They quickly started chatting.

「Ten minutes later.」

The attitudes of Zhang Qingyuan and the others had made a complete turnaround. They gathered around Qin Mu again, each updating their respective views.

"Xiao Qin, this girl is alright. If she's willing to gain some weight, I have no objections."

"This old man has read faces before, and this girl's face clearly shows she can bring prosperity to her husband."

"Xiao Qin, I'm not saying this out of any obligation, but aside from being a bit thin and constitutionally a bit weak, she has no other flaws."

"Of course, we're just offering our opinions. You can consider them..."

Qin Mu listened to everyone's "opinions." Dark lines reappeared on his forehead.

This group of elders really had too much free time on their hands.

They kept randomly trying to matchmake.

He and Qing Lan were just interacting as friends.

He had no romantic interest in her.

If anything... she could barely count as his half-disciple.

"Serve the food," he said with a helpless smile, changing the subject.

The waiter quickly brought the dishes to the table, and once the food arrived, Old Zhang and the others finally stopped gossiping.

The group ate for two hours. They spent over three thousand before they left the restaurant, full and satisfied.

"I'll take them back to the nursing home first."

Outside the restaurant, Qin Mu said goodbye to Qing Lan, planning to return to the nursing home.

However, just then, he happened to see a man in a black T-shirt and blue jeans running frantically down the street.

"Catch the thief! Catch the thief! Please, someone help me..."

Over a hundred meters behind the man, a middle-aged woman was chasing him, out of breath and with an anxious expression on her face. She kept shouting, trying to attract the attention of passersby.

It was dinnertime, and there were quite a few people coming and going along both sides of the street. Her shouts immediately attracted the attention of many onlookers.

But most people just stood there, watching to see what was happening. Many even just stared as the man in the black T-shirt ran past them.

"A thief?" Qing Lan also reacted, looking towards the man in the black T-shirt sprinting away.

He was burly and put on a fierce demeanor as he ran wildly, frightening many pedestrians. Surprisingly, not a single person tried to stop him.

She wanted to help, but she wasn't wearing sneakers, and she didn't have enough stamina to catch him.

"Xiao Qin, quick, go help!" Zhang Qingyuan and the other elders cried out anxiously when they saw this. Several of them, leaning on their canes, staggered forward as if to help.

"You all wait here. Qing Lan, please look after Old Zhang and the others for me," Qin Mu said to Qing Lan after taking a deep breath.

Then he broke into a run, racing after the fleeing man.

His system-enhanced physique granted him extraordinary endurance, speed, and strength.

Faced with such a situation... he couldn't just stand by and watch.

But what frustrated him were the onlookers. Some were unaware of the situation, while others were hesitant. All of them chose to be mere spectators.

On both sides of the street, hundreds of pedestrians watched as the man in the black T-shirt fled without any hindrance.

"Stop!" Qin Mu shouted. "Are you a thief or not? If you're not, then stop!"

As he gave chase, he suddenly noticed another middle-aged man joining in. This man seemed to have just come out of a supermarket, still carrying several pounds of pork he had just bought. Upon hearing someone shout "catch the thief," he immediately dropped the pork and chased after the man in the black T-shirt.

"Stop! Stop, you bastard!" his rough voice echoed down the street.

The man in the black T-shirt had already run a considerable distance and was gradually losing stamina. Turning his head, he saw Qin Mu and the middle-aged man in relentless pursuit. He gritted his teeth and, instead of continuing straight, decided to dash across the street to get to the other side.

BEEP, BEEP, BEEP—

BANG!

In his blind panic, a car driving at a normal speed hit him head-on. The man was thrown three meters through the air. He landed heavily on the ground and didn't move.

"AAH—"

"There's been a car accident! Someone's dead!"

Pedestrians on both sides couldn't help but scream. This sudden turn of events terrified everyone.

The driver involved immediately stopped the car and urgently dialed 120 for an ambulance and 110 for the police.

"It's over, it's over! What... what do we do?" The middle-aged man who had joined the chase stopped, gasping for air, equally frightened by the sudden scene. "I... I was just trying to catch a thief..." He swallowed hard, his face a picture of panic and unease.

Qin Mu stood beside him. He observed the middle-aged man was about forty or so, his hands covered in calluses. It seemed he might work on a construction site.

"Try not to panic," Qin Mu said, taking a deep breath to comfort him. "He might not be dead. Let's just wait for the ambulance and the police."

In truth, he was also somewhat unsettled by the situation, but now he could only hope the man was alright.

「A few minutes later.」

The middle-aged woman who had been shouting about the thief ran up, also out of breath. Seeing the man in the black T-shirt lying unconscious on the road, she turned pale again.

"What... what happened to him? I was just on the street, and he snatched the necklace off my neck. I... I just wanted to catch him..." she whispered defensively, seemingly talking to no one in particular.

「A few more minutes passed.」

Qing Lan arrived with Zhang Qingyuan and the others. They were all shocked by what had happened. The crowd of onlookers had also grown larger. Many people took out their phones, recording videos and taking pictures, pointing and commenting on the scene.

Qin Mu, the middle-aged man, the driver involved, and the middle-aged woman all fell silent.

WAIL! WAIL! WAIL!—

「Ten minutes later.」

Police officers, traffic police, and a 120 emergency ambulance soon arrived one after another. The traffic police assessed the accident scene. The 120 emergency medical team lifted the man in the black T-shirt onto a stretcher and rushed him to the hospital for emergency treatment. The police, meanwhile, took Qin Mu, the middle-aged man, the middle-aged woman, and the driver to the police station for statements and routine inquiries.

"Why was Xiao Qin taken away too? He should be considered a good Samaritan, right? They won't hold him responsible, will they?"

"What... what do we do now? That guy wasn't moving at all. Could he be dead?"

"He can probably be revived... but this situation has really escalated."

"SIGH..."

Zhang Qingyuan, Li Weiguo, Song Tiancheng, and the other elders hung their heads in despair, sighing continuously. They even suddenly regretted asking Qin Mu to help.

If no one else on the road had intervened and Qin Mu hadn't chased him, perhaps the man in the black T-shirt wouldn't have tried to dash across the road, and this accident wouldn't have happened.

But in their time, when faced with such situations, almost everyone would step in to help. If there was a thief in the street, passersby would definitely step forward and start throwing punches and kicks. He wouldn't get two steps before being beaten mercilessly. Such a desperate escape attempt... it just wouldn't happen!

"Qin Mu told me to take you back to the nursing home first. Don't worry, it should… be fine," Qing Lan swallowed hard and tried to assure them.

In fact, she wasn't sure herself if everything would be alright. Based on her limited understanding of the law, everything depended on the condition of the man in the black T-shirt. If it was just a serious injury, that would be manageable. But if it turned out to be a fatal incident... the seriousness of the matter would escalate significantly! And with so many bystanders taking photos and videos, everyone was frantically posting about the incident online. The situation would definitely escalate further.

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