Volume One, Chapter Four: The Adventure for the First Pot of Gold

Chen Xiangyang, lost in the dark, remained unaware that a high school student was trailing him, armed with a wooden club.

The police had been keeping a close watch on him lately, but that had done little to hinder his movements. His hideout was located right next to the South Street Police Station—a classic case of hiding in plain sight. He figured the police were likely busy setting up checkpoints at the borders and major traffic arteries, never dreaming that their target was living right next door. At the thought of this, a sense of smug satisfaction washed over him; he took pleasure in the feeling of playing the world for a fool.

In his jubilant state, he even began to whistle, having completely forgotten about the teenager who had bumped into him earlier.

Li Yan’s footsteps were light. His heart hammered against his ribs; he could hear every pulse and breath with agonizing clarity. His palms, gripping the wooden club, were slick with sweat. Even though he possessed the mental fortitude of an adult, he could not help but feel nervous facing such a notorious and desperate criminal.

Fortunately, Chen Xiangyang remained oblivious.

The distance between them closed—thirty meters, twenty, ten, five...

Just then, they both stepped beneath a streetlamp. Li Yan’s shadow stretched long, landing right at Chen’s feet. Noticing the shadow creeping toward him, Chen Xiangyang grew alert. He whipped around, only to see the teenager who had collided with him earlier, wooden club in hand.

Chen’s eyes glinted with malice as he glared at Li Yan. "Kid, what do you want? Looking for a death wish?"

*He's been spotted.*

Li Yan’s heart skipped a beat, but there was no turning back now. *Do or die!*

Gritting his teeth, he pushed off the ground with sudden, explosive force, pouncing like a cheetah. He brought the club down hard toward Chen’s head. Chen saw a blur and instinctively tilted his head. The strike was blindingly fast—even for the agile Chen, it was nothing more than a fleeting shadow. The club slammed into his left shoulder blade with a sickening *crack*, shattering the bone instantly.

Without thinking, Li Yan drove his left foot into Chen’s chest. The impact sent Chen’s burly, six-foot frame soaring three meters into the air, tracing a parabolic arc before crashing heavily to the ground.

"You... you..." Chen stammered, casting a look of pure disbelief at Li Yan before his head slumped and he fell unconscious.

*It was that easy?*

In a mere instant, the notorious criminal had been laid out. Li Yan had kicked him back at least ten meters. Was this what they called an adrenaline-fueled burst of potential? It all felt surreal; he had braced himself for a brutal fight, even contemplating the possibility of his own death.

He approached Chen cautiously, club raised, remaining on high alert. He feared Chen might be faking it to lure him in for a retaliatory strike. He poked the prone man with the club; no response. He poked him harder; still nothing. He was truly out cold.

Still uneasy, Li Yan used the club to wedge under Chen’s stomach and flipped him over. He saw blood leaking from the criminal's nose and mouth, his eyes rolled back—he looked as if he were dead.

*Did I kill him?*

If he were dead, it would be a disaster. Not only would the bounty be jeopardized, but he might also find himself in legal trouble. Finally lowering his guard slightly, Li Yan reached out to check for a pulse. He was still breathing. Relieved, he realized he had simply knocked the man unconscious with those two blows. He didn't dwell on how he had summoned such strength.

Li Yan felt his pockets, only to remember he didn't have a phone. He began searching Chen’s clothes and, sure enough, found one. He used it to report the incident to the police.

"Hello, I’d like to report a crime. I’ve found the wanted criminal Chen Xiangyang and subdued him. The location is South Street..."

Within minutes, sirens wailed throughout South Street. The officers from the local station arrived at a breakneck pace. The news that a local had apprehended the major drug trafficker Chen Xiangyang was monumental.

Li Yan was quickly surrounded by police. He stood perfectly still, cooperating fully—he didn't want any misunderstandings.

"Did you report this? What’s your name? Do you have ID?"

"Li Yan. Here is my ID. I’m a student at Lin City No. 1 High School; I just finished the college entrance exam."

"A high schooler from No. 1 High?" The officer in charge looked genuinely surprised.

"Captain Wang, it’s confirmed. This is Chen Xiangyang, no doubt about it," an officer shouted, visibly excited after verifying the unconscious man’s identity.

It really was him? The entire squad stood in stunned silence. The elusive drug lord, whose crimes had plagued the city and kept them searching in vain, was lying right there at their feet. It felt like some kind of cosmic joke.

Captain Wang was equally stunned, filled with a mix of surprise and disbelief. He brushed past Li Yan to get a closer look at Chen, confirming it was indeed the man they had been hunting.

An ambulance soon arrived to take Chen away, escorted by a heavy guard of armed officers. While a criminal like Chen deserved to die, he was too valuable alive; the police needed to extract information from him to dismantle the rest of his network.

Li Yan was taken to the Lin City police station. Along the way, the younger officers peered at him with curiosity. They had heard of students from No. 1 High being brilliant at exams, but never at taking down drug lords. He was just an eighteen-year-old student—the whole situation was utterly absurd.

When the police car stopped briefly on the bar street, Li Yan felt suffocated by the officers' stares and rolled down the window to catch some air. As he did, he spotted a group of familiar faces—his classmates from Class 22, who were out celebrating the end of their exams.

The massive police presence had naturally drawn the attention of these curious students, who were on the cusp of university life.

"Hey, isn't that Li Yan?"

"It is! Why is he in a police car?"

"Did he do something illegal?"

"No way, what kind of crime would require this many police?"

"Maybe he killed someone? Look, there are even armed police behind them."

The entire class stared at Li Yan as he tried to get some air. Hearing their murmurs, Li Yan’s mouth twitched. *What is going on? I’m just trying to breathe!*

One of the officers barked at the students, "Go back! What are you looking at?"

The officer meant well, knowing that once Chen’s associates found out Li Yan had taken him down, they might seek revenge. But to the classmates, the officer’s aggression only confirmed that Li Yan had committed a heinous crime. Rumors began to fly—that he had gone wild after the exams and gotten arrested, or that he’d tried to skip out on a bar tab and committed manslaughter in the process.

Regardless of the truth, the stories about Li Yan only grew darker and more distorted.