Back To The 80s-Chapter 188: Attack_1

As soon as Gu Xiaobei entered the room, he collapsed on the ground feeling weary. Mrs. Ma enthusiastically boiled water and offered them dry food to eat.

The food was cornmeal pancakes that were quite hard. Nevertheless, to Gu Xiaobei what she served seemed irresistible. He ate until he could no longer breathe properly, then took a sip of water to keep the food down.

After devouring two palm-sized pancakes in one go, Gu Xiaobei finally felt like his stomach was full.

Feeling a bit embarrassed, he turned to Mrs. Ma and said, "I was starving. I hope I didn’t make a fool of myself."

"No worries at all; we all have tough times on the road," Mrs. Ma said with a shake of her hand and a smile.

"Ma’am, how far is Red Flag Town from here?" Gu Xiaobei asked, setting down his teacup.

"Quite a distance, walking would take two days. Why don’t you two join us tomorrow? As it happens, we’re going in the same direction," Mrs. Ma said cheerfully. Her Northwestern accent was quite heavy, and Gu Xiaobei had to guess at some of her words. He was amazed at how far he and Chen Gang had traveled.

Gu Xiaobei thanked her and looked around; the room, though simple, was tidy. A small tapestry hung on the wall, depicting the sacred pilgrimage site of the Hui people—Mecca.

Assuming that this family was of Hui ethnicity, Gu Xiaobei felt at ease. Based on what he knew from his previous life, this ethnic group was incredibly kind and warm-hearted. Regardless, he advised Chen Gang to choose his words carefully.

.........

In the middle of the night, as soon as two black figures crossed over the city wall, they were lit up by the flashlights of over a dozen men. Guo Huaqiang had surrounded them.

.........

Inside the air raid shelter, Lu Zhanguo pointed his gun at Yuan Ye. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

As if knowing how this would end, Yuan Ye simply stood still: "Zhanguo, you anticipated every move, but there are some you just can’t save."

Lu Zhanguo didn’t respond. In the dark, his eyes were fixed like a hawk’s on Yuan Ye.

"Zhanguo, given the choice to save three people, who would you choose? Jin Cheng, Gu Xiaobei, or Xiangmin?" Yuan Ye asked, her voice cold and detached. She was hoping to provoke Lu, but she was mistaken.

Still perfectly calm, Lu replied, "You’re a shark."

"Haven’t you been lying in wait all this time? In the end, you still don’t know who the ’white fox’ is, do you? Sadly, I don’t know either," Yuan Ye said, sounding detached and somewhat scornful.

"Why didn’t Du Chengjiang come in? Did he send you in to scout?" Lu pointedly asked.

"I don’t know Du Chengjiang," Yuan Ye flatly denied.

Lu’s lips twisted into a smirk as he said, "Or.. you just don’t know that Du Chengjiang is ’white fox’, right?"

Yuan Ye fell silent, and didn’t respond; she was, after all, merely cannon fodder. Knowing that this was always her destined end was somehow comforting. At least this moment, she found a sense of unexplained relief and peace.

"Let’s go, head up," Lu interrupted Yuan Ye’s reverie.

......

A note was delivered to Guo Huaqiang by the guard at the door. The note infuriated Guo, causing him to slam his fist onto a table.

Just then, Lu walked in, "What’s going on?"

"Xiangmin’s been kidnapped by Chi Xiaoyue, and they’re demanding that you arrive at Zhang Family’s house before daybreak. Zhanguo, we’ve captured Yuan Ye, too; why don’t you come with me? Xiangmin is pregnant, after all," Guo said anxiously.

Lu cast Guo a cold glance, "White Fox hasn’t shown up yet. Why do you think they’re taking this action now?"

"Then... what do we do?"

"You take Chen Qi Family with you. Besides, national security has been monitoring Chi Xiaoyue for a while now; they’ll be fine," Lu’s heart was heavy. From Yuan Ye’s words, he concluded both Jin Cheng and Gu Xiaobei are in danger, but he didn’t have the capacity to save either.

"Zhanguo, about my younger sister..." Guo started hesitantly.

"She’ll be fine," Lu said assuredly, looking straight at Guo.

This night was destined for all truths to be exposed...

......

Jin Cheng was driving a truck with Gao Dailin sitting beside him. As they approached Canger Cliff, Gao Dailin excitedly said, "Aren’t you going to ask what we’re doing at Canger Cliff?"

"Who could guess what you plan to do in the middle of the night?" Jin Cheng replied nonchalantly. But in his mind, the grim and harsh expression on the face of Old Zhang, the security guard, as they drove out of the company’s compound flashed through.

"Because the artifact you’re looking for is inside this truck." Gao Dailin said with a malicious grin.

Jin Cheng, unaffected, responded, "So what if it is?"

"There’s a time bomb placed inside the artifact. When it goes off, including you, everything up on this mountain, the truck, and the artifact will explode and become a sea of fire," Gao Dailin explained creepily.

Jin Cheng scoffed lightly, "What’s in it for you? You’re just another pawn!"

Gao Dailin said sinisterly: "I thought you were just a pretty, incapable figure. Turns out I was underestimating you."

Jin Cheng quickly stepped on the brake, stopping the vehicle and stared coldly at Gao Dailin: "You really think this will cover for Bai Hu?"

Gao Dailin sneered, "Does Bai Hu need my cover? The bomb is about to explode, let’s see how you’ll run." He was about to open the door and get out of the truck.

"If I can’t run, you can’t either." Jin Cheng grabbed Gao Dailin’s collar with one hand and pulled out a knife from his leg with the other, aiming at Gao Dailin’s chest.

Gao Dailin managed to block the knife and roared, "Are you crazy? Why on earth are you not jumping out of the truck and still pulling me back?" he cursed and struggled with Jin Cheng.

Using a distracting move, Jin Cheng grasped Gao Dailin’s neck with one hand and yanked the hand Gao Dailin had lunged at him with the other. Pressing his wrist down and quickly thrusting forward, the knife plunged into Gao Dailin’s abdomen.

Gao Dailin whimpered in pain and loosened his grip. Jin Cheng pulled the knife out and plunged it deep into Gao Dailin’s belly for three consecutive times, not stopping until Gao Dailin couldn’t fight back. Gao Dailin had underestimated Jin Cheng’s determination.

Jin Cheng jumped down from the truck, climbed into its compartment, and pulled away the huge canvas. In the darkness of the night, he saw a pile of boxes. In one of them, a timed bomb was blinking red. There were only eight minutes left before the explosion. It was too late to drive down the mountain...

Jin Cheng tried to remove the bomb, but he found wires entangling the boxes of artifacts. A slight pull would trigger off the immediate explosion.

Jin Cheng was silent for a moment, jumped down from the truck, entered the driver’s cabin, tore off a piece of cloth, dipped it in Gao Dailin’s blood, wrote a few words, threw it out, started the vehicle, and drove towards the top of Canger Cliff...

There was still a small distance from Canger Cliff, and the muddy mountain road had become even muddier after the rain. Jin Cheng set the gear to the highest level, left the door open, stepped on the accelerator, and the wheels swerved towards Canger Cliff.

The truck exploded over the Tuotuo River at the foot of Canger Cliff, and a flash of fire illuminated half of the sky.

When Li Jianxin arrived at the scene, all he could see was the blazing fire. His eyes turned blood red as he stood rooted to his spot, frozen in shock.

......

Qin Li woke up from a nightmare, panting heavily. In her dream, a blood-soaked Jin Cheng had said, "Girl, see you in the next life."

Qin Li pulled off her covers, jumped out of bed barefoot, turned on the lights, and drew the curtains. She stared at the pitch-black night sky, feeling as though a huge hole were gouged in her heart, causing a fiercely intense pain.

The light in the window illuminated the small vegetable garden below. The leaves of the jujube tree had fallen disheveled by the freezing rain. The branches stretching out seemed like a monster’s hand. Qin Li felt like this monster hand was squeezing her organs, causing so much pain that she could hardly breathe.

A spontaneous impulse overcame Qin Li. She put on her coat, slipped into her shoes, tiptoed down the stairs, and picked up a shovel from the garden. A voice seemed to say, "Dig up the jujube tree, quickly dig it up."

In the dim light from her house, Qin Li shuffled around the base of the jujube tree and dug.

Zhang Yufen heard this and asked her husband, "Is something wrong with Li Li? What is she doing going out at night?" She got up anxiously, switched on the light in the living room, went to the window, and saw Qin Li, bending and digging intently. This surprised her.

With a spurt of unexplainable energy, Qin Li managed to dig a hole about thirty centimeters deep around the jujube tree. The shovel hit a metal object. She crouched down, probed the object, and dug out a large tin box. She recognized this tin box. It was from when she was younger, a relative in Jin Cheng’s family’s hospital came back from Shanghai with a tub of pediatric deworming medicine in it, and a picture of a plump baby eating tower candy.

Qin Li’s heart started racing. A terrible premonition washed over her. She clutched the tin box tightly...