Alexander caught a glimpse of a black van with tinted windows on his way out of the hospital. He recognized the license plate and was glad that he stabbed himself earlier in the hallway. He limped to the van and the window rolled down.
A man around sixty years old sat by the window that rolled down and said, "Where is she?"
"She escaped." He lied to the man's face while hiding the nervousness inside of him. Alexander could feel a tinglish sensation similar to ants crawling up his legs and biting him along the way as he made eye contact with him.
"Are you sure she's not in there? If I send my men in there, are you sure that they won't find traces of her anywhere?" The old man showed doubt in Alexander's response.
"I'm sure. Even if you send your guards up there, there will be nothing but an emptied room." His voice was filled with certainty, but truthfully speaking, his hands were trembling. He had to squeeze his wound to speak with such assurance.
"Very well. Accept your punishment when we get back for failing this mission." The old man turned his head and rolled up the window. Before the window had closed entirely, Alexander heard another man's voice from the back of the car. His sharp sight caught the man's face, 'Yin Zin Leung..'
After the van had left, Alexander decided to personally investigate Yin Zin Leung and his motives. "How did he manage to connect with Leader Rong?" On the spot, he typed in his notes app on his phone:
Date: 2/27/2020
Progress: Yin Zin Leung is also a suspect. What is his relation to Leader Rong? Why were they together? What was that Project from many years ago and why does Leader Rong want to find Yin, Susu? Were those weird underground tunnels the current location for the laboratories? Related to Xu family's disappearance over night?
After typing his inquiries and findings, he called it a night and locked up the notes. Once he clicked save, the notes disappeared and was delivered to his hidden app. Over the years, nobody had figured out his notes.
Although he was still afraid of heading back to the headquarters to accept his fifty whips as punishment for letting Ariana go, it was inevitable. He could only hope that Ariana is lucky enough next time to knock down her opponent because after this failed mission, it would be unlikely that he would be chosen again for the next task.
- Susu's Hospital room-
The girls sighed in relief when they saw Ariana. They heard some lock picking noises and was prepared for their jump.
"Ariana! Are you alright?!" The girls ran over to inspect her from head to toe. She giggled and hugged them both, "I'm fine. The person is gone."
"Who was it? Did you fight? We heard some noises, but you told us not to peek so we didn't dare go near that door." Lily squeezed Ariana's hand.
Giving her a tight squeeze back, Ariana said, "He was a passerby. No biggie. We need to be more careful from now on, though."
Suddenly, the door was barged open by Lin Que, Zi Yan and Professor Luo Xia. They were on top of one another; forming a straight line.
"A..Are you girls..okay?" They asked at the same time.
The girls helped each of them settle down first before hearing Ariana's explanation of what had happened.
"it seems like Susu's identity has been exposed. The person who came by was Alexander. Even though he took this mission, he didn't come to fight with me. Instead, he came to give me a warning to be careful. The hospital is not a good place for us to stay in." Ariana shortened the lengthy explanation to a few sentences.
Professor Luo Xia let out a grunt of displeasure, "Hmph! Over my dead body. If they are after my Susu, then have them ask me first!"
Chen Mu came right after everyone else arrived, "Su...Susu.. are you alright? I rushed here right after I got your emergency code."
Seeing the concerned faces and frowns on everyone's face, his expression darkened. "What's wrong?"
Ariana crossed her arm, "Susu is being targeted. This also applies to the whole Zi family and anyone closely related to her. You guys need to be cautious and high alert at all times from now on."
Chen Mu was at a loss for words as he muttered, "What? Where's that person? Who hired him?"
Ariana sighed, "the man who came tonight didn't mean to fight me physically. He already left. We used to be on the same team when accepting and performing missions. Suddenly, he decided to leave us and follow some old baldy. I don't know what was with him, but he left just like that and wouldn't tell me anything when I asked."
Professor Luo Xia coughed and interrupted, "in any case; we need to find a place that is secure enough for us to stay in. While we look for Qian Ling and make sure that Susu receives proper rest, we need to step up our game."
Ariana typed on her laptop and showed multiple videos where small groups of people were carried into an underground tunnel around the location where the old laboratories used to be. "I discovered the blocked data today and found it very suspicious. It's worth a chance to explore these areas, except it would be extremely dangerous."
Everyone focused their attention on her laptop as she pointed out the entrances and exits that she had found. She managed to map out different routes that would lead to the tunnel. After giving them a basic walk through of how to get there, she took a deep breath.
"The only thing left is to send somebody there to experiment with the routes. After entering the tunnel, there may be no connection or signal to the outside world. Whoever goes in must make a quick trip or the chances of getting caught will heighten. Once caught, you may be used as a test rat or might be killed instantly."
She bent down and placed her laptop aside, "Grandpa Xia, I..."
"I know what you're about to ask, but no. I won't let you go to that hell hole." Professor Luo Xia gripped the curved handle part of his cane and stomped on the floor.
"None of them are experienced enough to get in and out of there as quick as me. Maybe-"
Once again her words were cut off, "I said no and that is final. You've done too much for our family already. I don't want to see you go. I've treated you as my granddaughter since the day we met. If I see you go, it's equal to watching you disappear on me. I won't allow that."
"Grandpa Xia, if it weren't for you, I wouldn't have a family. I wouldn't have had a home to go home to. Even if it's not for looking for Qian Ling, I would still have volunteered to go because those bastards killed my family. I need to avenge them with my own hands and protect the ones who are important to me. So, please."
Her eyes reddened as she tried to persuade him.
"Child, I understand how difficult it must have been for you to overcome all your weaknesses to fight those dirty pigs. But what if something happens to you? You and Chen Nan just got married. You two have a long road ahead. I can't let you go. I'm sorry."
Ariana was about to give up that idea, but Chen Nan walked in just in time to support her decision. He knelt down next to Ariana and grabbed Grandpa Xia's hands, "Grandpa Xia, I support my wife's decision. If she wants to go, then I'll go with her. We'll look out and be careful. Please give us permission to go."