Chapter 1

After Liu Handong was discharged from the military, he became an unlicensed taxi driver. He drove a 1996 Volkswagen Santana that was almost ready for the scrap heap. The transmission was old, the engine had been overhauled several times, and the gears were hard to shift. The windshield was plastered with a row of faded annual inspection stickers and compulsory insurance stickers. The suspension was set very high to handle the rough roads in the urban-rural fringe.

On the last day of August, which was also the seventh day of Liu Handong's unlicensed taxi career, he parked by the roadside near the long-distance bus station in the southern suburbs and dozed off after dinner. Other unlicensed taxi drivers waited at the exit to actively solicit customers, but Liu Handong drove based on his mood. At that moment, he was a bit drowsy and didn't want to join the crowd.

Liu Handong was half-asleep when he suddenly heard someone tapping on the roof of the car. He looked up and saw a middle-aged man in his forties with yellow teeth from smoking, leaning by the window and asking, "Driver, are you going?"

"Where to?" Liu Handong asked, somewhat displeased.

"To Hot Springs Town." The man with yellow teeth smiled.

"One hundred yuan." Liu Handong demanded a high price, as Hot Springs Town was only ten kilometers away, but the road was under construction with an ongoing road widening project and an overpass, making it difficult to drive.

"Cheaper." The man with yellow teeth took out a pack of cigarettes and offered one to Liu Handong. It was a pack of Su cigarettes, priced at 45 yuan. Liu Handong accepted it, sniffed it, and placed it behind his ear, saying, "This is already the lowest price."

"Alright, I'll consider it as making a friend." The man with yellow teeth turned and waved. Liu Handong also turned his head and saw a black Highlander parked across the street. The driver was a tall, thin man with a face mostly hidden by sunglasses, and a faint scar could be seen on his cheek.

A burly young man got out of the passenger seat and took a large red and blue striped bag from the Highlander's trunk, carrying it over with both hands.

Liu Handong got out of the car, opened the Santana's trunk, and asked casually, "Why don't you use your own car?"

"I borrowed my unit leader's car and I'm afraid to drive on rough roads," the man with yellow teeth explained.

The bag was placed in the Santana's trunk. Liu Handong got back in the car and started the engine. The man with yellow teeth sat in the passenger seat, and the young man who carried the bag got into the back seat. The Santana sputtered for a while before finally starting. The man with yellow teeth smiled and said, "Your car still has four forward gears, right? It must use a carburetor." Liu Handong replied, "A Santana that doesn't break down, a Cherokee that can't be fixed. Don't look at the old car; it won't let you down in a pinch. There are a few dirt hills on the way to Hot Springs Town. My Santana can climb them, but your Highlander might not."

Both men laughed. Liu Handong glanced in the rearview mirror and saw the Highlander gradually disappearing. The man in the back seat was about 27 or 28 years old, with a tattoo on his arm, and his smile seemed distracted.

After driving for a while, the man with yellow teeth yawned and casually asked how much Liu Handong earned from driving unlicensed taxis in a month. Liu Handong ignored him because he felt a slight tremor in the trunk, not from the cargo shifting but from something alive struggling.

He slammed on the brakes, stopping the Santana in the middle of the road, and asked, "What are you carrying?"

The man in the back seat suddenly reached over with a thin rope, strangling Liu Handong's neck. The man with yellow teeth pulled out a dagger and stabbed at him. Liu Handong's eyes bulged as he blocked the dagger with his right hand and shifted gears. He pressed the gas and clutch, and the Santana, which usually had trouble starting, surprisingly took off.

The sudden acceleration loosened the rope around his neck, and Liu Handong caught his breath. The man with the knife stabbed again, but Liu Handong didn't block it this time. He quickly shifted gears and accelerated, and the Santana shot forward like an arrow. The rope tightened again, and Liu Handong turned the steering wheel, causing the car to crash into a pile of construction materials.

The Santana hit a cement slab used for the overpass. The man with yellow teeth, who was in the passenger seat, was knocked unconscious with a bloody face, and the dagger flew out of his hand. The man in the back seat was thrown through the windshield and landed on the pile of cement slabs, his face impaled by a rebar, blood flowing onto the slabs, and his legs twitching.

Liu Handong, who was wearing a seatbelt, was relatively unharmed but was still dazed. The car had no airbags, and the doors were deformed, making it impossible to unbuckle the seatbelt. He picked up the dagger and cut the seatbelt, then climbed out of the car through the window. He took out his phone to call the police, but his Nokia 1110 was out of battery. He searched the man with yellow teeth and found a phone, but it required a password to turn on. He threw the phone in anger and searched the man on the cement slabs, finding an Apple phone that was already shattered.

He checked the man's breathing and found he was still alive. Liu Handong ignored him and limped to the back of the car to open the trunk. The bag was no longer moving. He unzipped it and found a young girl, about middle school age, wearing a white T-shirt and jeans, with dust on her clothes. Her mouth was taped, and her hands and feet were tied with nylon rope. Her long eyelashes trembled, and her large, frightened eyes stared at Liu Handong. Under the construction site's iodine tungsten lamp, her pale skin showed blue veins.

Liu Handong removed the tape and cut the ropes with the dagger, saying, "Don't be afraid, I'm not a bad person."

Suddenly, two bright beams of light shone on him, and the sound of a motor grew louder. It was a dump truck. Liu Handong waved to stop it, but the truck ignored him, passing by without even braking, raising a cloud of dust that made his mouth gritty.

"Damn, no morals," Liu Handong spat. He looked back and found the girl was gone, leaving only an empty bag. He looked around and called out, but no one responded. The road was under construction, the streetlights were off, and it was pitch black. Being in the urban-rural fringe, there were plenty of places to hide. The girl probably thought he was part of the kidnappers and hid herself, which made sense.

Liu Handong was frustrated, having gotten involved in a car accident and a kidnapping case. He decided to report it to the police. Another dump truck passed by, and this time he was smarter. He ran up and grabbed the reinforcement bars on the truck, hitching a ride.

After less than three kilometers, a police patrol car with flashing lights approached. Liu Handong quickly jumped off and waved to stop the car, reporting that he had been robbed and that the two robbers were injured and lying ahead. The police took him seriously and had him get in the car to check.

When they arrived at the accident site, the Santana was still there, but the two robbers were gone, and the cement slabs were clean, with no blood. The police looked at Liu Handong with confusion.

"Did you drink?" one police officer asked.

"Show your driver's license and registration," another officer said.

Liu Handong didn't have a driver's license. He quickly said that his documents were stolen by the robbers and pointed to his blood-soaked shirt, saying, "I came this far to report the crime, how could I be lying?" The police, seeing he didn't look drunk, used a first aid kit to bandage him and said, "This is a public security case, we'll take you to the police station."

The nearest police station was in Hot Springs Town, which was still lit at 9:30 PM. The sign read "Yunshan District Hot Springs Town Police Station of Jinjiang City." The police parked the car, left the keys in the ignition, and took Liu Handong into the duty room to file a report.

Liu Handong first handed over the bloody dagger and then gave a jumbled account of what happened. The two duty officers were confused and took out a piece of paper, saying, "Think it through and write down what happened."

The police officers and the traffic police were familiar with each other and chatted for a moment before preparing to leave. Liu Handong, holding a pen and scratching his head, hadn't written a word. Suddenly, there was a loud noise at the door, and a black Highlander stopped. A tall man got out, wearing a Montag T-shirt with a pair of sunglasses hanging from the collar, dark blue pants, a handbag, and a silver police badge on his belt buckle. Most importantly, he had a scar on his face.

Liu Handong recognized him and stopped writing, slowly standing up. The man also recognized Liu Handong and immediately pointed at him, shouting, "It's him, catch him!"

Before the police could react, Liu Handong grabbed a chair and threw it, using the distraction to dash to the door. The road was crowded with traffic, and he had nowhere to run. Without thinking, he opened the door, got into the police Santana, started the engine, shifted gears, and hit the gas, making a sharp turn. The car screeched, tires smoking, and shot out of the police station parking lot like a wild horse.

The police and the officers from the police station quickly got into their cars and pursued him, sirens blaring. Liu Handong, seeing the flashing lights in the rearview mirror, also turned on the police lights. The two police cars and the Highlander sped down the night road, sirens screaming. Other vehicles, thinking the police were on a mission, quickly made way, making it easier for Liu Handong to escape.

The police Santana was a 2.0-liter engine with clear gears and good condition, far superior to Liu Handong's unlicensed taxi. It quickly reached 160 km/h, but the pursuers were still close behind, and there was a traffic jam ahead with several dump trucks blocking the way. Liu Handong gritted his teeth, made a sharp turn, and pulled the handbrake, causing the car to do a 180-degree spin.

He released the handbrake and floored the gas, focusing on the oncoming police car. He suddenly shifted gears and charged forward, forcing the oncoming car to swerve. The two cars narrowly missed each other, and the left rearview mirror was knocked off. However, the Highlander didn't swerve and charged at him with its headlights on.

Damn, a tough opponent! Liu Handong, seeing his plan fail, turned the steering wheel and drove off the road toward the railway. A long coal train was passing by.

The police car raced toward the crossing. Liu Handong clenched his teeth and hit the gas. The massive locomotive was getting closer, and he could feel its overwhelming force. If he hit it, the Santana would be crushed to pieces!

Liu Handong suddenly downshifted and accelerated, the Santana roaring as it broke through the thin barrier and crossed the tracks. At the same moment, the train passed by, the air pressure intense. The pursuing police car was forced to stop, and the officers got out, throwing their hats in frustration.

The train was long, with about 70 cars, and the clattering of the wheels and tracks was deafening. Finally, everything quieted down, and the train moved away. On the other side of the crossing, a police Santana was parked quietly, the police lights still flashing, but the car was empty.

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