

The whole world was quiet, as if all the other people and things didn’t exist, only this place, only the two of them.