Chapter 51: An Orchid in the Library

Zhou Mei was still in shock when Miao Ruolan let out a soft cry, “Watch out…”

Lin Xiaosu jerked the steering wheel sharply, and the car suddenly swerved—

Whoosh!

A bullet grazed past his face.

But before the shooter could fire a second shot, Lin Xiaosu’s car roared forward and struck the man called Third directly.

Third was sent flying high into the air and plunged off the cliff.

The car, too, lost control from the impact.

Yet Lin Xiaosu spun the wheel furiously, correcting their course at the very last split second.

The right tires skidded on the edge, sending pebbles tumbling into the abyss, but the car veered back on track.

Only fifty meters separated them from the Road Leopard ahead.

Brother Tiger, for the first time, got a close look at the driver.

“Lin Xiaosu, damn your ancestors!” Brother Tiger roared. The driver slammed on the gas, trying to flee, their courage shattered. He had dodged their roadblock, escaped a gunman, and now even gunned down Third without hesitation. Against someone like this, their only hope was to exploit the car’s speed and escape.

But they realized it too late.

Now, only fifty meters separated the two vehicles!

Lin Xiaosu flicked his finger lightly, sending a pebble whistling through the fifty-meter gap—

Whoosh!

It shot through the rear window.

Another pebble followed in its wake.

The first stone pierced a hole, and the second stone flew through this very gap, striking the driver precisely at the base of his skull.

The driver jerked forward, foot slamming the accelerator, and the car shot off the cliff, out of control.

The Road Leopard tumbled in the air.

Once, twice, three times… it was impossible to count how many times it rolled.

Thud!

It crashed heavily at the bottom of the hundred-meter cliff.

Boom!

Flames surged skyward.

Lin Xiaosu’s car came to a halt.

Zhou Mei flung open the door and rushed to the cliff’s edge. Watching the blaze below, her face was flushed yet pale.

Miao Ruolan hurried to Lin Xiaosu’s side. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine!” Lin Xiaosu smiled at her.

Throughout the ordeal, Zhou Mei’s perception was entirely different from Miao Ruolan’s.

Zhou Mei couldn’t see the bullet’s trajectory, nor the two pebbles flying from his fingers.

But Miao Ruolan could!

She had seen, with her own eyes, the bullet approaching. Lin Xiaosu had only needed to tilt his head back, and the bullet skimmed his nose.

She’d also seen the pebbles fly from his hand in quick succession, shooting straight through the car’s rear window fifty meters away.

For ordinary people, no pebble could ever pierce a car window. But for him, it was possible.

This was the power of Ancient Martial Arts.

It was she who had taught him these arts.

Yet now, his mastery outstripped hers!

At the very least, she could not dodge bullets—but he could!

How many miracles is this man planning to achieve?

For a moment, she was completely distracted.

Zhou Mei picked up her phone to call Captain Zhang…

Captain Zhang had taken the wrong route! He’d chosen the new road, already crossed Jinshan Bridge, and entered Dingxi province. Suddenly, he received Zhou Mei’s call, reporting that Brother Tiger had taken the old road and his car had lost control, plunging off the cliff.

Captain Zhang immediately ordered two police cars to turn back.

His brow was furrowed the entire time.

Wang Donghe, driving, asked, “Captain, how did Zhou Mei get ahead of us? And to think she actually caught up to Brother Tiger…”

“Caught up by accident? How do you know it was an accident?” Captain Zhang exhaled quietly. “Don’t forget who she’s with!”

From the back seat, Sun Yang called out, “Lin Xiaosu!”

“That’s right. That kid keeps challenging everything I think I know about him…” Captain Zhang replied. “Xiao Sun, when we get there, check that car carefully. See if it really went off the cliff by accident, or if there was some other force at work.”

And so, Sun Yang took on this secret task.

Unfortunately, he was destined to fail.

By the time they arrived, the car was already a burnt skeleton, its occupants charred beyond recognition.

Who would ever know that the shattered rear window had once had a small hole?

Or that the pebble in the driver’s skull had been thrown by someone, not caused by the crash or the explosion?

If the inspection proved nothing, perhaps Zhou Mei’s account would be the official version.

According to her, Lin Xiaosu’s driving skills surpassed hers.

And that was all.

The Feng City case, the 5.16 case, began on this day and concluded three days later.

In three days, there was joy for some, sorrow for others!

More than three hundred people were brought to justice, spanning construction, fisheries, hotels, and trade.

Of the notorious Five Tigers, three were arrested, two died.

Besides Brother Tiger, Water Brother also died. He tried to escape by boat, but his craft capsized; he fell into the water and was found already dead.

Ironically, Water Brother could not swim.

Beyond them, a slew of their protectors fell as well.

With the arrests came trials. These would not be short; it was rumored the task force was preparing for a three-year campaign.

The people of Feng City celebrated, brushing off their hats. Crowds poured into the streets, sharing stories of how they’d been wronged by these men—tales they once dared not tell, but now could.

For a time, not just the strong-arming and bullying ceased—even petty theft and short-weighing vanished. Everyone was afraid of being implicated.

Anyone even remotely connected to the 5.16 case risked being taken by the armed police, not just local officers.

In such a climate, even the boldest kept their heads down.

A new sense of order seemed to be budding in Feng City.

Lin Xiaosu hid away in the library, reading for three days.

Clouds drifted across the sky; the wind howled outside the window, but none of it concerned him. Inside, he read quietly.

For three days, he focused on one subject: geology and mineral resources.

Highly specialized knowledge poured into his brain, merging rapidly. He realized that the stones he’d always thought ordinary were full of secrets—iron ore, manganese ore, graphite, diamonds, jade, precious stones… Knowledge that others might study for a lifetime, he grasped the basics in just three days.

Perhaps this knowledge would not be useful now, but in time, it surely would.

For the path of a detective was just beginning.

A detective, after all, was a profession that most needed all kinds of knowledge.

A mere pebble might provide the key to a case.

In the city, it might be useful; in the wild, all the more so…

It was strange, really.

He used to get sleepy whenever he read, but now, he truly appreciated the joy of learning.

Why was that?

In the past, progress was slow and passion hard to find. Now, after just a few books, an entire field of knowledge blossomed in his mind, and his way of seeing the world changed as well.

The more he learned, the more eager he became.

Closing the book, Lin Xiaosu suddenly caught a pair of eyes.

He’d noticed these eyes often lately.

Every time he came to read, their owner was there.

She was a woman he’d once paid attention to, a fellow lover of learning—her face oval, features defined, lips naturally red without lipstick, and yet exuding a strong, sensual contrast.

The first time he saw her, he’d thought: she could easily rely on looks alone, but instead, she cultivated her talents—a rare gem among women.

Back then, she’d been engrossed in a book few women would ever touch: Philosophy.

Since then, he’d seen her a few more times. Each time, her book was different, always something niche: Painting, The Arts…

Yet their eyes had rarely met—just fleeting glances, perhaps with a hint of mutual appreciation…

But today was different.

Her gaze met his directly, and in it, a ripple seemed to stir, blossoming into two small flowers.

She smiled, her lips reserved but her eyes unrestrained.

“Hi, I have a gift for you!” Her voice was soft, with a playful lilt.

Lin Xiaosu glanced around. “For me?”

“Yes! Come see!” She beckoned him over.

He walked to her side and saw the easel before her. On the canvas, a young man sat by the window, sunlight gently brushing his cheek. It was himself. In the painting, he looked even more handsome than he thought he did in real life, a book open in his hands, as if alive with motion.

Outside the window, cars sped by.

Stillness and movement, captured here together.

“This is your gift to me?” Lin Xiaosu smiled.

“To say I’m giving it to you isn’t quite right. This painting is your creation, really.” She smiled softly, graceful and poised.

“My creation?”

“Yes. Creation. Outside, cars and people rush by, but it’s rare in the city to see someone sitting quietly by the window, reading.”

“You’re actually… very quiet yourself.”

She grinned. “Come, here’s the pencil—draw something for me.”

Lin Xiaosu scratched his head. “How about I take a picture instead? That’s bound to be more reliable than my drawing.”

He raised his hand and actually snapped a photo of her.

She giggled, and in that moment, her smile truly blossomed.

“You don’t seem to be from around here,” Lin Xiaosu said.

“No, I’m not. I’m here to gather inspiration…”

“Are you an art student?”

“I was a painting major at Jiangnan University. Three years ago, I went abroad for further study. My parents hoped to raise a world-class artist, but I seem to have strayed from that path. After wandering abroad, I found I’m more drawn to the local atmosphere, so I left Royal Academy of Arts in Switzerland and came back.”

“Royal Academy of Arts? I know that one—it’s a top Western art school, very expensive. Don’t you feel you’ve let your parents down?”

“Let them down? I don’t think sending me abroad was really for my sake—they just wanted to save face…”

Lin Xiaosu looked at her. “Would you dare say that to their faces?”

“You think I haven’t? My dad was so mad his nose went crooked, grabbed a pillow to swat me, called me an ungrateful child—I ran away in the middle of the night…”