Striving for Science C21

"I just apprehended her, I didn't mean to hurt her!" Shen Chang'an was worried that the thugs disguised as resort staff might have weapons, so he didn't dare to let go of the female boss. He had to explain to the police, "The others can testify for me, right?" He looked at the rescued travelers.

The victims watched as Shen Chang'an held down the female boss, as easily as if he were holding a chick, and nodded in a daze.

The other thugs in the villa hid behind the door, afraid to come out. Yao Huailin glanced at the victims who had been rescued by Shen Chang'an, their faces filled with terror, and pulled out his pistol with a few colleagues: "You guys go guard the back door, we can't let the criminals escape."

Captain Li didn't expect there to be so many victims at the scene. He notified the headquarters to send reinforcements immediately, then took out the handcuffs and walked up to Shen Chang'an, cuffing the female boss's hands.

The female boss looked at the thing on her wrist in disbelief, muttering to herself: "How could this be, how could this be?"

Where was her power?

Why couldn't she escape, but was instead subdued by ordinary humans?

"If you dare to commit crimes, you must face the law." Shen Chang'an shook his slightly sore wrist. This woman looked frail, but she was surprisingly strong. If he hadn't gritted his teeth and held on, she would have almost broken free.

Seeing the police arrive, he finally breathed a sigh of relief, collapsing onto the ground without any regard for his image, and said to Captain Li with a bitter face: "If you guys hadn't come, I wouldn't have been able to hold her down."

It seems that the police still have a strong deterrent effect on criminals. When he dragged the female boss out of the door and the police appeared, the female boss's struggling force changed.

"Thanks to you this time." Captain Li patted Shen Chang'an on the shoulder. They had just received a report yesterday that a tourist bus had gone missing, and the missing area was near Wuming City. However, since Wuming City's tourism industry wasn't very developed, the important search locations weren't in Wuming City.

He didn't expect that these missing tourists were actually under their noses in Wuming City.

Shen Chang'an was about to decline politely, but suddenly felt someone staring at him. He turned his head and saw the female boss who was locked in the police car. Through the windshield of the police car, he saw a look of resentment in her eyes, as if she wanted to kill him on the spot.

He stepped back, trying to let Captain Li block the female boss's gaze.

After the police officers took their positions, Yao Huailin shouted into the villa: "All the criminals inside listen up, fleeing from justice will result in an additional charge. Come out now, and you can still plead guilty and receive a reduced sentence."

Shen Chang'an saw a figure flash behind the door, but no one came out.

"Shen Chang'an, do those people have any weapons?" Yao Huailin turned to ask Shen Chang'an.

"They shouldn't have any, right? If they did, they probably would have pulled them out when I was holding the female boss and rescuing everyone." Shen Chang'an was stunned for a moment. He had been so focused on saving people that he hadn't thought of this.

"You're really capable, you dared to rescue people without even knowing the enemy's details." Yao Huailin couldn't help but scold Shen Chang'an a few words, then turned his attention to observing the movements inside the villa.

"It seems like the people inside don't want to surrender." Yao Huailin and his colleagues put on their bulletproof vests and charged in.

The moment they rushed through the door, the various old-fashioned furnishings inside gave him a feeling of time travel. What puzzled him even more was that these criminals who were pretending to be staff members didn't resist at all when they were captured. It was only when they were about to leave that they showed a look of fear.

After all the criminals were under control, Yao Huailin looked around the kicked-in door several times in confusion, but he couldn't find anything wrong with the door.

He turned his head and saw Shen Chang'an squatting nearby eating the boxed lunch brought by the support team, and beckoned him over: "Shen Chang'an, come here."

Shen Chang'an put down his half-eaten boxed lunch, wiped his mouth, took a bottle of water and walked over to Yao Huailin while drinking: "What's wrong?"

"Do you think there's anything wrong with this door?"

"Hmm... the quality isn't good, it breaks with a kick, it's not safe for guests?" Shen Chang'an didn't understand what Yao Huailin meant. He bent down and picked up the door panel that had fallen to the ground, leaning it against the wall. He accidentally bumped into a piece of carving and broke it.

Shen Chang'an: "..."

He really didn't mean to do it.

Fearing psychological trauma or injuries among the detained tourists, the support force had two ambulances on standby. Several tourists, terrified and incoherent, were taken to the ambulances. The path down was steep, and the thick fog hadn't dissipated, so all the criminals remained in the vehicles and were not sent down.

Shen Chang'an recalled the way the female boss had looked at him, finding it somewhat chilling.

"Comrade Shen," Captain Li said as he approached. Shen Chang'an was still trying to press the fallen carvings back onto the wooden panel. Little did he know, the wooden door was incredibly fragile. With a clatter and a bang, all the carvings shattered.

Shen Chang'an awkwardly glanced at the carved door, now covered in wood chips, then at Captain Li who had come to speak to him. He silently placed his hands behind his back.

Captain Li pretended not to notice the awkward scene and said to Shen Chang'an with an apologetic smile, "The criminal leader we just caught is trying to harm herself in the car. She wants to see you..."

"She has nothing to do with me. Why would she want to see me?" He said this, but Shen Chang'an still followed Captain Li towards the car where the criminals were being held.

Inside the holding vehicle, the female boss and her employees were all tightly handcuffed. When they saw Shen Chang'an's face outside the window, the two employees closest to him tried desperately to distance themselves from him.

The female boss's eyes widened, a stark contrast to her previous gentle demeanor.

Through the iron bars of the window, Shen Chang'an rubbed his nose. "Big sister, once you're inside, try to reform yourself and strive to become a better person."

The female boss wanted to reach through the window to grab Shen Chang'an, but her hands were handcuffed to the vehicle. She could do nothing except stare at Shen Chang'an.

"What have you done to me? Why have I lost all my power?" The female boss seemed to be going mad. She opened her mouth, revealing her white teeth and blood-red tongue. "You think your good deeds will protect you? When the Ghost King emerges, you'll be the first one he eats."

Suddenly, she burst into laughter. "You ignorant humans..."

Clang.

Before the female boss could finish her threats, Shen Chang'an pulled down the window bars and turned to Captain Li. "Now that these criminals have been caught, is pretending to be crazy a standard procedure?"

Captain Li: "..."

What Ghost King? What eating people? All this nonsense about cults.

For those who love to spout threats, never let them finish. The best punishment is to suffocate them with silence.

Thinking about how Dao Nian had specially accompanied him out today, only to end up not having any fun and almost getting into danger, Shen Chang'an quickly pulled out his phone and dialed Dao Nian's number.

The phone rang for a while before the other side picked up.

"…"

"Dao Nian, did you get home safely?"

Dao Nian sat in his wheelchair, watching the clouds rolling over the mountain peaks. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. I've been learning grappling and fighting since I was young. It's all just a matter of skill." Hearing Dao Nian's tone, it didn't sound like he was angry, so Shen Chang'an breathed a sigh of relief. "What I said before was just to confuse the criminals. Don't take it seriously."

"I won't." Dao Nian reached out his hand and scooped the air, a glow of light appearing in his hand. The person on the phone was still talking about how brave he had been in subduing the criminals.

"I suspect the criminals involved in this case have joined some kind of cult. When they were arrested, they threatened me, saying I'd be eaten by ghosts. " Shen Chang'an scoffed, "If they're so powerful, why didn't they just disappear right then and there? They still got caught by the police."

Dao Nian: "..."

He released his hand, the glow of the dawn in his palm streaking across the sky, disappearing into a distant mountain range.

"The sun is rising, and the fog is starting to dissipate." Shen Chang'an looked up at the sun that had suddenly appeared in the sky, "I still have to go to the police station later. Sorry, I was supposed to spend the day with you."

"So?" After finishing what he needed to do, Dao Nian leaned back in his wheelchair, his entire being radiating an aura of loneliness, helplessness, and fragility.

"We'll make it up next week." Shen Chang'an got into the police car, "Next weekend, I'll make some of your favorite crispy pork for you."

"Okay." Dao Nian lifted his eyelids slightly, covering the phone's mouthpiece with his hand, and turned to look at Liu Mao behind him, "Let's go back."

"Yes, sir." Liu Mao suddenly bent down, transforming into a bull, and carried Dao Nian into the clouds.

"In the police car, Yao Huailin said sympathetically, "Those tourists were terrified. They found out the inn's owner and staff were ghosts. I think they might need psychological therapy."

Shen Chang'an frowned, "Did these criminals intimidate the victims?"

"We're not sure yet. We'll have to wait until the victims' mental state stabilizes before we can continue questioning them." Yao Huailin noticed Shen Chang'an holding his phone to his ear, "Are you on the phone with someone?"

Shen Chang'an tilted his head slightly, signaling Yao Huailin not to interrupt him, and continued chatting with Dao Nian, "The victims I rescued seem to be traumatized. They keep talking about ghosts. It's broad daylight, where would ghosts come from, right?"

"Right." Dao Nian sat on the bull's back, watching the clouds whizzing by, and replied, "Of course not."

After arriving at the police station with Yao Huailin, Shen Chang'an recounted the events repeatedly until late at night. Captain Li personally walked him to the door, wanting to apply for a "Good Samaritan" award for him.

"That's not the most important thing. The important thing is that all the tourists are safe." Shen Chang'an waved his hand, "Captain Li, you've been working hard. Don't send me off. Go home and rest early."

Weekend evenings were peak times for dining out. Shen Chang'an didn't want to wait in line for a taxi, so he found a shared bicycle nearby and planned to ride back leisurely.

"Shen Chang'an." Someone called out to him as he got on the bike.

Shen Chang'an turned to see one of the tourists from the inn. He glanced at the other person, said nothing, and rode away.

"Wait." The person followed him on his own bicycle, "Thank you for today."

"No need. I wasn't specifically there to save you." Shen Chang'an rolled his eyes, "Why aren't you staying in the hospital? What are you doing following me?"

"I'm sorry about what happened back in school..." The person's cycling skills weren't very good, and he almost crashed into a tree.

"Oh." Seeing him constantly trailing behind, Shen Chang'an didn't want him to know where he lived, so he simply rode around aimlessly. The other person followed him, panting heavily from exhaustion.

"Alright, stop following me." They had unknowingly reached a sparsely populated area. Seeing that he still wasn't giving up, Shen Chang'an couldn't take it anymore, "Don't you just want me to say I forgive you? Fine, fine, I forgive you. Can you please just leave me alone?"

Back then, this person plagiarized his paper and still had the audacity to approach him saying it was all the ghosts' fault.

What the hell, it's a ghost's doing? What ghost is bored enough to steal someone's thesis? Why doesn't he just say it's all Heaven's will?

"I'm not lying to you, it really was…"

Before he could finish, a sudden clap of thunder boomed from the sky, striking directly at a person dozens of meters away.

Even more astonishing, the person managed to dodge it with a backflip.

Dodged it.

A man who can outrun lightning?!

Shen Chang'an silently pulled out his phone and turned on the night mode camera. He felt such a miraculous moment deserved to be recorded.

The next second, lightning illuminated half the night sky, and another bolt of lightning struck down, again targeting the extraordinary man who was racing against lightning.

Seeing this, Shen Chang'an quickly put away his phone, then moved away from his bicycle and the nearby trees.

During a thunderstorm, you shouldn't use your phone or hide under trees. He needed to stay away from anything that could conduct electricity.

After all, he wasn't some extraordinary man who could outrun lightning.

Dodging one bolt of lightning could be a coincidence, dodging three could be considered miraculous. But if you were struck by lightning repeatedly and still managed to dodge with your head down, it would make you wonder if your eyes were playing tricks on you.

Magic?

3D special effects?

Or was he dreaming?

"My goodness, which Daoist friend is undergoing a tribulation?" The young man who had been following behind Shen Chang'an stared dumbfounded at the scene, pulling out his phone from his jacket pocket, ready to record a video.

"Go ahead and film. I heard someone was struck by lightning while using their phone and died. Such a good opportunity, don't miss it. You might not know what your brain is for until you get struck by lightning." Shen Chang'an crossed his arms and said.

The young man reluctantly put away his phone. He moved a couple of steps closer to where Shen Chang'an was standing. Seeing that Shen Chang'an didn't react, he shamelessly inched closer to Shen Chang'an's position.

Shen Chang'an wasn't ignoring him because he had forgiven him, but because he didn't have time to deal with him.

In the dark clouds, a larger bolt of lightning seemed to be brewing. Shen Chang'an looked up at the sky, he could even feel electricity flowing in the air. Glancing down at the hairs standing on end on his arm, Shen Chang'an had an inexplicable intuition that the larger bolt of lightning was about to strike.

Sure enough, after a flash of lightning as bright as day, a massive purple lightning bolt, like a flying dragon, struck out from the thick clouds, directly hitting the person who was drenched and disheveled dozens of meters away.

"He's finished, is this guy going to be struck to death by lightning?"