Chapter 3

“Ah… ah!” Cai Chengji finally curled himself into a ball on the seat and screamed after yet another swerve across the double yellow lines by the minivan, staring at the oncoming truck.

Su Yan’s right eardrum ached from his high-pitched shriek. Along with the truck’s blaring horn, she swiftly turned the steering wheel, narrowly avoiding a collision as the minivan brushed past the truck. The police van even felt slightly airborne from the airflow.

Having just experienced the ‘Aftermath of a Disaster,’ Cai Chengji felt his legs trembling. He first glanced back at the sedan falling behind again before turning forward with a dazed tone: “Yan-mei, let’s make a deal—gentler… please!”

Before he finished speaking, the minivan swerved back to its original lane. Only then did Su Yan leisurely glance at the passenger seat: “Brother Cai, what were you saying?”

Cai Chengji clutched his seatbelt tightly, unable to snap out of it.

Just then, the pursuing sedan revved its engine, the roar echoing through the night. Su Yan could even see the thick exhaust fumes in the rearview mirror. Frowning, she spoke quickly: “This won’t do…” She checked the fuel gauge. “Brother Cai, open the navigation for me.”

“…Okay…” Cai Chengji’s mind was numb, his thinking sluggish as he mechanically pulled out his phone, opened the navigation app, and handed it to her.

Su Yan took the phone with one hand, glanced at the blue dot marking their location, then zoomed in and out of the map a few times before tossing it back into Cai Chengji’s lap.

“Meimei…” Xiang Yang’s eyelids twitched as he turned to Jiang Li, who had been silently monitoring the situation behind them. “Captain Jiang… maybe you two should switch when you get a chance. We can’t gamble with all four of our lives…” He trusted Jiang Li from years of partnership, knowing his capabilities. But this rookie who’d just transferred in? He’d have to be insane to entrust his life to her.

“Too late,” Jiang Li replied.

The next second, the police minivan sharply turned into a narrow side road off the main street. Even braced for it, Jiang Li’s back still slammed against the door with a dull throb of pain.

*Click.* The surroundings plunged into darkness—Su Yan had turned off the headlights.

A flicker of understanding crossed Jiang Li’s eyes. Pretending he wasn’t surprised would be a lie; he just couldn’t believe an academy trainee could think this fast.

“Wait—this is seriously dangerous…” Cai Chengji gaped at the pitch-black outside the window. Nearby shapes were indistinct shadows, let alone anything farther away. Whether this was wasteland or near some village, if someone suddenly darted out and they couldn’t brake in time—wouldn’t that mean manslaughter?

Su Yan pressed her lips together, stifling a sigh that threatened to escape. The psychological training in the special forces was rigorous, so she hadn’t taken the two men’s disdain to heart. She understood the reasoning, but an inexplicable urge to play a prank suddenly rose within her. Calculating the time and recalling the map she’d just seen, she lightly tapped the brakes, slowing the van down just enough for the pursuing sedan to catch up on the narrow road. As Cai Chengji let out a howl of terror, she slammed the accelerator again, swerving sharply into another alley.  

After repeating this maneuver several times, she finally felt a bit more at ease, watching as Cai Chengji seemed on the verge of losing his soul and Xiang Yang rolled around like a ball in the backseat. No longer deliberately slowing down, she executed a few sharp turns and lane changes, successfully shaking off the sedan.  

When the van finally returned to the main road, the glaring streetlights illuminated their faces, and Cai Chengji looked like he was about to cry.  

Su Yan adjusted the rearview mirror, turned on the headlights, and sped toward the city. About half an hour later, the van entered the outer ring road, where traffic grew denser. Only then did Cai Chengji and Xiang Yang exhale in relief. Even Jiang Li, whose body had been tense the entire time, relaxed slightly. After all, navigating that maze of twisting alleys in the dead of night would be difficult even for locals, let alone the mysterious sedan that had pursued them.  

“Damn it, what the hell was that…?” Cai Chengji wiped the back of his neck, his hand coming away damp with cold sweat.  

Xiang Yang finally managed to sit properly in his seat. Buckling his seatbelt, he gritted his teeth. “Captain Jiang, I think this has something to do with Da’an Village. During the routine questioning earlier, I noticed the village committee members had shifty eyes—they’re definitely hiding something!” He snorted. “Since I survived tonight, I’m gonna tear off their damn disguises!”  

Cai Chengji naturally agreed, muttering about how lucky it was that the forensics team had left quickly—if they’d been the ones chased, the consequences would’ve been unthinkable.  

Jiang Li remained silent, his expression still tense and contemplative. Su Yan didn’t interject either, but she observed the subtle shifts in his shadowed face. His thoughtful demeanor told her one thing: his thoughts clearly differed from Xiang Yang’s and Cai Chengji’s.  

Amid the curses and complaints, the battered police van finally pulled into the station’s courtyard. Cai Chengji was the first to jump out, inspecting the vehicle’s condition before stomping in fury. “Damn it, I’m calling the forensics team to work overnight. If we don’t crush these bastards, I’ll write my name backward!”

“Brother Cai, it might not be the people from Da’an Village… That sedan just now was specially modified, and it even had close-range friction and collisions with our car…” Su Yan bent down to touch the scratches on the side of the car, where paint from the other vehicle had chipped off. “That car’s performance and structure are closer to military standards. I doubt Da’an Village has that capability… Of course, I’m not saying Da’an Village is innocent.” She quickly added the last part to clarify.

“Military-grade?” Xiang Yang was startled and looked her up and down. “You can tell that?”

Su Yan lowered her head and replied, “Personal hobby.” She had taken the risk to mention it because she wanted to gauge Jiang Li’s reaction. Based on all the observations she had made today, she had a strong hunch. That so-called ‘joint military-police operation’ Jiang Li had participated in recently might very well be the same ‘Evil Eradication Operation’ where she had lost someone. If that were the case, then tonight’s sedan would make sense—the leader of the cross-border criminal group targeted in the ‘Evil Eradication Operation’ hadn’t been brought to justice and wouldn’t easily let go of anyone from the task force.

Jiang Li narrowed his eyes, staring intently at the top of Su Yan’s head for a long while before finally speaking in a calm tone, “You’ve worked hard tonight. Go home and rest. You don’t have to come in tomorrow—consider it compensatory leave for overtime.” He made no mention of what had just happened.

Nodding, Su Yan didn’t press further and turned to walk toward a bright yellow sports coupe. She started the engine and disappeared with a roar of the accelerator.

Xiang Yang sighed as he watched the taillights fade into the distance. “With a family background like hers, why would she choose to be a cop? And… Cai Bao, don’t you think this little girl is a bit too uncanny?” She drove like a pro, almost on par with a professional racer, and seemed to know a lot about these things—didn’t you hear how detailed her analysis was just now?

Cai Chengji wasn’t surprised and shrugged. “Don’t you remember when she first came to the city bureau for her internship? Everyone was privately discussing how her background wasn’t simple…” Though it was all speculation, the consensus was that her family was anything but ordinary—there had to be some truth to the rumors. Kids with connections like hers naturally had broader horizons, which wasn’t exactly shocking.

“What I’m more curious about is how she just got out of a car accident, yet she drives like she’s got no psychological scars at all. Pretty impressive,” he added with admiration.

“Enough,” Jiang Li cut off their chatter with a wave. “Go back to the dorm and get some sleep. We’ve got a busy day tomorrow.”

…

The next morning, Jiang Li and the other two struggled to get out of bed in the dorm. They each grabbed a large steamed bun from the cafeteria and ate as they walked toward their office in the building.

“Later, I’ll head to the tech team first to see if they’ve got any results… Wonder if they pulled an all-nighter yesterday…” Cai Chengji pushed open the office door, still turned around to talk to Xiang Yang behind him. Jiang Li had split off from them earlier, presumably to report to the chief’s office—what exactly he was reporting wasn’t something they could guess.

However, upon entering, the two men were taken aback to see someone by the window watering the plants with a watering can.  

“Didn’t Captain Jiang tell you to rest?” Xiang Yang asked in surprise. “Besides, isn’t staying up late the worst thing for you girls? Afraid of getting those… dark circles under your eyes.”  

“I couldn’t sleep at home anyway, so I might as well come to work,” Su Yan replied, seeming slightly reserved.  

Regardless, her professional attitude earned their approval, so they didn’t press further. A few minutes later, Cai Chengji went to the Technical Division, but there were no noteworthy findings yet. He returned to the Special Task Force, preparing to lead a team to Da’an Village for more detailed inquiries.  

After selecting three others to accompany them, Cai Chengji turned and noticed Su Yan sitting at a desk, seemingly lost in thought. Almost impulsively, he said, “Su Yan, why don’t you come along?”  

Faced with Xiang Yang’s incredulous look, Cai Chengji stood firm. With six people, they’d need a van—and vans were manual transmission. Not to mention, there was always the chance they’d encounter another situation like last night’s. In the entire Special Task Force, who could drive as skillfully as this girl?  

Thus, Xiang Yang relented. In just one night, the two had already developed trust in this intern temporarily assigned to the Special Task Force.  

By mid-morning, they arrived at Da’an Village. After contacting the village secretary, they set up the questioning at the village committee office. Quite a few villagers came forward to assist with the investigation, clearly concerned about their own interests and eager for the case to be solved so tourism could resume. Many tourists had packed up and left overnight after hearing about the death, and even more departed this morning. The incident had even made the morning news, so a sharp decline in visitors was inevitable.  

The village secretary, Pei An, a native of Da’an Village, was diligent in organizing the villagers to cooperate with the investigation.  

Su Yan had been quietly observing Cai Chengji and the others from the back, “learning” from their work, when she suddenly noticed a figure lingering near the window by the entrance. She walked over and peeked out the door—a young woman in her twenties, her hair in a ponytail, her expression conflicted. The woman stood nervously by the window, fidgeting with her fingers, her back turned.  

Su Yan quickly searched her memory of last night. Due to the dim lighting, many faces had been unclear, but she vaguely remembered this woman—she had been following Pei An and had called him “Dad.”  

“Excuse me… would you like to come in?” Su Yan spoke up after watching for a while, realizing the woman hadn’t noticed her.  

Startled, the woman turned abruptly, glanced at her, then quickly lowered her head and shook it vigorously. “N-no… I just came to see my dad.” With that, she hurried away.  

Su Yan didn’t pursue her, only watching the retreating figure in light blue jeans before blinking thoughtfully.