CH 145

Translated by Crooked

Edited by Dust Bunny 

After Ji Ji asked, the two sank into a brief silence. All that could be heard was the sound of a car horn beyond the alley. The horn was sharp and heavy.

Gu Xizhou coughed lightly, wondering how he should explain. Seeing the young Ji Ji’s brows furrow, looking behind him, where Gu Qing’s group had gone and entered their hired car.

Ji Ji declared with a stuffy voice, “You followed my parents to the police station this morning, and then you came here.

“Are my parents like Tong Jia? Is something going to happen to them today?” 

“No, you’re thinking too…”

Gu Xizhou’s reply was interrupted by Gu Ji Ji saying, “I believe in my own feelings.”

After he spoke, Gu Ji Ji suddenly pushed Gu Xizhou away and dashed into the muddy road. His figure immediately disappeared without a trace.

Gu Xizhou’s face twisted, cursing under his breath. He turned and ran after him. This wasn’t biting off more than he can chew, really. He was just curious about the cause of Ji Ji’s parents’ deaths, so he followed them. He didn’t expect to be seen by the task world’s Ji Ji. If Ji Ji saved his parents because of this, he might fade away!

There was a row of temporary houses separated by wooden boards. The little thief Gu Qing caught this morning was being carried by the scruff by a tall man. The tall man threw him aside and kicked him to vent his anger.

The little thief curled up on the ground, using both hands to shield his head. The man kicked him twice and then even stepped on him.

Zhou Xinyue wanted to go out and protect the child, but Gu Qing grabbed her.

“Xinyue, don’t be impulsive,” said the man. He pressed his finger to his lips over his rugged jawline. His eyes were as sharp as a hawk’s, and they stared out ahead of them, covered in a haze. 

“This group is bigger than we expected. Calm down,” said Gu Qing. “Let’s call the office first and ask Wang Ao for backup. We can’t do this with only four of us.”

“Okay!” One of the officers immediately pulled out their phone and called the police station to explain the situation. This criminal gang was unexpectedly big. At a glance, they saw at least seven adult men and a dozen fifteen or sixteen year old boys.

Gu Qing’s eyes swept across the box houses gathered into a courtyard. Three men got out of a car. At the same time, seven grown men and one woman exited one of the houses, and a dozen teenagers drove out all the rest from the rooms. There were children around seven or eight years old, even younger than the-ten-year old.

The tall man turned around and kicked a rock, swearing while he exchanged words with the adults. Then he turned around and kicked the child again. 

Gu Qing couldn’t understand the man’s dialect, but as more and more people gathered around, there were eleven adults present. The tall man stood in the middle of the courtyard as if he was lecturing his underlings.

He didn’t forget to kick the child while he scolded them.

“Gu Ge, look at the crowd…” His colleague’s voice was shaking as he pointed at a strange-acting short child in the crowd.

Xe Hlcu obiibkfv tlr mbkbgxfg’r ufraegf jcv rqbaafv j ilaaif akfinf sfjg biv ybs rlaalcu bc j kbbvfc tjcvmjga. Lf kjr wlrrlcu tlr ifu yfibk atf xcff, jcv tf mbeiv bcis erf tlr tjcvr ab uilvf. Ds tlr rlvf kfgf j ofk wbgf mtlivgfc ktb kfgf rlwlijgis ijmxlcu ilwyr. 

According to Gu Qing and the others’ experience as criminal police, these were not accidental injuries. They were man-made.

Gu Qing’s heart throbbed.

He knew that a few criminal gangs abducted some children from rural areas to make them into thieves and beggars. A few deranged ones would break the childrens’ hands or feet to arouse sympathy in passersby and make them more willing to be charitable with their money. They would watch over these children from nearby, and once the children collect a certain sum, they would take the money and go back.

Knowing it was one thing, but seeing it with his own eyes was something entirely different. This scene was heart-breaking! 

There were about eight disabled children. Their eyes were completely lifeless, filled with nothing but darkness and despair. Gu Qing balled his hands into fists.

Then, Zhou Xinyue suddenly grabbed Gu Qing’s jacket’s hem. With a shaking voice, she asked, “Wh-what are they going to do?”

Gu Qing looked over to see the tall man saying something to the others. Then, a young man ran into a house and brought out a cleaver, gleaming coldly in the afternoon sun.

The tall man lifted the shining cleaver, narrowed eyes sweeping coldly around the crowd. He said something, and even though Gu Qing couldn’t hear the words, he automatically knew it was nothing good. 

The child, laying down on the ground and not daring to resist, heard the man and endured his pain to crawl up from the ground. He turned around and tried to run into the crowd. The children wanted to make way for him and were just about to move when the man holding the knife pointed at them and said something. Immediately, they didn’t dare to move an inch.

The little boy’s face was filled with tears, and his whole body was trembling with fear. He frantically shook his head, his country dialect tumbling from his lips.

“Fuck!” Gu Qing swore. Even if he couldn’t understand his words, he knew what was happening. That tall man was about to chop off the little boy’s hand, killing the chicken to warn the monkey!

“Is Wang Ao’s group still on the way?” Gu Qing demanded. 

“I was just on the phone. This place is too far from the station. Even if we contacted the nearest department… there’s no time!” said one of the officers, his face twisted.

“I can only do so much; I have to save the child. Xinyue, get the car. We’ll save him!” Gu Qing really didn’t think these people would be so merciless. He just caught a thieving kid and these people were going to cut off his limbs!

Zhou Xinyue was terrified; she was trembling. She replied, “Okay! I’ll get the car right away and pick you up! You save the kid and run away!”

Gu Qing nodded sternly. “En!” 

After watching Zhou Xinyue leave, Gu Qing turned to look at the trapped boy. He brought his two companions to charge in. With a clear voice, he announced, “What do you think you’re doing?”

Hearing the sudden question, the tall man about to bring down his knife froze and turned around to look at Gu Qing’s trio. The child cried out to them.

Even though Gu Qing couldn’t understand, he guessed that the child was yelling ‘police officer’ because several of the adults looked frightened and yelled at their leader with panic.

After the man snapped something, everyone calmed down. They didn’t immediately flee, but they looked at Gu Qing with vigilance. 

The man looked down and lifted the boy like a chicken. He seemed to be asking him something, and after he asked, he looked fearless. He opened his mouth and spoke in an extremely fluent Ningqing dialect: “Officers, there are only four of you, and you dare to rush in like this? You won’t be able to leave today. Oh, there are only three of you here? Did one run away?”

The man raised his eyebrow after discovering the missing Zhou Xinyue. Turning to his subordinates, he ordered a tall and thin man to take three of the teenagers to go investigate.

Gu Qing couldn’t help but grab hold of the gun in the holster behind him.

Zhou Xinyue’s heart was pounding fiercely. This area was like a maze, and she could only rely on her memory to finally find where they’d parked. Then, she suddenly heard footsteps behind her. 

She turned to see a tall, thin man flanked by three younger men following her. The tall, thin man pointed at her, his expression twisted with rage, and said something to his followers. Even if she couldn’t understand it, she knew it was nothing good.

They began to chase her, and her head was instantly thrown into chaos. Earlier, there were at least eleven adults and thirteen or fourteen teenagers. If these people dared to pursue her, then Gu Qing and the others must be in danger!

The tall man knew he’d found a perfect opportunity, and Zhou Xinyue’s heart beat faster. Her skills lay in technology, and her physical strength wasn’t up to par, unlike these kids who’d been running around stealing all year round. She ran until she could no longer, and the three teenagers caught up and pushed her down.

Bang—— 

They fell into a tumble on the ground, and she hit the stone floor hard, sending shots of pain up her nerves. The tall, thin man caught up to them and grabbed Zhou Xinyue’s hair, using all his strength to bash her head against the ground.

With her forehead smashed against the ground, Zhou Xinyue was immediately injured. Under the sharp impacts, she screamed sharply at the beginning, but the sounds grew weaker and weaker.

Rushing in, Ji Ji suddenly heard a mournful scream, and his heart dropped. He ran over rashly and saw his mom being beaten on the ground!

He was about to cross the road when suddenly, a hand grabbed him! 

Gu Ji Ji shook it off. “Fuck off!”

Gu Xizhou looked at his empty hand and silently gazed at Ji Ji. His heart throbbed with pain, not just because Ji Ji might disappear, but seeing his determined look and… because Zhou Xinyue was beaten. Maybe because of the original Ji Ji in his body, Gu Xizhou felt like his heart had been stabbed with a knife.

Gu Ji Ji unleashed a stream of curses, recklessly charging in. With his sudden appearance, he threw his fist into the man’s face. He couldn’t react and was directly knocked to the ground.

Gu Ji Ji directly sat on the thin man and used his fists to rain punches onto his face. Even though he was only eighteen, he was already 1.8 meters tall, and the man couldn’t compare with his fitness and weight. 

The man who was pressed down and beaten felt fists rain down all over his face, and he couldn’t even open his eyes.

The tall, thin man suddenly bit Ji Ji’s arm, and Ji Ji let out a grunt, but he didn’t move, continuing to beat him up.

Gu Xizhou heard the scream. The three teenagers were still rooted to the spot, maybe because Gu Ji Ji was so ruthless. After the tall, thin man started cursing, they finally came to their senses and grabbed some broken red bricks from the ground. They were going to smash Gu Ji Ji’s skull in!

The weakened Zhou Xinyue opened her eyes through the blood with great difficulty. She called indistinctly, “Xiao… Xin…” 

Through her fear, she watched as a hand suddenly gripped one of the teenagers’ wrists holding the brick, squeezing it brutally.

Gu Ji Ji heard a low, cold voice behind him, followed by an ominous ‘crack’.

“What do you think you’re doing? Were you bullied stupid? Don’t you know how to fight back?”

Gu Xizhou took out a pair of handcuffs and fastened them around the teenager’s wrists. The other two were quickly apprehended as well. Gu Xizhou picked up Zhou Xinyue’s pair from the ground and used the two pairs to cuff the three people. 

Gu Ji Ji turned and glanced at Gu Xizhou. His mouth trembled, and he hastily went over to check on Zhou Xinyue. He strained to move her, setting her against the wall and using a hand to stem the bleeding from her forehead. “Mom, mom!”

Zhou Xinyue opened her eyes. She was about to speak when she suddenly heard gunfire. Her face paled.

Gu Ji Ji hastily got up from the ground and ran toward the noise. Gu Xizhou grabbed him and said, “You could die!”

“Fuck off!” Gu Ji Ji spat out blood, glaring at Gu Xizhou. He declared seriously, “I’d rather die than let anything happen to them! Let go!” 

Gu Ji Ji violently thrashed his arm in Gu Xizhou’s grip, but he couldn’t break free. He cursed, “Let go, bastard! I told you to fucking let go!”

“Fuck your uncle!”

Gu Xizhou gripped Gu Ji Ji’s hand and didn’t dare to let go. Before, it was Tong Jia. Now, it was Gu Qing and Zhou Xinyue. Gu Xizhou didn’t know if Ji Ji would disappear after this. He opened his mouth, feeling like he had a fishbone stuck in his throat.

“I’m begging you, okay? Let go! That’s my dad!” Ji Ji used all his strength to break free of Gu Xizhou, tears flowing down his face as he stared in the direction of the cracking shots. 

Seeing Gu Ji Ji cry, Gu Xizhou’s head went blank.

Scalding hot tears fell onto the back of Gu Xizhou’s hand, burning like boiling water and making him jump.

Upset, he asked, “Hey, even if you could die, you still want to go?”

“Yes!” 

Seeing Ji Ji’s firm answer, Gu Xizhou let go of his wrist. He looked at Gu Ji Ji’s back, lost in thought.

There were too many things Ji Ji couldn’t let go of. It was so heavy, and he couldn’t understand it, even though Gu Xizhou was now using Ji Ji’s body.

Was there a point to all this?

While Gu Xizhou was at a loss, he heard a clear and bright voice, like an answer to his thoughts. 

“There is.”

“Demonic cultivator, help me.”