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墨書 Inktalez
The faint shouts around me still echoed, but they felt distant, as if they were far away in another world. At that moment, I was running while trying to move my hands, hoping to free them from the tightly wrapped tape. Although the tape was bound tightly, I could feel it gradually loosening as I struggled.
He Pingli was running swiftly through the forest without a backpack, and I could barely keep up with her pace. As we turned a corner, she suddenly accelerated, and I saw her figure about to vanish into the darkness of the night. If I lost sight of her now, finding her in this environment would be nearly impossible.
I pushed myself harder and quickened my steps, racing in the direction she had gone. However, when I turned the corner, He Pingli was nowhere to be seen. A surge of panic gripped me; something was wrong. He Pingli wasn't Liu Xiang—no matter how fast she ran, she couldn't disappear from my sight that quickly. If she wasn't fleeing, it meant she was waiting for me at the turn!
She might have noticed my pursuit while I was tailing her. He Pingli had a strong sense of counter-surveillance; it could be said that anyone in her organization who held a leadership position possessed such abilities. My tracking skills were nowhere near Dezi's level, so it was only natural for me to be discovered.
Realizing this made me unable to voice my thoughts; anxiety surged within me. In my haste, I misstepped and stumbled into a depression in the ground, falling hard onto the ground. Unable to use my hands, I landed awkwardly, but fortuitously, the tape around my mouth loosened slightly, giving me hope that I could push it off with my tongue.
At that moment, a dagger whizzed past my head—a stroke of luck indeed. Had I fallen just a moment later, He Pingli might have decapitated me. It became clear that she was serious about wanting me dead.
I quickly rolled over and clumsily tried to get back on my feet. Just as I turned around, He Pingli appeared right in front of me, sitting on my stomach with a long knife pressed against my throat. I dared not move an inch for fear that one wrong move would result in her slicing my throat open.
In the dim light of night, I could only vaguely make out He Pingli's face, but the scent emanating from her was unmistakable. If it weren't for the life-and-death situation we were in, this night might have been quite pleasant. Yet both of us understood that despite our ambiguous posture, our relationship remained adversarial—either I would die or she would.
He Pingli slowly pressed the knife closer to my neck, forcing me to tilt my head back as far as possible.
Her face almost touching mine, she spoke in a voice only we could hear: "I've heard you're not afraid of death, but now it seems you are not as fearless as rumored. My failure this time lies with your colleague's inadequate skills; within ten minutes, that person woke up. Otherwise, how could my plan have been disrupted?"
"I lost to you due to bad luck," I replied.
He Pingli continued to press the knife against my neck; I could feel it sinking into my flesh. If it went any deeper, blood would start to seep out. If she continued pressing down like this, I'd become a headless corpse—and from what I could see, He Pingli seemed willing to do just that.
The knife applied more pressure; there was no one around us. Even though her organization forbade killing me outright, without evidence they couldn't pin anything on her. Feeling my life slipping away, I suddenly pushed hard with my tongue and managed to pry off the tape from my mouth.
"Wait!"
I spoke as calmly as possible to avoid further provoking her blade: "Death can come in many forms; even someone like Fang Xiaoru who bravely advised against tyranny feared death when faced with an unjust end. But if he died for his country and its people, he would not fear it."
"While I don't dare compare myself to Fang Xiaoru, I'm not afraid of death when facing certain situations. Otherwise, why would I delve into investigating your organization?" I said slowly.
At that moment, I felt blood beginning to seep from my neck—a faint metallic scent filled the air as warmth trickled down. I wanted to look down but knew that doing so would bring me closer to the blade—essentially signing my own death warrant—so instead, I focused on relaxing.
He Pingli let out a cold laugh and reached out a hand to touch my neck before sucking on her blood-stained fingers. After doing this, she said to me: "I've heard that your kind's blood is sour..."
"Is my blood acidic then?" I asked.
"Acidic and foul!" He Pingli replied. "You're afraid of dying, yet you come up with so many excuses. Although the organization has strictly forbidden me from killing you, I can't help but want to end your life. Do you know how much effort we put into the Spring Return Nursing Home? But I thought, if I could capture you, it would balance out my losses. However, all those confidential documents are gone! Even if I bring you back, I won't be able to keep my position!"
It seemed that after losing the confidential files, He Pingli had decided to go all out and take us both down together. But there were still many things I had to accomplish: I hadn't found Captain Shi yet, hadn't taken down the entire organization, and hadn't married Juan Juan. How could I die here?
"Wait a moment," I quickly interrupted her. "Perhaps you're underestimating my value to your organization. If you can bring me back, not only can you keep your position, but you might even sit in the same seat as Zhao Mingkun. Look at where Zhao Mingkun was before her failure; the organization sent her to find me. You should see the importance in that."
At this point, He Pingli's knife stopped descending; she seemed to be considering my words. In terms of intelligence, she couldn't compare to Zhao Mingkun. If it were Zhao Mingkun here, she wouldn't waste time listening to my nonsense; she would have acted—either choosing to kill me or take me away.
I couldn't tell if it was the one-sided situation or her worries about the future that made He Pingli hesitate.
Just then, a voice suddenly rang out—soft yet familiar. It was like a gentle breeze brushing against my ear or the sound of flowing water. Both of us were drawn to that voice and turned to look, only to see a woman standing on a tree branch.
I recognized her immediately, but He Pingli seemed taken aback and quickly whispered, "Who is standing over there?"
The woman jumped down from the treetop silently and said, "It's only been a short while since I left; have you forgotten me already, Lily?"
"Sister, Queen?" He Pingli exclaimed as she quickly released the knife pressed against my neck. I felt an immediate sense of relief; finally, I didn't have to tilt my head back so forcefully.
A figure slowly approached from the shadows—slender and graceful. The silver light illuminated her exquisite face as her long hair cascaded down like a waterfall; she was truly stunning. She walked up to us and said, "The organization has repeatedly stated that his life must not be harmed. Lily, pretend you didn't see anything that happened here and let him go."
Then Zhao Mingkun crouched beside me and gently touched my neck, saying, "It's good to see you again, Officer Shao. I have so much to discuss with you, but now isn't the right time. We'll have another chance to talk."
I understood that Zhao Mingkun was checking on my injuries; feeling that they weren't too severe, she didn't dwell on my neck wound. I quietly asked, "What does your organization want? Not only do you have ties with the Italian Mafia, but you're also conducting these experiments—what exactly are you trying to achieve?"
Zhao Mingkun re-taped my mouth and replied calmly, "That's not for you to worry about. Why not join us? I can explain everything slowly."
With that said, Zhao Mingkun ignored me and along with He Pingli tied me to a tree.
He Pingli asked angrily, "Are we just going to let him go like this?"
Zhao Mingkun nodded and countered, "If we don't let him go, what else can we do? Take him with us? The area is crawling with police; carrying a live person will only make our escape more difficult. As long as we have our lives intact, we can figure things out later—taking him with us is too risky."
"Are we really just going to let it end like this?" He Pingli retorted furiously. "If it weren't for him, our Spring's Return project wouldn't have been exposed! And those confidential documents are scattered across the Mountain! Plus those fallen team members and doctors—we can't guarantee they won't say something detrimental about our organization."
Zhao Mingkun shook his head and said, "Our biggest opponent this time is not him. Do you think he came here by himself? There is a traitor among us, and what he knows is far more serious than what those lab coats know. If you want to redeem yourself, then kill that person. Do you understand?"
"A traitor among us?" He Pingli exclaimed in surprise. "Could it be that one…"
Zhao Mingkun made a shushing gesture and continued, "Don't mention anything about the organization in front of him. This person is best at piecing together fragments into a complete picture. His cleverness cost me dearly in Italy."
As he spoke, Zhao Mingkun walked over, leaned close to my ear, and slowly said, "Last time we faced off, I was careless. But don’t get too proud; sooner or later, I will face you again. Just don’t know if next time you will still come out on top."
I mumbled incessantly, and Zhao Mingkun shook his head, glanced around, and pulled down the tape over my mouth a bit more tightly, asking, "Do you have anything to say?"
I spat twice before finally saying, "I don't know if you've developed the habit of washing your feet since we parted in Italy, but your feet stink!"
Hearing my words, Zhao Mingkun raised his hand and slapped me on the head, then continued to wrap my mouth tightly with tape. I felt my breathing becoming difficult. He Pingli, not knowing what was happening, hurriedly asked, "What’s going on?"
Zhao Mingkun replied, "Nothing. Let's hurry up."
The high school student was kidnapped along with the leggy school beauty and the busty third-tier celebrity, trapped in an abandoned cabin after mistakenly eating unknown wild fruit, feeling feverish in the middle of the night.
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