Chapter 266

“Colonel Huang is really forgetful—Director Peng is Peng Ling’s father. Don’t I have any reason to visit him?!” Xie Wendong said with a smile. Huang Zhen nodded, realizing his own question had been foolish. The relationship between Xie Wendong and Peng Ling was no secret, so it was only natural for him to visit her father. He chuckled and said, “That’s great. Let’s go in together.” Xie Wendong asked insinuatingly, “Are Colonel Huang and Director Peng friends?” Huang Zhen looked puzzled and murmured, “I’ve been friends with Old Peng for over twenty years.” Xie Wendong shook his head and pointed at the military vehicles outside the hospital and the soldiers getting out, saying, “That doesn’t seem like the way to treat an old friend.”

Huang Zhen glanced back and realized Xie Wendong had misunderstood. He smiled and said, “These people are here to protect Old Peng. You should know that the real suspect hasn’t been caught yet. It’s too dangerous to keep Old Peng in a regular hospital—this is also the central government’s decision.” “Oh?” Xie Wendong raised an eyebrow and asked, “What? Isn’t Du Tingwei a suspect?”

“Well…” Huang Zhen sighed bitterly. There were things he couldn’t control. He had no choice but to follow the orders from the central government. He forced a smile and said, “Du Tingwei is just one of the suspects, and it’s likely he was manipulated by someone else. After all, that ‘ringleader’ has already escaped!” “Haha!” Xie Wendong laughed heartily, leaving Huang Zhen stunned. It took him a while to stop laughing before he said sarcastically, “Cang Lang is considered the ringleader? I wonder if it’s you who’s stupid or the central government who’s idiotic.” With that, he left Huang Zhen, who was still in shock, and headed toward the hospital lobby. Huang Zhen shook his head repeatedly. Though Xie Wendong was terrifyingly clever and cunning, he was still young, speaking without restraint and being overly impulsive. If these words reached the central government, the consequences would be obvious. The two went upstairs side by side. When they arrived at the intensive care unit where Peng Shulin was, it was already empty, with the white sheets neatly folded at the head of the bed. This was within Xie Wendong’s expectations. He pretended to be surprised, stopped a nurse passing by, and asked urgently, “Isn’t Director Peng in this room?” The nurse nodded blankly. “But where is he?” Huang Zhen asked before Xie Wendong could. He was much more anxious than Xie Wendong—both for professional reasons and personal ones. Failing to complete the task assigned by the central government wasn’t something to take lightly. Moreover, he was truly worried about Peng Shulin’s safety.

As Peng Shulin disappeared, the soldiers surrounding him all gathered around, staring at him with wide eyes, looking as if they wanted to devour him. The young nurse had never seen such a scene before and said in a trembling voice, “I don’t know!”
“Did someone come and take Old Peng away?” The nurse shook her head. “Then have you seen any strangers around?” She shook her head again. Not knowing anything, Huang Zhen grew furious and growled, “Bring your chief doctor here, now!” The nurse felt relieved and ran off, disappearing at the end of the corridor in an instant. Soon after, she came out with a middle-aged man in a white coat. He seemed calm, walking slowly. He glanced at Xie Wendong first, then turned to Huang Zhen and asked, “Is there a problem?”
“Nonsense!” Huang Zhen stepped forward, bringing his face close to the doctor’s, and said sternly, “Director Peng disappeared from your hospital for no reason. Do you think that’s not a problem?”
The middle-aged doctor looked surprised and glanced at the intensive care unit, which was empty. He shrugged helplessly and said, “I’m sorry. We doctors are only responsible for the patients’ health. As for supervision, that’s the police’s job.” Huang Zhen gritted his teeth and asked, “What about the police here?” The doctor replied, “It seems they’ve all gone to eat.” “Bang!” Huang Zhen punched the wall beside him and rushed the soldiers downstairs, shouting loudly in the corridor, “They’re neglecting their duties…”
“Tch!” Xie Wendong sneered and muttered, “Military people really have short tempers!” He smiled slightly at the doctor, patted his shoulder, and turned to head downstairs. By the time he left the hospital, Huang Zhen had already gotten everyone into a car. He poked his head out of the window and said, “Mr. Xie, things are urgent. I have to leave first.” Xie Wendong asked, “What’s Colonel Huang doing…”
Huang Zhen’s gaze turned cold as he stared at Xie Wendong, trying to figure out if he was behind this. Though he had seen many people, he couldn’t read Xie Wendong’s expression. Finally, he sighed helplessly and said, “Even if I have to turn over City H upside down, I’ll find Old Peng. It’s best for the person who took him not to be found by me, otherwise… hmph…”
Xie Wendong sneered, waved his hand, and said, “Wish you success. I won’t see you off!” Huang Zhen pulled his head back, and several military vehicles slowly drove away. After they left, Xie Wendong got into a car as well and said to Jiang Sen, “Go to the hospital. Our own hospital.” Jiang Sen nodded. Xie Wendong murmured, “It seems we don’t have enough time.” Ren Changfeng asked, “What time?” Xie Wendong sighed, “To get passports!” Not far after they set off, Jiang Sen’s expression tightened, and he said, “Brother Dong, it seems there’s a car following us.”

Xie Wendong narrowed his eyes and said, “Take the side road!” The sedan slowly slowed down and turned onto a dirt road over two meters wide. Seizing the opportunity, Xie Wendong glanced back. Sure enough, a black sedan was following them from afar. While checking the rearview mirror, he took out his phone and called Zhang Yanjiang. As soon as the call connected, he said directly, “Yanjiang, help me check a license plate number…” After a while, he hung up and said coldly, “It’s a car from the Security Bureau.” Jiang Sen asked in confusion, “We don’t seem to have any dealings with them.” “Obviously,” Xie Wendong sneered, “they were ‘invited’ by Huang Zhen!” “Damn it! That damned guy!” Jiang Sen slammed the steering wheel in anger. “Things are getting tricky now.” In the Northeast, the Security Bureau was considered a relatively relaxed department, especially in Province H, where there were few spies and even fewer saboteurs, so they usually had nothing much to do. In their compound, several luxury cars could often be seen parked while the people inside played mahjong. Although the people from the Security Bureau were idle, that didn’t mean they were easy targets. As an anti-spying agency, they naturally had their own strength. Tracking was probably their forte. Knowing it wouldn’t be easy to shake them off, Xie Wendong smiled slightly, leaned back in his seat, and murmured, “I haven’t dealt with the Security Bureau often. Since we’ve run into them, let’s just accompany them on a little tour.” “Yeah!” Jiang Sen was smart enough to understand right away. “Brother Dong, I get it.” Xie Wendong pondered for a moment, shook his head, and said, “Lao Sen, drive around in circles outside the city.” “What’s wrong, Brother Dong?” Jiang Sen asked in confusion. Xie Wendong smiled and said, “Do as I say.” Not understanding what he was thinking, Jiang Sen still followed his instructions. Inside the city, they avoided shortcuts and chose longer routes, bypassing main roads for side paths. After several rounds, even he himself was almost lost, let alone Ren Changfeng. There were countless winding roads and intersections in City H, and since he wasn’t familiar with the area, he had long lost his sense of direction and could only sit there helplessly. Xie Wendong wasn’t idle in the car either; he kept making calls. First, he called Sanyan and said, “Brother Zhang, there’s no need to apply for a passport anymore.” Confused, Sanyan asked, “Why?” Xie Wendong replied, “The military is involved now. Even if we could get a passport, getting on a plane would be a problem.” “Oh? Then what should we do?” Xie Wendong remained calm. “Contact Hei Dai!” There was a half-minute of silence on the other end of the line. After a long while, Sanyan suddenly understood. “I get it.”

Xie Wendong made several more calls in a row. Finally, he thought of Peng Ling. Things had reached such a point that there was no need to hide anything anymore, and once Peng Shulin went missing, the authorities would naturally investigate Peng Ling, and by then he wouldn’t be able to control her either. With that thought, he sighed and ordered, “Lao Sen, speed up!”
The sedan immediately accelerated, racing through the alleys and quickly leaving the cars following them far behind. After turning a corner, the sedan suddenly braked hard and came to a stop. The people in the following car thought Xie Wendong was trying to escape, so they pursued at high speed. When they reached the corner, they saw the sedan had stopped. Thanks to the driver’s quick reaction, who braked while steering the car to the side, they narrowly avoided a collision, with the tires leaving two black marks over three meters long on the road. The car in front seemed to intend to scare them, making the people in the following car break into cold sweats. Then a hand holding a cigarette appeared from the car, waved back and forth, before the car started moving slowly again. “Damn it!” The car was filled with curses, but they couldn’t do anything about it. As the two cars drove away and disappeared at the end of the alley, someone leaped over a low wall nearby—clad in black, with narrow eyes narrowed into slits, he smiled coldly and strode in the opposite direction.
The sedan continued toward the suburbs. Once on the main road, more and more cars appeared on both sides. At first, the people from the Security Bureau didn’t notice anything unusual, but gradually they realized something was off. The road ahead was filled with black sedans, indistinguishable from Xie Wendong’s car. A black Audi pulled up beside them, its window slowly lowering. A chubby-faced man with large ears poked his head out; the wind blew his facial fat flapping around. This man was Li Shuang. He stuck his head out and grinned foolishly, but quickly closed his mouth again—the wind was too strong, and he had taken in a mouthful of cold air when he smiled. Muttering an insult, he climbed back into the car and shouted a few times.
Though the north wind was strong and howling loudly, it couldn’t overpower Li Shuang’s voice. The people from the Security Bureau exchanged glances and helplessly rolled down their windows, nodding at Li Shuang. They weren’t close to Li Shuang, nor did Wen Dong have much contact with the Security Bureau, but living in the same city meant they saw each other often. They usually treated each other politely, just as acquaintances. The sedan kept its speed, racing along the road. Li Shuang shouted loudly, “Guys, where are you heading?”

“Oh! It’s fine. I was just bored, so I went out for a walk,” replied a young man in his thirties with short, flat hair inside the car, smiling broadly. He reacted quickly; as soon as he finished speaking, he immediately asked, “Brother, what about you?” Li Shuang waved his hand and said with a grim face, “I was having a great meal when my boss called…” He paused before adding, “Never mind. It’s useless telling you guys. Gents, I’m in a hurry. I’m leaving first.” With that, he tried to roll down the window. The young man glanced around left and right before urgently asking, “It seems like you have quite a few people with you!” “Mm!” Li Shuang nodded absentmindedly and muttered, “Almost everyone has come out.”

The Audi sped past the cars of the Security Bureau. The people inside were greatly alarmed by Li Shuang’s words. One of them said, “Xie Wendong has brought so many subordinates. What does he plan to do?” “It could lead to big trouble!” another sighed. “It seems highly likely that Director Peng has indeed been taken away by him.” The young man waved his hand to stop them and said, “Don’t worry about the rest. We just need to do what’s ours to do. The military will handle the rest.” Saying this, he took out his phone and called Huang Zhen.

Huang Zhen was puzzled by the young man’s description. With Xie Wendong’s intelligence, even if he were behind this, he wouldn’t make such a fuss unless he completely dismissed the military. Then he remembered what Xie Wendong had said at the hospital entrance: “I don’t know if it’s your stupidity or the Central Committee’s idiocy.” In broad daylight, the only one who would dare say such things in front of him was probably Xie Wendong. If he didn’t care about the Central Committee, let alone someone like him, the head of a division, one could imagine how arrogant he must be. He nodded and murmured, “Young man, having everything go smoothly too much has made you a bit arrogant!” He hung up the phone and said to his assistant, “Order the troops to head to the suburbs. Oh, and bring in more reinforcements.”

Along the way, the military vehicles moved in a grand procession toward the suburbs. From time to time, cars from other military regions arrived—almost certainly there as well. He ordered the troops to speed up and move forward at full force. Just as they entered the area around Erlong Mountain, a sedan came head-on. Huang Zhen, sitting in the jeep at the front of the troops, looked closely and saw it was a car from the Security Bureau. He ordered the driver to pull over. At that moment, the young leader from the Security Bureau rushed over and said respectfully, “Commander, their cars have all entered the Erlong Mountain Hotel area. I’ve assigned someone to keep an eye on them nearby. There shouldn’t be any problems.”

Huang Zhen nodded in satisfaction, patted the young man’s shoulder, and said, “You may take your people away. I’ll handle the rest. You’ve really worked hard this time.” “What are you saying, sir?!” The young man saluted, turned, went to the car, and drove off. Huang Zhen, being impatient, saw that the convoy was moving too slowly, so he urged the driver to head ahead with a few lighter vehicles toward the tourist area. The place wasn’t very large, but there were quite a few hotels and inns, with shops lining both sides of the road. However, since the peak tourist season had passed, there were hardly any visitors, and most of the hotels and inns were closed with their doors and windows shut. A few were exceptions, though—large and small cars were parked in front of their entrances one after another, and the noise was deafening, instantly dispelling the place’s emptiness and desolation.