“Qiao Ying?”
Qiao Ying’s voice came from the cellphone receiver.
The moment he heard Qiao Ying’s voice, Qin Hanyue felt much more at ease.
There was a lot of noise on Qiao Ying’s end, the sound of helicopter blades spinning. Qin Hanyue had to listen carefully to make out what she was saying.
“Are you in a helicopter?”
“Yeah, borrowed from Shangguan Qingmu.”
Qiao Ying had chased all the way to the suburbs and found the van there. The people were already gone, but there was a large pool of blood left in the van.
There were traces of a helicopter landing and taking off in the grass. It was obvious Sack had been taken away on that helicopter.
Meanwhile, the location from Qiao Yi’s watch kept moving.
Qiao Ying checked - there was a military base at the foot of a nearby mountain. So she contacted Shangguan Qingmu and borrowed a helicopter from him.
Unexpectedly, Shangguan Yu happened to be at this military base. Qiao Ying simply borrowed a pilot and a computer from him as well.
Qin Hanyue asked again: “Where are you now?”
Qiao Ying looked at the flashing red dot on the computer screen: “Not sure where they're heading.”
It was too hard to hear clearly. Qiao Ying hung up and sent Qin Hanyue a message: 【How is my brother?】
【Multiple soft tissue injuries, no broken bones. He can be discharged after resting for a few days. He said Sack was injured and is very worried.】
Qiao Ying: 【Help me take good care of my brother. I’ll come back once I find them.】
Qin Hanyue was afraid they would lose contact again, so he quickly typed: 【Give me your location. I’ll come to find you.】
Qiao Ying: 【I’ll let you know once it’s confirmed. Oh right, send someone to take my car back.】
She was still thinking about her car at this time. One couldn't tell if she was fearless or just had too much confidence. It was obvious she really liked this car - she didn't even bear to sell it back when she needed to pay Black Water's salary.
The helicopter only flew for a little over three hours.
Qiao Ying got off the plane with her computer. The watch's location had already arrived at another city ahead of her.
Qiao Ying continued her pursuit...
There was no way Shadow didn't notice the watch. The reason they kept it was to lure her into a trap.
After chasing for two days and one night, they were already out of the country.
The watch's last location appeared in the western region of C Country. Then it stopped moving for over half an hour, going completely silent.
C Country's west?
They really knew how to pick a spot.
While heading to the airport, Qiao Ying dialed a number at the same time: “Boss Lin? Long time no see. Can you help me with something?”
Then, with Ye Si's black card, Qiao Ying chartered an entire plane and flew to the western region of C Country.
Boss Lin moved quickly.
Qiao Ying received a call back from Boss Lin while she was still on the plane.
“I only found the watch, no sight of the person. But there were indeed signs of life entering and exiting near the border in the west these past two days. My people are still searching.”
Qiao Ying: “Thanks.”
Holding the watch, Boss Lin stroked the fur of the cat in his arms one stroke at a time, “There’s blood on the watch. Your friend is injured.”
Qiao Ying: “Mm.”
Boss Lin: “When will you arrive? Should I send someone to pick you up?”
Qiao Ying: “No need.”
Boss Lin: "It's been so long since we've seen each other. At least come over later so I can show you my cats."
After the few hour flight, Qiao Ying landed. She was now in the western region of C Country.
Qiao Ying took a taxi to where the watch’s last location was and walked around, but didn’t find any traces of Shadow.
In a run-down alley, she found the spot where the watch had been discarded. There were only specks of dried blood left on the ground.
This was a slum with rows of uneven, short buildings and dense population. To find someone here would be like searching for a needle in the sea. Unless Shadow took the initiative to show himself.
Fortunately, Shadow still needed Sack as a hostage to restrain her, so Sack's life shouldn't be in danger for the time being.
But there were no guarantees about avoiding injury and torture. Not to mention Sack wasn't the type to just docilely let them have their way.
These Shadow dogs had lured her here then hid themselves. Were they scared?
Qiao Ying wandered aimlessly following her instincts.
The locals here paid close attention to her, this new face. Not sure what had happened, most of them hid inside their houses, warily watching her through windows or standing in doorways, not daring to come out.
If this had been the past, they wouldn’t have reacted so extremely. It was obvious something was very off here today.
"The Duke is looking for someone. Tell the kids to come home and cooperate. Don't make trouble."
"Hope it has nothing to do with us."
"He’s looking for a few outsiders."
"That’s good then."
Occasionally she would see opulently dressed elite guards searching aggressively for something.
The Duke - referring to Boss Lin.
These people were naturally Boss Lin's men.
And this upheaval was of course also caused by Boss Lin.
Qiao Ying wandered aimlessly, trying to find some traces left by Shadow. Boss Lin called at this time.
“I’m already here. You?”
Qiao Ying heard a cat's meow through her phone. She said, “I don’t have time to see your cats right now.” After a brief pause, “Or your dogs.”
“But I’m already here. Why don’t I help you find your friend? This person is very important to you?”
Qiao Ying: “Why do you think I traveled this ridiculously long distance to get here?”
Boss Lin: “Maybe you came to visit me.”
Qiao Ying: “Then I’d rather see your cats.”
Boss Lin: “Alright. I did you a favor, so can I make a request? After all this time, shouldn’t you finally let me see your true face? Last time when you took something from my Lin Yuxuan, my boss there saw you and said you were very beautiful. But from his description, you don’t look like what I imagined at all. You also seem younger.”
Lin Cheng - the boss of Lin Yuxuan.
Originally she had won Lin Yuxuan from him in a gamble. Later, before Qiao Ying disappeared due to Shadow extracting genes, she returned Lin Yuxuan.
Qiao Ying: “We can talk after finding him.”
Boss Lin: “Then I’ll take that as your agreement.”
Qiao Ying: “Aren’t you going to ask who caught my friend?”
Boss Lin: “From how you say it, the other party should be quite frightening. But I thought hard about it, and it seems there is no one that I would fear.”
Qiao Ying: “Then that’s good.”
So he wouldn’t complain she wasn't grateful later.
Since Shadow refused to show himself, her blind searching would only waste energy.
In any case, Shadow's target was her, not Sack. Qiao Ying was too lazy to let them watch her dance around aimlessly like a headless fly.
She hated being led around by the nose.
They would see who lost patience first.
Qiao Ying left the slum and went to a slightly more prosperous district. Then she turned into a bar.
After two days without rest, Qiao Ying found an empty seat at the bar counter and sat down, ordering herself a drink.
She had just taken a sip when Qin Hanyue called.
“Any updates? Where are you now?”
Qiao Ying: “Still on planet Earth, still able to call you.”
“You’re still in the mood to joke. Looks like at least you’re unharmed.” Qin Hanyue felt that Qiao Ying didn’t want to tell him, didn’t want him to go over either.
“Are you in a bar?” Hearing the noise in Qiao Ying's background, he asked uncertainly.
“Mm.” Qiao Ying turned on the video and snapped a picture of her drink on the bar counter, sending it over to him.
Qin Hanyue was silent for a bit after seeing it, but still said: “I want to come find you. I know it’s dangerous.”
