Cheng Cheng and the Cicada
Chapter 1 Opening
The man wearing a cartoon cat mask looked at Lin Xian:
“Then you’ve hit the jackpot, buddy! You can kill whoever you want in your dreams! Do whatever you want! You can even experience all sorts of death-defying games! Hiss… just thinking about it is exciting!”
*Click.*
The man pushed the magazine into his pistol and cocked it:
“But tonight, you don’t have to look for excitement in your dreams. I’ll show you something real!”
He pointed his finger at the bank across the street:
“My little brother broke open the bank door. Come with me!”
Lin Xian nodded, straightened the Ultraman mask on his face, and got up to follow the man's footsteps:
“What should I call you, big brother?”
“They all call me Big Cat on the streets.”
The man grinned, the horizontal stripes on his face squeezing the cartoon cat mask into an even more two-dimensional shape:
“Just call me Cat Bro.”
“Cat Bro, what’s my mission?”
“It’s not your turn to use your expert code-breaking skills. Follow me and don’t run around.”
*Rustle, rustle, rustle…*
After a short jog, Lin Xian followed Big Cat to the bank entrance.
“Is everything done?” Big Cat asked.
The lackey nodded.
Big Cat put his pistol against the lackey’s forehead—
*Bang!*
Blood splattered on the wall!
He casually wiped the muzzle of the gun and patted Lin Xian on the shoulder:
“Now that there’s one less person to split the money with, we can get a lot more!”
“Isn’t he your little brother?”
“That guy’s got sticky fingers. For our safety, we can’t keep him around!”
Big Cat said as he pulled Lin Xian inside.
The two arrived at a fork in the passage.
A masked man was tinkering with the distribution box.
“Not done yet?”
Big Cat urged.
*Click.*
The masked man cut a wire, wiped the sweat from his brow, and said:
“It’s done. The alarm system is disabled!”
*Bang!*
Another shot to the back of the head! The distribution box was full of blood!
“Big Brother, you’re making me feel very unsafe!”
Lin Xian pointed to the corpse on the ground:
“Does this little brother also have sticky fingers?”
Big Cat snorted:
“This guy’s hands are clean, but he seduced your sister-in-law! You think I can let him live?”
“Is it that hard to be a big brother?”
“Don’t worry about the small details! Aren’t you happy that there’s one less person to split the money with?”
Lin Xian pushed away his arm that was around him:
“You’re not planning to shoot me in a while and take all the money for yourself, are you?”
“Of course not!”
Big Cat patted his chest and abdomen, then pulled a gray object taped together from behind his waist and handed it to Lin Xian.
“What’s this?”
“C4 explosive.”
Big Cat pointed to the switch and explained to Lin Xian:
“Your Cat Bro is open and honest! I never do petty things! If you feel like I want to kill you, just press the switch and blow up your Cat Bro with you! Feel relieved now?”
“Okay, reliable!”
Lin Xian gave a thumbs up and took the C4 explosive.
*Rustle, rustle, rustle…*
The two continued to move forward.
A masked man ran up from the underground passage:
“Boss, I’ve cut off the main power line—”
*Bang!*
Brains splattered everywhere.
“Bro, this guy…”
“It’s okay, Cat Bro.” Lin Xian waved his hand, indicating that he was used to it:
“Just tell me directly how many people are left to split the money?”
“Just you and me! Hehehe… just you and me!”
Big Cat pushed Lin Xian quickly inside:
“Look, we’re at the warehouse! It’s your turn, expert codebreaker!”
Before them…
Was a thick black wall, with a silver password door in the middle.
“What’s the password?”
“Bah! If I knew the password, why would I be looking for an expert codebreaker like you!”
Big Cat pointed to his watch:
“Stop messing around, buddy! Hurry up! We don’t have much time left! Once the main power is restored, the security system will automatically sound the alarm!”
“I know you’re in a hurry, but don’t rush.”
Lin Xian walked to the password door and started tinkering.
Big Cat paced back and forth, the horizontal stripes on his face twisted into a ball:
“How long will it take you?”
“10.”
“10 minutes!?” Big Cat exclaimed: “That’s too long!!”
“9… 8… 7…”
???
Big Cat looked at Lin Xian, who was running away, in shock!
Then he turned his head and saw the C4 explosive stuck on the password door!
And the red numbers constantly changing on the detonator!!
“Shift!”
He dove towards the outside of the wall—
*Boom!!!!!!!*
*Boom!!!!!!!*
*Boom!!!!!!!*
The deafening explosion pierced his eardrums!
Countless bricks and iron blocks smashed into him!
“Cough, cough… cough, cough!!”
Big Cat wiped the blood off his face and roared:
“What the f***… Aren’t you an expert codebreaker? Is this how you crack codes!?”
“Tell me, isn’t it efficient?”
Lin Xian walked over covering his ears, pointed to the collapsed wall in front:
“Look, the warehouse is inside.”
Big Cat got up cursing:
“Experts are never reliable…”
…
Lin Xian walked into the large hole blown open in the wall.
This was the first time he had ever entered a bank warehouse, but the scene was completely different from what he had imagined…
“Why isn’t there a single cent?”
The warehouse was empty.
There weren’t the piles of banknotes he had imagined, nor the mountains of gold bars he had seen in movies.
The walls around the warehouse were inlaid with rows of neatly arranged safes.
Lin Xian walked closer to take a look.
Each safe had a different name written on it.
Wang Shuo.
Liu Liping.
Wei Shengjin.
Lin Xian.
Wang—
???
Lin Xian took a step back and stared at the name on the previous safe.
[Lin Xian]
No mistake.
Why would his name appear on this safe?
*Click.*
Behind him, a scorching gun barrel pressed against the back of his head.
“Cat Bro, have mercy.”
Lin Xian decisively raised his hands in surrender:
“Cat Bro, you have to be reasonable. I don’t have sticky fingers, and I haven’t seduced your sister-in-law. You can’t wrong me when you’re cleaning up the family, right?”
“Okay, Cat Bro, I admit, I did lie to you. Actually, I’m not an expert codebreaker at all… I was just wandering around the square, and I just picked up an Ultraman mask and put it on. Then you jumped out and dragged me into the car without saying a word!”
“But I didn’t know this Ultraman mask was your [secret code]! To be fair, I just lied to you for fun. I didn’t harm you.”
“Besides… If you had brought the real expert codebreaker today, they might not have been able to crack the code by dawn! Meeting me was a lucky accident for you!”
*Pfft————*
A bell-like giggle came from behind:
“I’m not that stupid! If they can’t crack the password door by dawn… What kind of expert codebreaker would they be?”
Immediately, the scorching gun barrel left Lin Xian’s scalp.
Lin Xian turned his head.
Behind him was a slender woman with her hair tied up, wearing the same Ultraman mask as him.
“Where’s my Cat Bro?”
The woman pointed her chin at her feet.
Big Cat was lying in a pool of blood wearing a cat mask, with a big hole in the back of his head.
“You killed him?”
“If I didn’t kill him, you would be the one dead just now.”
The woman kicked the corpse away:
“He was planning to kill all of you and take all the money for himself. He wasn’t a good person.”
“This team of yours is really hard to lead…”
“Don’t say ‘yours.’ I’m not with them.”
The woman pushed Lin Xian away and walked towards the safe on the wall:
“I only met him for the first time. I don’t recognize him. I only recognize the cartoon cat mask.”
“Can your secret code be any more retro?”
The woman ignored Lin Xian.
She brushed past Lin Xian, her eyes scanning the safes on the wall one by one.
Finally, she stopped in front of the safe with [Lin Xian] written on it.
Looking at the eight password dials on the box, she snorted and threw away the small computer in her hand:
“It’s a mechanical lock…”
The woman put her ear to the safe and clicked the password dials.
“What’s in this [Lin Xian] safe?” Lin Xian came up from behind.
“Don’t know.”
“Do you know Lin Xian?”
“Don’t know.”
“Then why are you opening his safe?”
“Why do you have so many questions?”
Through the Ultraman mask, the woman glared at Lin Xian:
“Go stand somewhere cooler!”
She continued to tinker with the combination lock.
Lin Xian looked at the eight password dials on the safe and pondered…
“Try 19990320.”
“What?”
The woman looked at Lin Xian unhappily.
“I said, for the password on that safe, try 19990320.”
“What kind of number is that?”
“My birthday,” Lin Xian replied affirmatively.
“……”
“……”
“Are you out of your mind?!” the woman asked sincerely.
“Listen.”
Lin Xian took a deep breath.
His serious gaze looked through the Ultraman mask, at the other Ultraman:
“The alarm will sound at any time. No one jokes in this kind of situation. My goal and yours are the same, even… I’m more curious than you about what’s hidden in this safe.”
“Believe me.”
Lin Xian took a step forward, his face serious:
“This password, it definitely can’t be wrong!”
…
The woman looked at Lin Xian without speaking.
But obviously, she was convinced by Lin Xian’s confident aura.
“You… say it again.”
“19990320.”
*Click, click…*
The woman dialed the eight password dials, looked back at Lin Xian, and pressed the lock—
*Click!*
It didn’t open.
“Huh?”
Lin Xian was stunned. The password was wrong!
The woman’s eyebrows twitched, and she took a deep breath:
“I really should have let your Cat Bro beat you to death!”
“He kept saying to call him Face Bro…”
“Enough!!!”
The woman couldn’t bear it anymore, pulled out her gun and pointed it at Lin Xian!
Word by word, she gritted her teeth:
“Say another word! And I’ll kill you!”
Lin Xian raised his hands and honestly took two steps back.
He wasn’t afraid of death.
But he was even more curious about what was hidden in this safe.
…
*Click, click, click…*
The woman kept trying to crack the password, but there was no progress.
Lin Xian squatted on the ground, supporting his chin and thinking, but he also had no clue.
*Click!*
With a crisp sound of a circuit connecting, a piercing alarm sounded around them.
It seemed that the main power line had been restored, and the automatic alarm had been triggered.
The woman punched the safe and sighed.
Lin Xian raised his wrist and glanced at the time:
[00:41:53]
He got up and stretched:
“No time left, let’s come back tomorrow.”
“Heh! Tomorrow?”
The woman seemed to have heard a great joke and laughed disdainfully:
“You blew this place up like this! You think you’ll have a chance to come in tomorrow?!”
“You certainly won’t have a chance…”
Lin Xian smiled slightly:
“But I can. I can every day.”
He waved to the woman:
“Bye-bye~”
*Boom!!!!!!!*
*Boom!!!!!!!*
*Boom!!!!!!!*
Suddenly, white light came! The whole world was bright!
Before he could feel any pain, before he could react!
The scorching white light instantly swallowed everything!
Turning this world into vapor!
…
…
*Hoo…*
The night wind blew up the window纱, dancing and swaying.
The moonlight shone through the glass, casting a floating frost.
The shouts of the night market stall men playing drinking games came from downstairs.
The sound of flushing water came from the pipes in the bathroom next door.
The manuscript paper on the desk fluctuated in the wind, and the notebook opened and closed like a river clam.
On the bed in the corner of the bedroom.
Lin Xian opened his eyes…
He sniffed and sat up, looked at the digital clock on the bedside table—
[December 7, 2022]
[00:42:01]
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[00:42:02]
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[00:42:03]
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[00:42:04]
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