On the other side, Qin Ningyi, near the cliff, suddenly felt something was wrong and stopped the car.
Under the protection of several cars, he got out and felt the calm yet sharp mountain wind. The vibe was off.
It was too quiet.
He looked at the tracks on the road beneath his feet. The other party had deliberately hidden their tracks, and they had spent a lot of time chasing here. They had finally seen some clues. This should have been a happy occasion, but his instinct told him something was wrong.
The team of fully masked individuals also slowed down, and several cars even stopped.
A few people got out of the cars. One of them was the person he had interacted with on the road earlier, addressed as "Fu Ban." He stood coldly, his eyes fixed on the man who had just alighted from a car next to him.
"Captain," his address was standard. The person being addressed looked at Qin Ningyi, his eyes narrowing under the protective goggles.
After a brief whisper, the one called Captain approached Qin Ningyi. "Why did we stop?"
His voice was calm and collected, possessing a natural authority, but there was no hint of disdain in his tone, only genuine curiosity.
How could these people be purely curious about others? Qin Ningyi continued to look down at the tracks on the road, not looking at him, and answered his own question, "Something is amiss, isn't it?"
"Yes." The Captain's expression was entirely concealed by his mask, but a hint of admiration could be heard in his voice. He did not deny it, nodding frankly. "We need to confirm."
Qin Ningyi, however, looked up and said seriously in a low voice, "Not here."
The tracks on the ground were wrong.
"Oh?" Just as the Captain was about to press further, a faint sound from the sky caught his attention. He looked up sharply and saw a flash of color streaking across the sky.
The people around him also saw the color. Their expressions changed. "Captain, that way!"
"Dr. Shen is in danger! Go!" the Captain shouted in a low voice.
Such an obvious flare was a death knell for a hostage.
Qin Ningyi stepped forward and grabbed the Captain's arm.
His grip was immense. As the Captain turned, his eyes were full of surprise.
Qin Ningyi quickly asked a few questions. "Was this flare fired by Shen Wuyou?"
Perhaps because of his decisive deduction just now, the Captain did not reject Qin Ningyi's action too much. He merely slightly pulled away from Qin Ningyi's grip and replied, "Yes."
"He knew you could understand it?"
"Yes."
"He knew you would come to save him?"
"No." The reason they were able to arrive so promptly was that they had just finished a mission in Taichuan City, and they happened to receive a signal from someone around Shen Wuyou.
After answering these questions, the Captain pondered for a moment, and his gaze towards Qin Ningyi shifted slightly. "What's your plan?"
"Even if they are waiting, it should only be for me," Qin Ningyi said calmly, then whispered a few words into the Captain's ear.
After hearing his words, which were indeed an excellent plan, the Captain looked at him deeply. He hesitated. "We need to ensure your safety..."
"I will be very safe," Qin Ningyi said nonchalantly, seeing that he had not objected.
"Good." The Captain extended his palm and shook Qin Ningyi's hand firmly. He then led his men to split off from Qin Ningyi's convoy. Before leaving, the Captain also left one car to drive towards the cliff.
Beside the cliff.
On an equally towering precipice, a man pulled out the dying Shen Wuyou. Amidst the explosions in the valley, he burst into laughter. "You're dead! Hahaha!"
With that, the knife in his hand plunged fiercely into Shen Wuyou's backhand. "Dr. Shen, you are no longer of value."