“Shen, 20 years have passed in the blink of an eye. Shortly after Dragon Teeth’s accident, you were transferred from Dragon Soul because of your injury. Only I was left, struggling to support everything. I don’t want to admit it, but I have to say that Dragon Soul now is in a period of temporary shortage. Other special forces have seized the chance and are rising sharply. Our Dragon Soul aren’t even the best in the domestic competition, the glory that we had cast no longer exists. Every time I think about our painstaking efforts being ruined overnight, my heart feels pained as if wrung by a knife. My girl Nuo Nuo has filial piety, but is stubborn. After her brother went missing, she was determined to join Dragon Soul but I firmly opposed it. So she ran away from home in anger and came to join some special police force in Ning Hai.”
In the conference room, Mr. Xiao’s face was livid and eyes were red, and he said forlornly, “Shen, before you came to execute this task in Ninghai, I had specifically exhorted you to not involve Nuo Nuo, but now? I only have one son and one daughter. My son disappeared while performing his duties. Now my daughter is missing. Do you want me to die without a child?”
Shen Moru buried his head in silence and kept smoking. He really wanted to explain to his old comrade that he had strictly prohibited the special police team in Ninghai from participating in the operation from the beginning to the end.
Although Xiao Nuo took presumptuous actions on her own, her disappearance was a fact. In the face of his old comrade’s query, he was unable to find an answer. After a long silence, he stubbed the cigarette in his hand severely. He raised his head and said firmly,
“Either way, Nuo Nuo is like my own daughter. Although her disappearance is not what I wanted, I have an unshirkable responsibility. Mr. Xiao, do not worry. I will find Nuo Nuo for you by any means possible.”
Mr. Xiao was slightly moved and his face relaxed. He took a cigarette from the case, lit it and handed it to Shen Moru. Then he lit one for himself, deeply inhaled, and exhaled the curling up smoke.
“Shen, I lost my temper just now, don’t blame me. We have been brothers for so many years, I know what kind of man you are.”
“My brother, what are you talking about, I should be blamed for my negligence. With her temper, I should have known beforehand that Nuo Nuo would take action on her own. I should have sent someone to supervise her but there were too many odd things in this case which took up too much of my attention, thus I didn’t take notice.”
Shen Moru smiled bitterly and patted the shoulders of Mr. Xiao to give him comfort, “The members of the vampire mercenary group have been taken down. People in the special police team reported to me that Nuo Nuo went to follow that mysterious Bone Demon. There is no sign that Bone Demon has caused harm to the people of this country. Even if Nuo Nuo is missing, it won’t be too dangerous. Don’t worry, before you came, I’ve already sent everyone around to find her. I believe we will hear from them soon.”
“I hope so!” Mr. Xiao sucked on his cigarette, and in the cloud of smoke, he asked with a deep gaze, “Tell me, what is the origin of that Bone Demon? I was wondering, a few small mercenaries weren’t worth your personal interference in the matter, were they?”
Shen Moru drew deeply on his cigarette and his expression became extremely dignified, “Mr. Xiao, by right, this involves military secrets, and I should not tell you this. However, we have been old brothers for so many years and this is very likely to be connected with Chu Nan’s disappearance, so I can only tell you the general situation. As far as we know, Bone demon is very likely a field officer of our country. He disappeared even earlier than Chu Nan. I just happened to deal with the event of mercenaries attacking the detention center. My real target is in fact Bone Demon.”
“What?” Mr. Xiao’s whole body shook, and the ash on the cigarette fell on the ground. His eyes were flashing a terrifying light, and he asked with a trembling voice, “Did you say that the Bone Demon is related to the disappearance of Chu Nan?”
Shen Moru nodded and patted Mr. Xiao’s shoulder, who could not accept it calmly, “Don’t be so excited, listen to me, I was transferred from Dragon Soul to a very special department. You know, there are secrecy rules so I can’t tell you what the department is. But, I am currently focused on the disappearance event of our country’s special forces officers and soldiers.”
Mr. Xiao nodded understandably. If it weren’t for the fact that Shen Moru was from Dragon Soul, he would not tell him his identity. But these were of no importance. All that mattered was that after three years, he finally found some clues about his missing son’s whereabouts. He eagerly asked, “What is the connection between this Bone Demon and the disappearance of Chu Nan?”
“We have been tracking Bone Demon for several years. According to various sources, Bone Demon may be Ling Fei, the best field officer of our country 20 years ago. Ling Fei, who had achieved countless military exploits in those years. He recovered a large number of military secrets stolen by hostile countries. However, his identity was exposed in the end and he was on the kill list of many countries. The organization arranged for him to return to the country to stay away from trouble. During this period, he fell in love with a girl in Ninghai. Therefore, he submitted his resignation report to the organization saying that he was tired. He got married to that girl and had a child.”
Shen Moru sighed, “Unexpectedly, the superior who was responsible for him at that time was unwilling to let him go. He asked him to go to Myan to perform his last mission. He promised to approve his resignation after the mission and would give him a large sum of money which would be enough for him to live comfortably for the rest of his life. However, the result of this mission was that Comrade Ling Fei never came back, and no one has seen him nor his corpse.”
Mr. Xiao frowned, “Who was his superior? How could he treat a comrade, who made such great contributions to the country, in that way?”
“I can’t say it, but he has been listed as our key investigation target because it’s still unknown whether he was purely cherishing his talents or he had designed this conspiracy. After all those years, everyone thinks that Comrade Ling Fei was assassinated by someone from hostile countries. It was not until three years ago that Bone Demon appeared in Ninghai City. Because he only took action at midnight and wore a hat and a mask all the time, our staff did not know who he was, but only observed him out of suspicion. Compared to 20 years ago, his figure has changed a lot, so our comrades can’t distinguish his identity. Plus his anti-reconnaissance awareness is strong enough that he has manged to get rid of them every time. So there is still no progress.”
Shen Moru said with discretion.
“So why do you suspect that he is Ling Fei, and what is his connection with the disappearance of Chu Nan?”
Mr. Xiao eagerly asked. This was news related to his son, so his mood was complicated and indescribable.
Shen Moru looked at him deeply and explained, “Because we had been on to Bone Demon for more than three years, we found his pattern. He either doesn’t appear, or appears at midnight. Each time he would stay for hours outside the window of the house which belongs to Comrade Ling Fei’s wife but doesn’t go in. We once suspected that he wanted to hurt Comrade Ling Fei’s widow, but it turned out that he seemed to be just commemorating something and didn’t intend to harm Comrade Ling Fei’s widow. That’s the reason why we suspect that he may be the missing comrade Ling Fei.”
Shen Moru took a breath from the cigarette, exhaled some smoke and continued, “For more than three years, we’ve never found out if he had a conversation with anyone. However, half a year ago, we suddenly found out that he actually covered himself up tightly, appeared in a café in the evening and talked to a person for a long time.”
Mr. Xiao’s heart jolted, his face changed slightly, he subconsciously held his breath and listened with full concentration. He realized that the person Shen Moru was talking about was likely to be his missing son.
As expected, Shen Moru’s expression was complex, he said, “Our staff dressed up as a waiter in the café to send them coffee. The staff took a picture of them during their meeting with a miniature camera. But unfortunately their awareness were very high, and they kept silent when there were outsiders present. They even drove our staff out, so he didn’t even get a chance to install a bug.”
Mr. Xiao trembled and snubbed out the cigarette that was burned to the butt. He took and lit another, and puffed on it brutally. With bloodshot eyes, he said, “Was that person Chu Nan?”
“Yes, this is the photo taken by our staff. I remember that there was a red birthmark the size of a rice grain on the right ear of Chu Nan, which is the same as the one on the person who met with Bone Demon. Although it is only a photo of the side profile, I am basically sure that that person is Chu Nan.”
Shen Moru sighed. He stood up, took a photo out from the folder on the table and handed it to Mr. Xiao.
Mr. Xiao’s hand shook wildly and he took the photo with trembling hands. Looking at the familiar side profile on the photo, he took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. With an ice-cold voice now, he said,
“Yes, it is indeed Xiao Chu Nan. But if he really betrayed our country, I will not protect him, just as I, Xiao Baiyu, have never had a traitor as my son, my son died three years ago.”
“Mr. Xiao, don’t agitate yourself, look on the bright side. Bone Demon has not done anything bad to our country so far. Chu Nan may have some secrets that he can’t reveal.”
Shen Moru comforted him with mild and soft words.
Xiao Baiyu turned his head away in tears. His whole person seemed to be a few decades older and his straight body stooped. After a long time, he stood up silently and walked out.
When he walked to the door, he put his hand on the door handle, turned back and said calmly,
“Mr. Shen, do your investigation carefully. As per regulations, I will not participate in this matter. If that traitor really has done something wrong to the country, don’t be concerned about my dignity, deal with him as he should be, just take it as if I never had this son.”
Shen Moru looked at the desolate back of Xiao Baiyu, and his heart was filled with sadness. Xiao Baiyu was known for his strategies. However, Dragon Horn, who had awed major international forces, could not break the fetters of human relations.
His only son was probably a traitor. It was too cruel for him, who had guarded his country for his whole life. He understood and felt his pain.
Xiao Baiyu’s body paused. He said nothing but just nodded heavily. He pushed the door open and walked out.
Xiao Baiyu’s body paused. He said nothing but just nodded heavily. He pushed the door open and walked out.
Seeing the door closed again, Shen Moru’s nose twitched. He raised his head, took a deep breath and wiped the tears in the corners of his eyes. With steely determination he whispered,
“Brother, even if it violates my ethics, and I have to use my privileges, I will save Chu Nan’s life. He is not only your son, but also my godson.”
Soldiers outside the conference room were listening to the young soldier telling them about the brilliant deeds of Dragon Soul. Seeing the door of the conference room open, they immediately stopped talking and quickly lined up neatly. Chin up, chest out, and waist straight, they saluted the great mountain-like man with their eyes.
These recruits who had just joined Dragon Soul heard from the captain how awesome Dragon Horn was, and how sturdy the combination of Dragon Scale and Dragon Teeth were.
The three teamed up and executed countless missions, and never failed. They walked through a rain of bullets and passed through battlefields of fire and blood. They casted the glory of Dragon Soul and got illustrious achievements in batte. Those classic battles made their blood burn and ignited their fighting spirit.
