Chapter 289

Chapter 289

You've Got Some Nerve

Lin Nannan watched them go over every little detail and didn’t dare say a word, afraid that if she spoke, the two of them would gang up on her.

Seeing how concerned they were about her safety and how they couldn’t make up their minds, she timidly raised her hand. Meeting their gazes, she asked obediently, "If your people are being watched, what about Commander Zhang’s people?"

"They can help behind the scenes. What do you think?" she added quickly, then waited for their decision.

After some discussion, neither disagreed.

On the surface, whether it was Lu Hang’s side or Zheng Jie’s, things looked peaceful, and everyone coexisted peacefully.

The real tension, however, was known only to them.

Lin Nannan and Lu Hang encountered Liu Jinzhi, who was always by Zheng Jie’s side, several times, and each time, her hostility was palpable. Lin Nannan guessed she was about to lose her patience.

Sure enough, within two days, Lin Nannan and Lu Hang got into trouble as soon as they stepped out. Lin Nannan’s bag was stolen, and Lu Hang immediately chased after the thief. Lin Nannan called after him, but it was useless—in a flash, Lu Hang disappeared around the corner...

"Geez, he’s *gone*!" she grumbled, stomping her foot, but she didn’t dare wander off and could only stand there waiting...

Many had witnessed the scene, but most paid no attention—stuff like this happened all the time in Nanshi. People glanced over and moved on, indifferent.

But those with ulterior motives seized the opportunity. As Lin Nannan stood there, a crowd started closing in...

"Don’t move!" The pressure against her waist told Lin Nannan that the fish had taken the bait. She narrowed her eyes slightly and nodded in exaggerated compliance, playing terrified.

The person behind her shoved her forward unceremoniously and warned, "Don’t try anything. If this thing *goes off* accidentally and kills you, that wouldn’t be good."

Lin Nannan nodded, pretending to be scared, and remained silent.

Seeing how cooperative she was, her kidnapper eased up and led her away.

What they didn’t know was that while the mantis stalks the cicada, the oriole follows behind—several groups of people trailed after them, none of them together.

...

Lin Nannan was led through a maze of alleys, enough to disorient anyone with a poor sense of direction.

But Lin Nannan didn’t care. She didn’t even glance around, acting so cooperative that it almost seemed like she was playing along with a joke. It made her captors feel something was off but unable to pinpoint what...

After about ten minutes, they arrived at a dilapidated house. To the uninformed, it might have seemed like a ghost town, but Lin Nannan noticed with a quick glance that there were actually quite a few people hidden around. She was dying to know more about the place, and she wanted to investigate further.

"Get inside!" Seeing her looking around, the person behind her shoved her hard. Lin Nannan stumbled but was forced forward...

She observed discreetly with her peripheral vision, noticing that the surroundings had been made to look run-down on purpose, with deadwood scattered about. But in reality, many people were hiding nearby, their gazes fixed on her. She pretended not to notice and continued following her captor.

After passing through the desolate courtyard and a crumbling corridor, a turn revealed an entirely different scene.

"You really aren’t afraid of death!" Liu Jinzhi’s voice cut through Lin Nannan’s observations. She stood with her arms crossed, looking at Lin Nannan with a cocky glare.

Lin Nannan found her bluster amusing—she was bad at hiding her guilt. But she wasn’t foolish enough to provoke her now, not with so many eyes watching her from the shadows.