Meanwhile, by the main house.
The scarred man who had driven back got out of the car and checked his phone. It still had no signal. He muttered to himself, "Strange, why is there no signal at all? It usually works fine here. Could the signal jammer be acting up again?"
He needed to make a call to notify Qin Meimei and the others that the person had escaped.
Just then, he looked up and saw movement inside the house. As he was about to yell at someone, a loud voice boomed from behind him:
"Freeze! Hands up! You're surrounded!"
"Who the hell are you?" The scarred man cursed as he turned around, only to find himself surrounded by a group of uniformed special forces soldiers. Each of them held a gun, their dark muzzles all aimed at him.
It felt as if one wrong move would get him riddled with bullets.
The scarred man was no stranger to such scenes; he was a frequent visitor to the police station. He recognized the leader as Yang Lin from the Municipal Bureau. The grim-faced buzz-cut man beside him was a new face.
"Captain Yang, what's with the big operation today?"
He grinned and stepped forward, pulling a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, tapping it on his palm, and offering it to Yang Lin.
Yang Lin raised his hand, quickly grabbed the scarred man's arm, and executed a shoulder throw, pinning him to the ground. The move was so fast that the scarred man hadn't even reacted before his face met the ground along with the dropped cigarettes, being ground into the dirt.
"Speak! Where did you hide her?!" Yang Lin demanded sternly.
The scarred man groaned from the pain of the fall but still played dumb. "Hide who? I don't know what you're talking about!"
Yang Lin twisted his arm at an unnatural angle. "Yu He, where did you take her?!"
"Mmm..." The scarred man grunted in pain. He was a tough guy, still defiant. "I really don't know what you're talking about. I'm telling you, this is torture, let me go, or I'll report you!"
Chen Hao stepped forward and patted Yang Lin's arm. Yang Lin thought he was worried about the report. "Don't worry about it. This old fox has a long record. He won't talk without some persuasion."
Chen Hao: "..."
He pointed to the sky and urged, "I told you to hurry, they're here."
Yang Lin heard it too. The "whirring" sound of a helicopter grew louder, and soon it hovered overhead, the downdraft rustling the surrounding trees.
Seeing this, the scarred man secretly rejoiced. Had Miss Gu returned?
He looked up, and a ladder descended from the helicopter, carrying two men.
The first to descend was a man in camouflage with a boyish face. The other was a man in a well-fitting black suit with an exceptionally handsome face, exuding an uncomfortable aura of pressure.
The scarred man swallowed, his joy vanishing, and cold sweat beaded on his forehead. These two seemed to be the Seventh Master of the Qin family and the eldest young master of the Lu family!
"Seventh Master, Young Master Lu." Chen Hao and Yang Lin greeted them respectfully.
"Have you found her?" Qin Bei Ting's phoenix-like eyes swept over Chen Hao.
"No," Chen Hao shook his head. "We've searched the house and the surrounding area, but we couldn't find Xiao He. There was a bound person in the woodshed, just woken up. He claims Xiao He knocked him out and he doesn't know anything."
Qin Bei Ting's brow furrowed, his icy gaze fixed on the scarred man. He parted his thin lips and asked, "Still not talking?"
"Not yet. This old fox is very stubborn. Give me a little more time, and I'll make him talk," Yang Lin said.
"Yi Ming." Qin Bei Ting gave Lu Yi Ming a look.
Lu Yi Ming understood, raised his hand, pointed to two uniformed special forces soldiers, and then turned to walk behind the house.
The two soldiers immediately stepped forward, took the scarred man from Yang Lin, and flanked him as they followed Lu Yi Ming's pace.
The scarred man realized the gravity of the situation. While struggling, he still managed to threaten, "What are you doing? Let me go! Don't think this scares me..."
Yang Lin and Chen Hao exchanged glances, followed by—
"Ah—" a chilling scream echoed from behind the main house, startling birds in the woods and sending shivers down Yang Lin and Chen Hao's spines.
The screams lasted for five minutes before finally stopping.
Lu Yi Ming emerged from behind the main house, wiping his hands with a handkerchief, a look of disgust on his face.
Behind him, the scarred man stood with a vacant expression and unfocused eyes, supported by two special forces soldiers. There were no visible wounds, but his mental state was a stark contrast to the energetic shouting from five minutes ago.
Yang Lin swallowed, unable to fathom what Lu Yi Ming had done to completely break the old fox's spirit in such a short time.
"Boss, he said Miss Yu ran into the deep mountains," Lu Yi Ming said, approaching Qin Bei Ting.
Qin Bei Ting glanced at his watch. "Five minutes. Progress."
Lu Yi Ming added, "Not as fast as you back in the day. Three minutes."
It only took him three minutes to make an FBI spy talk.
Yang Lin: !!
Three minutes! What kind of devilish interrogation method was that!
"Search the mountains. No matter what, find her before dark!" Qin Bei Ting ordered coldly.
"Yes!" everyone replied.
Lu Yi Ming then led a team, with search dogs, towards the deep mountains.
Qin Bei Ting remained by the main house, his fists clenched. The young girl was afraid of the dark; he had to bring her back before nightfall.
"Ting Ge, the signal jammers have been deployed," Chen Dong's voice came through the earpiece.
"Understood," Qin Bei Ting replied, turning and boarding the helicopter.
The helicopter flew towards the deep mountains. Qin Bei Ting opened two laptops. One screen displayed twelve surveillance feeds from different angles.
On the other, he rubbed his fingers, inserted a USB drive, and his slender fingers flew across the keyboard. Lines of code flashed rapidly across the black screen.
United States, Military Air Base, Satellite Monitoring Office.
The computer screen for surveillance USA-224 flashed an abnormal red alert.
The night shift staff immediately issued a notification: "Fuck! USA-224 is being invaded again, prepare for defense!"
"It's Raven again?! They were here yesterday, and now tonight again?!"
"Quickly trace the location!"
"The intrusion point is the same as yesterday, but the method is a bit different, looks like S."
"Who the hell cares who it is, intercept it! Fuck, he's modifying the satellite's orbit!"
"They're definitely working together!"
"To use the Chinese saying: When it comes to fleecing a sheep, can you stop picking on the same one until it's dead?!"
"..."
—
Meanwhile, in the deep mountains.
Yu He was gathering dry branches to make a fire, planning to spend the night and leave the mountains first thing in the morning.
Suddenly, she heard the roar of a helicopter overhead, and not just one. They were approaching from a distance. Unsure if they were friend or foe, she darted into the nearest bush, but accidentally missed her footing and fell...