Ke Xue: The thief Cao is actually myself

Chapter 722 We've been kidnapped by a child! Help! (Seeking monthly votes!)

"Ta Tata..."

Before long, the figures of the man dressed in a Kamen Rider costume and the bald giant appeared silently in their field of vision like ghosts.

The two men, like wolves that have caught the scent of their prey, cautiously scanned their surroundings, not missing any possible hiding place, as they slowly and carefully approached, muttering curses under their breath. The sounds seemed to be squeezed out from between their teeth, filled with intense resentment.

"Those brats couldn't have gone far; they must still be around here," the man in the Kamen Rider suit said through gritted teeth, his eyes blazing with fierce anger, like burning flames that seemed ready to devour Conan and the others.

The bald, burly man echoed, saying viciously, "Hmph, once we catch them, we'll make them pay! I'll show them what happens when they mess with us!"

The two were completely unaware of the hidden danger beneath their feet and continued striding forward.

Suddenly, as he was walking, the unsuspecting bald man tripped over the rope hidden in the shadows.

In an instant, he was like a kite with a broken string, falling forward uncontrollably and crashing heavily to the cold ground with a dull thud.

Due to inertia, the man in the Kamen Rider costume following closely behind was also not spared, tripping hard on the same rope and falling heavily to the ground with a "thud," letting out a painful groan.

"Ouch, it hurts so much!" the bald, burly man groaned in pain, his face contorted with agony, his features almost squeezed together.

"What's going on? How come there's a rope here?" The man in the Kamen Rider costume was stunned at first, then realized what was happening and roared furiously, "Damn it, it must be those damned brats!"

"How dare you scheme against us! I will never forgive you!"

As he spoke, he struggled to stand up.

However, his feet were tightly bound by the rope, and he could not break free for a while.

To make matters worse, Conan, who had been closely watching the situation, saw that they had successfully fallen into his carefully laid trap. Without hesitation, he led his friends out like arrows released from a bow.

Despite their hearts pounding with fear, as if they were carrying a little rabbit, Ayumi, Mitsuhiko, and Genta mustered all their courage in order to escape danger.

They quickly grabbed the blankets they had prepared beforehand and threw them layer upon layer onto the man dressed in the Kamen Rider costume and his accomplices, covering them with a thick "cocoon".

The thick "cocoon" pressed heavily on the two men, making them gasp.

"Quick, tie them up!"

Upon seeing the man dressed in Kamen Rider's uniform and his accomplices completely covered by the blankets they had prepared beforehand, rendering them temporarily unable to resist, Conan issued a new order without hesitation, his voice filled with unwavering decisiveness and firmness.

Genta, Mitsuhiko, and Ayumi nodded heavily and rushed forward.

Genta gripped one end of the rope tightly, while Mitsuhiko quickly moved behind the robbers to help Genta wrap the rope around their hands and feet. Ayumi also nervously helped pass the rope around. The three of them worked together to tightly bind the hands and feet of the two robbers with the rope.

Despite the two robbers' fierce struggle, cursing and shouting angrily, Conan and his friends managed to subdue them through their combined efforts.

"Huh, finally done."

Looking at the two robbers struggling at his feet like trapped caterpillars, Yuan Tai wiped the large beads of sweat from his forehead, breathed a sigh of relief, and a victorious smile appeared on his face, a smile that looked particularly bright against the backdrop of sweat.

Mitsuhiko excitedly exclaimed, "We did it! We did it!"

"Yes, Conan, you're amazing!" Ayumi said happily, her eyes filled with deep admiration for her friend Conan.

However, just as they finished tying up the two kidnappers and hadn't even had time to savor their brief victory, an unexpected turn of events occurred. Suddenly, all the lights in the department store were turned on like fireworks, instantly filling the previously dark corners with light. Every aisle, shelf, and display area on every floor was illuminated as bright as day.

The sudden bright light made them squint instinctively, and an ominous premonition welled up in their hearts.

Yuan Tai asked in a somewhat panicked manner, "What happened? What's going on?"

"The thugs who stayed in the guard room have spotted us! They turned on all the lights in an attempt to catch us!"

Conan had a bad feeling. He realized that other members of the robber group must have noticed something was wrong and turned on all the lights.

As expected, the anxious shouts of the other robbers came from the walkie-talkie that had fallen nearby: "Hello? What's going on? Hello!"

The sound echoed in the empty space, sounding particularly jarring.

Conan knew they were now completely exposed to the bandit group's surveillance, and the situation had become more critical than ever before. Left with no other choice, they had to begin a new escape.

"Conan, what do we do? They've turned on all the lights, we'll be easily discovered!" Ayumi nervously grabbed Conan's sleeve, her voice trembling slightly, her eyes filled with fear and helplessness.

Mitsuhiko also said anxiously from the side, "Hurry, let's get out of here quickly, hurry!"

At that moment, he knew very well that under the bright lights, they, the children, were like small targets exposed to the spotlight, and would be easily discovered by the bandits.

If the robbers discover this, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Especially since they had previously played a trick on each other, if they were caught by the angry bandits, the combination of old and new grudges would send chills down his spine just thinking about it.

Conan frowned, his mind racing as he quickly observed his surroundings.

Suddenly, his gaze fell on a ventilation duct opening not far away.

The moment he saw that ventilation duct opening, an idea struck him.

Perhaps he and his friends could use that ventilation duct opening to escape the gang of robbers.

"Don't panic, everyone, follow me!"

Conan pointed to the ventilation duct opening and said, "Let's go through that ventilation duct. They probably won't expect us to leave from here." Ayumi and Genta looked in the direction Conan pointed. Although they were a little scared of the narrow ventilation duct, given Conan's past intelligence, they ultimately chose to trust him and quickly ran towards the ventilation duct opening.

When they finally arrived at the ventilation duct opening, Conan's keen eyes immediately noticed that the vent cover was wobbly.

He reached out and pushed it with a little force, and with a soft "creak," the lid fell off.

Conan cautiously peeked inside first, carefully inspecting the area in the dim light. After confirming that there were no hidden dangers for the time being, he turned to Genta and said, "Genta, you go first, I'll help you from behind."

The reason for letting Genta go first was, of course, based on careful consideration. Genta was the most robust among them, and if even someone as large as Genta could pass through the narrow ventilation duct smoothly, then it would be no problem for Mitsuhiko, Ayumi, and Conan to pass through on their own.

However, if the ventilation duct opening is too narrow and even Yuan Tai can't squeeze in, then the rest of them will have to find another way out.

After all, they were a team, and they couldn't let Yuan Tai go out alone to find other escape routes while the rest of them crawled into the ventilation ducts.

If Genta were to truly separate from Conan, especially without the help of Conan's resourceful "brain trust," this chubby boy would likely be left sitting there waiting to die in this dangerous department store.

Yuan Tai took a deep breath, tried to suppress his fear, mustered all his courage, and slowly crawled into the ventilation duct using both his hands and feet.

The inside of the pipe was filled with a stale, putrid smell that made one want to vomit.

Then, with Conan's help, Mitsuhiko and Ayumi successfully entered the ventilation duct.

Conan was the last to climb in, and then carefully put the lid back on, trying to restore it to its original state to prevent the robbers from discovering it.

The ventilation ducts were dark and damp, filled with a pungent musty smell. The space was extremely cramped, and they could only crawl forward with difficulty.

Conan cautiously explored the path ahead, taking each step with utmost care and occasionally whispering reminders to his friends to be careful.

He knew that they were in a dangerous situation and that any small oversight could lead to their annihilation.

However, they were completely unaware that the robbers had already launched a full-scale search of the department store.

One of the robbers seemed to have noticed something amiss with the ventilation duct and was cautiously approaching. A hint of suspicion flickered in his eyes as he walked, keeping a close watch on his surroundings, a crowbar clutched tightly in his hand, ready to respond to any unexpected situation.

Conan led his friends as they crawled laboriously through the ventilation ducts, each step seemingly requiring all their strength.

The space inside the pipe was particularly narrow for Genta, whose slightly overweight build made movement even more difficult. He would often get stuck and needed Conan and Mitsuhiko to help push or pull him from both sides.

"Conan, this pipe is so dark, I'm a little scared..." Ayumi's voice trembled slightly, echoing softly in the enclosed pipe, revealing a deep fear.

"Don't be afraid, Ayumi. As long as we follow the pipes, we'll definitely find the exit," Conan comforted her. Although he himself wasn't entirely confident about escaping, he tried his best to sound confident and encourage his friends.

"Swish..."

Just then, they suddenly heard a series of indistinct footsteps outside. The sound was unclear, but it struck them like a hammer blow, as if the footsteps were approaching the ventilation duct.

Conan's heart tightened suddenly, and he quickly put his finger to his lips, signaling everyone to be quiet.

The group immediately understood, holding their breath and straining to hear what was happening outside. Even their heartbeats seemed to grow louder at that moment.

"Strange, I clearly felt some movement here just now. Did I hear wrong?" A bandit's voice came, accompanied by footsteps that stopped near the ventilation duct opening.

Conan's heart leaped into his throat. He clenched his fists so tightly that his nails almost dug into his palms, silently praying that the robbers would not discover them.

At this moment, time seemed to stand still, every second felt incredibly long, and every heartbeat felt like a countdown.

"Never mind, I probably just misheard. Let's look somewhere else." After a while, the robber finally muttered something, and the footsteps gradually faded away, disappearing from their hearing range.

Conan and the others breathed a sigh of relief, but they knew in their hearts that the danger was not truly over and they had to find an exit as soon as possible to get out of this dangerous situation.

So they continued their arduous crawl through the pipes. After crawling for a while, they came to a fork in the road. Conan hesitated; both passages seemed equally deep in the darkness, and he was unsure which path to choose.

After a moment's thought, relying on his keen intuition, he decided to choose the left passage, because he seemed to feel a very faint breeze brushing against his cheek, and perhaps this breeze could lead them to the outside world.

However, after climbing along the left passage for a short while, they found that their path was blocked by a pile of debris.

The debris, which looked like discarded pipe parts and tattered packaging materials, was piled up haphazardly, almost completely blocking the passageway.

Seeing this, Genta couldn't help but feel frustrated, his voice tinged with despair: "It's over, what are we going to do?"

After all, the ventilation duct is so narrow that it is difficult to climb forward. If you climb back backward, it will be even more difficult and may waste more time, increasing the risk of being discovered by the robbers.

Conan didn't give up easily; he knew that in this critical moment, not a glimmer of hope could be missed. So, he carefully observed his surroundings, his eyes searching diligently for a possible way out in the darkness.

Soon, he made a new discovery: a small vent not far away, though it looked even smaller, seemed to lead to another pipe.

He pushed open the vent cover forcefully, and the cover made a slight scraping sound, which sounded particularly jarring in the quiet environment.

Conan carefully crawled through, then gestured for his friends to follow in turn.

After some twists and turns, they finally found the exit in another pipe.

Below the exit is a warehouse full of goods, with various commodities stacked on shelves, and cardboard boxes and wooden crates piled up like mountains.

Conan cautiously peeked out to check, and after confirming there were no robbers, he quietly instructed his friends to climb down the pile of goods one by one...

(End of this chapter)