Xia Lei had never been a cruel man but he was definitely an evil, cruel demon right now. Ramsbigg screamed, groaned and was in so much pain he wished for death but Xia Lei’s eyes were devoid of pity. He was merciless too, continuing to stab the reed into Ramsbigg’s flesh, again, again, driving it in, twisting it around. Every movement brought Ramsbigg tremendous pain.
“Speak. Tell me what I want to know and you’ll live.” Xia Lei worked on tearing down Ramsbigg’s psychological defences as he carried out his torture. “You should know, given your status, that you definitely won’t be judged in China. You’ll be sent back to America, to become a hero.”
“Stop…” Ramsbigg’s nerves were shot and his vision getting blurry.
“I can help you stop the bleeding. Just tell me what I want to know,” said Xia Lei.
“Gu Kewen…” Ramsbigg crumbled at last. “Gu Kewen, she… She’s one of ours.”
“Eh?” Xia Lei was stunned.
He’d guessed that Gu Kewen was involved in this kidnapping of Shentu Tianyin because she wanted revenge on him, but he had not expected that she would be working for the CIA!
“Her father’s whereabouts unknown, her brother imprisoned… We knew about this and had our sights on her. We took her captive once in Haizhu, from Distinguished Gathering.” Ramsbigg went on, “W, We worked on changing her ideology, and trained her. Then she returned to China and became Shentu Tianyin’s close aide to gain her trust.”
“Her aim in becoming Shentu Tianyin’s assistant was to get close to me?” Xia Lei abruptly put two and two together.
“Yes. She is a very clever woman. She knew that you liked Shentu Tianyin. She’s been working on matching you up with Shentu Tianyin to gain the trust of Shentu Tianyin and yourself while preparing for this mission.”
Gu Kewen! This woman’s schemes ran deep!
“And Ahn Suhyeong?” asked Xia Lei, “What role did he play in this mission?”
“H, He set the trap to get Shentu Tianyin to negotiate with him. Gu Kewen acted as the internal contact. We sent two people ahead to ambush the negotiation location and injured Shentu Tianyin’s bodyguards, then abducted Shentu Tianyin…”
Xia Lei knew what happened next and did not need Ramsbigg to continue.
“What about Liang Siyao?” Xia Lei asked about her for some reason.
“Fuck! How many more questions do you have?!” Ramsbigg said angrily. He felt like he was being toyed with.
“Last question,” said Xia Lei.
“She failed her mission and was removed from this mission,” said Ramsbigg. “She was tasked with acquiring one of the XL2500 sniper rifles you produced and went to Venezuela recently. She should be in America now. I don’t know her whereabouts.”
Good thing Liang Siyao was not involved in this mission - Xia Lei did not know if he would shoot at her. Just thinking about shooting at her made his head hurt.
“I answered all your questions. Stop the bleeding, hurry!” urged Ramsbigg. His heartbeat was racing and he could not suppress it any longer.
“No problem. I’m a man of my word.” Xia Lei threw away the reed in his hand and said, “Dang, I don’t have any dressing. What do I do?”
“You…” Ramsbigg wanted to curse at this man before him but he pleaded instead, “Then call me an ambulance. Please, I beg you.”
Xia Lei laughed dryly. “You say you’re the director of CIA’s Asian division and that you’re an important man but you seem less hardy than your subordinate, Hank. You still hope to survive when things have come to this? Perhaps... you’re thinking of bringing all that you know back to America? You think I’ll let that happen?”
“AE. What has AE done to your body?”
“It won’t matter if I told you but I’m not interested in talking about it,” said Xia Lei softly. “Why should I satisfy your curiosity?”
“You’ll go to hell! I… curse you!” Ramsbigg’s voice had lost its strength.
“Enjoy your last moments.” Xia Lei turned his gaze to Hank.
Hank twitched a few times and his breathing stopped.
His death came faster than Xia Lei had expected.
‘Hank was a fairly robust agent, and much more sturdy than the average person. I’d estimated that he would last half an hour but only half this time had passed. Why’s he dead? Is it because of Princess Yongmei?’ thought Xia Lei.
Xia Lei looked at Princess Yongmei and was struck dumb. She was facing Hank’s corpse and smiling. Her smile was bright and gorgeous, and gave one the impression of flowers in bloom.
Was Hank’s early departure really linked to her?
She could kill people?
A chill went down Xia Lei’s spine at that thought, and fine beads of perspiration popped on his forehead.
“You want to know the s, secrets of AE? Save me… I’ll tell you…” Ramsbigg’s voice was already waning.
Xia Lei scoffed. “Based on your rank you probably only know of the existence of AE. You know its secrets? I don’t think so. I would have asked you earlier if I thought you knew.”
“You… Guh…” A strange sound came from Ramsbigg’s throat, and his heart and breathing stopped.
He had not given up hope of survival till the end. Too bad Xia Lei was unmoved.
It was going to be great trouble for him if any of the CIA agents lived. It was best for him if they all died. China would act as if nothing happened and America would deny the existence of this mission; America would not admit to the identities of these people.
As for Xia Lei, he had just killed a group of militant kidnappers. China would find no trouble with him, and America could do nothing to cause trouble for him.
Xia Lei moved away from the stench of blood and walked about 500 metres forward to a patch of grass. Shentu Tianyin lay quietly in this grass; she was peaceful. She was not aware of what had happened and felt no terror.
Xia Lei sat, pulled her into his embrace and plucked at the leaves and grass in her hair. The reeds had torn quite a bit at her clothes while he’d been running for their lives. There were several tears in her clothing and red wounds all over her skin. These wounds made Xia Lei’s heart ache.
True feelings were made known in times of danger.
Back in the dilapidated plant, Shentu Tianyin had insisted on him leaving even though she was surrounded by dozens of CIA agents, insisted on him leaving her, and offered 5,000,000,000 to buy his safety. She had used her fragile little body to try to protect him in the back of the Ford Raptor, to stop Ramsbigg from hitting him. She had done all that - how could he not be moved?
If he’d suspected that Shentu Tianyin had some ulterior motive in getting engaged with him, then this doubt in him was completely blown away now. Xia Lei’s heart filled with tenderness and adoration as he looked at Shentu Tianyin in his arms.
A mosquito landed on Shentu Tianyin’s scratched up, bleeding thigh and got into position to suck some blood. Xia Lei swung his palm down and flattened the bugger. Shentu Tianyin’s thigh rippled, and a flash of purple lace appeared under her tattered skirt; the shape below was peachy and alluring.
Xia Lei lifted a corner of his mouth in a wry smile and cursed himself for being a pervert. He carried Shentu Tianyin in his arms out of the grass, going around the reeds to the road. There were too many mosquitoes and insects in the grass and he could not bear to let them bite his woman.
Back at the road, Xia Lei placed Shentu Tianyin on the backseat of one of the off-road vehicles and got a first-aid kit from the boot. He cleaned Shentu Tianyin’s wounds with antiseptic; wounds on her cheeks, her arms, her chest and on her thighs.
He was hesitant at first about cleaning the wounds on the insides of her thighs and deeper in but he still lifted her skirt and cleaned them. Shentu Tianyin was already his fiancee, so she was going to bear his children sooner or later. What spot on her body could he not see or touch?
It was actually very easy for him to look at her body but he did not do so. He wanted her to keep those beautiful moments to herself and reveal them naturally to him, not peek at them with his ability.
Shentu Tianyin was still unconscious after he was done tending to her wounds. The effects of the anaesthetic had not worn off.
Xia Lei used the phone the CIA had left on Fu Mingmei to call Long Bing. “It’s me, Xia Lei.”
“What is it?” Long Bing was curt too.
“The CIA kidnapped Shentu Tianyin.”
“What?” There was a sound as if Long Bing had bolted up in bed.
“I’m their target,” continued Xia Lei.
“Where are you now? Don’t make any false moves.” Long Bing’s voice was anxious. “I’ll inform Boss Shi right now!”
“No need. They’re all dead.”
“This…” Long Bing was at a loss for words.
“There won’t be trouble, don’t worry,” said Xia Lei. “I’m in the eastern suburbs of Baoding right now, close to Shunfeng Chemical Plant. Don’t get the Baoding police to come over. Just you guys are enough.”
“One and a half hours. Don’t leave.” Long Bing hung up.
The only thing the Bureau 101 people could do when they got there was to take care of the corpses.
Xia Lei turned his gaze out the window and it turned icy. “Gu Kewen, Ahn Suhyeong, you two will pay for this!”
A noble face suddenly appeared outside the window to stare straight at Xia Lei.
Xia Lei was taken by surprise and he started. “Can you make a noise or something? Are you trying to scare me to death, appearing suddenly like a ghost? Are you a ghost?” said Xia Lei grumpily.
“I remember your face,” said Princess Yongmei earnestly.
Xia Lei was speechless.
“I’ve waited for you for so very long,” said Princess Yongmei again.
Xia Lei paid her no heed since it was the same no matter how many thousands of words he said to her; she could only say these two lines. Additionally, he was forced to consider a problem after tonight’s events - What was he to do if he let Princess Yongmei continue to have her freedom and she killed again by putting her hands in a person’s head?
Xia Lei couldn’t help glancing at Shentu Tianyin in his arms when the thought entered his mind, then looking at Princess Yongmei outside the window. He grew inexplicably nervous.
Who could stop Princess Yongmei if she decided to harm Shentu Tianyin?
It scared him the more he thought about it!