Chen Li Shu instinctively bent at the waist and crouched down, narrowly dodging a projectile hurled at her.
The attacker reacted swiftly. When their initial strike failed, they reached out to grab Chen Li Shu’s hair. Meanwhile, another person moved to cut off her escape route.
Just as the attacker’s fingers were about to grasp Chen Li Shu’s hair, they felt a sharp pain at the back of their neck. The world went black, and with a thud, they collapsed onto the ground.
Before Chen Li Shu could fully comprehend what had happened, a strong gust of wind swept past her face. The man blocking her path from the other side grunted, clutching his face, and fell to the ground in agony.
Gu Xing Dong asked, "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," Chen Li Shu replied, shaking her head, her expression etched with anxiety. "The toilet door is locked from the inside, and I knocked a few times, but there was no response."
"I'll keep an eye on them. You go call the train attendant," Gu Xing Dong said. As soon as he finished speaking, the man clutching his face, who had fallen to the ground, struggled to get up. Gu Xing Dong pressed his knee into the man’s back, forcing him to stumble and fall again, unable to move.
"I'll go right now," Chen Li Shu said, hurrying off to find a train attendant. By this time, the commotion had already alerted others in the carriage.
When the woman saw her accomplice subdued, she, who had been somewhat fearful earlier, quickly regained her composure and shouted loudly, "Everyone, come and see! This person stole my money and tried to run. This kind person was trying to help me catch him, and he even injured them—"
Having traveled extensively for their line of work for years, they had seen it all. No matter how skilled Gu Xing Dong was, he would ultimately be the one to suffer.
Hearing the woman’s cries, a crowd immediately gathered around.
"I saw this man just now. He stole that woman's money and tried to run. When the woman tried to shout, he choked her. Tsk, the look on his face was so ferocious," a woman from the same carriage chimed in.
"I… I was just helping to catch the thief, and I got beaten up by him," the man pinned down by Gu Xing Dong’s knee reacted, feigning distress as he began to complain to the crowd.
"Is there no law anymore? To do such a thing in front of so many people! With so many of us here today, we’ll see if he can beat all of us. The train still has over ten minutes until the next stop. Let’s take him to the public security bureau together!"
A young man with glasses pointed at Gu Xing Dong, speaking indignantly.
Gu Xing Dong glanced at him but ignored him. Instead, he turned and raised his hand, tapping on the tightly shut toilet door. "It must feel good hiding in there, right? If you know what's good for you, open the door quickly. Don't make me kick it down."
"Hey, you're being too arrogant…"
"Shut up!" Gu Xing Dong’s glare silenced the bespectacled man instantly.
"Don't get riled up and join the crowd without knowing what's going on," Gu Xing Dong said. He then stepped back and was about to kick the toilet door when Chen Li Shu arrived with two train attendants and a conductor.
"Is the person inside?" one of the train attendants asked, looking at the scene and then at Chen Li Shu.
Chen Li Shu nodded. "Yes, thankfully we discovered it in time."
The train attendant’s expression turned serious. Thefts and kidnappings on trains were endless, and these criminals employed diverse and wicked methods, making the attendants detest them.
Seeing the train attendant examining the toilet door, Gu Xing Dong stepped aside to give him space.
The onlookers, sensing the seriousness of the situation, held their breath and watched.
With a loud bang, the toilet door burst open.
"Ah!" A girl inside cried out like a startled rabbit, turning and immediately hiding in the arms of a man beside her.
A man and a woman, hiding in the toilet with such panicked expressions, made it obvious to everyone what they had been doing.
Chen Li Shu’s face turned pale as she looked at the two strangers before her.
The train attendant turned back. "Are these the people you were looking for?"
Chen Li Shu shook her head. "No."
"I told you we were framed! This man is the thief! This comrade, he stole my money and then tried to accuse us of being human traffickers. You must bring justice for good people like us!"
The woman, who seemed to have known all along that Chen Li Yuan wasn’t in the toilet, began to cry out to the train attendant, but her eyes held a hint of schadenfreude as she looked at Chen Li Shu and Gu Xing Dong.
With Chen Li Yuan not in the toilet, Chen Li Shu's mind went blank for a moment. She immediately feared the worst: they had already gotten her sister off the train.
Gu Xing Dong, sensing her thoughts, said in a low voice, "The last stop was two hours ago. Your second sister was still here then. The next stop is less than ten minutes away. She must still be on the train."
Chen Li Shu tried to calm herself, nodding. "Yes, with someone as big as Li Yuan, they definitely wouldn't dare go far. They must be nearby. Let's split up and search."
The woman’s eyes flickered with panic when she heard their words. She quickly stepped forward to block them. "You can't leave! You stole my belongings and then accused me. Didn't you say someone was hiding in the toilet? Everyone saw it. You must clarify this in front of the train attendant, or no one is leaving."
"Stealing things and then slandering people! I tried to help, and they called me a trafficker. Where am I supposed to find justice? In front of everyone, you two must give me an explanation." Another accomplice of the woman blocked them from the other side.
"What kind of people are these? They look decent but are doing such shameless things. It's obvious they're guilty and trying to escape. Everyone, keep an eye on them and don't let them run!" the bespectacled man exclaimed indignantly again.
"Yes, we must not let them escape! People like this should be sent to the public security bureau for severe punishment!"
As the train attendants listened to the crowd’s accusations, they looked at Gu Xing Dong and Chen Li Shu. "Comrades..."
Before he could finish, a document was thrust before him. The train attendant took a step back, and upon clearly seeing the contents, his expression immediately became serious. He raised his hand in a salute to Gu Xing Dong and then turned to his colleagues. "You control these people. Xiao Liu, go inform the conductors of all carriages. No one is allowed to disembark until the person is found."
His colleague immediately took control of the woman and the other two men, while the conductor Xiao Liu quickly turned to relay the message.
"Let's go, I'll help you search."
With less than ten minutes until the train arrived at the station, everyone needed to make every second count.
As the train attendant finished speaking, Gu Xing Dong headed left, while Chen Li Shu and the train attendant moved right, beginning their swift search.
The young man with glasses was surprised to learn Gu Xing Dong was a military officer. Realizing he had misjudged the situation, he flushed red. Seeing them split up to search, he hurried after Gu Xing Dong. "Comrade, what does the missing person look like? I'll help you search."
In the dimly lit carriage, many people were resting with their eyes closed, some even with their heads covered. Chen Li Shu, however, was too anxious to search and could only apologize as she meticulously scanned each seat.
As time ticked by, every minute felt like an eternity. The longer she couldn't find her sister, the more anxious Chen Li Shu became. Especially as she felt the train's speed gradually decreasing, the tightrope of her nerves was nearing its breaking point.