At exactly midnight on the first day, the Program Crew sent a message announcing that Fugitive No. 1 had been caught, while No. 2 criminal succeeded in his crime.
This was only temporary, however, because over the next 14 days, the Pursuit Team still had a chance to uncover more evidence, convict, and arrest them.
“No. 2 is impressive. He stole the jewelry stashed in the bank after just one day of prep.”
“Brother Fen is clever too. He drew away the Vice Squad Officers for No. 2. Otherwise, facing them head-on in such a small place, No. 2 would’ve definitely been eliminated.”
“People in our group aren’t united. Some are even questioning Brother Fen’s skills now. Look at what happened to the guy trying to go solo.”
“Yeah, who knows what he’s so arrogant about. Brother Fen grabbing the 500 million prize doesn’t conflict with us getting ours.”
“Cling to Brother Fen’s thigh and achieve financial freedom!”
The comments below were full of bootlicking praise. Xiao Fen exited directly.
It was already one minute past midnight, and he still hadn’t received the Program Crew’s task assignment. It seemed it wasn’t his turn today. He set down his phone and went to take a shower.
When he came back out, his phone was vibrating.
On the second day, one of the people who received tasks posted theirs directly in the group, while the other sent it privately to Xiao Fen.
No one knew each other, shared photos, or revealed basic info like real names. It wasn’t that they distrusted the other criminals selling them out—after all, their interests aligned. They all wanted points to successfully escape the town in the end.
They worried that if one got caught, the whole group would be exposed to the Pursuit Team, dragging everyone down.
Trusting someone else with your info was like handing millions to a stranger and hoping they’d keep it safe for you.
But they did need the group to share info, and even tip each other off at critical moments to escape disaster.
This person went by the online alias Blossoming Prosperity, with a lotus flower profile pic. Compared to others, Blossoming Prosperity was clearly more cautious.
Xiao Fen forwarded the task details to the group.
“Is it Brother Fen’s turn for a task today? So exciting.”
Xiao Fen replied, “Yes.”
If there were any Vice Squad Officers in the group, they should surface around now.
This was his third layer of insurance for identifying real criminals from fakes.
Fang Si Ting wanted him dead more than anyone. If he knew this, there would definitely be action.
With a light tap, Xiao Fen forwarded one altered task and one unchanged to a random fake group.
“It’s only the second day and it’s already my turn. Whatever, finish the task early, then treat the rest like a vacation.”
“That’s Brother Fen’s ultimate chill vibe. Others freak out about leaving evidence at crime scenes, terrified of getting caught.”
“Brother Fen, which task is yours?”
“Guess.”
The few in the fake group who seemed like regular people immediately started hooting, pretending to be criminals with half-baked discussions.
These people were kinda cute.
In the Pursuit Team.
Peng Xiaoxiao lay on her bed and shared the group messages with everyone.
Messages popped up quickly in their Pursuit Team leadership’s internal chat.
“Tonight, Bai Zhu and Tang Shen already ran into Xiao Fen laying his smokescreen. Why’s he still posting to the group?” she asked.
Fang Si Ting said, “On purpose.”
“Now we all know the group is fake.” Peng Xiaoxiao asked, “He knows we know it’s fake. Why send this fake message?”
Fang Si Ting thought for a bit, then typed, “Maybe their real group has regular people mixed in, or he’s not entirely sure there aren’t Vice Squad Officers among them. He doesn’t know I hadn’t seen this fake group before. From his perspective, I might’ve deduced it was fake ahead of time and played along—sacrificing this 1 point to keep the mole in the real group for a critical strike later.”
But in reality, they had no one in the real group.
Their only hope was that Xiao Fen’s real group had accidentally added regular people who would report it to them.
“So he’s sending this to test our reaction?” Tang Shen followed up. “Is this task real or fake? If real, what do we do?”
Peng Xiaoxiao analyzed, “Think from his angle: how do we know if tasks are real or fake? The so-called mole in the real group leaks it. Better if we ignore it entirely. That way, we don’t fall for Xiao Fen’s trap, keep him paranoid, and soon the Criminal Team will fall apart.”
“Ignoring it tells him we have no one in the real group, making him more confident,” Fang Si Ting said. “He knows I want him most. He even announced his task for tomorrow. If we ignore it, doesn’t that mean we can’t tell real from fake?”
“So two doubts now: one, does Xiao Fen even have a task today? Two, are these two tasks real or fake?” Tang Shen summed up.
Bai Zhu pillowed his arms behind his head, totally lost in the fog. “What are they even saying? So twisty.”
“You don’t need to worry about this,” Tang Shen said. “Not your time yet.”
He shook his head and typed, “When’s Xu An coming back?”
With him here, he wouldn’t look like the only dumb one.
The Pursuit Team discussed half the day without a solid plan.
“We’ll treat what Xiao Fen said as real. Tomorrow, focus on these two spots, plus send extra patrols nearby. The town’s so small—where can they run?” Tang Shen typed.
“Add surrounding villages, and the area’s not small. Deployments will be sparse, same as usual. Your focused control just adds a few at most,” Peng Xiaoxiao said. “If we focus based on Xiao Fen’s messages, Action Team manpower’s fine. But us showing up at task sites also signals no one in that group—or the regular people mixed in are tight-lipped. Then they can fully trust and cover for each other, making cases way harder to crack.”
They all knew the info but hated to miss the chance to sow discord in the Criminal Team.
But clearly, they had no great moves.
“What if one message is real and one fake? Then we’re screwed,” Tang Shen typed, looking miserable. “Whatever, let them stick together. No point stressing. Sleep.”
Fang Si Ting suddenly sent one line: “Can’t solve the message? Solve the one sending it.”
In the Live Stream Chat.
【Fang Yama, here’s a trick: rush up and kiss him senseless. Best time to pry words out.】
【That ain’t right. Just sleep with him, flip him to our side. One and done.】
【Stop shipping CP, okay? They’re sworn enemies, dying to kill each other on sight, fighting to the death. You can ship that?】
【Sis, your senses are too dull.】
【Anyone seriously analyzing how Fang Yama solves Xiao Fen?】
【We’re riding Bai Zhu’s table. Ahba ahba.】
【If it were me, tail Xiao Fen directly. If his message is real, catch him red-handed. If fake to mislead Pursuit Team, his actions will smoke-signal contacts. Can’t nab him, but investigate who he meets. Pursuit Team lacks Xu An the god, but has two net tech whizzes. Basic background checks are no problem.】
Fang Si Ting had that idea, but not only that.
“End scattered patrols. Consolidate all Action Team members. Tomorrow, Deputy Team Leader Tang and Expert Peng lead one squad to crack the bank theft. Captain Bai and I take another to tail Xiao Fen, see who he contacts. Rest go to the other task site.”
“If none of us are at task sites and Xiao Fen’s messages are all fake, won’t the Criminal Team score again?” Tang Shen disagreed.
“Grab at everything, get nothing,” Peng Xiaoxiao got his point instead. “Better concentrate on breakthroughs against key people.”
“Right,” Fang Si Ting said. “Even if Criminals No. 3 & 4 succeed, so what? 13 days left to detect and grab the perp.”
“Since no one of ours in the real Criminals’ Group Chat, we’ll find a way to plant one.”
————
Day two of the escape.
Weather: clear.
The two tasks for the Criminal Team today were the Arson Task and Trafficking.
Arson couldn’t be real fire, of course. In these dense forest mountains, autumn was dry—a single cigarette spark could burn hundreds of miles of woods. The Program Crew’s task was to sneak into the town mayor’s house, plant a smoke prop. Once the smoke built to a certain density without Pursuit Team extinguishing it, arson succeeded.
As for Trafficking, the target was a kid from a Purple Gold Village household under town jurisdiction—just nine years old. His older sister had gone missing recently. The parents searched frantically while living in fear the little one would vanish too, drilling warnings into him daily. The kid promised well, but who knew if it’d stick. So they proposed this to the Program Crew themselves, hoping to test it. If useless, teach him a lesson.
Xiao Fen changed the first task location to Lakeside Village—random household arson—and sent it to the fake group.
The second task piqued his interest.
Xiao Fen and his two companions got up early, borrowed some unworn local-style clothes from Brother Hao and his friend, threw them on, and instantly blended with town villagers.
Ou Yu wanted makeup. Xiao Fen shut it down flat.
He didn’t like Lu Jin’s tastes. In the end, they tanned their skin to wheat color, added acne scars and moles—looked the part of small-town youths.
The trio left town, hopped a roadside three-wheeler, and reached the neighboring village in under ten minutes.
The five or six villages near Tengcha Town were close. Lakeside Village hugged a stream like the town—a small settlement of about a thousand, customs not far off H Country’s.
Three unfamiliar faces drew stares from villagers lounging on the village path right away.
Over a decade ago, trafficking women and kids ran rampant. Official crackdowns had made huge progress—such crimes now rare, hidden in shadows, only popping in news now and then.
After years of peace, had the villagers’ vigilance dropped?
Xiao Fen’s trio entered from the village mouth. An old man chopping wood at a dirt house door eyed them suspiciously and called them to stop.
“Who are you? What business?”
“He’s from City A in H Country, developing tourist spots. Me and him are local guides sent by the mayor,” Ou Yu said with a grin, spinning a plausible cover on the spot. “Tengcha Town’s promo vid blew up online, right? Mayor invited him for planning, wants to bundle nearby villages into a tourist hotspot.”
The old man eyed them coldly, then muttered something in local dialect after a pause.
Xiao Fen glanced back at his companions and smiled. “Locals. What’d they say?”
Lu Jin had no clue.
Ou Yu rattled off a few words in pure local twang.
Not just the old man—Lu Jin and Xiao Fen were surprised too, though they hid it.
“Went to H Country for work too long. My local accent’s rusty,” Ou Yu said modestly with a smile.
Y Country’s economy sucked, plenty crossed borders to work in H Country.
“Only the capable kids go abroad,” the old man said. “Head down the road into the village. Find the red-pillar house with beast paintings on the lintel—that’s the village head. Tell him.”
“Thanks.”
The trio followed the old man’s directions.
Lu Jin asked, “Ou Yu, how do you know the local dialect? We’ve been here less than three days. You been before?”
“Nope,” Ou Yu said. “Universal tongue here’s like H Country’s, but elders here stick to local talk in this backwater. Learned a few phrases just in case.”
“Not bad. Attentive, quick learner,” Lu Jin praised.
“Dressed like that, they did homework, got confidence. You?” Xiao Fen snickered softly.
Just after the jab, Xiao Fen’s phone pinged a 100,000 transfer.
“Shut it,” Lu Jin said. “I’m with Ou Yu, not you.”
This person’s transfers to him were getting smoother and smoother.
Who would go against money?
Xiao Fen accepted the money with peace of mind.
He had only walked a few steps when another sentence came from behind.
“Why have you only just arrived?”
The three looked over. It was a woman they didn’t recognize.
The woman appeared to be in her mid-to-late thirties, with shoulder-length hair tied low at the back of her head with a rubber band. She wore a faded cotton dress and rode a bicycle from the village entrance.
She said something to the old man at the village entrance. The old man chattered back a few words, a flash of guilt passing through his eyes.
Xiao Fen immediately realized that Ou Yu’s earlier words hadn’t fooled the old man. Instead, the disguise made them seem even more suspicious.
That Red Pillar House was definitely not a good place.
The woman greeted Xiao Fen and the other two familiarly and told them to follow her.
Lu Jin was somewhat unwilling. The woman lowered her head and whispered to the three, “The Red Pillar Courtyard is the local shaman’s home. If you rashly go over there, you’ll offend him.”
After a pause, she said, “That gentleman is a highly accomplished expert with powerful spells. He often appears and disappears mysteriously. Once, a few local thugs didn’t believe it and insisted on breaking in, only to mysteriously disappear.”
“What shaman? Who wouldn’t defend their own home?” Lu Jin curled his lip disdainfully.
“The old man earlier had no malicious intent. He just saw you were strangers with accents not from around here. You even pretended to be locals, so he thought you weren’t good people and wanted to borrow the gentleman’s hand to get rid of you.”
“You are…” Xiao Fen asked suspiciously.
“I’m the Criminal Guest.” She extended her hand to shake his. “Named Tang Qin Xin.”
As soon as she said this, the Live Stream Chat erupted in screams.
【That’s not right. How come I can’t find her personal live stream room?】
