Lu Yuan quickly stood up from his desk and went to the door, pressing his ear gently against the wall.
The commotion in the living room beca much clearer, so he decided to close his eyes as well.
His "720-degree holographic imagery" superpower activated.
The scene in the living room presented itself hazily before Lu Yuan’s "eyes."
"What ti is it? You’re going out in the middle of the night?" Mom, dressed in her pajamas, rushed out of her room.
"Chasing, chasing, always chasing! I swear you’re possessed all day. It’s just a few hundred thousand. If it’s gone, we’ll earn it back. What if you stir up so real trouble..." Zheng Qiuling couldn’t help but reach up to wipe her eyes as she spoke.
"Stop shouting! You’ll wake Dad and Yuan!" Dad, Lu Xinghua, stood at the doorway, putting on his shoes while reaching for the car keys hanging on a hook.
"Don’t you worry about this. I’m definitely getting that money back. Just go to sleep..."
With that, Lu Xinghua opened the door and hurriedly left.
In his bedroom, Lu Yuan opened his eyes and glanced at the small alarm clock on his desk.
11:46.
Dad actually left at this hour to chase soone. What if...
These are the last few days. I really hope nothing unexpected happens.
Lu Yuan gritted his teeth and quickly decided to follow.
Mom, Zheng Qiuling, was still in the living room. Going out the front door was impossible.
Lu Yuan walked to his bedroom window and opened it. He reached out to grab the railing of the burglar bars outside and applied a little force.
CREAK—
He pulled open a gap in the bars just wide enough for a person to squeeze through.
These burglar bars were made of hollow stainless steel pipes. With Lu Yuan’s current strength, bending them slightly was as easy as eating or drinking.
Lu Yuan gently hopped onto the windowsill, one hand gripping the window fra.
His bedroom window faced the road below. Once he got down, he could intercept his dad, Lu Xinghua.
Distance to the ground: 3.2 ters, margin of error no more than 5 cm...
Lu Yuan looked down. His 13-point Intelligence instantly calculated the landing height.
With almost no hesitation, he let go, and his whole body slid through the gap in the burglar bars.
I’ll just bend the steel pipe back when I return... he thought in mid-fall.
THUMP—
With a slight, muffled sound, Lu Yuan landed steadily.
The noise was much quieter than he’d expected; even quieter than soone upstairs tossing down a bag of trash.
My Agility is only 12 points. If it were higher, I might actually be like those qinggong masters in novels, landing silently and leaving no trace in the snow... Even if I jumped from the rooftop, I probably wouldn’t die...
Subconsciously, Lu Yuan glanced upwards.
Just then, he heard his dad, Lu Xinghua, cough.
He quickly snapped out of his reverie, his gaze sweeping around, and swiftly locked onto Lu Xinghua’s small pickup truck parked by the roadside.
He darted over like a cat, and as he neared the truck, he leaped, landing silently in the truck bed.
A mont later, Lu Xinghua’s footsteps approached. He was on the phone and didn’t even glance at the truck bed.
"Coming, coming! I’ll be there right away..."
"You keep a close watch on him! Have Old Liu and the others been notified?"
"Right, got it."
Lu Xinghua hung up, opened the truck door, and got into the cab.
Lu Yuan lay in the truck bed, listening to the engine start. He reached out one hand to grip the edge of the bed. With his other hand, he took out his cell phone from his pocket and quietly set it to silent.
Soon, the truck started moving. It made a U-turn and headed towards the end of the street.
Lu Yuan’s heart pounded.
It felt like back in school, when he and his classmates would sneak out of the dorms late at night to go to an internet cafe. Nervous, and a little apprehensive.
But the feeling quickly faded.
It’s only natural for a son to help his father! The worst that could happen is getting scolded a bit...
Lu Yuan’s last shred of hesitation vanished.
His father, Lu Xinghua, drove the truck at breakneck speed. The small pickup was an old one the family used for hauling goods.
The truck bed shook violently, and the cold night wind whipped across Lu Yuan’s face. He didn’t dare move, afraid any sound would make Lu Xinghua stop and check.
On the way, he discreetly checked the ho surveillance on his phone. Everything seed normal, and he felt a bit more at ease.
He was terrified the rat man might break into their ho the mont he left. Hopefully, such a ridiculous plot twist wouldn’t happen to him.
Then again, the rat man probably wouldn’t dare make a move now. From what Ge Wenjun and the TV news had revealed, Fly Shuttle—the people sent by the "higher-ups"—had already started a cleanup operation against certain factions in Burnt Rock City. Given the rat man’s cunning nature, he definitely wouldn’t risk showing his face at such a critical ti.
Rats... Even if they beco human... so instincts just don’t change.
A map of Burnt Rock City ford in Lu Yuan’s mind. Watching the streets, signs, and tall buildings flash past on either side, he ntally calculated his current position. He realized his father, Lu Xinghua, was driving toward the outskirts of the West District.
Twenty minutes later, the pickup turned onto a country road and began to jolt along. Lu Yuan saw orange trees and farmland on either side.
Burnt Rock was well-suited for growing citrus, and many farrs in the villages around the city cultivated oranges, mandarins, and polos. His grandfather, Lu Yueping, had two acres of such trees. In the past, Lu Yuan would spend a couple of weeks, or even a month, in the countryside each sumr. He’d catch loaches and eels in the fields, fish and shrimp in the river, and eat early-ripening citrus until he developed a heat rash... Those were happy days.
Five minutes later, the truck stopped.
Seizing the opportunity as Lu Xinghua turned off the engine, Lu Yuan quickly hunched over and leaped from the truck bed, rolling with a RUSTLE into the thick grass nearby.
"Brother Lu!"
As soon as Lu Xinghua got out of the truck, two n using their phones as flashlights hurried unsteadily towards him from a distance.
Hiding in the grass beside the truck, Lu Yuan cautiously lifted his head to look. He dimly spotted another vehicle parked further away. Beyond that, he could see a lit house standing on a small hill.
WHOOSH—
Suddenly, a few night birds darted out from sowhere, almost grazing Lu Yuan’s head as they zipped past.
Startled, Lu Yuan instantly ducked down.
"What the hell was that?!" Lu Xinghua and the others, who had been talking, were also startled.
"Crows," said one of the n who had co to et Lu Xinghua—a short, skinny fellow. "This whole area is full of them. I reckon it used to be a graveyard..."
"Quit your damn yapping at this hour!" the other man snapped before he could finish.
"Alright, let’s get down to business," Lu Xinghua said, his expression serious as he questioned the two. "Where’s Wang Zhichao?"
"In that house!" The two n pointed to the lit house on the hill.
"I tailed that bastard all the way here. Saw him go in with my own eyes..."
"Are you sure you weren’t mistaken?"
"No mistake. Would I joke about sothing like this?"
"Then let’s move!" Lu Xinghua, adopting the assertive posture of their leader, waved his hand and issued the order.
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