Chapter 751 - 656: Some Face Death, Some Seek Life

Chapter 751: Chapter 656: Some Face Death, Some Seek Life

He almost suspected that they might silently freeze to death or drown in this filthy water.

Just when he was about to drift into unconsciousness.

Tap—

A subtle sound, distinctly different from a dripping water, came from the darkness.

Li Shang’s fingers suddenly tightened around Chang Erbing’s arm, the pain instantly woke him up, and he held his breath and listened keenly, his ears perked up.

It wasn’t the sound of water, nor the scurrying of a mouse.

It was... footsteps!

The footsteps gradually became clearer, somewhat chaotic. Chang Erbing silently counted the number of people in his heart:

"One, two, three, four!!!"

Soon, several beams of flashlight pierced through the darkness, sweeping back and forth over the "crime scene" area they had carefully arranged.

Suddenly, a beam of light froze, landing right on the phone with the cracked screen.

An exclamation was sharply raised, echoing in the underground tunnel:

"Found it! Over here, it’s strange, Captain Li’s phone fell here....."

The beam of light trembled, slowly moving around the phone, the dark red bloodstains unmistakable under the strong flashlight, already congealed into a shocking black mottled patch.

Another voice sounded, filled with shock and panic:

"Around... there are bloodstains around here, did Captain Li get attacked here? Look—the bloodstains go that way!"

Several beams of light immediately gathered, like spotlights converging, shooting towards the depths of the trench, closely following two extending trails of bloodstains.

The footsteps sounded again, quickly moving in that direction, and in less than half a minute, new discoveries came from deeper inside.

"Wait a minute! What’s that... in the water? A recorder?"

"Fish it out and take a look! Careful!"

"It’s an enforcement recorder from the bureau, the screen’s half shattered, I’ll give it a try... oh? It seems... it can still turn on?!"

The voice held a hint of suspicious uncertainty.

Another voice urgently urged:

"It should be what Captain Li and Erbing dropped, play it quickly, maybe there’s something recorded."

Chang Erbing felt Li Shang’s fingers tighten abruptly on his arm, both of their hearts tensed at the same time.

In that enforcement recorder, there was a slightly edited and saved video, capturing the scene before their attack, nine-tenths of it was real, only slightly trimmed and modified.

The wait of several dozen seconds was suffocatingly silent.

Even those few people in the distance stopped talking, their heads clustered together, all their attention focused on that half-broken screen.

Suddenly, in the tunnel, there were a few horrified exclamations in succession:

"The screen only shows half, and it’s too shaky, can’t see clearly at all, wait a minute, the corner there seems to be... [Mask]?!!"

"[Mask]?!"

Several others almost simultaneously gasped in astonishment.

The next moment, the air suddenly grew quiet, the responses tactfully turned muted.

"Move! Move, move, move! Captain Li was definitely attacked by [Mask], we can’t stay here, let’s get the hell out of here first."

"But weren’t we supposed to come look for Captain Li?"

"Forget it! Captain Li and Erbing are probably dead in this trench already!"

"... Move! Move quickly! Fast!!!"

The noisy conversation and panicked footsteps quickly tangled into a mass, the few people could no longer care about the mission, fleeing back down the direction they came from—afraid that a single step too slow would bring them face to face with that faceless, eerily pale mask in the video.

The flashlight beams darted around like frightened rabbits, chaotically jumping in the dark, quickly vanishing in the distance.

Chang Erbing suddenly turned his head, filthy water slid down his face, his voice lowered to the utmost:

"Captain Li, did you hear it clearly, there were four people, they’re leaving, what should we do?"

Li Shang’s face was hidden in darkness, his expression indecipherable, his fists soaked in filthy water clenched tightly, his knuckles whitening. He was rapidly replaying every word he had heard, every nuance in their tone.

A few seconds later, a reckless fierceness flashed through his eyes, he said solemnly:

"Only four people came, they weren’t here to arrest us, it seems like what we’ve done hasn’t leaked yet!"

Chang Erbing swallowed a lump hard, the mixed foul taste of sewage made him nauseous.

He naturally trusted Li Shang’s reasoning abilities, always had in the past, just in a different way. Recent cases had made him truly believe.

—Captain Li truly has Detective Power!!!

But this time, it’s completely different.

If in the past, Li Shang reasoned incorrectly, the ones who paid were those criminals;

But this time, if he’s wrong, the ones who’ll die are us.

Li Shang sensed Chang Erbing’s hesitation and fear. He took a deep breath, the polluted, rotten air flooded into his chest instantly, but his tone grew more composed, as if to dispel Erbing’s uneasiness and also as if affirming his own judgment:

"That’s right, only four people came... and they were still calling me ’Captain Li’ just now.

Although I still don’t know exactly what happened to the Commissioner, Feng Ju, and Ma Bin, where they are now.

But from their conversation, it’s likely... the Patrol Office still doesn’t know anything, the situation, compared to our worst prediction, is actually much better!"

Li Shang spoke while slowly getting up from the ground, pretending to be limping weakly as he walked out.

Chang Erbing gritted his teeth and also stood up, wiped the bloodstains off his face again, then supported Li Shang, taking difficult steps out together.

Each step splashed a heavy spray, the sound echoing far in the silent tunnel.

Sure enough, the footsteps which had fled to a considerable distance suddenly paused for a moment.

One of them exclaimed:

"Wait a minute! Listen... from that direction... seems like there are footsteps!"

"Wait for what, wait to die? That must be [Mask]? Run!!!"

The once paused footsteps reappeared in a rush, and were even more frantic.

Listening to the footsteps from afar suddenly speeding up after a pause, running even faster, Li Shang glanced helplessly at the nearby Chang Erbing, who immediately caught on.

He took a deep breath, then used all his strength to issue an extremely weak, hoarse but clear enough shout, his voice eerily echoing in the tunnel:

"Old Wang... Old Wang... is it you all? Cough cough—, help, come over quickly, we’re over here... can’t hold on much longer..."

The original plan, after Li Shang confirmed the situation, was for them to pretend to be unconscious and wait for the Patrol Office people to find them.

But the brothers who came to find them were really too wary.

They had no other choice but to emerge by themselves.

In the distance, the rapid footsteps came to a sudden halt once again.

A deathly silence ensued.

After several seconds, Old Wang’s voice full of doubt and uncertainty sounded, as if asking his companions or talking to himself:

"Does that voice sound familiar to you? It seems... seems like it’s Erbing’s voice?!"

Another voice replied: "Sounds like it’s really Chang Erbing?"

"Then just now...?"

Footsteps hesitantly, cautiously, began moving back a step at a time.

Footsteps slowly, extremely slowly began turning back. Flashlight beams tentatively searched towards the direction of the sound, sweeping cautiously from side to side as if finding a path in a minefield.

Finally, the flashlight beams trembled, shining on the stumbling, supporting each other figures of two "bloodied" people.

"My God, it’s really Captain Li, Captain Li’s not dead, and Erbing too!!!"

Old Wang’s exclamation erupted, prior fear instantly replaced by shock and disbelief.

Several flashlight beams all converged, illuminating the dreadful appearance of Li Shang and Chang Erbing—soaked from head to toe, covered in dark red stains, faces pale (partly from blood loss, partly from being soaked in sewage), barely able to stand.

"Quick! Go help them!"

Old Wang shouted, rushing forward, the other three hurriedly followed, fumbling to take over the nearly "exhausted" Li Shang and Chang Erbing.

"Captain Li! Erbing! What... what happened to you?!"

Old Wang’s voice shook with emotion, he could feel the cold and unstoppable tremor of Li Shang’s body through the arm he held.

"Don’t... don’t ask... first... first let’s get out..."

Li Shang "weakly" shook his head, his eyes half-closed, as if speaking one more word would deplete all his strength.

"Yes! Get out! Quick, get out!"

Chang Erbing also agreed in a voice as feeble as a fragile thread, his entire weight leaned on his companions.