A Shot in the Dark

At the entrance of the alley.

The police officer following Han Fei was stunned.

He saw a huge pile of garbage suspended in mid-air by a net made of hemp rope!

The garbage was moving.

From time to time, explosions like firecrackers could be heard from within the garbage, along with cursing and cries for help.

"Pop... pop... pop..."

"Damn! What the hell is this situation? It stinks, ugh..."

"My eyes are burning so bad I can barely open them. Is anyone there? Help! I'm drowning in garbage!"

"..."

"Captain Han, there seem to be people in this pile of garbage!" the officer looked at Han Fei.

Of course Han Fei knew there were people in the garbage.

Wasn't it obvious?

He wasn't blind!

At this moment, Han Fei could roughly guess that the people trapped in the garbage pile hanging in the air were probably the two "fugitives" the police were pursuing.

Despite their rush, Xu Mo had still managed to get one step ahead.

"Go and get them down," Han Fei waved to the officers behind him.

Several officers immediately stepped forward.

"Don't move around, we're here to rescue you."

After a great effort, they finally made a hole in the net big enough for a person to crawl through, and rescued the two people who had been caught and suspended.

The two rescued individuals were in a sorry state, filthy all over, looking like refugees fleeing a disaster.

One of them even had half a watermelon rind upside down on his forehead.

Their dreams were shattered.

Not long ago, on their way to find Xu Mo, they had been dreaming of earning 100 million a year.

They had even planned how to spend the money once they got it.

But now, everything had turned to nothing.

Even if they were fools,

They should have figured it out during the time they were suspended.

Their predicament wasn't a coincidence, but a carefully designed trap by Xu Mo.

Xu Mo never intended to cooperate with them at all; cooperation was just an excuse to lure them here.

As for why Xu Mo designed this trap to catch them,

They had figured that out too.

It must be to quickly eliminate all competitors, so he could get the 20 million grand prize prepared by the show sooner.

But realizing this now was too late.

Han Fei and a group of police officers were standing at the only exit of the alley. There was only one outcome for the two - to be caught and then eliminated from the game!

Both men smiled bitterly, very proactively extending their hands, ready to be handcuffed.

However...

Han Fei had no intention of arresting them at all!

His expression even showed some reluctance.

They were just too dirty, and even a bit smelly...

But there was no choice. Even though it was a show, they still had to go through the motions of an arrest.

Moreover, after these two "fugitives" were caught, they would have to be taken to the police station to be handed over to the show's staff, and return the body cameras and temporary phones issued by the production team.

Of course, Han Fei didn't plan to take these two "fugitives" back to the police station himself.

Instead, he assigned this glorious yet arduous task to one of the officers behind him.

"Xiao Zhang, you take these two back, and give the show's staff a heads up."

Hearing this, Xiao Zhang's face immediately fell.

"Captain Han, why don't you let Old Wu take them back? I'm new, I'd like to stay and learn more from you."

"Tsk," Han Fei clicked his tongue. "Old Wu has experience, he can be of more help by my side. You just take these two back."

...

Xiao Zhang left with the two fugitives.

Han Fei then carefully observed the scene.

He noticed that the rope on the net extended to the other side of the wall.

Pointing at the rope, he said, "Chen Ke, you're agile, climb over the wall and take a look."

After climbing over the wall, Chen Ke found a van. The rope was tied to the trailer hitch at the back of this van.

However, he didn't find Xu Mo in or around the car, guessing he had probably already fled.

Chen Ke shouted across the wall.

"Captain Han, you should all come over, there's a car Xu Mo left behind here."

The group climbed over the wall one by one, stepping on boxes.

After everyone had come over, Chen Ke pointed at the rope tied to the trailer hitch at the back of the van and shared his deduction.

"The net on the other side of the wall must be a trap Xu Mo set up in advance. He was waiting on this side of the wall. After the two 'fugitives' stepped into the trap, Xu Mo used the van to pull the rope, lifting the net and suspending the people... I can't believe he came up with this trick. And who knows where he stole this car from again."

Although there was no evidence proving this was Xu Mo's handiwork,

It could be guessed that the two "fugitives" being suspended definitely had something to do with Xu Mo.

Besides him, no one else would do such a thing.

Hearing Chen Ke's words, Han Fei nodded.

Then he said to the police officers,

"Go and inspect the surroundings, see if there are any surveillance cameras or anything."

Five minutes later, the officers sent to inspect the surroundings all came back.

"Report, Captain Han, we didn't find any surveillance cameras in the vicinity. This is a residential area, and the paths in this alley are very confusing, like a maze. We can't determine which route Xu Mo used to leave."

Hearing this, Han Fei didn't show any disappointment.

Because he hadn't held much hope to begin with, he had just brought the officers to inspect the surroundings on the off chance they might find something.

As Han Fei had expected, there really were no surveillance cameras in this small alley.

And there were many intersecting paths, making it impossible to judge which route Xu Mo had taken to leave.

Xu Mo probably chose this place as his crime scene because of these two factors: no surveillance and many intersecting paths.

"If there are no clues, let it be. We'll leave Xu Mo for now and catch the others first," Han Fei said to the officers.

He knew very well.

If Xu Mo had intentionally not left any clues, there was no point in wasting more time on him.

They could catch the remaining "fugitives" first, and then focus on dealing with Xu Mo.

The reason Han Fei appeared so decisive was that he knew Xu Mo would definitely come out to cause trouble when they were catching the next "fugitive".

Rather than struggling to find clues about Xu Mo now, it would be better to plan well when catching the next "fugitive", and catch Xu Mo as well, killing two birds with one stone!

Thinking of this, he took out his phone and called the officer left at the police station to check surveillance footage.

"Old He, do we have any leads on the remaining 'fugitives' now?"

"I was just about to call you about that. When checking the surveillance footage, we found that two of the 'fugitives' haven't been caught on camera since the show started. I checked yesterday's footage and found that they bought a lot of food and water to take home last night. I suspect there's a high chance they're hiding at home and haven't gone out, but I'm not entirely sure. Should I send you the address now for you to check it out?"

"If it's as you say, they might really be holed up at home. Send me the address, I'll go take a look," Han Fei replied after some thought.

Purchasing supplies before the show starts and returning home, then not going out even after the show has begun.

Isn't that just hiding at home?