Chapter 291: Arrival

"Captain! Someone's coming out!"

"Notify Teams Three and Four to tighten the perimeter! Stay alert!"

The moment I stepped out of Xinhu High School, glaring searchlights pierced the rain and locked onto me.

Bai Qi followed closely behind. Gripping Jiang Chen with one hand and dragging Yun Chuan with the other, I looked like a complete wreck.

"Captain, do we open fire?"

"Hold on. Have Teams One and Two not come out yet?"

Trudging through the mud, each uneven step pushed my exhausted, battered body closer to the brink of collapse. As the seconds ticked by, my stamina was rapidly fading.

The pounding rain had battered my flesh numb. My legs moved like machinery executing a set program; perhaps the only thing keeping me upright was my sheer refusal to yield.

I had waited five years for the truth, and it was finally time to settle this game once and for all.

Leaving the wilderness behind, I shoved the unconscious Yun Chuan into the back of the sports car. I forced Jiang Chen into the passenger seat at gunpoint, making him hold Bai Qi just like before.

Fighting to stay awake, I started the engine and raced toward tonight's final destination.

"Eight live broadcasts... is it finally over?"

I sped off into the distance, and the armed police quickly mobilized to follow close behind.

"Captain Chen, the number of hostages has increased again. Should we take action?"

"Negative. Stay on him. We have to secure Jiang Chen's safety first."

"Understood."

...

Rainwater ran down my hair and into my swollen, bloodshot eyes. They stung terribly, as though someone had rubbed grit beneath my eyelids.

Lanjiang Dam and Xinhu High School were in opposite directions. Getting there would take two hours at the absolute fastest.

I checked the time: it was already past 2:00 AM. Normally, the night would be over by the time I reached Lanjiang Dam, and I feared I would be too late.

The torrential downpour drummed rapidly against the car windows, filling me with anxiety. "I should be able to make it."

I turned my head and asked Jiang Chen, "Can your car tune in to live news broadcasts?"

Jiang Chen hadn't expected me to speak to him. He furrowed his brow, reached out, and pressed a spot on the center console. A small LCD screen popped up. "The left is for GPS and route planning. The right connects to the network; you can watch all kinds of news and live broadcasts."

I tapped on the news. Aside from my wanted posters, the most frequent terms appearing were flood control and prevention.

"There's something wrong with this rain."

Torrential downpours were common in the summer, but we were already well into autumn. Yet the heavy rain persisted, pouring for three days and three nights straight and pushing the water levels higher and higher. If this kept up, it would likely trigger a massive disaster.

"Flood crest warning: the water level at Hankou Station has reached 28.55 meters, hitting the highest recorded level this year. Residents along the river, please prioritize your safety. Going outside is strictly prohibited!"

The news anchor's voice rang out from the screen. Then, the footage cut to a blurry shot near Lanjiang Dam. The on-site reporter was a hundred meters away from the structure but was still being battered by the fierce wind and rain, unable to stand steady.

"I remember the news initially saying, 'Residents along the river, please be safe and avoid going out unless necessary.' Now it's a strict ban. The situation is getting worse." Having lived in Jiangcheng my whole life, I knew exactly what the rising water levels at Hankou Station meant. Hankou Station was located upstream on the main river. It was the shallowest point and the easiest place to obtain an accurate average measurement. Generally speaking, the water level at Hankou Station plus 20 meters equaled the water depth on the reservoir side of Lanjiang Dam in Jiangcheng.

28.55 meters plus 20 meters came to a total of 48.55 meters of floodwater, roughly as tall as a sixteen-story building. If the dam collapsed, that monstrous sixteen-story wave would sweep through, turning the entirety of Jiangcheng into a vast lake.

"The lives of everyone in the city rest solely in my hands... So this is what it meant."

To this day, I still didn't know Lu Xing's ultimate goal. I could only speculate: 'Could he be trying to sacrifice all of Jiangcheng in blood?'

Using an entire city of lives to satisfy their own desires—if that were truly the case, then Lu Xing and Two-Faced Buddha were utterly terrifying.

A plan twenty years in the making, an unprecedentedly massive feng shui grand formation—what exactly were they trying to do?

"Flood crest warning: the water level at Hankou Station has reached 28.6 meters, hitting the highest recorded level this year. Residents along the river, please prioritize your safety. Going outside is strictly prohibited!"

The water level was still rising. Listening to the broadcast, I pushed the car to its top speed.

Two hours later, I arrived at the shopping plaza closest to Lanjiang Dam—Shanyang Shopping Center.

"The place Er Gou mentioned should be right here. Get out!"

Jiang Chen and I stepped out of the car. As for Yun Chuan, I left him to rest in the back seat; he wouldn't be of much help right now anyway.

My clothes were completely soaked through. I grabbed Jiang Chen, who had lost a shoe during the run, and approached Shanyang Mall.

On the massive plaza, aside from Jiang Chen's flashy Lamborghini, sat a blue-and-white taxi. The "Vacant" sign on its dashboard was flipped down, but the cab was empty.

"The news keeps broadcasting for citizens to stay indoors, yet there's a taxi here? That's not normal."

I peered inside. A puddle of water pooled on the driver's seat, likely left behind by someone driving for a long time in soaking-wet clothes.

"Driving a taxi to Lanjiang Dam in the middle of a stormy night... is it Qiu Ren?"

I used Chasing Eye to scan my surroundings. Occasional flashes of light came from the direction of Lanjiang Dam. The police had established a strict perimeter there—firstly for flood control, and secondly to prevent anyone from taking advantage of the chaos to sabotage the dam.

"It seems Tie Ningxiang's advice to the police wasn't completely useless. With them standing guard, it won't be that easy for Lu Xing to slip inside."

The eighth live broadcast location was likely here. Being a wanted fugitive, rushing straight to the dam would only draw police attention and divide their manpower.

I certainly didn't want the police to drop their guard and let Lu Xing's wicked scheme succeed because of me.

"Er Gou should be waiting for me around the mall. Let's find him first. After all, there's strength in numbers."

By the light of the headlights, I scanned the area through the heavy rain. I didn't see Er Gou anywhere, but I did notice that the glass doors of Shanyang Mall had been smashed.

"Is he inside the mall?"

I hurried inside. The interior was dim, illuminated only by the eerie green glow of the emergency exit signs.

"Er Gou!"

I shouted from the first floor, my voice echoing endlessly through the mall. After shouting three times, a response finally came from the ground-floor emergency stairwell. "Jian Ge, you finally made it!"

Dragging a long blade across the floor, Er Gou ran out of the darkness, clutching his shoulder.

"Are you hurt?" I asked with concern. This brother of mine was originally just an outsider, dragged into this mess purely to help me.

"I'm fine," Er Gou said with a wave of his hand, revealing a large purplish-black bruise on his shoulder. It was caused by Yin energy invading his body.

"Who did this? Was it a one-armed man?" I gave a quick description of Qiu Ren's appearance, and Er Gou nodded repeatedly.

"Just over ten minutes ago, a one-armed guy sneaked in. He seemed to want to disguise himself as an electrician to blend into the emergency repair team and enter Lanjiang Dam. I ran into him while he was looking for electrician overalls in the merchandise area, and we fought for a bit. The guy could command ghosts. If it weren't for the fact that the knife you gave me can slay those bastards, I'm afraid I'd be a goner."

"Disguised as an electrician? Emergency repair team? Has something gone wrong at Lanjiang Dam?" My heart skipped a beat as I caught the crucial detail in Er Gou's words. "If the dam fails tonight, the death toll won't stop at one or two."

"I don't know the exact details. While I was hiding here earlier, I saw several batches of electricians and mechanics go in."

"Damn it. Lu Xing is really targeting the dam. That mad dog!" I looked outside. The police cars that had been chasing me from Xinhu High School had already arrived near the mall. Time was running out.

"Er Gou, where did that one-armed man find the electrician jacket and hat? Take me there, quickly."

Er Gou didn't waste words. He led me to the spot where he had clashed with Qiu Ren and pulled a set of insulated overalls from a shelf. "This looks like the kind of clothes he was looking for."

"Insulated suits are used for high-voltage work or underwater electrical repairs. It seems the dam really is in trouble." I found a set of insulated overalls, tore open the packaging, and looked down in hesitation. "Er Gou, I'm going to need you to do something extremely dangerous for me. I want you to think it over carefully right now. I won't force you. Even if you say no, I won't blame you."