Yu Lanchuan was puzzled. His brows rising to his hairline, he replied to Yan Hao with a question mark.

Gan Qing asked, "Why, busy with something else?"

Yu Lanchuan suddenly looked up and asked her, "Do you people think that I look like a human GPS?"

Gan Qing blinked in confusion. This Little Master Yu's confidence in himself was usually off the charts but when it came to his greatest advantage, he instead lacked confidence?

Yu Lanchuan clenched his teeth hard. "Then, why do each and every one of you send me your locations for no reason? What the hell do you guys mean by this?"

On Yan Hao's side, he stopped replying after sending his location. He didn't even have the time to look at Yu Lanchuan's reply.

Qiao-Qiao's shadow slipped around the corner, disappearing in a flash and scaring Yan Hao until he was cold-sweating. He nearly thought he had lost her but fortunately, this lane had not been maintained for many years and the bricks on either side had loosened, revealing the soft earth beneath and keeping traces of the girl's nimble steps. Yan Hao followed the footprints to look for her and realised that there was a small door at the corner of the wall. For some reason, there was a gap in the brick walls between the two courtyards. It was very narrow, perhaps too narrow for even one person to pass through. The little door had probably been added there because they were afraid the space would be difficult to clean.

She must have slipped through the space to get to another street.

As he thought this, Yan Hao leaped up and over the small door, landing lightly on… empty air.

This little gap was unbelievably outrageous. On one side, the wall was slanted, making the gap wide at the top but narrow at the bottom!

In the first place, Yan Hao's frame was quite a bit larger compared to the girl's slender one. On top of that, after years of shrinking his neck and hunching his back in front of the computer, he had ended up with an exceptionally thick upper back. With this leap, he was stuck inside!

Yan Hao's legs dangled in midair. He kicked out a few times but still couldn't reach the ground and was just stuck there, unable to get up or get down. He strained to turn his head around and saw that Qiao-Qiao was at the other end of the little alley, looking at him in astonishment.

Yan Hao kicked his legs like he was swimming freestyle. His face turned red from exertion.

Qiao-Qiao came back to herself. In the cramped space, she signed at him with much difficulty: Are you following me?

Yan Hao wanted to sign in return but he really had no space to use his hands. Left without a choice, he could only endure the suffering and open his mouth, preparing to use spoken language.

Before he could make a sound, Qiao-Qiao immediately made a shushing motion.

The wooden door was not very effective at blocking noise. Yan Hao followed her hand gesture and inclined his head. He heard jumbled voices coming from the other side.

"Watch the entrance of the alley. Don't let anyone come in."

"Yang Yifan, if you hadn't been so merciless in your actions, we wouldn't want to use force either!"

"If Elder Zhao is not let out, this matter won't be over!"

Yang Yifan?

Yan Hao's eyes widened.

Qiao-Qiao crouched down and plastered herself against one side of the wooden door in the small space, peeking out through the cracks.

To save time, Yang Yifan had taken the small lane behind the hospital. The lane was dim in the first place and now, both ends of the lane were blocked by vagrants and beggars. In the northwest wind, a few shabbily-dressed vagrants gathered together, looking like they wanted to pick a quarrel. Even if anyone passed by, they would take a detour when they saw this group.

Qiao-Qiao saw two people wearing patched clothes seizing Yang Yifan, pulling and dragging her with them. She didn't know where they wanted to take her to.

Yang Yifan usually never spared anyone from her sharp words. Now, she knew she was at a disadvantage and adapted very quickly to the situation. She knew that no one would come even if she screamed so she did not waste any strength on that. She only lowered her center of gravity on purpose, making it harder for the other side to pull her and to buy more time. At the same time, she opened her patent leather handbag and let all the small items like her keys and I.D. scatter all over the ground. This way, as long as these beggar scums were just a little careless, they would easily overlook something in this crime scene. If someone came to find her, it would be a clue.

Qiao-Qiao arched her back like a wary cat. Right at that moment, she heard a rustling sound coming from behind her. She spared some attention to look back and saw that Yan Hao had nearly broken his collarbone in his efforts to turn his body just a little. He took a deep breath, sucking in his stomach, and finally landed on the ground. With much effort, he scuttled over to her like a crab and reached a hand towards her in despair—Help, pull me out!

Qiao-Qiao, "..."

She glanced towards the small wooden door, then at the rapidly suffocating Yan Hao. After hesitating a short while, in the end, she chose the side whose life was more "in immediate danger." She squeezed over and grabbed Yan Hao's hand and pulled him towards the outside.

But Yan Hao's radish-shaped body was just too large and the surrounding walls were just too sturdy and rigid. Qiao-Qiao strained hard enough to move mountains but only managed to pull Yan Hao for about five centimeters. She was sweating and had to stop. She shook her head at Yan Hao, then turned her head back around worriedly.

Yan Hao understood her body language. The situation on that side is more urgent. Why don't you stay stuck here for a while?

Yan Hao didn't say anything. His eyes sank and he grabbed her wrist.

He realised just now that even though Qiao-Qiao was light-footed and agile, she didn't have much strength in her arms. Just from the way she pulled at him, Yan Hao felt that even if she knew some martial arts, her training had probably not been very solid. He must not let her go out alone.

Qiao-Qiao stamped her feet and struggled to break free of his hold. Yan Hao tightened his fingers, gripping her harder, and kept shaking his head at her. Yan Hao's ability to come and go without leaving a trace wasn't purely due to his good qinggong skills. Swallows have wings but Tang Qian Yan did not have the advantage of that species and could only rely on the strength in their limbs. Yan Hao could use just the five fingers of one hand to hang outside a tall building. The strength in his hands was no small matter.

Qiao-Qiao felt that his fingers were like a metal pincer. No matter how she pried, she could not pry them open and she was so angered that she made as though to bite him.

Yan Hao twisted his head away and did not look at her, throwing caution to the wind and letting her bite as she wished. His skin was coarse and his flesh thick anyway. His other hand strained to take out his phone and he messaged Yu Lanchuan: Kidnapping, hurry up!

Before he could finish typing, Qiao-Qiao unleashed a powerful move on him—she tickled him.

Yan Hao's hand trembled. The "!" ended up as a "~" and the message was sent out when he was caught off guard. He was fixed in place by the walls on both sides and had nowhere to escape and he also didn't dare make a noise. He was bullied by Qiao-Qiao until his tears were nearly falling.

Yu Lanchuan again replied with a string of question marks. Who's kidnapping whom? How many people? What's the situation? Type properly, why are you acting cute!

Yan Hao, "..."

This was going to end up taking his life!

Cornered in the alley by Beggars' Sect, Yang Yifan saw a grimy car arrive at the intersection out of the corner of her eye. She said in a low voice, "What use is it if you people take me away? Are you going to make me hand over the Dog Beating Staff or make me publish an official apology in the newspapers? Will the police stop investigating just because I say something?"

"That's not for us to handle."

Yang Yifan scoffed. "Beggars' Sect is 'suspected' to be an illegal organisation and right now, you people are insisting on making the suspicion reality. I can also risk my life to accompany you… Let! Go! I will walk on my own!"

With a fierce twist, she broke free of the people holding her. Her face as placid as deep waters, she tugged out the shoe that was stuck in the manhole cover and put it on. Her domineering aura suddenly expanded to a radius of 2.8 meters^[1]. Yang Yifan smoothened her disheveled hair. "Let' s go."

Right then, Yan Hao finally could not hold out against the ticklish feeling all over his body anymore. He loosened his grip and Qiao-Qiao slipped away like a fish, dashing over to the other side of the small door.

Yan Hao did not manage to grab her in time. During his fierce struggle, both his outer garment and the sweater he was wearing inside were pushed up by the walls on both sides. In a moment of panic, Yan Hao twisted around wildly and slipped out under his clothes and was left wearing only a tank top. Finally, he could just barely move around but it was too late to catch Qiao-Qiao.

Qiao-Qiao leaped away.

Yan Hao's face was about to crumble. Wait, don't go there!

Right at that moment, a police siren suddenly cut through everyone's tense nerves. Qiao-Qiao already had both legs in the air but her reaction was quick; she propped her legs against both sides, fixing herself into place. The beggars and vagrants watching the intersection were all panicking. The car that they were going to use for the kidnapping drove away.

The police siren pressed nearer and nearer. Right on its heels was the sound of someone shouting. "What's going on!"

The Beggars' Sect disciples could not be bothered with Yang Yifan anymore and scattered in all directions. In the small space, Qiao-Qiao and Yan Hao held their breaths and paid rapt attention. Qiao-Qiao carefully peeked out through the cracks of the wooden door.

She saw a man with thick brows, big eyes and an angry face leading a group of uniformed police officers into the area. Yang Yifan gave him an unruffled smile. "And here I was thinking that the call to the police just now didn't get through. What's this, Detective Meow, do issues of public security also require the criminal police to be dispatched now?"

"My surname is Miao—that's not the point." Captain Miao picked up her phone and passed it over. "You said that these organisations are everywhere so I thought that you might be in danger and got some of our brothers to keep an eye on your surroundings. I didn't think that they would really dare to! They're really a criminal organisation!"

Yang Yifan didn't take the phone.

Captain Miao looked up, "What is it?"

"The granddaughter of the criminal organisation's former boss has a hot potato in her hands," Yang Yifan lowered her head to look at him. "Captain Meow, would you like to take custody of it?"

At No. 110 Courtyard, Yu Lanchuan's cab request had finally been accepted by a driver when he received a message from Yan Hao.

After sending a few puzzling messages asking for help, this ineffectual Spiderman sent another one that said: It's okay now. The police are here.

Yu Lanchuan hadn't even had the time to button up his coat.

After sending the message, Yan Hao felt his nose itching and suspected that the alliance leader was scolding him. "Qiao-"

Her back to him, Qiao-Qiao extended one hand to cut him off. Yan Hao's nerves that had just relaxed tensed up again. A few seconds later, the two of them heard the sound of very light footsteps.

Yang Yifan followed Captain Miao away. The remaining police officers went to search the surroundings for the group of Beggars' Sect disciples. A man dressed immaculately in a western style suit walked over—the sleeve on the hand that was holding a phone had a decorative patch.

"She left with the police… Oh, the Dog Beating Staff is likely going to fall into their hands I'm afraid… I know, Elder Yang. The sacred item is not an issue. Beggars' Sect is in huge trouble this time and it's actually a chance for us… Our brothers have hid themselves well, please don't worry. I'll go over right now."

Yan Hao, who had squeezed his way over with much effort, did not understand a single word. He lowered his head to look at Qiao-Qiao and saw that there was a heavy and dark shadow cast over the girl's face.

Yan Hao patted her on the shoulder. Is there something wrong?

Qiao-Qiao ignored him. The man was walking further away while talking on the phone. Qiao-Qiao pressed lightly against the wooden door. With a clap and a jump, she squeezed out of the small space.

Yan Hao could only follow after her.

The man wearing the western style suit was very cautious. Every time he passed an intersection with a traffic safety mirror, he would stop and look around to guard against people following him. Unfortunately, his hearing and his martial arts skills were probably not very good. Two qinggong experts tailed him and he did not notice them the whole way.

In less than five minutes, Qiao-Qiao and Yan Hao saw the person he was meeting.

That person had salt and pepper hair and walked with a slight limp. He was short and thin. He was squatting by the road side and smoking, his eyes squinting. It was none other than Yang Ping.

Yan Hao didn't know Yang Ping but he could sense Qiao-Qiao's body turning tense. Blood veins appear in her large almond-shaped eyes.

Yan Hao thought a bit, then zoomed his camera in and secretly snapped a photo of Yang Ping. Once again, he sent his location to Yu Lanchuan.

Yu Lanchuan had just come to an agreement with the cab driver to cancel his ride request. The driver was very unhappy that the customer was cancelling the request for no reason and coldly rebuked him, "Please think carefully before you make a request. I'm already halfway there, and it's just a fool's errand!"

Yu Lanchuan knew that he was in the wrong and could only endure even when he was scolded. Who would have thought that after hanging up and before his phone could even cool down, he would receive another location tracking. He was going to go insane.

"Steady, calm down," Gan Qing quickly coaxed him. "Let me call the cab this time."

Yu Lanchuan's face remained cold and he stood there, wallowing in displeasure.

Gan Qing wiped the tears in her eyes and kept her eyes on the phone, swiping around for a long while. Yu Lanchuan said impatiently, "No one's accepting? What kind of luck do you have with people?"

"It's not that." Gan Qing sniffled and asked in a muffled voice. "What's the full name of that ride-hailing app?"

Yu Lanchuan, "..."

It seemed like these people wanted to anger him to death and seize the position of alliance leader!

On Yan Hao's side, he had just sent the text when he saw Qiao-Qiao gradually becoming unable to keep her breathing calm. That pair of hands that usually took gentle care of the little cats and dogs curled into fists, the veins bulging from the back of her hands all the way to her arms.

Yang Ping was looking up and talking to his subordinate; suddenly, he changed his expression. "What filthy thing did you bring back?"

His subordinate was puzzled, "What-"

Before he could finish speaking, the lighter in Yang Ping's hand that he used to light his cigarette swiftly flew out. Shrouded in a vicious wind, it headed directly at Qiao-Qiao hiding behind a tree far away.

Yan Hao grabbed Qiao-Qiao by the back of her collar and swiftly pulled her back. The lighter brushed past her and collided against a branch, exploding on the spot with a loud boom.

They had been found out!

Yang Ping chewed on the cigarette butt and slowly stood up. "Where did these two rats come from?"

Yan Hao couldn't let Qiao-Qiao be a target. He clenched his teeth and stamped his feet, and leaped out from behind the tree like a fool to stand in front of Qiao-Qiao, locking eyes with Yang Ping.

Yang Ping took the cigarette butt out of his mouth and looked at him in askance. "Oh, it's the Yan family's brat."

Yan Hao was momentarily stunned. "You… You know me? Who are you?"

Yang Ping revealed a row of yellowed teeth. "Why are you being a busybody if you don't know anything? I've seen that half-baked martial arts of yours. While I'm still in a good mood and can't be bothered to quibble with you, take the chance and get lost."

Right then, a robotic voice suddenly came from behind Yan Hao. "You're Yang Ping."

He turned his head to look. Qiao-Qiao was holding a phone and using some kind of app that read out the words she typed.

Yang Ping's brows twitched. His gaze fell on that unremarkable-looking girl.

She looked only twenty years old. Her face still had a girlish awkwardness and her lips were pressed together in a thin line.

"I am Zhu Qiao. Thirty years ago, my grandfather was one of Beggars' Sect's Nine Pouch Elders. Do you still remember?"

Yang Ping slowly straightened up.

"You sold out my grandmother and my little aunt to Traveller's Sect and they died in the fire at the warehouse. My grandfather went to look for the people from Travellers' Sect to get revenge and because of that, he was imprisoned and died in jail. My father was only thirteen years old at that time. He was playful and had been sleeping at a school friend's house and because of that, he escaped. He could never forget the day his family was destroyed in a single night. Even until his death, he investigated what happened that day."

After typing the last sentence, Qiao-Qiao handed her phone to Yan Hao. From her pants pocket, she drew out a dagger that was slightly over half a foot long.

The phone loyally and steadfastly read out the last line for her. "He is no longer here to see the truth. I will find it out for him."

T/N:

[1] "Aura expanding to 2.8 meters" (气场两米八) was originally used to describe the "cold-blooded domineering CEO aura" of the male lead in the Korean T.V. series Beating Again. It achieved meme status when netizens used it to describe a child in one episode of the variety show Where Are We Going, Dad?