Blinded chapter 75

Chang Xiaojia took out a thin booklet from his pocket and tucked it into Xie Li’s waistband. Then he pulled up his pants and buttoned them.

Xie Li asked, “What is that?”

Chang Xiaojia didn’t say anything. He just shook his head and then forcefully bit Xie Li’s lips.

The kiss lasted for a long time. Later, Chang Xiaojia just held Xie Li’s face and kept looking at him.

Time passed, and Chang Xiaojia’s phone, placed on the bed, rang. He stepped out of the bathtub and rushed to answer the call.

Xie Li didn’t know who was calling, but he heard Chang Xiaojia respond with two consecutive “yes” and then say, “Find a way to come back.”

After hanging up the phone, he began pacing around the room.

Xie Li sensed a restlessness in the air, something he couldn’t understand. It was the intuition of someone who had been on the edge of life and death for a long time.

Chang Xiaojia was evidently caught up in this restlessness too.

After a while, someone used a key to open the door from outside.

Xie Li couldn’t see who it was, but he soon heard the voice of Shi Hongqian.

Chang Xiaojia asked Shi Hongqian, “What is my dad planning?”

Shi Hongqian said, “He’s still on the phone, probably trying to find someone to suppress the situation. Unless it’s absolutely necessary, he won’t leave Harbor city.”

After a brief silence, Chang Xiaojia said to Shi Hongqian, “Find a way to get him out.”

Shi Hongqian said, “It’s too difficult at this time.”

Chang Xiaojia said, “There’s a way; I’ll go out first. Pay attention to any movement in front and seize the opportunity. Do you remember how we used to sneak out of the house when we were kids?”

Shi Hongqian said, “What if he harms you?”

Chang Xiaojia told him, “I am his son.”

Xie Li had a very bad premonition. He shouted from the bathtub to the outside, “Xiaojia, Don’t you dare!”

Chang Xiaojia didn’t respond.

After a while, Xie Li saw him standing at the bathroom door. He was wearing a coat and silently glanced at him before turning to leave.

Xie Li shouted, “Come back!”

The door opened and closed quickly.

Shi Hongqian entered the bathroom. He didn’t seem in a hurry. Sitting on the edge of the bathtub, he looked at Xie Li.

Xie Li said, “Release me, I need to find Xiaojia.”

Shi Hongqian asked him in a deep voice, “nothing will happen to Xiaojia. If you rush out there you’ll just be going to your death.”

Xie Li took a deep breath.

Shi Hongqian took out handcuff keys from his pocket. Before unlocking Xie Li’s handcuffs, he whispered, “Xie Li, I’ll help you out. You must not act recklessly, do you understand?”

Xie Li looked at him.

Shi Hongqian said, “Think about Xiaojia.”

Xie Li’s eyes were red. He nodded, “I understand.”

Shi Hongqian unlocked the handcuffs for him. Xie Li stepped out of the bathtub, walked to the balcony in quick steps, and looked forward. He didn’t see any movement at the door, but soon heard the quiet sound of a car starting in the tranquil courtyard.

After a while, Chang Xiaojia’s car drove out towards the main gate of the Chang family.

Shi Hongqian patted Xie Li on the shoulder. “Let’s go.”

On the way downstairs, Xie Li asked Shi Hongqian, “Xiao Jia gave me a booklet. What is it?”

Shi Hongqian turned to look at him, “He gave it to you?”

Xie Li nodded.

Shi Hongqian didn’t answer. Leading Xie Li downstairs, instead of going out directly, they entered the kitchen on the first floor. Opening the kitchen window, they both climbed out one after the other.

“The entire house is under surveillance,” Shi Hongqian said, “but there is none in this villa where Young master Jia and Mr Xin stay because Young master Xin didn’t like it.”

They walked along the wall.

Behind the small building, there was a parking garage and a large garden. The garden seemed like a childhood playground for Xiaojia and Chang Xin, with a basketball hoop and a swing on the open ground, both of which had not been used for a long time.

Leading the way, Shi Hongqian didn’t stick to the wall but entered the somewhat desolate garden, walking straight ahead. After a while, he stopped about fifteen meters from the wall.

Xie Li followed him through the plants, cutting his hand on the resilient weeds.

Shi Hongqian stopped him from continuing and turned around, taking out a silenced gun from his pocket, handing it to Xie Li.

“All the walls ahead are under surveillance. Don’t go over there until you hear my gunshot,” Shi Hongqian took another gun from his waist, pointing it to their left rear, “The direction of that gunshot.”

Xie Li said, “You’ll be exposed.”

Shi Hongqian said to Xie Li, “Just go; I’m not important.”

Xie Li ran his rough fingertips over the gun handle in his hand, “No one’s life is unimportant.”

Shi Hongqian tilted his head, looking at him, “I am Young master Jia’s shadow, you are his fate.” His tone was so indifferent that it bordered on coldness. After that, he walked forward, took a couple of steps, then stopped, turning back to Xie Li, “The booklet you mentioned is probably a list of contacts between Mr. Chang and the police and government officials. Young master Jia secretly collected it. Although it’s not complete, investigating based on this list will surely yield many results.”

Xie Li’s breathing became rapid. In this cold and quiet early spring night, even the sound of his breath seemed particularly distinct. He asked, “When did you know about my identity?”

Shi Hongqian shook his head, “I don’t know. What identity are you talking about?”

Xie Li looked at him.

Then, Shi Hongqian turned around and walked away without looking back.

Xie Li stood still.

The cool night breeze rustled the surrounding grass, as if many people were moving through the undergrowth, never stopping.

He slowly crouched down, trying to distinguish other sounds from the wind. Then he heard footsteps and two people talking.

Suddenly, there was a loud noise from the direction of the front yard.

Xie Li tensed all over. He didn’t move, and the two approaching voices quieted down; they had also heard the noise. After a brief silence, they turned and ran toward the front yard.

It wasn’t gunshots; Xie Li could tell. It sounded more like an explosion. He thought of Chang Xiaojia, who had left in the car from the front. His heart tightened instantly.

For a moment, he wanted to get up and go see, but even a slight movement would remind him of the booklet that Chang Xiaojia had stuffed in his waist. The thin booklet pressed heavily on him, making his rationality and emotions tug at each other, immobilizing him.

Then he heard gunshots, coming from the place where he and Shi Hongqian had agreed upon.

Xie Li’s body responded faster than his brain. He got up and ran towards the gunshot, covering over a dozen meters, agilely climbing a large tree at the front of the wall, stepping on the branches to jump forward, leaping over the high wall.

He didn’t look back; he couldn’t see the situation in the front yard from here. He jumped down from the wall, rolled upon landing to dissipate the impact, stood up, and walked into the dense woods in front.

Xie Li walked in the woods for a long time. He wasn’t sure of his direction, but the general direction was unlikely to be wrong. In this dark and dense forest, he felt safer than on a bright road. He didn’t know if Chang Guanshan had sent people to chase him, but at least he hadn’t encountered anyone in the woods. And just like that, he circled around more than half of Qing Shui Lake along the mountain slope.

By dawn, Xie Li emerged from the woods and walked to the side of a road bustling with traffic. He hailed a taxi and, upon getting in, asked the driver to take him to the police station.

Sitting in the back seat, Xie Li took out the small booklet that Xiaojia had personally stuffed into his waistband, flipping it open. He saw that the booklet was not a list, and the main part had only the first two pages with something written on them. Xiaojia had written: “The real list is with He Chuanyun. When you meet him, he will give it to you.” On the second page of the booklet was a drawing of a person in a police uniform, and next to it, an arrow pointing at Xiaojia’s handwriting: “Brother Xie Li.”

Xie Li closed the booklet.

He borrowed the driver’s phone and called Yu Zhengkun.

As soon as Yu Zhengkun heard his voice, he became excited, “Last night, I led people to investigate the goods that Chang Guanshan had at the customs and found a large number of tools and new drugs.”

Xie Li asked, “Will there be any problems? Will it be suppressed from above?” He remembered Yu Zhengkun mentioning power struggles.

Yu Zhengkun said, “I didn’t get a search warrant, so I’m conducting an illegal investigation, but I live-streamed the entire process.”

“What?” Xie Li was taken aback.

With a sneer, Yu Zhengkun said, “Even if they dismiss me, I won’t let Chang Guanshan continue to evade the law. So, although we are conducting an illegal investigation, the process of seizing drugs was live-streamed on the internet, witnessed by countless people. Chang Guanshan can’t escape this time.”

Xie Li took a deep breath. He then asked urgently, “Was Chang Guanshan caught?”

Yu Zhengkun said, “Chang Guanshan escaped with his son. We are now concentrating our efforts to capture them.”

Xie Li rubbed his face with his hand, “I’ll return to the team immediately!”