Gao Liren's full name was Gao Liren. He was thirty-six years old and had been a police officer for twelve years.
He had been hospitalized three times. When he first joined the force, he was mediating a dispute and had his ribs broken by someone. Three years later, while arresting a fugitive, he was hit by a car on the road. And then a year ago, when saving a child who was being held hostage by a mentally ill person, he was hit in the head and got a concussion.
But Gao Liren often said he didn't regret becoming a policeman, he only regretted not being able to spend more time with his family.
He had a childhood sweetheart who understood his work very well. They had twin daughters who were in first grade this year.
When he was free, Gao Liren would show everyone photos of his daughters. The two cute little girls dressed in identical clothes could melt people's hearts.
Ji Feng knew the criminal had escaped and they might all be criticized for it. But when he found Gao Liren still breathing, he had no way to go after the criminal.
He didn't want to give Gao Liren's lover a cold corpse.
He also didn't want to tell the lovely twin daughters that your dad was so great.
What good would being great do?
The children needed a living father.
"Gao Liren, hang in there," he murmured. "Your wife and daughters need you."
Hold on, like you did the previous times, hold on.
His heavy breathing was transmitted through the radio waves into Jian Jing's ears. She had been eavesdropping outside the door and didn't realize someone was severely injured. She fell silent.
"Don't chase him, it's too dangerous. Which direction did he escape to?" Ji Feng calmly asked.
Jian Jing said, "The racetrack."
"Got it, come back now," he hung up.
Jian Jing didn't move.
She seemed to have gone back to when she first reincarnated, facing the choice in the emergency room - stay and choose justice, or leave and choose safety?
There was no right answer, but there was one she wanted to choose.
"System, draw cards," she paused, stressing, "all of them."
[Drawing cards]
[Draw complete]
[Name: First Aid Skill Card (Beginner)]
[Description: Basic first aid knowledge, can perform common first aid operations]
[Note: A few seconds of life, can you grasp it?]
[Name: Horsemanship Skill Card (Beginner)]
[Description: Gained basic horse riding skills, can perform common horse riding activities]
[Note: This is an ancient means of transportation, sometimes useful besides showing off]
[Name: Firearms Skill Card (Beginner)]
[Description: Relatively basic firearms knowledge, can use common guns]
[Note: Modern society, how can we lack hot weapons? Use with caution!]
[Name: Martial Arts Skill Card (Beginner)]
[Description: Beginner-level martial arts skills, barely enough to deal with ordinary people]
[Note: Different physiques lead to different effects]
[Name: Wolf Repellent Spray Prop Card (3/3)]
[Description: Extremely strong wolf repellent spray, can quickly incapacitate people]
[Note: Takes effect on average in 3 seconds, comes with auto calibration]
Jian Jing originally thought that spending all her savings might draw one or two good cards at best. She didn't expect the system to be so generous this time, with not a single waste card.
She immediately went to the nearest horse without hesitation: "Let me borrow your horse for a bit." She took out her wallet and threw it to the owner as collateral.
With the skill card's help, although it was Jian Jing's first time riding a horse, she controlled the horse relatively smoothly and directed it to chase in the direction Qian Tong and the others had escaped.
It had to be said, the horses in the park were... not great. They were not fed and cared for meticulously. It was unclear whether they were well-fed or not, they were listless.
But four legs were definitely faster than two legs. The horses could also cut straight across the racetrack while the golf carts had to follow the cement paths on both sides, so they were evenly matched.
Jian Jing was quite near-sighted, but her high-tech glasses were impressive, keeping her vision stable at 5.2. She stared fixedly at the small black dot ahead, spurring the horse to catch up.
She could even free up one hand to share her location with Ji Feng.
To be honest, if this was in Kangmu City, they would have no choice but to urgently call her back. But Ji Feng was different. He seemed to see the adventure buried deep in her soul, and was concise: "Be careful."
Jian Jing steadied her heart and sped up.
There were tourists everywhere on the racetrack riding horses for fun. She did not stand out. Qian Tong, who was responsible for observing the situation, swept over her several times but did not realize Jian Jing was chasing them: "No police in sight."
"It'll be good once we get to the front," Zhou Bing said. "It's very complex in there, the police will have a hard time chasing us."
"What kind of place is that?"
"Shooting game, fake guns," Zhou Bing was referring to laser tag. "I prepared clothes, we can hide in the mountains after, no one will be able to find us."
Qian Tong laughed. "Not bad, Old Zhou, you're very well prepared."
Zhou Bing gave a cold laugh, ignoring his sarcasm.
The car turned into a hidden path, bumped along for a while, then the few people entered the laser tag area. The carefully arranged trees, bushes and rocks became their allies, providing excellent concealment.
The three abandoned the car, put on the laser tag outfits Zhou Bing had prepared, and slipped into the woods.
Zhou Bing led the way: "There's a mountain connected behind here, with barbed wire fences and cameras, be careful not to let them see you."
Qian Tong was about to speak when his ears twitched: "Shh, there's a sound."
Not far away, there were rustling noises, then a male voice complained: "It's all because of you, exposed again."
"Can't blame me, there was a snake, it startled me," another boy argued.
"You two are dead, come out now," someone shouted.
"Coming, coming," the footsteps moved away.
The three secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and cautiously crawled deeper.
Thirty meters away, Jian Jing was lying on the horse's back, observing their direction of departure with binoculars, and blindly texting: [They went into the woods, keep chasing?]
Ji Feng: [Can you keep going?]
Jian Jing: [Yes]
The laser tag field was meticulously set up, with wooded areas as well as open grassy areas. After Qian Tong and the others dove into the woods, she didn't dare get too close. She also didn't want to lose the advantage of having four legs, so she just wandered around the grassy area.
But this meant she could lose track of them at any time, so Jian Jing gritted her teeth and drew a special card, obtaining a divine artifact.
[Name: Binoculars Special Card (Component)]
[Description: One of the black tech series components, 1-50x magnification, built-in autofocus and image stabilization, waterproof and fireproof. Must be used with main unit. 2 hours of free daily use, can extend battery life using courage points, 1 point = 60 minutes.]
[Note: Distant yet close at hand]
This was also a wing, after installing it on the left side of the frames, the glasses gained binoculars capabilities, firmly locking onto the criminals who had slipped into the woods.
Jian Jing fed the horse who was forced into labor some sugar, patted its neck, picked up the reins, and slowly moved forward.
On the other side, Ji Feng observed the real-time shared location on his phone, continuously updating his colleagues: "The suspects have entered the woods, looks like they plan to enter the outside mountain from the north, please hurry up."
His colleagues had fallen for Zhou Bing's tricks earlier and were itching for payback. With high morale, they rushed rapidly into the woods, cutting diagonally to intercept the suspects before they could escape into the outer mountain.
Qian Tong, Li Li and Zhou Bing's advantage was that the police didn't know their exact location, and would have to spend a lot of effort searching. But Jian Jing was right on their tails, sharing the location in real time, effectively being a living GPS.
The police had the advantage in numbers and stamina, it would be embarrassing if they couldn't catch them.
Twenty minutes later, Qian Tong and the others were ambushed.
"How did the police know to come here?" Li Li yelled furiously.
Qian Tong laughed bitterly in anger: "Why are you yelling at me? You think I leaked the info?"
"Who else could it be if not you?" Li Li looked sinisterly at his companion. "You're the only one with the chance."
"Now's not the time for infighting," Zhou Bing, the oldest, was the calmest. "We've already divided the gold, let's each go our own way."
Earlier, he had suggested dividing the gold on the road to avoid disappointing long dreams, and also to distribute the weight so no one would drag anyone else down. Li Li, as a robust man, also found it tiring to carry the gold, so he agreed.
Thinking about it now, Zhou Bing had clearly planned this move early on, intending to abandon them and escape alone.
Li Li and Qian Tong were furious but had no time for infighting. Rather than rat each other out, they might as well test their luck separately. Cursing and yelling a couple harsh parting words, they fled in different directions.
"Bang," two minutes later, gunshots rang out from the woods.
Jian Jing adjusted the magnification of her binoculars and could vaguely see that Qian Tong had fired a gun - it must have been taken from the middle-aged police veteran Gao Liren - while the other group split up to chase after Li Li.
So where was Zhou Bing?
He had gone east.
Jian Jing was momentarily stunned, then realized: Of course, Zhou Bing had no need to flee to the outer mountains. From his perspective, the police had no idea he even existed. Hiding back in the park was actually safer. He could wait for things to blow over, then escape free and clear to live a carefree life.
Gao was as crafty as they came.
Unfortunately, Zhou Bing didn't know that not only had he long since been exposed, but there was also the unexpected wildcard of Jian Jing in addition to the police who had been obstructed.
If not now, when better to gang up four legs against two?
"Baby, it's time for us to be good Samaritans." Zhou Bing was unarmed, so Jian Jing's courage swelled in an instant. She patted the temp worker horse she had hastily recruited. "If we catch him, I'll treat you to a feast."
The horse whinnied and broke into a gallop.
The mountain road was not steep, and the area was often cleared of loose rocks for safety, so the horse ran very smoothly.
As they jostled along, Jian Jing felt her adrenaline skyrocketing.
Her cheeks flushed red, her heartbeat raced, fear was flung to the clouds, and excitement took over her body. It was a very unfamiliar emotion, causing her alarm even as she savored the thrill.
The warm breeze caressed her cheeks, and the surroundings streaked by.
In the binoculars, the magnification automatically decreased again and again, until Zhou Bing's figure gradually came into focus.
The hurried hoofbeats startled the crafty suspect. He looked back, muscles taut and calves bulging like a wary beast ready to pounce.
But when he saw who it was, a flash of obvious surprise crossed his weathered face.
This was not the police he had anticipated, just a young girl. She wore a loose T-shirt and cropped jeans, with limited-edition canvas sneakers on her feet.
There were many young girls like her, but Zhou Bing still recognized her.
Because she had very light-colored long curly hair.
Because she had called out to him once when he was picking up cigarette butts.
In this moment, reason and instinct collided.
Reason said: He had run to the riding grounds and it was normal to encounter a tourist riding a horse, this girl must be here with other students, absolutely not police.
But instinct screamed: There's no such coincidence, be careful!
"Old fella, it's you!" The youthful beauty pulled the reins to bring her mount closer. "You play CS too? How hip."