There were many peculiar things about Zhu Jiaming, and some suspicious points seemed right on the verge of being figured out—all that was missing was brushing aside the final leaf blinding their eyes.
He seemed a bit too eager today, exposing himself somewhat too clearly.
But for now, Han Qingyu had no time to ponder or investigate this, so he made these arrangements.
"I hope you're still alive next time we meet."
Considering that the secrets on Zhu Jiaming were very likely valuable, Han Qingyu pointedly said this line to him before stepping out of the car. It was effectively saying: I hope you behave yourself.
"Me too," Zhu Jiaming replied, his gaze earnest. "If something really goes wrong, you two can definitely fight your way out, right? If trouble happens, whatever you do, don't linger in battle! Where there's life, there's hope..."
He was already under suspicion, walking on the razor's edge of being exposed, and yet he was actually showing concern?! And in such a completely natural manner.
Han Qingyu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He paid him no further attention and turned to get out of the car with Wu Xu. The two of them going in might not be able to hack through everyone and win, but cutting down a few and fleeing shouldn't be much of a problem. Wu Xu hadn't been used to running away before, but lately he had gotten the hang of it—and once he actually started running, he wasn't slow in the slightest.
The streets in this small county town were old and weathered, with few streetlights. Stepping down from the corner, it was quite dark. Han Qingyu and Wu Xu walked forward a few steps toward a place glowing with red lantern light.
"Qingzi," Liu Shiheng suddenly called out anxiously from the car behind them.
"What's wrong?" Han Qingyu looked back.
Liu Shiheng held up the communicator in his hand and said, "I can't get through."
The unease in Han Qingyu's heart suddenly surged. "Is the communicator malfunctioning?"
"I don't know, but it's all static." Liu Shiheng tried once more as he spoke, then shook his head again.
Something was wrong. The communications had inexplicably run into trouble, and ordinary telephones couldn't dial into Azure's secure lines. Han Qingyu stopped, swiftly sorted his thoughts, and turned back to say:
"You guys leave."
Liu Shiheng blinked blankly. "Leave?"
"Right. Keep driving. Keep trying to reach Captain Lao along the way. The moment you leave the jamming range, tell him immediately that it's an emergency and to report up the chain right away."
"Understood! But what about you two? Aren't you coming with us?!"
Logically, they absolutely should leave together right now. Yet the anxiety in Han Qingyu's heart drove him to stay and check it out—to see if there was any chance of strangling the unknown impending crisis in its cradle.
"I have to go check it out," he said.
"...All right." Qingzi's decisions at critical moments before battle were never to be questioned. Liu Shiheng nodded, shut his mouth, and turned the car around to accelerate away.
After the vehicle moved some distance away, Wen Jifei suddenly stuck his head out from the back seat of the jeep, calling back in a voice stripped of all emotion: "In a bit, I'll drive the other car back to pick you up... If anything else happens, don't worry about me. I can get away on my own—I have a vehicle."
They had brought two jeeps on this trip to begin with, one of which had remained parked in the woods outside the town.
As he spoke, Wen Jifei didn't let Liu Shiheng stop, giving Han Qingyu no chance to reply. His driving skills these days were very good too.
"Is the situation really that serious?!" As he sped toward the outskirts of town, Liu Shiheng couldn't resist asking.
Wen Jifei nodded. "If this communications issue is signal jamming... those clans wouldn't have the capability to pull that off on their own."
He meant that this time, there was very likely another powerful force participating in and directing the whole thing.
Snow Lotus?!
Had the He clan and the others, cornered by Azure's pursuit and left with nowhere to turn, decided to defect to Snow Lotus?
Then what they were doing right now was...
A pledge of allegiance?!
***
In the eyes of the neighborhood locals, that wealthy household that had recently moved into this small county town had been celebrating a joyous occasion over the past few days.
The outsiders had plenty of strong young men, and their noses seemed held quite high. None of the neighbors had been invited to the wedding banquet, yet many people from out of town had come to offer congratulations, quite a few even arriving in four-wheel tractors and trucks.
This was the cover the He clan had crafted for this operation: putting on the appearance of hosting a wedding banquet, decorating everything to look entirely convincing.
Even many of the neighborhood children on the street had received wedding candy from this household during the day.
Han Qingyu and Wu Xu walked into the courtyard through the gateway, where two large red lanterns hung high.
Surprisingly, there weren't as many people as expected.
Instead, Pang Jinghe, who had led the way earlier, was standing just inside by the side of the entrance, as if waiting for them.
"Thought you'd lost your way. So, where are the others?" he asked, glancing behind them.
Han Qingyu gestured back with a smile. "Looking for a spot to park back there. The alley's narrow, and with so many vehicles already parked beside the courtyard, they were worried it'd be hard to turn around later."
Pang Jinghe considered it and agreed that made sense.
Just then, a young man in a white striped shirt walked over. Exchanging a glance with Pang Jinghe, he looked at Han Qingyu and Wu Xu and asked warily, "And these two are?"
"This one's from the Yu clan; I've seen him twice before." Pang Jinghe indicated Wu Xu, then looked at Han Qingyu and whispered with a chuckle, "This one's from the Shang clan—Shang Nianhua's paramour."
"Oh." The striped shirt nodded, his gaze sweeping over the two once more.
Han Qingyu braced himself to fight... Wu Xu had no need to brace himself; his entire life was lived in a constant state of readiness to fight.
"He clan, He Hongda. Welcome." The man introduced himself, then looked up at Wu Xu with warm enthusiasm. "I've seen you before, too... Yo, your Yu clan's gear has gotten pretty fancy now, hasn't it? But where has your old master moved to? We went looking for you guys a few days ago, but couldn't track you down no matter how hard we tried."
Wu Xu glanced at him in silence. These people all claimed to have seen him, but he didn't remember a single one of them. In the past, whether following Yu Yindou or Yu Fengzi, he never looked at people and never spoke.
"Can't say, huh? Haha." He seemed well-acquainted with the Yu clan's habits, so he didn't press the matter, nor was he the least bit annoyed.
He chuckled twice to smooth over the awkwardness, then turned to Han Qingyu with a lecherous smirk and whispered, "Quite a lucky young man, aren't you, little brother? Plenty of men would love to crawl into Madame Shang's bed, heh heh."
"...Yeah."
"Tastes pretty sweet, does it?"
"...It's quite nice. Thanks."
If he had a communicator right now, Han Qingyu would have told them to just hack Zhu Jiaming to death on the spot.
What kind of excuse had that bastard concocted...? If he didn't slaughter every last one of these people today, he feared he'd never scrub off this reputation for the rest of his life.
Still, once fighting broke out, the Shang clan was basically done for as well—their circle would certainly never trust the Shang clan again.
"Come on, right inside, please. I'm busy, so I won't entertain you properly." He Hongda made an inviting gesture, turned to take a few steps to the side, then turned back to remind them: "If you get a chance to meet Mr. Stan later, remember you must show him utmost politeness and respect."
Over there, their family members seemed to be packing up the last of their belongings.
Mr. Stan?
"Who's Mr. Stan?" Since he was already being treated as an ignorant underling, Han Qingyu took the opportunity to ask Pang Jinghe beside him as they walked in.
Pang Jinghe turned to look at him, oddly smug as he said, "A big shot!"
"From Snow Lotus?"
"Well, look at that! So you aren't completely clueless after all!" Pang Jinghe was slightly surprised, then asked curiously, "What, wasn't your Shang clan always so cautious? You thinking of crossing over together this time?"
Crossing over? That probably meant joining Snow Lotus. Han Qingyu thought for a moment and smiled. "Well, that's why I came along on this trip—just to see how things look first."
"Look, my ass." Pang Jinghe seemed fond of cursing with that word. After spitting it out, he added, "Now that you've shown your face here for today's business, the Shang clan thinks they can still sit on the fence? Not a chance."
The main hall, decorated with festive lanterns and banners, was right before their eyes.
As he spoke, Pang Jinghe stopped at the back of the hall, behind a wooden partition wall.
He threw out an arm to block Han Qingyu and Wu Xu. "Without someone announcing you, I'm afraid you two don't have the status to go in."
With that, he stopped in his tracks as well.
Standing there was fine—in fact, it worked out even better.
Voices drifted clearly from the main hall. Han Qingyu heard somewhat clumsy Mandarin and couldn't resist poking his head out for a look. To his surprise, he saw a Caucasian man in his thirties, dressed in a suit and tie, standing there.
"That's Mr. Stan?"
"Who else?" Pang Jinghe poked his head out for a glance as well after replying.
"Is your master in there too? Doesn't seem like many people, though," Han Qingyu probed further, noticing that there seemed to be very few old men sitting in the hall.
By all rights, with six or seven secluded and semi-secluded clans gathering, shouldn't there be a whole crowd of clan elders?
Pang Jinghe glanced at him. He seemed about to explain, but changed his mind as he opened his mouth. "Just listen quietly. When the time comes for us to do our part, do what you're told."
Han Qingyu was indeed listening—and very soon, what he heard made his heart pound with dread.
The dialogue in the main hall was somewhat disjointed, mostly with Stan speaking and the others echoing him, but Han Qingyu still pieced together the relevant information quickly.
They were too late! Han Qingyu's immediate realization was crushed by intense dismay... They had arrived too late. The operation had already reached its final phase.
Fighters from those clans were already lying in ambush near Medical Station 101. They had departed as soon as night fell, which was precisely why most of the clan heads were absent from the hall.
Barring any surprises, a forged shuttle craft would soon touch down not far from the medical station to draw away its defensive forces.
Then, with signals jammed, the clan fighters would attack the station... taking hundreds of medical personnel and wounded soldiers hostage before fleeing, and then threatening and extorting Azure.
Medical Station 101... that place, those people... the memories of spending time together over the past few days were still so vivid and fresh in his mind.
What to do?!
Torn with anxiety, Han Qingyu's mind spun in momentary chaos. He turned to exchange a look with Wu Xu.
Under current conditions, they had no means of communication... Rush back to the medical station? It was too far.
And who knew if Liu Shiheng had managed to get in touch with Captain Lao yet?
Meeting his eyes, Wu Xu looked at Han Qingyu and asked, "Shall we... kill people?"
Han Qingyu froze for a second. Yes, killing... no, counter-hostage! The target: Stan... Only by capturing him could they hold leverage over everyone. Right now, raw force was the only thing he could rely on, and in this desperate emergency, he couldn't think of any other way.
"Kill people? Kill who?" Pang Jinghe overheard their exchange and turned to glare at the two of them. "Kill what, my ass! Every single one captured is worth source energy blocks... Master Stan even said we can squeeze Azure for tech! Technology, you get that? Master Stan said Azure always caves to that kind of leverage. In the end, all of this will count toward our merit."
"Oh," Han Qingyu brushed him off.
Device engaged.
"What are you doing?" Pang Jinghe was exasperated, annoyed by these two reckless youngsters. He lectured them, "Aiya, what's your hurry, you two...? Haven't you ever seen rough waters before?"
Wu Xu looked at him and said, "Killing people."
Right at that moment, Stan's awkward Mandarin echoed out from the hall again: "Do you know what price several hundred doctors, nurses, and wounded will force Azure to pay? That Council of theirs can never achieve brutal consensus, do you understand? So do not underestimate these seemingly ordinary hostages..."
"Kidnapping only ordinary soldiers and medical personnel—is that all Snow Lotus is capable of?!" an abrupt voice rang out. "If you're going to take hostages, why not capture a few of Azure's geniuses?"
He had intended to tear off the mask and start fighting right then.
Yet inside the hall, nearly everyone, including Stan, froze on the spot. Tracking the source of the voice, their heads turned in unison toward the wooden partition wall... The person was outside.
Right then, one of the men slapped his armrest and jumped up, shouting angrily, "Whose family does this pup belong to? Such terrible manners! How dare you interrupt Mr. Stan while he's speaking?! Azure's geniuses—do you even know where Azure's geniuses are to go capture one?!"
"I really do know one," the voice outside the partition wall actually replied.
"..." Pang Jinghe was nearly driven mad with fury by the idiot beside him. If this fool offended Mr. Stan, wouldn't everyone get dragged down with him?!
Not daring to make a sound, Pang Jinghe reached out in a panic, moving to clap a hand over Han Qingyu's mouth.
Yet inside the hall, Mr. Stan himself let out an intrigued "Oh?", clearly interested, and continued: "You really know one? Which one?"
"Han Qingyu. He was at the medical station a couple of days ago too, and just left," Han Qingyu said.
"Han Qingyu?! That Han Qingyu?!" More than half the people in the hall leaped to their feet. Evidently, every single one of them had heard this name.
That guy was simply too famous. He was bound to be worth a fortune, and if they could truly capture him, it would tremendously boost their morale while dealing a heavy blow to Azure... That would be an enormous merit.
"Where is he? Is he close by?"
Separated by the wooden partition wall, Mr. Stan—whose status was likely that of a special commissioner from Snow Lotus—seemed keenly interested in the name as well. Cocking his head, he took a step forward and pressed on.
"Well, it wouldn't be good to say in front of so many people, would it?" Han Qingyu changed his plan on the fly. Focusing on the sound of the approaching footsteps, he coiled his strength, poised to strike, as he spoke: "Mr. Stan, come a little closer. I'll tell you."
Inside the wall, the man was walking forward.
Outside the wall.
"Damn it, no wonder you guys were so eager to rush over! Turns out you had intel this important in your hands!" Pang Jinghe reached over and patted Han Qingyu on the shoulder, chuckling in a low whisper: "When you earn your merit and we go over to Snow Lotus, remember to look out for your brother here, all right?"
Han Qingyu turned to glance at him, smiled, and nodded.
Chapter 208