Chapter 140 The Child is Lost! Cries from an Abandoned Factory on the Outskirts of Beijing!
"Zhanzhan! Zhaozhao!"
A piercing scream shattered the facade of afternoon tranquility in the military compound.
Jiang Wu's vision turned blood red, the world spun wildly, and all she could hear was the thunderous pounding of her own heart and the roar of her blood rushing through her veins.
The four security guards, their faces ashen, rushed over like madmen.
"Madam! Where is the child?!"
"It was just...it was just here!"
The head guard's voice trembled uncontrollably. He couldn't understand how two living people could just vanish into thin air right under his nose!
This is more bizarre than the disappearance of the enemy in any military operation!
"Find it! Dig three feet into the ground and find it!" a guard roared, frantically searching the park like a headless fly, just like the others.
"Is he hiding? The kids love playing hide-and-seek!" Aunt Wang, who was chatting with them, was also terrified and stammered out a possibility that even she herself didn't believe.
Jiang Wu ignored everyone.
Like a puppet whose soul had been ripped away, she walked stiffly down the slide step by step.
That's where Qin Zhan just squatted.
The crooked "danger" character drawn on the ground with a twig looks like a grinning, mocking demon.
And lying quietly next to that word was half a broken piece of chocolate.
It's Qin Zhao's favorite brand.
Jiang Wu reached out, her fingertips trembling, and used almost all her strength to pick up the half-chocolate.
It was cold and covered in mud.
It was as if her heart had been thrown into the dirtiest, coldest quagmire.
"Seal off! Seal off the entire compound!"
"Check the surveillance footage! Find the entrance/exit! All vehicles and personnel are only allowed to enter, not exit!"
It is unclear who issued the order, but the entire park and even the entire military compound instantly transformed from a peaceful weekend afternoon into a state of high alert.
Countless people in military uniforms and civilian clothes emerged from all corners and set up a cordon.
A sharp alarm pierced the sky.
All this chaos could not penetrate Jiang Wu's world.
In her world, all that remained was that half-piece of chocolate and that blood-red "danger" character.
After an unknown amount of time, a military jeep sped through the blockade at an incredible speed and came to an abrupt stop at the edge of the park.
The car door was suddenly pushed open.
Qin Lie jumped off the vehicle while wearing a training uniform.
His face still bore the fatigue of having just finished an intense meeting, but when he saw Jiang Wu surrounded by people, looking lost and disoriented, his sharp eyes were instantly filled with fear and horror.
"Xiao Wu!"
Qin Lie pushed through the crowd and rushed to Jiang Wu.
He saw the words on the ground and the chocolate that Jiang Wu was clutching tightly in her hand.
This man, who remained unfazed even when facing a hail of bullets on the battlefield, felt a chill run from the soles of his feet to the top of his head, and his blood ran cold.
“Child…” His voice was dry, as if it had been sanded by sandpaper.
Jiang Wu slowly raised her head.
What kind of eyes were those?
Empty, lifeless, devoid of any brilliance, as if all life force had been drained away.
But deep within this deathly silence, there were two clusters of scarlet flames burning wildly.
"Qin Lie".
She spoke, her voice eerily calm, like a frozen abyss.
"Our child is gone."
"No! Impossible!" Qin Lie roared, grabbing a guard's collar with bloodshot eyes.
"Where are they?! Where are the people I asked you to protect?!"
"Reporting, sir! We..." The guard's eyes were filled with fear and guilt, "We were watching the whole time, it was just a blink of an eye, less than two seconds! Madam and Sister Wang exchanged a few words and then turned around... and they were gone! It was like, like they vanished into thin air!"
"Bullshit!" Qin Lie slammed his fist into a tree next to him, leaving a deep fist mark on the hard trunk, and blood flowed down his knuckles.
"Nothing evaporates! Someone must have tampered with it! Who! Who could it be?!"
His roar echoed through the park.
Just then, Qin Lie's adjutant rushed over with an encrypted phone.
"Minister! It's Commander Liao at Xishan Base!"
Qin Lie snatched the phone away.
"Hey! It's me!"
Commander Liao's voice on the other end of the phone was heavy and firm.
"Qin Lie, calm down and listen to me. Half an hour ago, we intercepted an encrypted communication. The other party specifically asked for you."
Qin Lie's heart clenched.
What did the other person say?
“A recording.” Commander Liao’s voice was filled with suppressed anger. “It’s the sound of two children crying. And a man’s voice.”
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, as if they were carefully choosing their words.
"That man said... his name is Zhao Jianjun. He said that you ruined his future and disgraced him in the 'Red-Blue Confrontation' exercise three years ago. Now he's going to let you taste... what it truly means to be worse than dead."
Zhao Jianjun!
This name was like a lightning bolt, shattering Qin Lie's long-buried memories!
Three years ago, during a crucial army-wide combat exercise, Zhao Jianjun, then battalion commander, rushed forward in a desperate attempt to gain merit, but misjudged the situation and nearly led his entire flank into an encirclement set up by the enemy.
It was Qin Lie who, when no one else had noticed the problem, defied public opinion and reported it to higher authorities, forcibly halting Zhao Jianjun's operation, thus saving the lives of hundreds of soldiers and turning the tide of the entire exercise.
After that exercise, Qin Lie was awarded a second-class merit and rose through the ranks.
Zhao Jianjun, on the other hand, was dismissed and investigated for command errors and disobedience, and was eventually forced to leave the army in disgrace.
That person disappeared after that.
Qin Lie thought he was just an insignificant footnote in his military career, but he never expected that this venomous snake, which had been lying dormant for three years, would deliver a fatal blow to him in such a vicious way!
"What else did he say?" Qin Lie's voice was as cold as ice.
"He said... if you want your child to live, you should go alone, without weapons or communication devices, and wait for his message at mailbox number 10 in the suburbs of Beijing at midnight tonight."
He also said that if he found any trace of the police or military, he would cut off one of your daughter's fingers and send it to you as a souvenir.
"Bastard!" Qin Lie's eyes were bloodshot. He squeezed the encrypted telephone in his hand until it was deformed and made a creaking sound as it was subjected to the strain.
"Qin Lie! Listen to me carefully!" Commander Liao shouted sternly on the other end of the phone. "This is psychological warfare against you by the enemy! You absolutely cannot act rashly! I have already ordered the National Security Bureau, the Public Security Bureau, and the Military Region Intelligence Department to form a joint task force, which I will personally command! We will definitely rescue the child!"
"I can't wait!" Qin Lie roared into the phone.
"You must wait! That's an order!"
Commander Liao forcibly hung up the phone.
Qin Lie stood still, his chest heaving violently like a wild beast trapped in a cage.
He knew Commander Liao was right. Reason told him he had to stay calm and trust the organization.
But the thought of his children crying and being afraid in some dark corner, and the dangers they might face, burned away all his reason with anger and fear.
He turned his head, wanting to say something to Jiang Wu.
Say, "Don't be afraid, I'm here"?
Say, "Trust me, I can definitely save them"?
These words seem so pale and powerless in the face of cruel reality.
However, when his gaze fell upon Jiang Wu again, he froze completely.
Jiang Wu, who had been looking lost and disoriented just moments before, had now stood up straight.
The sadness and despair on her face had faded, replaced by a chilling coldness that Qin Lie had never seen before.
That wasn't ordinary anger, but a... indifferent, superior, predatory gaze.
She watched the furious and volatile Qin Lie as if he were a... powerless mortal.
"Qin Lie".
She spoke again, her voice no longer trembling.
"Your method is too slow."
After saying that, she didn't look at anyone else, turned around and walked step by step towards home.
Her back was ramrod straight, and every step she took seemed to tread on everyone's hearts.
No one dared to stop her.
The invisible, extremely cold aura emanating from her caused everyone to instinctively step back and make way for her.
Qin Lie stared blankly at her retreating figure, a sense of unfamiliarity and fear gripping his heart like never before.
At that moment, he suddenly realized how precious his gentle, intelligent, and occasionally temperamental wife was...
It seems like... we've never really known each other.
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