In front of the county government building, Cao Xiong saw me standing on the steps and strode over: "Are you waiting for someone?"

Seeing that Cao Xiong didn't recognize me, I smiled at him and said, "Mr. Cao, you really have a bad memory. We met at Sanjun Mountain."

"It's you?"

When Cao Xiong heard me say that, he immediately guessed my identity: "You're lucky you didn't get killed that night."

"Likewise, if I hadn't made a mistake, you wouldn't be here either."

I saw the resentment in Cao Xiong's eyes and asked expressionlessly, "Have you brought all our people?"

Cao Xiong came here to make a deal with me. Although he was unhappy about my sudden attack that night, he was there to make a deal, so he suppressed his anger and asked, "Where's the stuff?"

I pulled the chicken head out of my pocket and handed it over: "I brought all three animal heads. Since it's a transaction, it's a simple exchange of people for goods, right?"

Cao Xiong took the chicken head from my hand, examined it for a moment, then turned and walked towards the parking lot: "Come with me."

Led by Cao Xiong, we quickly arrived at a Jinbei van in the parking lot. The young man waiting by the van nodded to Cao Xiong and opened the side door of the van.

The rear seats of the Jinbei van had been removed. Inside, Jiang Man, Lin Que, Wei Shengnan, Qu Ruilin, and several members of the Wei family were all tied up and crammed together like sardines in a can.

"Ugh! Ugh ugh ugh!"

Lin Que was sitting in the car when she saw me appear outside. She thought I had also been tied up by Cao Xiong, and she immediately started struggling.

Seeing that Jiang Man was also looking at me with a worried expression, I quickly reassured her, "Don't worry, I'm here to redeem people."

Cao Xiong waited for me to glance at the people in the car, then immediately closed the car door: "You've seen the people, but where are the things?"

I confirmed that Jiang Man and the others were safe, then dialed Xue Dong's number: "I've seen them, bring the things over."

Less than a minute after the call was made, all of Xue Dong's men gathered around.

Seeing the burly men surrounding him, Cao Xiong gently lifted his collar, revealing the tubular objects wrapped around his body: "We are all wrapped with high explosives. Tell your people not to mess around, or you will all be buried alive with us."

"I chose this place to make the transaction so that everyone can feel at ease. I'm not taking such a big risk to come here to fight you. These people are just here to ensure the safety of my friend."

I saw Cao Xiong strapped with explosives, but I didn't feel nervous at all. On the contrary, I felt quite relaxed. The fact that he was carrying explosives showed that he was quite cautious about this matter, which at least indicated that they were genuinely there to make the deal.

After listening to me, Cao Xiong did not express his opinion. Only when Xue Dong and his men approached with travel bags did he speak up: "You have already confirmed the person. Let me take the things and leave the car with you. Let's not delay anyone else."

"Can."

I nodded: "But before that, I need to check the car and the condition of my friends."

Cao Xiong had no objection: "I also need to inspect the goods."

I waved my hand, called Xue Dong over, placed the travel bag at Cao Xiong's feet and opened it, then turned around and opened the van door, gently tearing off the tape from Jiang Man's mouth: "How are you? Those bastards didn't bully you, did they?"

Jiang Man shook her head: "I'm fine, everything is fine."

I asked this to find out if Cao Xiong had poisoned them or anything. After confirming that Jiang Man was unharmed, I turned and called out, "Xue Dong, check this car."

Xue Dong is much more professional in this area than I am. He opened the car door and hood and carefully checked everything, then nodded: "No problem."

I heard Xue Dong reply, and he used his knife to cut the ropes binding Jiang Man's hands: "Let them go."

As Cao Xiong and the others drove away, we began to untie the people in the car. After Qu Ruilin's ropes were untied, he looked at Wei Shengnan with concern: "Shengnan, are you alright?"

At this moment, everyone else's bodies had become stiff from being bound for so long, but Wei Shengnan, who had practiced martial arts since childhood, was not affected much: "I'm fine, Duan Shenxing, we were able to be rescued thanks to your help."

I noticed that the parking lot security guards had noticed us, so I waved to them and said, "This isn't the place to talk, let's go."

Xue Dong helped Jiang Man out of the car and breathed a heavy sigh of relief: "Miss, it's so good that you're alright. If something had happened to you, I really wouldn't know how to explain it to President Jiang. You'd better call him back now to let him know you're safe. We've all been so worried about you since you went missing."

I added, "I've been telling Uncle Tian that we're splitting up. You stay in the mountains to guard the things, and don't let it slip."

As we were talking, our group quickly got into the car and left, but instead of leaving the county, we went to the largest hotel in the area and booked a presidential suite, using such a high-end place to protect our safety.

In the suite's living room, Wei Shengnan thanked me again and then asked, "Didn't you rescue Song Laosan yesterday? Why isn't he here?"

“We’re not on the same page; he’s busy with his own things.”

I didn't explain much to Wei Shengnan. I waved my hand and said, "I've fulfilled my promise by rescuing you. I still have things to investigate, so let's part ways here."

"slow!"

Upon hearing my words, Qu Ruilin said in a deep voice, "You traded three beast heads with Cao Xiong, which means you also handed over the beast heads we had, is that right?"

Upon hearing Qu Ruilin's question, Lin Que immediately retorted, "Hey, explain yourself clearly. What do you mean by 'your beast head'? Wasn't that chicken head something you snatched from us?"

"Don't misunderstand, I didn't mean to accuse you."

Qu Ruilin rarely lowered his stance like this: "I have personally experienced Cao Xiong's ruthlessness, and I know that if it weren't for Duan Shenxing's help, we would probably have had a hard time escaping alive. So we can cooperate in the next operation."

"I don't think it's necessary."

I shook my head at Qu Ruilin: "We all agreed to go our own way and search for Duan Jinyan separately. Now that you have lost your ticket to this competition, what cooperation can we still talk about? You have seen it yourself. With our manpower and capabilities, even without your cooperation, the progress will be very smooth."

"I just wanted to repay a debt of gratitude, and also because I was very curious about the legendary immortal tomb of Miao Jiang Immortal Palace."

Qu Ruilin licked his lips: "If you can accept this, I can serve as your team's feng shui master and promise to abandon the capture of Duan Jinyan in this operation."