A wandering boy looked up at the bright sun and said, "Good grief, I'm so bored. Maybe I should go somewhere farther away to have some fun. Hmm, I've decided. I'll go over there."
Half an hour later, at some place or other, the boy was watching a large group of people in black suits gathered together. He was delighted. He'd picked the right place after all.
But even after reaching his destination, the boy kept wandering around. The thing he'd been hoping for never happened. Perhaps because he'd walked too far, he found a little hut, crawled inside, and fell asleep in a box...
He didn't know how much time had passed when he heard voices outside. A middle-aged man was shouting wildly in different languages. The boy could only make out the gist of what he was saying, but he knew one thing: he absolutely couldn't come out now, and he couldn't let the man know he was inside the box. Fortunately, there was nothing else in the box besides him, so the middle-aged man probably wouldn't come over and open it just yet. Through a gap in the box, the boy could also see what was happening outside...
Across from the box, a girl about the same age as the boy was tied to a chair and unable to move. But their fates were completely different. She had nothing on and was being loudly berated by the middle-aged man...
"I underestimated you, Miss Lin. I never imagined you'd have this much endurance. Whew, looks like I'll have to reevaluate your score." This time, the middle-aged man spoke clearly, and the boy heard him perfectly. He had called the girl tied to the chair Miss Lin. It seemed the boy really had stumbled into the kind of extraordinary encounter he'd been hoping for. But there was nothing he could do now. Forget rescuing the girl; he might not even make it out alive himself.
The girl's face was completely drenched in tears. She seemed to be speaking with the last of her strength. "Ah... Ou Luo, what's wrong? It hurts, but is that really all you've got? Whew... remember our promise..." After saying that, the girl seemed to faint.
The middle-aged man called Ou Luo was furious, yet strangely excited. He had done this many times, but this was the first time he'd encountered anyone so strong-willed. His extensive experience had taught him how to torment someone to the point of extreme suffering without causing anything to go wrong. But it seemed his past experience wasn't going to work this time. He didn't plan to wake the girl right away; he wanted to continue his own perverted behavior...
The boy was furious. He could feel his own helplessness and the girl's pain, as though he had suffered the same torment himself...
Ou Luo left, perhaps only temporarily. Once the boy was sure he had left the hut, he quickly climbed out of the box. The girl named Lin might have fainted, but the boy didn't have enough time to check. First, he tried to undo the chains restraining her, but it was obviously impossible without a key. He began observing the surroundings and identified something he could change with his own strength.
On a rack not far from the girl stood several glasses containing liquids of various colors. A small note was attached to each glass with an explanation. The boy nodded quickly, then took a bottle of water from his backpack...
The boy replaced all the liquids in the glasses with water. That might solve some of the problems, but not all of them. He wanted to do more, but Ou Luo was already on his way back. Five minutes before Ou Luo returned, the boy hid in the box again. He could have chosen to leave just now...
Everything the boy had done had been seen by the girl, who was only half-conscious...
Ou Luo returned to the hut, carrying several branches and a box. He smiled at the girl, whose eyes had opened, then set down what he was holding and said excitedly, "Then let's begin round two!"
At the same time, at Location V.
Several young men and women climbed out of a black van. A few adults in black suits followed behind them.
One of them turned to the people behind him and asked, "Have we confirmed the target is inside? Get the others together and prepare to go in!"
"Yes. Please follow me," replied one of the adults walking behind them.
Five minutes later, the young men and women reached the designated meeting point at Location V. What puzzled them was that there seemed to be too many people.
Suddenly, the adults following them pulled out the handguns they had been carrying and shouted at them, "All right, kids, the game is over!"
But they didn't panic. They simply turned around together and looked coldly at the adults.
A woman wearing a light red qipao stepped out from the crowd. "Well, well, this is a rare sight! What are the young masters and mistresses of all these families doing gathered together? Who was giving the orders just now? Quite capable, aren't you? Ha ha! What a bunch of fools. You're still too green to go up against adults!" After the woman finished speaking, another middle-aged man stepped out. He smiled at the young men and women and said, "Good. Team Two, clear out Location F. Then head to Location K. Ha ha! This is hilarious! Ha ha! You've got some ability, sure, but that's about it!"
A boy stepped into the middle. He had kept both hands in his pockets ever since getting into the van. Now, standing steadily, he pulled them out. There was a grenade in each hand. Smiling at the man and woman who had just stepped out, he said, "Don't think you're the only ones who know how to do this. If you make a move, we'll all go together."
Everyone except the boy's companions was stunned. They had never expected this to happen. Just then, the man said, "Don't be afraid. They've only got two grenades. We outnumber them; there won't be a problem!" His words made the boy's companions laugh. One of them threw his backpack beside the boy in front. The objects that rolled out of it were unmistakable: grenades exactly like the ones in the boy's hands.
Everyone fell silent. They all knew what would happen if the boy let go. Suddenly, someone outside the crowd shouted, "Captain, they're over here!"
In an instant, countless people in green camouflage uniforms carrying automatic rifles appeared from all directions. There were several hundred of them...
A girl said, "Ou Le, Ye Caihe, the moment you showed up, you'd already lost. Now, throw your weapons behind you and get on your knees, or you'll be killed without mercy! You have five seconds to decide!" At first the girl's voice had been gentle, but it suddenly turned harsh and fierce. Even the adults were so frightened that they were thrown into confusion.
The girl continued, "One, two, three. Good, now—" She stopped at three. Everyone except one man and one woman had knelt on the ground.
The boy holding the grenades said, "How foolish. All right, take everyone else away first, and tie this man and woman up properly!"
Fifteen minutes later, inside a room at Location V, Ou Le and Ye Caihe were hanging from the ceiling. A boy and a girl watched them.
Holding a syringe, the boy said, "Bet you never saw this coming, Ye Caihe. Ye Zi deliberately gave you that information because we already knew you were involved with that piece of trash, Ou Le. Apparently, we were right. You followed the information Ye Zi gave you and carried out exactly what we'd planned all along, perfectly—not a bit more or less. So, who should I give the itch injection to first?"
The two people hanging there shook their heads desperately, but they couldn't speak.
Smiling, the boy gave each of them an injection. The girl watched with a grin and said softly, "If either of you is willing to tell us where Ou Luo is, I'll give you something to stop the itching. So, tell me where Ou Luo is, and you can go home safely and get on with your lives. We won't bother you again!"
The two of them continued shaking their heads desperately. They clearly weren't willing to say anything.
The boy tossed aside the syringe in his hand and said, "It's fine if you don't want to talk now. In five minutes, whoever wants to speak can shake their foot hard. We'll see you then!" With that, the boy and girl left the room together.
The others were waiting anxiously outside. As soon as they saw the two come out, they hurried over. The boy shook his head in disappointment and said, "Those two didn't know either, and neither did the others. Damn it. We had everything figured out except the location."
Ye Zi ran in from outside, panting. "Ou Luo's car is at home. I figure he should be near the Lin Family right now—maybe even inside. Our surveillance showed that Ou Le, that piece of trash, was just a decoy. We haven't seen Ou Luo, which means he has no vehicle. He'd have to carry Lin on foot, so he can't go anywhere crowded. Hmm, he probably went up into the mountains. I've already sent people to search them. Should we go question the two housekeepers at the Lin Family?"
The boy sighed. "There's no need yet. Ye Zi, do what you suggested. Gather everyone from the other locations. We have to find Lin, even if we have to search every mountain in the area!"
Before you continue