Rescued

When Lan Mu regained consciousness, the first thing he smelled was a familiar scent. As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw a white hospital room.

He saw himself lying on the hospital bed, with an IV drip in his right hand. He adjusted his state and moved his body upwards, finally sitting up in the bed.

There were other beds opposite his, so this was not a single room.

After thinking for a moment, Lan Mu raised his left hand to press the call button for a nurse. Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through him. He looked and saw that his left arm was professionally bandaged, but this reminded him that he had sustained a gunshot wound in this area, and it clearly hadn't healed yet. Moving it caused unbearable pain.

He had no choice but to ask for help from the patient lying on the opposite bed.

"Hello, could you please help me call a nurse?"

Unexpectedly, after he asked, the man on the opposite bed pretended not to hear him, lying flat and feigning sleep.

He had clearly seen him peeking at him just now!

"What's going on?"

Lan Mu was confused. He had no choice but to move his right hand, which was still receiving an IV drip, and finally managed to press the call button.

A short while later, a nurse walked in. Seeing that he was awake, she immediately smiled, "You're finally awake!"

After speaking, the nurse helped him position his hand, checked the IV bag, and then walked straight towards the door.

"Hey? Wait a minute! Don't go! I want to ask... Who saved me? How long have I been here? When can I be discharged?" Lan Mu called out as she was leaving.

The nurse turned back and said, "You were admitted yesterday morning, so it's been exactly one day. You'll have to ask the doctor when you can be discharged. Also, someone will be coming to talk to you soon."

Lan Mu found it a bit strange as she hurried out. Thinking about his gunshot wound, he suddenly understood.

"It seems the police will be here soon."

However, ten minutes later, the first to enter the ward was a group of reporters.

The group was small, consisting of a female reporter and a male assistant. The man was responsible for taking photos with a digital camera. The female reporter was dressed in a sharp, professional outfit, her hair tied high in a ponytail. Holding a voice recorder, she began questioning him, "Mr. Lan, hello, I'm a reporter from the Fuzhou Metropolitan Daily, my name is Qin Yu. May I ask if your gunshot wound is related to the recent poaching case?"

Lan Mu chuckled in amusement. This was a type of interview he was extremely familiar with – a confrontational style that got straight to the point without giving you much room to evade, with every question essentially asking for a yes or no answer.

"Reporter Qin, is it? May I see your press pass first?"

Qin Yu was taken aback. She took out her press pass from her pocket and hung it around her neck. Lan Mu glanced at it and confirmed it was indeed from the Fuzhou Metropolitan Daily, and that she, like him, was a beat reporter. However, Lan Mu was also an editor, which sometimes allowed him to decline certain beat interviews.

"Mr. Lan, can you answer my question now?" Qin Yu seemed very eager, looking at Lan Mu with expectant eyes.

Lan Mu adjusted his sitting posture and said, "What question? Could you ask again?"

Qin Yu took a deep breath and repeated the question.

"Regarding the gunshot, well, I was indeed shot," Lan Mu replied hesitantly.

Qin Yu was patient and asked again, "Is it related to the recent poaching case?"

Lan Mu didn't answer directly. Instead, he said, "What does the recent poaching case refer to? I believe only the police can determine that. By the way, when are the police coming?"

Qin Yu seemed inexperienced and was easily led astray. She replied, "Probably very soon. Hey! Please answer the question directly, Mr. Lan."

Lan Mu smiled. He could tell that Qin Yu was a novice, likely just recently promoted to full reporter, and still treated every interviewee as an ordinary citizen. She lacked the experience to deal with an old hand like him.

Not only did Qin Yu fail to get any useful information after asking for a long time, but Lan Mu also managed to steer the conversation away several times, even turning the tables and asking her a few questions.

Just as Qin Yu was grinding her teeth in frustration, the police finally arrived. Four officers entered the ward, immediately surrounding Lan Mu's hospital bed.

"Oh? Reporter Qin is here? Excuse me, we have a few questions to ask. Could you step out for a moment?"

As soon as the police entered, the leading officer directly asked Qin Yu to step aside.

Qin Yu, being somewhat thin-skinned, actually responded with an "Oh" and withdrew.

Lan Mu smiled, knowing that the police's questions were unavoidable and didn't need to be dodged. Besides, he wanted those poachers to be caught!

"Mr. Lan, we have a good understanding of your personal information. Please tell us directly the reason you sustained the gunshot wound."

Lan Mu told the truth, recounting how he was pushed down the mountain, discovered the poachers, narrowly escaped death, and managed to get away.

Of course, he completely omitted the part about transforming himself. However, he couldn't avoid mentioning the story about seeing the White-haired Lion.

Hearing Lan Mu's detailed account, the police officers showed smiles.

Lan Mu had indeed provided several very useful clues, such as the ranger Xiao Tang, which was the biggest breakthrough in the case.

"Get moving immediately. Wang Tang, go and apprehend this Xiao Tang. Hu Duo, immediately notify all departments to set up checkpoints on all highways leaving Fuzhou, and review surveillance footage to find all vehicles matching Mr. Lan's description and intercept them."

"Finally, Mr. Lan, please cooperate with our sketch artist immediately to describe the facial features of the suspects."

"I need to go back to the bureau and ask my colleagues in Lingnan. These people have likely killed before, and there should be criminal records in Lingnan."

Lan Mu nodded and diligently described the appearances, providing the most detailed descriptions for the poacher leader and Huang Sheng. The composite sketches of these two were almost identical to their real likenesses.

"That's it. With this, you'll definitely catch them!"

Officer Xiong, who stayed behind to draw the sketches, put away his laptop and thanked Lan Mu before preparing to leave.

Lan Mu stopped him and asked, "May I ask who saved me? I remember I was bleeding profusely and fainted in the suburbs."

"Oh, it was Reporter Qin outside! She also called the police."

Lan Mu nodded and asked again, "Then how did you know a poaching case had occurred? I remember this poaching case in Fuzhou was very well hidden. Did Reporter Qin see the poachers?"

Officer Xiong replied, "Not exactly. The gun you were shot with was clearly a homemade hunting rifle, the kind typically used by poachers. And that Leopard is currently at the zoo. We're planning to release it back to Fanli Mountain soon."

"So that's how it is..." Lan Mu nodded, lost in thought.

Officer Xiong thanked Lan Mu again and told him to get some rest before leaving.

A moment later, Qin Yu, with pursed lips, entered and sat by Lan Mu's bedside.

Lan Mu sighed. Knowing that Qin Yu had saved him, he felt a bit embarrassed.

Initially, he had instinctively bullied this fellow reporter. Now, thinking back, it was a bit excessive of him to act that way after she had saved him.

"I'm sorry, and thank you for saving me."

Qin Yu's face lit up with joy. "You're welcome, it was nothing. I saw your ID; you're a reporter from Modu, and there's no conflict with our newspaper. You're a senior, so please don't bully me anymore. Can you answer my questions now?"

Lan Mu thought to himself that Morning Light indeed didn't pursue exclusive coverage of this kind of news from out of town. It was only because of the anonymous letter that inexplicably ended up in Modu that he was sent on this business trip. Now that he thought about it, that anonymous letter was very suspicious!

This information hadn't been given to the police yet. It seemed he still needed to go to the local police station.

"Mr. Lan? Mr. Lan?" Seeing Lan Mu remain silent, Qin Yu bit her lip anxiously. She looked adorably clumsy.

Lan Mu, seeing that she was about to cry, couldn't help but be amused. He then answered her questions directly.

After a few questions, the interview got on track, and Qin Yu's questions became increasingly sharp.

However, in Lan Mu's opinion, they were still a bit too green. None of her questions hit the mark. So, he even took the initiative to help Qin Yu add a few questions until the entire story was explained in great detail.

This wasn't to repay a debt of gratitude; the debt of saving his life wasn't something that could be repaid so easily.

"Basically, that's it. It's more than enough for a major news story. Oh, right, when you hand it over to the editor for the write-up, remember to have him mention the shooting first, then the poaching case... Cough, cough, sorry, occupational hazard... Your editor should understand this kind of thing."

"Mm, and also, if you have a good relationship with your editor, you can completely ask him to include you in the story. After all, you saved me, so you're also involved in this case. Although we both work behind the scenes, it wouldn't hurt to have readers remember you."

Qin Yu was very grateful for Lan Mu's guidance. After thanking him several times, she hurried to leave.

Seeing her rushing about somewhat carelessly, Lan Mu quickly called out, "Leave your phone number! Hey!"

"I..."

However, Qin Yu had already dashed out of the ward, apparently eager to submit her material.

Lan Mu shook his head. He had wanted to formally thank her after his injuries healed and perhaps take her out for a meal.

But since she was in such a hurry, he'd let it go. He could just find her at her workplace later.

The ward suddenly felt empty. Besides him, the only other person in the room was the patient in the opposite bed, who was pretending to be asleep.

Lan Mu chuckled. He figured the other patient knew he had been shot and that the police came often, likely misunderstanding something.

But Lan Mu didn't care. After searching for a while, he finally found his phone in the bedside drawer.

The phone had less than ten percent battery left. He quickly sent the message he had prepared in his drafts to Editor-in-Chief Liang.

After waiting for a short while, seeing the phone's battery running low, he decided to call instead.

After a few rings, it suddenly said, "The user you have dialed is currently on another call. Please try again later..."

"Huh?"

Lan Mu was stunned. He had gotten through, so why was it suddenly busy? This situation clearly indicated he had been abruptly blocked.

He then repeatedly tried to call Editor-in-Chief Liang, but each time it was busy.

Ten minutes later, just as his phone was about to shut down, he made one last attempt. It was still busy.

"Beep..."

The phone finally ran out of power and went black.

Lan Mu's heart sank. He was now certain he had been blocked.

"What happened in Modu?"