Chapter 125: Highway Pursuit

Then a familiar voice whispered into my ear: "Oh, so it turns out I'm that important to you!"

I stared at Huang Xiaotao in shock. She was getting up from the ground — she'd been playing dead. If she hadn't pretended, those old ladies wouldn't have stopped. The blood on her lips came from biting her own mouth. Huang Xiaotao grinned: "Did I scare you just now?"

I wiped my tears fiercely. "You scared the hell out of me."

She touched the scratch on her face, hissing in pain, then complained, "Those old ladies scratched my face—do you think I'm disfigured?"

"No, just some surface scratches," I assured her.

Stamping her foot, she muttered, "So annoying, so annoying!" She cared about her face like it was her life.

I said, "If you cared about this now, even if you really were disfigured, I wouldn't look down on you."

Her cheeks flushed slightly, and she smiled, hesitating to say more.

But this wasn't the time for flirting. We couldn't stay here any longer. Who knew how many innocent people Teacher Li had hypnotized? If we ran into someone armed, playing dead wouldn't save us.

...

I came up with an idea. If we met Teacher Li's "puppets" again, I'd pretend to kill Huang Xiaotao first. She nodded: "Good plan, but be gentle when you do it."

Our first mission was to retrieve our car from the parking lot. Luckily, it was late at night and the trip was uneventful. After getting in the car, Huang Xiaotao made a call, but no one answered. She frowned and sighed, "No news from Wang Yuanchao yet…"

Then she ordered several officers to immediately head to her house to detain those hypnotized.

Right after the call, a Mini Beetle parked nearby slowly rolled down its window — and inside was Teacher Li herself. We were stunned. Huang Xiaotao snapped, "Li Wenjia, you're bold to attempt murdering police officers. Just wait to rot in jail!"

Teacher Li smirked, casually applying lipstick. "Officer Huang, what are you talking about? I'm just an ordinary citizen passing through."

Huang Xiaotao cursed fiercely. "Keep pretending! Where did you take Wang Yuanchao?"

Teacher Li started the engine, and as she left, she said coldly, "Do you know how Officer Huang's friend died?"

Huang Xiaotao was about to give chase, but I shouted, "Wait! What she said has a double meaning. In the movie Infernal Affairs 2, Officer Huang's friend was accidentally killed by a bomb planted on his car. Your car might be rigged too!"

Huang Xiaotao hesitated and reached to turn the ignition key. I yelled, "Hey!"

She said, "Li Wenjia is meticulous; she wouldn't kill using such a sloppy method. She said that just to scare us. Just in case, you get out of the car first. If I do get blown up, notify Sun Laohu to arrest her."

I laughed, "Get out? I'm not a coward. If I die, we die together."

She sighed, "Going to the afterlife together... that's a kind of romance."

She twisted the key sharply. I closed my eyes nervously. Nothing happened except the usual engine vibration. Huang Xiaotao hit the gas and sped out of the lot.

At the gate, a few people stood watching. I said, "Keep your head down! Don't let them see you."

Huang Xiaotao crouched low as I carefully steered past them.

On the road, we spotted the Mini Beetle stopped next to a truck. Teacher Li was talking to the truck driver, whose face looked like he was under a spell — frozen and expressionless.

I warned, "Watch her movements carefully!"

Teacher Li lifted the hair covering her right eye — the eye was clearly the key to her hypnotic power.

She spotted us, smiled coldly, and drove off.

Huang Xiaotao was about to give chase when suddenly the truck's headlights blasted us with blinding light. The engine roared like a wild beast. Huang Xiaotao panicked, yanked the wheel hard, and the truck pursued us fiercely.

The truck's attack was ruthless — it was trying to kill us!

It crashed into and overturned several parked vehicles along the road. Two vehicles raced like a scene from a cop thriller.

Huang Xiaotao glanced at the GPS. "There's a main road ahead. If we drive onto it, we'll endanger many innocent lives…"

"What do we do then?" I asked.

"We have to take out the driver!" she said through gritted teeth.

"No way! You'll end up in prison," I said anxiously, sweat pouring down my face.

But the main road was just a minute away. There was no time to hesitate.

Huang Xiaotao told me to drive, sliding over to the passenger seat. At a moment like this, I had no time to appreciate her curves.

She leaned halfway out the window and fired several shots.

Through the side mirror, I saw the truck violently swerve and topple over, skidding across the ground with screeching sparks flying.

I stopped the car and asked, "Did you kill him?"

"No, I hesitated and only shot the tires," she answered.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

We got out to check — the driver was slumped in the seat, unconscious, bleeding from the head but still alive, held by the seatbelt.

Huang Xiaotao called the fire department to clean up the mess.

Teacher Li escaped by using the truck driver as a decoy.

Her dorm was now surrounded by police, but she definitely wouldn't go back. For now, we'd lost her trail.

Huang Xiaotao pondered for a moment. "Bad news. She's heading to Officer Ma's place."

"Who?" I asked, confused.

"Officer Ma is my mentor. He's retired now, but he led the team on the Li Wenhai case. I only helped with the capture. Li Wenjia's been after me relentlessly — she definitely won't let Ma off either!" Huang Xiaotao was visibly anxious.

On the way to Officer Ma's home, I wondered: what's really up with Teacher Li's eyes? Can a single glance truly hypnotize someone? Even after seeing it with my own eyes, it was hard to believe.

I called my younger brother. I expected him to be annoyed by the late-night call, but instead, he burst into tears: "Xiao Song, where are you? I heard you got arrested for murder. Is it true?"

I laughed, "If I can call you, that means I'm fine. Brother, please help me check something about an eye."

"An eye?"

I explained briefly and promised him a 2,000 yuan reward later. He said, "Come on, do you take me for an outsider? I already agreed to join you guys. Just treat me to a meal after this."

I thanked him.

After hanging up, I asked Huang Xiaotao, "Should we inform Sun Laohu?"

She frowned, "Li Wenjia isn't ordinary. The more people we send, the bigger advantage she has! If she hypnotizes the police, it'll be impossible for us to escape."

I said, "But after something this big happens, not telling him will only make him furious later."

Huang Xiaotao stuck out her tongue. "Alright, you call him then."

I dialed Sun Laohu. As expected, he roared after hearing the news: "Such a big incident and you didn't tell me? Does she even respect me, the chief? Where's Huang Xiaotao? Let her talk!"

I told him Huang Xiaotao wasn't nearby.

He forced down his anger with a sigh. "Criminals these days are getting brazen — they even kill cops. Big nephew, what's your take?"

I said, "Uncle Sun, please send reinforcements immediately. We need to arrest Li Wenjia citywide…"

Huang Xiaotao shook her head desperately. I pretended not to see and added, "But under no circumstances should anyone go alone. Otherwise, Li Wenjia will gain more allies!"

After several rounds of clashes, I'd figured out a pattern: all those hypnotized were attacked when alone. Earlier, Teacher Li tried to hypnotize me, but someone walked by and interrupted her. If she could hypnotize with just one look, she'd have hypnotized Huang Xiaotao while talking in the parking lot. So her power only works on one person at a time.

She hypnotized and framed me to get me arrested, isolating me and making it easier to target Huang Xiaotao. That plan failed. Then she sent Ye Shiwen and Wang Dali to assassinate Huang Xiaotao. Li Wenjia is extremely cunning, preparing multiple schemes to eliminate Huang Xiaotao. Who knows what other "surprises" await us.

Sun Laohu was silent for a while after hearing my suggestions. "But you need evidence to arrest someone. Do you have proof against Li Wenjia?"

That stumped me. "So far, she hasn't left any evidence…"

He sighed deeply. "That won't do. We live in a society ruled by law. Even if her ancestors were all criminals, even if 'bad person' was tattooed on her forehead, without proof, you can't arrest her. Otherwise, how would those mafia bosses in movies dare to dine with the police?"

Huang Xiaotao interjected, "Chief Sun, this is different. If we don't detain Li Wenjia, more people will die."

Sun Laohu was surprised. "Huang Xiaotao, I thought you weren't around. Big nephew, let her talk."

I handed the phone over. Huang Xiaotao held it between her shoulder and ear. After a few words, she hung up, sighing. "Sun Laohu wants me to come back immediately."

I sensed her frustration and asked, "Why?"

"He says since Li Wenjia is targeting me, to prevent more innocent victims, I'll be put under temporary protective custody," she explained.

Sun Laohu and Huang Xiaotao share a strong bond — more like mentor and student than superior and subordinate. This drastic measure was a last resort, the only way to minimize casualties so far.