Chapter 207 The "Surprise" in the Box
Tangdixuan, an underground secret room.
The old man, who called himself "Uncle Wu," had one arm dislocated and lay sprawled on the ground like a lump of mud, his forehead covered in large beads of cold sweat, and he was making suppressed groans.
Qin Zheng stood expressionless behind Su Wantang; his very presence was an invisible pressure.
Su Wantang toyed with the sandalwood box she had taken from "Uncle Wu's" arms, not even glancing at the man on the ground. She didn't speak, Wang Ma didn't speak, and Qin Zheng was even less likely to speak.
The only sounds in the secluded room were the man's heavy breathing and the occasional suppressed groans of pain.
Time ticked by, and this extreme silence was more agonizing than any form of torture.
"I'll tell you... I'll tell you everything..."
The man on the ground finally couldn't hold on any longer, and his mental defenses crumbled inch by inch in the deathly silence.
Su Wantang then looked up from the box, her eyes calm as a bottomless well. "Speak."
“It was… a man who found me. He said he was a friend of Mr. Lu and asked me to come to Beijing to deliver something to you. He promised to arrange the best job for my grandson in Shanghai after it was done…” The man was in so much pain that he could barely speak, but his survival instinct made him spill everything out.
“Mr. Lu?” Su Wantang’s voice rose slightly at the end.
"Lu Wenbo! It's Lu Wenbo!" the man shouted urgently. "He said he's Lu Wenbo's friend and wants to avenge him!"
Su Wantang's fingertips gently traced the smooth surface of the sandalwood box.
Who is behind Lu Wenbo? Or is it someone from "Eagle's Nest" using Lu Wenbo's name?
What does he look like?
"I...I didn't see his face clearly. He was wearing a hat and a mask, and his voice was altered; it was very hoarse..." the man tried to recall.
"He only gave me this box and a document about you, telling me to memorize it and act out a scene of a loyal servant searching for his master... I really don't know anything else! Miss, please spare me, I don't want to die!"
Su Wantang didn't ask any more questions, but instead gave Qin Zheng a wink.
Qin Zheng understood, took a brown paper document bag from the side, walked to the man, squatted down, and took out the contents one by one, placing them in front of him.
It wasn't a torture device, just a stack of documents and a few photos.
The first photo shows a young man in brand-new overalls standing at the gate of a factory with a simple smile on his face.
"Wu Jianhua, your son, is thirty-five years old. He's an eighth-grade fitter at the Shanghai Hongxing Machinery Factory, a secure job. He was just named an outstanding individual last week and is among the first batch of people selected for factory housing allocations, right?"
The man's pupils contracted sharply as he stared intently at the photograph.
Qin Zheng then took out a second photo. It showed a woman with glasses and a quiet demeanor, leading a group of children in reading in a classroom.
"Your daughter-in-law, Zhang Lan, is a primary school teacher. She is very popular with her students and will be officially hired by the end of this year."
The man's breathing began to quicken.
Finally, Qin Zheng took out a student ID card. It showed a chubby-faced boy smiling, revealing two small tiger teeth.
“Wu Baogen, your grandson, just got into a top-tier junior high school this year. He did very well. His teachers say he will definitely get into a university in Beijing in the future.”
“I’ll call you Uncle Wu. I don’t like playing games. You have two choices now.” Su Wantang’s voice remained calm.
She held up one finger.
"First, tell me who that man is, where you met him, and whether he said anything else to you. After that, you and your family can continue to live your good life. Your son will be allocated a house at the end of the year, your daughter-in-law will be officially married, and your grandson will have a bright future."
She raised a second finger, her expression unchanged.
"Second, keep being stubborn. I guarantee that within three days, your son will be fired for 'reselling factory parts,' and his record will be stained with a huge mark. Your daughter-in-law's promotion will be taken by someone else, and she'll be reassigned to guard the gate because of 'moral issues.' As for your most precious grandson..."
Su Wantang paused, looking at the man's face, which had turned deathly pale, and slowly said, "He will be expelled from school, and his file will say that 'family members have serious economic and moral problems.' From now on, forget about going to university, he won't even be able to get a job sweeping the streets. Your Wu family is rotten to the core."
No! Don't!
Uncle Wu completely broke down, tears streaming down his face as he kowtowed on the ground. "I'll talk! I'll tell you everything! Please, spare my family! They're innocent! They know nothing!"
At this moment, he truly understood just how terrifying the power of this unbelievably beautiful young woman before him was. Killing someone is merely a matter of a swift head falling to the ground, but her words were meant to nail his entire Wu family, three generations, to the pillar of shame, condemning them to eternal damnation! This was worse than death itself!
“I met him in the public restroom at the Shanghai Railway Station… He gave me a thousand yuan and a train ticket. He said that as long as I delivered the box, he would give me another nine thousand yuan…” Uncle Wu shouted incoherently.
He also said that he must personally hand this box to you at tomorrow's opening ceremony, in front of everyone! He must make you open it!
Does it have to be opened in front of everyone?
The unease in Su Wantang's heart was instantly amplified.
She picked up the box, brought it to her ear, and shook it gently.
There was no sound of anything rolling inside, but there was a very faint, rhythmic "tick-tock" sound.
Almost simultaneously, the door to the secret room was pushed open, and Lu Jingyan strode in, exuding a chilling aura. He had just finished a meeting at the military region and rushed over as soon as he received Qin Zheng's call.
"What's going on?" He frowned immediately when he saw Uncle Wu on the ground and the boxes in Su Wantang's hands.
"I caught a small fish." Su Wantang looked up at him and handed him the box. "But this small fish seems to have brought a big one. Listen."
Lu Jingyan took the box, and after only one second, his usually cold and stern face underwent a dramatic change in expression.
Having brushed with death countless times on the battlefield, he was all too familiar with that voice!
"bomb!"
Without the slightest hesitation, he pulled Su Wantang behind him and shouted sternly at Qin Zheng, "Clear the entire building! Quickly!"
Qin Zheng's face also turned pale. Without saying a word, he turned around and rushed out, issuing orders through the walkie-talkie as he ran.
Wang Ma was so frightened that her legs went weak, but Su Wantang supported her. "Wang Ma, don't be afraid, go out first."
“Miss…” Wang Ma’s lips were trembling.
"Get out!" Su Wantang's voice left no room for argument.
Wang Ma was escorted away by the guards who rushed in, leaving only Lu Jingyan, Su Wantang, and Uncle Wu, who was lying on the ground, completely terrified, in the secret room.
Lu Jingyan placed the box steadily on the table, drew a multi-functional military knife from his waist, and with eyes as sharp as an eagle's, began to carefully pry open the edge of the box. His movements were steady, his fingers did not tremble at all, and his hands, which had been holding guns for many years, showed an extremely high level of talent in precise operation.
Su Wantang stood beside him, her heart pounding in her chest.
She had considered hiding in the spatial dimension, but Lu Jingyan was still here. She couldn't possibly abandon him. Besides, if this thing exploded in Tangdixuan, all her hard work would be destroyed.
“Clatter.”
With a soft click, the box lid was pried open.
Upon seeing what was inside, even Su Wantang, who had lived two lives, broke out in a cold sweat.
The box was lined with red velvet, and instead of a dowry list, it contained a meticulously modified old-fashioned Seagull pocket watch. The watch's hands were ticking away, and its interior had been hollowed out, revealing countless tiny wires connected to a yellow, clay-like substance and several detonators.
A well-made time bomb!
At this moment, the hour hand on the pocket watch is pointing to eleven o'clock, while the minute hand is at nine.
"The time is 11:45 AM tomorrow." Lu Jingyan's voice was extremely solemn.
Tomorrow at 11:45 AM, that's when she'll cut the ribbon for the opening ceremony! The stage will be filled with prominent figures from Beijing, and Mr. Chen will also be there!
The enemy's target isn't just her! They want to wipe out all the high-ranking military, political, and business leaders present!
An unprecedented terrorist attack was carried out in Beijing, right under the emperor's nose!
These guys are insane!
Lu Jingyan's face was extremely grim. He immediately picked up the encrypted phone in the secret room, dialed a number, and reported the situation in the most concise language.
"This is Lu Jingyan. Emergency! A time bomb has been discovered at Tangdixuan. It's extremely powerful and its target is tomorrow's opening ceremony. Repeat, the target is tomorrow's opening ceremony! Requesting immediate dispatch of bomb disposal experts and special forces to secure the area!"
After hanging up the phone, he turned around and hugged Su Wantang tightly, his arms trembling slightly from the force.
"Don't be afraid, I'm here."
He felt a lingering fear. If it had been any later, if Su Wantang had actually opened the box at the ceremony, he didn't even want to think about the consequences.
Su Wantang leaned against his strong chest, listening to his powerful heartbeat, and her originally cold hands and feet gradually warmed up.
Are you scared? Of course I'm scared.
But more than anything, there was anger, the overwhelming rage of seeing something you tried so hard to protect trampled on by others.
The military reacted swiftly; in less than twenty minutes, several military jeeps silently drove into the backyard of Tangdixuan. Top bomb disposal experts quickly took control of the bomb, while a team of fully armed special forces sealed off the entire Tangdixuan area completely.
Looking at the "gift" carefully placed into the explosion-proof box, two cold flames ignited in Su Wantang's beautiful peach blossom eyes.
She turned her head, looked at Lu Jingyan beside her, and said, word by word:
“They wanted to turn my opening ceremony into a funeral, so I decided to play along and give them an unforgettable ‘opening gift’.”
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