Chapter 1: The Entanglement of Love and Hate, Haicheng's Solitude

  Li Huqiu's life seemed to be opening locks and doors, one after another, each linked to the next. This villa had eighteen doors and one hundred and eighty locks, he didn't know how long it took for his predecessors, anyway when it was his turn in the afternoon, only three people were left: him, Da Dingzi, and Li Yaron. Hei Hu Li, Ba Gou Er, and Xie Zha Er had already finished their matches, as for the results, Gao Longyu didn't say, he just said that to be fair, they should go back and rest first.

  Li Huqiu walked towards the villa's gate, he saw from afar that several people had been stuck in front of the gate for over ten minutes, only Hei Huli and his two companions had entered within a minute. Gao Longyu reminded him from behind: "You have at most forty minutes, exceeding this time is considered failure." Li Huqiu waved his hand and rushed towards the gate. Upon arrival, he didn't stop at all and jumped over the gate with a flying body! Gao Longyu was stunned in the back.

  Li Huqiu jumped into the courtyard and walked calmly to the anti-theft door of the villa, took a glance and recognized it as a linked heart lock with ten rows. He tilted his head to look at the windows of the villa, picked up a brick from under his feet, and shattered the glass with a crash. Li Huqiu quickly climbed in. Inside was a corridor leading to the second floor, where an iron gate stood at the entrance. This time, Li Huqiu had no choice but to be honest and walk over, taking out a small piece of iron wire from his side and putting his face close to the iron gate. The wire slid into the lock core with ease, and the sound of "ding ding" continued as he worked. In about half a minute, the large iron gate with ten locks was opened. Li Huqiu glanced at the time and thought back to when he learned from Old Lame, who wouldn't give him food to eat.

  Pushing open the door and walking in, he went up to the second floor. At the exit of the corridor was another large iron gate. The entire villa had four floors, and Li Huqiu took about fifteen minutes to reach the top, finally arriving at the entrance to the safe hidden in the attic. This was the most difficult lock to open. The thick iron door with a metallic sheen stood silently there, and Li Huqiu noticed that someone else had been there before. He leaned in, narrowing his eyes to examine it carefully, and determined that at least four people had been there, each with different techniques and tools.

  Li Huqiu took out three thin iron wires and inserted them into the lock's keyhole. His ear was pressed against the safe door, his fingers moving nimbly like a pianist to adjust the depth and angle of the wires. With his other hand, he gently turned the combination lock. At this moment, Li Huqiu felt as if all sounds had ceased, leaving only the sound of the lock's mechanism being manipulated. He forgot about the time limit, his hands moving freely like a nimble dancer. A crisp click was heard, and Li Huqiu straightened up, pulling open the thick safe door with a flourish.

  As he walked in, Li Huqiu glanced at the time and found that about thirty minutes had passed since his departure. Li Huqiu looked around the vault but didn't find any small jewelry boxes. Suddenly, he heard a noise at the entrance of the vault, and with a burst of strength, he kicked open the large door of the vault with a fierce back kick. A hurried voice came from outside: "He's not trapped, come and help!" As soon as the words fell, someone rushed to the entrance of the vault, and with one leg, pushed Li Huqiu back into the vault. In the moment when the door closed, Li Huqiu saw clearly that this person was the young man who had been tricked by him at Haicheng North Station on that day, namely Chu Lie, the legitimate disciple mentioned by Master Dong.

  The door was closed, and Li Huqiu knew it was impossible to open it again. He wondered if the Crab Claws had also experienced such a thing. If they had also experienced such a thing, where did the few of them go? Was this a test or a trap?

  Li Huqiu looked around, the walls of the vault were smooth, and he carefully searched along the wall. Suddenly, he felt a slight indentation in one place. He applied force and pressed it, and with a click, a small door appeared next to that position. Looking at the lock hole, it was actually a four-slotted cross-shaped hole. Li Huqiu took out a four-sided hollow universal key, put his ear close, listened carefully, and opened the small door with a few clicks. Inside, there was actually a button, and when there was no other choice, the more decisive the better, Li Huqiu pressed it without hesitation.

  A door was quietly opened. Li Huqiu looked inside and found it was the next room. There was someone inside, a middle-aged man. He was dressed simply and had an average build. The man smiled slightly and beckoned to Li Huqiu, saying: "Young man, come here, you are currently the only one who has passed the test."

  "What about the others? What do you mean only I passed? As far as I know, at least four people have entered the vault." Li Huqiu stepped into the house with a flying knife already in his palm. "Is this Thief King contest a trap or a test?"

  The middle-aged man smiled at Li Huqiu and said, "Five million is real, the trap is also real, and the test is also real. If you pass the test, the trap will be fake and five million will be true. If not, then you'll end up like them." After finishing speaking, the middle-aged man waved his hand and pulled open a one-way mirror wall. He pointed inside the wall and said, "The four people you mentioned are all in there. Since they can't help me with my business, I have no choice but to let the country deal with them. Each of them has illegally entered a civilian's home and stolen 10,000 yuan from me, and the evidence is solid."

  In the room behind the single wall, Hei Hu Li, Xie Zuo Er, Ba Gou Er, unexpectedly, another person was actually Hei Hua Gao Yu Feng.

  Li Huqiu's face showed a puzzled expression, and he asked: "How can I not see what your route is? You say you're an official? Looking at the way you gather us, it doesn't seem like the way officials do things. You say you're a black (gangster)? But then why did you want to arrest all of them? Can you tell me why only I passed?"

  The middle-aged man said: "All four of them have entered the vault, but none of them were able to walk in here on their own strength, and none of their times qualified, so they are over there, and you are in front of me."

  Li Huqiu said, "You seem to need someone to help you steal something? We were brought here for your selection, those who pass will stay and those who don't will be handed over to the public security department, right?" The middle-aged man nodded and smiled, "The young man is very clever, I like dealing with clever people. You're right, that's why we were brought here, to help me steal something. The reward is 5 million."

  Li Huqiu looked around and smiled, "I'm already here, right in front of you. What makes you think I'll do what you say? Haven't you heard the saying 'near at hand, people are enemies'?" The middle-aged man's expression didn't change, "Can't 5 million buy you to do one thing for me?" Li Huqiu was unmoved, "Firstly, with such a strict test, what you're asking must be extremely difficult. I may not be able to do it. Secondly, I don't know your background and can't trust you. I'd rather believe in the flying knife in my hand." As soon as he finished speaking, Li Huqiu's hand flashed with a knife light, and a streak of light flew towards the middle-aged man's raised right hand.

  The middle-aged man's hand almost touched the switch of the mechanism, but was stabbed by Li Huqiu's flying knife into the gap between his fingers. The flying knife deeply pierced the armrest of the sofa, and the middle-aged man's hand was miraculously unscathed. The middle-aged man frowned. Li Huqiu said in a cold voice: "I like to do things that don't need you to force me, I will naturally go and do them. Things I don't like, even if you are out of my control range, I still won't listen to you. You can think that my flying knife is not very accurate, feel free to try again."

  The middle-aged man suddenly laughed, leaned his body into the sofa, picked up a pack of cigarettes from the coffee table, lit one and asked Li Huqiu if he wanted one. Li Huqiu looked at him quietly without speaking. The middle-aged man said: "Five million doesn't tempt you, no problem, I remember you came with Xie Hongjun." Li Huqiu's face was expressionless, saying: "The country has its laws, the profession has its rules, he broke the law and didn't have the ability to escape, being caught by you is his bad luck, stepping into this mess is his own doing."

  The middle-aged man nodded and said, "You are the only one who jumped over the gate and broke the glass to get in, so you took the least time. After entering the vault, you were also the only one who noticed that someone was closing the door behind you. You are unconventional, calm and decisive when dealing with things. I must have you for this job! I'll ask you once more, if you still don't agree, I won't guarantee that you'll see the girl inside again."

  Li Hu's sleeve trembled slightly, then quickly calmed down. "I've known her for less than a day, and you're using her to threaten me? You might as well put the knife to your own throat." The middle-aged man narrowed his eyes, his tone extremely resolute: "You like that little girl, I'll count to three. If I'm wrong, her blood will splatter onto this wall!" He then began counting.

  One, two, three! "Wait a minute! Alright, what do you need me to do?"

  The middle-aged man secretly let out a sigh of relief. Just as he was about to speak, Li Huqiu's face showed a look of regret and he hastily said: "Don't think you've fooled me, I just didn't want to gamble with her life." The middle-aged man looked at him with great interest, "What do you mean by this?" Li Huqiu said: "I guess even if I hadn't agreed earlier, you wouldn't have been able to do anything to her." The middle-aged man said: "What makes you think that?" Li Huqiu waved his hand and said it's useless to talk about these things now, he would do what he promised, and asked the middle-aged man to say what he wanted him to do. He added that even if the middle-aged man killed her and ate her flesh, he wouldn't do something he didn't want to do.

  Everyone has a weakness, and Li Huqiu's is the suffering of those "born of water". He doesn't have much fantasy about Gao Yufeng, only a little goodwill. However, using Gao Yufeng to threaten him is still very effective, even though he already suspects her identity. This is the instinct of some male creatures, the overlord of the plateau, the king of the Tibetan Mastiff, who can fight alone against the snow leopard and make the wolves cower with a single roar, yet often gets bitten by the female Tibetan Mastiff until his skin is broken and bleeding. With abilities that touch the sky, he willingly restricts himself to that gentle and delicate place, in a flash of coquetry.

  Li Huqiu came in through the door that had suddenly opened, and Da Dingzi walked in with a slightly flustered expression. The middle-aged man glanced at his watch and said, "You're two minutes late."