The other party left an address and hung up the phone.

The bandaged man sat down and took out a cigarette. He was so angry that he threw it away without lighting it. He turned on the computer in the office and loaded up the surveillance footage in the room just then.

The footage showed that the person who took Kaowei hadn’t snuck in from the outside. When the bandaged man was fighting with the group of people, a man in a suit slipped out of the manager’s office and dragged Kaowei, leaving through the back door.

The bandaged man walked out of the office. He grabbed the "Impressionist" from the ground and found the car key from his body.

Half an hour later, he got to a mixed commercial and residential building that had just been completed and hadn’t been occupied yet. The whole building was pitch-dark with a sinister atmosphere. The elevator hadn't been powered, so he could only climb up the long stairs.

Along the way, the bandaged man looked and listened in all directions, carefully inspecting the movements in every corner. He went to the top floor and saw a light on the empty spacious floor. Under the light, Kaowei was tied with her hands behind her. She was sitting on a chair with a strip of cloth in her mouth. When she saw the bandaged man coming, she made some noises behind the gag.

The bandaged man was overjoyed and walked forward. Suddenly, a man appeared from behind him. The bandaged man turned and punched subconsciously. The man used a leather gloved hand to hold his fist, and a needle appeared in the other hand. The needle pierced the bandaged man’s neck.

He felt weak in an instant and knelt down on one knee, unable to even lift his arm.

The other party gave him a cold look as they walked around behind him. At this moment, an old man walked out from behind a pillar. He was dressed in a tunic suit[1] with white beard and hair. He had a dragon head cane in his hand. The bandaged man had seen a photo of this man somewhere before. His name was Lie Guoxiao, an underworld boss who had been on the police watch list.

Thinking that he would be played into this third-rate trick, the bandaged man smiled bitterly. His increasing powerlessness was weighing his body down heavily. He could just barely stay awake by biting his lip and a bloody taste filled his mouth.

"Where have you been hiding for the past two years? How have you been?" Lie Guoxiao said as if saying hello.

"Don't put up an act. I'm already here. Let her go!" the bandage man roared weakly.

"Don't worry, we won't hurt your woman, Wang Xi. If it weren't for you back then, I wouldn't be where I am today. It can be said that you have made great contributions for me. However, the longer a secret is hidden, the more dangerous it gets. Do you know what I mean?"

"You want to kill me?"

"No, no, of course not. Have you become stupid? Give that thing back to me. I'm worried about it all day because I'm afraid that a third person will see it. I can't tolerate a threat to me not within my control. You must return it to me." Lie Guoxiao stretched out a hand.

The bandaged man frowned. The effect of the medicine had begun to hinder his thinking and his mind was becoming heavy and slow. He guessed that the "thing" Lie Guoxiao said was the thing in Wang Xi's hand that could be used against him, so he replied, "That's my life-saving talisman. I can’t return it."

"I understand. You should keep some insurance when dealing with me, but that was back then... Now, I’m different from the past. I call the wind and the rain. I can decide who gets to live and who needs to die. Give it back to me and I promise that no one will harass you and your girl again. You will be at peace from now on."

The bandaged man squeezed his eyes desperately. Even though his head had stopped turning, he still understood something. This kind of transaction couldn’t be agreed to. After getting it back, Lie Guoxiao would immediately kill him.

Besides, he didn't have it at all.

Damn, why did I get involved in this troublesome thing? He was in a dazed state. The two people standing in front of him became Han Luoxi and Li Mu. The faces of the two were pale, and the bullet holes on their foreheads were still bleeding. Han Luoxi asked, "Why aren’t you facing all this, but instead choosing to escape? This is not the Song Lang I know at all."

Li Mu said, "Teaching an apprentice like you is simply the shame of my lifetime!"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" the bandaged man muttered, tears streaming down uncontrollably.

"Li Mu" walked over and began to beat him. The bandaged man could only resist passively. "Li Mu" stepped heavily on him. The pain caused the bandaged man to wake up. It turned out that the man who was beating him was Lie Guoxiao's attendant.

"Where is the thing?! Where is the thing?!" the man asked with gritted teeth while beating him.

"Okay, Liu Feng." Lie Guoxiao stopped him.

"The truth serum didn't work. Do you want to add more?" Liu Feng asked for further instructions.

"40 milliliters is already enough. If you add more, he’ll die." Lie Guoxiao walked over and poke the bandaged man with a cane. He planned to test the effects of the truth serum as he asked, "Who are you?"

"A sinner."

"Haha!" Lie Guoxiao laughed dryly. "That's quite poetic. I’m asking what is your name?"

"Song Lang."

"Go fuck your mum, you don't even know what your name is..." Lie Guoxiao's face suddenly looked as though he sobered up. "Wait, he isn’t Wang Xi. He isn’t Wang Xi! Song Lang? The policeman who killed his colleagues?"

Suddenly, there were police sirens outside. Liu Feng ran to the window to take a look. He said, "Master Lie, this guy seems to have called the police!"

Lie Guoxiao gritted his teeth fiercely. "After such a long time, it was actually a mistake. Let him bear what he’s started. Let's go!"

The police were indeed called by the bandaged man. The only excuse for the police to act aggressively at this time could only be: "I saw the wanted criminal Song Lang." The original plan was to save Kaowei and run away quickly, then the police who came later would delay this group of people. However, he had shot himself in the foot.

The sound of the police sirens were getting closer. The bandaged man used his willpower to support his fragile state of energy, slowly crawling towards Kaowei. He tried to untie Kaowei's rope, but it was useless. The knot was too tight.

Kaowei got the gagging cloth off by herself and kicked him anxiously. "Wake up, wake up! It's not the time to sleep right now."

The bandaged man raised his head, and the Kaowei in his eyes turned into Han Luoxi. He said with tears, "I didn't kill anyone."

"I believe you. Wake up! Hurry up!" Kaowei urged desperately.

"Ah!"

The bandaged man yelled, struggling to fight the drowsiness. He bit the rope with his teeth while simultaneously pulling at it with his hands. He finally untied the rope on Kaowei's hands. Then, his memory disconnected...

Suddenly, a burst of cold water choked him on his windpipe. The bandaged man suddenly woke up and raised his head. He found that he was in a bathroom. The sink was full of water. It turned out that Kaowei pressed his head into the water and forced him to sober up. What a decisive girl.

There was a rush of footsteps outside, and Kaowei said sadly, "The police are here. How are you going to escape?"

"You now know who I am. Why do you want to help me escape? If you run out right now and shout, ‘Song Lang is here’, the bounty of hundreds of thousands will go to you." the bandaged man said with piercing eyes.

"Then what would I become? A traitor who betrays my friends?" Kaowei smiled bitterly and grabbed the bandaged man's hand. "I’ll hide myself. The police won't care about me. You can try to find a way to escape!"

1. The modern Chinese tunic suit is a style of male attire originally known in China as the Zhongshan suit after the republican leader Sun Yat-sen. Sun Yat-sen introduced the style shortly after the founding of the Republic of China as a form of national dress with distinct political overtones.