Chapter 303: Ambush (Part 1)
Yuetian District was the old urban area of Meining City, considered the most commercially developed region in Meining. The buildings were a little old, but after years of renovation, Yuetian District had become a modern area filled with high-rises. Even so, within the bustling district, many buildings from the 70s, 80s, and even the pre-liberation era could still be seen.
These old buildings had mottled brick walls, electrical wires crisscrossing overhead like spider webs, and the alleys between buildings were narrow and tall, looking very much like foreign slums.
But that wasn't the case—these old houses were extremely valuable. There were several top elementary schools nearby, and many parents were willing to pay high prices to buy these old houses just to secure residency permits or property certificates so their children could attend those schools.
And as redevelopment of the old urban district accelerated, the demolition compensation for these blocks grew higher and higher. So despite looking old, these houses were truly worth their weight in gold.
Of course, old buildings had their flaws. Even though the houses technically had owners, the structures were worn-out, with many missing essential utilities such as gas lines and sanitation facilities. So almost none of the owners lived there—most of the houses were either vacant or rented out. Larger ones were converted into family-run inns.
Yuetian District had two or three such areas. Qianshui Street was one, and Wenlin Alley on Shangbin Road was another. Qianshui Street was a chaotic place—once night fell, it became a playground for underground groups, with very few normal residents living there.
Wenlin Alley, however, was much quieter. The alley was extremely narrow and winding, connected with other alleys and lanes in a tangled maze. It was easy to get lost if one wasn't careful. More people lived here compared to Qianshui Street, mostly out-of-towners working in Meining—sailors, construction workers, drivers, etc.
As the Spring Festival approached, most people living here returned to their hometowns. The entire alley became almost deserted, except for a few tourists staying in the hotels near the alley entrance.
Xu Danying's combined subsystem didn't look great, but it was fully functional. And since the search range was restricted to Meining City, the data volume—though massive—was manageable with the villa's supercomputer.
The system was simple to operate. Zhang Yang loaded the facial image obtained from Ao Tian into the super search system, and the system immediately infiltrated every surveillance camera connected to the internet—especially hotels, traffic lights, street corners, internet cafés, hostels, supermarkets, and more.
Then the system searched for matches based on the facial image. But since many surveillance images were unclear, the system produced a huge number of possible suspects.
But that wasn't a problem—Zhang Yang had the video of Cheng Jisheng sent by Ao Tian.
Zhang Yang extracted data from the video—Cheng Jisheng's gait, facial expressions, limb movement range—and digitized these parameters. He then fed them into the system to match against the suspect list. This time, the system successfully narrowed it down.
Sure enough, within 24 hours, the system pinpointed Cheng Jisheng's activity range.
On the day Black Spade Eight's Green Group was wiped out, Cheng Jisheng had quietly taken leave from his company and gone home. Judging from the timing, by the time Zhang Yang reached the hospital, Cheng Jisheng had already received news.
Then he calmly went to a bank. According to Ao Tian's intel, he withdrew over a million in cash.
That afternoon, Cheng Jisheng appeared at Qingshi Railway Station. He left Qingshi and took a train to Changxi Province, next to Southeast Province. Although there were direct flights from Qingshi to Meining, he likely chose the train either because Spring Festival tickets were tight or to avoid detection.
After seeing the wanted notice, he grew a beard, put on sunglasses, and immediately boarded a long-distance bus into Southeast Province.
What shocked Zhang Yang was that shortly after they left Shangyan City, Cheng Jisheng also appeared there, lingering near the hotel they stayed at.
At a little past 2 PM today, he took a bus to Meining, then a taxi straight to Wenlin Alley. Four hours ago, he checked into a family-style inn named Haixin, located near a crossroads. Several small alleys crisscrossed nearby, and there was a large supermarket next door—an ideal hiding spot.
"Two hours ago, he went to the supermarket and bought a whole bunch of stuff—probably food—and hasn't come out since." Xu Danying said while staring at the screen.
Zhang Yang examined the surveillance feed of the inn and its surroundings and noticed something. One room on the fourth-floor corner had its curtains constantly drawn.
"That should be his room—the corner room on the fourth floor. From there, he can observe the crossroads and several small alleys at the same time."
This guy was indeed cunning. He slipped out of Qingshi unnoticed, chose travel routes that avoided the Spring Festival rush, and reached Meining quickly.
If Zhang Yang hadn't received intel from Ao Tian, and if he didn't have the super search system, with Cheng Jisheng's cunning, the chances of him successfully attacking Zhang Yang would have been high.
Worse, if he targeted the people around Zhang Yang first, he'd be almost guaranteed to succeed.
This man was far too dangerous. He must not be allowed to live.
Zhang Yang studied the location of the inn. It was close to Meining University, close to Nuwa Group's temporary headquarters, and if he wanted, a taxi ride of less than 20 minutes would take him to the villa. It was likely that upon arriving in Meining, Cheng Jisheng had already scouted Zhang Yang's routine.
Zhang Yang calmly called Lulu over, telling her to stay alert tonight and temporarily cancel her activities. Then he grabbed a case and packed the SSG69 sniper rifle inside.
The rifle wasn't empty. And he didn't dare storm the inn recklessly—someone like Cheng Jisheng would certainly have prepared defenses.
But the one thing Cheng Jisheng would never know was that Zhang Yang already had his exact location—and a sniper rifle.
As he went downstairs and passed Tang Qiqi's room, he hesitated. Should he tell her? In a sense, Cheng Jisheng was her father's murderer.
After thinking it over, Zhang Yang ultimately didn't knock on her door and went straight downstairs.
Outside, a light rain drizzled. Meining's weather had been like this lately—random showers every day. And by late night, the sea breeze would make it bone-chilling cold.
Zhang Yang pulled his hooded black coat tight and prepared to leave.
"I'm going with you." Tang Qiqi appeared out of nowhere, dressed entirely in black, standing before him.
Before returning from Shangyan City, Zhang Yang had already lifted her restrictions. But she hadn't left the villa.
How she found out wasn't hard to guess. The only one who knew Zhang Yang was going to kill Cheng Jisheng was Xu Danlu.
And Xu Danlu knew Tang Qiqi's abilities—and their shared history with Cheng Jisheng.
Zhang Yang looked up. The light was on in room 203. Through the slight gap in the curtains, he could clearly see Xu Danlu's face.
Zhang Yang didn't speak. He simply nodded toward the car, signaling Tang Qiqi to get in. The Land Rover was still being repaired, so he was driving a black Audi SUV—Qiao Xier seemed to love this brand.
Tang Qiqi wore tight black jeans, a black waterproof jacket, a black fitted thermal top, and black police-grade combat boots. She looked like a SWAT operative—though she was an assassin.
The rain grew heavier. Zhang Yang kept contact with Xu Danying over the phone.
The time was 21:25, less than three hours before the new year.
The car moved neither fast nor slow. The cabin was silent except for the sound of the wipers scraping and the tires rolling over puddles.
There were few cars on the road. The streetlights looked dim under the rain. Zhang Yang felt as if he and Tang Qiqi were moving through a dark world in silence.
The car entered the urban district, heading toward Wenlin Alley. About 300 meters from the Haixin Inn, they got out.
According to Xu Danying, no one suspicious was seen near the inn, and Cheng Jisheng hadn't come out.
"Can you handle the SSG69?" Zhang Yang shook the case in his hand, finally breaking the silence.
"Mm." Under the dim streetlight, rain slid down her pale cheeks, giving her a striking beauty. Even with waterproof clothing, this kind of rain had left them both soaked.
A gust of sea breeze made her shiver.
Zhang Yang stepped forward, wanting to hold her. His hand froze halfway, then withdrew, and instead he grabbed her elbow and guided her under an awning.
"There's an 80–90% chance Cheng Jisheng is in that fourth-floor corner room." Zhang Yang pointed out the location found by the system.
Surveying the surroundings, he saw only two elevated vantage points—a hotel and an old residential building—both roughly 100 meters from the Haixin Inn.
The SSG69's muzzle velocity was 860 meters per second. That meant it'd take only about 0.1 seconds for a round to hit a