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The scene shifts back to before the credit union robbery, when the robbers were still plotting their next move.

Jin Xiasheng squatted in the corner of the abandoned warehouse, his fingers unconsciously rubbing the cracks in the cement floor.

The damp, musty smell mixed with the acrid odor of tobacco filled his nostrils, and he looked up at the center of the warehouse.

The older brother, Jin Chunsheng, was talking quietly with the men, occasionally bursting into rough laughter.

"Xia Sheng, come here!" Jin Chunsheng suddenly beckoned to him, the scar on his face looking particularly ferocious in the dim light.

Jin Xiasheng walked over slowly and noticed that the man nicknamed "One-Ear" was looking him up and down with a cold gaze.

The man only had half of his left ear left, which was said to have been bitten off during a fight.

"This is your brother? He looks like a student." Old Dao, the gang leader, flicked ash onto Jin Xiasheng's sneakers with a cigarette dangling from his lips. "Did you get the credit union's floor plan?"

Jin Chunsheng quickly replied, "Got it! I also got the security guard duty roster. Wednesday afternoon has the most cash, and there are only two old men on duty."

One-Ear suddenly let out a cold laugh, its mutilated earlobe glowing an eerie pink under the light.

"There are three police stations within 500 meters of the credit union. Are you planning to rob the money and go straight to jail?"

The warehouse fell silent instantly.

Jin Xiasheng saw his brother's Adam's apple bob a few times, and fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

"Little Ears, what do you mean?" Old Dao squinted, his fingers unconsciously reaching for his waist.

“The literal meaning.” One-Ear stood up, the brass buttons on his security uniform gleaming coldly. “I worked as a security guard at the credit union for three years, and I know better than any of you that place is off-limits.”

Jin Chun slammed his fist on the table and stood up abruptly: "We agreed on a 50/50 split, and now you want to go back on your word?"

One ear didn't reply, but simply took out a brand-new claw hammer from his pocket and gently tapped it in his palm.

The metal struck flesh with a chilling thud.

“I’ll have an accident tomorrow, so I’m not participating in this vote.” He paused, his gaze sweeping over everyone present. “Out of consideration for our years of friendship, I advise you all not to go either.”

The next morning, Jin Xiasheng saw One Ear covered in blood in the emergency room.

The man lying on the stretcher winked at him, a strange smile playing on his lips.

Therefore, One-Ear is a truly ruthless person, and his sense of smell is also extremely sensitive, allowing him to detect danger at the slightest disturbance.

So One-Ear started to worry that he would be plotted against by Cui Ye and Su Ning, and in order to protect himself, he began to prepare to cause trouble.

……

At this moment, Cui Wei slammed the iron door of the interrogation room shut, the clanging of metal echoing in the narrow corridor.

Wang Hongyu's last words were like a thorn in his heart: "In this world, wolves are sheep, and those who wear sheep's clothing may be wolves."

"Captain, the surveillance footage is available." The young officer jogged over and handed over a tablet. "Cui Ye did indeed go to the Blue Whale Bar last night and had contact with this man in the baseball cap."

On the screen, the younger brother, Cui Ye, nervously accepted a brown paper bag, while the man wearing a hat, though deliberately keeping his head down, clearly showed the obvious feature of his missing left ear.

Cui Wei's fingernails dug deeply into his palm.

He should have realized it sooner: the credit union robbery, Wang Hongyu's extortion case, and the recent series of disappearances of entrepreneurs are all connected to an invisible network.

And now, his closest loved ones are standing in the center of the net.

"Call the technical department. I need all of Cui Ye's call logs." Cui Wei took out his phone and quickly typed a text message: [See you at the usual place, it's urgent.] The recipient was none other than Cui Ye's number.

"Cui Ye, what are you hiding from me?"

"I don't understand what you mean."

"Hmph! If you don't want people to know, then don't do it in the first place."

"You're crazy! Are you police officers starting to play these kinds of mysterious games now?"

"Cui Ye, stop now! Turn back before it's too late!"

"Ridiculous."

……

Gao Shuhua carefully fastened Yan Yan's little schoolbag and looked up at the wall clock in the living room.

It's 5:20, if we don't leave soon we'll get stuck in traffic.

"Mom, I'm taking Yan Yan back to Grandma's house for a few days," she called out to the kitchen, deliberately keeping her voice soft so as not to disturb her father-in-law who was taking a nap.

Mother Cui came out wiping her hands, her brows furrowed so deeply they could trap a fly: "Back to your parents' home again? Does Cui Ye know?"

“He’s been too busy lately.” Gao Shuhua forced a smile and led her son quickly toward the elevator.

Yan Yan looked up at her mother and said, "Mom, Dad promised to buy me a dinosaur model."

As the taxi drove out of the residential area, Gao Shuhua did not notice the white van that suddenly started moving in her rearview mirror.

The person inside the white van was none other than the driver, One-Ear.

Soon Gao Shuhua and Yan Yan arrived at their destination and got off the bus, but they didn't notice that One Ear had been following them the whole time.

Before Gao Shuhua could react, the back door was pulled open, and a wet towel was tightly covered to cover her mouth and nose.

Finally, what came into view was Yan Yan's small figure struggling, being held under the arm of another burly man.

So One Ear prepared a wet towel soaked in a sleeping potion beforehand, kidnapped Gao Shuhua and Yan Yan, and locked them in an extremely remote tunnel.

Cui Ye returned home dejectedly and was scolded by his mother.

Because Gao Shuhua took her grandson back to her hometown, Cui's mother wanted to ask her eldest son, Cui Wei, for advice.

This angered her youngest son, Cui Ye, leaving her puzzled.

……

Knowing that One-Ear was too dangerous, Su Ning was naturally reluctant to let Chai Jing take the risk when the operation actually began. After all, Chai Jing was still quite naive and might not be a match for a lunatic like One-Ear.

Then Cui Ye secretly sprayed pollen into Uncle Yi's kitchen, which indeed triggered Uncle Yi's pollen allergy and caused his asthma to relapse.

Less than ten minutes later, a violent coughing sound came from downstairs.

"Medicine...my spray..." Then came hurried footsteps and Liu Qinglong's scream.

One Ear closely observed Uncle Yi's every move from the window and promptly relayed messages to Cui Ye.

After Uncle Yi was rushed to the hospital by his men, Cui Ye took advantage of the quiet time to sneak into the study, put on rubber gloves, opened the safe, and took everything.

The ledger was much thicker than I had imagined, filled with names and numbers, each number representing a family's tragedy.

At this moment, Cui Ye was once again certain of the righteousness of his actions, and thus strengthened his resolve.

……

A white minivan sped along the ring road.

He held the steering wheel with one hand and kept tapping the gear shift with the other.

"Teacher Cui, did you get the things?" He glanced sideways at Cui Ye's bulging backpack.

"Got it!" Cui Ye nodded, feeling like his stomach was filled with ice.

"Let's talk about our next plan now."

From the back of the car came Cui Ye's angry voice: "Where did you lock them up?"

"Don't worry, it's very warm in the tunnel." One-Ear chuckled. "Much more comfortable than your brother's interrogation room."

Upon hearing Cui Wei's name, Cui Ye's fingers instinctively curled up.

That always upright and outstanding older brother, whom their mother called "the pride of the Cui family," is now tracking them down like a hunting dog.

"Teacher Cui, when exactly is that Su Ning going to show up?" One Ear suddenly asked, his voice filled with suppressed irritation. "Since he's so irresponsible, we might as well just get rid of him."

Cui Ye stared at his pale face in the rearview mirror: "No! Su Ning is very important to us."

Then One Ear suggested that Su Ning should come forward and threaten him, but Cui Ye refused again, which made One Ear angry.

"Damn it!" One Ear slammed on the brakes, the tires screeching as they scraped across the road.

He turned and grabbed Cui Ye by the collar, his hot, rotten breath hitting the man's face: "Tomorrow is the deadline. Either Su Ning goes to threaten those old bastards, or—"

He released his grip and pulled a rusty pair of wire cutters from under the seat. "You go and talk to those loan sharks yourself."

Cui Ye's phone suddenly vibrated.

The screen displayed a text message from Suning: 【See you at the Mazu Temple, come alone.】

One ear caught a glimpse of the message, and the missing ear twitched strangely: "Teacher Cui, if you want your wife and son to be safe, you'd better obey and do as I say."

"Okay." Outside the car window, the setting sun dyed the eaves of the Mazu Temple blood red.

Cui Ye reached into the ledger in his backpack and suddenly understood the true meaning of Wang Hongyu's words: in this intricate web, everyone is both the hunter and the prey.

……

Cui Wei stood in front of the director's office, his finger hovering in mid-air, unable to knock for a long time.

His distorted shadow was reflected in the frosted glass of the door, just like his shattered sanity at this moment.

"Come in, stop loitering at the door." The director's voice pierced through the door.

When he pushed open the door, Cui Wei's leather shoes hit the threshold.

This veteran detective, who had never made a serious mistake in his fifteen years of service, now seemed like a newcomer on his first day.

"Sit down." The chief took off his reading glasses and rubbed his reddened nose. "Any progress in the robbery and extortion cases?"

Cui Wei's Adam's apple bobbed.

He opened his tablet and pulled up the surveillance screenshots: "The credit union robbery case and the Wang Hongyu extortion case—all the clues point to the same person." The bureau chief stared at the clear footage on the screen of Cui Ye and One-Ear exchanging hands in the bar, his brows gradually furrowing into a knot.

"Your brother?"

“Only he could connect all the clues.” Cui Wei’s voice seemed to come from a great distance. “One-Ear was originally a security guard at the credit union, and he had the credit union’s internal structure diagram, and even evidence of Wang Hongyu’s extortion.”

The wall clock in the office was ticking jarringly.

The director got up and closed the window tightly, shutting out the cicadas' chirping in early summer.

“You know the rules.” The bureau chief had his back to him, his shoulders stiff as a rock. “If a relative is involved in the case, they must recuse themselves.”

Cui Wei suddenly stood up, the chair legs scraping loudly on the floor.

"I can control my emotions! I've been pursuing this case for three months; nobody does it better than me—"

"This isn't a request, it's a regulation!" The chief turned and slammed his hand on the table, splashing water from his teacup onto the case files. "You think you're the only one upset? I watched you graduate from police academy, watched you get married and start a career."

The old man's voice suddenly choked up, "Go to the hospital now and see your mother. Submit your recusal application tomorrow."

In the restroom at the end of the corridor, Cui Wei splashed cold water on his face.

The man in the mirror had bloodshot eyes and a stubble on his chin from shaving that morning.

He stared at his trembling hands, hands that were once as steady as a rock, now unable to even hold a razor.

My phone vibrated in my pocket.

A message from Qiu Jiawen: [Mom's blood pressure is a bit high; she's in the observation room at the Second Hospital.]

……

The smell of disinfectant in the hospital reminded Cui Wei of the first murder case he had ever been to.

He was nineteen years old that year, while Cui Ye was in junior high school. The two brothers squeezed onto one bed to watch police dramas, and the younger brother would always say, "Brother, you'll definitely be even more amazing than the policemen on TV in the future."

"Honey?" Qiu Jiawen came out of the observation room and saw the fruit basket in his hand. "Why did you buy so much?"

Cui Wei opened his mouth, only to find that all the lies he had prepared were stuck in his throat.

When his wife's warm fingers brushed away the tears from the corner of his eyes, he hugged her like a drowning man grabbing onto a piece of driftwood.

“It’s Cui Ye… all the cases are Cui Ye…” He buried his face in his wife’s shoulder, his voice muffled as if it came from underground, “I have to send him in myself…”

Qiu Jiawen's body stiffened.

At the end of the corridor, a nurse was pushing a medicine cart, making a clanging sound.

After a long while, she gently patted her husband's back: "Mom was just asking where Cui Ye went. I told her he went to the province to participate in a design competition."

Cui Wei looked up and saw his wife's red-rimmed eyes.

……

The red lanterns of the Mazu Temple swayed in the night wind, casting blood-red spots of light.

Cui Ye stood by the incense burner, watching One-Ear light three sticks of incense with a lighter.

"Let's pray." One-Ear stuffed incense into his hand. "Please ask Mazu to protect us from being caught by the police."

Cui Ye bowed mechanically, and incense ash fell onto his leather shoes.

Footsteps could be heard in the distance. Su Ning, wearing a black hoodie, emerged from the side hall, her baseball cap pulled low.

"Did you get the items?" Su Ning's voice was unusually gentle.

"Yeah, I got it."

"Haha..." At this moment, the one-eared creature suddenly burst into laughter, its mutilated earlobe glowing an eerie pink under the lantern light.

"Don't rush." ​​He suddenly grabbed Cui Ye's backpack and emptied out the ledgers and IOUs inside. "Our Second Young Master Cui has prepared quite a few good things."

Papers were scattered all over the floor.

One ear twitched with its toes, then suddenly bent down and picked up a few folded pieces of paper.

Upon unfolding the document, Cui Ye's face instantly turned deathly pale.

Those were fortune slips he obtained from the temple, each one bearing the name of One-Ear.

This shows that One-Ear was right at all; Cui Ye was already prepared to abandon his support after using it.

"Crossing the river and then burning the bridge?" One-Ear slapped the slip of paper on Cui Ye's chest. "You plan to get rid of me after this is done, is that it?"

Suning took a half step back and put his hands in his pockets.

Cui Ye could feel a hard object pressing against his lower back—it was the folding knife he had hidden in his belt.

"It's a misunderstanding." Cui Ye forced a smile. "It really is just a misunderstanding."

One-Ear sneered and suddenly grabbed Cui Ye by the collar: "Stop pretending! Gao Shuhua and that brat are in my hands now. If you try anything funny, there will be two more corpses floating in the Pearl River tomorrow!"

Cui Ye's pupils suddenly contracted.

He looked at Su Ning, who nodded discreetly, telling Cui Ye that his people had found Gao Shuhua and Yan Yan.

"One-Ear, you've gone too far?" Cui Ye's voice was so soft it was almost inaudible.

"It's just an insurance measure." One-Ear let go of his hand and patted his face. "Tomorrow you'll be negotiating with the loan sharks."

As Cui Ye squatted down to organize the documents, his fingernails dug deeply into his palms; only pain could bring him to his senses.

……

Su Ning quickly handed the matter over to Cui Ye and One-Ear, and then left the Mazu Temple. The parking lot was eerily quiet before dawn.

One ear tied Cui Ye to the passenger seat and secured his right hand with tape.

"Get some sleep." One Ear put a plastic bag full of cash behind his head. "We have a tough battle to fight tomorrow."

Cui Ye stared at the moon outside the car window.

It hangs like a scimitar over the city, ready to fall at any moment.

The phone on the back seat suddenly lit up—it was a message from Suning: [The Chess Saint Cup is ready].

"I need to use the restroom." Cui Ye moved his bound legs.

With one ear closed and eyes still closed, he waved his hand and said, "Hold it in."

"Then at least let me call Mom," Cui Ye softened his tone. "She has a heart condition; what if she finds out our whole family is gone..."

With one ear open and one eye open, he pulled out his phone and put it on speakerphone: "If you dare say another word, you can just wait to collect your corpse."

The dial tone was particularly jarring in the cramped carriage. It rang seven times, but no one answered.

"Mom, it's me." Cui Ye said into the phone, "Shuhua took Yan Yan to stay at Xiaoting's house. I have to go to the province to participate in that design competition, the one I mentioned before."

He paused, then glared at him with a warning ear.

"By the way, Yan Yan has turned to page thirty-eight of the chess score. Remember to tell your older brother to go and get the things under the Chess Saint Cup." Cui Ye's voice was perfectly natural. "It might take three or four days. Remember to take your medicine on time."

After the call ended, One-Ear stared at him suspiciously: "What chess score?"

Cui Ye remained unfazed, saying, "My son is learning Go."

One ear snorted and rolled over to sleep.

……

dark.

This was Gao Shuhua's first realization after regaining consciousness: absolute, suffocating darkness.

"Mom." Yan Yan's tearful voice came from the right.

Gao Shuhua tried to move, but found that her wrists were painfully chafed by the rough rope.

"Don't be afraid, baby, Mommy's here." She whispered, "Can you move?"

My feet are so numb.

Gao Shuhua rubbed her shoulder against the ground and suddenly bumped into something hard.

She wriggled like a caterpillar and finally touched it with her bound hands—it was an old-fashioned flashlight.

The button made a piercing "click" sound.

The beam of light illuminated a space of less than five square meters: the cement walls were covered with mold, a few bottles of water and dry bread were placed in the corner, and a rusty iron door stood directly in front.

Yan Yan's little face was as white as paper in the light, and her mouth was covered with tape.

Gao Shuhua carefully tore it open for him with her teeth.

"Mom, that bad uncle said Dad did something bad," Yan Yan's voice trembled. "He said he'd feed us to the crocodiles."

The flashlight beam swept across the bottom of the iron gate, where a note had been slipped in.

Gao Shuhua struggled to hook it over with her foot. On it, written crookedly, were the words: "Wait quietly, or I'll cut off your finger."

"Shh," she kissed her son's sweaty forehead and turned the flashlight toward the ceiling.

Footsteps suddenly came from outside the iron gate.

Gao Shuhua quickly turned off the flashlight and hugged her trembling son tightly in the darkness that had returned.

The sound of the key being inserted into the lock was like a thunderclap in the dead silence.

...(End of chapter)