Chapter 60 They Come From Hell
Director Liu paused for a few seconds, observing the expressions of everyone present, and said, "I'll give you two minutes to consider. This operation is extremely dangerous, and there can be no mistakes. If you think you're up to the task, go to Captain Gu and sign up. Then we'll vote by raising our hands to select two comrades."
Seeing Chen Zhenzhu fidgeting with her hands, Lu Ye nudged her shoulder and said, "Sister Zhenzhu, do you think I'm any good?"
Shen Zhenzhu didn't even look at it, and said in a muffled voice, "Impossible."
She considered that she had been on television a few times in the city, but "Focus Interview" only filmed a long shot of her hitting someone, not her face. The other party was serving time on a farm in the south and couldn't possibly watch television. Even if they could watch television from another province, they couldn't possibly watch television from Liancheng, so they probably wouldn't recognize her.
Just in case, she disguised herself carefully again; Shen Zhenzhu was very confident in herself.
Lu Ye looked around and said, "If I had to pick two people from this group, I would still have a chance of winning."
Shen Zhenzhu chuckled, stood up, stretched, and said, "You only have one spot."
When Director Liu said to select two people to infiltrate, Shen Zhenzhu could feel the gazes on her, but they quickly looked away.
She understood that she best met the criteria of "low lethality" and "good skills" among this group, but no one required her to step forward. Under such dangerous circumstances, Director Liu's "principle of voluntariness" was extremely important, tantamount to voluntarily "sacrificing" herself.
However, such subtext did not deter the members of the task force present. When Gu Yanzheng announced the start of the vote, sixteen names were clearly written on the list.
Among them was the name of Director Liu Jiankai.
Lu Ye muttered, "He's just making things worse."
Director Liu, as if he had ears everywhere, pointed to his name on the blackboard and said, "Don't think I'm incompetent. When you all think I'm incompetent, I'm the one who's perfect for it."
Lu Ye hissed and whispered to Chen Zhenzhu, "Don't tell me! This old man who's about to retire is much more trustworthy than a young man."
"Be careful, Director Liu might not vote for you." Shen Zhenzhu's big eyes darted around as she leaned closer to Lu Ye and said, "Let's vote for each other, I'll support you, and you support me."
Gu Yanzheng, who was watching from above, saw it clearly, and Director Liu, who also saw it, said directly: "Time is of the essence, this is not a trivial matter, you should vote on the most suitable candidate."
Shen Zhenzhu also looked around and felt that among the people present, she really wanted to partner with Gu Yanzheng. However, Gu Yanzheng's eyes were sharp and unusual, and it would be difficult to deceive the group of robbers. If there was any mishap, the consequences would be unimaginable.
If I say three minutes, then it's three minutes.
Shen Zhenzhu looked at herself, who was ranked at the top of the list, and secretly clenched her fists on her knees. Great!
Another unexpected yet reasonable person was Liu Jiankai.
When Park Heung-sung saw the vote results, he and Gu Yanzheng both received no votes. He smiled wryly and said, "Look at this old man and young boy, is that alright?"
Shen Zhenzhu's eyes widened as she and Director Liu slammed their fists on the table, exclaiming simultaneously, "Why not?!"
Gu Yanzheng's gaze swept across Shen Zhenzhu's face, and he first rejected Liu Jiankai's suggestion: "Director Liu will be staying here to oversee things. We will choose Wang Bo to participate in the infiltration operation with Shen Zhenzhu."
Wang Bo is one of Park Heung-sung's men. He is short and has dark yellow skin, and looks like a fisherman from the seaside. In reality, he is a former armed police officer who was transferred to civilian life. He is Park Heung-sung's right-hand man.
Park Heung-sung was fairly satisfied with the result; although he hadn't succeeded, Wang Bo had. Gu Yanzheng hadn't gone either, so Shen Zhenzhu went instead.
The entire infiltration operation meeting lasted only five minutes, yet it determined the fate of the two police officers.
Shen Zhenzhu changed into the checkpoint toll collector's uniform in the adjacent duty room. Gu Yanzheng waited for a moment, and then Shen Zhenzhu came out of the checkpoint toll booth, wearing a bright green suit, non-prescription glasses, and ink stains from her fingertips from writing and issuing tickets.
Her neat ponytail was held up in a hairnet, and there were still oil stains on her clothes from eating. She was a clumsy toll collector. If it weren't for her big eyes giving her a mischievous wink, she really would have looked like one.
Wang Bo appeared at the door wearing an old-fashioned shirt and carrying a shoulder pole. His shirt was soaked with sweat, and there were fishing nets in the basket on the shoulder pole. He must be someone from a nearby fishpond who usually catches fish overnight and rushes to the farmers' market to sell them around four or five o'clock in the morning.
Shen Zhenzhu and Wang Bo were called aside by Gu Yanzheng for a detailed explanation. After this, there were only twenty minutes left before the bus arrived.
Lu Ye seemed even more nervous than Chen Zhenzhu. He stood beside her, fully armed, and said, "Sister Zhenzhu, don't worry. If you can get on the bus, please remember that we will all be following you."
"I'm relieved." Chen Zhenzhu smiled, feeling her face stiffen slightly. She rubbed her cheeks vigorously, looking in the direction the car was coming from, and asked, "Did Brother Zheng give any further instructions?"
Gu Yanzheng stared at her intently and said in a low voice, "Take care of yourself. You haven't ridden your little motorcycle yet."
Shen Zhenzhu clenched her fist: "Okay."
While the robbers were still at large, Shen Zhenzhu and Wang Bo carefully memorized the locations where they were to be deployed by referring to the Liancheng Highway map.
"In the direction the bus might travel, these locations will be marked with information. If there's a chance to get off the bus, find an opportunity to get a signal. Also, be prepared for two scenarios: during the conversation with the hijackers, they will give you a code word, which you should be able to hear if you're not too far away."
Shen Zhenzhu looked up at Gu Yanzheng: "Yes!"
Wang Bo: "Understood!"
"It's still far from certain, we might not even let Sister Pearl get on the bus." Lu Ye handed Chen Zhenzhu an orange and said, "Right?"
Shen Zhenzhu took the orange, peeled it, and took a bite. She grimaced from the sourness and said, "I still hope I get chosen." She then shoved the sour orange back to Lu Ye.
Lu Ye saw Gu Yanzheng walking over from a distance, took the orange and said, "That's right, otherwise there's no way to deal with them."
The checkpoint was only twenty meters from the tollbooth. Gu Yanzheng dropped Chen Zhenzhu off at the checkpoint and, standing at the tollbooth entrance, said, "You've memorized everything? Aren't you scared?"
Shen Zhenzhu said honestly, "It's a bit exciting, but I'm not scared."
Director Liu appeared behind Gu Yanzheng without anyone noticing and personally served him tea he had brewed: "Have a sip to calm your nerves."
Chen Zhenzhu took a sip of the scalding hot tea, the aroma soothing her emotions: "Thank you, Director Liu."
The autumn heatwave is approaching, and the nights are still sweltering. The croaking of frogs can be heard from the rice paddies outside the checkpoint.
Chen Zhenzhu saw Wang Bo squatting in a roadside shed through the toll booth window. There were many mosquitoes in the grass, and he kept swatting at his arms.
Chen Zhenzhu leaned back in her chair and suddenly let out a soft "Ah!" Gu Yanzheng, standing in the doorway, turned around abruptly: "What's wrong?"
Chen Zhenzhu rubbed the back of her head and said, "I hurt myself with the knife."
Gu Yanzheng walked into the tollbooth with a chuckle, reaching out to pinch the small silver knife hidden in his hair: "Not bad."
Shen Zhenzhu slapped his hand away and examined her hair against the windowpane, her serious expression making Gu Yanzheng take a second look.
Just as everything was quiet, Gu Yanzheng's walkie-talkie crackled to life. An officer observing from a distance said, "We've spotted the bus. It's expected to arrive at the toll station in five minutes."
Gu Yanzheng gave Chen Zhenzhu a deep look: "I hope you return safely."
Shen Zhenzhu stood up and saluted him: "I guarantee I will complete the mission!"
After leaving the toll station, Gu Yanzheng arranged for the supplies to be hidden 50 meters from the checkpoint and 30 meters from the toll station itself. This arrangement also made it easier for the robbers to see Shen Zhenzhu inside the toll station and Wang Bo outside who was planning to fish.
The bus finally entered everyone's view with ease under surveillance. Li Hu's voice came through Gu Yanzheng's radio again: "Where is what I asked for?"
Gu Yanzheng told him, "According to your instructions, the hostages will be placed fifty meters ahead, but the elderly, children, and pregnant women in your car must get off, and the number of hostages released must not be less than twenty."
Several static crackles came from Li Hu's side, followed by other loud, booming voices. One of them shouted, "Kill one and show him!"
Gu Yanzheng decisively said, "If anyone is harmed, I will move the supplies immediately. Please remember that the premise of the exchange is to ensure the safety of the hostages."
Just then, a hysterical scream came from the robbers' direction, seemingly from the pregnant woman: "Help me, help me!! I'm bleeding so much, I'm going into labor—"
Gu Yanzheng immediately told Li Hu, "Put her down. If she and the fetus die in your car, it's all your fault!"
Li Hu cursed a few times, probably because he was annoyed that the pregnant woman's bleeding had soiled the bus.
Half a minute later, Li Hu's voice came through: "I'll release ten. Get the ones I need ready."
"Release the people first," Gu Yanzheng said. "You can see there's no one between the vehicles and the supplies; you're safe."
The bus's high beams had been modified, allowing them to illuminate a long distance. The hijackers on board could easily spot the supplies piled up in the distance. They also had other hostages on board and weren't afraid of Gu Yanzheng's tricks.
They had chained ten hostages beforehand; these were not the people the police were demanding to be released, and they were all young and middle-aged men. Keeping such people on the vehicle posed a threat to them; they either killed them en route or used the opportunity to get them off the bus.
At the tollbooth, Shen Zhenzhu watched as hostages got off one after another. She counted them one by one, and behind the tenth hostage, a heavily pregnant woman who was not locked up staggered off the step.
If the male hostage in front hadn't cushioned her fall with his back, she probably would have hit the ground, with unimaginable consequences. The pregnant woman clutched her belly in pain, saying her pants were soaked with amniotic fluid and blood. She gritted her teeth, afraid to cry out in pain, tears silently streaming down her face.
They stared in terror at the pitch-black night as the bus slowly drove past them with its doors open, but two guns peered out of the windows, pointed menacingly at them.
They were huddled together, terrified and completely disoriented, and dared not move at the command of the robbers.
Li Hu spat out of the car and cursed, "Giving them one more is a loss! Where are we going to find a new one in the middle of the night to make up for it!"
Zhao Guoqiang, who was driving in front, said in a low voice, "I see a shadow ahead."
Li Hu immediately went to the driver's seat, squinted hard, and saw a shadowy figure moving and hiding in the tollbooth. He lowered his gun, which he had been raising, and said with a deep frown, "Be careful."
Upon arriving at the supply depot, they observed the situation from the bus for a while. There were still nineteen hostages on board, and all was silent.
Most of them were elderly people, children, and women, posing little threat to the kidnappers. They stared longingly at the released hostages, their eyes filled with an overwhelming desire for life.
Under the protection of Li Hu and Zhao Guoqiang, Lu Kuishan quickly got out of the car, picked up the gasoline can, and filled the tank with gas. Then, he lifted the food and water with both hands in one go, and the weight of more than 100 kilograms seemed to have little weight in his hands.
Li Hu remembered their plan and instructed Zhao Guoqiang to drive towards the toll station. When they were about ten meters away from the toll station, the bus stopped again.
They are observing.
Shen Zhenzhu pretended to be scared and hid in a corner, looking flustered, perfectly portraying a pitiful worker who was forgotten during the retreat.
"There's another one over there." Zhao Guoqiang flashed his high beams, and Li Hu spotted Wang Bo smoking a pipe and watching the commotion from the thatched shed by the fishpond.
He sneered, "This guy's got no fear of death. Look ahead, stop at the tollbooth, I think that little chick is pretty good."
When Li Hu pulled Shen Zhenzhu into the car, she was so panicked that her legs went weak.
"Brother, please let me go, I beg you, I'm just on duty." Zhuzhu, the toll collector, pleaded with tears streaming down her face, "They have connections and don't work shifts, they insist on making me work shifts, and the leaders won't let me leave. Please have pity on me."
Li Hu held a gun to Shen Zhenzhu's throat and said, "You go to the very back. I won't let you speak, you absolutely cannot speak. If you make even the slightest sound, I'll see how I kill you!"
Shen Zhenzhu saw a face even clearer than in the wanted poster. Li Hu resembled a cunning fox, with narrow, upturned eyes, thin lips, and a pointed chin; he looked like he had many wicked ideas in his belly.
She staggered backward, slipping and falling because she was so afraid of stepping on the pregnant woman's amniotic fluid: "Ouch...it hurts so much."
Lu Kuishan, watching from the front, burst into laughter: "What an idiot."
Chen Zhenzhu sat sobbing in the last row, where she saw three hostages: two women and one man. The two women looked alike and were tightly embracing each other, their eyes filled with fear; they were probably mother and daughter.
One of the old men made a "shh" gesture to her, and Shen Zhenzhu quickly shut her mouth. After sitting down, she looked up and saw Li Hu pointing a gun at her: "Didn't I tell you not to talk?"
Chen Zhenzhu was truly sweating bullets this time.
She pursed her lips tightly, determined not to make a sound even if the sky were to fall.
The old man who had just reminded her not to make any noise quickly stood up and bowed to Li Hu, pleading with her.
Li Hu cursed him several times with harsh words, and as punishment, he left without giving him water or food.
The bus quickly drove past the checkpoint. Wang Bo stood outside the thatched shed, threw away his pipe, and felt resentful, wishing he could rush forward.
Shen Zhenzhu huddled in the last row, clutching her collar, her face filled with fear.
As she walked towards the last row, she saw that the remaining hostages on the bus were all numb and empty, as if they knew that their deaths had been predetermined.
Only the hostages in the last two or three rows were in slightly better spirits. Shen Zhenzhu didn't understand why at first, but now she realized it must be because of that old man who risked his meager strength to protect them.
Thanks to him, Shen Zhenzhu was spared by Li Hu, but now her back was covered in cold sweat.
The front of the bus had already been smashed open, and the exposed metal scraped against the concrete road, sending up dazzling sparks.
The vehicle is six meters long and can accommodate about 30 people. There are seven or eight rows of seats between the driver's seat and the back row, with the elderly, women and children all sitting on the left side.
The car windows were sealed shut by the robbers with wire and duct tape, leaving only a few narrow gaps for ventilation. The car reeked of blood, urine, and cigarette smoke.
Li Hu rummaged through the food he had brought onto the vehicle. It contained bread and biscuits, which looked like a lot, but in reality, it wouldn't last a week after filling his stomach.
Shen Zhenzhu understood that not providing them with enough gasoline and food was to prevent them from escaping once they had enough, making them difficult to capture. This was one method of dealing with robbers.
Li Hu gave Lu Kuishan some bread, then took a piece of bread himself and walked to the driver's seat to replace Zhao Guoqiang.
Zhao Guoqiang picked out some food and sat down in the right seat of the first row to eat. Surprisingly, he did not turn around to monitor the hostages behind him.
Lu Kuishan occasionally glanced back, where two bloodstained farm sickles lay at his feet. He was peeling an apple with a fruit knife, occasionally brandishing it at the neck of the hostage behind him, frightening the rural woman into tears, while he laughed heartily.
Shen Zhenzhu also looked frightened, and silently stared outside in the car until the gray-blue sky appeared at the end of the road and the pale yellow sun slowly rose.
She estimated the distance they would travel; their gasoline would last until noon at the latest. Along the national highway, there were road signs spaced apart, and Chen Zhenzhu could see they passed two traffic lights without stopping.
She squinted to rest, her ears ringing as she listened to Li Hu making a phone call ahead. She couldn't help but think how convenient it would be if technology were advanced enough to eavesdrop on phone conversations.
Their purpose, their accomplices, and their next move can all be gleaned from their phone calls.
Li Hu, holding his mobile phone, sat in the passenger seat and made two "uh-huh" sounds. He then spoke a few words in a low voice in the southern dialect. After hanging up, he said to the other two, "You can have them prepare the gold. This time it must be 100 jin (50 kg), not a little less."
It turns out it was all for money.
Shen Zhenzhu thought to herself, 100 catties of gold, that's too much of an appetite!
She could sense a silent commotion inside the car. The hostages, who had become accustomed to the previous atmosphere, were bewildered by the sudden change and felt as if they were taking a step closer to the underworld.
The mother and daughter in the same row as Chen Zhenzhu couldn't help but cry, but they dared not cry too loudly, as the sound of the fast-moving car drowned out their sobs.
Earlier, Li Hu had taken the initiative to switch to the radio signal and said "hello, hello" twice into the car's walkie-talkie.
"Let me tell you what the police want, see if they want you dead or alive." Li Hu turned the walkie-talkie volume up to the maximum, it was deafening. Gu Yanzheng's voice came through the static, which invigorated Chen Zhenzhu.
She was trying to pinpoint the location of the next "information point," and then, with audacity, she strained her ears to listen carefully to the negotiation between Li Hu and Gu Yanzheng.
Li Hu's negotiation method was simple and brutal: he demanded 100 jin of gold, and threatened to kill people if they didn't give it to him, killing one person for every jin less.
These words terrified the hostages on the bus, making them tremble like lambs to the slaughter.
Gu Yanzheng, well aware of the psychology of negotiation, told Li Hu that if he couldn't produce that much gold, he wouldn't be able to produce it even if he killed everyone.
For a moment, Shen Zhenzhu was unsure who was more straightforward and direct.
Li Hu and Gu Yanzheng were bargaining when Shen Zhenzhu suddenly heard Gu Yanzheng give a "signal" on the radio!
'East'!
On the escaped hijacked bus, the information provided indicated location.
Shen Zhenzhu understood that her mission was to extend the journey as much as possible, giving her people time to ambush.
Only through contact could there be a chance of rescue. Shen Zhenzhu was racking her brains trying to figure out how to get Li Hu to steer east around the road when Li Hu, who was still negotiating with Gu Yan ahead, suddenly called out to her: "Hey, you little girl who just got in the car, come here!"
Shen Zhenzhu looked up in astonishment and saw Lu Kuishan's burly figure had already stood up, leaning on the chair and looking back menacingly: "Where is he? Do I have to invite him?"
The old man next to Shen Zhenzhu whispered to her quickly, "Go quickly, be obedient and don't talk back to them."
Chen Zhenzhu stood up, brushed the stray hairs from her forehead to both sides, swept them over her hair bun, and then leaned against the back of the chair.
She wasn't sure if she could take on all three of them at once. She might have a chance if she didn't have a gun, but there were not only guns and sickles here, but also nineteen hostages.
Shen Zhenzhu walked forward with a pale face, trembling all over, and lowered her head without saying a word.
Li Hu pointed to the road ahead and said, "Aren't you from the toll station? How do I get to Zhuang County?"
Shen Zhenzhu hesitated for a moment and didn't speak. Lu Kuishan pushed her hard from behind, and Shen Zhenzhu fell to her knees when she wasn't prepared.
Li Hu repeated, "How do I get to Zhuang County?"
Shen Zhenzhu dared not cry out in pain. She timidly got up from the ground, squinted weakly at the front of the car, and said after looking around, "Go...go to the fork in the road to the east."
Li Hu picked up the walkie-talkie again and asked, "How much gold can you prepare?"
Shen Zhenzhu wanted to hear Gu Yanzheng's voice a little longer, but Lu Kuishan grabbed her shoulder and dragged her back.
Shen Zhenzhu nearly fell again, struggling to stand up by bracing herself against the chair. Lu Kuishan, having finished his teasing, stood beside her and laughed again. He was burly and had a ferocious face, like a living Yama.
Chen Zhenzhu gritted her teeth and decided to add Lu Kuishan to her account book.
After sitting back down, Chen Zhenzhu hunched her shoulders and stayed there for a while. Zhao Guoqiang, who had finished resting in front, glanced back and tossed a few bags of bread to them.
The mother and daughter sitting next to the old man quickly picked it up, tore open the packaging, and wolfed it down.
The old man picked up two pieces of bread, handed one to Chen Zhenzhu, and whispered, "Eat up, we don't know when we'll have our next meal."
They didn't even know if they'd survive to eat it.
Shen Zhenzhu took the bread and saw the old man's dark purple face, as if he had been farming by the sea for a long time. He had deep wrinkles on his forehead, and the skin on the back of his hands and wrists was rough and cracked, like dry pine bark.
She frowned and said softly, "Thank you, sir."
"Just call me Uncle Dashan." Uncle Dashan carefully broke off a piece of bread, ate half of it, and put the other half into his pocket.
Shen Zhenzhu followed suit and secretly hid half of the bread. When she saw the two rural mother and daughter at the next seat doing the same, Shen Zhenzhu thought they would eat all the bread in one go. It seemed they were also imitating Uncle Dashan. Obviously, they were on the same side as Uncle Dashan.
Shen Zhenzhu was also considering whether to develop them into her "united front".
There was music playing from the radio station ahead, and Lu Kuishan hummed along.
Chen Zhenzhu ate her bread in small bites, noticing out of the corner of her eye that Uncle Dashan was watching her. She quickly glanced ahead and whispered, "What's wrong?"
Uncle Dashan also glanced ahead and saw the three robbers discussing something near the driver's seat.
He lowered his voice and asked Chen Zhenzhu excitedly, "Why are we heading east? Shouldn't we be heading north? Is someone going to rescue us?"
Shen Zhenzhu honestly said, "I remember I shouldn't go north. I work at the toll station and I know that the road is under construction to the north. Even if the road isn't under construction, it's still faster to get there from the east."
Uncle Dashan finished the last bite of bread, his weathered face full of worry. He covered his mouth with the sound of the radio and said in a low voice, "I don't know if they'll release us this time. I'm too old to cause any more trouble."
Shen Zhenzhu also hoped that Gu Yanzheng would have enough time to set up a control operation, as the longer it dragged on, the less patient the robbers would be.
"The five people in the first two rows, take the ropes and tie your hands together tightly. If you don't tie them tightly, I'll help you tie them." Li Hu, who had been replaced by Zhao Guoqiang, seemed to be in a good mood at the moment. He said to the hostages, "Those people can only exchange twenty catties of gold for five people to get out. Don't worry if you can't get off the bus."
A cruel and ruthless smile flashed across his face: "Once I get the rest of the gold, I'll make sure you all get off the train."
-----------------------
Author's note: A friendly reminder from toll collector Zhuzhu: The road ahead is named Huangquan (Yellow Springs).
***
See you tomorrow! (fingers) It's almost the end of the month, feel free to add more nutrient solution if you haven't used it all! [pity][pity]
There are red envelopes~
***
Regarding whether Zhuzhu will be recognized, our Zhuzhu is the hope of Tiesi 2 Village and a celebrity in Liancheng (city). This time, she's involved in a cross-province operation, and the robbers are currently serving time in another province, so the setup is that they won't recognize her. [Okay]
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com