Chapter 254 - 159: Arrest! Big Fish

’To the docks... take the smuggling route to another province, then smuggle myself out of there... I just need to get on a boat shipping antiques...’

Huang Meng’s eyes were bloodshot. His hands trembled as he muttered to himself.

He was alone in the car, yet he seemed to be talking to someone else, or perhaps to himself.

He fumbled with the controls of the first car he had ever bought.

He didn’t know what had become of his business, but he knew the Capital City had suddenly eased its peripheral searches. If he could just seize this opportunity... he could run!

He had no money. Unlike Cheng Yang from Zhaozhou, he hadn’t stashed any cash abroad.

But...

He had antiques.

Antiques were worth so much more!

Hanging from his waist was a Three Realms Token, around his neck a piece of Blood Jade, and on the back seat lay a sheet of human skin...

As long as he could sell these items, he would live out the rest of his life in wealth and luxury!

"Faster, faster!"

Huang Meng’s eyes were crimson. He floored the accelerator, the car weaving recklessly through the streets.

Trains and planes were out of the question. The former were under strict inspection, and security for the latter was pathologically stringent. His only option was to go by water!

These days, the Eastern Country’s coast guard was ill-equipped; they’d have a hard time catching him!

As he thought this, Huang Meng’s heart pounded relentlessly.

’Once I’m out of the country... I’ll still be one of the elite!’

’As long as I have money, I can do anything. I can start over!’

Until...

SCREECH!

The sound of brakes pierced the air.

「Nighttime. The docks.」

A figure stood silently in front of the docks, their face obscured by the darkness.

This was the contact he had arranged beforehand to meet him.

Huang Meng slammed the car to a halt and went to the trunk.

THUMP!

He grabbed everything in one go, clutching it all to his chest.

"Hmm? You still need to take all that?" a voice asked.

Huang Meng froze. His eyes instantly turned blood-red, but his hands didn’t slow. He scooped up more items.

Various bloody instruments were gathered into his arms.

"You don’t understand, you don’t understand..." he said, stuffing his pockets and his hands full, then staggered toward the riverbank.

A boat was by the river—a small one.

Its lights were off, and it floated forlornly on the water.

"Can you even carry all that?" the figure behind him asked again.

Huang Meng didn’t turn back. He continued to stumble toward the shore, things constantly dropping from his grasp, yet he didn’t bother to pick them up.

One step... two steps... three steps...

The boat was getting closer and closer, but...

THUD!

Huang Meng suddenly dropped to his knees.

His expensive, high-end suit, bought with money earned from human lives, was instantly soiled as it hit the ground.

He knelt there, his eyes crimson, a few tears rolling down his twisted face.

"Let me go..."

"Let me go, and all of this is yours!"

Huang Meng grabbed the items made of human bone from the ground. They weren’t worth much, so he then threw the Blood Jade toward the figure.

A priceless thumb ring, an exquisitely carved jade stone.

He threw them all toward the figure.

"These are for you. They’re valuable, very valuable. Let me go, I’m begging you, let me go. Once I’m gone, they’re all yours. No one will ever know..."

Huang Meng knelt, kowtowing to the figure and muttering like a madman.

"Tsk. So you’re not so fearless after all."

The figure pulled down his hood. Moonlight illuminated his face, revealing it to be Xu Huo.

As he moved, countless other figures appeared, surrounding Huang Meng.

This was...

Lying in wait!

Seeing Huang Meng on the ground, an image of Lin Miao and the others flashed through Xu Huo’s mind.

THWACK!

A single kick sent the man flying, the various items on his person scattering.

Huang Meng was kicked aside.

His lips were covered in blood, his teeth shattered by the blow. Pain from the exposed nerves shot through his entire body, and blood filled his gums.

But he still didn’t fight back. He scrambled up from the ground and continued to kowtow.

THWACK!

Xu Huo kicked him again. One of the man’s arms twisted into an inhuman shape, like a pretzel.

Seeing that he could still move, Xu Huo kicked him directly in the head.

Huang Meng went completely still, knocked unconscious.

Zhang Liang emerged from behind, clicking his tongue as he surveyed the scene.

"Tsk, so brutal," Zhang Liang said, though he made no move to stop him.

"Go ahead, write me up," Xu Huo said, adopting a couldn’t-care-less attitude.

"You’d have to sign a formal contract with the Special Fifth Bureau before I can write you up!" Zhang Liang said with a straight face.

"Heh."

Xu Huo gave a humorless smile. He reached out and felt around the unconscious man’s waist.

He pulled out a replica of a Type 64 police pistol.

’I didn’t knock him out just to vent my anger...’

"His waist was bulging. If I hadn’t knocked him out cold right away, I’d be the one on the ground," Xu Huo said sarcastically.

He then paused, took a deep breath, and gradually steadied himself.

Huang Meng was captured.

The masterminds behind this case, a monk and Huang Meng, had finally been apprehended.

However...

That didn’t include everyone they had implicated!

Whatever the antique circle was like before, it didn’t matter now. Every last one of them connected to Huang Meng... was going down!

And then there were the buyers.

Honestly, if they hadn’t been buying, Huang Meng never could have kept this up.

The number of victims would have been at least ninety percent lower!

But the biggest catch was...

THUMP!

Zhao Gang, who had been hiding until now, emerged with his team members, carrying two dark figures and throwing them on the ground.

"What’s this?" Xu Huo paused.

Zhao Gang didn’t speak. He looked at Zhang Liang, showing off a scrape on his cheek and giving him a pointed, sideways glance.

"Work injury," Zhang Liang said, exasperated.

Hearing those two words, Zhao Gang finally broke into a wide grin. He then turned to Xu Huo and smiled broadly.

"Big fish!"

’Big fish?’

’These two?’

Zhang Liang paused. The two people on the ground were covered by black sacks, like body bags.

He reached out and opened one slightly...

The next second, a look of utter shock spread across Zhang Liang’s face.

"Heh, Boss, is this fish big enough for you?" Zhao Gang said with a chuckle.

Xu Huo’s eye twitched.

’What’s in the black sack?’

There, under the moonlight...

Two people lay unconscious before them. Their features...

Blond hair and blue eyes!

’This case...’

Xu Huo narrowed his eyes, glanced at Huang Meng, and then a smile spread across his face.

He took a deep breath and said:

"Pack it up!"