Looking at Han Xiaomin's face, which had become considerably more attractive due to shock and panic, Wang An gave a smug smile and said
"I'll explain it to you in a bit. Let me out first."
Han Xiaomin nodded repeatedly and immediately stood up, shifting her left leg slightly to stand by the side of the chair.
Wang An also rose immediately, walking into the aisle with bent legs. Only after Han Xiaomin had sat back down in the inner chair did Wang An sit again, though he left his left leg in the aisle, leaving his upper body sitting diagonally in the chair.
Of course, the main reason Wang An sat this way was so he could more intuitively keep an eye on the four thieves to see if they would try to take the backpacks belonging to the three of them.
As for Han Xiaomin, ever since she saw the gun hanging from Wang An's clothes, she sat there feeling somewhat lost, as if Wang An were a beast even more terrifying than those four thieves.
Within Wang An's line of sight, he saw one of the thieves already standing beside a mother leading a child, ready to strike at any moment.
Looking at the child beside the mother, Wang An suddenly felt that he shouldn't just watch. Primarily, the child's first impression was one of malnutrition, and their clothes were covered in patch upon patch.
The mother was dressed the same way, and her face was pale. Although her hair was combed meticulously and tied with a strip of cloth, many white hairs were clearly visible within.
Around 30 years old, yet with so many white hairs, combined with the clothing of the mother and child, it was obvious at a glance that their lives were not easy.
Thus, just as the woman pulled her hand from her pocket to support her child, and the thief seized the opportunity to reach into the woman's pocket, Wang An suddenly shouted loudly, like a lunatic
"Aw, fuck your mother! You there, get your claws out! What the fuck are you groping in her pocket for?"
This shout from Wang An instantly made the thief, who was trying to steal from the woman, shudder all over.
It must be said that using the phrase "guilty conscience" to describe this thief was absolutely spot on.
Naturally, the other passengers were also startled, but they immediately snapped to attention and increased their own vigilance, looking nervously at the people around them.
Even the driver's hand on the steering wheel trembled slightly. Fortunately, cars at this time didn't have power steering, so the bus didn't veer off course at all.
After shouting, Wang An acted as if nothing had happened. He turned his face and gave a wide, toothy grin to Han Xiaomin, who was equally frightened.
Seeing that Han Xiaomin was still dazed, Wang An said with a chuckle
"How was that? Was my shout loud enough?"
Han Xiaomin forced a thin smile and said
"Loud... it was very loud."
After Han Xiaomin spoke, Wang An continued to chuckle and said
"I also think it was damn loud. Most people's voices aren't as high as mine. In our village, I'm the best shouter, hahahaha!"
Han Xiaomin forced another smile but did not respond.
Seeing that he was about to succeed only to be interrupted by Wang An's shout, the thief was quite angry and looked over at Wang An with a face full of malice.
However, Wang An ignored him completely and didn't even make eye contact, causing the fierce expression the thief had worked so hard to put on to be wasted entirely.
Because the passengers had increased their vigilance, the four thieves were temporarily unable to make a move. Consequently, all four looked at Wang An with faces full of hatred, as if they wished they could cut him into a thousand pieces.
Wang An, however, maintained an attitude of "a dead pig isn't afraid of boiling water," ignoring the four thieves entirely.
As the bus jolted and time passed, many people relaxed their guard again, and the four thieves began to stir once more.
So, just as another thief was preparing to make a move on a simple-looking middle-aged man, Wang An suddenly shouted again like a lunatic
"Fuck your mother! I said him, not you! What the fuck are you groping in his pocket for?"
Because of the previous shout, the passengers' reaction to this one wasn't as great; they just jumped a little.
The simple middle-aged man clearly noticed something as well. He looked at the thief and shifted his steps to the side, intending to keep a distance from him.
Then, the middle-aged man turned his head and nodded twice to Wang An, casting a gaze of deep gratitude.
Wang An simply smiled at him and immediately turned his head away.
This shout from Wang An, combined with the middle-aged man's behavior, made the passengers on the bus immediately realize that the youth who had been standing beside the man was most likely a thief.
The way many people looked at the thief changed instantly.
However, when traveling, most people do not want to invite trouble, so after glancing at the thief a few times, many stopped looking at him.
But while the crowd stopped looking at the thief, the thief projected all his hatred onto Wang An. Naturally, the expressions of the other three thieves also changed; the look they gave Wang An was no longer just anger, but contained something else.
Yes, that "something else" was killing intent—naked killing intent.
Because although Wang An didn't look at the four of them directly, he had been monitoring them with his peripheral vision.
For the remainder of the journey, Wang An did not shout again, mainly because the four thieves had settled down and stopped reaching into other people's pockets.
Perhaps they knew that as long as Wang An was there, they wouldn't succeed in stealing anything.
Just as the bus reached a wooded area, the third thief suddenly shouted
"Driver, stop the car! We want to get off here."
Hearing this, Wang An subconsciously looked out the windshield and discovered four people standing under some trees on the road ahead, smoking. Beside these four people were four parked motorcycles.
Seeing the bus approaching, they hurriedly threw away their cigarette butts and mounted their motorcycles.
Wang An strongly suspected that these four people were accomplices of the thieves, so his vigilance grew even stronger.
After the thief called for the stop, the driver first stepped on the gas to accelerate, and then slammed on the brakes, bringing the car to a sudden halt.
One must remember that cars at this time had no seatbelts. Of course, seatbelts would have been useless anyway, as those standing couldn't wear them. Thus, the driver's sudden braking sent the unprepared passengers hurtling forward.
Those who weren't prepared were thrown forward by the car's inertia, while those who were prepared were unaffected. And these four thieves were prepared.
As others lunged forward, the four thieves quickly grabbed their respective backpacks from the luggage rack and rushed toward the bus door.
Because Wang An was bracing himself with one hand on the backrest in front of him, he wasn't heavily affected, but he suddenly realized that this driver and the four thieves were absolutely fucking in cahoots!
With coordination like that, it could truly be called seamless!
Despite all his calculations, Wang An had not expected the driver to be problematic. (End of Chapter)