Chapter 124 You're back too, aren't you?
The heavy iron door of the warehouse was kicked open from the outside.
With a loud crash, the rusty iron gate collapsed inward, kicking up clouds of dust.
A tall, imposing figure stood at the doorway, backlit by the glaring headlights.
The light cast a very imposing silhouette behind him, obscuring his expression, but the chilling aura emanating from him was more biting than the night wind.
It was Huo Yanzhi.
Shen Yu, clutching his blood-soaked shoulder, was taken aback when he saw the person who had arrived.
"Huo Yanzhi, how did you find your way here?!"
He scrambled to his feet, grabbed an iron rod that had fallen to the side, and rushed to Ruan Yao's side, pressing the tip of the rod firmly against her slender neck.
Ruan Yao's consciousness was still somewhat blurred from the impact, but the moment she saw Huo Yanzhi, all her fear turned into worry for him.
"Yanzhi... don't come any closer, it's a trap..."
Her voice was weak and faint, yet filled with urgency.
Huo Yanzhi stopped in his tracks.
He stood at the doorway, his gaze piercing through the dim dust, fixed firmly on the girl being held hostage by Shen Yu.
Her face was pale, and blood seeped from her forehead and slid down her cheeks, like a poignant red plum blossom blooming on the snow.
That splash of red seared Huo Yanzhi's eyes.
His heart felt as if it were being gripped tightly by an invisible hand, the pain almost making it hard to breathe.
He ignored Shen Yu's shouts and just looked at Ruan Yao. His eyes, which were always unfathomable, were now filled with tenderness and self-blame.
"Yaoyao, don't be afraid."
Seeing his oblivious demeanor, Shen Yu was once again consumed by jealousy.
"I'll let you see her!"
He forcefully yanked Ruan Yao's hair, and the blade drew a shallow line of blood on her snow-white neck.
"Hmm..." Ruan Yao groaned in pain.
Huo Yanzhi's pupils suddenly contracted in that instant.
He finally turned his gaze to Shen Yu, his eyes looking as if he were looking at a dead man.
"Let her go."
"Release her?" Shen Yu seemed to have heard a joke. "President Huo, do you take me for a three-year-old? If I release her, will I even be able to leave this place alive?"
He glanced outside the warehouse and, seeing no sign of the police, grew even bolder.
"If you want her to live, fine."
A cruel smile appeared on Shen Yu's face.
"Kneel down, kowtow three times to me, and beg me. Then tie yourself up. I'll let her go."
He wants to destroy Huo Yanzhi.
They want not only his money, but also the dignity he takes pride in.
He wanted to make this high and mighty man kneel before him like a dog!
Upon hearing this, Ruan Yao shook her head frantically, tears streaming down her face uncontrollably.
Huo Yanzhi didn't hesitate for a moment.
He looked at Ruan Yao and slowly spoke to Shen Yu, who seemed to have gone mad.
“Fine, I’ll trade myself for her.” He looked at Shen Yu and said, word by word, “Isn’t it me you want? I’ll come over, and you can let her go.”
Shen Yu was stunned.
Even Ruan Yao stopped struggling and stared at him in astonishment.
"I gave myself so that she could leave safely."
Huo Yanzhi's tone was devoid of any emotion, as if he were discussing a business deal.
"This is your only chance to live."
Shen Yu's brain was working at lightning speed.
This offer was too tempting for him.
Huo Yanzhi was his ultimate target.
As long as Huo Yanzhi is in his hands, he is far more valuable than Ruan Yao, whether for negotiating with the Huo family or as a talisman for escaping.
He looked at Huo Yanzhi's calm and expressionless face, trying to find a flaw in it, but he couldn't see anything.
"good!"
Shen Yu finally made up his mind.
"Take off your coat, raise your hands, and slowly walk over here!"
Huo Yanzhi remained silent, but did as he was told to take off his suit jacket and toss it on the ground, revealing a fine white shirt underneath.
He raised his hands, took long strides, and walked steadily, step by step, into the depths of the warehouse.
Every step felt like stepping on Ruan Yao's heart.
"No... Yanzhi, don't come any closer..."
Her vision was blurred by tears, and she could only watch helplessly as he willingly walked into this meticulously planned death trap for her sake.
Huo Yanzhi approached step by step, his composure only making Shen Yu more nervous.
"stop!"
When they were still three meters away, Shen Yu shouted a stern command to stop them.
He held Ruan Yao at knifepoint, slowly backing away to create distance between himself and Huo Yanzhi, his eyes constantly scanning Huo Yanzhi warily.
"Untie her."
Huo Yanzhi's voice was completely flat.
"Come here first!" Shen Yu wasn't stupid. "Once I catch you, I'll release her!"
Just as the two were facing off, from several sniper positions on the high ground outside the warehouse, hidden in the shadows, laser sights had already silently locked onto Shen Yu's brow.
Standing in the command vehicle, Qin Feng calmly reported the situation on the scene to the police chief through an earpiece.
Huo Yanzhi looked at the tear stains still wet on Ruan Yao's face and felt a sharp pain in his heart.
He couldn't wait any longer.
He took a step forward.
"Don't move!" Shen Yu's emotions exploded instantly, and the knife tip was pushed a little further into Ruan Yao's neck.
At that moment, Huo Yanzhi suddenly spoke up, "Shen Yu, the people you arranged at the East City Wharf... should all be here by now."
Shen Yu's mind went blank.
How could he know?
He subconsciously became distracted, trying to figure out where he had gone wrong.
It was that brief moment of distraction, lasting less than a second.
On the perimeter, the sniper, who had been holding his breath and waiting, clearly spotted the gap through his scope.
But at the same time, he also noticed the several rusty gasoline cans next to Shen Yu.
A new instruction came through the command channel: "Flammable materials are present around the target. Suspend operations. Repeat, suspend operations!"
Shen Yu snapped back to his senses, realizing that he was under some kind of extremely dangerous lock.
"Huo Yanzhi! You called the police!"
He lost control of the knife in his hand due to his emotional agitation, and the sharp blade drew a glaring line of blood on Ruan Yao's neck.
Fresh blood gushed out.
That bright red stain, like a red-hot branding iron, was burned onto Huo Yanzhi's retina.
All his pretense, all his restraint, all his composure crumbled the moment that bloodstain appeared.
Before Shen Yu could react, Huo Yanzhi transformed into an arrow and charged towards Shen Yu.
Shen Yu felt a blur before his eyes, and an irresistible force gripped his wrist holding the knife.
A crisp "snap" sounded.
It was the sound of a wrist bone breaking.
Shen Yu let out a shrill scream, and the knife in his hand clattered to the ground.
Huo Yanzhi remained expressionless, and with his other hand clenched into a fist, he mercilessly smashed it into Huo Yanzhi's face.
Bang!
The force of the blow sent Shen Yu flying backward, crashing heavily into the metal frame and spitting out a mouthful of blood mixed with broken teeth.
Before he could even regain his footing, Huo Yanzhi's second attack arrived.
"Yanzhi! Watch out!"
Ruan Yao looked at Shen Yu, who was pinned down by Huo Yanzhi and powerless to fight back, and suddenly noticed that his other free hand was quietly reaching for a fallen gasoline can next to him.
He had a lighter between his fingers.
"He's going to set it on fire!"
Ruan Yao screamed with all her might.
A vicious smile appeared on Shen Yu's face. He looked down at Huo Yanzhi, whose eyes were bloodshot, and with his last bit of strength, he pressed the lighter.
With a "whoosh," flames shot up.
He threw the lighter hard at the liquid flowing out of the broken gasoline can.
"Die with me!"
A line of fire instantly ignited on the ground, spreading at an alarming speed toward the pile of gasoline drums.
Huo Yanzhi paused for a moment.
It was in that very moment.
Shen Yu, with a sudden burst of strength, pushed him away and pulled a black pistol from his pocket.
The gun barrel was pointed directly at Huo Yanzhi's forehead.
"Yanzhi!"
Ruan Yao's heart stopped beating.
"Bang!"
The first gunshot came from outside the warehouse.
He was a police sniper.
The bullet pierced Shen Yu's chest with pinpoint accuracy.
Almost at the same time, Shen Yu also pulled the trigger.
But in the instant he was shot, he looked at Huo Yanzhi and a twisted, triumphant smile appeared on his face.
He flicked his wrist, and the gun barrel suddenly turned towards Ruan Yao behind Huo Yanzhi.
Time seemed to have been slowed down.
Huo Yanzhi's pupils shrank to the most dangerous pinpoints in that instant.
Without thinking, his body acted entirely on instinct. He suddenly turned around, opened his arms, and rushed towards Ruan Yao, shielding her frail body tightly in his embrace.
"Bang!"
The bullet grazed Huo Yanzhi's shoulder, leaving a trail of blood, before finally embedding itself in the concrete wall.
Explosions rang out one after another in the warehouse.
The towering flames instantly engulfed everything, and waves of heat rolled in.
The world is on fire.
Huo Yanzhi, however, felt nothing at all.
He held the treasure he had lost and found in his arms, his arms trembling from the effort.
The wound on his shoulder was screaming, but he was completely oblivious.
He could only smell the familiar fragrance of her hair and feel the subtle trembling in her body from fear.
"Slender and graceful..."
He lowered his head, his voice hoarse and filled with the trembling of someone who had survived a disaster and the lingering fear.
Ruan Yao coughed incessantly from the thick smoke, and the loud explosions and gunshots made her ears ring. She was plunged into extreme fear and confusion.
She could feel Huo Yanzhi holding her, holding her trembling body.
Then, she heard him whisper in her ear, in a tone she had never heard before, so tender and so incredibly vulnerable, over and over again.
The sound seemed to pierce through the flames and smoke, through the boundary between life and death, and clearly reached her ears.
"Don't cry, it's okay, I'm here..."
"I'm not afraid anymore, it's all in the past..."
He held her tighter and tighter, as if he wanted to meld her into his very bones. "Sleep some more... When you wake up, you'll have strawberry candy."
Ruan Yao's body suddenly stiffened.
Strawberry candy...
That was from her past life. Once, she woke up from a nightmare about the Ruan family's bankruptcy, and he whispered those words in her ear as he held her in his arms.
He said that strawberry candy is sweet, and if you eat it, your dreams won't be bitter.
That was the most private comfort that belonged only to the two of them.
In this lifetime, he never said it.
Ruan Yao's brain went blank, as if something had exploded.
An absurd yet unique possibility instantly seized her entire being.
She suddenly looked up, wanting to see Huo Yanzhi's face, wanting to confirm that crazy guess.
The thick smoke and flames made her vision go black, and the immense shock and lack of oxygen completely drained her of her strength.
In the last moment before her consciousness faded, she only had time to grab his shirt. All the shock, confusion, and overwhelming heartache turned into utter darkness.
Huo Yanzhi...you're back too, aren't you?
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