319: Chapter 319 The Prey, The Hunting Night Begins

Fang Cheng walked out of the darkness and came to the window.

Dense raindrops beat against the glass, blurring the scenery outside the window, yet unable to block his sharp gaze.

Inside and outside the courtyard wall, gunshots, shouts of killing, and police sirens intertwined into a chaotic symphony.

Everything was just like a pre-rehearsed script, proceeding in an orderly manner.

Fang Cheng's gaze roamed, looking with satisfaction at this good show orchestrated entirely by himself.

This play not only drew the Noah Organization into the trap, but also successfully sent Cheng Jiashu away and tested his trump card.

More importantly, it did not let Cheng Jiashu directly appear and engage in battle with the Noah Organization.

Thus avoiding exposing his true background and continuing to maintain the image of a perverted serial killer.

In this way, it also paved the way for his subsequent actions.

Thinking of this, Fang Cheng relaxed his five fingers and glanced at the miniature voice changer held in his palm.

This inconspicuous little gadget came precisely from the hands of disguise Great Master Bailing.

Learning from his uncle the news that Bailing had returned to Dongdu, through an introduction, Fang Cheng paid a visit to her at noon today.

Relying on Bailing's miraculous disguise technique and following the photo on Officer Zhou Liang's identification, he successfully disguised himself as that Special Investigation Team police officer.

After the initial clash with the Special Investigation Team, Fang Cheng purposely left behind this identification, just in case of unexpected needs, so it could be used to conceal his identity and facilitate his actions.

Tonight, this small chess piece finally came in handy, successfully deceiving the highly vigilant Cheng Jiashu.

This terrifying Smiling Demon probably hadn't realized even until this moment.

That "Officer Zhou Liang" who had bantered with him for so long was precisely the "old friend" with whom he used to put on a ghost act and chat many times in the chat room.

Amidst his churning thoughts, Fang Cheng's mind suddenly stirred.

As if an invisible thread was guiding his consciousness, he captured a trace of familiar fluctuation in the noisy rainy night.

His mind instantly rippled like the surface of water.

That was the Mind Resonance phenomenon produced when Xu Hao repeatedly called out his name.

Fang Cheng's thoughts shifted slightly, and he immediately concentrated his spirit, sinking into his Memory Palace.

His consciousness instantly pierced through layers of rain curtains, quickly establishing a spiritual connection with Xu Hao.

In his field of vision, Xu Hao's chaotic street scene and a van speeding through the rain simultaneously emerged.

"Boss, where are you?"

"I see many police officers surrounding us. Ma Biao and I received orders from above and have already started to retreat."

Xu Hao's anxious voice came through the spiritual connection.

"I am at home."

Fang Cheng's tone was calm, and then he asked:

"How is the matter I entrusted to you going?"

Xu Hao immediately replied:

"Boss, rest assured, I have already figured out the identities and addresses of the two Level 7 cadres. However, their specific abilities cannot be completely determined yet."

"Roughly speaking, one of them is good at Driving hounds to track targets..."

Fang Cheng listened carefully to Xu Hao's report while rapidly extracting key information from his memory.

Two slightly blurry yet distinct faces emerged in his mind.

"Very good."

Fang Cheng praised him with a sentence and finally instructed:

"Pay attention to your own safety, stay honestly in the bar in the second half of the night, go nowhere, and wait for my news."

In a short half-minute, both sides had completed the necessary intelligence exchange.

Fang Cheng withdrew his consciousness, and his gaze inadvertently glanced, landing at the end of the corridor not far away.

A familiar figure appeared there.

That young girl sitting in the wheelchair was opening a pair of bright and clear eyes, quietly looking at him.

In her eyes, there was not the slightest fear and panic that ordinary people should have when facing such a chaotic scene, but instead she carried a calmness inconsistent with her age.

Fang Cheng felt slightly surprised in his heart, but did not delve deeply into it.

At this time, a slight sound of footsteps came from the corridor.

Several orphanage staff members and some slightly bolder children also cautiously poked their heads out from the rooms to check the situation outside.

Fang Cheng immediately restrained his mind, readjusted the expression on his face, and restored the seriousness and majesty due to a "Special Investigation Team police officer".

He cleared his throat and said to the crowd in a steady tone:

"Everyone, a criminal organization attempted to plan a terrorist attack against innocent civilians here."

"After receiving relevant intelligence, our police force has implemented a comprehensive blockade and encirclement of this area."

"Currently, most criminals have been successfully captured or repelled, and the situation has been brought under control."

"Please stay quietly in a safe room, lock your doors and windows, make no sound, and do not run around casually."

"Things outside will soon be completely resolved."

"Yes, yes, thank you officer, we understand!"

An elderly staff member nodded repeatedly in response, an expression of relief showing on her face.

She turned around to greet those frightened children, softly comforting them and maintaining order.

Seeing this, Fang Cheng nodded slightly.

After giving the instructions, he also turned around quickly, left Chenxi Home, and quickly merged into the rain curtain outside.

According to the intelligence transmitted from Xu Hao's side, the "prey" outside the orphanage had all evacuated.

And tonight, Fang Cheng's own hunt was only truly beginning at this moment!

The night was deep, and the heavy rain continued.

As all the chaos gradually subsided, the clearing operation of the Special Investigation Team unfolded accordingly.

The streets of Guanlan District were shrouded in a heavily guarded and tense atmosphere.

Except for police cars roaring by occasionally, almost no other vehicles and pedestrians could be seen.

In several blocks within a radius of a few kilometers around Chenxi Home Orphanage, eye-catching yellow cordon lines had been set up.

Many police officers wearing dark standard raincoats were braving the rain to set up temporary guard posts at various intersections, questioning passing vehicles, maintaining order at the scene, and assisting in cleaning up the traces left after the battle.

In front of an important traffic intersection, beside the temporarily erected guard post, two assault vehicles flashing police lights and an ordinary black sedan without obvious police markings were parked.

More than a dozen fully armed police officers were stationed here with high tension in their expressions, vigilantly watching the movements around them.

Two young police officers shrank in a rain-sheltered corner, talking in lowered voices.

"Goodness, this array tonight is really big enough; how many years has it been since we've seen such a large-scale operation!"

"I heard it's to capture some heinous terrorist organization, and it seems they even specialize in human trafficking of children, utterly devoid of conscience!"

"Scum like this should be shot immediately once caught!"

A middle-aged man who looked like the team-leading police officer walked down from the black sedan holding an umbrella.

Hearing the two men's discussion, he immediately put on a straight face and scolded in a deep voice:

"Stop chewing the fat here! Pull yourselves together, keep your eyes peeled, and don't let any suspicious personnel and vehicles go!"

Most of the combat personnel of the Special Investigation Team had gone to hunt down those scattered fleeing members of the Noah Organization at this moment, and manpower was seriously insufficient.

Therefore, they could only temporarily transfer these ordinary police officers to assist in blockading the scene and maintaining order.

Just at this moment, amidst the rain curtain, a white refrigerated truck drove slowly over.

The two beams of light reflected by the headlights appeared somewhat blurred in the rain.

The police officers in front of the guard post instantly became vigilant, tightening their grips on the firearms in their hands one after another.

A police officer stepped forward and waved for the truck to stop for inspection.

"What are you doing? Still hauling cargo this late?"

The truck driver rolled down the window, revealing a very ordinary-looking face with a bit of disheveled wetness from the rain.

"Officer, I'm transporting fresh pork to the neighboring city. The market needs the goods urgently tomorrow."

He very cooperatively took out his driver's license and vehicle registration, handing them to the police officer who came forward to question him.

The team-leading police officer also walked over, frowning as he sized up this refrigerated truck that seemed somewhat abrupt in the rainy night.

Then he glanced at the driver, seeing that the other party's expression was normal, not looking like any suspicious person.

But out of duty, he still said in a deep voice:

"Open the cargo compartment; we need to conduct a routine inspection."

Hearing this, a trace of hesitation appeared on the driver's face, but he still nodded.

"Eh, good, good..."

While responding, he reached out to unbuckle his seatbelt, his movements appearing ordinary.

However, the moment he turned sideways to push open the car door, he lowered his head slightly, and his eyes suddenly widened, precisely locking onto the gaze of the police officer looking over.

Under this brief eye contact, deep inside the driver's originally murky pupils, two extremely dim yet soul-captivating lights suddenly flashed.

The police officer who was about to continue urging got the words stuck in his throat, his gaze slightly stagnated, as if somewhat lost in thought.

The next second, he waved his hand, his tone softened, and he changed his words:

"Forget it, seeing that you also run long distances, such heavy rain isn't easy either."

"Hurry on through, and pay attention to safety."

An honest smile immediately appeared on the driver's face, and he thanked repeatedly:

"Ah, thank you officer for understanding!"

Having said that, he restarted the engine and slowly drove away from the guard post.

As the truck drove further away with a low roar, the smile on the driver's face gradually faded, turning cold and sharp.

He wore a pair of seemingly ordinary work clothes stained with muddy water, but if one observed carefully, they would find a few faint dark bloodstains on his trouser legs.

What was even more alarming was that on the inside of the work trousers on his right calf, a dagger with a blade flashing cold light was strapped.

At the same time, inside the refrigerated compartment at the back of the truck, it appeared even more abnormal and crowded at this moment.

The walls of the compartment were stained with dark red blood everywhere, and a few pieces of pork that had already begun to spoil were hung haphazardly, emitting a strong fishy and rancid stench.

In the corner, several hound dogs with mottled fur and sturdy builds huddled together, their bronze bell-like eyes flashing fierce light in the dimness, with viscous saliva dripping from the corners of their mouths.

Seeming because of staying in a confined space for a long time, they appeared somewhat restless, occasionally making low heh-heh sounds.

The bloody smell, rotten meat quality, and canine body odor intertwined, filling the air with a nauseating stench.

Besides these ferocious hounds, more than a dozen disheveled Men in Black were also crowded among them.

They were He Yong, A-Jie, and other members of the Noah Organization who had successfully escaped from the direction of the orphanage.

Holding their noses, they endured the pungent stench inside the compartment and talked in low voices.

"Damn it, talk about bad luck! The operation actually leaked the news, almost causing me to fold here."

A man with a freshly added scratch on his face spat a mouthful.

"More than just bad luck."

Others also chimed in, curses rising one after another.

"I heard Minister Luo and Station Chief Feng were furious, and even Captain Zhuo Feng, who has been heavily relied upon, was reprimanded."

"This operation suffered heavy losses, and everyone certainly won't have a good time when we go back."

"If it was just a mission failure and the target escaped, although embarrassing, it would still be justifiable."

"The key is that it attracted all those mad dogs of the Special Investigation Team. It's obvious that someone wanted to use a borrowed knife to kill, intentionally striking at the power of our Dongdu Branch."

A-Jie also sighed at this moment and said unwillingly:

"Sigh, going back this time, I don't know how many more brothers will be implicated and suffer bad luck..."

Amidst the discussion, someone couldn't help asking in a low voice:

"Will our captain be implicated? After all, the intelligence search mission for this operation was his responsibility."

"Shh, keep it down!"

Before the words fell, the silent He Yong next to him suddenly spoke and hurriedly made a gesture to hush.

The questioning team member was somewhat puzzled and casually replied:

"It's fine, the captain is Driving in the front; he can't hear."

"The captain might not hear, but these beasts can definitely hear."

He Yong said, glancing with lingering fear at those vicious dogs baring their teeth and making low roars in their throats.

As well as the bloody corpse of a companion, obviously dead not long ago, casually discarded in the corner.

Hearing this, everyone shivered, instantly thinking of some terrible consequence, and immediately fell silent in unison.

Inside the compartment, only the heavy panting of the hounds and the dull sound of raindrops hitting the roof of the compartment were left.

The refrigerated truck crushed the standing water on the road, bumped forward in the rain curtain, and gradually disappeared into the depths of the boundless rainy night.

Another moment passed.

A lonely figure, as if peeled away from the curtain of the rainy night, slowly emerged from the hazy water vapor in front of the guard post.

Crack—

Lightning tore across the night sky, its brief light reflecting the black raincoat on him that was soaked through by rainwater.

Rainwater dripped down the brim of his hat, forming an intermittent curtain of water that blocked most of his face.

Revealing only a pair of eyes that would reflect a terrifying cold light when the lightning flashed brightly.

His footsteps were unhurried, stepping on the water-logged road surface, making crisp "pata", "pata" sounds.

In this completely silent rainy night, it was clear as if directly striking a person's heart.

The on-duty police officers immediately and vigilantly raised their guns, the muzzles gleaming with the cold light of metal in the rain, and shouted sternly:

"Who goes there? Stop, don't move!"

The incoming person stopped his footsteps and ignored the muzzles pointed at him.

He simply raised his hand calmly, took out a dark blue identification document from his inner pocket, and slowly opened it facing the dim yellow searchlight of the guard post.

The team-leading police officer hurried forward. When he clearly saw the special badge on the identification composed of a crossed golden shield and blade, and the large characters "Special Affairs Investigation Team" below it.

His expression changed abruptly, instantly putting away all vigilance, replaced by an inner awe and tension.

Seeing their boss's expression change drastically, the remaining police officers also lowered their muzzles one after another, putting away their defensive intent.

"Officer, is there anything I can help with?"

The police officer swallowed a mouthful of saliva and asked respectfully.

Fang Cheng nodded, his tone calm yet carrying unquestionable authority:

"I am tracking those criminals causing chaos. The situation is urgent, and I need to requisition one of your cars."

Saying that, he pointed at the ordinary black sedan parked nearby.

Hearing this, the police officer didn't hesitate at all, immediately straightening his posture and raising his hand to salute:

"Yes, officer, please go ahead!"

Afterwards, he rushed forward and personally pulled open the driver's seat door for Fang Cheng, his posture extremely humble.

"You've worked hard. Continue to guard your posts well and do not let any suspicious criminal escape."

Fang Cheng had no extra pleasantries. Dropping this sentence, he quickly sat into the driver's seat and started the car.

"Yes, officer, take care!"

Amidst the salutes and awe-filled gazes of the crowd of police officers, the black sedan emitted a low roar.

Then it rushed into the boundless rainy night like an arrow leaving the string, quickly disappearing without a trace.