Chapter 27: Pursuit and Kill (4)

  We didn't go to the safe house, after a series of events, the safe house was no longer safe.

  After Sun Heng returned to the headquarters of the 1008th Regiment, he was taken away for questioning by one of the regiment's staff officers. Fortunately, Sun Heng was highly vigilant and did not tell the truth, otherwise we might all have been arrested by now.

  They heard that their group's staff officer was initially trying to get my whereabouts from his mouth, and he was still quite polite to him. Later, when the staff officer found out from some clues that Sun Heng couldn't reveal my whereabouts, he changed his face. He ordered people to lock up Sun Heng in a confinement room, forcing him to reveal my whereabouts, during which he intimidated and bribed him, only without using torture.

  Sun Heng still didn't tell the truth, but instead insisted that he and I had escaped on foot. As for me, he said I got lost on the way at some point. Sun Heng even asked to send someone to look for me, and almost fooled that staff officer once.

  Unfortunately, it was finally seen through by that staff officer, and Sun Heng was also locked in a confinement room for reflection, until I went to rescue him.

  "After hearing his experience that night, I couldn't help but burst out laughing: 'It seems there are still many people who want my head now, just don't know who will finally get my head and exchange it for the five million dollars.'"

  Sun Heng listened to my words and said seriously: "Although 50 million is indeed a huge sum of money, it's not something that would make everyone commit murder. I think there will definitely be people who will stand up to help us. Like some people in our group, who are willing to abandon justice for the sake of money, after all, they are still a minority..."

  I nodded and pointed at Sun Heng: "You're not that kind of person, otherwise I'm afraid I would have died three hundred times already..."

  Sun Heng smiled wryly: "Don't make me out to be so noble, I'm just doing my duty. I am a... now that I can tell you, I am actually a special forces operative, belonging to a department specially established by the state, equivalent to what ordinary people call a spy or agent. Maybe you've heard of it, but my job is to supervise certain individuals in the military who have ulterior motives and are trying to sell out national interests, as well as identify and root out enemy spies who have infiltrated our military. In short, I am a special operative within our military."

  I roughly understood what he meant and officially knew him. He is a person who specializes in attacking those who try to sell the country for personal gain, and also attacks enemy spies who infiltrate our country. It's equivalent to being an anti-spy, protecting our national intelligence and interests.

  As for what unit he belongs to, he didn't say and I won't ask. These should be state secrets that can't be casually spread around.

  I feel a bit safer now, at least more than when I didn't know anything. There's an agent - just like 007 - protecting me, what do I have to be afraid of?

  So I handed the pistol back to Sun Heng: "It's better for you to take it, it can only play its true role in your hands."

  Sun Heng smiled: "Actually, you're not bad. This time you saved me, it's enough to show your cleverness and bravery, surpassing most people. I'll keep the gun for now, if possible, I'll get one for you too. When the time comes, I'll teach you how to shoot, enhance our strength, ensure our own safety..."

  I nodded: "Let's talk about this later. Now I'm thinking, where can we go? Where is it safe?"

  Sun Heng heard this and was speechless for a long time.

  I also remain silent because I don't know where to go to be safe.

  Sun Heng thought for a long time before saying: "I think now there is only one place that is safe, but I don't know if you will go to that place..."

  I immediately understood what he meant: "You're talking about your department, right? I won't be allowed to go there. I know that place isn't somewhere people like me can just enter, and you don't have to think about taking me there."

  Sun Heng furrowed his brow and said, "In view of the confidentiality clause, I really can't take you there. But now we've got nowhere to go, are we just going to wait for those assassins to come and kill us?"

  I forced a smile: "It's okay, at worst you go back first, I'll think of something myself, maybe I can come up with a way to escape."

  Sun Heng looked at me with a straight face and said, "What do you think I am? Am I someone who only cares about myself and doesn't care about others? You underestimate me too much, Sun Heng. Even if you hadn't just saved me, even if you were just a stranger I didn't know, when he's in danger, I wouldn't abandon him to save my own life. From the first day I joined the army, I made up my mind not to be that kind of person!

  I felt I had misspoken, and hastily laughed: "It was my mistake, don't be angry. I know you're not that kind of person! It's just that in this situation now, if we escape together, who knows, we might both end up getting killed. If we split up, you can definitely survive on your own. We don't have to die together, do we..."

  "Sun Heng said angrily: 'I've told you before, I won't leave you behind to escape on your own, don't say anything more.'"

  I saw him get angry, and after being moved, I had to change the subject: "Then tell me, what do we do now? Can't just wait in the car, can you?"

  Sun Heng thought for a moment: "That's not going to work. This car is borrowed, and sooner or later it will be found out by those who want our lives. To be honest, we should get rid of this car immediately and think of another way to escape. But I'm worried that you can't travel long distances, so I didn't say anything."

  I knew I was dragging him down and whispered: "Do you think we can get rid of this car and then borrow another one?"

  Sun Heng shook his head: "No way, I've already said it, this kind of thing can't be done again."

  I sighed and said: "Do you have any money on you now? Otherwise we can take the bus or train."

  Sun Heng patted his pocket, and sighed: "I'm so poor now, I don't even have a single piece of paper on me, let alone money..." He suddenly stopped talking and began to think deeply with his head lowered.

  I was just about to ask him if he had thought of anything, but he suddenly said loudly: "Right, we have money now."

  Seeing his surprised face, I was somewhat unexpected: "How did you have money again?"

  Sun Heng smiled and said, "You didn't mention the money, I almost forgot. Each of us has a sum of action funds. This action fund is not allowed to be used casually in normal times. But now we have encountered an emergency situation, according to the regulations, it can be used. Let's go get the money out and buy a second-hand car, change cars and continue running... As for where to go, let's talk about it later, when the time comes, there will always be a way, you say is that right?"

  I was overjoyed and urged him: "Then why not hurry up and find the nearest used car dealership to change cars, if we're late, they might be able to track us down with this police car..."

  Sun Heng immediately started the police car and set off on the road, beginning our new life of escape...

  This time Sun Heng gave me a lot of insight, we were in a bank, Sun Heng only said a few words, the bank manager personally received us, and then we got a large sum of money.

  This was unthinkable in the past, who has ever seen someone take money without asking for anything? No card, no deposit slip, no ID, just a few words and they hand over the cash. It's something that would be hard to believe if I told anyone, but it happened right before my eyes.

  Sun Heng had a special liking for jeeps, probably because he was used to driving military jeeps, so we replaced it with a second-hand jeep. The car looks a bit old, but Sun Heng said its engine is very good and the price is cheap, so we bought it.

  I disregarded Sun Heng's objection, spent some money, and asked the owner of the car service to help us send the police car to the public security bureau here, and then ask the public security bureau to send it back to the original police station.

  Sun Heng opposed me doing this because he was afraid that it would reveal the fact that we had switched cars and escaped, I also knew what he was thinking. The reason I insisted on doing so was because I had already thought of a way, I was confident that I could make those killers unable to find us again.

  I saw a nearly new Honda motorcycle in the second-hand car dealership, so I asked Sun Heng to buy it. We worked with the owner of the car dealership to remove the rear seats of the Jeep and loaded the motorcycle into it.

  Sun Heng asked me why I wanted to buy an old motorcycle. I smiled and explained: "Because we will need it where we are going."

  Sun Heng didn't ask any more questions, but I bought a small iron oil can and some other things at a store next to the garage.

  When we passed by a gas station, I filled up the metal gasoline can with gasoline for future use.

  Sun Heng didn't ask me where I was going, he probably had already guessed. When we passed by a mobile phone store, he stopped the car and went in to buy two phones, got SIM cards, paid the fees, looking like he was preparing for a long trip.

  We also prepared a lot of food and water, and stuffed a jeep full. Many people who saw us buying things had a very strange look on their faces.

  We couldn't take care of these things naturally, so we just prepared fully and then drove away.

  We basically don't stop the car when we're on the road. When we're hungry, we eat the food we've prepared, and when we're thirsty, we drink the water we've prepared. Unless we need to use the restroom, we just stay in the car and speed along the road I pointed out to Sun Heng.

  As time went by, the food and water in our car gradually decreased. Sun Heng finally couldn't help but ask: "Are you sure you want to do this? Will it bring any danger to your family?"

  I smiled: "Don't worry, I'm not going back to my home or my hometown. My hometown is not safe now, and I don't want to implicate my family either. The person we are going to rely on this time is just a stranger."

  "An outsider?" Sun Hengqi said, "We're going to rely on an outsider? Is this... feasible?"

  "I said with certainty: 'Believe me, it's definitely no problem!'"

  Sun Heng stopped asking more questions and focused on driving, his expression also relaxed a bit.

  The road I'm referring to is getting closer and closer to my hometown, but it's also getting harder and harder to walk.

  My hometown is in the depths of a big mountain, and road construction is very backward. Many places have roads now, but they are all dirt roads with only one lane, making it extremely difficult to travel.

  Sun Heng's driving skills were originally very good, but when he encountered such a road, he could only drive slowly and carefully, afraid that if he wasn't careful, he would rush out of the highway and fall off the cliff.

  I directly instructed him to drive the car to a farmhouse paddy field less than 100 kilometers away from my hometown. When Sun Heng stopped the car, someone in the earthen house of this peasant family was already speaking: "Whose car is that? Go take a look..."

  The speaker was a middle-aged farmer. Although he was only forty years old this year, due to years of hard work and exposure to the wind and sun, he looked at least fifty.

  The farmer came out of his house, took a glance and exclaimed: "Is that Jin Cang? How did you get a car? Aren't you supposed to be studying?"

  I smiled and stepped forward: "Uncle Chen, don't be in a hurry to ask me questions. Let me introduce you first. This is my friend and also my university teacher, surname Sun, named Sun Heng."

  "Ah, it's Teacher Sun! Come in quickly, come in quickly. I apologize, I didn't recognize you and kept you waiting..."

  Sun Heng looked at me and quickly stepped forward to grasp Old Man Chen's hand: "Old Man Chen, you're too polite. Just call me Sun Heng, no need for the 'teacher' title. We're not in school here, there's no need to be so formal."

  Uncle Chen laughed and said with a happy face: "Alright, I'll call you Sun Heng then. Sun Heng, come in quickly and take a seat. By the way, how did you end up coming to our poor mountain village with Jin Cang? We're too poor here, afraid we can't treat you well..."

  "Hurry up and say: 'Uncle Chen, don't be polite. We're not here at your house either.'"

  "Ah," said Uncle Chen: "So where are you all going? Won't be going to your... haha..."

  I forced a smile, but could only admit: "It's really just to find my sister, don't laugh at me. Mr. Sun heard about my sister and wanted to help her get into college, that's why he came with me to take a look. You, don't think too much about it."

  Uncle Chen was taken aback, then loudly said: "Teacher Sun is really a good person! The child from that family is very smart and hardworking, with excellent grades all along. Unfortunately, their family conditions are not good, they don't have the money to send her to university... Ah, she's also a pitiful child... If Teacher Sun can help, that would be great! I'll be the first to thank you on behalf of the child. Thank you..." Uncle Chen said this as he bowed his head and waist towards Sun Heng.

  Sun Heng was shocked and quickly blocked Chen Da Shu, turning his head to look at me with a blaming expression in his eyes.

  "Hurry up, Uncle Chen, don't delay our time. I'll come visit you again when I have time later. Now we need to attend to the main matter. By the way, Teacher Sun's car can't be driven away, so let's borrow it from you and please keep an eye on it, don't let anyone move it randomly."

  "Rest assured, I'll be keeping an eye on it. No one will touch it here."

  I smiled and said, "The road ahead is too bad, this car can't get through, it's taking up your space for a few days. There's also a motorcycle behind our car, you'll help us out later, we'll come down and drive it."

  Uncle Chen hurried forward to help and together with us, we managed to get that second-hand Honda motorcycle down.

  Uncle Chen saw the motorcycle and exclaimed: "Teacher Sun is really a rich man, driving a big car and bringing a new motorcycle, wow... he's really a rich man."

  Sun Heng didn't know how to respond, so I spoke up for him: "That's right, otherwise how could we help my sister get into college? You know, going to college costs a lot of money..."

  Uncle Chen nodded, looking very understanding.

  I bid farewell to Uncle Chen with Sun Heng and continued driving the motorcycle, taking Sun Heng along the muddy mountain road.

  Although I don't know how to drive a car, I can ride a motorcycle. And because I learned it on the muddy roads here, my skills are really not ordinary. On such muddy roads, I can still take several people with me and ensure a smooth ride.

  Sun Heng didn't say anything because of this, he only blamed me for cheating Uncle Chen. I had to drive and explain: "People in the countryside are very loyal, if I don't say so, they will suspect your origin instead. In that case, within three days, all kinds of speculations will come out, and our plan is likely to fail. Now that I've said this, you have become a good person in the hearts of the villagers, and they won't have any suspicions about good people."

  Sun Heng finally understood what I meant, but still looked puzzled: "Isn't your sister living with you? Didn't you say you wouldn't go back to your old home?"

  I smiled wryly and said, "Do you think arranged marriages still exist these days?"

  Sun Heng was taken aback, then burst out laughing: "So it's not your sister, but your fiancée... I get it now, haha, I didn't know you had something like this going on, you completely threw me off!"

  I quickly said, "Don't make fun of me, it's a different era now. I won't take those old people's words seriously... Besides, I really want to bring my sister to school to audit classes. Her grades have always been good, but because our family is poor and can't afford university tuition, she had to drop out..."

  Sun Heng was silent for a moment, then suddenly said: "This matter I think just do as you say, I still have some money in my hand, enough to be your fiancée... no, enough to be your sister's tuition fees. When I see your sister later, I'll do as you just said."

  Sun Heng's words were somewhat unexpected, and I couldn't help but say: "Isn't this not good? I was just casually saying it, I didn't really want your money. Besides, your money is your expenses, can't be used for other purposes."

  "Never mind, when the time comes I'll just say it's spent and that's it. You don't have to say more, let's do it this way." He paused for a moment: "This time we go to disturb your sister's whole family, we must show some intention, can't let us eat and drink for free at your sister's house?"

  I smiled: "Thank you. We country folks are very hospitable, eating and drinking for free is a normal thing, unlike city people who want money for everything."

  Sun Heng also smiled: "I was originally a rural person, when I was young, our place was the same as yours here. Basically, whenever it's mealtime, if someone encounters another family eating, the host will proactively invite the guest to eat together... However, after economic development, everyone had money, but they actually learned from city people, measuring everything with money..."

  I knew he was homesick, so I said: "Just think of this place as your hometown when you were a kid. We'll stay here for a while until we come up with a way to save our lives or the Wanlong Society is completely destroyed, and then we can go back."

  Sun Heng nodded: "Now it can only be so. Here is so remote, no one in our village will find us. We must be very safe here."

  I smiled and said, "Of course not, otherwise would I have brought you here? By the way, about us being hunted down, we mustn't let it out. I'm worried that my sister and the others will be scared, that wouldn't be good."

  "This is natural, don't worry, I will keep it confidential."

  I also told Sun Heng some details that need attention, and Sun Heng agreed one by one. We have basically arrived at my sister's house.

  My younger sister's full name is Dongfang Yu. The surname Dongfang is very rare in our area, and apart from my sister's family, the only other family with this surname is her uncle's family.

  Dongfang Yu and his family moved from a very far place, it was a long time ago, now the local people have forgotten. Dongfang Yu's father is called Dongfang Yong, I heard that he was originally called Dongfang Zhongyong, later in order to be more intimate with our side, he changed to three words - Dongfang Yong. The names of our side are generally three words, occasionally two words, but never four words.