Huo Shaoheng slowly finished his last mouthful of red vegetable soup. He put down his knife and fork before wiping his mouth with a napkin.
“Have a seat, do you guys want to eat something?”
Huo Shaoheng looked up at Vladimir and the middle-aged driver, Ivan. They were standing beside the table that he and Peter were sitting at.
The two of them had just arrived at the Tunguska resort by plane.
Vladimir was expressionless and he did not move.
The chauffeur, however, sat down next to Huo Shaoheng and asked him with widened eyes, “… Where’s Cereus?! Didn’t you say that you and Cereus were on a private road trip together?! How dare you lie to me?!”
As he spoke, he punched Huo Shaoheng in the back.
Huo Shaoheng did not dodge. He merely grunted and straightened his back to take the blow.
The middle-aged driver realized that Huo Shaoheng had not even tried to dodge. He felt a little embarrassed instead.
Huo Shaoheng’s back was as hard as steel and his fist was hurting from the punch…
The middle-aged driver shook his head and whimpered, “Why didn’t you dodge? Are you going to apologize? I’m not someone who forgives easily!”
Huo Shaoheng pursed his lips and looked up at Vladimir, who was staring at him coldly. “Are you willing to listen to my explanation?”
Vladimir’s face darkened as he glared at Huo Shaoheng. “You better have a good reason, or else, hmph!”
He didn’t elaborate on what would happen, but it was obvious that his expression was rather unsightly.
Huo Shaoheng stood up. “Come with me.”
He led them to the sinkhole.
Standing at the intersection, he stared at the sinkhole that had already expanded by almost a third. Its bottom had been compacted by mud and trees, and there was no longer any abyss or secret passage.
Huo Shaoheng took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and took one out. He handed it to Vladimir. “Do you want one?”
Vladimir shook his head and took out his own cigar. “I’ll smoke this.”
Huo Shaoheng nodded and asked Peter as well as the middle-aged driver.
Peter took it, but he didn’t smoke. Instead, he simply fidgeted with it.
The middle-aged driver didn’t hesitate to take it and put it in his mouth. He shifted to Huo Shaoheng’s side and lit the cigarette. He took a deep puff.
Huo Shaoheng’s cigarettes were brandless and they couldn’t be bought on the market. His cigarettes originated from a special brand and they were of utmost quality. It was a standard-sized cigarette that was famous for its ‘clear, sweet, and fragrant scent.
Huo Shaoheng lowered his head and took a puff. “I came here to chase after that car because the person in the car kidnapped Cereus.”
“What?!” the driver was the first to jump up. “What did you say?! Cereus was kidnapped?! Who did It?! Was it those bastards from other countries?!”
Vladimir seemed to acknowledge this. His expression was less tense, but he could no longer hold back. “Are you serious? Cereus… was kidnapped?”
Huo Shaoheng calmly recounted what had happened in Gu Nianzhi’s apartment. He then explained, “Four identical SUVs came out of Third Ring Road and headed in four directions. We found three cars, and the fourth car was the one parked here.”
He pointed in the direction of the sinkhole.
Peter also added on to what had happened earlier. He had also recorded a video, indicating that everything Huo Shaoheng had said was true.
Vladimir looked at the video in shock.
They hadn’t set up this trap, but who had made such a large-scale trap?
It seemed logical that the Committee of State Security (KGB) had been involved as well, right?!
He immediately said, “Major General Huo, you have to believe us. We share such a good relationship with Cereus. We’re definitely not the kind of lowlifes who would go after someone’s family just because they have a grudge over their work!”
As employees of the intelligence industry, they feared that their families would be the targets of revenge attacks the most.
Therefore, to Vladimir and the driver, Gu Nianzhi had been kidnapped because of Huo Shaoheng. They assumed that she had definitely been implicated.
Huo Shaoheng’s enemy must have been the one who kidnapped her and threatened Huo Shaoheng.
This kind of behavior was a huge taboo in a regular intelligence agency.
Everyone had a family. Who would want to encounter such a situation?
Only lowly terrorists who had no bottom line would kidnap someone else’s family to threaten others.
Peter laughed at the side and said slowly, “Who was so capable as to kidnap someone under Major General Huo?”
The middle-aged driver was so angry that he explained, “… I want to see which piece of sh*t is so unafraid of death that he dares to touch my family!”
Gu Nianzhi had already become his ‘family’ in his heart.
Peter couldn’t help but glance at him while reminding him, “… Cereus is not Russian.”
What did that mean? What did it have to do with them?
The middle-aged driver spat at him, “Peter, how can you be so cruel? You don’t deserve a girlfriend!”
Peter: “???”
He had only made a reasonable statement. Who had his future girlfriend offended?
Vladimir looked at Huo Shaoheng’s solemn expression and patted him on the shoulder. “Speak. If there’s anything you need our help with, we won’t be stingy.”
He pointed at Peter. “Here, Peter is the best at tracking. If you tell him about it, he might be able to surprise you.”
Huo Shaoheng did not expect anyone else to help him. He had only told them about what had happened in hope that they would not cause him any trouble.
Furthermore, he could not tell them the real reason why Gu Nianzhi had been kidnapped.
After a moment of silence, he said, “I know what to do. I appreciate your kindness. I had to come this time. This was the last car. I hope you can understand.”
No matter what reason he had, he had indeed lied to the middle-aged driver.
However, the middle-aged driver did not care at all. He quickly said, “You’re doing this for Cereus. I understand. Don’t apologize. When Cereus comes back, remember to ask her to tell us that she’s safe.”
When he said this, he looked at Huo Shaoheng, pity could almost be seen in his eyes.
Even Vladimir, who was the pickiest of them all, did not say a word. He did not say anything about pursuing Huo Shaoheng’s faults.
The three of them glanced at each other. They all felt that Gu Nianzhi was doomed.
This kind of thing was not uncommon.
It was usually for revenge. If you killed my people, I would kill your family to vent my anger.
If Gu Nianzhi had really been kidnapped by Huo Shaoheng’s international enemies, then she probably would not be able to come back.
Huo Shaoheng knew that they had misunderstood, but he did not explain any further because there was no way to explain this matter. The more he said, the more trouble Gu Nianzhi would be in.
Huo Shaoheng did not want the Committee of State Security (KGB) to join the ranks of those who coveted Gu Nianzhi’s special constitution.
He turned the car keys and said, “That’s how it is. I have to go back. There are no clues here, and I have other leads to follow.”
“Okay then. We will also keep an eye on things for you. Once we have news of Cereus, we will definitely let you know.” Vladimir shook his hand and said goodbye.
Huo Shaoheng pursed his lips and said softly, “I hope you can keep this a secret and not let anyone else know about it.”
The middle-aged driver was puzzled. “Why? We can help you find the person only when everyone knows, right?”
“I don’t want Nianzhi to become the center of the news.” Huo Shaoheng said implicitly, “Can you understand how I feel?”
“Alright.” the middle-aged driver realized that Huo Shaoheng had not given up on pursuing the matter and sympathized with him. “Don’t worry, we won’t tell anyone.”
The Committee of State Security (KGB) was best at keeping secrets anyway, so it wasn’t difficult to do this.
As he watched Huo Shaoheng get into the car and drive away, the driver asked in confusion, “… does he think Cereus is still alive?”
Vladimir felt the same way about Huo Shaoheng, and said faintly, “As long as he doesn’t see the body, he’ll assume that she’s still alive, somewhere out there in the world.”
…
Huo Shaoheng’s expression was solemn as he drove back to the airport quickly. After completing some simple procedures, he quickly boarded his private plane.
Russia’s Siberian International Airport was neither too big nor too small, but there were still quite a number of planes taking off and landing every day.
They waited at the airport for a while before the airport’s air traffic control indicated that they could take off. The private plane immediately whistled into the sky and flew towards the capital.
Sitting on the plane, he caressed his phone and opened the text messages that Gu Nianzhi had sent him in the past. He felt very upset.
More than 30 hours had passed, but there was still no news of Gu Nianzhi.
Where was his breakthrough?
Who else knew about Gu Nianzhi’s special constitution?
Huo Shaoheng’s heart skipped a beat as he thought of He Zhichu.
He should have been aware, right?
Even though Huo Shaoheng wasn’t sure, he only suspected this because they had never discussed this topic openly.
Naturally, Huo Shaoheng didn’t want to take the initiative to mention it. He understood that the fewer people who knew about Gu Nianzhi’s special constitution, the better.
Right now, only Chen Lie knew about it on his side. Yet, he still had problems with him from time to time.
He Zhichu had never talked to him about it.
They had always been in a state of tacit understanding.
But would He Zhichu do something like this?
