Chapter 149: Mission Successfully Completed, Hostages Safely Exchanged...

Military off-road vehicles led the way, followed by green transport trucks.

A group of thirty-three people were on their way to the hostage exchange location.

Qiu Xiaoman was seated in Captain Lu's SUV, driven by Qin Weijie, with Yang Miaomiao in the passenger seat and Captain Lu in the back.

She asked curiously, "Captain Lu, why do we need to exchange hostages on both sides of the border?"

"That's a good question." Captain Lu, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, couldn't find a lighter and had to hold it between his fingers. "I understand your confusion. Generally, the meeting is held on the territory of the stronger or more justified party, with the other side bringing their people over. In this conflict, the Vietnamese side instigated it, so naturally they should come to our side. However, we still have unresolved issues. For example—why did a Japanese team infiltrate? That means there must be a problem along a section of the border, and a significant one at that. Otherwise, why would the Japanese have the time to sell drugs in nearby villages? It means the patrol officers in the vicinity have already been killed."

Qiu Xiaoman suddenly realized why she had always felt that things didn't make sense.

Captain Lu sighed, “This answers your question earlier—why would drug traffickers choose the exact same place? The control here should be stricter than other places. It would only make sense if officers and soldiers were killed. But if officers and soldiers were killed in a strictly controlled place, then we can only speculate that there were drug addicts nearby who acted as informants for the drug traffickers outside.”

Qiu Xiaoman's expression was grave: "That's right. We found a lot of syringes and drugs on those Japanese mercenaries. It seems they have quite a few inside agents."

Captain Lu sighed, "That's right, but the people around here are all honest, simple folks. How could they possibly be using drugs? There's only one possibility: they were tricked into using drugs without their knowledge. That's what makes drugs so harmful. No matter how principled you are, no matter how much you hate evil, once someone manipulates things and you fall into this trap, you can't climb out. Good people can become ghosts, and bad people can become the devil's henchmen. It's terrifying."

Qiu Xiaoman fell into a long silence. She was worried that some of the people she used to know might have also become ghosts or henchmen.

She thought for a moment and asked, "Have you been investigating this matter these past two days?"

"Yes. The border guards are all highly skilled. In a direct confrontation, the other side has very little chance of winning; the only possibility is an ambush. To ambush someone like that, they can only use seemingly harmless civilians. The most heartbreaking thing about this is that the civilians are clearly the victims, yet they have been forced to become accomplices." Captain Lu didn't want to say the rest.

After all, if it's just drug use, at most they'll be sent to a drug rehabilitation center for compulsory detoxification, but they won't go to jail.

But if they participated in the operation to assassinate border guards, the nature of the crime changes. To put it mildly, it's intentional injury; to put it more seriously, it's treason...

This crime is far too serious; it's not something an ordinary person like me can afford to bear.

In short, given the current situation, we have no idea how many people have infiltrated from the other side. Perhaps some are still lurking, preparing to continue harming the people and causing trouble.

In that case, why not exchange hostages at the border and see if we can lure the enemy out?

If there are still Vietnamese infiltrators here, they certainly won't be idle. The special forces are there to guard against them.

So coming here tonight isn't just about clearing the area, but also about setting up our ambush points in advance, so we can resolve all the issues at once tomorrow.

Frustrated, Captain Lu kicked the seat in front of him: "Xiao Qin, check if there's a lighter in the glove box."

While Qin Weijie was driving, he asked Yang Miaomiao to look for it. Yang Miaomiao found it, but held onto it tightly and wouldn't give it to him, saying, "Captain Lu, Xiaoman doesn't like the smell of cigarettes. Why don't you smoke it later?"

Captain Lu paused for a moment, then laughed and said, "Okay, then I won't smoke anymore. It's not that I absolutely have to smoke, it's just a bit of a hassle."

Qiu Xiaoman smiled, not pretending to be generous. She really hated the smell of smoke. It was a good thing that Sister Miaomiao was defending her. If she had said, "It's okay, you can smoke," it would have been like slapping Sister Miaomiao in the face.

She thought for a moment and asked, "Won't the armed police also set up personnel to check and clear the area at the hostage exchange site? What are we going there for this time?"

“Our equipment is better.” Captain Lu understood her confusion; after all, the People’s Armed Police are the elite of the elite, and they don’t need the special forces’ help with many things. But she didn’t know that they belonged to different departments, and their equipment differed in some ways. So he explained, “Currently, their equipment is not much different from ours for most of the time. The main difference lies in the most advanced equipment, which is very difficult to obtain due to technological embargoes. Currently, only we have the relevant funding support; they don’t.”

No wonder. Qiu Xiaoman asked, "Like that infrared night vision device?"

“Yes. They’re also following up on expanding the drug-sniffing dog force, but it will take time. It should be ready by the end of the year.” After explaining, Captain Lu glanced at his watch. “They should have finished the first round of cleaning by now. We’ll do the second round and the final confirmation.”

Qiu Xiaoman nodded and asked curiously, "Will they be given the infrared night vision device that was seized two days ago?"

Captain Lu smiled, then asked in suspense, "Guess?"

Qiu Xiaoman didn't want to guess, but simply stated the facts: "There's one that would be better. There happens to be a weapons research institute in Kunming, so they can take it and study it carefully."

“Yes, yes, you’re right.” Captain Lu raised an eyebrow helplessly. “But I can’t bear to part with it.”

"Why?" Qiu Xiaoman didn't understand. Captain Lu didn't seem like a stingy person.

Captain Lu pointed to the darkening sky: "We still need it tonight!"

That's true, it's not too late to divide it up after we've used it all.

By the time they arrived at their destination, it was completely dark. Lu and the sniper were both wearing infrared night vision goggles, with one leading the way and the other bringing up the rear.

In the middle were thirty soldiers and Qiu Xiaoman. The soldiers led six military dogs trained for bomb disposal and six drug detection dogs, with Zhui Feng prominently among them.

He was somewhat excited, quietly watching Qiu Xiaoman walking ahead, and couldn't help but recall the scene of catching bad guys together last year.

If Little Lightning were here too, the siblings working together would surely have completed the mission perfectly.

Unfortunately, the captain refused to take Little Lightning, much to the disappointment of Chaser.

As they were walking, the group suddenly stopped.

Zhui Feng's position was relatively far forward, so he could see exactly what was happening.

But Qiu Xiaoman was standing at the front of the line, with a snake wrapped around her wrist, the other one nowhere to be seen.

She didn't explain why, and after two minutes, another snake returned.

At first, Zhui Feng didn't pay much attention, thinking that the snake had just come back to deliver a message. But why was there a hissing sound all around?

And the sound is getting closer and closer, how strange.

When the swarm of snakes that surged in from all directions surrounded Qiu Xiaoman, Zhuifeng realized what had happened.

He thought Qiu Xiaoman was going to get into trouble and instinctively wanted to go up and help her, but then he saw Qiu Xiaoman slowly squat down and begin to communicate with hissing sounds.

Zhui Feng stared nervously at the snakes, prepared to bite them to death if they dared to bite anyone.

However, what was expected did not happen.

The snakes seemed quite civilized; after hissing, they dispersed like waves.

Qiu Xiaoman stood up and explained in a low voice, "I asked them to help scout out the way."

Of course, there was a condition: she had to send them a truckload of rats after the matter was over. Yes, a truckload.

Because she wasn't sure if she could catch that many mice, she suggested using bamboo rats instead.

Her mother, Qiu, has a friend whose family is in the livestock business, and they raise this kind of animal.

In short, the matter was settled, and she stopped the group to wait for news.

Ten minutes later, a cobra returned, hissing. Qiu Xiaoman acted as the translator: "She said there's a ditch ahead with two people in it, their heads covered in water plants. They've been there since yesterday and haven't left yet."

Captain Lu nodded. This information was indeed crucial. If the other party was hiding in a blind spot, even with infrared night vision devices, they wouldn't be able to see them. The ditch itself could also lower the body temperature, so the infrared night vision devices needed to be close enough to detect it. If they were that close, the other party could have already shot them dead.

No wonder the border guards were killed; who would have thought?

Their operation two days ago was too lucky. If they had encountered a similar situation and been hit by a couple of sneak attacks, they would have been done for long ago.

Three minutes later, a car came back over the mountain peak, hissing as it went. Qiu Xiaoman continued to interpret: "He said there was a slope ahead, and a corpse was lying on the side of the slope, covered with wild grass. There were two people hiding next to the corpse, alive, also covered with wild grass."

Qiu Xiaoman speculated that the body was probably prepared for tomorrow, and they came here now to lie in ambush so that they wouldn't be seen by anyone who came later.

Lu Dui couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat. This must be another method used to kill border guards: using corpses to attract attention and then taking advantage of their unpreparedness to strike.

Fortunately, they had a contingency plan for this kind of trick during their training – two people would go forward while the rest would stay put.

However, this is a contingency plan that can only be implemented with a large number of people involved.

In fact, with such a long border, it is impossible for a dozen or even dozens of border guards to patrol together. Often, one or two people may be responsible for a section, thus spreading out their patrols.

In such a situation, his back would be exposed to the enemy's view.

The army couldn't help but feel heartbroken for the fallen officers and soldiers. As soldiers, they could sacrifice themselves during a charge, during a fierce battle, or even while covering the rear, but they should never die a violent death due to a trick.

This is truly infuriating. It leaves you with a feeling of pent-up anger, unable to vent or calm down, which boils over into endless frustration and humiliation.

If he can return alive this time, he must report to his superiors that the entire army should strengthen targeted training, and that the soldiers' kindness and courage should not be exploited by the despicable Japanese devils' schemes.

Then, dozens more snakes returned, all reporting that the area was safe.

By this time, they had a pretty good idea of ​​the situation along the way and in the vicinity. The Marines divided the soldiers into two groups, one going to the ditch and the other to the earthen slope.

This time, Qiu Xiaoman did not let Caihua and Ping An take action directly because Captain Lu said he wanted to test the effective range of the infrared night vision device.

As he turned from the road into the woods on his left, he waved his hand, leaving six people to surround Qiu Xiaoman, not wanting anything to happen to her.

Qiu Xiaoman secretly gave Caihua instructions: sneak over there and, if the other side was about to fire, just talk to them.

When they were about ten meters away from the ditch, Lu noticed two faint yellow spots through his night vision goggles.

As expected, it had been soaking in water, and its body temperature had dropped considerably. Its limbs were a cool, bluish-green color, and if you only looked at the warm yellow areas, it would be easy to mistake it for a small animal nearby.

Lu, prepared to capture him alive, raised his sniper rifle and aimed at the man in the ditch: "Come out, or I'll shoot."

Without their night vision goggles, the people in the water couldn't see anyone approaching from a distance. They had been lying in wait, preparing to ambush during the hostage exchange the next day, but they hadn't expected this...

The two looked at each other, and in that moment of hesitation, the teammate next to him raised his gun. Before he could pull the trigger, the man screamed and plunged into the water, fighting desperately with something underwater.

Now he was completely exposed, and didn't even have a chance to fire. The one who was being targeted had no choice but to raise his hands and come out of the water.

He had an Asian face and was carrying a waterproof plastic bag.

"Turn around," Lu commanded in a deep voice.

The man then raised his hands, and soldiers from behind the landing team came forward to search him.

They found a sniper rifle, a rifle, two pistols, two daggers, a mobile phone, a walkie-talkie, and an opened package with Japanese writing on it.

They're definitely lust-driven Japanese devils; they probably just had some fun somewhere before coming here.

Lu waved his hand, and the soldiers put handcuffs on the man, gagged him with duct tape, and took him back to the unit.

The one remaining in the water quickly floated to the surface, dead.

Captain Lu had his men search the water and pulled up an identical plastic bag. The contents were almost the same, except the packaging was different; it had mint and ribbed trim, quite a fancy design.

Maybe it was two men having sex, who knows? Anyway, those Japanese are capable of anything.

It seems that the 23 people who were far away that night were not only going to deliver drugs to their mole, but also to vent their excess energy. The four Japanese women in the group were dressed very provocatively, and when they were searched, they found a lot of things like Indian herbal oil, lubricant, and condoms.

Sure enough, those Japanese devils are a bunch of lust-driven beasts. They came all to carry out assassinations, but they didn't forget to bring a few women along to relieve their boredom.

If they don't lose, who will?

As for the corpses in the water, who cares? Anyway, it wasn't the military who did it.

Let's go check on what's going on with Deputy Captain Sun first.

The group quickly regrouped and returned to the road, hurrying forward. As they were walking, two soldiers ran back from ahead, saluted, and reported the situation: Deputy Captain Sun had captured the two men alive.

Hey, not bad, Lao Sun! Captain Lu quickly led his men forward to assemble.

The troops quickly selected a clearing in the woods to set up camp. One 12-man squad, led by Deputy Squad Leader Sun, and another 12-man squad, led by Yang Miaomiao, continued to clear the surrounding area. The rest remained at the camp, and Captain Lu personally interrogated the three prisoners.

Qiu Xiaoman followed Deputy Captain Sun and conducted a thorough search of the area, checking the entire five-kilometer radius before stopping.

After a whole night of running around, Qiu Xiaoman was exhausted. When she got back to her tent, she didn't even bother to take a shower and just fell fast asleep.

The land forces have also made progress. According to the confessions of the three prisoners, the process by which the border guards were killed is consistent with the land forces' speculation.

In addition, they have some accomplices who are causing trouble on the border of the neighboring county. If nothing unexpected happens, there will be a major operation on the other side during the daytime hostage exchange.

The army quickly notified the armed police, who, upon receiving the message, urgently requested assistance from nearby garrisons. They managed to quell the border conflict in the neighboring county before the hostage exchange that afternoon.

The hostages were eventually exchanged safely, and the matter came to an end.

As for the three prisoners captured by the Lu team, since the other side was unaware of their presence, they were not handed over together, but were instead taken directly back to Beidu for further interrogation.

Qiu Xiaoman did not go back with the military vehicle. She first asked her mother for help and asked her friend to buy a truckload of bamboo rats to give to the snakes who were helping her. Only then did she go to the airport.

There was nothing she could do; she couldn't get through to Shen Qinghuai on the phone, and she was very anxious.

While waiting to board in the departure hall, a strange old man wearing sunglasses sat down next to her.

Qiu Xiaoman was overjoyed and whispered, "Master! What are you doing here?"

"I caught something good." The strange old man touched the Thunder Bell at his waist. "I'll show it to you when we get back."

*

Upon learning of the operation's failure, Xie Yuling was so angry that her makeup was ruined.

She didn't understand and called Wu Lili to question her: "How could this be? Didn't you say that you were contacting the most skilled mercenaries from overseas?"

Wu Lili was also very frustrated and cursed, "Who knew? Those bastards didn't forget to bring four women with them on their mission. I'm speechless. Can't they live without women? I'm so done with them."

Xie Yuling rolled her eyes: "Stop making excuses, you're just useless! Almost everyone you hired was wiped out! I don't even know if that Qiu guy got a single hair out of his head!"

"I don't know either, did she go?"

"Why didn't she go? She hasn't been at the base these past few days, she must have gone."

How do you know she's not at the base?

"Can't I just ask around?"

"Fang Jiadong?"

"Stop asking, you're useless! I'm warning you, if you can't figure out a way to kill that Qiu guy for me, I'll tell my mom about you, and you can pack your bags and get out of here."

"What are you thinking? Your mother already knew."

"What?"

"Your mother isn't clean either; she's keeping a college student as a mistress. You didn't know that, did you?"

"What?"

"Xie Yuling, you're so pitiful. Your parents have been living separate lives for a long time, and you still think they're a loving couple? What loving couple sleeps in separate beds?"

"You're talking nonsense! My dad snores, and my mom has trouble sleeping. It's not what you think!"

"Whatever you want. Anyway, I've already told you, your mom took my money too, and she won't care about this."

"Don't you want to kill that Qiu guy?"

"Nonsense! She ruined my whole family! I want to kill her every minute of every day!"

"Do you have any other ideas?"

"Yes, this time it won't be so complicated. I've hired a foreign assassin, and there will be good news soon."

"Really?"

"real."

After hanging up the phone, Xie Yuling's anger gradually subsided. She decided to wait and see.

Shen Qinghuai must have gone crazy for some reason, selling off all his assets. He's probably in trouble and wants to flee abroad.

It will be much easier to take action once he leaves.

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Author's Note: Bamboo Rat: Who will make peanuts for me?!