Part 2
Leon was about to follow, but someone standing by the helicopter door in the distance shouted.
Leon looked back and made a waving motion, signaling them to leave first.
hurried footsteps echoed through the corridor. Leon followed behind Zhou Xie, his expression grave.
The two turned into the office door simultaneously, neither giving way, getting squeezed in the doorway together. Inside, Li Ao heard the commotion and ran over hugging his computer.
“Cousin, Wen Rong’s location is getting further and further away from the orphanage.”
Zhou Xie pushed forward with force, popping a button off his jacket. “Hiss—can you contact the bodyguards?”
“Currently unable to con—” The computer chimed with a message alert. Li Ao’s eyes lit up. “Wait, a bodyguard sent a message back.”
Li Ao hurriedly carried the laptop back to the desk and quickly opened the message.
On the military software, a string of numbers popped up.
“Cousin, come look.”
To prevent military communicators from being deciphered by ordinary people, only numbers were used for communication content. Even ordinary officers didn’t understand all the meanings, but Zhou Xie had handled affairs with President Zhou and happened to know this area.
“What does it say?” Leon asked.
“Under attack. Currently safe,” Zhou Xie said. “Leon, connect to your family’s satellite. I need to see their current situation.”
“Mn.”
Leon snatched the laptop from Li Ao’s hands, quickly logged into the internal network, and connected to the satellite monitoring system.
“Coordinates?”
Zhou Xie: “Give him the watch’s coordinates.”
Leon and Li Ao frantically exchanged control of the computer. After a few agonizing seconds, a map finally popped up on the screen, loading.
It was composed almost entirely of dark green and black mosaics. A few seconds later, a clearer image appeared—thick smoke billowing, a black car lying at the bottom of a hill, and a gray van parked on the mountain road.
“This isn’t the direction to the orphanage.” Zhou Xie’s expression froze. “Li Ao, look up that van.”
“Can’t find it. The Outer District is full of these eliminated scrap vans, and it doesn’t even have a license plate.”
“I felt something was wrong when suddenly so many voices were telling Wen Rong to go to the Outer District.”
As Leon spoke, he took out his phone to handle the matter of not going to the research base. Thinking of the tedious procedures, he frowned. “Zhou Xie, handle the process with the research base for me. I’m going to the Outer District now.”
“Wait, didn’t you already get on the helicopter to the research base?” Li Ao realized belatedly.
“Talk about that later.”
Leon was about to walk out of the office as he spoke. Zhou Xie subconsciously wanted to mock Leon for losing all reason due to nervousness over Wen Rong, but he couldn’t muster any teasing mood. He could only grab Leon in time and remind him, “Calm down. Shi Ye is by his side, and the bodyguard said they are currently safe. I’ll send people to find him.”
“No, they were attacked. Wen Rong will definitely use that watch.”
“Isn’t it better if he uses it? You modified it to keep him safe.”
“I…” Leon hesitated.
Zhou Xie tightened his grip. “Is there something you haven’t told me?”
“…”
“Leon, knowing you for so many years, I only just realized you’re still living in your childhood.”
Leon’s chest heaved, and he turned his face away. “The internal structure of the watch I gave Wen Rong references gun mechanics. If it hits an ordinary person, they will die.”
“So?”
“How will Wen Rong accept the fact that he killed someone!”
Zhou Xie understood. When Leon made that watch, his mind was full of keeping Wen Rong away from danger. Now that he knew Wen Rong might use it, his mind was filled with the fear that Wen Rong couldn’t handle the trauma of killing.
“You really are living in your childhood,” he concluded.
Would Wen Rong have psychological trauma?
No.
He didn’t dare speak for other things, but on the day of Wang Sichen’s accident, Wen Rong definitely harbored the intent to let him die.
It was just that Leon was completely absent from that event; he simply didn’t understand how clearly Wen Rong already grasped the rules of the game.
Wait—
Zhou Xie switched to grabbing Leon’s collar. “Do you genuinely think Wen Rong will have a mental breakdown over something like this?”
“Stop lying to yourself. You slept with Wen Rong, so you forgot how you were dead set on pushing him out initially? Didn’t you know clearly that reaching this position meant encountering danger? Now that he’s become a target of public criticism as you wished, your heart aches? You regret it?”
Leon twitched calmly. The mask hanging on his face cracked, revealing that obvious selfishness.
“Yes.”
Li Ao looked left and right, his brain throbbing with pain.
You two are actually arguing at a time like this? Oh, and it’s about sleeping or not sleeping with him. What is the point? Do I, a lowly person, have no status at all? Saying ‘slept with him’ so blatantly in front of me.
Cousin, you’re not normal either. Speaking dirty words to provoke anger is usually Leon’s job!
“Cousin, stop arguing. Wen Rong’s side…”
Li ‘Lowly Person’ Ao reminded them cowardly.
Leon regained his composure and swatted Zhou Xie’s hand away. “The relationship between having slept together and not having slept together is always different.”
That cracking feeling descended upon Zhou Xie.
Li Ao: “…”
Li Ao: What huge gossip!
The air was silent for two seconds. Zhou Xie clenched his fists and hissed through his teeth, “Go pack your things. I’ll contact the doctor and bodyguards. We leave in half an hour.”
Torrential rain dominated the late night. The ground was slippery, and the steps of the two people trudging through the darkness grew heavier and heavier.
After walking for an unknown amount of time, they could finally see each other’s faces by a faint light. One couldn’t help but voice out, “There’s a town ahead.”
It was the bodyguard.
Shi Ye didn’t answer him immediately. Instead, he tilted his head, his chin touching the arm hanging over his shoulder.
The rain carried wind. A single jacket couldn’t cover Wen Rong’s entire body; his slender forearms were stiff and freezing from the rain.
“Check Wen Rong’s condition for me.”
“It’s too dark, I can’t see clearly.”
“I can’t feel his breathing anymore.”
The bodyguard was startled and quickly reached out to touch Wen Rong’s neck.
Thump—
Thump—
Thump—
The bodyguard’s hand was injured and had been freezing in the rain. His fingertips were numb, making it hard to distinguish if it was his own heartbeat or Wen Rong’s.
Only when the heat from the neck melted the frost on his fingertips did he finally let out a sigh of relief. “Still has a heartbeat.”
Shi Ye glanced into the distance. “Speed up. His wound must be treated as soon as possible.”
Because there was hope, their steps were faster than before. After spending nearly half an hour approaching, when they finally saw the street hung with colorful neon lights and yellowing nude billboards, Shi Ye froze and looked at the bodyguard.
The bodyguard’s face was full of joy. “This Red Light District is very close to the orphanage. It’s only a half-hour drive away.”
“Why is there a Red Light District in the Outer District?”
However, Shi Ye couldn’t feel any joy that the destination was close at hand. The appearance of a Red Light District here completely shocked him.
The Federation prohibited prostitution and was extremely strict in this regard. Although the Outer District residents couldn’t enter the Inner District casually, it didn’t mean the Outer District was outside the Federation’s legal jurisdiction.
The bodyguard immediately understood Shi Ye’s meaning and explained, “This is a gray area. The Federation’s management of the Outer District is limited. There have long been some deep-rooted organizations here with their own ways of making money.”
“…”
“Wen Rong’s wound is very deep. The urgent task is to find a room to put him down and treat the wound first.”
“If the Red Light District is run by specific people, is there a connection between the people who came down the hill and the people in the Red Light District?”
As soon as the question was asked, the answer was obvious.
Shi Ye looked hesitantly into the distance. “We split up. I’ll take Wen Rong inside to find a place to stay. You continue on to the orphanage. There are police arranged by Zhou Xie there. Once you arrive, notify them immediately to come here and pick me and Wen Rong up.”
The bodyguard thought for a moment and nodded.
The two separated there. Shi Ye carried Wen Rong on his back, entering this scene of debauchery and neon lights from the shadows.
The street was open for business. The air was filled with the smell of rusty iron, and rain crackled against the faded nude posters.
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