Chapter 56: Rescuing Liang Qi

What is your reaction when you are suddenly startled while concentrating?

Lu Chuan gave the classic reaction.

"Shit! You scared the hell out of me!"

Lu Chuan was genuinely startled. Although he was using his peripheral vision to monitor the warehouse, his entire focus was directed there.

Having someone speak beside him out of the blue truly gave him a fright.

Turning his head, he saw a pair of eyes filled with a slight sense of apology: "Buddy, sorry. I just bought some cigarettes and forgot my lighter."

As he spoke, the man, who possessed exceptionally thick facial hair, raised his right hand to indicate the cigarette held between his index and middle fingers.

*Ding!*

"Tian Yongjiang, male, 32 years old. Wanted suspect in the assault on police case in Cuiping Road Residential Area. Feature similarity: 100%!"

A blood-red halo, something Lu Chuan had never seen before, hovered above the man's head.

A line of information was clearly imprinted within it.

It was actually him!

Lu Chuan never expected that while he was staring at the potential hideout, the man himself would appear right beside him.

Damn it!

To arrest or not to arrest?

The thought flashed through Lu Chuan's mind, only to be immediately suppressed.

But following that, thoughts began to swarm his mind like wild weeds.

The man was alone right now. If Lu Chuan made his move immediately and succeeded, it would be a massive achievement!

However, this was a violent criminal who had just stabbed a detective from the Tianzhou City Criminal Investigation Detachment.

In his past life, Lu Chuan had only learned the basics of combat; even in university, he had only taken general martial arts classes without any real combat experience. He couldn't guarantee success.

Therefore, theoretically, Lu Chuan's best choice was to play it safe. As long as he confirmed the hideout, it would still count as a contribution.

But the problem was, if he let the man return to the hideout, he would have Liang Qi as a hostage.

Given the man's cautious nature—evidenced by the surveillance cameras he had installed in his mistress's home—rescuing Liang Qi silently would be extremely difficult.

If that happened, the arrest would turn into a standoff.

The Huilongshan area had a high volume of foot traffic; news would inevitably spread.

What should he do?

After all that thinking, it amounted to nothing more than one or two fleeting ideas.

"You almost made me drop my popsicle," Lu Chuan said, his dissatisfaction evident in his eyes.

However, unless someone was particularly stubborn, they rarely refused a request for a light from a smoker.

Lu Chuan pulled the lighter from his right trouser pocket and handed it over.

Tian Yongjiang took the lighter, flicked it with a *click*, lit his cigarette, and took a deep drag.

"Buddy, what are you looking at so intently?"

Returning the lighter to Lu Chuan, Tian Yongjiang asked casually.

Lu Chuan pointed toward the beautiful woman in the short skirt standing by the door of the distant small house: "Hehe, see that figure? I..."

Before Lu Chuan could finish, he suddenly stopped, looking at Tian Yongjiang suspiciously: "Are you with her?"

Tian Yongjiang waved his hands dismissively. "No, no. Just chatting. I'm not into that."

Lu Chuan didn't speak; instead, he stared fixedly at the man.

His intention to stop the conversation was very clear.

"Thanks, buddy!"

Tian Yongjiang raised his hand again, turned sideways, and began walking toward the warehouse Lu Chuan had been staring at.

Under the shadow of the eaves, Lu Chuan narrowed his eyes and pushed off the ground with force.

The cigarette and the popsicle flew through the air.

A grappling move, a throat strike!

However, the strike that Lu Chuan believed was a sure thing missed.

Tian Yongjiang lunged forward quickly, turning around to face Lu Chuan, who was attacking him.

Lu Chuan's expression turned grim. Having missed with both hands, he did not continue the attack.

Tian Yongjiang held the half-burnt cigarette in his mouth while pulling a butterfly knife from his back waistband with his right hand.

Lu Chuan saw it clearly: there were dark red stains in the hollow parts of the knife handle.

Tian Yongjiang looked at Lu Chuan with a half-smile, seemingly in no hurry to strike. "Curious how I noticed you?"

Lu Chuan remained silent, watching Tian Yongjiang cautiously.

"Buddy, you're still too young."

"Does someone who smokes Chunghwa cigarettes come to a place like this to look for women?"

"And with looks like yours, could you possibly be lacking in women?"

Shit!

So, being rich and handsome didn't work after all.

*Swish!*

Tian Yongjiang's movements were incredibly fast. There was no specific form or pattern; he was simply fast.

The bright blade lunged toward Lu Chuan's neck.

*Bang!*

In the end, the attacker was fast, but the defender was faster.

Just as Lu Chuan was about to parry, a dark shadow lunged out from behind him, delivering a powerful kick straight to Tian Yongjiang's chest.

It was Zhang Hui!

"Brother Hui!"

A flash of joy crossed Lu Chuan's tense face. He stepped forward to help: "Why are you back?"

Zhang Hui had only been gone for less than ten minutes; logically, he shouldn't have returned so soon.

"We'll talk later. Secure him first!"

A cold gun barrel was pressed against Tian Yongjiang's forehead. "Don't move! Drop the knife!"

Lu Chuan pulled out handcuffs, kicked the butterfly knife away, and wrenched the man's arm behind his back.

*Click!*

The cuffs were tightened to the limit, causing Tian Yongjiang to break into a cold sweat from the pain.

Pulling out his walkie-talkie, Zhang Hui announced on the open channel: "Captain Qin, suspect Tian Yongjiang has been apprehended. Location: in front of the Shuiyun Foot Massage Parlor in Second Alley, Yongsheng."

At the entrance of the Shuiyun Foot Massage Parlor, the "little darling" who had been standing there was now pale with terror.

She looked so convincing, as if someone had enjoyed themselves and refused to pay.

A crowd gradually began to gather around.

"Everyone, disperse! Don't crowd around! Don't crowd around!"

Lu Chuan began to maintain order. Within two minutes, Qin Yong and all the detectives conducting investigations in the Huilongshan area arrived.

"Where is Liang Qi?"

Without time to ask how Tian Yongjiang had been caught, Qin Yong's first priority was the status of the kidnapped hostage.

"In the house I'm renting."

"Specific location!"

"In the warehouse to the right of the foot massage parlor up ahead."

As expected, Tian Yongjiang hadn't rented a residential house, but a small warehouse in a busy area.

Furthermore, there was a basement inside.

When Liang Qi was discovered, she was locked to an iron bed in the basement.

"Lu Chuan and I will go in. Everyone else, wait outside the basement!"

At the basement entrance, Qin Yong did not allow the group to rush in.

Since Tian Yongjiang had kidnapped Liang Qi, they needed to secure evidence.

Moreover, he had imprisoned Liang Qi for eight days; no one knew what he had done during that time.

Lu Chuan didn't have a forensic kit on him, but he did have some basic tools.

At the very least, he could secure fingerprints and identify bodily fluids.

Liang Qi was twenty-six years old. Growing up without a father had a significant impact on her development.

However, Liang Qi was intelligent; she had been admitted to a key university after graduating from high school.

After graduation, she worked for a foreign enterprise.

The unpleasant memories of her childhood seemed to have dissipated with the passage of time.

But she never expected that just as everything was getting on track, a demon would crash into her life.

For eight days, Liang Qi felt as though she had endured eight years in hell.

*Clang!*

When the basement door lock opened and the voice of a strange man drifted in, Liang Qi's tears fell silently.

"Are you Liang Qi?"

"We are the police!"

Police?!

There had never been a moment in Liang Qi's life when she had hoped to hear those two words more.

*Waaah!*

As Lu Chuan followed Qin Yong inside, a figure threw herself onto him.

Then, his shoulders were soaked with tears.

She wailed with heart-wrenching grief, like a bursting dam.

The Liang Qi before them had no visible injuries; in fact, her clothing was quite nice, and she was wearing light makeup.

However, certain items on the bed let Qin Yong and Lu Chuan know exactly what Liang Qi had endured.

Outside the warehouse, wrapped in a blanket and trembling all over, Liang Qi slowly walked out, supported by two female officers.

The midday sunlight, like fresh morning dew, spilled over Liang Qi and her heart.

"Ah! I'll kill you! I'll kill you!"

Having regained some composure, Liang Qi saw Tian Yongjiang inside the police car.

Lu Chuan was still in the basement. There was a vast amount of evidence: many traces of bodily fluids on the basement bed, and Tian Yongjiang's fingerprints and footprints everywhere.

His fingerprints were also on the implements on the bed.

Kidnapping, imprisonment, rape, and assaulting police—while the death penalty might be difficult to secure, life imprisonment was a certainty.

Furthermore, for someone with such extreme subjective malice, there would basically be no chance for a sentence reduction.

*Ding!*

"Advanced mission completed: The host discovered the whereabouts of the Liang Qi kidnapping suspect, assisted Zhang Hui in the arrest, and rescued the kidnapped hostage."

"Mission Reward: Junior Skill Upgrade Card. Note: After using the Junior Upgrade Card, the host's existing junior skills can be upgraded to intermediate level."

"Does the host wish to claim the reward?"

"Claim!"

"Please select the junior skill you wish to upgrade."

(End of Chapter)