Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The incident was happening in the minefield in the forest nearest to Tonlé Sap Lake. Dali and several of his people had escorted Aqib there and, before that, they had kidnapped the children in the nearby village. Just as Feng Ling said, there were eight children, and one had already passed away.
When the explosion resounded, the seven small little children had watched in fright and confusion as their little friend was suddenly sent flying in the air from the force of the blow. His blood had splattered everywhere, and like a little burnt, black log, he had fallen back onto the ground.
He was their friend that had grown up with them, and several days ago they were all still giggling and playing together, but right now he was laying in the charred, flaming piece of land. His body was blackened, bleeding, and unmoving…
The police requested them to release the children and said that they were willing to negotiate conditions. However, Aqib’s only condition was for Mo Jingshen to personally show up for a discussion.
He called it a discussion, but clearly, it was because these seven children were not powerful enough as bargaining chips. The largest bargaining chip they were after was Mo Jingshen.
They would either use these seven children to exchange for Mo Jingshen or let these seven children accompany them to die in this minefield. After all, they had already hidden fuses in the surrounding areas. The moment the negotiations failed, no one would be able to escape. The entire minefield would explode successively, and the perimeter encompassing several miles from the Tonlé Sap Lake would be affected by the explosion.
When Ji Nuan and Feng Ling rushed to the area, the police officers brought by Office Entes and the members from the XI base had already cordoned off the area. The safe zone and the minefield were clearly separated.
Aqib, Dali, and their people were completely surrounded. However, because the lives of those seven children were still in their hands, they could not charge forward without careful consideration.
Seeing that she was someone Feng Ling had brought with her, Officer Entes did not approach to ask. Right now, he did not have the time to tend to anyone else. In fact, he was somewhat incensed as he shoved aside the subordinates by his side who were softly recommending methods to approach. He stared at those seven frightened children, racking his brains to come up with a solution.
Ji Nuan did not disturb the officers. She saw that their helicopters were parked at the back, but she could not find Mo Jingshen anywhere. She felt very uneasy and decided to approach the people from the XI base to see if she could obtain any information.
After asking for a long while, the answers she finally received was:
It was true that one child had already passed away. It was highly unlikely that they would be able to rescue the remaining seven. Nonetheless, they could not give up on saving these innocent children.
When the local police were informed of the news, they had claimed that they would immediately send support over. However, they had yet to see or hair of them. It was likely that they planned on assisting with cleanup after and had no intention of coming to sacrifice their lives.
The seven children were covered in blood. In the past few days, they were beaten continuously up and reprimanded. Those who had fainted from hunger were forcefully beaten awake. Right now, they were being pushed to stand by Aqib’s side. No matter what measures they took, the children would be put into harm’s way.
The child that had been caught in the explosion earlier was only six years old. He was noisy, raucous and in his attempt to escape, he had accidentally stepped into the minefield. During his escape, Aqib’s people were firing bullets at him, and at the moment he was shot, he was blown up by the landmine.
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Outside the cordoned area, it was difficult to gain a clear look at what was happening inside. She could not see Aqib’s people, but just from hearing alone, Ji Nuan had formed a distinct image in her mind; it was a ghastly scene.
On the other side, Mo Jingshen calmly eyed the people who were guarding the helicopter cabin doors. These people were Nan Heng’s subordinates, and they had already been guarding outside the doors for a long while, preventing him from personally showing up before Aqib.
The helicopter was surrounded by forest. From every direction, all that could be seen was the color green. The originally peaceful environment was now stained with charred marks. The murderous intent in the air was thick.
In the area thickly surrounded by police officers, Aqib and his people’s movements could be vaguely seen.
Due to the safety of the children, no one dared to charge in.
“Nan Heng.” Mo Jingshen eyed Nan Heng who had just returned. “Ask your people to withdraw.”
Before Nan Heng could speak, at this moment, the police officers surrounding the area suddenly shifted backward. They enlarged the perimeter with urgent and frantic movements.
The reason was that one of the children had suddenly charged away. He ran alone, and the other children were flustered and wanted to follow. Their cries were pitiful and frightening. Aqib’s subordinates raised their guns and fired several blanks in the air. The sound frightened the children into falling onto the ground unmoving. The situation was extremely chaotic.
The immediately dragged the children back, cruelly pressing the gun muzzles against their heads.
The children were crying.
The police kept shouting, making attempts to comfort those children and ease Aqib’s and his subordinate’s frustration and anger.
Aqib’s people loudly demanded the children to kneel down and stopped moving. The children were frightened and trembling as they did so, folding their bodies to take up as little space as possible. They were covered in dirt and bloodstains.
The people around Officer Entes were still speaking to him. He looked at the fright and despair in the children’s eyes and indicated for the people to widen their perimeter further. They backed up step by step.
The helicopter Mo Jingshen was in was not too far away from them. The doors were strictly guarded by Nan Heng’s people. Just as those people raised their guns and were about to smash them against the children’s head, Mo Jingshen stepped out of the cabin door without even pausing to think.
He did not know that Ji Nuan was standing slightly behind the helicopter and that she had already seen the scene of him stepping out of the helicopter.
As Aqib impatiently fired the gun toward one of the children’s legs, Ji Nuan watched as Mo Jingshen abruptly shoved aside the people blocking in front of him.
She could only hear the sound of a bullet being fired. The position she stood in was heavily obscured and safe, and she could only catch Mo Jingshen’s silhouette in-between moments. However, one glance alone was sufficient for her to notice that the back of his white t-shirt was already stained with blood.
He must have used too much force when he pushed those people away earlier. The wounds on his back could not be aggravated and must have opened up again.
Even though they had just been tended to by the base doctors, the wounds had surely turned serious again…
Officer Entes was currently holding onto a walkie-talkie to speak with Nan Heng’s people. The people from XI base were also able to receive their messages to make quick decisions.
Ji Nuan could not approach, but just by listening, she understood most of what had happened.
One of the child’s legs had been shot, and the ground was covered in blood. All of the children were frightened, and they did not dare even to cry. They were silently sitting there in fright as they watched the blood drip from their friend’s leg.
Furthermore, the fuse Aqib had buried that could ignite the entire minefield was most likely right under his feet. If they were not allowed to escape, or if Mo Jingshen refused to negotiate with them face to face, he would immediately ignite the fuse and bring all of the people here down with him.
XI base members’ final decision was to use the fastest speed to find the underground fuse wires. Otherwise, even if they managed to stall Aqib temporarily, the danger in this place would remain.
