By the time the weekend arrived, Zhou Shiyi waited for a while before Grandma Zhou’s door finally opened.

Grandma Zhou loved cleanliness; her clothes were always neat and spotless. This time was no exception. The only difference was that she was wearing a rose-red hat, and even the colors of her outfit had been carefully coordinated.

“Grandma, what’s this for?”

Grandma Zhou offered a smile. “Your cousin asked me to go to the department store for a bit. You can go back for now.”

Seeing Grandma Zhou’s bright smile and knowing she had pulled herself out of the grief over her son’s death, Zhou Shiyi still felt happy for her.

Zhou Shiyi took Grandma Zhou to pick up the medicine. The doctor ran a simple check on her and said she was recovering quite well—just keep it up.

On the way back, Zhou Shiyi insisted on seeing the elder all the way to the department store before he would feel at ease.

Grandma Zhou couldn’t win the argument; she scolded Zhou Shiyi for worrying too much, but inside she was pleased.

When they arrived at the department store, Zhou Shiyi saw Mrs. Che standing outside waiting for someone. Mrs. Che and Grandma Zhou had been neighbors for years. Because Grandma Zhou had fallen ill and Mrs. Che happened to have had the same operation last year, the two had grown familiar through their interactions.

Grandma Che was also wearing a yellow hat and looked very pleased.

Zhou Shiyi told them that if they bought anything heavy or big, they should call him and he’d come pick it up.

After enduring the two elders’ repeated disapproval, Zhou Shiyi rubbed his nose, decided not to spoil the two old sisters’ shopping mood, and turned to head to the library.

He got on the bus and suddenly saw a black car in the rearview mirror that had been following him.

Zhou Shiyi was very sensitive to numbers; he had seen that black sedan both at the hospital and just now at the department store.

He hurriedly glanced at the license plate and memorized it — from the bus’s rearview mirror he had clearly seen the car’s plate number, and his heart tightened.

It seemed like the car was tailing him, but he was just a poor student; what could he have that would make someone take note of him — except vengeance.

Zhou Shiyi pretended not to notice he was being followed and stayed on the bus. When they passed the library, he did not get off.

When they saw Zhou Shiyi hadn’t gotten off, the people on the station who had seemed to be waiting for the next bus suddenly put away their phones. Just as the bus doors were about to close, one of them called the driver to stop.

The driver muttered, “Why didn’t you get on earlier?”

The person at the back even apologized to the driver: “Sorry, we messed up just now — almost missed this bus, otherwise we’d have had to wait for the next one.”

Zhou Shiyi calmly took up position by the rear door. He had clearly seen them earlier; those people had been watching this bus from a long way off.

When the bus arrived at the stop, he lowered his head and played on his phone.

It didn’t look like much, but normally when people are waiting for a bus and realize the one that comes isn’t theirs, they put their heads down to do something else — they wouldn’t be as deliberate as those people.

After a few of them got on the bus, they didn’t look for seats; instead they grabbed the hand straps and crowded together.

Zhou Shiyi was sure those people were coming for him. He pretended to be playing on his phone, but in reality he was composing a text to call the police.

After he sent the message, he set his phone to silent and put it in his pocket.

When the next stop arrived and Zhou Shiyi saw the back door open, he bolted out.

The people on the bus almost didn’t react in time.

“Chase him, don’t let him get away.”

The people on the bus stared at them in panic as the chase began.

Alongside the fear was a relief at having survived a near-disaster.

They pressed against the bus windows, watching a few adults chase a single teenager.

The people at the station had been waiting for the bus; when those on board suddenly surged out, nearly knocking someone over, and were followed by several burly men, everyone shrieked and scattered to the side.

The bus stopped too. The driver, seeing what was happening and sensing danger, called the police.

Zhou Shiyi kept turning left and right, trying hard to run toward places with more people.

He passed several traffic lights along the way; luckily, just as Zhou Shiyi ran past, the light turned red.

A few people behind him also rushed across and nearly got hit by a car. For a moment, the cars behind started honking, and a driver yelled angrily, “Can’t you see?”

The cars behind kept honking too; the scene was extremely chaotic.

Seeing the people behind him ignoring the traffic light and still trying to catch up, Zhou Shiyi took out his phone and connected the emergency number that had called earlier.

Zhou Shiyi reported his current location, then hurriedly hung up.

He didn’t notice that Gu Sheng’s chat window had been flashing the whole time.

When Gu Sheng saw that Zhou Shiyi hadn’t replied, he told the driver to speed up. He kept watching Zhou Shiyi’s movements, and when he saw him being chased by that group, a sudden wave of panic welled up in his chest.

Gu Sheng sent over photos of the men’s faces; the people on the other end replied that they were all members of that extremist organization.

“Shit.” Gu Sheng suddenly felt annoyed; he didn’t know where Zhou Shiyi had gone now, only that if he didn’t find him soon, something he didn’t want to see might happen.

At a traffic light intersection, Gu Sheng couldn’t wait for the light to change; he opened the car door and jumped out from the back.

The driver was startled and immediately called the Gu family.

Gu Sheng ran at full speed, thinking about the surrounding terrain and guessing in his head which route Zhou Shiyi might have taken.

Zhou Shiyi was being chased. He didn’t know what these people’s motives were, but he certainly wouldn’t sit and wait to be killed. He’d head toward a place with people, but not too crowded — crowds could either provoke the attackers into greater violence or cause them to randomly seize someone. So Zhou Shiyi would choose areas that had a steady flow of people without being too bustling.

Gu Sheng glanced at the surrounding terrain, ran down from the overpass and sprinted all the way, frightening countless people into screams along the way, but Gu Sheng couldn’t wait.

He still had his location tracking on; the Gu family would find him quickly. The immediate priority was to ensure Zhou Shiyi’s safety.

Zhou Shiyi ran and, unfamiliar with the layout, he dashed into a dead-end alley.

He turned his head; the few burly men behind him had already caught up.

“You little brat, you’re pretty fast,” the big man said, panting. “Run, then—keep running if you can.”

Zhou Shiyi stared at the wall, clueless about what was behind it. He took a few steps back to build momentum, ran up onto a trash can, and vaulted over.

By accident they bumped into each other, and both of them let out a muffled grunt.

Zhou Shiyi let go and jumped down, only to find he’d knocked someone over and could barely avoid the landing spot in midair.

The moment he hit the ground, the person behind him reached out, and Zhou Shiyi blocked the hand.

“Quick, come with me.” When the man spoke, Zhou Shiyi immediately recognized who it was.

There was no time to ask how Gu Sheng had ended up here. Gu Sheng grabbed him and zigzagged through the path, clearly more familiar with the terrain than he was.

A few big men behind them hadn’t expected Zhou Shiyi to actually dare to run — to climb a wall that high.

They could only follow after him, splitting into several routes.

He and Gu Sheng sprinted along the main road, passing several traffic light intersections; luck seemed to be on their side. The men behind were stopped by the flow of cars and couldn’t pose much of a threat.

At first Gu Sheng led Zhou Shiyi as they ran, then Zhou Shiyi led him; the two could only hear each other’s rapid breaths.

They didn’t know where the others had run off to; by now they’d left the busy district, crossed a street, and the crowd thinned out, so there was hardly any sound.

Suddenly, a black car pulled up in front of them and honked once. The driver in the front seat waved at them: “Young master, over here!”

After speaking the driver withdrew his hand, the rear door was opened, waiting for the two of them to get in.

Gu Sheng was about to take Zhou Shiyi and hurry over, but was stopped by Zhou Shiyi.

Gu Sheng looked back at him.

“Don’t go, something’s off.” Zhou Shiyi said gravely. He had just seen that license plate—the same car that had been following him.

Gu Sheng grew slightly alert. Seeing the plate wasn’t from the Gu family, he felt uneasy. “Let’s go—now!”

The two had barely moved when another car pulled up behind them. The door opened and several men in black carrying iron bars stepped out.

Turning again, they saw three more people get out of the black car.

Huang Cheng, who led them, looked ferocious. He held an iron rod and spat on the ground. “Damn it, shameless—won’t take a hint, so I have to drag you into the car myself.”

When Gu Sheng saw Huang Cheng, his pupils contracted — what he’d seen at school that day hadn’t been a hallucination.

Huang Cheng bullied classmates, framed Zhou Shiyi for stealing, and after Gu Sheng testified for Zhou Shiyi and Huang Cheng was taken away by the police, he never came back to school.

Whatever he’d been through, Huang Cheng no longer acted like a student; every part of him had the violent desperation of a desperate man.

Once everyone was there, the two sides started fighting.

Zhou Shiyi blocked a blow, took the chance to snatch an iron bar—having a weapon made a difference.

Gu Sheng had trained in sanda since childhood, so his muscle memory was still there, while Zhou Shiyi struck at people’s most vulnerable spots, so for the moment neither of them could be overcome.

Huang Cheng was also struck under the arm by Zhou Shiyi’s iron rod and couldn’t lift his hand for a long time. Seeing the two of them about to break out of their encirclement, he put his hand into his pocket and rushed at Zhou Shiyi; Zhou Shiyi kicked him in the waist and abdomen.

That kick nearly made Huang Cheng vomit bile. Zhou Shiyi also saw clearly that what Huang Cheng had in his hand was a knife.

Several sharp sirens sounded; the police had located their position and rushed over as soon as they received the emergency call.

Seeing the situation go south, the men in black turned, ran back to the car, and drove away from the scene.

Because Huang Cheng couldn’t stand up, they left him at the scene. He clutched his stomach and cursed inwardly—what a bunch of heartless people, using him and then tossing him aside.

Zhou Shiyi reached out and pulled the limp Gu Sheng to his feet. “Are you okay?”

Gu Sheng used his strength to help him up, shook his head, and no longer had the energy to speak.

Several officers in uniform climbed down from the police car, while the remaining squad cars went after the other two vehicles.

Seeing he couldn’t run, Huang Cheng looked at the two enemies who were alive and kicking in front of him, and his expression turned dangerously fierce.

After he was expelled, his father kept him locked at home; whenever his father’s business went poorly, he beat him with fists and kicks.

Huang Cheng couldn’t take it anymore — he wanted to leave that house, but he’d been ordered to stay home and wasn’t allowed to go anywhere.

Once, after drinking too much, Huang Cheng was stopped by a bodyguard who wouldn’t let him go out. Huang Cheng started fighting with the guard watching him, the Yuyan Shu bodyguard; because of Huang Cheng’s status, the guard didn’t dare use force against him.

Unexpectedly, Huang Cheng’s malice grew bolder. He grabbed a beer bottle from the table and smashed it over the bodyguard’s head, knocking him out.

The beer bottle shattered into pieces on the guard’s head, and still not satisfied, Huang Cheng rained punches and kicks on the unconscious man.

There was also some used tin foil on the table, with traces of white powder clinging to it.

Huang Cheng seemed to have completely lost his mind, turned into a beast without any sense.

When he came to, he found his hands covered in blood; the bodyguard on the floor was mangled and lifeless.

Huang Cheng was so frightened that he fled in a panic on the spot, having to avoid the cameras all the way as he ran.

He didn’t dare go home, nor did he dare look for his pals.

There was no place left for him in that circle; everyone shifted with the wind, and since he’d already offended the Gu family, no one was willing to be seen with him.

During this time he’d been hiding and running, at first frantic and terrified, and now ferocious.

His body craved stimulation every day, and on the way here Huang Cheng had taken another hit. Now, seeing the one who’d caused all his misery standing right in front of him, Huang Cheng widened his eyes, red veins streaking the whites.

Huang Cheng suddenly sprang up and lunged at the two of them.

“Careful.”

Gu Sheng shoved Zhou Shiyi to the side, and when he saw the madness in Huang Cheng’s eyes, he suddenly realized that from the very beginning, Huang Cheng’s target had been him.