The Net Closes In

“Get out of the way, block the roads—quickly!”

As Bai Xia was about to inquire about the commotion, several police cruisers swept into the bustling market. Uniformed officers swiftly disembarked, immediately cordoning off streets and intersections with caution tape, then began to disperse the curious onlookers who had gathered.

“Citizens, please cooperate with our inspection!”

The commanding officer, a police official, held up his identification. The silver sword emblem on it gleamed with a cold light even under the sun, a stark declaration of unyielding authority. “We are pursuing a dangerous Awakened individual,” he announced. “Please return home in an orderly fashion and cooperate with our inspection. This will ensure your safety.”

While some might not recognize the silver sword emblem, Bai Xia knew it all too well—it was the insignia of the Blade Keepers Agency!

No… Could the bar owner from yesterday have called the police?

Watching the police begin to clear the crowd, a growing sense of unease coiled in Bai Xia’s gut, setting off alarm bells in her mind. Her feminine intuition screamed at her to leave immediately.

Could they actually be here for me?

Bai Xia found it hard to believe. If that were truly the case, the bar owner would be incredibly audacious.

Not only had he employed a minor, but he hadn’t even signed a labor contract—and then he’d forced her to “entertain” the bar’s wealthy patron in a certain manner. Any one of those offenses alone carried a minimum sentence of five years, potentially even the death penalty. How dared he call the police? And not just call them, but trigger such a massive operation?

Damn it, if this is truly the case, I should have beaten that guy senseless before I left that day.

Bai Xia suddenly regretted only giving a warning before fleeing that night. If she had known this would happen, she would have truly thrashed that bartender until he was spitting teeth.

Oh, and that bloated old man who dared to drug me. It’s a pity I didn’t land a few punches on him.

It’s probably best to just leave here first…

Grabbing her freshly bought imported steak, Bai Xia subtly bit her lower lip. Then, feigning the casual air of someone who had just finished shopping, she blended in with the crowd, calmly exiting the market. After all, if they were truly after her, the form she had used at the bar was her true maiden appearance. In her current masculine disguise, she was absolutely certain she wouldn’t be recognized.

Yet, as she walked, a subtle anomaly began to prick at her awareness.

Why was it that the closer she got to her home, the more stringent the police deployment and security measures became?

Damn it, could they really be here for me?

Bai Xia’s steps grew progressively slower, until she finally froze completely at the mouth of an alleyway. At the intersection leading from the market into the village, roadblocks had been erected, with officers meticulously checking the identities of anyone attempting to enter. On either side of the roadblock, two armored vehicles stood sentinel, their mounted machine guns making Bai Xia involuntarily swallow hard.

Well, yes… but isn’t this a bit overkill?

Even if she had used her abilities slightly at the bar and injured a few people, it was purely in self-defense. There was no need for this kind of response. If she went home now, it would be no different from walking straight into a trap.

While she couldn’t definitively conclude it, Bai Xia was almost certain these people were here for her. But now, how was she supposed to escape?

Bai Xia had good reason to believe that the Blade Keepers Agency had likely already pinpointed her home and was actively searching for her missing self. After all, while the urban village consisted of self-built structures, its surveillance systems were quite comprehensive. Once they traced her home and couldn’t find her true form, the Agency would undoubtedly seek her out for questioning.

What would that even look like… a bunch of police officers interrogating her to reveal her own whereabouts? The thought itself was utterly absurd…

What should I do… run?

At this moment, Bai Xia finally began to feel a surge of panic. Before her lay two options: escape or adopt another disguise. Yet, it was clear that the risk of exposure was exceptionally high with either choice.

If she wanted to change her face and disguise herself as someone else, she would have to use her abilities. But the moment she did, the people around her would inevitably notice. As for fleeing, that was out of the question; she wasn’t foolish enough to try outrunning bullets.

“…”

Damn it, thinking about it this way, I have no escape route at all.

Hiding within the crowd, she scanned her surroundings. Ultimately, Bai Xia decided to see if she could slip into one of the nearby alleyways and try to exit the village via smaller paths. After all, once the surveillance footage was reviewed, capturing her would be effortless, and then she’d truly have no chance to escape.

Just as Bai Xia was preparing to slip away, Chu Feng, the captain of this operation, arrived by car in the urban village now encircled by police. He simultaneously reviewed information gathered from various sources and analyzed the whereabouts of the “criminal girl.” However, after watching the surveillance footage, his expression shifted from his initial composure to one of profound doubt.

“Are you saying that girl entered a rental room and never came out, and when you sent people in to search, they couldn’t find her?”

Could a living, breathing person just vanish into thin air?

Chu Feng was puzzled, yet the information relayed by his subordinates was unequivocally true. The surveillance footage clearly showed a white-haired girl entering a self-built house in Xicheng First Village. However, during the recent raid on that house, the girl was nowhere to be found; in fact, there wasn’t a single person inside.

The few pieces of effective information currently available were: about half an hour after the girl returned home, a young man emerged from the same room. Then, during the recent police search, both male and female clothing were discovered in the wardrobe.

Siblings, perhaps, or something similar?

But this still didn’t explain why the girl couldn’t be found during the search. Furthermore, according to the landlord of that building, the young man was the one who rented the room, and there was no mention of a white-haired girl living there with him.

So what exactly is going on? Can a person just disappear into thin air?

Chu Feng was truly baffled. His finger pressed against the tablet screen as he slowly zoomed in on the young man’s figure in the surveillance video, observing him intently, hoping to glean some useful information. It was then that his gaze inadvertently drifted towards the crowd moving through the village.

As the saying goes, when one’s luck turns sour, even drinking cold water can get stuck in your teeth. This perfectly described Bai Xia’s situation at that moment.

In that fortunate, yet unfortunate, glance, Chu Feng caught sight of Bai Xia, furtively trying to slip into a side alley amidst the throng. It was a fleeting, yet striking, sight.

Her peculiar movements were suspicious enough, but Chu Feng then picked up his tablet, comparing the young man from the video with the dark-haired boy currently darting into the alley. His eyes instantly sharpened.

Well, I’ll be! It truly takes no effort when something is meant to be found!

“Quick, stop that dark-haired boy in the white T-shirt!” Chu Feng swiftly grabbed his walkie-talkie, barking orders to the nearby officers maintaining order. Simultaneously, he and two of his team members immediately gathered their gear, preparing to exit the vehicle.

“Hey, young man over there, hold up!” Several police officers swiftly wove through the crowd, heading straight for Bai Xia.

No… they could see me even like this?

Startled by the sudden call, Bai Xia instantly panicked. If she were caught, she could essentially kiss the rest of her life goodbye.

What to do, what to do… should I run?

Bai Xia’s pupils constricted sharply, her heart pounding almost out of her chest. Yet, her rationality urged her not to panic, especially at a time like this. Fleeing would practically be an admission of guilt.

Taking a deep breath to force herself to calm down, Bai Xia nervously turned to face the approaching officers. “Officer, is something the matter?”

“We’d like you to come with us, please. We need to ask you a few questions,” the lead officer stated, flashing his identification and gesturing for Bai Xia to cooperate with the investigation.

Resigned, Bai Xia had no choice but to meekly follow the police. A closer look would reveal that the individuals disembarking from the nearby vehicle were far from ordinary.

Dressed in black uniforms, with silver emblems on their chests, one of them even bore a longsword. It was immediately obvious they were Awakened individuals from the Blade Keepers Agency.

If they were just regular police, she was confident she could use her abilities to shake them off. But facing Awakened individuals? That was a different story entirely.

She didn’t believe she stood a chance against well-trained Awakened. More importantly, acting out might genuinely cost her her life.

For now, all she could do was play it by ear.