Chapter 11: The Escape Begins!

“Little Fen, your acting skills just now were really impressive.” After running out of the hotel, Ou Yu looked back and confirmed that Lu Jin hadn’t followed them before finally withdrawing his gaze.

“Still, our teamwork was great.” Xiao Fen laughed.

“Don’t you want to know what I really think about him?” Ou Yu pretended to clutch his chest, blocking the first-person perspective camera, and asked in a volume the live stream audience couldn’t hear.

“We’ve only met a few times. How could I have any thoughts that quickly?”

Ou Yu was a bit surprised. Xiao Fen understood him.

“I owe you a favor, so I should at least treat you to a meal.” Seeing that Xiao Fen wanted to say goodbye, he stopped him in his tracks.

“You got money?”

The first and biggest hurdle of the escape was getting money.

The Program Crew gave them one hour to leave the hotel, allowing them only to bring one backpack’s worth of items. Valuable objects, money, and food were prohibited.

“I’ll figure something out for that,” Ou Yu said. “But you alone out there with no money or ID—those seven days will be tough.”

“Just withdraw it. The activity funds from the Program Crew—don’t pass up free money.”

【Holy crap, what kind of idiot is this? Doesn’t he know banks have surveillance? The moment he shows up, the Pursuit Team will know right away.】

【Don’t question Fen Treasure. He’s definitely got a way.】

【There were so many cameras in the hotel yesterday, and he disguised himself perfectly. Even with his picture, they still couldn’t catch him.】

【Fen Treasure, we Little Fire Seeds support you!】

【No way, is this guy some kind of minor celebrity? He even has fans? Never heard of him—must be some nine-leak fish who got in through connections.】

【These days anyone can be a star. Hurry up and catch this moron before he lowers my IQ.】

“If you’re withdrawing money, you can use this.” Ou Yu pulled out a makeup kit, sunglasses, and a hat from his bag.

Xiao Fen looked at it with utter disdain and pushed it away with his hand. “Real men don’t wear makeup.”

【Keep bragging. The camera’s this close and no pores visible—he definitely did it.】

【Even if no makeup, he’s surely had work done. Looks totally unnatural—ugly as hell.】

【Saying that to this face? Doesn’t your conscience hurt?】

“Wanna do something thrilling?” Xiao Fen grinned mischievously, his urge to stir up trouble barely concealed.

“Thrilling?” Ou Yu’s heart skipped a beat, pierced by those bright, clear eyes. He wanted to look away but found himself drawn in, unable to get enough.

Xiao Fen snatched the items from his hand, stuffed them back into the backpack, grabbed his wrist, and pulled him forward. “Just kidding. How could I drag you into something that stupid?”

Ou Yu let out a long breath, unsure if it was from relief that he’d abandoned the risky idea or because he’d turned his head away.

++

One hour later, the Pursuit Team had fully entered every suspect’s hotel room to conduct searches.

Soon, various reports came in to the United Building 13th Floor.

Tang Shen pasted the first suspect’s photo on the whiteboard.

“Wu Qibin, male, 34 years old, occupation: hacker. Departed the Imperial Capital Grand Hotel at 10:24 a.m. today. During escape, wore a baseball cap, black leather jacket, and black riveted nine-point pants.”

Xu An pulled up the surveillance network. “Direction of Linhuai Road.”

From 10:24 to 11:00, Fang Si Ting estimated the approximate distance coverable by running and circled a range on the massive electronic map.

Bai Zhu immediately dispatched a team of Vice Squad Officers to pursue.

“Xu Shengyong, 35 years old, lawyer. Sister Xiaoxiao saw this when checking his room…” Tang Shen couldn’t help laughing as he introduced him. “He wrote his plan on paper—every step meticulously detailed, perfect escape plan, but… hahaha… he left a mark on the hotel calendar.”

A photo appeared on the screen of a paper page rubbed with pencil, every word crystal clear.

In an instant, Xu Shengyong became the biggest joke on No Escape, with Weibo topics climbing into the top three.

“Next, Xue Cong, 25 years old, occupation: boxer.”

Xu An pulled up his profile. “His online purchase records are mostly outdoor adventure gear. He usually browses wilderness survival and urban exploration videos, loves parkour too. If we encounter him, he’ll be extremely hard to catch.”

【Oh god, once you’re a criminal, zero privacy. Total social death.】

【Hurry and delete my 5T of discs.】

【Too late, techs will recover it. You committed the crime—your whole past gets investigated.】

【For family honor, starting today, I’ll obey the law.】

“After leaving the hotel, our team checked roadside surveillance—no sign of him yet,” Xu An said. Unlike the Imperial Capital Hotel, city streets had too many people walking around, and plenty of blind spots in coverage. Tracking was an issue.

“No distinctive features in build or face. The jacket he wore is double-sided—probably flipped it after leaving,” Peng Xiaoxiao said.

“Guess we’ll have to wait for him to show himself,” Xu An said leisurely. ATM withdrawals were the Program Crew’s way of forcing them to appear.

In this era, without money, you couldn’t move an inch. Once wanted, electronic payments got tracked, public transit restricted—escape range limited.

“Check the pants and shoes,” Fang Si Ting said.

Xu An tapped the keyboard a few times, and the suspect’s bowed side-profile reappeared on screen. “You’re right. Clothes are easy to swap, but pants and shoes often get overlooked.”

“Captain Bai, get the network team to pull maps of bridge underpasses, tunnels, and abandoned buildings in City A. Start from Xue Cong’s last known location.”

“You mean…” Tang Shen seemed to catch on.

“He’s very familiar with the city’s overlooked spots,” Fang Si Ting said, sitting in the boss chair with hands clasped over his knee, posture upright. “Deputy Team Leader Tang, coordinate with all units—keep eyes on tourist spots and outer ring exits. Don’t let him slip into the mountains.”

City A was the capital—high development inside the fifth ring, but plenty of undeveloped mountains outside. Once in there, finding someone was tough.

“This one’s tricky.” Tang Shen shook his head. They had to hunt 30 top suspects across the nation in the whole city. Would Boss Lu hold a grudge from last time’s unsolved case and mess with their Pursuit Team on purpose?

As they predicted, Xue Cong flipped his jacket inside out the moment he left, donned a hat, and started sprinting.

No money—he couldn’t even afford the bus.

That 1000 yuan couldn’t be withdrawn until after 5 p.m., and only 100 at a time. He had no intention of touching it.

By nearly 11:00, he’d reached his planned spot. After passing through an old neighborhood without cameras, he emerged in a completely new outfit, wig on, looking like a thug—even swapped backpacks.

Checking the time, he had to reach Xing’an Bridge before dark. A few homeless guys lived by the river under it; he’d gotten friendly with them on past adventures. He could crash with them a few days and share some food.

If that got busted, across from Xing’an Bridge was the Chessboard Mountain scenic area. He was confident he could swim the river and hole up in the undeveloped forests on the back side for the remaining days.

Survival at this intensity was a piece of cake for him.

He was destined to be the final victor!

++

At 5 p.m., a crowd huddled with dinner in front of the live stream, eager to see which idiot would go for the money.

They didn’t hold much hope—anyone with basic sense knew bank cams were nationwide networked. Show up and you’re done.

In the digital age, cash’s obsolescence left criminals nowhere to hide.

【He’s here—a real dumbass!】

【All that talk from Xiao Fen earlier was bullshit. No makeup, no disguise, just struts right in.】

【Ou Yu’s gonna get dragged down by this idiot. Should’ve gone with Lu Jin this morning.】

The moment the two entered the ATM’s surveillance range, less than ten seconds later, alarms blared on the United Building 13th Floor.

“Boss, Xiao Fen and Ou Yu are withdrawing money,” Xu An said, pulling up the feed.

“No way it’s a trap?” Tang Shen leaned in.

“Highly suspicious.” Fang Si Ting stood and walked to the screen.

Xiao Fen seemed oblivious, taking money like any normal person.

“Contact the nearby Pursuit Bureau first—have them respond,” Fang Si Ting ordered.

“I’ll check it out too.” Bai Zhu slurped some rice noodles and headed out, eyeing Tang Shen to stay put. “Guard the fort.”

“I wanna meet him too,” Tang Shen whined, plopping down and viciously biting into his burger.

Bai Zhu didn’t underestimate him—took four cars full of men.

Halfway there, Action Team got word from Xu An: “Xiao Fen and the other took out 200 yuan already, heading down Brush Pen Road. Local Pursuit Bureau’s short-staffed—sent a few idle trainee Vice Squad Officers for practice. Probably won’t hold them.”

“Copy—we’re almost there.” The ATM wasn’t far from United Building.

Beep—impatient horns blared everywhere.

Monday evening rush hour—traffic jam.

Bai Zhu cursed under his breath, stuck immobile, watching nearby Vice Squad Officers zip past on motorcycles.

“Captain Bai, whole road’s red. ETA at least half an hour,” a Vice Squad Officer said, checking his phone map.

“All routes to that bank jammed. Third ring center—massive traffic.”

“One per car stays; rest dismount,” Bai Zhu decided.

They quickly scanned shared bikes from the curb. Over a dozen blue-and-white bikes sped through streets and alleys, closing in on the reported address.

++

Xiao Fen hit a roadside convenience store, bought a pile of snacks, and munched while walking. After two alleys, Ou Yu bumped into someone.

“Hey, wait! You’re… that… uh…” The middle-aged guy, bags of veggies in hand, blocked them suspiciously, gripping Ou Yu’s wrist and scrutinizing him. His brain short-circuited—he couldn’t recall who.

The live stream chat was even more frantic.

【Stop ‘uh’ing—this is your walking down payment on a house in City A!】