That afternoon, half-past three.
"A phoenix tree is rarely seen in the wild. According to Li Yuxin's description, it should be located somewhere on Tianzong Mountain in a high place facing the sun. The specific location will be analysed in detail after the aerial photography and satellite map come out… Yes, I brought Li Yuxin with me. It's not quite in line with the rules, please help me urge the provincial department to complete the approval process… OK, OK, we will go to Jianning at 5 o'clock in the afternoon to go directly to the scene. Around 6 or 7 o'clock in the afternoon, we will probably reach Tianzong Mountain. Don't give up search and rescue until the last moment!"
The Grand Cherokee was speeding on the river embankment road on the outskirts of the county. Zhang Guanyao, a little criminal policeman, was driving in front, Ma Xiang was in the co-pilot seat, Yan Xie and Jiang Ting were behind them, and Li Yuxin, who was wearing handcuffs, was in the middle.
According to the regulations, all personnel must stay awake when escorting prisoners. Fortunately, Yan Xie was calling loudly in the car, making people unable to fall asleep. Everyone was sitting in the car with a pair of panda-like black eye circles under their eyes.
"Get the aerial photos and send them to me immediately. There are only five and a half hours left, mobilise everyone for me, hurry up!"
Yan Xie finally hung up the call with the city bureau.
"We have gained a lot from this trip, Brother Yan." Ma Xiang in the front row comforted, "Not only did we unearth the case of 712 last year, we even discovered that there are two bodies at the scene of He Liang's crime waiting for us to go dig..."
"Shen Xiaoqi and Bu Wei haven't been rescued, and the kidnappers haven't been caught yet. No matter how many previous cases are dug up, it's just empty talk. It's still more important to put the living first."
Ma Xiang pouted in agreement, but couldn't help but turn his head: "Hey, I said Brother Yan."
"What?"
"If it really comes to the end and we just can't make it in time, do you think Bu Wei will accept coercion to kill Shen Xiaoqi?"
"This matter…" Yan Xie was just about to say something, but a few words suddenly flashed in his mind the moment he spoke:
"The target he really wanted to execute was not He Liang, nor Shen Xiaoqi… The one who betrayed him was me."
"It's hard to say, mainly because we don't know why the mastermind behind-the-scenes said that He Liang was a 'coward' and also 'betrayed' Li Yuxin." Yan Xie paused, then glanced to his side, "What do you think? Consultant Lu?"
Jiang Ting was leaning against the car window, his eyes were closed, and his expression was a little tired.
"Consultant Lu?"
"….." Jiang Ting finally said hoarsely: "How do I know, I'm not Bu Wei, and besides, I lack her personal information for character profile."
"Did you hear what the consultant Lu just said?" Yan Xie scolded Ma Xiang.
Ma Xiang blinked his eyes inexplicably.
Jiang Ting was not in good health. When he was quiet, he had a kind of indifference that was incompatible with the surroundings. His body swayed slightly as the vehicle drove, and suddenly the phone in his pocket vibrated.
Who?
Only Yan Xie and Yang Mei knew this number, but Yang Mei had no reason to disturb him by sending random messages when there was a case.
Jiang Ting took out his phone and looked at it, Yan Xie.
"….." Jiang Ting frowned and opened the text message column, only to see the content:
[Do you think the betrayal mentioned by the kidnappers is a symbolic hint in the execution ceremony, or does it refer specifically to something?]
——I would like to know when we both were in the same car, why were we discussing the details of the case in this way?
Jiang Ting rested his elbows at the car window and stared at the phone screen for a while, but he still didn't speak. He raised his hand and simply typed the word "specifically" and sent it out.
A few tens of centimetres away from Li Yuxin, Yan Xie began to bury his head in typing something. After a while, Jiang Ting's phone vibrated again.
[What does it refer to specifically?]
Jiang Ting: "….."
Yan Xie: [Li Yuxin mentioned that she passed out on the third day, and when she woke up, she found that He Liang was bound and was kneeling in front of her. Then the kidnapper on the phone ordered her to kill him.]
[If the confession is conclusive, then it is possible that He Liang did something while Li Yuxin was in a coma, which angered the kidnappers who had been observing behind the scenes.]
[It is also possible that this incident has nothing to do with He Liang from the beginning to the end. He Liang is just a substitute for an image in the mind of the master behind the scenes. The so-called 'betrayal' is actually a past event that the master himself has experienced.]
Jiang Ting: "….."
[What do you think?]
The message came one after another, and the phone kept vibrating, and it took a long time for it to quiet down. Jiang Ting glanced to the side, Yan Xie seemed to be completely fine, leaning on the leather backrest of the rear seat and staring ahead.
Jiang Ting took a deep breath and finally typed a paragraph on his phone. Half a second later, Yan Xie's phone lit up:
[You put a bug on me when you left the ward?]
Yan Xie laughed.
This person is too sensitive. Sure enough, any probation may lead to the ending of being fully seen through.
He could almost feel Jiang Ting's sharp gaze, but he just pretended not to see it. Then he typed a few words in the reply box, thought about it, then deleted it and retyped it.
Suddenly, Xiao Zhang said, "Brother Yan, the truck behind seems to be following us."
Yan Xie pressed send and turned to look: "What?"
The suburban road is quite desolate. The Grand Cherokee is driving along the river embankment. At this time, there are no vehicles passing by, so the truck behind them seems to be very conspicuous. It is estimated that it is only about 20 to 30 metres away through the rear window.
For some reason, when Yan Xie looked at the front of the car, a very uncomfortable feeling suddenly rose in his heart, so he instructed Zhang Guanyao: "Xiao Zhang, slow down, and see if it will overtake us or not."
Xiao Zhang heard the words and stepped on the brakes slightly.
At the same time, the truck accelerated and approached, and the headlights that were getting closer and closer were reflected in Yan Xie's eyes.
"….." Suddenly Yan Xie roared wildly: "Accelerate! Accelerate!! —It didn't change lanes!!"
The truck didn't change lanes, it wanted to hit the car!
The change came so unexpectedly that Xiao Zhang didn't have the time to react. His instinct to obey orders overwhelmed everything. The two vehicles that were in the front and the rear accelerated at the same time!
Boom—
The truck looked like a roaring steel monster, slamming into the rear of the grand cherokee!
Everyone leaned forward at the same time, and Cherokee was driven by the strong impact to the road's guardrail. Xiao Zhang slammed on the brakes and turned the steering wheel while screaming, and the tires made a harsh rubbing sound on the ground.
Bang!
The front of the car was bounced back by the guardrail, the car's whole body was spinning out of control, and the middle and rear sections were slammed by the truck.
Boom!!
The whole car was pushed against the metal guardrail horizontally, causing the door and guardrail to deform terribly at the same time!
At this moment, time seemed to stop and stretched out infinitely. Yan Xie seemed to have a premonition of something, and tried his best to reach out to his side: "Jiang Ting——"
But as soon as his roar exited, it was drowned in a terrifying whirlwind.
The Grand Cherokee came out of the guardrail, like a huge steel coffin, rolled down the river bank and plunged into the river!
The roof of the car quickly submerged into the water surface, and several deafening shouts in the car were silenced at the same time, replaced by gurgling blisters.
The surrounding area under the water was vaguely green mixed with a bit of red, it was impossible to tell whose blood it was, and it was impossible to see anything at all.
When the car rolled over, everyone lost consciousness for a moment, but Yan Xie woke up the moment he was immersed in cold water. He didn't care to check his forehead, which was slammed into the window. He gritted his teeth and unfastened his seat belt in pain. Fortunately, he bought the car and 'donated' it to the Criminal Investigation Unit. He usually drives it by himself, and was familiar with the details of the car, so he successfully unfastened Li Yuxin's seat belt with a click.
What about Jiang Ting?
What about Jiang Ting, who was a seat away from him?
Yan Xie leaned over and touched something with his fingers. In an instant, he realised that it was Jiang Ting's motionless body.
Purr——
The bubbles of air attacked from behind with momentum, almost pushing Yan Xie deep into the car. But then he was caught from behind, it was Ma Xiang and Xiao Zhang.
When a large amount of water entered the front of the car, due to the extremely strong water pressure, there was absolutely no possibility for the glass and doors to open. It was not until the car was filled with water that the internal and external pressure gradually diminished. Ma Xiang and Zhang Guanyao seized the opportunity to escape in just a few seconds, they opened the car door against the water pressure and rushed out, and immediately came to the back seat to save people.
"Hmm…" Yan Xie struggled forward with both hands, and was dragged out of the car by the two of them together. Ma Xiang restrained him tightly from behind. Zhang Guanyao's swimming was better. Taking advantage of this gap, he suddenly rushed into the car door, dragged out another person from the gradually sinking Cherokee, and raced against time to float up.
Yan Xie's mind exploded, but he couldn't make a sound when he opened his mouth, only a series of bubbles appeared.
——He knew that Xiao Zhang had rescued Li Yuxin, and Jiang Ting was still in the back seat.
He got stuck in a seat belt in the car which was sinking more and more!
Theoretically, people can hold their breath for up to two minutes underwater, but vigorous struggle will rapidly consume blood oxygen. At this time, the breath in everyone's lungs has reached the limit, and if they don't reach the surface, they may not be able to swim out.
But at that moment, Yan Xie's mind was completely blank, and he didn't think about anything at all. All his actions were instincts of the moment when a person encounters a life or death situation —
"!!"
Ma Xiang only felt that the arm that restrained Yan Xie had been pulled away, and then Yan Xie swooped out, his hair and clothes were raised backwards against the current, and he plunged into the depths of the black river like crazy!
Ma Xiang lost his voice and let out a roar that no one could hear: "Brother Yan!!"
The Grand Cherokee was like a coffin that had lost its gravity, slowly floating and spinning in the dark and icy river water. Yan Xie swept along the water stream and reached into the back of the car. This simple action on land became extremely complicated and lengthy in the water. Finally, he struggled to find something, which was the body on the back seat that had stopped moving completely.
Yan Xie's heart vessels almost burst, and all his consciousness was concentrated into one sentence: Don't die, please don't die.
With a click, Yan Xie opened the safety buckle, hurriedly undid the fatally wrapped safety belt, and grabbed Jiang Ting's hand. At this time, he couldn't tell whether he was still alive or had turned into an icy corpse; he could only use the last bit of strength to kick his feet desperately to float up, and rush out of the car door before the car's body was completely plunged into the river!
Uh-huh–
It seemed as if it was endlessly long, and finally, just moments before his lungs burst, Yan Xie held Jiang Ting's armpit from behind and rushed out of the water!
"Brother Yan!"
"Vice-Captain Yan!"
"Cough cough cough cough cough!!…" Yan Xie broke out into an earth-shattering cough, nosebleed gushing out, and his face was muddy. He didn't have time to catch his breath, and frantically hugged Jiang Ting and slapped his face with force. A few seconds later, Jiang Ting choked violently and spit out a mouthful of water!
In an instant, Yan Xie almost collapsed, he almost sank into the river.
Ma Xiang and Xiao Zhang supported the breathless Li Yuxin, and were relieved to see the situation. Exhausted Ma Xiang gave Yan Xie a thumbs up, and motioned them to swim up to the shore together.
But at this very moment, suddenly——
Bang!
The air froze, and the people who had just barely survived didn't react.
Bang! Bang!
The gunshot shattered the air, and Yan Xie and the others raised their heads at the same time. They saw that the truck that knocked them over was parked under the river bank, and a few people ran out of the truck, and the first two took out their guns and started shooting at them!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
This group of people came prepared with the idea to kill them!
"Go into the water!" Yan Xie let out a roar, then held Jiang Ting and plunged into the water!
Ma Xiang entered the water at the same time, but Zhang Guanyao was supporting Li Yuxin, and his movements were half a beat slower. He only felt that the girl's body was suddenly pushed back by some invisible force, and then the blood spread along the river.
She was shot.
Ma Xiang came over from the bottom of the water and pulled the stunned Zhang Guanyao into the water — but it was too late. The bullets swirled in the flash, Zhang Guanyao's body became cold and hot, and when he fell into the river, he brought out a large amount of hot blood.
Under the turbid river surface, Ma Xiang stared at his teammates wrapped in bloody mist, and his pupils tightened like needles.
At the same time.
The undercurrent was turbulent, Yan Xie tried his best to swim with one hand, and held Jiang Ting's with his other hand. He could hardly open his eyes to see the situation around him, and suddenly felt that Jiang Ting was struggling violently in his arms.
What happened?
Yan Xie looked at him with difficulty, and his blood was cold immediately——Jiang Ting was feeling suffocated, he opened his mouth to breathe and spit out a long string of bubbles.
Then, the air in the lungs is squeezed to the bottom, and the water poured back in!
Yan Xie lifted Jiang Ting's face, grabbed the hair on the back of his head and forced him to look up, and let out a breath. If it was a kiss, it would be very charming, but under the water Jiang Ting's lips were cold and soft, half-opened weakly, almost without any living temperature. The moment the lips and tongue touched, the hairs on Yan Xie's back stood up.
At this moment, he only had one thought: Jiang Ting won't be able to survive it.
Must be fast, he has to be quick!
As if the heavens had blessed them mysteriously, the undercurrent suddenly accelerated, wrapping the two of them and crashing into the rock and turning a sharp angle. Yan Xie's entire body was protecting Jiang Ting, and he endured a huge part of the momentum. Suddenly, his throat was full of sweetness, and his eardrum was buzzing like he was smashed by a heavy hammer.
Uh-huh——
The river narrowed suddenly, and the current carried them to the shore!
In the chaos, Yan Xie couldn't figure out how far he had swum out, he couldn't even observe the surroundings anymore. Jiang Ting's pale face was soaked in water, his eyes were tightly closed. Yan Xie felt his pulse, although it was stable but it was extremely weak. He immediately turned him upside down on his knee, and pressed his back.
"Yuck——"
Jiang Ting's whole body twitched, and the water that had entered his lungs forcefully came out, and he was immediately put on the ground by Yan Xie. He folded his hands on the lower part of his sternum and pressed hard, supplemented with artificial respiration, and got up and pressed again.
Blood gushed out from somewhere on his body, dripping onto Jiang Ting's face and clothes, leaving large bloodstains, but Yan Xie didn't notice it.
He didn't even feel any pain, and he lost the concept of time. He didn't know how many times he switched between chest compressions and artificial respiration, and he didn't notice that his hands were getting paler and weaker, and he even trembled sharply.
"Cough, cough, cough!"
Finally, Jiang Ting's throat suddenly convulsed, and he spat out water mixed with blood foam, and woke up in a dilemma.
Yan Xie's heart was relieved, and the breath that supported his will was released, and the whole person sat back involuntarily. Immediately, he felt like he was about to fall, so he reflexively supported it with his elbows. Unexpectedly, both arms were cold and soft like noodles, and they fell down as soon as they touched the ground.
What's the matter with me? he thought as he lay on the ground.
Where did so much blood come from?
Immediately afterward, he saw Jiang Ting staggering to get up, stumbling and kneeling beside him, his face turning pale to the point of blue. His ten fingers were trembling to unbutton his clothes. He took off his soaked shirt and squeezed it tightly into his stomach.
Jiang Ting had just woken up from drowning, but his strength was unexpectedly great. Yan Xie was almost breathless by his pressing, and asked confusedly, "What… what's wrong?"
"Don't talk, it's alright, don't talk…"
"What's wrong? Don't cry," Yan Xie murmured, "Don't cry."
Jiang Ting's eyes were red but his expression was calm. He forced Yan Xie's upper body into his arms and hugged him tightly, keeping his heart at a level higher than the bleeding opening, saying, "You were shot."
"….." Yan Xie's pupils widened slightly.
Although he had encountered many dangers in various operations over the past ten years, some of which were indeed a close call, and a few times he was even mentally prepared for the possibility of glory, but it was the first time dor him to be close to death in such an unexpected situation.
Got shot? Am I going to die?
But the hostages haven't been rescued. I still have a lot to say to Jiang Ting, and I haven't even seen my parents for the last time yet?
Isn't this too fast?
The earth seemed to be shaking, thump, thump, thump. He didn't know that it was the cars on the road in the distance that stopped one after another. The honking of the horns came one after another, and many pedestrians were running this way.
"Don't be afraid, it'll be fine, don't fall asleep. Look, the rescue has come, don't fall asleep…"
Yan Xie couldn't hear what Jiang Ting was saying, and in fact he couldn't even hear what he was saying. His consciousness was blurred for a while, and he felt that his soul seemed to become very light. It almost floated out of this heavy body several times, but he was tightly constrained by Jiang Ting's arm.
"Yesterday," Yan Xie murmured hazily, even though he couldn't hear his own voice: "Yesterday… in the car, were you…"
"I know." Jiang Ting said hoarsely, "I always knew."
His wet cheeks were pressed against Yan Xie's forehead, and his trembling voice sounded calm and powerful: "Listen to me Yan Xie, listen to me when you are awake. Didn't you ask me last time if I had any brothers? I have."
"I used to have a lot of brothers, but they all left me three years ago."
"But you are different, Yan Xie. Even if I die one day, I will watch you from the sky, and will always watch you live well."