Chapter 274: An Instant Of Daylight
Mainland Southwest.
Lin Xianzi developed a high fever inside the mine, becoming drowsy and losing her sense of time. The four kidnappers took turns dragging her along, their anxiety growing with each passing moment, and no one spoke for a long while.
She vaguely woke up again, and the kidnappers had started an internal argument.
“Is this really Old Ya’s escape route from back then?”
In the pitch-black, confined space, the eternal forward beam of light illuminated faces. Lin Xianzi recognized the bearded man being interrogated.
“Old Wai, are you trying to die, you son of a bitch?”
Old Wai’s flashlight flickered, the beam hitting Lin Xianzi. She held still, not daring to move.
“Brother Hu, we only have half an hour. I don’t want to end up taking bullets.”
“I know, you don’t need to tell me,” the bearded man gritted his teeth. “If you keep mouthing off and demoralizing the troops, you’ll be the one taking bullets alone.”
Old Wai was enraged and took a step forward, kicking Lin Xianzi’s arm. He stopped.
The mine was silent for a moment.
The short man bringing up the rear, on guard duty, spat on the ground and brought up an old matter.
“Back then, we all came from humble backgrounds. How come Old Ya ended up outside?”
The bearded man understood. He snatched the flashlight from Old Wai and shone it on each face. “So, the three of you have banded together. Fine, just say what you want.”
In the darkness, the three men exchanged glances. Old Wai kicked Lin Xianzi, but she didn’t react.
He spoke up, “Brother Hu, we have no issues with you. We just think that since Old Ya is so special, he must have leverage over the boss. If we take Old Ya’s path and leave, we won’t be able to stay in the country. If we go abroad and the boss turns on us, we want to be secure, right?”
“Secure?” The bearded man’s peripheral vision swept across Lin Xianzi’s lower abdomen. He already knew about the leverage.
He shone the light on Old Wai. “Your wife, my mother, their two kids, and his little daughter are all in their hands. You want to be secure? Secure for what?”
The flashlight beam moved too quickly, and Lin Xianzi didn’t notice the bearded man’s actions.
She thought, times have changed. Twenty-three years ago, Mo Shicheng could have manipulated these kidnappers with tens of thousands of dollars. Now, money wasn’t enough; coercion was necessary.
But Mo Shicheng’s intelligence network in the mainland wasn’t extensive. How could he have accurately located the family members in such a short time, and how could he have manipulated these kidnappers to shorten their prison sentences?
The Liang father and son’s foundation was in the mainland. Unless Mo Shicheng handed over the Mo family, he wouldn’t have enough influence for them to get involved in politics and court disaster.
As for the rest, Gu Zhoushan didn’t have that kind of power. Jin Tonghai was a native Singaporean, so it was even less likely.
Could it be Lin Ziqiu?
The kidnappers’ current disarray and flight indicated that the situation outside was becoming clearer. According to the plan, Lin Lanfeng would identify the spy only after her rescue.
But Liancheng was in Hong Kong. If it were Lin Ziqiu, wouldn’t she be surrounded by vipers?
“Then what do you propose?” the short man stepped forward. “I want to live.”
The man who had been silent until now revealed his purpose, his voice rough, like a duck’s.
“Brother Hu, call Old Ya. Ask him if his sworn brother is in prison while he’s living it up abroad, sleeping with women. If he can’t stand by his brother, why can’t he use his leverage to protect him?”
The bearded man shone his flashlight on him for a long while. He didn’t get angry, nor did he threaten. He sat down heavily. “You make the call.”
The duck-voiced man took out a satellite phone.
The bearded man tapped his flashlight. “Use Old Wai’s, the one that hasn’t been used.”
“Why?”
The short man was quick-witted. “Things have developed too fast outside. I can’t even use my phone anymore. Brother Hu is afraid of being discovered by the police if it’s used again. Old Wai, hurry up and call.”
Lin Xianzi hoped they would argue more and delay, giving her more time. The underground mine had many forks in the road, and she had a tracker on her. If she kept moving, the police would have a hard time pinpointing her location.
Furthermore, with the advancement of modern technology, capturing dangerous fugitives involved more than just police dogs and manual searches; communication in the surrounding areas would be monitored and analyzed.
The first call and the second call made no difference; it depended on whether the police needed to.
Indeed, it took a long time for the other side to answer, as if going through layers of approval, just finishing the procedures.
It was chaotic on the phone, with the faint sound of a fan and a hoarse wind whistling, interspersed with a few muffled groans.
“Are your affairs settled?”
“Not yet,” Old Wai swallowed. “Ya-ge, we’re a bit scared and want to ask for your advice.”
“What advice?” Shi Daya suddenly exploded. His voice grew fainter, as if he were moving the phone away, closer to the fan. The whooshing sound of the fan suddenly became stronger.
The sound was much stronger than what a fan could produce.
Lin Xianzi shivered. A helicopter.
“Did you hear me?” The phone was brought back. Shi Daya’s voice was agitated. “Hong Kong Flying Tigers, I’m a turtle in a jar now, no options.”
The bearded man stood up abruptly and snatched the phone. “Da Ya, it’s me. You didn’t catch Liang Liancheng?”
Lin Xianzi’s ominous premonition came true, and her face suddenly changed color as she opened her eyes.
The remaining three were also greatly shocked. Forgetting Lin Xianzi, they crowded around the phone.
Their ability to go abroad in the future depended entirely on using Liang Liancheng to pressure Lin Xianzi into dropping the case, just like Mo Shifu had covered things up twenty-three years ago.
If the victim did not pursue the matter and some necessary connections were smoothed over, the police might reduce their pursuit.
“I caught her,” Shi Daya said. “It’s very difficult. When I arrived, this little lady was about to run. Ga Zi even crashed their car. I didn’t look closely then. That delayed us. By the time I caught her again, the police were right under my nose.”
“We had no choice. We retreated into the house. Only three of us are left now. If we didn’t have guns, and I was afraid of hurting the hostages, the police would have stormed the building for sure.”
The bearded man frowned. “What about the inside contact? He guaranteed you could take Liang Liancheng? You’re using hostages to clear your path now. He’ll definitely put pressure on from the outside to help you.”
“Go to hell,” Shi Daya cursed. “This woman has Liang’s brat protecting her. She pretended to go back to the mainland, but she played a trick.”
“It’s because of him that the police immediately brought in the Flying Tigers, as if they were prepared. I couldn’t escape, no matter what. If I hadn’t gone inside quickly just now, that Liang would have shot me in the head.”
It would have been better if Liang Liancheng had gone to Europe a few days earlier. Liang Chaosu couldn’t cooperate with European police, so it would have been easier to handle him than in the mainland.
Outside the villa, in the electromagnetic command vehicle, the female police officer monitoring the phone paused and couldn’t help but glance to the side.
A man in an action suit, tall and imposing, with a stern face, leaned over and closely observed the infrared thermal imaging with the person in charge.
The extreme madness and tragic breakdown of Shi Daya, who had red eyes and had snatched a gun to shoot, was no longer present.
Shi Daya was more experienced than those on the mainland; he not only dodged quickly but also dodged well.
The doors and windows were tightly shut, and the curtains were fully drawn, offering no observation or sniper angles.
The thermal imaging showed two people, one large and one small, tightly locked on the ground, constantly surrounded by three points, using the hostages to shield themselves from bullets at the first sign of any police breakthrough.
At this moment, as the phone call dragged on, the encirclement gradually dispersed. Two people approached the window, one of whom was sitting with his hands raised. It was Shi Daya, who was on the phone.
“This is the moment.”
As soon as the person in charge uttered the first word, the man beside him vanished from the vehicle like a gust of sharp wind.
Shi Daya wasn’t on the phone just to chat or vent his emotions.
“Er Hu, you must escape. Follow the route I gave you—” His peripheral vision flickered out of habit, and he suddenly roared, “What are you doing—”
Feng Shien was adjusting his angle, seizing the opportunity to untie Liancheng’s ropes, but he was unexpectedly discovered.
“My leg is numb, I’m just moving it.”
Shi Daya didn’t believe him and walked closer, holding his gun.
Liancheng’s ropes were already untied. If he came closer, he would surely discover it.
At this moment, a faint rustling sound, like fabric and shoe tips grinding against the wall, came from the nearest window. It was a subtle sound that could easily be missed.
Liancheng raised his voice, trying to distract Shi Daya. “Who were you talking to just now?”
Shi Daya’s footsteps didn’t stop as he continued to approach. Liancheng had no choice and gritted his teeth, raising his voice even higher to speak in longer sentences.
“Was it the person who kidnapped my mother? Is the inside contact you mentioned still in Hong Kong? Is it the Lin family? And who are you working for? Is it—”
The woman’s tone was sharp, hurting Shi Daya’s ears. His footsteps instinctively slowed by a beat. “Shut up, you ask too many questions.”
“At this point, can’t I even ask for clarity?”
Shi Daya prepared to move forward. “What point? I haven’t taken your life yet. Wait until—”
The window was kicked open with a bang, glass shards tearing through the curtains, and daylight spilled in for an instant.
