Madmen don't keep diaries

Chapter 538 Chapter 537 Falling into a trap
Before the police could be shaken off, Fang Youliu lay prone in the carriage, hearing bullets pounding his head like raindrops.

Having known each other for so long, how could Fang Youliu not understand Shunzi's personality? He knew that he couldn't argue with Shunzi right now, and there was no time for them to bargain.

Fang Youliu swiftly drew runes in his palm, unleashing his magical power. Countless vines overturned the stone slabs and burst forth from the ground on the street behind the car, forming a thick "vine wall" in just a few seconds, blocking the path of the patrol officers.

But this was just a delaying tactic. Fang Youliu dared not delay, got up and returned to the carriage shaft, and shouted at Shunzi, "Get out of the way, let me do it."

From the moment the reins left Fang Youliu's hands, the carriage lost its magical power as "fuel" and never moved forward again.

Shunzi was still figuring out how to turn the carriage around, but after trying for a long time he still couldn't figure it out, and he wished he could carry the carriage himself.

Just then, Fang Youliu returned. Shunzi thought he was going to snatch the reins, so he quickly pulled his hand away and dodged, saying, "I'm waiting for my brother!"

Fang Youliu gritted his teeth in anger: "Wait! Fine, I won't run away!"

Shunzi nodded hurriedly.

Fang Youliu snatched back the reins: "But we can't wait here, can we? Let's shake off the pursuers first, hide well, and then figure out how to find your older brother."

After saying that, he didn't wait for Shunzi to say anything more, and with a flick of the reins, the carriage sped off.

After turning a corner and getting out of the police's sight, the carriage began to change rapidly as it sped along. Before Shunzi could even rub his eyes, he was already sitting in the rickshaw.

Fang Youliu, who was running and pulling the cart ahead, turned into a narrow alley.

The alley was too narrow for a horse-drawn carriage to pass through, and the police would never have guessed they had come this way.

After running through the darkness for a long time, winding and turning, Shunzi had long lost his way and had no idea where they were.

After what seemed like an eternity, the rickshaw finally stopped.

Fang Youliu's deliberately lowered voice came: "This is fine."

Shunzi asked, "Where is this?"

Fang Youliu said irritably, "How should I know? Anyway, no one's home here, let's hide for a bit."

Fang Youliu forced vines to grow and form a ladder, then climbed over the wall and went inside.

Shunzi carried the rickshaw on his head and jumped into the courtyard.

After he parked the rickshaw in the courtyard, Liu finally had time to ask about the reason for tonight's events.

"How did you offend them? The entire city's police force came to arrest you. What kind of grudge do you have?"

Shunzi also felt that he had caused the trouble, and he seemed very flustered when he replied: "The police tried to take my gun, and I got angry, so..."

Fang Youliu didn't understand: "What did you tell them?"

Shunzi looked down and picked at his nails: "I said I'm with Second Master..."

Fang Youliu slapped his thigh: "Are you stupid! That imposter is always wagging his tail behind foreigners, what face does he have? You should just say that Abbott sent you!"

Shunzi looked up in surprise: "But that foreign devil didn't tell me to go get the gun."

Fang Youliu glared at him with exasperation: "What do you mean by 'saying nothing'? How would the police know? You just keep using Abbott's name, and the police won't dare to make things difficult for you. So how did this big trouble come about?"

Shunzi was speechless and remained silent.

Seeing his appearance, Fang Youliu couldn't bear to say anything more to him, and instead asked, "Where has Crazy Tiger gone off to run wild again?"

Shunzi whispered in defense of Feng Xiuhu: "My brother isn't crazy... He separated from me as soon as you left. I went to the police station alone. I don't know where he went."

Fang Youliu was taken aback: "At this critical juncture, does he have other things to do? That shouldn't be the case..."

Fang Youliu paced back and forth in the courtyard, carefully considering: "Regardless of whether he was distracted by other things, you made such a commotion just now. As long as he is still in the city, there is no reason why he couldn't see it."

Shunzi was also enlightened: "So you mean he's not in the city?"

Fang Youliu was very composed and shook his head, saying, "Not necessarily. It's also possible that he couldn't get away and therefore couldn't join us."

Shunzi immediately panicked: "Big brother is in danger? I have to go find him!" Fang Youliu helplessly grabbed him: "Don't make things worse."

"Don't you know what kind of trouble Master Feng is capable of? Even if you go there, you won't be able to help if he encounters a problem that he can't solve."

“Right now, the police are searching the whole city for us. If you go out, you'll only attract attention. You'd better stay put and wait for me to rest for a while before sneaking out to find out what’s going on.”

Shunzi was in a state of utter confusion. Without Feng Xiuhu by his side to keep him in check, he could only listen to Fang Youliu.

Fang Youliu sat on the carriage shaft, pretending to doze off to quickly regain his energy, while Shunzi looked around the house.

The door was locked. Shunzi fumbled around on the door for a moment, then suddenly uttered a questioning nasal sound: "Hmm?"

Fang Youliu opened one eye: "What is it now?"

Shunzi unconsciously lowered her voice: "This looks like a bullet hole."

Fang Youliu's eyelids twitched upon hearing this, and he quickly stepped forward to check.

"It really is."

Fang Youliu had a vague premonition of something bad, and he ran his fingers along the edge of the bullet holes: "Six bullet holes, and the marks are very fresh."

Shunzi also realized there was a problem: "How new is 'very new'?"

Fang Youliu pursed his lips and didn't answer. A slender vine emerged from his sleeve and probed into the keyhole—click.

The two pushed open the door and entered, their eyes quickly scanning the surroundings.

The room was simply furnished, with an open window on the wall and a table under it. The table was cluttered with items, which looked to be mostly women's toiletries.

Shunzi walked over and lit the oil lamp on the table, revealing more traces in the room.

When Fang Youliu looked down, his pupils contracted involuntarily: "Someone has been here."

The floor was covered in messy footprints and obvious dust, clearly indicating that someone had been in the house not long ago, and quite a few people at that.

Fang Youliu immediately snatched the oil lamp from Shunzi's hand, returned to the courtyard, and held the lamp up to shine it—he saw that there were even more footprints in the courtyard. Judging from the traces, it was clear that a group of people had broken in through the courtyard gate, searched the house, and then left through the courtyard gate.

Shunzi squatted down to examine them, muttering to himself, "These footprints... how come they're all cut from the same mold?"

What was said unintentionally was taken seriously by the listener; Fang Liu's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly looked down to examine the scene.

Although the footprints varied in size and appeared disorganized, Shunzi was right—they were all identical in shape.

This proves they are wearing the same shoes.

"It has heels...it's a leather boot."

Fang Youliu had already realized it and looked up at Shunzi: "The police have been here."

"There's something wrong here, we have to leave."

No sooner had he finished speaking than hurried and rapid footsteps came from outside.

Shunzi reacted quickly, immediately turning around and blowing out the oil lamp.

The footsteps grew louder as they approached from all directions, indicating that the area had been surrounded.

The two looked at each other.

Shunzi asked anxiously, "How did the police know we were here? Were we being followed?"

Fang Youliu couldn't answer this question either, so he had to tell Shunzi to stick it against the wall to hide it.

Faint conversations could be heard coming from outside the courtyard gate.

"Admiral, Miss Shen's bracelet was found here—don't worry, the scene is well protected. We left the same way we came in, without touching a single brick or tile."

(End of this chapter)