A live stream that dramatically transformed a depressed schoolgirl shocked netizens across the count

The clamor of the crowd pressed in, and the river breeze made the silver chain sway wildly.

Shen Qingci held the pencil steadily in her hand.

Chen Lang grasped her wrist and pulled her up from beside the stone steps, only letting go after she had regained her balance.

"OK."

Aren't you going to try to persuade me?

"You've already finished drawing up the plan, so if I try to persuade you further, wouldn't that be pointless?"

Shen Qingci looked at him: "When did you become so obedient?"

"Of course we have to listen to the captain." Chen Lang pointed to the covered bridge in her notebook. "But let's tell the police first. We can go fishing, but we can't walk into their car ourselves."

"I never intended to crawl in."

Chen Lang dialed a special line and explained the tightening encirclement below the city gate and the assessment of the connecting corridor, while also having Titan provide live footage of the scene.

Before hanging up, he confirmed, "We're wearing Miao costumes, one black and one blue, so don't mistake us for each other."

Shen Qingci had already put away the pencil and put the notebook back into her bag.

A short, static-like sound came through the headphones.

"Make sure she's still on the city wall, and wait for the lightship to dock before making a move."

Chen Lang whispered the words he had intercepted to Shen Qingci.

"Is it dark-skinned?"

"It sounds plausible, but we can't be completely sure yet."

Under the eaves of the teahouse, the man with the black umbrella touched his headphones and gestured towards the exit of the stone steps.

As the illuminated boats gradually approached the shore, tourists began to move towards the riverbank. The stone steps, which were once wide enough for two people to walk side by side, were now squeezed into narrow gaps.

The man at the exit held his telephoto bag horizontally in front of him and moved half a step closer to the center.

Chen Lang swept his hand over: "You're here."

Shen Qingci picked up the lotus lantern and walked down the stone steps, with Chen Lang standing on her outer side facing the river the whole time.

Why aren't the lights on?

"Take it first." She glanced at the crowd ahead. "If your hands are free, it'll be easier to handle if something happens."

Just as the two descended the last stone step, the man in the raincoat by the river suddenly bumped into a man next to him.

The man staggered and fell backward, still shouting, "Excuse me, excuse me!"

Shen Qingci stepped half a step to the side and raised her hand to support him.

The other person suddenly grabbed her wrist, and with his other hand, he reached out from under her sleeve, revealing half of a nozzle through a white handkerchief.

She didn't help anyone else.

The wooden base of the lotus lantern slammed horizontally, hitting the hand that was grabbing the person.

Snapped!

The man winced in pain, and as soon as he loosened his grip, Shen Qingci withdrew her wrist and stepped back to Chen Lang's side.

"He grabbed me! And he had something in his hand!"

Nearby tourists turned around.

The man turned to try and squeeze into the crowd, but Chen Lang grabbed his wrist and twisted the hand that was hiding the spray bottle behind his back.

"Dude, you're trying to scam someone with a weapon?"

The opponent swung their elbow in a backhand motion.

Chen Lang stepped aside, pressed down on his shoulders and back, and forced him to kneel on the stone slab.

The spray bottle rolled out of the handkerchief and stopped next to Chen Lang's shoes.

Some people cried out and backed away, while the tourists behind, unaware of what was happening, continued to walk forward, and several people bumped into each other.

Shen Qingci raised the lamp in her hand.

"Don't push back! There's a disturbance up ahead! Everyone in the back, stop for a moment!"

She pointed to a spot against the wall, signaling tourists with children to move aside, then called out towards the stone steps exit, "Move your bag aside, don't block the way!"

The man with the long telephoto bag changed his expression, grabbed the bag, and left.

Chen Lang didn't let go of the person in his hand, but just looked up at him and said, "What's the rush? Don't leave yet."

The man paused, then turned to the other side.

"That's him!" Shen Qingci raised her voice. "He was blocking the exit the whole time, filming us!"

Two police officers who rushed out from outside the crowd immediately showed their identification. One of them took the man from Chen Lang's control, while the other stepped forward to intercept the man with the telephoto lens.

"Stop! Don't move!"

The man with the telephoto lens suddenly turned back and crashed between Chen Lang and Shen Qingci.

Chen Lang pulled Shen Qingci behind him and grabbed his arm. The man lost his footing, his knee hit the stone steps, and before he could get up, he was pinned down by the police officer.

The handcuffs were put on, and the people around finally stopped moving.

Chen Lang pointed to the spray bottle on the ground: "Officer, this was sprayed at her just now, don't touch the nozzle directly."

Shen Qingci looked up at the teahouse.

The black umbrella has been closed.

The man in the baseball cap backed away from the pillar, then turned and disappeared into the crowd.

"Blackie ran towards the teahouse." She didn't take a step. "Don't chase him. He's just trying to lure us away. We haven't seen the covered bridge clearly yet. We can't fall for his trick."

Chen Lang reported the directions to the police officer and then glanced at her wrist.

Several red marks were left on his fair skin.

"Does your hand hurt?"

"I can still move." Shen Qingci rotated her wrist. "Let's go see the covered bridge first."

"You, even when you're injured, still know how to pick out the important points."

"Stop talking nonsense."

Chen Lang didn't argue with her. He straightened the lamp that had been smashed and moved with her to a position where they wouldn't obstruct the police from controlling the scene.

The Titan's notification sound rang in the headphones.

A black van without license plates was spotted near the covered bridge.

Chen Lang turned to the side, his gaze passing over the bridge pillar.

The bread truck in the shadows turned on its headlights, its tires crunching through the puddles as it slowly moved outwards.

The person next to the car pressed their earpiece, bent down and said a few words into the car, then opened the side door.

"I see it." Shen Qingci stopped outside the covered bridge. "How many people are in the car?"

"Three. One by the car door, and two inside."

"Any guys around?"

Chen Lang scanned the magnified image transmitted from Titan.

"We didn't see a knife on the surface, but we can't assume they didn't have one. The person by the car door had a spray bottle, and we also saw a syringe inside the car."

Shen Qingci gripped the lamp base tightly and did not move forward.

"Send the footage to the police."

[Live footage has been synchronized.]

The man next to the car noticed they had stopped, glanced up in the direction of the city gate, and immediately climbed back into the driver's seat.

The engine noise suddenly increased.

Chen Lang pulled Shen Qing towards the inside of the bridge pillar, but the black van turned around and blocked their way to the long street.

The sliding door opened with a whoosh.

Someone inside the car urged in a low voice, "Hurry up! She's right here, don't hurt Miss Shen!"

The man in black gloves got out of the car, and the spray bottle followed.

Chen Lang had already positioned himself in front of Shen Qingci, raising his hand to slap the other's arm aside, then grabbing his wrist and pressing it against the edge of the sliding door.

The man struggled, the bottle hit the door frame, and fell to the ground.

"Qingci, hide behind the pillar!"

Shen Qingci didn't try to be brave. She stepped back with the lantern in hand, while keeping her eyes on the other side of the car door.

"There's someone else on the right!"

The second person in the car had just leaned out when he bumped into Chen Lang's accomplice.

The two people were squeezed at the doorway. Before the person behind could even get a firm footing, they both fell into the puddle.

Chen Lang pressed down on the man holding the bottle, who was still trying to get up, and firmly pinned his arm behind his back.

"Tell me, where did Sister Zhao tell you to take them?"

The man gritted his teeth and remained silent.

"They've got a pretty good work ethic." Chen Lang increased the pressure on his hands. "I just don't know if they'll be able to stay this tough later."

On the other side of the car, the driver's door suddenly opened.

The third person went around the front of the car and rushed towards Shen Qingci, who was standing by the bridge pillar, and reached out to grab the fabric on her shoulder.

She immediately moved to the other side of the pillar, holding the lotus lantern in front of her chest.

The man grabbed the lamp frame and pulled it outwards. Shen Qingci didn't argue with him. She let go of the handle and pulled out a hard-cover notebook from her bag to block the hand that reached out again.

His knuckles tapped against the corner of the journal.

"Chen Lang, over here!"

She kept shouting as she backed away, without stopping to entangle with the other person.

"Police! Hands up! Don't move!"