Chapter 156: Winter Solstice, Summer Fall (Part 4)

Winter is a season of quiet desolation and lifelessness. The frigid northern wind has transformed the once verdant surrounding world into a barren and desolate wasteland, evoking a feeling of absolute isolation where every trace of bird and human life has vanished. In this silent world, my eyes remained fixed ahead on the overgrown and neglected gates of the abandoned chemical plant, suddenly stirring an uneasy premonition. Although the sunlight still beat down, this place felt as though a gaping, bloodthirsty maw lay ahead, waiting for me to walk right into it. This sensation was deeply unsettling. I had already notified Li Dabiao, instructing him to dispatch men toward this location and conceal themselves around the chemical plant as much as possible. The moment I gave the command through the miniature communicator clipped to my shirt, he and his subordinates would charge in to assist me in breaking through.

The people inside the gates had apparently noticed me, as two thugs holding ordinary wooden clubs were already walking in my direction. I spoke in a low voice through the miniature signal communicator on my body, "Xiaokai, can you use the military satellite to tell how many warm-blooded organisms are in there?" It was the only way I could phrase it.

"Master, I have roughly used the satellite's thermal infrared remote sensing technology to detect the interior of the entire chemical plant. There are about twenty-odd warm-blooded animals in total, with the majority gathered in Warehouse Number 1 and only a small fraction on the perimeter. However, because the satellite is too far away, it is impossible to accurately determine the exact head count." Although Xiaokai's voice was pleasant, hearing her refer to human beings as animals almost made me pass out from frustration. It seemed this intelligent terminal still had not grasped the difference between humans and animals...

"You must be Mr. Xiao?" The arrivals were two unmistakably punk-looking young men. One punk with dyed red hair looked me up and down with a hint of disdain and said, "I really didn't expect Mr. Xiao to be so young."

"Cut the crap. Whose subordinates are you to dare kidnap a hostage? Do you even know who the hostage is?" I ignored the punk's remark and said coldly, "What you are doing is no different from suicide."

"We're just following orders, the rest is none of our business." The punk clearly looked down on a young kid like me, gesturing with a hand toward the inner gates. "Let's go. Our boss has been waiting for you for a long time, thinking you wouldn't dare show up. Never figured you'd have the guts."

I remained silent and walked straight through the gates of the chemical plant. By this time, I had already spotted several flashes of light on a nearby hilltop; I knew that was the signal from Li Dabiao indicating they were prepared and merely waiting for my command to storm the chemical plant. The situation inside was unclear to me, but the only comforting thought at the moment was that these thugs were not carrying firearms. Moreover, in Huaxia, where gun control is exceptionally strict, getting your hands on a firearm is as difficult as ascending to the heavens. Because of this, my confidence in rescuing Chu Qitong increased by a fraction.

Before long, I was led all the way to Warehouse Number 1, located in the northeastern section of the chemical plant. From a distance, I saw Chu Qitong suspended in mid-air and bound tightly, prompting me to shout in anger, "How could you treat her like this? She's just a woman!"

The punk ignored me and simply yelled into the warehouse, "Boss, the person you wanted to see is here!"

"Clatter..." Almost instantly, more than a dozen thugs armed with machetes and wooden clubs emerged from the shadows of the two-story warehouse. Meanwhile, several figures dressed in martial arts attire stepped out onto the second-floor balcony of the warehouse, and among them, I finally spotted the man who had called me. At that exact moment, I realized that the mastermind behind the kidnapping of Chu Qitong was none of people other than the Axe Gang boss, De Guangqing! The person standing beside him was also someone I recognized: De Guangqing's senior martial brother, whose martial arts I had previously crippled.

I mentally cursed myself. In truth, I should have anticipated that this fellow De Guangqing was the one behind the mischief. Aside from De Guangqing, whom I had severely disciplined right in front of Chu Qitong, almost no one in C City knew about my relationship with her. Who else could possibly have kidnapped Qitong if not him? To think I had wasted time pondering the identity of the kidnapper—what a grave miscalculation.

"Mr. Xiao, long time no see." Amidst De Guangqing's chilling laughter, I could no longer restrain myself and charged straight into the warehouse. By this time, Chu Qitong, hanging suspended in mid-air, had evidently noticed my arrival, and she began frantically shaking her head in terror. I knew she was signaling me not to enter, telling me to escape while I could. I also knew that by daring to kidnap Chu Qitong regardless of the consequences, De Guangqing had prepared himself for a fight to the death. Offending the Chu family was no laughing matter; kidnapping a woman of the Chu family undoubtedly meant drawing the ire of the entire clan, and everything he had done was definitely not just to lure me here. He genuinely intended to kill me and Chu Qitong together, then destroy our corpses so he could walk away completely untouched and leave no trace. What a brilliant strategic move. Even if the Chu family eventually discovered he was the one who murdered Chu Qitong, he would still be in the clear without any evidence.

Gazing at Chu Qitong's tear-streaked, beautiful face, my heart ached fiercely. This young woman was suffering such hardship because of me; she had been treated so unjustly. I cast a cold glance up at De Guangqing on the second floor and gritted my teeth. "De Guangqing, what on earth do you want by calling me here? Let's make things clear—you've got some nerve kidnapping Chu Zhengsheng's daughter. Aren't you afraid of him coming after you?"

"This is all a gift from you; you have no one else to blame!" De Guangqing glared at me viciously, his face contorted with boundless fury as he snarled, "So what if she's Chu Zhengsheng's daughter? Would you have come here without her? Hahaha, Xiao Qiang, do you really think you and she are walking out of here alive today? I did all of this just to wait for you!"

"What grievance do we have between us that makes you so eager to put me to death?" Just as I had suspected, it seemed De Guangqing genuinely had no intention of letting either Chu Qitong or me leave this place alive. I swept a cold gaze across the thugs surrounding me and sneered, "You actually think you and this mob of yours are enough to keep me here? Don't you think you're speaking a bit too soon?"

"Haha... What grievance? Well asked!" De Guangqing grabbed the sleeve of his senior martial brother standing beside him and sneered at me, "Remember my senior brother? You crippled his entire martial arts, and you have the nerve to ask what grievance I have with you?"

"You should ask yourself that! If he hadn't been sent to assassinate me, would I have crippled his abilities? Hmph, if you insist on fabricating such a reason, then I have nothing to say. If you think you can defeat me, come at me together with all your subordinates!" Believing I possessed the Purple Sun Divine Skill, let alone this small group of men, what difference would it make if dozens more came?

"I am well aware of Mr. Xiao's formidable martial arts," De Guangqing said, releasing his senior brother's sleeve and offering a sinister smile. "But no matter how strong you are, can you withstand a bullet?"

"Click..." The moment those words left his mouth, several other subordinates of his on the second floor simultaneously pulled Type 54 police pistols from their jackets and aimed them straight at me! My heart plunged—De Guangqing actually had firearms, and more than one! Where did he get police-issued weapons? Could he have accomplices within the police department? The thought struck me, and everything suddenly became clear: his backer was Xia Guomin. Given the influence Xia Guomin had wielded in C City for so many years, how could he possibly lack connections inside the police force? I took a few cautious steps backward and said coldly, "You actually have guns. How despicable!"

"Qing'er, don't take out such vulgar things to disgrace the reputation of the Lion Fist Sect!" At that moment, an elderly voice suddenly echoed from behind De Guangqing and the others. De Guangqing immediately replied respectfully, "Yes, Master." With that, he signaled to his subordinates, who reluctantly tucked the firearms back into their waistbands.

Master? Could his senior brother have really invited the grandmaster of the Lion Fist Sect down the mountain? Now I truly understood why De Guangqing had staked everything on this gamble against me. Armed with guns and the assistance of his master, he must have been certain of victory before making his move. Furthermore, I began to suspect that the matter was far from simple. Relying solely on De Guangqing's own strength, he would never have dared to rashly risk his life by kidnapping Chu Qitong to lure me into this trap. Someone else must have been pulling the strings behind the scenes; it was entirely possible that Xia Guomin and Xia Fugui had discovered something, which was why they permitted him to take action. The more I thought about it, the more alarmed I became. If Xia Guomin had indeed orchestrated all of this, he must have planted his own informants among the aristocratic families of Huaxia. Since he could not eliminate Su Guohui openly, he must have intended to wipe me out first, thereby severing the ties between Su Guohui and the Huaxia noble families. Of course, this was merely my conjecture, but if it proved true, not only was Chu Qitong in mortal danger, but Su Xin herself would likely face imminent peril as well. After all, the desperation of someone facing death possessed an unpredictable and terrifying destructive power!