The red dot was clearly reflected in the depths of Yan Xie's pupils. At this moment, he saw Jiang Ting tilt his head slightly, his movements very vague.
——He seemed to want to turn around and look at him again.
But Yan Xie had no chance to confirm this vague intuition because Jiang Ting stopped abruptly.
All this happened in just half a second. All of the henchmen rushed up, and the King of Spades quickly approached. He grabbed Jiang Ting's arm and rushed to the grass a few steps away, and all of the henchmen immediately blocked in front!
"Get back! Start the car!" The King of Spades commanded sharply: "Hurry up!"
Someone immediately pressed Jiang Ting's head, blocked his whole body, and pushed him onto the off-road vehicle. The surroundings were chaotic. A-Jie stepped in front of the King of Spades and asked in shock: "Why is there a sniper? Could it be that the police set up an ambush in advance?! Big brother, didn't you search the mountain when you came?!"
This was simply impossible. The style of the King of Spades was most directly reflected in the time when he sent someone to assist A-Jie on the abandoned road: there might only be one person in sight, but there must be many more cars and people with firearms hidden in the dark.
When he showed up, he brought more than a dozen cars, but there weren't even forty or fifty people who got out of the cars, indicating that a lot of people had been sent off earlier to search for and eliminate dangers nearby. If the police really had set up an ambush, let alone a small group of a dozen or so people, even if it was just a car with two or three people, it would've been impossible to avoid the eyes and ears of their group.
What's more, the number of ambushers was less than the number of suspects, which was not in accordance with the combat style of public security at all. Doing an ambush in this wild terrain when the ratio of criminal police, special police, and even border-armed police were less than a third of the suspected drug traffickers was only a fantasy plot that couldn't even be found in a movie.
But if it wasn't the police, who could have followed them here?
There was only one possibility left.
——Yan Xie did not come alone.
"There is only one sniper on the other side." The King of Spades looked at the distance between the laser sight point and the woods on the opposite side, pondered for two seconds, calculated the angle, and said, "At most two. It's normal if we can't find them."
A-Jie immediately reacted: "Isn't it the police who ambushed us?"
"Neither the provincial government nor the city bureau organized any operation in Jianning." The King of Spades just left this sentence, turned around, and got into the car. A-Jie followed and said anxiously: "Big brother!"
Looking through the car window, the deadly red dot was still cruising, and the henchmen were retreating in all directions. In the blink of an eye, there was only Yan Xie left in the open space.
This Jianning criminal policeman was also at the end of his strength, and it was a bit hard for him to even stand. But his gaze was still very sharp. It was the gaze of a beast that was on the brink of extinction but still struggling, and through the chaotic scene and the tinted car window, it hit the King of Spades' line of sight.
"Forget it," said the King of Spades calmly after a while.
A-Jie said unwillingly: "Big brother?"
His meaning was very clear: if the other party was weak and not a member of the police, he could call the outside and conduct an all-round search around the valley. Even if the snipers hidden in high places were difficult to deal with, they could still fight with manpower. There was no need for everyone to be forced back by one or two snipers.
Or, at the very least, they should kill the criminal investigation team leader before retreating.
The King of Spades didn't answer but looked back toward the back seat.
Jiang Ting was held hostage by two people and sat in the middle. His physical strength had been exhausted to the limit. He seemed to be extremely tired; his face was so cold and pale that he didn't even look like a living person. He was leaning against the leather chair with his eyes closed, revealing his slender, fragile, and defenseless throat.
No one knew what was brewing in the dark eyes of the King of Spades. After a while, he turned his head and said, "Forget it. We really need someone to report what happened today to the police."
"But..."
"Pay attention to the priorities." The King of Spades said, "Doing things in a rush will not be beneficial in the long run."
Only then did A-Jie reluctantly realize that this old enemy could not be killed today. He could only let this thorn in his flesh continue to live. He suppressed the struggle in his heart, bowed his head, and obeyed: "I understand, big brother."
The King of Spades didn't lecture him anymore and ordered: "Follow the old rules."
A-Jie knew it well, so he summoned his subordinates and whispered something to him. The latter hurriedly bowed and ran out.
All the subordinates quickly got into the car and took their positions, and the people behind drove forward, tightly protecting the off-road vehicle where the King of Spades was located. The sniper didn't seem to want to do anything. The red dot kept circling Yan Xie from time to time, patrolling the surrounding open space.
Someone asked A-Jie for instructions through the walkie-talkie and finally got permission to retreat. The convoy let out a sound and then slowly began to move forward.
A-Jie finally turned his head, narrowing his eyes keenly——
Jiang Ting didn't seem to feel his scorching gaze. He held his clothes and leaned on the back seat with his eyes closed. Looking back beyond Jiang Ting, Yan Xie had already left the place as soon as the drug traffickers evacuated, rushing to hide behind the stone pile and lying on the ground. Even if one wanted to shoot now, they couldn't snipe.
Just like that, a convoy of more than a dozen off-road vehicles retreated along the valley. On the rugged and bumpy stone road, the henchmen in the rear cars leaned out of the car, raised their guns, and scanned vigilantly. Guarding against someone rushing out of the forest suddenly.
It wasn't until the convoy drove out hundreds of meters and the small open space disappeared behind thick vegetation that everyone breathed a sigh of relief in unison.
The King of Spades suddenly said, "That's not right."
The henchman in the car was startled, and A-Jie got up immediately: "Big brother, there's something wrong?"
"..." The King of Spades seemed to be hesitant and finally waved his hand: "It's too late. Is the 'Zhao zi' in place?"
A-Jie listened to something on the Bluetooth headset and nodded: "According to the rules, it is already in place."
The King of Spades nodded without saying a word. No one knew what he was planning in his heart, and one couldn't see the slightest clue on his face. After a while, he said: "Let's go."
...…
Yan Xie stared at all the black Hummers H2 as they drove away from the area. He clenched his teeth so tightly that he bit out blood. It wasn't until the last car disappeared into the thick mist of the valley that he lowered his head tremblingly, buried his face in his cold palms, and pressed his forehead against the coarse sand and gravel, but he didn't feel it at all.
He was really overdrawn; the heartbreaking pain overwhelmed everything, and the physical pain and bleeding could not be transmitted to the paralyzed nerve endings.
After an unknown amount of time, footsteps came from behind, and someone rushed up and dragged him up from behind the bushes and immediately pulled him into the distant forest without saying a word. Yan Xie gasped and looked, only to see that the person who came was very thin, wearing a helmet and goggles and a full-body camouflage uniform. The person was tightly wrapped from hair to feet, but surprisingly, they did not have a gun on their back.
In a hurry, Yan Xie only felt that the person who came was very familiar, but he couldn't tell who it was at all. At this time, he didn't even have the energy to ask: "You…"
The other party scanned the surroundings vigilantly, made a silent movement, and gestured: "Run!"
With that short word, Yan Xie was instantly stunned.
However, there was no time for hesitation at the moment. Although the convoy had left, no one knew whether the King of Spades had left someone waiting for the sniper to show up and catch him off-guard. Yan Xie staggered, followed the other party through the open space, and plunged into the forest. The towering trees on both sides of the field of vision gradually became denser. Yan Xie didn't know how many thorny bushes were pushed aside. His vision became more and more blurred, and all the scenes in front of him appeared double; even the back of the person in camouflage split into two or three.
"…Huh Huh… Huh…"
He couldn't hear the sound of the wind or birds chirping; only his own breathing drummed his eardrums heavily, and every time he took a step, he felt his heart being grasped by invisible claws, forcibly twisting and tightening, again and again…
—Thump!
Yan Xie stepped in the air without realizing it. He didn't even react to what happened, and his whole body rolled heavily into the tree ditch!
The tree ditch in the mountain forest was full of gravel and pits. Yan Xie felt his world spinning, and the next second his forehead hit something sharp, and the warmth gushed out and the red liquid brushed against and covered his sight.
This was blood.
He lay on the ground; his hands and feet trembled, and his whole body convulsed and became paralyzed. The person in the camouflage uniform immediately jumped down the ditch staggeringly and seemed to curse in a low voice, but Yan Xie couldn't hear it clearly.
His ears were also covered with blood, and even his own breathing seemed to be separated by deep water and was hazy and unclear.
How embarrassing, such a thought suddenly crossed his mind.
How can you be so embarrassing? Worse than stray dogs.
Yan Xie gritted his teeth and staggered up from the ground. There was a long bloody scar from the corner of his forehead to the side of his cheek. The blood flowed down the corners of his eyes along the sharp corners of his eyebrows and fell on the back of his hand, drop by drop as he moved, but it was soon washed away by more transparent and salty liquid.
The next moment, a large amount of fishy sweetness rushed straight to his throat from the trachea, and he spat out a mouthful of blood!
"!!" The person who came rushed forward and shouted, "Captain Yan!"
"..." Yan Xie wanted to say something, but his eyes quickly turned black, and he fell limply to the ground before he knew it.
He felt as if he had fallen into the icy seawater, watching the world spin up and go away quickly. Confusion, colic, and despair all turned into nothingness and disappeared into the dark, deep sea, along with the back that didn't look back.
"…Jiang…Ting…" he said silently.
Those two unforgettable words took away his last trace of consciousness. Yan Xie slowly closed his eyes and sank into the bottomless abyss.
...…
The off-road vehicle drove off the mountain road with the guard in the front and rear. Suddenly the car's walkie-talkie rang, and A-Jie immediately raised his hand to connect to the channel in the headset: "Hey, speak."
No one knew what was said on the other side of the call, but A-Jie became stunned, and then his face sank: "I understand."
He cut off the communication, leaned over to the King of Spades' ear, and whispered a few words amidst the roar of the vehicle. After a while, the King of Spades opened his eyes and said, "Oh?" "Zhaozi said there was only one person?"
"Yes, they were not tall and thin, like a woman. 'Zhao Zi' was afraid that the sniper was still there, so they dared not get too close, but it was confirmed that the woman was not agile and didn't carry any sniper rifle or other weapons on her body. She simply picked up the surname Yan and fled to the jungle."
The King of Spades nodded slightly.
A-Jie frowned and said, "Brother, we couldn't have been fooled by a simple bluff?"
The King of Spades was silent, and didn't show any emotion on his face. A-Jie had been with him for a long time, and knowing that this appearance was basically a sign of wanting to kill, he couldn't help but tense up for a moment, raising his right hand slightly, ready to signal at any time to order the convoy to turn around.
However, after waiting for more than a minute, the King of Spades exhaled, smiled, and repeated slowly: "…A bluff…"
He seemed to find it very interesting, and suddenly he turned around and asked, "Jiang Ting?"
Jiang Ting didn't respond. He seemed to be asleep; his brows were slightly furrowed, as if he was still full of anxiety in his sleep.
However, the King of Spades knew that he could not fall asleep at a time like this, and A-Jie could also see the fact that he was still awake from the slightest differences in breathing rate, eyelashes trembling, and muscle tension.
It's just very uncomfortable to be awake.
With his physique, falling into the water, being shot, and violent mood swings, it was impossible for him to survive until now without getting sick.
"The next time we meet, you and he will be life-and-death enemies." The King of Spades looked at him with a smile, and asked gently: "If he brings the police to arrest you, I will kill him for you, okay?"
It took a long time for Jiang Ting to slightly raise his eyelids; a gleam of light appeared under his dense eyelashes, and then he closed them again and whispered under several sharp gazes: "…Okay, then you must not forget."
The King of Spades smiled and replied: "I will never forget, I got it."
The woods on both sides of the mountain road were green and yellow, and it was already noon.
The dust and smoke rising from the rear of the car covered the gray daylight, moving away quickly along the way, and disappearing at the end of the vast mountain.
...…
"…low blood pressure, mild concussion, stable vital signs…"
"Do an examination to see if there is an intracranial hematoma. Nurse, wipe the blood off his face…"
"Brother Yan! What's going on with our Brother Yan?! How's he doing?!"
"Brother Yan, wake up! Brother Yan, wake up!"
…
There seemed to be countless people running around him; staggering footsteps and excited roars surrounded him, one after another. Gradually, all the hustle and bustle went away, and he seemed to have come to a quiet space with a soft white light shining in front of his eyes.
What's wrong with me? Yan Xie thought in a daze.
Where am I? What happened? Who am I?
The faint noises around him were like rising tides, gradually emerging from all directions and immediately turning into thunderous applause. The white light turned into a brilliant sun, and the magnificent and colorful glass door at the end of the corridor opened suddenly. Under the marble steps was a large lawn; on both sides of the carpet paved with white roses, countless familiar faces were smiling, cheering, and applauding as they got up.
Chief Lu, Deputy Chief Wei, Captain Yu, Captain Fang, Huang Xing, Gou Li…Qin Chuan was also wearing a black suit, a white shirt, and a beautiful bow tie. He was sitting between Ma Xiang and Gao Panqing, smiling and whistling to him playfully.
Yan Xie stood still and looked at everyone, suddenly feeling a little shy for some reason.
"Hurry up, Captain Yan, why are you standing in a daze!" Han Xiaomei laughed and fell into Yang Mei's arms, shouting loudly.
"Does this kid become silly with happiness?" Deputy Chief Wei kept laughing and waving his hands: "Why don't you go over soon?"
Following the direction he pointed, Yan Xie looked forward. Rose petals stretched all the way from the bottom of the steps, and at the end of the lawn, which looked as if it were in Jasper, Father and Mother Yan stood on the left and right sides of the carpet. Madam Zeng Cuicui also specially wore her best jewelry; she was so happy that she seemed to be twenty years younger.
Among the Yan family's parents, a familiar figure in a formal dress slowly turned his head and smiled softly at him.
That was Jiang Ting.
As if being pushed on the back by an invisible force, Yan Xie stepped forward step by step. He stepped on a fresh and fragrant flower carpet as if stepping on a sea of clouds. His ears were filled with congratulatory voices. His mind was sometimes awake and sometimes in a trance. The long lawn came to an end in a blink of an eye, and Yan Xie stopped, only to see Jiang Ting's smile getting deeper and deeper and his eyes shining brightly like diamonds.
They just stood facing each other. Mother Yan smiled and asked: "Take it out, where is your ring?"
Father Yan also asked: "That's right, son, where is your ring?"
Yan Xie stood there dumbfounded, only to hear everyone in the audience urging: "Where is the ring? Take it out!"
"Hurry up, what are you waiting for?"
"Where's the ring? Where's your ring?"
…
Jiang Ting's eyes were bright, his face was fair, and his lips were full and healthy crimson. He was looking as if in his early twenties, and feeling a little shy and reserved, he asked: "Where's your ring?"
"…The ring is here." Yan Xie heard his own voice say, "I will put it on for you."
Click——
The bright handcuffs clamped Jiang Ting's wrists, with the iron chains hanging in the air.
"..." Jiang Ting seemed a little confused. He looked at it suspiciously, raised his head, and asked, "Yan Xie, what is this?"
Yan Xie opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
The cheers died down, the applause died down, and the line of wedding guests suddenly disappeared. The rose petals withered, the lawn turned from emerald green to ashes, and there were mountains in the distance. The north wind blew from the mountains and forests as if howling and crying.
As if after traveling through a maze of countless nightmares, they returned to the valley.
The smile in Jiang Ting's eyes gradually disappeared, turning into bone-chilling coldness. He turned the handcuffs into powder with a light struggle, and just like what had happened before, he pointed the gun at Yan Xie's temple.
"I love you, Yan Xie," he said coldly.
"But you are a policeman, and I am a bandit. When we meet again, we will be life-and-death enemies."
Yan Xie stood there in a daze, unable to move or shout. He didn't even have the ability to look away. He just watched Jiang Ting move his index finger, and then he pulled the trigger——
Bang!
On the hospital bed, Yan Xie's body suddenly twitched, and he broke out into a violent cough!
"Doctor! Doctor!"
"He's awake! He's awake, hurry up!!"
The attending doctor rushed into the ward with the nurse, only to see that Yan Xie had already sat up, gasping quickly, closing his eyes forcefully, and then opening them again. His eye sockets were bloodshot. The long cut from the forehead to the side cheek had been bandaged, and his vigorous upper body was covered with bruises and trauma. Like a wounded beast that had just rushed out of its cage, he was full of fierceness. He pushed the nurse away, got off the bed, and asked hoarsely, "Where am I?"
"Brother Yan, calm down, it's okay! It's okay!" Ma Xiang, Gao Panqing, and several others pressed him to the hospital bed one after another and comforted him in one voice: "You have already returned to Jianning; you should lie down!"
"We are all here! It's okay, Brother Yan! The doctor said that you have a concussion and can't get up for the time being!"
"You scared the nurse; hey, don't, don't! Watch out for the infusion needle!"
...
Yan Xie woke up as if in a dream; his eyes swept over the anxious faces of every brother around him, and his pupils trembled violently.
The early winter sunshine in Jianning passed through the glass of the ward, reflecting the white walls brightly.
"…Where is Chief Lu?" He let out a few words in a hoarse voice, "Chief Lu…where is he?"
Ma Xiang was a little hesitant, and the brothers from the Criminal Investigation Division quickly exchanged an embarrassed look.
Gao Panqing coughed to cover up: "Chief Lu…he has something to do now. Some people from the provincial department may come over later, and there are some situations that may need to be explained a little bit."
Yan Xie couldn't hear the faint hint in these words. He had a splitting headache, and his mind was like a pot of boiled porridge. At this moment, out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of a figure passing by the door of the ward. They were tall and thin, wearing that familiar black coat, and they passed by in the blink of an eye.
…Jiang Ting?
Was that Jiang Ting? !
Without even thinking about it, Yan Xie got up suddenly, pushed away the doctor who was about to measure his blood pressure, and staggered out of the ward door amidst exclamations: "Wait! Hey, wait!"
The back figure didn't stop, striding away into the distance.
"Stop!" Yan Xie almost staggered forward and grabbed the person's shoulder: "What the hell is this—"
Yan Xie froze suddenly.
Yang Mei was wrapped in the overcoat that Jiang Ting usually wore, carrying a platinum bag in her hand, and stepping on high heels. Her pale face was without makeup, with inconspicuous tears shining from the corners of her eyes to the wings of her nose. She was staring at him with her lips pursed.
Ma Xiang and the others chased him out of the ward, and they all froze in the corridor.
The family members of the patients passed by, all with strange expressions, and they couldn't help but look at them as they passed by. The nurse pushing the medicine cart passed by, looking back curiously and frequently from afar.
"..." Yan Xie's Adam's apple rolled suddenly, "…was that you?"
Yang Mei said calmly, "It was me." Then she leaned back slightly under his scorching stare.
—— Yan Xie looked past her and saw, at the end of the corridor, three provincial police officers in dark blue police uniforms appearing at the elevator door, walking toward this side with serious expressions.