The three men facing the enemy fired their guns simultaneously. It was unclear how many shots actually hit, but the short, skinny man collapsed to the ground instantly, motionless.
“The other one ran off—just as you were shooting.”
Bai Yiyi called out in a low voice. He struggled out from under the bulletproof vest, spread his wings, and took off ahead to lead the way.
Yan Tuo didn’t pause to check on the man on the ground. He shouted, “Left team, stay here! Right team, follow me!” Then he darted out from behind the invisible tree and raced after Tangyuan.
In the nighttime forest park, moonlight filtered sporadically through the canopy, casting patches of brightness on the ground. In those lit spots, human figures were visible even from dozens of meters away. But most of the area remained shrouded in deep darkness, pitch-black and impenetrable.
With Bai Yiyi and the system’s navigation guiding him, Yan Tuo stuck doggedly to the fleeing thug’s trail. The other team members, however, began to flag, and in what seemed like the blink of an eye, his comrades had vanished into the gloom.
They ran flat out for twenty or thirty minutes—maybe longer. The man ahead was clearly spent, half-collapsed at the base of a hillside, gasping for breath.
Bai Yiyi immediately had the system alert his owner. Yan Tuo didn’t break stride. He charged straight down the slope, closed the distance, then lunged in a flying tackle that pinned the man beneath him.
Yan Tuo smashed a brutal fist into the man’s right wrist. The gun flew from his grasp, skidding down the slope before lodging near a jutting rock.
But in that split second, the man had caught his breath. With a savage twist, he flipped over, hurling the body pinning him aside.
The two scrambled to their feet and tore into each other.
By the faint light, Bai Yiyi got a good look at the man. His skin was so dark it seemed to melt into the shadows, making his upturned, all-white eyes gleam with feral menace.
His face was flat and broad-cheeked—a classic Tai ethnicity look, kin to the Dai people in China’s southwest. This had to be the gang leader Basong that Li Zhong had mentioned.
Basong clearly knew Muay Thai. His elbows and knees wove in deadly arcs, every punch landing with bone-crunching force. Despite Yan Tuo towering nearly twenty centimeters taller, he gained no edge. Relying on the grappling and combat martial arts skills that had won him awards in drills, Yan Tuo fought back ferociously, trading blows blow for blow.
For the moment, neither could gain the upper hand. The fight ground into a brutal stalemate.
Suddenly, Basong leaped high and drove a crushing knee into Yan Tuo’s guard. As soon as his foot hit the ground, his other leg whipped up for another strike.
Yan Tuo instinctively raised his arms to block—only for Basong to feint.
In that instant of hesitation, Basong spun and dove for the gun by the rock. With a short slide, he snatched it up.
“He’s got the gun!”
Bai Yiyi couldn’t worry about staying hidden. He swooped recklessly ahead to block, shouting at the top of his lungs—his voice cracking with urgency.
In the midst of their desperate brawl, a talking little bird suddenly appeared before them.
Basong’s Chinese wasn’t great; he didn’t catch the words. But he froze anyway.
Before he could swat the annoying creature away, the towering Chinese cop bore down on him again from behind.
Yan Tuo tried the same trick, hammering at the wrist again. But Basong had learned. He clasped his hands together, foiling the move.
In the crisis, Yan Tuo clamped down on the man’s arm with a vise grip and locked his legs around him in a hold, buying a momentary stalemate.
From above, the white dumpling spotted its chance. It rocketed forward and pecked straight into Basong’s right eyeball.
A muffled howl of agony escaped him, and his grip slackened just enough. Yan Tuo wrenched the gun free, spun it around, and jammed the barrel against Basong’s forehead.
Chaotic footsteps echoed from behind. The team members, drawn by the noise, arrived one after another.
Yan Tuo’s squad had captured the gang leader Basong alive.
Soon after, good news came from the south: the remaining two had surrendered their weapons in the encirclement. The massive manhunt ended successfully, with two dead and three captured.
Perhaps Yan Tuo now saw Bai Yiyi as a battle comrade he could trust with his life. This time, he didn’t bother with polite thanks. Instead, in the dead of night back home, he whipped up two bowls of instant noodles to reward them both.
Bai Yiyi had wanted to shift to human form and savor it properly, but he’d already spent his daily points that morning, and the sensing during the park chase had drained the system’s energy. He had no choice but to make do.
His post-relaxation mood was sky-high, though, so he stuffed down half a bowl on his little bird belly. The already round white dumpling ballooned out like a proper ball.
He hadn’t noticed at the time. But in the middle of the night, nestling by his owner’s pillow and wriggling with grunts, he realized he’d overeaten.
Yan Tuo murmured a question, half-asleep with eyes barely open. He reached out by feel, found the white dumpling’s belly, and gently rubbed it.
Unnoticed, man and pet both drifted off to sleep.
The next day at the city bureau, everything proceeded as usual. Those on missions went out; those on desk duty handled files. No one slacked off despite the late night.
Yan Tuo counted heads and distributed the gifts Bai Yiyi had prepared.
With a touch of mischief, he claimed outright that they were from Tangyuan. No one took it seriously, just laughing it off with jokes and thanks to the dumpling.
Behind closed doors, though, the gossip flew. Who’d have thought the aloof, tough-as-nails Captain Yan would have such a down-to-earth, crowd-pleasing day? He’d taken his rare two days of personal leave, come back, and even remembered gifts for everyone.
Must be that his blind date had worked out—his new partner must’ve put them together.
By noon, he’d handed out nearly everything except Detachment Captain Li Zhong’s share.
As Yan Tuo’s brother-in-law and thus his owner’s relative, Bai Yiyi wasn’t about to skip this big client. But he hadn’t spent much time with Li Zhong and wasn’t sure of his tastes. Guessing by age, he’d gone with hefty slabs of wild Chuanxiong from his hometown specialty.
This medicinal herb had mild properties. Steeped in water or liquor, it softened blood vessels, boosted immunity, and warded off cardiovascular issues for ordinary folks.
A fifty-year wild specimen wasn’t ultra-rare, but in this era of industrialized farming, it was uncommon enough. If Bai Yiyi hadn’t helped his barefoot-doctor grandpa sort herbs as a kid, he wouldn’t have dared buy any, lest it be fake.
It was nearly quitting time when Yan Tuo finally caught Li Zhong.
After handing over the gift and chatting, he learned Li Zhong had spent the day at the provincial hall dealing with the freshly captured Basong and crew.
The case involved guns, drugs, and cross-border elements—tricky from the start. Basong even had an Interpol warrant.
Overnight interrogation revealed he was Thai by birth but married to a Russian, with dual citizenship and deep ties to the Russian mafia.
He operated along the China-Myanmar border, trafficking nonstop. Myanmar police had countless unsolved cases pinned on him. The downtown shooting only muddied the jurisdictional waters further.
Representing the capturing Chinese side, Li Zhong had argued fiercely in a multi-party video conference. The upshot: three extra days of custody to extract everything involving China, then Russian police would come for extradition.
That should’ve been the end of it for Yan Tuo. But Li Zhong, still fuming from the wrangling, wanted Chinese personnel escorting for the handover three days hence—for face, for national pride, and to prevent mishaps en route. He was deploying his ace: his trusted deputy and brother-in-law.
With Yan Tuo’s build and face, he wouldn’t embarrass the province in front of international colleagues.
To make it happen, Li Zhong pulled strings with old classmates, compressing the official visa process from seven workdays to three. He even swung back to the city bureau after hours to brief his brother-in-law personally and have him submit the application right away.
Yan Tuo accepted without a word. He handled the visa form on the computer, passed it to Sun Lei, then grew a bit concerned.
Official business abroad meant at least three to five days away. Could Bai Yiyi manage alone at home?
He’d just coaxed him back from C Province for easier care, and now he was ditching him? Guilt gnawed.
Maybe ask Hua Hongqing to check in? The guy was used to tending bird pets—more reliable than most.
Decision made, but before he could broach it, the white dumpling paced across his desk and whispered, “Yan Tuo, working late tonight?”
“Nope, heading out soon. Why?”
Bai Yiyi was just in pet-owner mode again, eager to get home and whip up dinner.
Half excuse, half temptation, he said, “Mm, it’s hot out. No instant noodles. Craving garlic-paste pork slices, smashed cucumbers, fried peanuts. Three cold dishes with congee—nice and easy. Want some when you get home?”
This open stratagem to hook someone via their stomach worked like a charm on his owner.
Yan Tuo swallowed hard. The menu alone had him drooling a pound’s worth. “Sounds good. We’ll grab meat downstairs on the way and feast.”
Bai Yiyi might be a police bird, but he didn’t punch a clock. “No need. I’ll head out first. I’ve walked that route two months straight; won’t get lost even with the system nav. Flying back takes minutes. By the time you’re home from work, it’ll be ready.”
Yan Tuo realized then: his beloved pet was essentially human—a grown man, no less. He could afford to give him more freedom, not tote him around like a baby and still worry.
Unable to resist, Yan Tuo reached out and smoothed down that fluffy pot-lid hairstyle of his, letting out a sigh. “Then you’ve worked hard.”
In high spirits, Bai Yiyi flew away from the city police bureau. In just about eight minutes, he was back at the window of his own apartment.
With a shake of his body, he reverted to human form. He took out his clothes and dressed neatly before heading downstairs to buy groceries. By the time he returned to the kitchen and had everything prepared, Yan Tuo arrived home right on schedule at six-thirty—everything was more or less ready.
The moment Yan Tuo walked in, Bai Yiyi promptly assigned him a task. A massive pot of scalding-hot congee was now sitting in the kitchen sink, immersed in cold water. It needed occasional stirring both to cool it down faster and to prevent lumps from forming that might ruin the texture.
Bai Yiyi himself darted into the bathroom, splashing cold water on his face before giving it a quick wipe.
After all that bustling about, the summer kitchen was sweltering hot. The area under his pot-lid hair was especially stuffy and unbearable, leaving him drenched in sticky sweat.
Following the instructions, Yan Tuo stirred the congee in the direction indicated. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the phone on the side table flashing on and off. When he picked it up, he realized it had somehow been switched to silent, and the screen was now clamoring with a slew of missed calls.
All of them from Hua Hongqing.
Without a second thought, Yan Tuo called him back. The moment the call connected, his old friend launched into an affectionately whiny complaint from the other end. “What’s the deal? I called so many times and you didn’t pick up. If it was official business, it would’ve gone straight to voicemail by now… Where are you?”
“Just got home. Must’ve accidentally hit mute. What about you? What’s so urgent?”
“Doesn’t matter if you’re home. Open up—I’m right outside your door.”
Yan Tuo opened the door, and in walked Hua Hongqing carrying a birdcage. He casually set it down to one side. Before he could even state the reason for his visit today, his gaze collided with Bai Yiyi, who was just emerging from the bathroom.
Hongqing’s peach-blossom eyes lit up with a thousand-watt brilliance in an instant.
Holy shit—where did this little fairy boy come from?
