He rolled over in the rain, facing what he had fallen on, whatever was holding himself, and wiped his face against it, looking for something pointy, a branch, a protruding rock, anything that could snagged, anything that could cut through a plastic bag. It was wet and slippery underneath his body. His head hit something, presumably a rock. He continued to move, despite the pain. However, his movements slowed down. The blood on his face continued to flow, pouring into a plastic bag, giving him the feeling that he was about to be submerged. Maybe you're going to tumble off a cliff soon, but that's no different. I'm dead, if I don't have ......

A pile-like object hooked the plastic bag. His consciousness was blurring, and he twisted his head to the left feebly, feeling the bag rip open. He used the last of his strength to twist his head to the left. The rift is bigger. He felt a cold wind on his forehead, and the icy rain hit his head. But the plastic bag was still clinging to his nostrils and mouth. He tried to breathe through the small hole in his mouth, but his struggle had twisted the plastic bag and the hole was blocked. He felt like he was going to be suffocated by the straw in his mouth. I have to get this bag off my head! He felt as if something was about to explode, as if he was about to fall into a dark pit. He tried one last time to hook the bag with the sharp object, and his right cheek was scratched, but the bag was finally torn open entirely.

As he breathed through the straw, the wind rushed down his throat like a scream. The cool air poured into his lungs, and it felt unbelievably sweet. His chest rose and fell spasmally. He lay on his back, shivering, gulping in for air, gradually believing that he was really alive.

Still alive, but for how long? Bronze asked himself in frustration. Officer Blue may not be able to find me. If I stayed in the rain any longer, I would freeze to death from hypothermia. He rolled over, facing the dark and dreary sky, enjoying the sweet rain, breathing hungrily, trying not to notice that he was trembling, or the pressure on his bound limbs, how long had I fallen? Is Ryan gone? Did he hear me moaning when I landed?

He waited uneasily to see a dark figure crawling up the steep slope toward him, and waited to see Ryan turn on his flashlight and aim his gun at him with a sinister smile. Suddenly, he really saw the bright light of a flashlight on the top of the slope, and the beam moved towards the hotel, shining on the guardrail, and then shining on the hotel. Bronze suddenly increased his confidence, and he couldn't help shouting, or trying to shout, "Officer Blue!" His voice was hoarse, as if he had swallowed a handful of gravel. He shouted harder again, "Officer Blue!" "This time, the beam of the flashlight fell on the guardrail. Then, the beam shone down the slope. Bronze saw clearly that the place where he had fallen was a slope, full of bushes and rocks, which stretched out one by one, and finally plunged down the steep wall into the West Lake.

"Here!" Bronze shouted. The beam of light quickly swept down the rock wall towards him, but it didn't reach him. "Here!" Finally, the beam shone on him. But is that man Officer Blue? Faith, by thinking, I must have faith.

"Old Gu?"

Thank goodness it's Officer Blue! As the familiar lanky figure climbed over the guardrail and quickly climbed down, Bronze felt his heart beat less violently.

"Be careful." Bronze said.

Officer Blue's Western-style leather boots slipped on a rock. "Ouch—" He steadied himself, scrambled down, crouched down, and took a closer look at his bronze face by the light of a flashlight. "Your face is covered in blood. You okay? ”

"I have to be fine."

Then he quickly cut the rope that bound the bronze arms behind him, and cut the rope that bound the feet with the same speed. Although his bronze muscles were numb, he still moved hard.

"Don't move, I'll untie the knots." Officer Blue said, "Damn, the rope is soaked in water and swollen. I can't-"

"We're out of time," said bronze, "and we've got to get there." The guidance signal is only valid for one mile. Help me get up. ”

Officer Blue struggled to his feet, then helped him to his feet.

"I have almost no blood circulation in my hands and feet. You've got to pull me up. Bronze said.

They hummed and struggled to climb the slope.

"I parked on the shoulder of the North Highway," Officer Blue said, "and I didn't see any headlights turning towards the observation deck." After midnight, I began to think that he would not show up, but suddenly the pointer on the receiver began to move - the introducer worked. I'm going to reverse along the shoulder of the highway so I can get to you as soon as possible. ”

"Ryan is hiding in a jutting rock." Bronze grabbed the guardrail, panted hard, and flipped over. "He must have run away from the woods. His car must have been parked in the south or somewhere further north than yours. Fast. ”

Officer Blue waded through puddles of water and ran to the car before Bronze. He grabbed the receiver from the front seat. "And the signal," he said excitedly, "that the hands indicate that he is heading north." ”

Bronze fell into the front seat and slammed the door shut. When Officer Blue slammed on the accelerator, his body fell backwards in his seat. The car shook up the gravel, swayed in the rain-soaked parking area, and sped away towards the rain-lit lights on the road.

"The signal has weakened!" Bronze stared at the illuminated dial on the receiver. His wet clothes were clinging to his body.

Officer Blue drove faster. He didn't even bother to turn on the wipers on the windshield. Roaring onto the road, he began to race at a high speed.

", I'm going to freeze." Bronze flicked the switch on the heater in the car. He fumbled awkwardly with the fingers of his barely conscious right hand and found Officer Blue's knife still stuck in the knot on his left wrist. He looked at the dial carefully. "The signal has gotten stronger." The pointer turns. "Look! He got off the road. He's in front of us on the left! ”

Faster than they had hoped, the car's headlights illuminated a dim exit ramp in the rain. "This road runs parallel to the road." Bronze said, "The hands indicate that he has changed direction!" He's heading south. He cut the rope on his wrist with a knife and almost scratched himself. Blood rushed into the veins in his left hand, causing him to feel a tingling pain. He massaged his aching wrist, and the rope cut a groove on it.

"You told me to make it look like the real thing." Officer Blue said.

"Hey, I'm alive. I'm not complaining about anything. ”

At the end of the exit ramp, Mr. Lan drove left across a stone bridge across the road, then turned sharply left to the other side, chasing a car taillight south.

"The signal is stronger!" Bronze said, "Slow down." He cut the rope on his other wrist. The blood rushed to his hands, and his fingers were less clumsy, so he was able to cut the loops of rope on his ankles harder and faster.

He was still shivering even though the heater in the car was emitting hot air. All sorts of disturbing thoughts tormented him. What if Ryan had already killed Gong Yu? Or what if Ryan guessed that he had been followed and found the introducer? No! I have suffered so much that I must not gain nothing! Gong Yu must live.

The hands indicated that he had turned again. Rightward. It went west. ”

Officer Blue nodded. "There's a car in front of me and I can see the lights turning around. I'm going to slow down so he can't see us following him around. ”

Expectations enhance the power of bronze. He wiped his forehead, looked at his hands, and saw uneasy that there was red on his palms. It's not chicken blood or pigeon blood, it smells of copper, and it's definitely blood.

"I don't know how useful it is, but this is a clean handkerchief I found in a small storage cupboard," Officer Lan said, "try to stop the bleeding." Officer Lan followed Ryan off the right side of the road and passed a sign that said Henin. He turned off his headlights. "There's no need to make a big deal about it. I could barely see his taillights in the rain, so I was sure he couldn't see us at all. ”

"But you're driving blind."

"It won't be long." Officer Blue took a trail to the left, turned on his headlights, made a 180-degree turn, returned to the road, turned left, and followed Ryan again. "If he's looking in the rearview mirror, if I were him, I'd definitely be looking, and he'd see a headlight turning onto the left of the road. Anyone who followed him here from the highway would not have come from the left. That way he won't be suspicious. ”

"You're pretty good at that." Bronze said.

"I'm still doing a little better. When I was a kid, I used to hang out with some people. I'm pretty experienced with both stalkers and being stalked. ”

"What made you change your ways?"

"I met a police officer, and he made me understand."

"He's definitely proud of your life right now."

"He died last year. A drunk mainland drug dealer shot and killed him. ”

There was a dizzying flash in the air, followed by a rumbling sound that made the car tremble.

"Now the thunder is starting to thunder, and the storm is getting worse." Bronze said.

"." I don't know if Officer Blue was referring to the storm or if it was his memories.

He pointed his finger as the lightning swept through again. "I saw a car."

"The signal on the receiver is strong. The hand was pointing straight ahead," said Bronze, "and it must have been Ryan." ”

"It's time to get off this path, I don't want him to be suspicious." After passing a sign indicating Lin'an, Officer Lan let Ryan drive straight ahead while he turned right, bypassing a village and back on the road. The other cars had overtaken them, filling the gap between them and Ryan's car.

"The receiver indicates that he is still ahead of us." Bronze's wet and cold clothes still made him shiver. His muscles were very painful due to the tension. His back and chest were swollen and throbbing as he fell off the rock wall. It doesn't matter. Pain is nothing, Gong Yu is important. "No, wait a minute. The pointer moved. He turned to the right. ”

"Yes, I saw his headlights off the road." Officer Blue said, "I don't want to go up and scare him right away." Let's drive past where he turned and see where he goes. He probably wanted to shake off his tail with a trick. ”

They drove through the silent center of town to the quieter outskirts of town. Now, as the lightning flashed, they could see a normal roadside inn where Ryan had turned. The black plaque shows the name of the shop, Cyclamen. The adjoining bungalows—estimated to be about a dozen in bronze—stretched from the side of the road into a dark, dreary strip. As the car drove past there, Bronze leaned down to prevent Ryan from glancing back.

It wasn't until he drove past the inn that Bronze slowly straightened up. "The pointer on the receiver indicates that Ryan has stopped."

"What do you want to do?"

"Parking somewhere on the side of the road. Let's go back there and see what he's up to. ”

Bronze picks up the pistol he had taken from a guard at Giordano's estate. There was a loud thunderclap and the car shook. He saw Officer Blue put Walter in his pocket. "We'd better bring the receiver. What if this was a trap and he drove away again? ”

"What if that's the case?" Officer Blue asked.

"That's a great question." Bronze got out of the car, and the rain immediately hit his face. For a moment, he remembered angrily that in Shanghai, it was also raining cold and heavy rain when he followed Ryan to the snared courtyard that night. Officer Blue followed him out of the car, his hat dripping with water, his long soaked hair sticking to his neck. Under the light of passing vehicles, Officer Blue's face looked thinner than usual, with a more prominent nose and mouth, which reminded Bronze of a bird of prey.

They did not show their faces in front of the house, but cautiously moved down an alley that led to the back of the house. Bronze notes that those bungalows were built with cinder bricks and there was no exit at the back. There are only small windows on this side of the alley, and they are thick, opaque glass bricks that are extremely difficult to break.

The two of them walked around the back of the inn, hiding behind a dumpster and observing the front of the bungalow. The pointer on the receiver indicates that the introducer is in a certain set of rooms. Although the rooms looked occupied, only four of them were still lit behind the drawn-up curtains. Two of them are adjacent, close to the bronzer bins used to conceal themselves. Bronze didn't need to look at the receiver to know that the signal was coming from one of these rooms. There was a car parked in front of the house, a blue Fiat, and the engine that was cooling down made a crackling sound from time to time. The rain fell on Pontiac's heated front cover, turning into a misty layer of steam.

Bronze thought, hurry up. If Gong Yu was in one of the rooms, Ryan would have killed her as soon as he had come back with the money. Or if he found the guide when he checked the money, he might panic and kill Gong Yu before he could escape.

"You wait here," Bronze whispered to Officer Blue, "ready to pick me up." He waded as lightly as he could, through a pool of stagnant water, to the last room in the row of houses, and stopped at the softly lit window. A flash of lightning made him feel as if he had no clothes on. The dull sound of thunder shook him. Then the night covered him again. Noticing that the curtains weren't tightened, he looked anxiously into the room through a narrow slit — a double bed, a cheap dresser, a radio fixed to the wall. If it weren't for the suitcase on the bed, it would be as if no one was occupying it. In the middle of the left wall, there is an open door that leads to the next room.

Lightning and thunder again. Bronze tensed up, then moved to the next window. Although the storm was loud, he heard the speech, but he couldn't make out what was being said. A man is talking, then a woman. The male may be Ryan, and the female may be Gong Yu. Hard. Maybe Bronze heard just the dialogue on the radio. To his surprise, another man spoke, a man with a very strange voice, low and hoarse. Bronze was confused at first, but later realized that if Gong Yu was there, Ryan would have to have another person watching her when she went out to get the money. He imagined Gong Yu being tied to a chair, and a ball of rags stuffed in her mouth loosened and fell out. He seemed to see the mass of stuff back into her mouth as Ryan grabbed her neck, her eyes sticking out.

Bronze told himself, hurry up! He glanced at the room number on the door and quickly returned to Officer Lan to explain what he was going to do. Then, under the cover of night, he rushed out into the street. When I arrived at the inn, there was no one at the counter, probably the person on duty had already found a place to sleep, and no one would come to stay at night in such weather.

He picked up the phone and dialed Ryan's room number. No one answered until the end......

"Hello?" Ryan's voice was hesitant, an octave lower than usual, as if he thought that others would not be able to hear him if he spoke so softly.

"If you use common sense," said Bronze, "you may still be alive after this is over." ”

There was silence on the phone. The only sound Bronze heard was the sound of rain hitting the glass.

"Bronze?" Ryan sounded like he was suspecting that he was delirious.

"It's been a long time since we've spoken, Ryan."

"But it can't be. You're dead. How-"

"I'm not calling to talk about my death, Ryan."

"."

"Cursing is a good idea, but I can help you better than cursing."

"Where are you?"

"Come on, Ryan. I wrote the bureau's book on espionage. I never give unsolicited information. Then you should ask me how I found you, and how many people are with me. But all you need to care about is that you get the money, and I want Gong Yu. ”

There was silence on the phone again.

"If she's dead, Ryan, there's no way you're going to bargain with me."

"Nope." Ryan let out a nervous swallowing sound. "She's not dead."

Bronze had a sense of relief, out of relief. "Let me talk to her."

"It's complicated, Captain Gu."

"It used to be complicated, but tonight, it's simpler. Both Giordano and his son died. ”

"How—"

"Trust me, Ryan. They don't work anymore. No one is looking for Gong Yu anymore. You can leave the money and let her go. How you get the money will be a secret between us. ”

Ryan hesitated, his strained breathing distinct. "Why should I trust you?"

"Think about it, Ryan. If the Gourdano family were still alive, I wouldn't be talking to you now. It was really my corpse that showed up at the place where the money was paid. ”

Ryan's breathing grew heavier.

"And it won't be me on the phone," said Bronze, "but they're breaking down the door of your inn room." ”

Bronze seemed to hear Ryan's hand covering the microphone. He heard muffled voices. He shivered as he waited, partly because of his wet clothes, and partly because he was afraid from the bottom of his bones what Ryan would do to Gong Yu.

On the other end of the line, something skimmed the microphone, and Ryan spoke again, "I still don't believe it." ”

"You're stalling for time, Ryan. You want to run away while I'm talking to you. I'm not alone. As soon as you show up at the door, someone will shoot, and I swear, if Gong Yu is injured, you'll get a taste of having 1 million in hell with nowhere to spend it. ”

Pause. There was another muffled speech. Ryan's voice raised as he spoke again. "How do I know that if I hand over An Ruoxi to you, you will let me go?"

"It's Gong Yu." Bronze said, "This may be a new concept for you, Ryan, be honest." I never break my word. When I was working for the military command, it was this that made one deal after another. People know they can trust me. And this was the most important deal I wanted to make. ”

From the vantage point of the counter, Bronze could see the guest rooms at the back and the bungalows that stretched out to the dumpsters at the back. He could see Officer Blue hiding behind the dumpster and staring at the two rooms. He could see that there was no light in the windows of both rooms.

"Why are you turning off the lights, Ryan?"

"Oh my God, are you so close to here?"

"Don't do anything stupid. You want to use Gong Yu as cover, and you're sure I won't shoot. Think about it. Even if I let you escape with her, are you going to use her as a shield for the rest of your life? At the place where the money was paid, the plastic bag tied to my head was proof that I was willing to risk anything for her. I'm never going to stop hunting you. ”

There was no answer.

"Still just thinking about the million, Ryan. No one can prove how you got the money, and no one wants the money back. As long as you drive away from here, the money is yours and you can spend it. ”

"As long as you let me go." Ryan's voice seemed hesitant.

"As long as you leave Gong Yu behind. If you don't prove to me that she's alive, this conversation won't be meaningful. Let me talk to her. ”

At this time, Bronze listened attentively to the voice in the microphone, ignoring the pouring rain. Then he heard the thunder that shook the whole roof, and he heard the thunder that was even more violent within himself.

。