Chapter 225: Hush, Don’t Scream

Chapter 225: Hush, Don’t Scream.

Just as my colleagues had suspected.

Xiao Yu was never one to be gentle.

Being a cop means you must be fiercer, meaner, and more ruthless than any criminal.

If you can’t, sooner or later you’ll end up dying at their hands.

The logic is simple.

How can you survive against a criminal who is more vicious, ruthless, and cruel than you?

The moment the manhole cover flipped and the opponent fired its gun,

fate was sealed.

Xiao Yu would never let his enemy get a second shot…

After discarding the body, he bent down and picked up a gun and a flashlight.

The gun was a homemade pistol.

Modified later from a starting pistol, it could chamber two rounds.

Though it lacked a true ballistics design, had a very short range, and wasn’t highly accurate,

the bullet’s power was undeniable.

Imagine the consequences of a close-range hit…

If anyone else had been in Xiao Yu’s shoes, they would have been shot!

Switching on his flashlight, Xiao Yu scanned the area.

Before him stretched a concrete corridor.

With little hesitation, he activated all available system skills.

Then, step by cautious step, he advanced deeper inside.

The corridor was short – just about seven or eight meters long.

Yet along it were several iron doors – six in total.

At any door, you could simply grasp the handle and pull it open.

Beyond lay a spacious room.

It was stocked with crates of bottled water and assorted food supplies.

Finding nothing else of interest, Xiao Yu moved to another large door.

Suddenly.

He heard faint noises and sensed that behind the door there was breathing.

A mocking smile tugged at his lips as Xiao Yu drew his service gun and disengaged the safety.

“Did you really think I was going in?”

Pressing the pistol lightly against the door, Xiao Yu spat out, “Idiot!”

Bang!

Gunfire roared.

A bullet tore through the door, and a piercing scream came from inside.

In an instant, Xiao Yu flung the door open and charged in, just in time to see a man clutching his abdomen with one hand and gripping a gun with the other, retreating with a cry of agony.

The man raised his arm the moment he saw Xiao Yu.

Thud!

A spray of blood erupted from his left chest.

That was where his heart lay.

“Cough, cough…”

He opened his mouth, emitting a strange sound before his body collapsed like melting clay.

Xiao Yu calmly stepped forward, first kicking away the fallen pistol. He inspected the man’s face carefully and then shook his head.

“No, that can’t be right.”

The man looked no older than twenty-five or twenty-six – roughly the same age as the one he’d just taken down.

If it were Second Brother or Third Brother, he wouldn’t be this young.

Bending over, he picked up the pistol lying beside the body.

It was yet another homemade pistol modified from a starting gun.

Xiao Yu narrowed his eyes.

Guns aren’t hard to make, really.

What’s difficult is manufacturing the bullets.

Bullet cores, casings, and gunpowder formulas all demand precision and expertise.

Even simply getting the right amount of gunpowder isn’t something an ordinary person can grasp.

Too much and it explodes; too little and you can’t shoot far.

Especially when it comes to nuanced gunpowder formulas…

Many can build a gun, but few can produce functioning ammunition.

A starting pistol might be simple, but where on earth do the bullets come from?

As the investigation unfolded, Xiao Yu realized the case was growing increasingly complex.

He paid no attention to the corpse – someone else would handle it later.

Guo Qiang and his team had surely contacted headquarters by now.

It wouldn’t be long before SWAT and the Armed Police arrived.

Gripping his pistol, Xiao Yu stepped outside and opened a third door.

There he found a surveillance room and spotted a woman.

The woman, in her early thirties, looked utterly terrified as she huddled in a corner.

Her shaking, timid demeanor could easily stir a protective instinct in any man.

“Don’t be afraid.”

Xiao Yu smiled gently as he approached her. “Tell me, who else is in this basement?”

“I don’t know anything, I really don’t.”

The woman shook her head frantically. Then, with a look of sheer terror, she glanced over Xiao Yu’s shoulder.

Her expression was as if a ghostly woman in white—or even a flesh-eating zombie—was standing there.

Anyone else would have turned to check.

Ha… Xiao Yu smirked and turned his head.

At that moment, the crouched woman’s expression twisted into a snarl as she sprang up. A hand concealed behind her back shot out, brandishing a knife and thrusting it toward Xiao Yu’s chest and abdomen.

Oh… for the love of flowers…

Smack!

Xiao Yu firmly gripped her knife-wielding hand. Slowly turning his face, he maintained a steady smile.

“Get it?”

He grinned at the terrified, incredulous woman. “When I was a kid, I was so scared of horror movies that I wouldn’t even dare use the bathroom. I’d even risk using a soda bottle if I couldn’t hold it in… and now you’re playing games with me?”

“Ah!”

The woman screamed and kicked toward Xiao Yu.

Bang!

Blood sprayed from her thigh.

“Ah!”

Her agonized scream filled the air.

In the next moment…

With a swift motion, Xiao Yu shoved his pistol into the woman’s mouth, silencing her scream instantly.

……….

“Hush!”

Xiao Yu released her grasp on the knife-wielding wrist, bringing the pistol to his lips. “Keep it in your mouth, and don’t make a sound. Understand?”

The woman trembled violently, enduring the pain as she clutched the gun in her mouth, too terrified to utter a sound.

She stared at Xiao Yu as if she were looking into the eyes of a demon.

“Now, when I ask you something, you answer. Got it?”

Xiao Yu slowly lowered his pistol. “Remember, speak softly. Don’t make a sound.”

“Y-yes…” the woman stuttered, her voice barely a whisper.

“How many people are in this basement right now?”

“W-we… we have four people!”

The woman trembled as she added, “And those… those toys – there are three!”

Toys?

Xiao Yu narrowed his eyes, a cold, murderous glint flashing within.

What did she mean by ‘toys’?

They were living, breathing people!

“Whose toys?” Xiao Yu asked calmly.

“Second Brother’s and Third Brother’s!” she replied.

“I took care of two already. You’re next.”

Xiao Yu’s icy gaze locked onto her eyes. “Where’s the last one?”

“He’s in the machinery room.”

The woman nodded, then shook her head. “I don’t know where the machinery room is—only Second Brother and Third Brother know. We can’t go there!”

“Machinery room?” Xiao Yu squinted. What kind of place is that?

……