Chapter 10 – Killing Without Hesitation-Either a Lunatic or a Fierce Bandit
“Are you out of your mind?!”
Lin Xi kept her voice incredibly low. She didn’t dare say Shi Yu’s name out loud, fearing someone might overhear.
Yet, she was still unwilling to be forced into the role of a bank robber. This terrifying sense of having greatness-or in this case, infamy-thrust upon her gave Lin Xi a glimpse into how Emperor Taizu of Song1 must have felt when he was forcibly robed in yellow. It was bloody terrifying!
Suppressing a dozen negative emotions-fear, trembling, anxiety, unease, fury-Lin Xi forced herself to calm down.
She said to Shi Yu, “I’ll go back to the mental hospital with you!”
“I’ll even pay for the taxi!”
Ruling out the possibilities of a dream or a movie set, Lin Xi had reached the ultimate conclusion: Shi Yu was a total psycho!
Which mental hospital’s gatekeeper had gotten drunk and let Shi Yu slip out to menace the world?!
“Huh?” Shi Yu glanced at Lin Xi as if she were an idiot. “You’re not dreaming, this isn’t a movie, and I didn’t escape from an asylum.”
Shi Yu added in a threatening tone, “If you don’t cooperate, you’re dead meat today.”
Lin Xi: “…”
She finally realized she had been dragged onto a pirate ship that had already left the shore.
Damn it!
She had no choice but to cooperate with Shi Yu for now and wait until they left this place.
While lamenting her fate internally, she followed Shi Yu’s instructions and helped monitor the lobby.
Since the bank had just opened for business, there were only five customers inside. This private bank was small; including the teller who had fainted from fright, there were four staff members and the manager, Wu Tian.
As for the elderly security guard at the door? Why would he risk his life for three thousand yuan a month? He was the first to hit the floor, staying down as still as a statue.
Scanning the room, everything seemed normal for now. Everyone was face-down on the ground with their hands behind their heads, being quite cooperative.
Lin Xi anxiously hoped this would be over quickly.
Shi Yu, meanwhile, strode toward the counter. “Manager Wu, stop hiding behind the teller’s chair.”
“You’re hiding your head but leaving your tail exposed. Your ass is sticking out.”
“I’ll count to three. If you don’t come out, I’ll put a hole in it.”
Shi Yu was able to pinpoint the manager’s location and even knew his surname was Wu. Lin Xi instantly understood: Shi Yu had scouted this bank long ago.
This wasn’t some spur-of-the-moment robbery!
Faced with the dark muzzle of the gun, the teller girl had fainted outright, collapsing to the floor. Behind the chair, like an ostrich burying its head in the sand to avoid danger, a man in glasses slowly raised his head.
Lin Xi noticed his name tag read “Wu Tian.”
Following the direction of Wu Tian’s outstretched right hand, Lin Xi broke into a cold sweat. There was a red button there!
Wu Tian had hidden behind the chair because he wanted to press that button?!
What would happen if he pressed it? Would it trigger a silent alarm? Or would steel shutters drop down and seal the place off?
Lin Xi didn’t know, but she found herself secretly relieved that he hadn’t reached it…
Wait.
Have I already started identifying as one of the robbers?
I’m clearly a victim too… Lin Xi felt miserable.
Under Shi Yu’s threat, Wu Tian slowly stood up with his hands raised.
“Manager Wu, give me the keys to the vault.” Shi Yu reached out. “Hurry up!”
With trembling hands, Wu Tian handed the keys to Shi Yu.
“Very good.” Shi Yu took the vault keys and gripped them in her palm.
Lin Xi breathed a sigh of relief. Since everyone was cooperating, this would all be over in another two minutes.
But then, a scene unfolded that left her speechless.
Shi Yu raised the muzzle of her gun and aimed it directly at Wu Tian’s head.
“Thank you for your cooperation, Manager Wu. In return… let me treat you to a lead pill.”
Bang!
A single shot to the head.
A small, bloody hole appeared in Wu Tian’s forehead. He collapsed like a rotten log, hitting the floor with a heavy thud.
Lin Xi was truly terrified.
Good god!
Killing without hesitation-Shi Yu was either a lunatic or a fierce bandit!
Hadn’t Wu Tian obediently handed over the keys? Why did she have to shoot him?
Bank robbery plus murder-the charges were piling up!
It was over. Everything was completely ruined…
The gunshot triggered a wave of screams and wails. Shi Yu shouted at the top of her lungs, “Quiet!”
“Manager Wu wasn’t being honest. He tried to trigger the alarm. This is what happens to those who don’t listen!”
Was that really it? Lin Xi was skeptical, but regardless of the reason, Shi Yu had actually killed someone.
Shi Yu’s shot hadn’t just taken out Wu Tian; it had also crushed the burgeoning thoughts of resistance in the others. No one else dared to even think about moving their hands from their heads to reach for a phone in their pocket.
That gunshot was also a signal.
Another person wearing a mask appeared in front of the tightly closed bank doors.
“Go open the door,” Shi Yu ordered Lin Xi.
Lin Xi hadn’t expected there to be a companion-no, an accomplice.
It was another girl, carrying a backpack identical to Shi Yu’s.
After Lin Xi opened the door to let her in, the accomplice, who was slightly taller than herself, reached back to close the door and gave Shi Yu an ‘OK’ sign.
Shi Yu nodded slightly and beckoned to Lin Xi.
“We’re going to the vault.”
Lin Xi had completely given up on thinking. She only hoped this would be over quickly so she could leave.
The new accomplice took over Lin Xi’s task, assuming the role of monitoring everyone.
Lin Xi, meanwhile, followed Shi Yu over the counter and arrived before the locked iron doors of the vault.
After Shi Yu used a key to open the door, she and Lin Xi entered the vault one after the other.
Inside, stacks of banknotes were piled high. It was the first time Lin Xi had ever seen so much cash.
Money had a captivating scent…
Shi Yu unzipped her backpack and began her “self-service withdrawal.”
“Don’t just stand there,” Shi Yu commanded. “Hurry up and open the safe next to it!”
Things had already come to this, so Lin Xi could only act like a robot, executing whatever instructions Shi Yu input.
It was only when she crouched in front of the safe that Lin Xi snapped back to reality.
Open your grandmother!
I don’t have a damn key!
“Throw me the key,” she shouted at Shi Yu.
Shi Yu shook her head. “Even Wu Tian isn’t qualified to have the key to this safe.”
Lin Xi didn’t know how Shi Yu was so sure about such things, but she realized one thing clearly:
“If no one here has the key to the safe, then how the hell are we supposed to open it?!”
“Isn’t that why you’re here?” Shi Yu said. “Blazing Blast Witch, hurry up and melt the lock on the safe for me.”
“The thing we really want is inside that safe.”
Lin Xi: “…”
It suddenly dawned on her.
Perhaps from the moment Shi Yu learned she was the Blazing Blast Witch, she had planned this, dragging her along to carry out this bank robbery.
But… I don’t have the Cuddle Witch’s memories! I don’t know how to use my powers!
Lin Xi was having a breakdown.
Previously, she had wanted Shi Yu to fear her, so she hadn’t come clean about the fact that she couldn’t use her powers at all.
If she had said so back then, maybe Shi Yu wouldn’t have brought her along to rob a bank.
What a disaster…
“Don’t just stand there dazed.” Shi Yu glanced at her watch as time continued to slip away. “We only have one minute left. No, fifty-nine seconds!”
“Hurry up and use your power to melt the lock!”
“That’s an order!”
Lin Xi spread her hands. “Sorry, I can’t use my power.”
Shi Yu’s hand stuffing banknotes into the bag stopped. Time seemed to freeze at that moment.
“Aren’t you the Blazing Blast Witch?!”
“Don’t joke with me at a critical moment like this!”
“I’m not joking,” Lin Xi said, calm as could be. “Even if you threaten to shoot me dead, I still can’t use my power.”
“You-” Shi Yu finally lost her composure.
Since entering Jinrui Bank, she had been exceptionally calm, as if she were strolling through a garden.
It was as if everything was under her control, until now, when a serious bug like Lin Xi cropped up.
“Go outside and swap with her!” Shi Yu ordered.
She wanted Lin Xi to watch the people outside and bring the other one in.
“We’ll have to use explosives to blow the safe open.”
Shi Yu’s words turned Lin Xi’s brain into mush.
What?
Is the one outside even more of a heavyweight?
She knows how to handle explosives too?!
Both of you are more outrageous than the last!
Fierce bandits!
You’re both damn fierce bandits!
Why did you have to drag a poor, law-abiding citizen like me into this… Lin Xi wanted to cry, but no tears came.
Just as she reached the vault door, the accomplice outside asked her, “Is it done?”
Lin Xi shook her head and pointed inside. “I can’t handle it. You go in.”
“What?!” The accomplice was surprised. “You can’t melt it? What is that lock made of?”
Lin Xi was startled. It seemed Shi Yu had told this person about her.
She knew she was the Blazing Blast Witch.
“It’s not that I can’t melt it; it’s that I don’t have the ability.”
The two of them stared at each other.
“No, there’s no time!” The accomplice instructed Lin Xi. “Call her out. We have to go!”
Lin Xi turned back and relayed the accomplice’s words to Shi Yu.
“Ugh!” Shi Yu let out a frustrated sigh. “No more time, no more time… Dammit!”
Shouldering the backpack full of cash, she shouted to Lin Xi:
“Retreat!”
Footnote:
- Emperor Taizu of Song(宋太祖): Referring to Zhao Kuangyin, the founding emperor of the Song Dynasty. According to historical records, his subordinates staged a mutiny and “forced” him to become emperor by draping an imperial yellow robe over him while he was reportedly asleep. The idiom “adding the yellow robe to one’s body” now refers to being forced into a position of power or a situation against one’s (ostensible) will.
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Please give the book a rating and a review on NovelUpdates.
It helps the website and helps people find this novel!
Advance Chapters:
If you'd like to support our translations with a one-time donation, you can do so via Ko-fi. For early access to chapters, 10 days in advance, consider subscribing to our Patreon.
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