***
Bonus chapter! Thank you to --- for the donation! ^^
***
Judging by the scene before them, Luo Qing didn’t seem like a human trafficker at all—if anything, he looked more like a victim who could easily be abducted by one.
When men were kidnapped, it was usually for one of a few reasons: young boys sold off to become someone’s son, grown men forced into hard labor, or even worse, trafficked into scams or organ harvesting.
But Luo Qing didn’t fit any of those categories. No, the only fate awaiting him was being locked in a bed, subjected to endless violation day and night, until he was left clutching a swollen belly, pleading pitifully for mercy.
The men’s eyebrows twitched as they quickly suppressed the lurid images flashing through their minds, awkwardly averting their gaze.
While they were distracted, the situation in the alley had escalated—Luo Qing was already being groped.
Luo Qing glared at the man gripping his wrist, struggling as he spoke coldly, “I’m not interested in tea. Let go.”
The man’s grip was unrelenting, leaving no room for resistance. He pulled Luo Qing closer, chuckling. “Don’t be nervous. I’m not a bad guy—I just want to treat you to some tea.”
Luo Qing stumbled when yanked forward, crashing into the man’s chest. His body stiffened slightly, and his struggles weakened—or more accurately, became half-hearted.
His eyes flicked toward the "drunkard" slumped nearby before he shoved at the man impatiently, his exquisite features twisting in irritation.
“Are you insane? I said I don’t like tea.”
The man smirked. “How do you know if you’ve never tried?”
He didn’t budge under Luo Qing’s feeble push. Instead, he guided Luo Qing’s hand to his own chest, pressing it there with deliberate suggestiveness.
Luo Qing froze. His face paled, lips pressing into a tight line as if he’d been threatened into submission.
Pleased by his compliance, the man reached out, gently smoothing back Luo Qing’s disheveled hair—though his true intentions were far from tidying up. His fingers lingered, trailing down Luo Qing’s face before stopping at the corner of his lips.
The man looked every bit the predator, yet Luo Qing didn’t resist, silently tolerating his advances.
But just as the man grew bolder, the “drunkard” nearby had finally had enough. He staggered to his feet and lurched toward them.
A drunkard could get away with anything—he “lost his balance,” crashing toward the man. Yet at the last second, the man yanked Luo Qing aside, effortlessly dodging before spinning around and kicking the “drunkard” hard.
The kick was ruthless—the "drunkard" slammed into the wall. But he barely felt the pain, his focus locked onto the man’s jacket, his pupils tightening.
This man… had a gun?
When the man dodged, his unbuttoned coat had been brushed open by Luo Qing, revealing a glimpse of the weapon tucked inside.
No doubt about it—that was a gun. This man was a criminal!
The "drunkard" scrambled up, all pretense of drunkenness gone, and quickly signaled his teammates behind his back.
The terrorist took one look at him and knew—this wasn’t some random drunk. He’d seen the gun.
Without hesitation, the man released Luo Qing and lunged at the "drunkard," aiming to take him out first.
But the undercover cop wasn’t helpless. He dodged the punch and fought back, the two quickly locked in a brutal struggle.
The terrorist’s skills were terrifying. Even a trained officer was no match for him.
Then more men joined in—the terrorist’s accomplices.
The rest of the police team, watching from a distance, realized things had gone wrong. They abandoned their cover and rushed in to help.
The alley erupted into chaos as both sides clashed.
Meanwhile, Luo Qing had already slipped away through the other end of the alley.
He’d known from the start those men were cops. Their intentions were too obvious—practically written on their faces.
As for the criminal, Luo Qing had felt the gun the moment he brushed against his chest. That’s why he’d stood there so obediently, even deliberately nudging the jacket open—just so the police would see the weapon.
He couldn’t afford arrest. He didn’t want to die.
Not when he still had to…
Had to what? Luo Qing froze.
What was he waiting for?
Beyond his mission, was there anything else?
The thought unsettled him—just like how he’d inexplicably grown a conscience since yesterday. It was as if he’d become a different person.
And worse… he couldn’t shake the feeling he’d forgotten something.
But the memories from those twenty-odd years in his mind weren’t fake. Even now, he could vividly recall every feeling—the bitterness of being abandoned by his mother, the adrenaline of his first crime.
None of the memories were false, and nothing was missing.
Luo Qing absentmindedly lowered his head. Maybe he really had been scared off by the boss.
With the police nearby, Luo Qing naturally couldn’t stay. He turned into a winding, secluded alley, planning to loop around before returning to his car.
The alley was dark and narrow, nearly deserted—except for a man slumped against the wall.
It was the same man who had passed by him repeatedly earlier. The cop.
The man was Xu Tao. He had been stabbed twice in the abdomen, and despite pressing his hands tightly against the wounds, blood continued to seep out, pooling beneath him.
Without immediate treatment, he would undoubtedly bleed to death.
But he no longer had the strength to call for help. His phone was missing, and worse, this wasn’t the kind of place people frequented.
When footsteps echoed through the alley, Xu Tao’s eyes lit up with desperate hope—until he saw who it was.
The human trafficker.
Their identities had already been exposed. There was no love lost between them. If Luo Qing didn’t finish him off, that alone would be an act of mercy.
Today, it seemed, he really was going to die here.
Xu Tao turned his face away, leaning his head back against the wall and closing his eyes, waiting calmly for death.
In this line of work, he had long been prepared to die. The only regret was not living to see the case closed.
Luo Qing truly had no intention of saving him. He watched the blood spread, lowered his gaze, and stepped past Xu Tao without pause.
But just before he reached the end of the alley, he stopped.
Finally, he turned back, crouched beside the injured man, and pulled out his phone. He dialed 120, then placed it next to Xu Tao.
Xu Tao might not have had the strength to call for help, but he could still manage to give his location to the operator. Stunned, he stared at the retreating figure, utterly bewildered.
Even after Luo Qing had long disappeared, Xu Tao remained in disbelief. As he watched the distant silhouette fade, one thought consumed him:
Weren’t they supposed to be mortal enemies?
"Hello? Can I help you?" The 120 operator, hearing no response, raised her voice slightly.
Only then did Xu Tao snap out of his daze. He quickly picked up the phone, rattled off his location, and used Luo Qing’s phone to call his teammates.
The ambulance arrived swiftly, and Xu Tao was rushed to the hospital. When his teammates learned the call had been made from Luo Qing’s phone, they were stunned speechless.
"You’re saying he saved you?!"
Xu Tao, his face still pale, nodded. "At first, he seemed like he was going to pretend he didn’t see me. He’d already walked away, but then suddenly came back and left his phone."
Leaving the phone was no different from saving his life.
"That Luo Qing… he’s really strange."
"He…" Xu Tao’s expression flickered with discomfort and guilt, but he gritted his teeth and voiced his thoughts anyway. "He doesn’t seem like a bad person."
Police relied on facts and evidence, rarely judging someone’s character subjectively—yet Xu Tao had said it anyway.
Luo Qing really didn’t seem like a bad person.
In that moment when he’d bent down to leave the phone, Xu Tao had even sensed an extraordinary gentleness in him—the kind that radiated from the bones, impossible to fake. And why would he bother pretending for a dying man?
Xu Tao wasn’t the only one who felt this way. Many of his teammates had passed by Luo Qing countless times, growing increasingly convinced he wasn’t a criminal.
Xu Tao looked at his teammates. "Maybe… he’d be willing to cooperate with our plan."
The idea of a ruthless human trafficker cooperating with them was absurd beyond belief, yet everyone present seriously considered its feasibility.
"Let’s try it first."
***
Without his phone, Luo Qing found himself severely inconvenienced. He bought a new one and deactivated his old SIM card.
Truthfully, he’d started regretting his decision the moment he handed the phone over—not because he’d given it away, but because he hadn’t taken it back afterward.
That phone contained contacts linked to his accomplices. If the police traced those numbers, he’d become a traitor to the organization. If the boss found out, being sold off to Myanmar would be the least of his worries.
Being torn apart by five horses would be too light a punishment.
But now there was no chance to get it back. Going back would mean walking right into a trap.
Luo Qing could only return to his car in low spirits. As he reached for the seatbelt to fasten it, his movements suddenly froze.
He slowly raised his head and looked into the rearview mirror above him—then his entire body stiffened.
Because in the mirror, there were two figures. Two bound figures, as if they were people he had abducted.
And Luo Qing recognized them all too well. They were among those who had passed by him countless times that afternoon.
They were police officers.
Clearly, seeing that he wasn’t willing to take the bait, they had tied themselves up and stuffed themselves into his car.
Luo Qing had never seen such shameless tactics before, nor had he ever encountered a situation so utterly beyond his ability to handle.
He couldn’t even pretend not to notice—because the moment he looked up, those two pairs of eyes were already fixed on him.
The three of them stared at each other through the rearview mirror. The atmosphere in the car instantly turned suffocating, so silent you could probably hear a pin drop.
