Chapter 39: Weird Girl

“Sir! If there’s anything else you need, we can talk about it! Please don’t do anything rash!”

The situation in front of him filled Wuming with frantic anxiety—like a massive boulder was crushing his chest, leaving him unable to voice the bitterness inside. 

If he didn’t come up with something fast, the whole scene was going to spiral completely out of control!

And if it did go out of control… the next second could very well end in blood splattered across the ground, the kind of gruesome sight no one wanted to witness.

“I’ve got nothing to talk about! I just want company on the road!”

The man roared, pressing the knife tip harder against her throat. 

“I’m taking her down with me!!!”

“Save… save me!!!”

The hostage let out a pitiful, sobbing cry. 

She couldn’t fathom why this was happening to her—why she had become his target!

Terror made her blurt out anything she could think of, anything that might let her live.

“I just came back to life… I don’t want to die again!!!”

“I-I-I—I’m actually a guy!!!”

“It’s just… for certain reasons I ended up like this!”

“What the hell kind of crazy nonsense are you spouting?!”

The man clearly hadn’t caught—or hadn’t understood—the part about “coming back to life.” He only latched onto the latter half. “You’re telling me you’re actually a man?!”

“I-I-I—I really am a guy!!!” 

The hostage desperately tried to explain her identity. 

“It’s just… something happened and I turned out like this!”

Yet to both Wuming and the knife-wielding man, the person in front of them had a delicate, tear-streaked face that could awaken protective instincts in anyone, paired with a slender frame and terrified expression.

Claiming to be male?

That was even more absurd than claiming pigs could fly!

What is this girl even rambling about…?

The exact same thought flashed through both Wuming’s and the man’s minds at the same time.

Saying she’s a guy so he’ll let her go—what a wild tactic to come up with.

“Whether you’re a man or a woman, we’ll know once I check!”

The man spoke with a mix of skepticism and sleazy curiosity. 

His free hand started reaching downward.

“Eek—!!! No!!!”

The hostage instantly let out a piercing scream and thrashed wildly. 

“I’m really a guy!!!”

“Not letting me check? Hah! That just proves you’re a girl!” 

The man became even more convinced.

“Guy!”

“Girl!”

“…I’m fucking telling you I’m a guy!!”

“Keep spinning your fairy tales!”

The man obviously wasn’t buying any of it. 

He barked at her harshly, “You can question my eyesight if you want, but don’t insult my intelligence!”

Even if it was his first time doing something like this, he wasn’t about to be fooled so easily! 

There was no way he could have misjudged or misheard!

For a brief moment, the tension of the hostage crisis seemed to thin. 

Wuming watched as the girl and the man kept arguing back and forth about her gender.

Uh…

How did the atmosphere suddenly veer this far off track?!

Wuming felt like his brain was struggling to keep up with whatever was happening right now.

This sharp turn of events left him inwardly sighing: how on earth did things escalate to this point? 

How did the conversation suddenly veer into this territory?!

Why didn’t she just claim she was a Walmart plastic bag or an attack helicopter while she was at it?

Of course Wuming didn’t believe anyone else could switch genders the way he could—but her words still made him wonder whether she might have some kind of ability similar to his own, something that could alter her sex.

If that guess turned out to be true…

Then maybe claiming her gender was “attack helicopter” wouldn’t actually be that far-fetched?

“Tch…”

The hostage—who had been completely on the defensive until now—let out an extremely irritated click of the tongue. 

Then she whipped her head around and glared murderously at the man holding the knife!

“I’ve already fucking told you eight hundred times I’m a guy! Are you deaf, you stubborn donkey, or did water get in your brain?!!!”

The crisp, loli-like voice roared out vulgar curses, ringing loud enough for everyone present to hear clearly.

“You want me to drop my pants right here and prove it on the spot?!”

“Fine! When I whip it out and it’s bigger than yours, don’t you dare start crying and calling for mommy—you hear me?!”

“…”

This girl… has quite the vocabulary.

Wuming ran a hand through his hair, trying to process what in the world was going on and what exactly this girl was spouting.

Coming back to life and not wanting to die again—you think this is some novel or isekai anime or what?!

His gaze unconsciously swept over the girl again. She was wearing shorts and an obviously oversized, baggy T-shirt—that was all she had on.

The outfit puzzled Wuming. Not because it didn’t fit her, but because… of the weather right now.

It was freezing cold. 

Most people had already switched to long pants and long sleeves, yet this girl was still dressed so lightly.

Didn’t she feel the cold at all?

Then his eyes moved up to her face.

If it weren’t for that soft, flowing long hair and the impossibly delicate, doll-like loli features, her current style really would have looked more like a sloppy, unkempt boy.

So Wuming still thought she was female—or maybe one of those very convincing traps?

Yet judging by how insistently she claimed to be male, the knife-wielding man looked utterly confused. He was absolutely certain he hadn’t misjudged—she was definitely a girl.

Was it really that hard to just admit she was female?!

That was the only thought left in his head.

He had personally watched her walk into a women’s clothing store with a guy. Otherwise he never would have targeted her.

“Fucking let go of me! I’m dropping my pants right now to prove it to you!”

The hostage struggled even harder, clearly determined to give him an eyeful he wouldn’t forget!

“Pah! In your dreams!”

The man immediately tightened his grip around her, refusing to believe a single word of her nonsense—even if she turned out to be some kinky trap, he was fine with it!

He was already a dead man walking. If he was going down, she was coming with him—he wasn’t letting her escape!

“The second I let go you’ll bolt straight into the police line! You think I’m an idiot?!”

“Bullshit! You fucking virgin! Who said anything about running?! I’m going all in today! Open your eyes and take a good look!”

The girl’s loli voice cracked from the sheer volume, carrying a do-or-die determination—as if no matter what, she was going to force him to see it.

Outdoors… in public…?!

What kind of public play is this?!

Wuming’s brain was teetering on the edge of overload. 

A hostage crisis had somehow devolved into this. 

For a moment he was completely speechless.

Is this okay?! This is definitely not okay, right?!

Why is she saying all this?! She can’t actually be a trap, can she?!

Just as Wuming’s mind was still a chaotic mess—

Pfft—!

(A very faint, muffled sound.)

The man who had been red-faced and arguing furiously with the hostage only a second earlier suddenly shuddered violently!

His head jerked sharply to the right.

All strength drained from his body in an instant. 

He toppled sideways and collapsed to the ground. The arm that had been holding the hostage fell limply away.

The hostage froze for a split second—then exploded into motion. 

She sprinted toward the police without looking back, covering half the distance in just a few explosive strides.

Wuming stood rooted to the spot. His pupils dilated in shock. The strange pfft still echoed faintly in his ears.

He hadn’t even processed what had happened before the hostage-taker was already down.

The first to react were Captain Qin and his officers.

“Secure the scene!”

Captain Qin bellowed. Moving like a leopard, he vaulted over the cordon line. 

Two officers caught the running girl and quickly escorted her to safety.

Several more officers rushed forward with the captain. 

They swiftly restrained the fallen man’s limbs while warily scanning the surroundings.

One officer crouched down, checked the man’s carotid pulse and pupils, then looked up at Captain Qin.

“Headshot. Through-and-through. Dead on impact.”

One shot, one kill…

Wuming, still standing where he was, heard the officer’s report clearly. 

In the blink of an eye—while he had been completely unaware—the man had been killed with a single bullet.

So… it was over just like that?

At that moment Judy hurried over to Wuming’s side and gently patted his shoulder, signaling the end of the hostage crisis.

“You worked hard, Doctor Wuming.”

“Thank you for everything you did just now.”

“This…” Wuming was still dazed. 

His eyes swept blankly over the fallen body and the bustling officers. “…Who fired the shot?”

“Besides us police, who else would have a gun and be able to act at a moment like that?”

Judy answered as if it were obvious. 

No one else could have done it. “It had to be a sniper. They seized the opening and took him out with one clean shot—crisis resolved.”

She paused, frowning slightly, a trace of puzzlement in her voice.

“It’s just… there wasn’t even a gunshot sound earlier. That’s really strange.”

Still, she didn’t dwell on it too much. 

Snipers using suppressors was perfectly normal, and the shooter might have been positioned quite far away.

“…” Wuming stayed silent, though his gaze involuntarily drifted back to where the man had fallen.

“Let’s go, Wuming. You should rest for a bit.”