Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

“…”

Huang He kept quiet, his cheeks were burning and tingling a little.

“Feeling ashamed!?” Bai Muchuan grunted in a low tone.

“… A little.” Huang He coughed twice and was in a lot of pain over. “It’s my fault!” he answered honestly.

There was no outsider with them, and he was not afraid to admit his own mistake.

Hurhur! Bai Muchuan showed an indolent smile.

“What’s there to be ashamed about? That’s so heroic and full of boyfriend power…”

“…” Even the words “boyfriend power” came out of his mouth.

Huang He glanced at Bai Muchuan; he felt that his injuries seemed to hurt more.

He and Bai Muchuan had known each other for a long time. He knew that he was not a narrow-minded and mean person.

This time, he was indeed the one who took things into his own hands and Bai Muchuan was caught in surprise.

And… the reason for his actions was because of a woman.

In terms of rules and discipline, his actions… were considered a serious breach!

“I’m sorry!” Huang He apologized sincerely. “We have been planning this for so long. Now that I’ve finally gotten some clues about Dark Clan… I’m the one who thwarted the plans and blew everything up!”

Bai Muchuan asked, “You wanted to return to the team, right?”

Huang He was startled for a moment. “Well, I do want to…”

Why wouldn’t he want to? He could put on his police uniform and nab criminals openly.

He would be upholding a positive image wherever he went, unlike the street rats where they could only hide in the dark. All these while, he had to stay guarded and vigilant against sudden circumstances. Every day when he woke up, he would be on his toes as he did not know when he would get found out.

“I want to go back! But the mission is not completed… I…”

From the corner of his eye, Huang He could see Fang Yuanyuan, standing far away from them and was waiting anxiously. He lowered his voice.

“I’m willing to accept any punishment!”

After this incident, he knew very well that it was impossible for him to go back to being an undercover…

That also meant that all of their previous efforts had been in vain.

Whether he could return to the police would largely depend on how the superiors define his action…

Silence.

A while later, Bai Muchuan’s voice came along with a gust of cold wind.

“Nobody will know what happened today…”

Eh? Huang He felt his heart as though stopped for a moment as he looked at him, unable to say a word.

“Violent criminals of a drug syndicate held hostage at gunpoint and resisted arrest,” added Bai Muchuan emotionlessly, “as they attacked the police… all of them were killed on the spot!”

All of them were killed on the spot!

Huang He felt a chill ran down his spine.

The injuries on his body seemed to have worsened.

“How many of them?” he asked.

“The eye-patch guy had brought about… ten men.”

He looked toward the direction of the forest and then turned slowly toward Bai Muchuan.

“I understand…”

“Understand my foot!” Bai Muchuan still had anger in him. “Get well first. Wait for further instructions!”

“Mm!” Huang He stopped moving around.

Bai Muchuan puffed a sigh and finally blurted the question inside him.

“Who’s the one who notified you that Fang Yuanyuan got kidnapped?”

“… I only know that a Dark Clan member contacted me. At first, I do not know who is that. Now that I think of it, there’s a high chance that Liang was the one who contacted me. That fellow… is he dead?”

“He’s dead.”

Huang He seemed slightly disappointed.

“If we can interrogate him, he’ll surely spill a lot of things… It’s a pity.”

Even if it was a pity, what could they do?

Bai Muchuan: “I’ve sent someone look into his background.”

Huang He nodded his head. “Hope we can get something.”

Bai Muchuan was silent for a moment and looked into it again. “What did he want you to do when he contacted you?”

“I followed everything according to what he wanted. I came to Nanmu, to Brother Steel’s villa and revealed my identity. Later on, I realized that Brother Steel did not know that Fang Yuanyuan was being kidnapped. At that time, I suspected that there’s a traitor amongst Brother Steel’s men…”

Huang He paused for a moment and looked into Bai Muchuan’s eyes. “Have you noticed? Brother Steel got made use of, he’s a scapegoat!”

“Yes.” Bai Muchuan nodded his head. “Not only Brother Steel! Liang, and all of the Dark Clan members are being treated as cannon fodder!”

“Same goes to us!” Huang He smiled bitterly, coughed twice and put a hand on his chest due to the sudden pain. Then he sighed and gave a frown. “But it’s hard to guess who that person is and how much he knows… What’s more, did he kidnap Yuanyuan for the sake of testing me or to make use of us?”

“It should be both,” said Bai Muchuan, “but this Dark Clan should have been taken out long ago! Hur! According to Xiang Wan’s deduction, that person thinks highly of himself and has a strong sense of heroism… Maybe he wanted to make use of the police to enforce justice?”

“Hah!” Huang He was amused by those words. “That’s a very optimistic view! So, can that person be considered as a modern hero?”

“Hmph! What kind of hero is that? Even if the Dark Clan deserved death for harming so many people, what about those killed in the 121 case?”

“If we delve into it, each and every one of them had done something bad! Maybe in the eyes of that person, these people deserved death as well…”

“Yes!” Bai Muchuan suddenly turned toward him. “But what about Fang Yuanyuan? Did she provoked him or something?”

“…”

Huang He was at a loss of words.

Even if those people deserved death, Fang Yuanyuan was innocent.

But, Fang Yuanyuan was still alive!

Huang He kept these words inside his head. He did not dare to refute Bai Muchuan but changed to another topic instead. “Have you taken a look at the warehouse of that base in Vulture’s Mouth?”

“I haven’t got a chance! But I have informed the colleagues over at the Narcotics Department. They’re on their way now. This is their forte after all!”

“Mm.” Huang He did not say anything more.

This was such a great achievement, yet he could give it away just like that.

He was a police officer who solves a case solely for the sake of solving a case. Naturally, he would be unwilling to accept so much exposure.

There were too many instances that the media’s over-reporting and praises were harmful to the law enforcers.

After coming a long way from solving all these cases, Bai Muchuan knew that his greatest disadvantage against the manipulator was the fact that he was out in the open whereas the manipulator was in the dark.

That manipulator knew him very well. It was hard to cover his tracks while he was out in the open.

And they had no idea who the manipulator was. They were as though fishing in troubled waters…

It was not easy for them to make use of what happened to Huang He to let him leave the police force so he could be in the dark…

But in the end, he got brought back into the open once more.

“I’ve acted on impulse without considering the overall situation!”

He thought back on the time before he killed the eye-patch guy. If he could delay that further, Bai Muchuan would have appeared and saved Fang Yuanyuan. And he, would not have to expose himself…

Oftentimes, that decision made in a second reversed the whole situation.

As Huang He said all that, he was getting remorseful. After another apology, he let out a faint sigh.

“After so many years as a police officer, my greatest feeling is that… being a good person is much more difficult than being a bad person.”

The hardest part was—he was unable to convince his heart.

“Don’t think about it anymore! Just get well soon!” Bai Muchuan sighed. “Good triumphs over evil. It’s just a matter of time!”

Justice may be late, but never absent.

“Mm.”

“The ambulance is here!”

Two ambulances and several police cars drove up slowly.

The roads here were too challenging for the drivers… That was why they were rather slow to arrive.

The vehicles stopped on the road. Bai Muchuan went to them and exchanged a few words with the officer-in-charge.

Those who were injured were carried onto the ambulance.

As Huang He suffered serious injuries compared to the rest, he was carried onto another ambulance.

This was actually Bai Muchuan’s arrangement. He did not want anyone else, except the medical staff, to come into contact with him. Then he walked to the accompanying medical doctor and nurse. “This person is very important to the police! He must not lose an arm or a leg, alright?”

His comment made the young nurse laugh.

“Don’t worry, from the looks of it, he won’t be losing any of that!”

Fang Yuanyuan was also injured, but not as seriously injured as Huang He. Most of her injuries were abrasions and bruises…

When she got to know the whereabouts of Xiang Wan from Bai Muchuan, she had wanted to find her.

But Huang He needed to be sent to the hospital and she wanted to accompany him as well… After all, it had been a long time both herself and Huang He spent time with each other, she could not bear to part with him…

Moreover, there was still something in her heart that she had yet to find out.

She did not dare to ask him.

She was afraid to ask him.

She was too nervous to ask.

She had wanted to ask—was he serious with Tian Danyue?

When Bai Muchuan turned his head, he saw Fang Yuanyuan showing a torn expression.

He was slightly surprised and waved to her. “Aren’t you going with him?”

Fang Yuanyuan slowly walked over, biting her lower lip. “Is Xiang Wan’s injuries serious?”

Bai Muchuan took a glance at her from head to toe. “She’s about the same as you!”

Oh, what a vague answer.

“If that’s the case,” pondered Fang Yuanyuan, “I won’t be going to see her then. Please tell her that I’ve been here…”

Been here? When Bai Muchuan thought of how she was being brought here. He suddenly felt a little funny.

“Okay! Hurry and go! Huang He’s waiting for you.”

Not only Huang He was waiting, the rest of the medical staff was also waiting.

Fang Yuanyuan nodded her head gently and turned to walk toward the ambulance.

At this moment, Bai Muchuan added, “Stay with him during this period.”

Eh?

Why did he seem to emphasize the words “during this period?”

Fang Yuanyuan turned to face Bai Muchuan’s solemn gaze and felt that there seemed to be a hidden meaning behind his words.

The driver of the ambulance tapped on the horn lightly as a reminder. She gave an awkward smile and knew she should not delay any longer.

“I’ll get going now!”

Bai Muchuan waved at her. “Take good care of him!”

…

The ambulance left.

Their mission seemed to have come to an end.

The price, however, was huge as well.

Although they managed to take out the drug dealers based in Nanmu, many of his men were injured.

Tang Yuanchu had reached the hospital in Xi City. His life was on the line.

Huang He suffered multiple fractures all over his body. It would take at least two to three months for him to recover.

There was also Tu Liang, as well as those people who got infected by the natural-focal disease…

All these had to be taken care of.

The responsibilities on his shoulder were too heavy.

After so long, he realized that he had not been able to take good care of Xiang Wan.