Chapter 093: Capturing the River-Crossing Dragon, the Smile Before Death

Song Kai stared at the old man, and in an instant many things fell into place.

The old man was a milk delivery man, someone Song Kai had seen once before.

Back then, Song Kai had only found it odd because the man’s face was remarkably peculiar.

Song Kai, as a Quanzhen Daoist, had some skill in reading faces and divining fate. Yet when he had looked at the old man then, the man’s features had seemed blurred and indistinct; he could not make out whether fortune or disaster lay upon him. It had looked almost as though the man were on the verge of death.

Song Kai had not taken it seriously, assuming the man was gravely ill.

Now, at their second meeting, Song Kai suddenly understood: the old man was in disguise.

Because the impression the man’s face gave him on the two occasions was entirely different.

If it were truly the same person, then the appearance of his fate would never change so drastically in such a short time.

But if someone were deliberately covering himself with a human-skin mask, then the face would indeed change enormously, because no one could adjust such a mask every day to be exactly the same as before.

Ordinary people would find it almost impossible to notice. After all, an old man’s face was full of wrinkles; it was hard to tell whether anything had changed.

But to Song Kai, it was entirely different.

He was reading fate through the face.

Even the slightest change would reveal a vast difference in destiny.

This old man had been seen twice by Song Kai, and each time his face had been completely different. That meant there was a problem.

Once Song Kai understood, he immediately went to find his phone and asked Wu Hongying to investigate the man in secret.

“Hello, Sister Yingzi, I think I know who Crossing-the-River Dragon is,” Song Kai said with confidence.

“Really?” Wu Hongying’s spirits rose instantly on the other end of the line. She had been secretly investigating this case for more than half a year, and now there was finally a result. “Tell me what you found.”

“Look into the background of the milkman who delivers here to the complex. He’s disguised himself, and there’s something off about him. Also, be careful during the investigation. If he really is Crossing-the-River Dragon, then his skills and his schemes are far more dangerous than we thought. You all need to be cautious,” Song Kai warned.

“All right, Song Kai. If he really is Crossing-the-River Dragon, then you’ll have done a great service this time. Your undercover mission will have been a real success,” Wu Hongying said.

“Be careful, be careful, be careful...” Song Kai muttered.

“Are you a broken record?” Wu Hongying laughed.

“Important things are worth saying three times. All right, I’m hanging up.”

Song Kai ended the call.

Outside, Liu Qian comforted her younger brother and sister a little, then went off to work.

With Song Kai at home, Liu Ying and Liu Qiang did not feel frightened. Liu Ying stayed home reading books on law and civil service exams, preparing for the judicial police entrance test, while Liu Qiang continued playing games.

Song Kai had originally planned to leave Liu Qian’s home, but now that he had a lead, he was in no hurry to go.

Using the excuse that he was protecting Liu Ying and Liu Qiang, he remained at the Liu household.

The day passed without incident.

The next morning, before dawn had broken, the phone by the bed began to vibrate. Song Kai opened his eyes, picked it up, and saw that it was Wu Hongying calling.

“Why so early?” Song Kai yawned.

“Ding Sanming is dead,” Wu Hongying said without preamble.

“What?” Song Kai was startled. “How can that be? Weren’t those men still splashing paint at the door yesterday?”

“Yes. Now it’s up to four corpses. And the old man you asked me to investigate had no problems at all—no, that’s not quite right. He had been perfectly clean, but late last night, when Ding Sanming and the others were killed, he had gone out once. So now he’s under strong suspicion,” Wu Hongying said quickly.

“Wait, wait. What exactly is going on? How can he have suspicion one moment and none the next?” Song Kai asked.

Wu Hongying explained rapidly. “That milk delivery man is named Zhu Wansha. He’s an old hand at the job and has been delivering milk for seven years. His wife is paralyzed on one side, and there’s nothing suspicious about him. He’s an old employee, after all, while Crossing-the-River Dragon only appeared within the past six months. At first, there really was no reason to suspect him. But last night, he did sneak out. Then this morning we found Ding Sanming and the others’ bodies, so now he really does have major suspicion. Our entire criminal investigation team is already heading to Linshui Bay Complex. We’ll set up an ambush there and arrest Zhu Wansha!”

Song Kai lowered the phone and thought for a moment, quickly understanding.

This Crossing-the-River Dragon was indeed deeply hidden. He had not tried to conceal himself deliberately, but instead had been living in Cloud City under the identity of someone who had existed for a very long time. Needless to say, the real Zhu Wansha was already dead, and this man had used Zhu Wansha’s face as a human-skin mask. Otherwise, he could never have concealed himself from the eyes of the neighbors around him.

Song Kai drew a deep breath and put on his clothes. After thinking it over, he decided he should still prepare some weapons, even if he would not need to take action in today’s arrest.

He took the fruit knife from the Liu household, but finding nothing else that felt right in his hand, he simply smashed a porcelain bowl, picked up several sharp shards, and hid them on his person.

Glancing at the time, he saw there was still more than an hour before Crossing-the-River Dragon would arrive with the milk. Song Kai took another deep breath, then climbed up to the roof and began breathing and circulating his inner energy toward the sun.

Not long after, he saw several figures moving furtively in the distance. Clearly, they were plainclothes police officers assigning the arrest operation.

Song Kai was not in a rush. He treated it as a fine show to watch.

About an hour later, the sun rose, and an electric tricycle drove into the upscale Linshui Bay Complex. Then the old man on the tricycle could be seen delivering milk to each household.

At that moment, two men who looked like security guards walked toward him. They were, in fact, disguised police officers, pretending to be conducting a routine inspection and checking the milk on the electric tricycle.

On the tricycle, Crossing-the-River Dragon narrowed his eyes.

He had lived through many storms and tempests, and his eyes were sharp indeed. The moment he entered the complex, he had already sensed that something was wrong. But he had great confidence in his own concealment. He believed no one could uncover his background, and no one would pay him any mind.

Yet now, seeing those two unfamiliar security guards approaching him, he knew at once that things were bad.

The two guards wore smiles. Though they were working hard to hide their identities, their hands kept drifting unconsciously toward their waists. Clearly, both of them were armed.

Crossing-the-River Dragon’s eyes narrowed slightly, and then he took the initiative to greet them. “Hey, are you two here to drink some milk?”

“Yes, sir, we—”

“Bang! Bang!”

While the two were speaking, Crossing-the-River Dragon suddenly drew a gun from his hand and fired twice, shooting both men just below the ribs. Then he sprang from the tricycle and ran straight toward Song Kai’s direction.

“After him!”

Wu Hongying shouted the order, and more than ten criminal investigators charged out. Two of them rushed to help the wounded officers, while the others pursued Crossing-the-River Dragon in full force, with still more people moving to cut him off ahead.

Crossing-the-River Dragon was highly skilled. When he ran, his speed was like that of a leopard.

“Bang! Bang!”

The officers behind him fired warning shots, then shot directly at him.

But Crossing-the-River Dragon was clearly very experienced in gunfights. His body darted in a zigzag course, dodging the bullets and slipping past the officers ahead of him. At the same time, he twisted back and fired twice more. Two policemen were hit in the thighs.

The criminal investigators became somewhat frightened, and their pursuit slowed.

Gunfire kept ringing out, while more officers converged from all sides of the complex.

Crossing-the-River Dragon had already reached the area near Liu Qian’s home.

Song Kai watched him, the broken porcelain shard clenched in his hand, ready to strike at any moment.

Reaching a corner, Crossing-the-River Dragon leaped and vaulted into the garden of Liu Qian’s home.

“Stop!” A woman shouted from behind as she pursued him at full speed. It was Wu Hongying.

Wu Hongying was disregarding her own life. As the commander of this arrest operation, she had seen four of her men wounded, their lives possibly in danger, and fury surged in her heart. She felt it was her responsibility. If she had known Crossing-the-River Dragon was so alert, she should have acted directly and shot him dead.

She had great confidence in her marksmanship, and with anger driving her on, she naturally gave chase without hesitation.

Crossing-the-River Dragon looked back, drew a pistol with his right hand, and turned to face the direction from which Wu Hongying was coming.

A flash of fury appeared in his eyes. He had not expected anyone to dare follow him this far.

He was already prepared to kill.

Song Kai stood on the rooftop and sighed inwardly. Wu Hongying really was foolish. Had she never understood the lesson that a cornered beast should not be driven too hard? All they needed now was to force Crossing-the-River Dragon gradually into a dead end. If they pressed too urgently, they would only cause more people to be hurt.

Thinking this, Song Kai had already sprinted toward the spot where Crossing-the-River Dragon stood. At the same time, he flicked the shard of broken porcelain in his hand.

Because Song Kai was standing on the roof, Crossing-the-River Dragon had not noticed him at all.

And even if he had noticed, he would not have been able to evade it, because Song Kai had used all his strength in that throw.

With the Nine Thunder inner energy surging through his body, Song Kai lifted his hand and flung the shard. In an instant it flew before Crossing-the-River Dragon and, with a sharp hiss, severed the man’s right wrist cleanly at the joint.

That speed was absolutely comparable to a bullet.

At that very moment, Wu Hongying had already arrived behind him.

She happened to see Crossing-the-River Dragon’s wrist severed, and with a gun still in his hand. She rolled to the ground, then fired with a sharp report. The bullet struck precisely in Crossing-the-River Dragon’s abdomen.

Crossing-the-River Dragon looked at Wu Hongying, then raised his head to look at Song Kai, and gave a grin.

Using his left hand to clutch his stomach, he slowly sank to his knees. His face grew paler and paler. Staring at Song Kai, he let a smile bloom across his features.

“You are... Song Kai?”