Zhang Qiang got lucky. When the bus rolled onto the driver's side, Zhang Qiang happened to land on the very boulder that had speared through the window. He grabbed the bomb case and scrambled out through the window.
Zhang Qiang did not stop to think about how strange all this was. Hands and feet shaking, he clawed his way out. He admitted it. He was scared to death. All he wanted was to get away from here. Something wet dripped onto his head.
"Is it raining?"
"What's that smell? Gasoline?"
"Who poured gasoline all over my face?!"
"No, really, it's a rain of gasoline!"
Most people were crushed and could not move. Only a few managed to wriggle out of the windows. Those still inside shouted, "Quit yapping and help us out there. Are you dreaming? In this weather there is no…"
Before the sentence finished, a dozen flaming branches arced in from far away, tracing bright curves through the air. When they landed, they ignited the gasoline-soaked buses.
With a boom, the whole scene erupted. In pitch-black Wu City, two brilliant fireballs bloomed at last.
The screams from inside grew louder. A few who had just crawled out did not make it far and went up in flames. They ran and shrieked, then dropped to roll, but nothing helped.
Jing Shu had gone all in, dousing the buses like a 360-degree sprinkler. Without firefighting foam, there was no putting it out.
Wang Dazhao stared, legs shaking, gulping air. On the far side of the wreck, sweat poured down his back. Faced with a vision of hell, Wang Dazhao finally understood why Jing Shu had warned him, run fast or you might die.
Luckily, Wang Dazhao had been ready. The moment the bus flipped, he dove out the window before anyone else reacted.
Otherwise…
"Being alive is better," Wang Dazhao thought.
Boom!
The two buses exploded one after the other. The stench of char and burnt flesh rolled out. A small mushroom cloud climbed into the sky. For several kilometers, anyone could see the smoke and the flames. The screams dwindled, smaller and smaller, then faded almost to nothing.
Already, Jing Shu had her crossbow out, prowling the dark for survivors and picking off anyone not on fire. Jing Shu did not kill the innocent, but anyone who came to bomb her villa had to be ready to die.
As she picked targets, Jing Shu also reclaimed intact cone-shaped boulders into the Cube Space. Some had shattered or split on impact. She had fired twenty-five and recovered only eighteen. It took her a whole day to grind out two of them.
"Help! Help!" Zhang Qiang slapped his face and shoulder frantically. When he first felt liquid on his skin, the flames had already caught.
The strong, pig-squeal howl drew Jing Shu's attention. She turned. The two-meter-tall man clutching a case — was that not Zhetian's third-in-command?
Jing Shu's gaze snapped to the case and lit up. She pulled a climbing rope from the Cube Space, looped it from behind, and cinched the giant tight. Without a word, she ripped the case from his hands, then kicked the big man to the ground and stomped him hard several times. So you really could stomp out flames.
The big man's screams rose and fell like a slaughtered hog.
With the giant pinned, Jing Shu focused on the case. It was not locked. She pressed the latch. Firelight washed over six grenades clipped in place, the letters MK3 stamped on each.
"Right. The MK series has been a classic U.S. grenade line since World War I, nicknamed the pineapple. The current MK3 series is in active use. Its specialty is raw power. Within fifteen meters, it has the honor of being devastating."
Jing Shu stroked the grenades, reluctant to put them down.
Perfect. Another life-saving tool for the future. A pity there were only six. Still, they were worth the cost of tonight's operation and the boulders lost.
When Zhetian raided a police station before, they only had two. Now they had extras for attacking the oil base. Headquarters must have issued new toys. Jing Shu even considered playing double agent to scam a batch of grenades and guns.
She snapped the case shut and stored the grenades in the Cube Space. Life-saving gear belonged where she could grab it fast.
"Jing Shu?" Wang Dazhao hurried over, drawn by the shrieks. "You okay? Did you get the bombs?" Seeing Zhang Qiang pinned and helpless under Jing Shu's boot, Wang Dazhao swallowed hard. How strong was she?
"I put them away first. This one is Zhetian's third-in-command, right?" Jing Shu yanked the big man upright.
Wang Dazhao stared at the scorched scalp, singed eyebrows, and half-melted face. If not for the height, Wang Dazhao would not have recognized him.
"That's him. Zhang Qiang. Zhetian's No. 2 is Shangguan Jun. The boss has no name. I heard this organization spans the country. Our local boss is codenamed Zero-Eight. There seem to be seven more in other regions. About the handler you asked me to trace, I only know a little. Codename Zero. He only contacts bosses with code designations."
"It was Zhetian's No. 2, Shangguan Jun, who ordered the abductions. As for the boss, Zero-Eight, I have never seen him. He issues commands verbally through those two…"
As they spoke, the growl of engines approached. Jing Shu looked up. It was their own car, taillights followed by three patrol trucks. Headlights flooded over Jing Shu, Wang Dazhao, and the half-dead Zhang Qiang under Jing Shu's foot.
Their BYD Song screeched to a stop. Su Lanzhi jumped out and ran to Jing Shu, both scolding and crying.
"You little menace, why can't you spare us worry? We waited and waited and never saw any bicycles come by. Instead, Officer Yang Yang arrived at the rendezvous first. Then we suddenly saw the sky glow like a fire, and smoke rose. We rushed here. Thank goodness you are all right."
Szzzt—
The buses kept popping with bursts of burning body fat.
Like last time, over thirty armed police poured out of the patrol trucks. They shuddered at the sight of scorched corpses and the charred frame of a bus with a massive boulder lodged in it.
Yang Yang's handsome face finally showed surprise. He swept his flashlight over a few bodies and said, "Miss Jing, can you explain what happened? These boulders and rubble, the heavy stench of gasoline, and the bodies with arrows in them. You shot them, yes? Do not tense up. I am just curious."
If the villa's pit trap killing dozens last time could be chalked up to coincidence, then this was no accident. Luring her parents away, then single-handedly burning more than a hundred men to death — that was deliberate. Su Lanzhi and Jing An truly thought two different groups were involved, but Yang Yang knew it was one. This time, this woman clearly had planned it.