Chapter 52: Drug Deal

"Brother Chuanling, the transaction is complete, so I'll be heading out first. As for the commission, just wire it straight to my account. I trust you. If you have any more needs next time, look me up again." Can patted Chuanling Feiqi on the shoulder and walked out with a limp through the crowded, narrow aisle.

As a middleman who knew many people and knew too much, paying the price of a leg was enough to teach him the importance of caution and safety. Leaving early meant no unnecessary knowledge and no seeing what shouldn't be seen. Even if the trading parties eventually fought each other for profit or the police raided the place on a tip-off, he could retreat a step ahead.

Can, true to his name, dragged a metallic prosthetic leg, pulled the hood of his dark green hoodie up, and pushed laboriously toward the exit of the crowd.

At the same time, a few young men in casual clothes were pushing their way into the crowd, their eyes scanning the faces of passersby and their belongings from time to time.

"Thud."

"Sorry, sorry." A young man pushing into the crowd was looking elsewhere and failed to notice anyone coming, colliding directly with Can. After the bump, the young man immediately apologized.

"You guys..." Can's curse hadn't even left his mouth.

"Don't block the way, move aside quickly." A student-like young man behind them, holding a glowing stick, impatiently pushed the two of them a couple of times.

This push caused the unzipped jacket of the young man to ride up slightly.

The edge of a gun holster flashed into Can's line of sight.

The young man alertly pulled his clothes down and zipped up his jacket in one swift motion.

"It's fine, you go first. Hurry up, my stomach hurts." Can cunningly clutched his stomach, furrowed his brow, twisted his mouth, and feigned a stomachache as he lowered his head to yield the passage.

The young man glanced at Can, then looked back at the fans whose eyes were glued to the stage, their burning intensity as if trying to capture the entire stage within their minds. Not noticing anything amiss, the young man continued his search forward.

Ten meters ahead, obscured by people standing, sitting, waving light sticks, support boards, posters, and the dim lighting, a drug deal was drawing to a close.

Seeing that the young man hadn't noticed him, Can moved quickly toward the edge of the crowd while cautiously sweeping his gaze across the gathering. He had to avoid them.

Hampered by his impaired leg, plagued by a guilty conscience, and maintaining intense concentration, Can squeezed out of the crowd and quickly limped away toward the outer corridor.

At the entrance of the corridor, a black man stood with his arms crossed, leaning against the doorway. His face was turned toward the performance stage, but his eyes were scanning the audience seating intently.

As a song ended, the stage lights went out for a scene change, plunging the hall into darkness.

"Jack, damn it, how did they get the tip?" Approaching the corridor entrance, Can recognized the black man standing at the door thanks to his long-trained vision in the "darkness." He cursed softly, immediately crouched down to hide himself in the shadows, and moved quickly toward another emergency exit on the left side of the hall.

A brisk song began. Mint, on stage, sang while interacting with the fans in the audience during the gaps in the lyrics.

The audience in the front row was naturally the easiest for the young women on stage to spot.

Watanabe Reimu, wearing her signature idol smile, swept her gaze from left to right and spotted Kuroba Yiyi. She naturally had some impression of this boy who had bumped into her, peeked at the little secrets in her book, and whom she had taunted and rejected.

At this moment, she was an idol, and the audience below were their fans. Regardless of beauty or ugliness, virtue or fault, their radiance entirely relied on the support of these fans. Therefore, she still smiled sweetly at Kuroba Yiyi, just as she smiled at all her fans.

"Who would have thought Reimu is not only pretty and a great dancer, but also sings so well? She just smiled at me, right? She must have recognized me. What's going on? My face feels so hot, and my heart is beating so fast." Kuroba Yiyi kept his gaze mostly on Watanabe Reimu, though occasionally it drifted to the other members. After all, every single one of them was dazzling, and with a group singing and dancing, one couldn't just look at a single person. As it happened, his gaze was fixed on Watanabe Reimu when she interacted with the fans, and her smile at him made his heart skip a beat.

Kuroba Yiyi stared wide-eyed, blinking unblinkingly at Watanabe Reimu as she sang and danced on stage, smiling foolishly and savoring that very smile.

"Buzz, buzz."

After counting the quantity, Chuanling Feiqi didn't rush to leave. Instead, he took out a small bottle and gently unscrewed the cap. That previous feeling had left him utterly captivated, and he wanted to experience it again right here.

"Boss, there's trouble."

One of the subordinates standing nearby pulled out his phone, glanced at a message, his expression changed instantly, and he hurried over to Chuanling Feiqi's ear to urge him in a low voice.

"Trouble your sister. Once this stuff is off our hands, we'll be rich. With money, what is there to be afraid of? Haven't you heard that money makes the ghost push the mill?" Chuanling Feiqi reached out with his right hand to catch the blue gas emerging from the glass bottle, an intoxicated look on his face.

"Boss!" The subordinate directly pressed the phone screen to light it up and shoved it into Chuanling Feiqi's face.

"The ghosts are coming, run fast." Sender: Can.

"Oh, crap." Chuanling Feiqi's expression changed instantly. With a twitch of his hand, some of the blue liquid inside the bottle splashed out. He looked at the ground with a pang of regret, extended his left hand, and grabbed frantically at empty air, as if trying to snatch the spilled blue liquid back. But after all, he possessed no superpowers; those droplets of blue liquid on the ground were already slowly spreading and evaporating. With an angry curse, he slammed the cap back on, stuffed the glass bottle into his light board, and ordered his subordinates to retreat outward.

The fat man ahead had also received Can't message. The people in front of him began to stir as well, anxiously moving toward the exit.

"Attention, attention, two clusters of people deep inside have started moving. It's too dark to confirm identities; nearby colleagues, step up to verify who they are and report back immediately." While issuing orders, Jack closed in toward the crowd.

"Boss, I see them. It's Chuanling Feiqi from the Rinchuan Group. He seems to be holding a neon light panel. Judging by the way he's guarding that panel so carefully, I suspect drugs are hidden inside." The young policeman who had brushed past Can earlier looked inward upon hearing Jack's instructions and happened to spot Chuanling Feiqi heading out.

"Boss, a fat man in a pink shirt has been spotted over here. He's holding a black travel bag, looks like a cash transaction. Should we make an arrest immediately?" Another officer discovered a suspicious target and requested instructions.

"Wait, don't act rashly yet. Keep an eye on them. There are too many civilians here, making an arrest difficult. Since it's a drug deal, we can't rule out the possibility that they are carrying weapons. If pushed into a corner, they might harm innocent bystanders. Follow them first." Jack squeezed through the crowd, looking at the spectators excitedly watching the performance on stage, frowning as he issued instructions in a low voice.