The grove at Capital Naval and Land Military Academy was meticulously designed by a landscaping firm; the trees and shrubs were arranged in a deliberate pattern—alternating between dense clusters and open spaces—that, combined with the winding paths, formed a simple maze.
In broad daylight, the scenery was beautiful and serene, making it a favorite spot for campus couples to meet in private.
But now, as dusk settled and the streetlights had yet to flicker on, the foliage blocked out the remaining daylight, leaving the woods devoid of any other souls.
Wen Shuyu suddenly stopped in his tracks. He thought he saw a figure dart past, but when he squinted to look, he couldn’t make anything out clearly.
Frowning, he tightened his grip on his backpack straps and quickened his pace.
About ten meters behind him, hidden by a hedge, two of Tao Wei’s lackeys were quietly tailing him. Two other henchmen were stationed just ahead, creating a trap designed to corner him like a rat in a jar.
“Don’t get too close,” Tao Wei’s voice crackled through their earpieces. “The kid’s skittish as a rabbit; the slightest disturbance and he’ll bolt before you can blink.”
Perhaps sensing something amiss, Wen Shuyu was indeed walking faster and faster.
He knew this grove like the back of his hand; he could navigate the complex network of paths with ease, weaving and turning without even looking down at the ground.
Tao Wei’s lackeys had to break into a jog just to keep up with him.
“Damn! Where is he going? That’s not the right path, is it?”
“Shh—”
In a moment of inattention, Wen Shuyu’s figure flickered and vanished into a hedge that stood twice the height of a man.
The lackeys panted as they rushed over, only to find that the hedge had no opening.
“What the hell? Does the kid have the power to walk through walls?”
“You idiot! Can’t he just push the branches aside and crawl through?”
“Oh really? You try crawling through that and show me!”
The hedge was woven tight as a thicket, showing no signs of a gap or break. Yet, Wen Shuyu had truly disappeared without a trace.
The two lackeys blocking the maze’s exit failed to intercept him either, and the lookout had long since lost sight of their target. Tao Wei arrived in a furious rage and kicked each of his useless lackeys.
“Five of you trying to corner one guy, and you couldn’t even manage that? You pieces of trash aren’t even fit to be used as landfill!”
“Huh?” The lookout stationed at the school gate suddenly spotted the target sprinting in the distance; in the blink of an eye, the figure darted into the entrance of the apartment building.
“Holy crap, Brother Wei, that kid actually slipped out! I just saw him! He was running faster than a rabbit…”
The carefully planned ambush had failed yet again. Enraged, Tao Wei unleashed another flurry of kicks and punches on his henchmen.
Amidst their wails and pleas for mercy, Wen Shuyu—who was ‘supposedly’ back in his apartment—was actually perched leisurely on the branch of a massive old banyan tree nearby.
In the gloom, the young man’s eyes gleamed with a cunning light.
Wen Shuyu had changed into camouflage gear, blending into the surrounding woods. His body—slender in appearance but actually lean, strong, and agile—curved with fluid grace, reminiscent of a nimble ape.
He unfastened his watch—rumored to be worth as much as a luxury car—and tossed it into his backpack, then casually pulled out a flashbang.
Would that make too much noise?
He weighed it in his hand, curled his lips in a wry smile, and dropped the flashbang back into the bag, swapping it for a smoke grenade instead.
Tao Wei was busy kicking his subordinates across the ground, spewing an endless stream of profanities, when a smoke grenade trailing white wisps suddenly landed right in front of him.
Tao Wei: ???
Thick smoke billowed out, filling the shrubbery maze as twilight deepened.
Up in the tree, Wen Shuyu pulled down his ski mask and leapt down—