Chapter 145

Jiang Ting struggled violently, but Wen Shao pushed him against the tree faster and harder. At the same time, he stretched out his hand to touch the inside of his right ear and couldn't help saying a soft "Huh?"

—There was nothing inside the ear pinna.

He pinched his left ear with his backhand, tore off Yan Xie's dark gray cashmere scarf hurriedly, and threw it down the hillside mercilessly. The cold wind made Jiang Ting shiver for a moment. Regardless of resistance, Wen Shao forcefully probed into the inner side of his clothes and touched along his neck, but found nothing.

How could it be?

In the command vehicle, Yan Xie met the eyes of the leaders at all levels and spat out calmly: "I can't."

"Why not?" Deputy Chief Wei really couldn't help it: "Aren't you connected to Captain Jiang's communication channel all the time? What do you mean by you can't?!"

 "We've already cut off the connection."

In an instant, not only Deputy Chief Wei but also Captain Yu, Director Chen, Chief Lu, and others almost stood up: "What?!"

Three hours ago, Qiju Peak—

 Wang Pengfei's convoy gradually appeared at the end of the winding mountain road in the distance, while Jiang Ting stood alone on the high cliff, pressing the communicator with one hand, hearing Yan Xie carefully instructing amidst the rustling noise of the strong wind and electric current: "If the situation went wrong or you feel in danger after arriving at Yunzhong village, try to damage or bury the communicator. The command center will send a group of people to sneak into Yunzhong village to search for and rescue you. No matter what happens, I will come to you, understand?"

As the engine roared from far to near, Jiang Ting said: "Understood, I will wait for you."

Then he moved the tip of his hair so that it just covered the tip of his ear and headed in the direction the convoy was coming.

 Two hours ago, Yunzhong Village——

Qin Chuan was distracted by Old Cai, and as soon as he turned his head, he saw Jiang Ting leaning over, almost sticking to his ear, raising his hand at the same time to cover half of his face: "Wen Shao asked someone to send some money to Old Cai so that he will persuade the surname Wang to be quiet…"

No matter how one looked at it from any angle, Jiang Ting raised his left hand just to cover his mouth so as not to be eavesdropped.

But what no one could notice was that, at the same time, with a light touch of his ring finger on the inner tip of his ear, he took off the communicator without anyone noticing: 

"Just don't be alone with Wang Pengfei along the way, so as not to cause any trouble—"

Qin Chuan leaned his upper body back exaggeratedly, but the moment when he turned his body, he didn't see Jiang Ting's ring finger passing by the corner of his mouth, as if holding something with the tip of his teeth.

 "Captain Jiang, this little one still wants to live a few more years. You be magnanimous as an adult and let me have a way to live…"

Jiang Ting stood there with a puzzled face as if he didn't understand what Qin Chuan's sincere ridiculing expression meant at all. Two steps away, a bodyguard was watching Jiang Ting vigilantly, but he didn't notice that his throat moved slightly and that he swallowed the communicator that was in his mouth.

...

 "Do you suspect that I have informed the police?" Jiang Ting turned his head, and his eyes seemed to be burning with anger: "Where is the evidence? What news did I pass? Or are you just finding fault with me?!"

This suppressed gesture made Wen Shao even more condescending, and when he looked at him from top to bottom, he even seemed a little cold and probing.

But then that ferocity gradually changed into a frightening gentleness.

 "I don't need to find any evidence, Jiang Ting." He said regretfully, "Just as you know me, I know you too." Jiang Ting's brows twitched violently, but it was already too late——Wen Shao raised his hand and then precisely hit him somewhere on the back of his neck, and Jiang Ting felt his eyes go dark!

"Back then you said that it was the day you were happiest and most looking forward to." Wen Shao whispered close to his cold ear, "I'm sorry to keep you waiting for so many years; you will be fine soon."

The bloody setting sun melted the sky. Two children by the stream were stepping on the water with bare feet, and the evening wind carried clear laughter straight up to the sky, reflecting the shining morning star.

"Why are you always so happy?"

"It's not like that!"

"But you look very happy."

 "That's because I can see you!" The little boy splashed a handful of water hurriedly and giggled as his little friend dodged, "After I met you, every day is the happiest day for me!"

No, not at all——

Jiang Ting's consciousness quickly disappeared, and he tried his best to reach out to the little boy playing happily in the void, but he missed it by the slightest.

 The next moment, he closed his eyes and fell into the dark abyss.

...…

Jiang Ting collapsed silently and was caught immediately. Wen Shao checked his breath and pulse and relaxed a little after a few seconds.

He carried Jiang Ting in his arms, but he didn't feel any weight. He saw that the bruise on his neck, which was no longer covered by the scarf, had turned purple-black. He couldn't help but click his tongue twice with pity and murmur, "Really pitiful." 

Jiang Ting was unconscious, and his eyebrows were still furrowed in drowsiness. 

Wen Shao didn't mind, so he just carried him down the steep slope and saw Qin Chuan leading someone from a distance away from the warehouse in the factory area. He quickly stepped forward and said briefly, "It's settled over there."

 "Why did you come out?" Wen Shao asked as he walked.

"The sample weighed less, so I came out to ask Jin Jie, otherwise the wrong weight might kill someone."

Wen Shao nodded.

 "And…"

"What?"

Qin Chuan seemed hesitant to speak, but he continued, "There are still two of our brothers in the warehouse…"

 Wen Shao laughed and asked, "If all of us come out, will Wang Pengfei still be willing to stay inside?"

Qin Chuan was speechless for a while.

A jeep was parked in the open space in the distance, and the driver was already waiting by the side. Qin Chuan took two quick steps and opened the rear door.

 Wen Shao leaned forward and put Jiang Ting, who was unconscious, into the back seat. He then took out a pair of handcuffs from his utility pocket and handcuffed his wrists.

"If I didn't bring them out, they would have died in Wa State a few years ago." Wen Shao clapped his hands and said, "If you do this business for a long time, you will find that sometimes things can't be done without anyone dying. "

Wen Shao might be relatively young, and as a boss, he didn't seem to have much air most of the time.

 But that was just an appearance; he always shows his real and cruel side in some casual details.

 Qin Chuan nodded in agreement, said no more, and turned sideways to make way for Wen Shao.

But at the moment when he turned sideways, the handle of the gun in the holster at the back of his waist was exposed from under the jacket. Wen Shao's eyes fell on it, and as if he had discovered something, his eyelids twitched suddenly.

Qin Chuan turned around in an instant, lowered his head, and asked, "What should we do next? Still follow the plan?"

Wen Shao stood beside the jeep, and through the window was the unconscious Jiang Ting in the back seat. He didn't immediately answer the subordinate's request, but pondered for a moment before telling the driver: "Don't go in a hurry. You can drive out when he wakes up. The route has been given to you." 

The driver spoke in Burmese: "Yes boss, I understand what to do!"

 Qin Chuan, who was standing beside him, understood very well that he wanted Jiang Ting to be in the car and watch the whole process.

Only then did Wen Shao walk toward the factory area, take out the cigarette case as he walked, smoke one himself, and hand one to Qin Chuan.

"I quit," Qin Chuan declined without hesitation.

Wen Shao seemed to find it a little funny, but he didn't insist; he lit a cigarette by himself: "You are not as calm as Jiang Ting." 

"..."

"Jiang Ting took it the first time I gave him a cigarette. He never offered to ask for it, but he never refused. Look at him." 

 Qin Chuan laughed: "Boss, that's not called being calm; that's called being sacrificed. I just want to get rich and save my life, and my demands are different from the very beginning, how can we be compared."

Wen Shao turned his head and glanced at him with a smile on his face.

"—Hey," he asked suddenly, "Do you still remember your mother?"

 Qin Chuan couldn't keep up with the speed of his topic change, "Of course I do. Why?"

"It's just a question, I don't remember." Wen Shao pointed at the jeep that was far away behind him, which meant Jiang Ting: "He should remember everything, but he never said it; he kept it hidden." Qin Chuan thought for a while and then said: "Maybe it's because he doesn't think it's important, and it's all in the past, so it's useless to keep mentioning it." 

Wen Shao nodded and said nothing.

 The drug lord in front of him put his hands in his pockets, stepped over the rough and difficult stone ramp, and walked steadily without hesitation. From his back, there was no clue of any emotion, no joy or anger, and no sign of continuing to act according to the original plan.

Qin Chuan's palms were slightly wet. He clenched them hard, and then coughed with just the right amount of doubt and hesitation: "By the way, didn't you tell me to be in charge of calling that—"

At this time, they had already walked to the factory area. A dark green aluminum alloy tent stands under the sky, shining with dots of lights, and the surrounding mountain streams and trees in the distance were lush and deep. The cold wind swayed past like countless dead arms waving in the dark.

 Wen Shao suddenly stopped in his tracks.

Qin Chuan's voice suddenly stopped along with his steps.

"You used to be a policeman," Wen Shao said with a smile, "Tell me, in the surrounding terrain, if the police are watching us, where should they set up an ambush?" 

"…ah?

A hundred meters away, in the binoculars, two figures stood far away in front of the warehouse, and it could be vaguely discerned from their movements that they were talking.

But the distance was too great to hear what the conversation was really about.

 "A91 observation point, reporting the command vehicle." "The main target and a companion reappeared within the observation range; please instruct!"

Several provincial department expert leaders looked at each other, and Chief Lu grabbed the microphone: "Is the companion 'Nail'?"

"No." The SWAT observer in the canopy immediately denied, "I'll send the scene picture!" 

 With a click, the scene image was buffered inch by inch on the satellite screen of the command vehicle, and everyone moved over. Huang Xing didn't need Chief Lu's orders and immediately began to sharpen the image, but this operation wasn't even completed, and Chief Lu, Deputy Chief Wei, and others recognized Wen Shao's companion at the same time: 

"Qin Chuan ?!"

"…Where's the Nail?" Director Chen lost his voice, "Where's the Nail?!"

Chief Lu suddenly turned his head, and not surprisingly, Yan Xie's solemn expression was exactly the same as his own. The eyes of the two policemen, young and old, met, and Chief Lu gestured.

 Yan Xie nodded and, without further ado, turned around and rushed out of the command vehicle.

"Captain Yan!"

 "Brother Yan!"

Gao Panqing, Ma Xiang, and others rushed in from outside the police cordon, only to see Yan Xie walking hurriedly, holding the gun with one hand and pulling open the car door with the other. Ma Xiang only had time to grab the passenger seat window glass: "What happened, Brother Yan? Lu…how is Brother Jiang?"

"His exposure is almost confirmed; we need to rush to the scene immediately." Yan Xie said in a deep voice, and without looking back, he got into the car door: "Let's go!"

In just a few seconds, the well-prepared police cars turned on their headlights, their engines roared loudly, and they rushed out of the cordon!

"If it's me?" Qin Chuan calmed down from the brief confusion, squinted his eyes, and looked around, and it took several minutes before he said: "At twelve o'clock in front of us, two o'clock in the northeast direction, under the gap formed by the rock in the mountain stream, and the bottom of all the tree pits where all the views are blocked…these are all possible ambush points." 

"Then, if you were me, what would you do?" Wen Shao asked.

 Qin Chuan said without hesitation, "Set fire to the mountain."

The two looked at each other, and Qin Chuan's cold and firm eyes flickered behind his glasses.

Every second seemed to be stretched. Qin Chuan wore very few clothes, but fine sweat leaked from the back of his neck, which was blown cold to the bone by the wind. But he still stared straight back at the moody drug lord in front of him. Wen Shao finally tossed the cigarette butt casually after smoking a whole cigarette and said with a smile, "Your method is too cruel!" 

The breath finally came out of Qin Chuan's throat. He also laughed and pushed the frame of his glasses with his knuckles, saying, "Then should I do it now?"

The rise of his final voice was cleverly controlled. Frankly speaking, if Wen Shao really nodded and said yes, he would definitely turn around and move the gasoline can immediately.

"No need," Wen Shao said flatly, "I've already sent someone to clean up the area. Even if the police are watching here, the nearest observation point can only be set at…"

 He raised his chin forward.

—This movement was faithfully reflected in the focus of the binoculars. An observer moved and almost silently asked the comrades in ambush beside him: "Is this person looking at us?" 

"F*ck," the SWAT officer said softly, "What is he doing?"

 "Except for that place, the other places are clean, that is to say, the police's observation angle and scope are very limited, and even if the operation team risked being exposed and ambushed at the forefront, it will take at least six minutes from the beginning of the operation to rush to the scene."

Qin Chuan's expression changed when he heard Wen Shao's words.

"What's wrong with you?"

"…It's nothing," Qin Chuan said slowly, "I was just thinking… Fortunately, I've never fought against you in the past few years as a policeman."

Wen Shao seemed very happy: "Of course, you didn't. Only Jiang Ting was committed to arresting me." 

His hands had been in his trouser pockets since he threw away the cigarette butts, and no one knew what he was holding. It was this dangerous unknown that kept Qin Chuan in a state of extreme tension until now. But at this moment he finally saw him move, holding a piece of paper out of his trouser pocket with his left hand and shaking it in front of Qin Chuan: "Take it."

—There was a string of phone numbers written on the note.

Thump! With a loud sound, the heart in his throat finally fell back into the chest cavity.

"…Okay," Qin Chuan showed no abnormality, took the note, and put it in his inner chest pocket: "When I receive the signal, I will call this number immediately."

Wen Shao nodded and patted Qin Chuan on the shoulder:

"We have known each other for more than ten years and have always trusted each other very much. I hope that your ability can match this trust at critical times."

Qin Chuan nodded, and Wen Shao smiled: "Go."

Qin Chuan answered yes neatly and walked toward the distant production plant. Wen Shao narrowed his eyes and stared at him as he drifted away until he was tens of meters away, then slowly took out his mobile phone from his right trouser pocket and dialed a number: "Hello."

A-Jie was on the other end of the call: "Big Brother."

Wen Shao turned around and walked toward the warehouse that Wang Pengfei and his group had entered just now, not caring that he was showing his back to the observers at the ambush point. He only asked: "Did you give Qin Chuan that gun today?"

It was unclear what A-Jie explained on the other end of the phone. Wen Shao narrowed his eyes, and the dark, abyss-like pupils faintly glowed with blood.

"I see. You will follow my arrangement later…"

...

In the binoculars, Wen Shao led people into the dark warehouse, and then several henchmen with guns closed the aluminum alloy door together.

"Reporting to the command vehicle! Reporting to the action team!" The observer hurriedly said: "The main target has entered the scene, and the transaction has begun!"

Chen Chu clenched his fists and nodded vigorously. At the ambush point of the SWAT team, every communication channel within a radius of several miles rang simultaneously:

"Action!"

The day faded and night fell. Looking down from a high place, dozens of criminal police and SWAT teams emerged from the plains in the vast mountains and forests, rushing to the mountainside from all directions under the cover of darkness—

At the same time, inside the warehouse that was the target of all the police forces.

Bang! Finally, Wang Pengfei couldn't help but drop the teacup and suddenly got up and said angrily, "Where is that Qin? Is the King of Spades still coming? No, even if you have blue gold, you can't do this. What do you want to do by leaving the buyer hanging here?!"

The two henchmen that Qin Chuan brought in also looked at each other in blank dismay, knowing nothing. The older one took out his mobile phone and wanted to make a call, but then said: "Huh?" 

"What's wrong?

 "There's no signal."

Old Cai stood behind Wang Pengfei, and his heartbeat increased suddenly for some reason. His face almost changed color, and he immediately grabbed his thigh tightly in secret to stabilize the unreasonable trembling.

"We honestly brought money and people here to trade! If you don't want to do business, just say it. Are you playing with me?!" Wang Pengfei walked toward the door angrily, regardless of the henchmen's obstruction: "I want to go out to find your boss, why is it so slow to move a big cargo? Are you trying to move a container?!"

 Old Cai hurriedly chased after him: "Hey boss, wait first…"

Wang Pengfei threw him off: "Don't stop me! It's a big deal. Don't do business if you don't want, Wang can't stand this kinda waiting—"

 His voice stopped abruptly, his yellow eyes blinked twice, and he asked suspiciously, "What's that sound?"

The warehouse was suddenly quiet. The dim lights were flickering on and off, and only the howling of the mountain wind outside could be heard suddenly approaching and then going far away.

"…Uh-hmm…"

The sharp voice that seemed to be crying gradually penetrated the silence, and not only Wang Pengfei, but even the henchmen had goosebumps all over their bodies in an instant: "Wh-what was that? "

"Woo-oooo"

"Who's playing tricks there?" Wang Pengfei was furious and suddenly caught a glimpse of a dark corner in the depths of the warehouse. His anger surged from his heart to his guts, and he rushed over without even thinking about it: "Who is it, come out!"