A false alarm

  But things weren't as simple as imagined, after all the opponent was an international professional killer, and their anti-tracking ability must not be bad. It wasn't until thirty-six hours after the case broke that the police finally found a lead, which is a good proof, if it wasn't for the accidental injury, I'm afraid they would have flown to the Southern Hemisphere by now.

  The clue that the murderer may have escaped by subway is not very clear. The long-distance bus station, train station and the port of entry and exit to Hong Kong in Nanhua City are all located here, so there are three subway lines departing from here.

  The first is from the long-distance bus station to Cuilu Park outside the pass, which is a main transportation line connecting inside and outside the pass. There are twelve stations along the way.

  The second is from the long-distance bus station to Xishan District's Xishan Shopping City, a shopping and sightseeing route that spans east-west, belonging to the elevated light rail, passing through some major shopping centers and tourist attractions along the way, with a total of fifteen stations.

  The third line also runs east-west, overlapping with Nanhua Avenue on the ground and underground, and the terminal station is Riyue Bay in Xishan District. Because 40% of the office buildings in Nanhua City are concentrated on both sides of Nanhua Avenue, this line is the busiest traffic line in Nanhua City, with as many as twenty-five stations along the way.

  Although bringing all the video materials to watch one by one will eventually reveal the killer's trail, it is too inefficient to find a needle in the sea, so we must first screen and narrow down the investigation scope.

  The murderer was most likely to take the first subway line, because this is the route out of the pass. Once out of the pass, half of the escape would be successful. However, after the case broke, the police strengthened their forces at the pass and previously unchecked subway lines were also checked, but no suspicious persons were found.

  The second line is the sightseeing line, and according to the killer's disguise - a curly-haired beauty with a guitar on her back, it should indeed be this subway line that would attract the least attention from others, because most of the passengers on this line are foreign tourists, and street performers appearing here is simply natural.

  But Qiao Zhenglin's eyes still noticed the third line in an instant, and there was only one reason: this line was the longest, the terminal station was relatively remote, far from the scene of the crime, and surrounded by urban villages with many people.

  Mei Shenglin was still pondering the reason why Qiao Zhenglin chose this line as the terminal survey object, when Niu Shoutong had already been thoroughly defeated by Qiao Zhenglin. Because he also chose this line.

  "But," said Niu Shoutong, "this line is the longest and has the most stops. The killer may have gotten off at any one of them, so we need to call up all the video footage from each station along the way."

  Qiao Zhenglin said: "Although the subway's cameras are installed according to anti-terrorism standards, it is not difficult for a professional killer to avoid these cameras. Moreover, there are so many ordinary passengers who can provide cover for her. So even if we watch all the video recordings, we may not necessarily find any trace of the murderer. This is probably also why the murderer chose to escape from the subway, which seems to be the most dangerous place."

  Niú Shòu Tōng thought for a moment and said: "From the perspective of criminal psychology, most suspects will choose to leave the scene as soon as possible after committing a crime, and the farther away they are, the better. From this point of view, we can assume that the killer should have gotten off at the terminal station. However, since the killer was injured while escaping, it's unlikely that he would risk his life by staying in the subway for nearly an hour. Therefore, our investigation of video materials should start from both ends of the line. Méi Shèng Lín, you start searching from the long-distance bus station; Qiáo Zhēn Lín, you start searching from Rì Yuè Wān. Be sure to investigate carefully and dig out the killer!"

  "Yes!" replied Zhao Zhenglin and Mei Shenglin in unison.

  ＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝

  Inside a rental house in Yamato Bay.

  Yi Xiaodao looked at Yuriko and asked: "Why did you choose to be an assassin?"

  Lily looked down at the handgun in her hand and said coldly, "I have no choice."

  Yi Xiao Dao: "Where are your parents?"

  Lily's expression was tinged with a hint of melancholy: "I don't know."

  Yi Xiao Dao: "How could you not know..."

  Lily: "I've never seen them, Master said they're dead... They died when I was just born, it's Master who raised me."

  Yi Xiaodao's heart stirred slightly, and he said slowly: "I didn't expect you're also an orphan..."

  Lily looked up: "Are you an orphan too?"

  Yi Xiao Dao startled awake: "Not... a friend of mine is..." He noticed the gun in her hand: "Can I borrow the handgun to take a look?"

  Lily hesitated for a moment, cautiously glanced at Yi Xiaodao, and handed over the gun.

  Yi Xiaodao took the pistol and weighed it in his hand, saying: "This latest model of 9mm domestically produced police handgun has not been fully equipped by the police in Nanhua City. Where did you buy it from?"

  Lily was slightly surprised: "You recognize this gun? What kind of person are you?"

  Yi Xiaodao's eyes flashed with a hint of sharpness, the gun spinning rapidly on his fingers for two circles before he firmly grasped the grip, his index finger hooked onto the trigger, the muzzle pointing straight at Baihe.

  "Sorry, you've broken into the home of an FBI agent!" Yi Xiaodao's mouth curled up in a cold smile, his voice low and serious, not angry but authoritative.

  Facing the sudden change, Baihe's mind went blank in an instant. As a professional killer, she had attacked Yi Xiaodao but was instead subdued by him. His quick movements should have easily led her to suspect his identity, yet after a brief moment of suspicion, she believed he was just an ordinary person with quicker reflexes. What a huge mistake!

  However, in her heart, there was a hint of celebration, celebrating the fact that the one who would take her life was this somewhat handsome and somewhat kind man. No, is he kind? He's deceiving her! But that doesn't matter anymore. From the moment she felt intense danger on the rooftop, she thought to herself that she might not make it out alive this time. Rather than dying at the hands of those policemen in Nanhua City, she'd rather die at the hands of this man. At least, in the one second before he revealed his true nature, she was still thinking to herself if she had met her Prince Charming. Then let this man who had just touched her heartstrings be the one to end her life!

  Although her emotions were complex and numerous, the time was only a few seconds. She had already made up her mind. An assassin's most basic quality is decisiveness - whether it's killing someone or being killed by someone else, it only takes one second. And she had hesitated for too long over this slightly moved man.

  She didn't hesitate anymore, making a gesture of pouncing on him, but her heart flashed with a deep sadness. She wasn't going to knock him down, just using this action to lure him into firing at her. She could accept being killed, but couldn't accept being captured.

  From the moment he raised his gun to when Lily pounced on him, it was all within five seconds. Seeing Lily charging towards him, Yi Xiaodao was at a loss for what to do. This woman had been targeted by him, yet she came at him without saying a word - what did she want to do?

  He subconsciously lowered his pistol and was immediately pounced on by Yurisa.

  The gun didn't go off.

  The atmosphere suddenly became subtle.

  The despair and sadness in Yili's heart turned into astonishment and confusion, she comfortably lay on Yi Xiaodao's shoulder with a prone posture, her hands unknowingly hugging Yi Xiaodao tightly.

  Time seemed to slow down all of a sudden. Perhaps it wasn't until a year later that she finally came back to her senses, loosened her grip on the dagger, and retreated back to her original position.

  "Are you kidding me?"

  Yi Xiao Dao stopped himself from continuing too quickly: "I was just joking with you, didn't expect ——"

  Before she could finish speaking, Lily had already kicked out with one foot, aiming straight for Yixiaodao's face.

  "Yi Xiao Dao was shocked: 'What are you doing?'"

  "Lily gritted her teeth: 'How dare you deceive me?'"

  Yi Xiaodao dodged the kick and said: "Do you believe in FBI too? Are you scared of being chased by Americans?"

  Lily clutched her foot, her right hand covering the wound on her left shoulder, a pained expression on her face.

  "What's wrong? Did you hurt yourself?"

  "Uh-huh."

  Lily nodded and sat down on the sofa.

  Yi Xiaodao saw the pain his joke had brought to Yuriko and said seriously, "I'll take you to see a doctor. Your wound is not superficial, simple disinfection won't be thorough enough, and it will become inflamed."

  Lily shook her head: "The police are definitely waiting for me at the hospital."

  Yi Xiaodao said: "Don't worry, I won't take you to the hospital. I know an old doctor who used to be a military doctor and is very skilled. We'll go find him."

  Lily looked at Yi Xiaodao for a full ten seconds before nodding her head.

  Yi Xiaodao got up and found a set of clothes left by A Jiao from the closet and threw them to Yurui.

  "You change your clothes here, I'll go wash up downstairs. Hurry."

  Lily thought for a moment and said: "I'll go to the restroom to change."

  Yi Xiaodao was taken aback: "Don't you still believe me?"

  Lily ignored him and picked up her clothes, heading towards the bathroom.

  Just then, a low and muffled knock at the door was heard.

  The two people froze at the same time.

  Yi Xiao Dao signaled to Bai He not to make a sound and threw the gun in his hand to Bai He. Bai He caught the handgun and flashed into the bathroom.

  The knock at the door sounded again, accompanied by low murmurs of conversation, apparently between two people.

  Yi Xiaodao knew he couldn't stay silent anymore, so he asked in a lazy tone: "Who is it?"

  "It's the police." The reply came from outside the door.

  Second update. For some reason, the website was inaccessible all afternoon, so I'm updating the second chapter now and will post the third chapter at 5:30 today. Don't dare to delay until tonight... my home internet speed...

  Book friends, after reading, please collect one for Xiao Xiao, and if you can vote again, it would be even better.