Chapter Eighteen Rebirth

Cheng Qing placed Chen Nian on the carved railing of the City God Temple stage.

"Lin Tang," she roared, seemingly losing her patience, "why aren't you coming out now? Are you just going to watch your daughter die?"

Lin Tang clenched her fist tightly in the crowd.

Cheng Qing's military boots slammed down on Chen Nian's hand!

Chen Nian cried out, like a kitten being choked!

Lin Tang, deeply moved by her mother's love, couldn't contain herself and wanted to rush forward, but Qiao Yuan held her hand down.

"I'll go!" His throat bobbed, his eyes filled with deep pain. "Jintang... I am her father, but I have never fulfilled my responsibilities as a father for a single day. This time, you're just letting me go..."

"I'll go!" Chen Mo exclaimed, his right hand still hidden under the hem of his long robe. The hand that had lost half a finger to a cannonball on the Northern Expedition battlefield was now tightly gripping the fuses of two grenades.

When the armory was mentioned, Lin Tang and Qiao Yuan both fell silent.

"Have you forgotten how Chen Kan died?"

In that instant, Lin Tang's heart clenched!

Yes, Chen Kan died. He did it to protect her and Chen Nian, and also to pass on the intelligence about the armory. How could she let him waste his efforts, which he risked his life for?

Qiao Yuan pressed down on Lin Tang's shoulder, the calluses on his palms rubbing against the coarse cloth. "Let me go!" He looked at Chen Mo. "Chen Mo, I'll need your help. I'll go up and distract them. You take Chen Nian and leave quickly!"

Chen Mo nodded.

Lin Tang's eyes filled with tears. She looked around at the two men in front of her. They, Chen Kan, and so many other brothers had all given their lives to deliver intelligence and protect them. What right did she have to keep dawdling here? If the armory got out of control, it wouldn't just be her and Xiao Nian'er who died. So many Chinese people would not escape the poison gas!

"Okay!" Lin Tang nodded with tears welling in her eyes, but her determination was unwavering. "I'm leaving! Be careful!"

Qiao Yuan's eyes flickered, revealing a hint of sadness.

Tears streamed down Lin Tang's face, but her expression remained resolute. She smiled and said, "Ah Yuan, be careful too! If we can rescue Nian'er... if we can't, Nian'er will have her father, Chen Kan, with her, so she won't be too lonely..."

As Lin Tang turned and rushed into the back alley, the canvas strap of the explosive pack left red marks on her waist. She heard the sound of Qiao Yuan pulling the bolt of his gun behind her, mixed with Chen Nian's intermittent cries: "Mom... Mom..." She bit her lip hard until she tasted blood, her tears almost drying her face, but she could only run forward, run forward, without looking back...

Chen Mo and Qiao Yuan exchanged a glance and nodded silently.

Qiao Yuan was the first to run out from the crowd. His figure was as agile as a cheetah, instantly attracting the attention of all the secret agents.

His gun kept firing.

Meanwhile, Qiao Yuan was moving along the vermilion pillar on the east side of the platform.

The crisp sound of shattering porcelain came from the west, and Qiao Yuan's roar tore through the night: "Cheng Qing, you poisonous woman!"

This is their agreed-upon code!

Chen Mo took the opportunity to throw out three smoke grenades!

Amidst the white smoke, Qiao Yuan pounced on the stage like a wounded leopard, sending shattered pieces of wood flying like knives!

Qiao Yuan lunged forward, locking Cheng Qing's throat with his left hand and pressing a dagger against her heart with his right!

Cheng Qing suddenly laughed, her laughter like the cry of an owl, sinister and eerie: "Qiao Yuan, you think you can save this girl like this? You're too naive!" With that, she abruptly threw Chen Nian into the air.

Chen Nian's cries pierced the smoke-filled air, like a sharp blade stabbing into everyone's hearts.

Chen Mo reacted quickly, rushing forward to catch Chen Nian and holding her tightly in his arms.

Seeing this, Qiao Yuan's eyes narrowed, and he thrust the dagger forward, pressing it against Cheng Qing's neck: "Tell them all to back off, or I'll kill you right now!"

Cheng Qing showed no sign of panic, and sneered, "Do you think you still have the right to negotiate with me?" As soon as he finished speaking, the surrounding agents swarmed around them, their guns all pointed at Qiao Yuan and Chen Mo.

Fine beads of sweat appeared on Qiao Yuan's forehead, but his hand holding the dagger remained as steady as a rock.

Chen Mo, holding Chen Nian, turned around and disappeared into the crowd.

Seeing this, Cheng Qing was about to order a pursuit when Qiao Yuan suddenly pressed the dagger forward a few more times, drawing a bloody line on her fair neck: "Move again, and I guarantee you won't live past tonight!"

Cheng Qing stared at Qiao Yuan with a sinister gaze, then suddenly twisted her body, breaking free from Qiao Yuan's grasp. She punched Qiao Yuan in the stomach with her backhand, causing him to wince in pain and nearly drop the dagger from his hand.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Cheng Qing kicked Qiao Yuan in the knee, causing Qiao Yuan to stumble and almost fall.

Upon seeing this, the agents swarmed forward and pinned Qiao Yuan down.

Cheng Qing tidied her messy hair, walked up to Qiao Yuan, squatted down, looked at his disheveled appearance, and said coldly, "Take him back and 'treat' him properly."

After saying that, she stood up, looked in the direction Chen Mo had disappeared, and a cruel smile curled at the corner of her lips: "Shoot! Shoot!"

Chen Mo hugged Chen Nian tightly, but the expected pain did not come.

Suddenly, a deafening commotion erupted around them. The old man selling tea overturned his wooden table, the rickshaw pullers simultaneously pulled up their hoods to form a human wall, and the storyteller struck the spy on the back of the head with his gavel. They had actually formed a human wall! Covering Chen Mo as he blended into the crowd.

Cheng Qing only sent the agents to chase after Chen Mo, but she turned around, kicked Qiao Yuan with her foot, and then squatted down and said, "Qiao Yuan, we meet again."

She was like a cat toying with a mouse, paying little attention to any of her prey except Qiao Yuan. She took Qiao Yuan into the car and drove away.

In the dungeon of number 76.

This time, Cheng Qing naturally replaced it with an airtight iron bucket. When the iron door of the dungeon was closed, the smell of rust mixed with mold wafted out.

"Cheng Qing! What exactly do you want? If you're going to kill me, then hurry up and do it!"

Cheng Qing looked down at Qiao Yuan, a faint, cold smile playing on her lips: "Kill you? That would be so boring. Qiao Yuan, I'm going to make you watch me destroy everything you cherish, just like you destroyed my hopes back then."

Qiao Yuan struggled to his feet, the chains rattling. He glared at Cheng Qing, his anger mixed with bewilderment. "Hope? When has there ever been any hope between us?"

Cheng Qing suddenly burst into laughter, the sound echoing in the cold dungeon, sounding particularly mournful: "Qiao Yuan, you probably never would have guessed that only when I was by your side did I ever truly want to be a human being! I wanted to be Cheng Qing for you! But you destroyed all my hopes for Lin Jintang."

Qiao Yuan frowned and said, "I never intended to hurt you, but matters of the heart cannot be forced."

Cheng Qing's eyes flashed with anger, and she kicked the iron barrel hard, making a loud noise: "Can't force it? Then I'll show you what it means to be unable to force it!" After saying that, she turned and left the dungeon, and the iron door slammed shut behind her.

As Cheng Qing walked out, she bumped into Liang Zuo.

Liang Zuo leaned against the dungeon doorframe, toying with a Browning in his hand: "Captain Cheng, this kid killed three of our brothers, and you're just going to keep him in the dungeon like this?"

Cheng Qing suddenly turned around and slammed the butt of his gun into Liang Zuo's temple. The movement was so fast that it was impossible to see.

"Take good care of him," her voice was as cold as the bricks in a dungeon, "I want him to see with his own eyes how Lin Tang dies!"

Liang Zuo chuckled, clutching his bleeding forehead. "Who are you kidding? You just like this kid. Back then, you went to great lengths to keep him by your side, wasn't it all for... Too bad this wolf cub can't be tamed!"

Before he could finish speaking, Cheng Qing pressed the muzzle of a gun against his chin. Her eyes gleamed menacingly in the shadows: "Say one more word, and I'll cut your tongue out and feed it to the dogs."

When Cheng Qing returned to her room, the gilded clock was pointing to midnight.

The Paramount Ballroom from seven years ago suddenly exploded before my eyes. The rotating disco ball cast Qiao Yuan's shadow onto the scarlet velvet curtain. He was wearing a white suit and a plain ring on the ring finger of his left hand.

She suddenly grabbed the whiskey on the table and gulped it down. The spicy liquid burned her throat, and she realized that some desires were destined to be nothing more than drinking poison to quench thirst from the very beginning.

She didn't know what force was guiding her, but she walked over and gently pushed open the door to Sato's room. She saw Sato wearing a white coat, injecting a woman with medicine. The woman was convulsing all over, in great pain, and making intermittent screams.

Hearing the door open, Sato turned around abruptly, his face contorted with a crazed and twisted expression. He grinned and said, "Sakura-chan, what brings you here?"

Suppressing his shock and anger, Cheng Qingqiang coldly asked, "What are you doing?"

Sato smiled gently, walked up to Cheng Qing, and handed her a syringe: "As you can see, I am conducting a great experiment. This regenerative drug can rapidly regenerate human cells, and even... bring the dead back to life."