Chapter 836: Nuannuan Cried
Initially, Nuannuan did everything she could to calm herself down, telling herself not to panic so that Grandpa would not get worried too. However, upon hearing the old master’s words, Zhong Nuannuan burst into tears.
After being reborn, everything had never been better. If she must mention something that worsened, it must be how pretentious she felt like and how fragile she had become.
In her previous life, except when she was young, the only other time she cried was when Chi Yang came to rescue her. As they were escaping, she was overwhelmed by how hard life must have been for Chi Yang. That was the only time she cried.
In this life, she seemed to have cried uncontrollably.
Once the floodgates were opened, Zhong Nuannuan lost all control. She fell onto the floor on her knees and sobbed beside her grandfather’s bed.
Grandpa did not try to persuade her anymore. He kept caressing her head and hair like he was petting a cat with his calloused and wrinkly hand. It made her feel comfortable and warm, but her heart was simply filled with sorrow.
She was sad because Big Brother Chi Yang promised to call but he never did. She was upset that Grandpa had to see her in such a state despite being deeply distressed himself. Now, he was the one who had to comfort Nuannuan. She was upset that she wailed like a child as Grandpa comforted her, despite telling herself that she must put on a strong front. She cried so hard that she could not stop. It was so embarrassing…
“Big Boss, Brother-in-law’s calling!”
Selina’s voice sounded from outside the door. Upon hearing it, Zhong Nuannuan leaped up from the ground and rushed out to get the phone.
“Big Brother Chi Yang!”
Chi Yang’s voice traversed from the other end of the phone. It was the voice that Nuannuan had been missin— Uh, worried. The voice that Nuannuan had been worrying about.
“Nuannuan, I’m sorry. When I was escaping earlier, my phone broke. After I managed to descend the building, I couldn’t get through to you. When I heard the people down there say that two cars had flown past, I knew that my clever and amazing little girl must have succeeded. However, I couldn’t get through even though I tried calling you. I guessed that your phone must have broken, so I quickly took someone else’s phone and hacked it, making it into my own number as I wait for you to call me. When I realized that you didn’t call, I wanted to call you as soon as possible. However, there was a soldier who disobeyed his orders. He stood too close and gotten himself buried under the explosion debris. I happened to be there, so I helped them move the cement block and rescued him. Thankfully, he wasn’t badly injured.”
Chi Yang had always been known to be a man of few words. He would minimize speaking as much as he could. However, that was the attitude he adopted with others. To Nuannuan, he would do his best to speak more.
This was especially so now. He knew that he spent a lot of time to save the man and he failed to inform her of his safety as he promised.
One could only imagine how worried Nuannuan and Grandpa were.
Therefore, Chi Yang explained everything as clearly as he could. He spoke quickly, afraid that Nuannuan would be angry with him.
Especially when he heard the sobs that escaped Nuannuan, Chi Yang’s heart… felt like someone was squeezing the heck out of it. His heart ached so much that it was about to burst.
“Nuannuan… are you crying?”
Zhong Nuannuan came back to her senses and held her sobs in. She shook her head vigorously. “No, no! Big Brother Chi Yang, I’m glad you’re alright.”
Remembering that Grandpa could not hear, Nuannuan quickly walked to Grandpa’s side and shouted into his ear, “Grandpa, it’s Big Brother Chi Yang! He’s fine! He went to save someone just now!”
When the old master heard that it was his grandson who was calling, the painful knot in his heart unraveled instantly.
Chapter 837: Two Spies
“Good, good, good! It’s good that he’s alright, it’s good that he’s alright! Tell Chi Yang that I’m fine too.”
“Mmhmm.”
“Big Brother Chi Yang, Grandpa wants to tell you that he’s fine too. I’ve examined Grandpa, and there’s nothing too serious. I’m currently giving him acupuncture in the infirmary, so you don’t have to worry. Just go ahead with your work.”
Zhong Nuannuan knew that Chi Yang still had a lot to follow up on. After this, his workload would multiply.
With this, Chi Yang’s mission in Jiang District was accomplished.
Chi Yang felt a tightness in his chest. He was so touched that there was no way he could expel this tightness. How much good karma had his family accumulated to get a wonderful wife like Nuannuan?
He was not good with words. Since Nuannuan did not allow him to thank her, he did not know how else to express the guilt and gratitude in his heart. Eventually, he only grunted in agreement and replied, “Wait for me to come home.” before hanging up.
Then, he called Leng Jinpeng.
After the explosion, Leng Jinpeng lay on his stomach against the edge of the cliff in a daze. His eyes were surrounded in redness, and the streaking tears that rolled off his cheeks were swallowed by the dust that emerged rapidly.
He refused to believe that Chi Yang, who completed countless dangerous and impossible missions, would meet his end today.
Neither did he expect Chi Yang to die such a tragic death.
At this moment, Leng Jinpeng was filled with regret. If he could just realize that Chi Yang was the target of those repeated assassination attempts instead of him, he would never have allowed Chi Yang to walk behind him.
If Leng Jinpeng was the one who walked with Luo Shangyi; if he walked with a gun pointed at Luo Shangyi, Luo Shangyi would not have exposed himself and blown up the whole building.
Unfortunately, he ruined everything.
Suddenly, Leng Jinpeng shuddered at a sudden realization.
That building exploded. What about the grand marshal?
Did Nuannuan successfully escape with the grand marshal?
“Commander-in-chief, it’s for you.”
A special forces soldier approached Leng Jinpeng and handed him the phone.
However, Leng Jinpeng remained unmoved. He continued to kneel on the ground in a daze. He refused to accept this ending.
If the price of finding out the spy’s identity was Chi Yang and the grand marshal’s lives, he would rather never find out who the spy was.
“Hey, the commander-in-chief isn’t answering.… Yes!”
After receiving the order, the special forces soldier gathered his courage and placed the phone next to Leng Jinpeng’s ear.
“My subordinate said you’re not answering your phone. You’re not mourning for me, are you?”
Leng Jinpeng’s eyes widened when he heard that it was Chi Yang who called him on the phone.
However, Leng Jinpeng’s face was facing downward. Since he had his back to everyone, nobody saw the happy surprise on his face.
“Don’t act rashly. We haven’t caught the biggest traitor yet.”
Leng Jinpeng, “…!!!”
Luo Shangyi was already dead. Never would he expected that there would still be one left!
That meant that there were two spies in his military base!
This piece of news drenched his back in cold sweat.
“Our biggest traitor is Qu Mingyi. Nuannuan says that his wife was a test subject for KE Organization and was a Rank-3S killer.”
Leng Jinpeng, “…!!!”
“Even though Qu Mingyi isn’t a test subject, we shouldn’t underestimate his skills and cautiousness as a spy. You’re not in your best condition right now, so you must be careful of him. Nuannuan and the rest are fine, so Qu Mingyi may receive a call soon. I’m already heading your way, so you have to stall for as much time as possible. Remember, if he answers his phone, you should stay away from him immediately.”
Chapter 838: Hostage
“Alright, I got it.”
The moment he hung up, Qu Mingyi’s voice sounded from behind Leng Jinpeng. “Commander-in-chief, who was that? How’s Chi Yang now?”
Since he was crying earlier, Leng Jinpeng’s eyes were still bloodshot.
He stood up abruptly and sending Qu Mingyi a few steps back instinctively. He was readying himself for a revolt only to hear Leng Jinpeng shout furiously, “Find him! Find him! If he’s alive, I want to see him! If he’s dead, I want to see his corpse! Go down now!”
“Yes, sir!”
Everyone straightened up and saluted him.
Since Chi Yang was already on his way up, Leng Jinpeng would just wait there for him.
After receiving the order, Qu Mingyi and Peng Yaohua were about to leave when they realized that Leng Jinpeng did not move. Peng Yaohua had already reached the door.
“Commander-in-chief, what about you…” Qu Mingyi could not help but speak again when he saw that the commander-in-chief was not leaving.
Leng Jinpeng turned his back to them and waved his hand, pretending to be sad. “Let me remain here for a while. You can go down first.”
“Yes, sir.”
Although Qu Mingyi was suspicious, he could only follow the orders.
Just as he reached the door and was about to enter the hall, he suddenly received a call.
Leng Jinpeng’s body stiffened. He picked up his gun and pointed it at Qu Mingyi.
Leng Jinpeng was fast, but Qu Mingyi was faster.
Since Qu Mingyi was too far away from Leng Jinpeng, he could only pull out his gun quickly and grab Peng Yaohua who was next to him.
Everything changed in a flash.
Peng Yaohua was dumbstruck. When it dawned on him that he was being held hostage by Qu Mingyi, his expression transformed instantly.
“Direc— Commander… save me…”
When Leng Jinpeng raised his gun at Qu Mingyi, all the members of the special forces aimed their guns at Qu Mingyi too.
However, Qu Mingyi was currently cornered.
Behind him was the wall. Meanwhile, it just so happened that they were dead ends on both sides of the wall too.
He pulled Peng Yaohua to the front before hiding behind his figure. He managed to shield himself successfully.
“Don’t come over. If you come over, I’ll shoot him!”
Peng Yaohua was scared out of his wits. He shouted at a group of soldiers from the special forces, “Didn’t you hear that? Get back!”
He then said tentatively to Qu Mingyi, “Chief of Staff Qu, please take it easy. On account of how close we were, control… control yourself, alright? Be careful not to misfire. If you kill me, you’re never escaping here.”
“Qu Mingyi, you really disappoint me!” Leng Jinpeng walked forward to a spot very close to Qu Mingyi. He wanted to save Peng Yaohua, but Qu Mingyi was completely hidden behind Peng Yaohua. There was no opening for him to open fire.
“Leng Jinpeng, tell me, how did you find out that I’m a spy? Is Chi Yang still alive? Even if he’s not dead, he shouldn’t know that I’m a spy. Then, it must be Zhong Nuannuan who called you, right?”
“Yes.” Leng Jinpeng took the chance to smirk.
“I heard she fought with someone in the cafeteria, and it was quite a feat. Unfortunately, I didn’t pay enough attention to it. That resulted in such a severe slip-up in what was supposed to be a sure win today. Since she’s alive, that means my wife’s dead, right? Is my Min dead?”
As he asked, tears dripped down from Qu Mingyi’s eyes. It seemed like his feelings for his wife were real.
“Yes,” Leng Jinpeng answered instantly. “Nuannuan finished her off. We, the military, will never tolerate a Rank-3S killer who wishes to assassinate someone of high importance!”
Chapter 839: Decision
After Leng Jinpeng finished speaking, everyone could hear Qu Mingyi whimpering behind Peng Yaohua. After a long while, he asked, “Is Chi Yuansheng still alive?”
“Yes.”
Qu Mingyi sobbed even harder.
“Commander-in-chief, you’ve been there throughout my relationship with Yang Min. You know how hard it was for me to woo her back then, don’t you?! I’ve spent blood, sweat, and tears to woo her. You have no idea how happy I was!”
Currently, Leng Jinpeng felt nothing for Qu Mingyi. He sneered, “I’m not interested in a relationship between a spy and a killer. I don’t want to know.”
“I’m not a spy! Yang Min wasn’t a killer either!” Qu Mingyi sounded a little crazed. His hands were shaking from anger, and Peng Yaohua could not help but scream in shock.
“You have no idea how much Yang Min and I used to love the military base. We loved it and the life we lived there. Yet, what do you know? It was exactly because we loved this profession so much that we invested almost all our passion into it. That was what allowed our Weiwei to get kidnapped when he was three because no one was watching over him.”
Leng Jinpeng frowned. Although he and Qu Mingyi were not in the same military base back then, they were the best of the best among the special forces—the creme de la creme. He knew that the kidnapping of Qu Mingyi’s child caused quite an uproar because his Leng Qirui was nearly kidnapped as well. After that, his parents hired professional bodyguards to protect the child 24 hours a day. Nothing like that had happened ever since.
“Didn’t you recover Qu Wei back then? You lost your child because you were busy with work, so you started to hate this job so much you’d become a spy and a killer?”
“Bullsh*t! Qu Wei did come back, but he was completely under someone else’s control! For the sake of my child’s life, Yang Min and I had no choice but to help the enemy achieve their goals. Later, when they realized that Yang Min wasn’t very useful and she wasn’t strong enough, they used her as a test subject. Tell me, if this happened to you back then, with your wife and child’s lives involved, would you remain loyal to your faith, or would you be loyal to your family?”
Qu Mingyi’s words made Leng Jinpeng speechless.
He did not dare to imagine what kinds of decisions or changes he would make if Lil Rui was held hostage. This was too difficult for him.
Lil Rui was his life—one that was more important than his own. Therefore, he had no answer.
At this moment, even though he knew that Qu Mingyi deserved to die, he could not bring himself to blame him.
If a man could not even protect his wife and children, how should he protect the people?
However, just as Leng Jinpeng was caught in an internal battle between a rock and a hard place, a sonorous and powerful voice boomed.
“If it were me, I’d choose both my faith and my family at the same time. Qu Mingyi, you need to get this straight. They’re the ones who kidnapped your son, and they’re the enemies that shouldn’t coexist under the same sky as you and your faith. However, not only did you choose to tolerate them, you even attempted to join the enemies’ ranks while claiming to stop them. If this isn’t the way of a traitor, I don’t know what is! Therefore, if it were me, I’d either win against evil or lose to evil while trying my best to save my son. There’s nothing to be afraid of. Even if we die, our family of three will die together. Even if we go to the netherworld, we’ll have each other as company.
Chi Yang’s words stunned everyone.
Especially Leng Jinpeng, who broke out in a cold sweat. It was such simple logic, yet he nearly got caught up in the mess.
Chapter 840: Arrested
What conflict would there be?
When dealing with enemies, victory and sacrifice were simply two sides of the same coin. As a soldier, this was the rule that he had always adhered to ever since he joined the military base.
Chi Yang’s words enlightened Qu Mingyi.
That was right! Back then, he and Yang Min should have resisted the enemies persistently like what Chi Yang said. Worst came to worst, their family of three could die together. It was better than spending most of their years apart while living lives that were neither here nor there. Eventually, they still failed to escape death.
However, if they died then, they would have been heroes. Dying now would only make them traitors! Killers!
How ironic!
“Chi Yang, why aren’t you dead yet?” Qu Mingyi was so agitated that his eyes were bloodshot.
The organization assigned him and his wife, along with Luo Shangyi and his fake daughter, the task of killing Chi Yang and Chi Yuancheng.
As long as one of their targets died, their mission would be accomplished, and the organization would release their children. If both Chi Yang and Chi Yuancheng died, all of them would be set free, and the organization would erase all evidence of their crimes.
For Qu Mingyi, he had always been convinced that he had an unchanging heart. Therefore, he wanted to complete both missions and clear his name so that he and his family could regain their freedom.
However, with Zhong Nuannuan’s participation, she exposed Yang Min while Chi Yuansheng remained alive.
Could somebody tell him how was Chi Yang, someone who fell from the 57th floor, still alive?
How strong was the plot armor on these people? Was that why they could never die?
“Chi Yang, how are you still alive? How?”
Qu Mingyi was horrified. Now that his identity had been exposed, Qu Wei had no one to protect him anymore. Once the organization found out that they did not kill any of their targets, Qu Wei only had one way out—death.
Qu Mingyi shuddered at this thought.
Chi Yang said coldly, “You don’t need to know how I’m still alive. All you need to know is that you will be judged in the military court. Let go of Peng Yaohua, or you’ll make things worse for yourself!”
“Heh— Hehehe… Hahahaha…”
Thinking about how his son could not escape death in spite of his and Yang Min’s protection, Qu Mingyi went completely insane. He started laughing maniacally, scaring Peng Yaohua so much that he kept trying to coax Qu Mingyi. “Old Qu, don’t… don’t be like this. Be careful not to misfire, okay? As long as… as long as you tell us your son’s whereabouts, our military will still help you find your son immediately. Don’t worry, even if you’re arrested, your son’s innocent. We’ll definitely treat your son as our own. You… you mustn’t commit another big mistake!”
However, Chi Yang ignored Peng Yaohua and said firmly, “Your son is the enemy’s sniper. He’s our enemy. If we catch him, he’ll be severely punished!”
Qu Mingyi, “…”
Peng Yaohua, “…”
Whenever Chi Yang recalled how Qu Wei attempted to ambush his grandfather and fiancée, he knew he could never forgive Qu Wei. Even if it was just to lie to Qu Mingyi to give him false hope, Chi Yang refused.
It would be the fight to the death between him and Qu Mingyi!
Imagine just how narrow the sightseeing elevator was back then. If Nuannuan did not have X-ray vision or a weapon that could increase the range of your shots, it would be Nuannuan and Grandpa who would have died today.
Therefore, he must not be forgiven!
Peng Yaohua was furious, but he did not dare to reprimand Chi Yang. After all, Chi Yang was not someone he could afford to offend, regardless of status or background.
However…