Chapter 62

Chapter 62

Just as Li Xiujin finished a meeting with several of his trusted aides, Yang Yu came rushing in to tell him.

"General, the Prime Minister sent Liu Cheng to your home to bring Colonel Lin to the Central Headquarters. Colonel Lin was in there for almost an hour before he came out."

"It's probably because of Lu Mo..."

Before Yang Yu could finish, Li Xiujin rushed home. After parking the car, he kicked the car door before entering the living room.

Lin Ze was waiting for him there.

"You already know?" Li Xiujin asked after a long silence.

"Yes."

"I didn't intend to hide it from you."

"I know, you are afraid I'd worry." Lin Ze's face was slightly pale.

"I'm working on it." Li Xiujin walked over and hugged him. "I won't let anything happen to him."

Lin Ze hugged him back, his voice trembling slightly. "The Prime Minister called me over today, actually intending for me to talk some sense into you. His meaning is very clear and non-negotiable—he won't let him go, and he cannot allow them to provoke us again and again..."

"Lei Wen is in my hands. I say whether he's released or not."

"But doing so would be disobeying orders."

"It wouldn't be the first time I've disobeyed." Li Xiujin sneered.

Everyone was speculating whether he would ignore Lu Mo's fate due to the Prime Minister's orders, but his mind had always been made up. He couldn't let Lin Ze, who had just given birth, experience the pain of losing a friend.

Li Xiujin cupped his face, staring into his eyes. "Trust your husband."

"Yes..."

Li Xiujin carried him back to the bedroom, only kissing his lips without proceeding further...

"I'll watch you sleep."

Lin Ze closed his eyes. When he sensed Li Xiujin had fallen asleep, he opened them again, gazing at his face. He noticed that even in sleep, his brows were tightly furrowed... Ever since their marriage, he had always been a burden to him, and Li Xiujin had always been the one handling things. Every time he was in a bad mood, it was because of him.

He pressed his cheek against Li Xiujin's, closed his eyes, and made a decision.

The next day at noon, Lin Ze asked the servants to prepare extra food. He packed the meals into lunchboxes and went to the military headquarters.

The personnel at the headquarters respected him as much as they did Li Xiujin. No matter what they were doing, when they saw him passing by, they all stopped and saluted him.

Li Xiujin, busy with official duties, felt his weariness from the past few days ease a little when he saw Lin Ze bringing him food.

"These are all your favorites. Eat them while they're hot..."

After the meal, Lin Ze tentatively asked, "When did the other side set the time?"

"In the next few days."

Li Xiujin's eyes turned sharp. "I know you're very worried about Lu Mo, but for this matter, you just need to wait for my news at home."

"Okay." Lin Ze lowered his eyes.

After eating, Li Xiujin pulled Lin Ze onto his lap, unbuttoned his shirt, and asked, "Has it been clogged recently?"

Lin Ze felt embarrassed. "It's okay."

Li Xiujin suckled for a while before his lower abdomen tightened slightly. "I'll massage it for you when we get home."

"Okay."

"Let Yang Yu take you back."

"Okay."

Li Xiujin needed to continue handling official business. Lin Ze straightened his clothes, took the lunchbox, and left his office.

Yang Yu was waiting for him outside. Upon seeing him, he respectfully saluted. "Colonel Lin."

Lin Ze smiled and asked, "Have you eaten yet?"

"Not yet."

"I brought an extra portion. You can have it." Lin Ze said.

Yang Yu was indeed hungry but said, "That doesn't seem appropriate."

"It's fine."

Under Lin Ze's enthusiastic invitation, Yang Yu began to eat heartily.

While he was eating and off guard, Lin Ze casually asked, "When is the exchange of prisoners scheduled?"

Yang Yu swallowed a large mouthful of food. "The day after tomorrow."

"The day after tomorrow? So soon?"

"Yes. This kind of thing is a game of strategy; it's meant to catch the other side off guard."

"Indeed."

"Has the location been mentioned?" Lin Ze continued to ask.

"At the port."

Lin Ze nodded. Seeing him eat so quickly, he asked with concern, "Does General Li not let you eat your fill every day? Why are you so hungry?"

Yang Yu widened his eyes in alarm. "No, no! It's just that my duties are busy, and my meal times are irregular. I often miss meals, so when I can eat, I try to eat as much as I can."

Lin Ze hummed in acknowledgment.

Upon returning home, Lin Ze entered the room where Li Xiujin kept his guns. Among the pile of firearms, he found ten sniper rifles, tested each one, and finally selected one.

When he came out, he happened to run into a servant. "Don't tell the General I was in here."

The servant nodded repeatedly.

Back in the bedroom, Lin Ze stared blankly at Li Chongyi.

Lu Mo's parents didn't care much about him. The first time Lin Ze saw him, he was covered in dirt. Lin Ze took him to the military academy for a bath. From then on, he came to the academy every day. During Lin Ze's lowest moments, when everyone was eager to distance themselves from him, it was Lu Mo who actively sought him out and had been helping him ever since.

This time, going to the snow mountains as a temporary commander was also to help him. Now that such a major incident had occurred, even though he believed in Li Xiujin's abilities, Lin Ze couldn't bring himself to stay at home peacefully.

He knew he had to go.

That night, when Li Xiujin returned, there was nothing unusual about him. After taking Li Chongyi from his hands and settling the child to sleep, he held Lin Ze close, ready to sleep as well. Lin Ze understood the importance of conserving his strength, so he forced himself not to overthink and quickly drifted off to sleep.

Early the next morning, when Lin Ze opened his eyes, Li Xiujin had already left. After feeding Li Chongyi, he headed to the port.

The port was located in the southern part of the city. As soon as Lin Ze got out of the car, he smelled the salty, fishy scent and heard the blaring horns of large ships. Many cargo ships were docked along the shore, and the waterfront was lined with square warehouses.

Lin Ze looked around, surveying the area, and spotted a tourist hotel not far away.

"Excuse me, do you have any rooms with a good, open view?" Lin Ze asked the hotel staff.

The staff recommended several rooms. Lin Ze inspected each one and finally chose the smallest, most discreet room that still offered a full view of the entire port. After paying for two nights, he stood by the window to confirm the vantage point once more before leaving.

In the blink of an eye, it was the evening of the prisoner exchange. Li Xiujin called.

"I'll be back very late. Go to sleep early, don't wait for me."

Lin Ze hummed in acknowledgment, hung up the phone, handed the sleeping Li Chongyi to the maid, changed into all-black clothing, packed the selected sniper rifle into his backpack, and hurried to the port. He went to the reserved room, set up the rifle by the window, and waited with full concentration...

Meanwhile, after secretly deploying soldiers in various locations, Li Xiujin and Yang Yu brought Lei Wen and his family of three to the port.

Yang Yu was responsible for contacting the other side. He dialed their phone number.

"We're here."

The person on the other end said to wait a moment, and soon an unmanned speedboat slowly approached.

Quickly, Li Xiujin and Yang Yu could see a bound person inside the speedboat.

"General, it's Lu Mo," Yang Yu exclaimed.

Li Xiujin said, "Ask them what's next."

The reply came quickly: "They want us to untie the hostages simultaneously now."

"Do as they say."

Yang Yu untied the ropes binding Lei Wen and his family.

A masked man appeared in the speedboat. He also untied Lu Mo, removed the towel from Lu Mo's mouth, and escorted Lu Mo onto the deck of the speedboat. He said in somewhat broken local language, "Release them at the same time."

Li Xiujin glanced at Yang Yu. Understanding, Yang Yu aimed his gun at Lei Wen's head, kicked him, and said, "Go."

Lei Wen, with his wife and son, began walking toward the speedboat. Simultaneously, Lu Mo left the deck, disembarked from the speedboat, and came ashore.

As the two groups of hostages passed each other, Lei Wen was suddenly shot in the head.

This shot was unexpected for Li Xiujin, Yang Yu, and even Lin Ze, who was lying in ambush in the shadows.

Li Xiujin indeed hadn't planned to release them so easily, but he also hadn't intended to kill Lei Wen outright. And Lin Ze hadn't pulled the trigger either. This meant there was a third party at the port.

Before they could suspect who it was, with Lei Wen dead, his wife and child let out piercing screams. The foreign gang, convinced they had gone back on their word, saw several more speedboats suddenly appear on the sea, opening fire on them...

Amidst the hail of bullets, Yang Yu protected Lu Mo, found a hiding spot, told Lu Mo to stay put, then grabbed his gun and went to find Li Xiujin. At Li Xiujin's command, their secretly deployed soldiers also sprang into action.

"Try to capture them alive if possible."

Li Xiujin was desperate to know who the mastermind behind all this was, the one who wouldn't let him live in peace. He charged at the forefront, his firepower particularly fierce. Soon, he led a team to take control of one of their speedboats, ordered someone to point a gun at the captain's head, rammed and destroyed several others, and then saw the speedboat protected in the very center. Inside wasn't a fair-haired, blue-eyed foreigner like Lei Wen, but one of their own countrymen...

Just as Li Xiujin caught a brief glimpse, he sensed a gun aimed at him. Before he could turn around, he heard the sound of a trigger being pulled. However, he wasn't injured. Instead, a bloody hole appeared in the other person's forehead, and they fell straight down...

It was a long-range shot.

A noticeably more precise shot than the one that killed Lei Wen...

Realizing who it was, a vein throbbed on Li Xiujin's forehead.

With the other party's long-range support, Li Xiujin fought as if divinely aided, quickly suppressing the enemy's firepower. However, their escape skills were formidable. Shielded by others, they jumped across several speedboats and finally made their escape.

Their leader only cared about saving himself, leaving behind many underlings. Li Xiujin ordered them all to be captured and taken back.

Meanwhile, seeing that the situation was over, Lin Ze hurriedly left the room and went to the port. He still didn't dare let Li Xiujin know he had come, so he hid nearby, observing.

Yang Yu, who was searching for any hidden captives, noticed a familiar figure. Before he could say anything, the figure quickly vanished into the darkness.

Yang Yu hurried to report, "General, I think I just saw Colonel Lin."

Who told him the time and place? There was no need to guess. Li Xiujin's face darkened slightly as he said to Yang Yu, "I'll settle this with you when we get back."

Yang Yu let out a very puzzled "Huh?"

While he was still confused, Liu Cheng suddenly arrived before Li Xiujin with several soldiers.

"General Li, the Prime Minister now knows you disobeyed his orders. He's so angry his head hurts."

Li Xiujin said coldly, "I never intended to release them. However, General Liu, the Prime Minister didn't order the hostage killed, yet you shot him dead with one bullet. Doesn't that also count as disobeying the Prime Minister's command?"

Liu Cheng smiled slightly. "I was worried, so I acted a bit hastily. But it didn't cause a major mistake, did it? After all, our man was rescued."

Li Xiujin gave a thin, humorless smile and warned, "I hope this is the first and last time you interfere with my official duties."

"My sincere apologies," Liu Cheng said earnestly. "But General Li, you should still be careful. The other side now believes you went back on your word and killed Lei Wen. They must hate you. Although their firepower is lacking, they have many underhanded tricks."

"That's none of your concern."

Liu Cheng maintained his smile, told Li Xiujin they would meet at the Central Headquarters tomorrow, and then left.

"Although he smiles at everyone, talking to him for a bit longer makes you feel he's sinister, nothing like his warm appearance," Yang Yu said, staring at Liu Cheng's retreating back and shuddering.

"Take the captives back and interrogate them thoroughly for me," Li Xiujin ordered him, then went to check on Lu Mo. Lu Mo was receiving an IV drip on the medical vehicle they had brought.

Although injured, none of the wounds were serious. He was just very weak from prolonged hunger.

"General," Lu Mo said upon seeing him, trying to get up from the stretcher.

"Stay down. We'll discuss everything after you've recovered a bit."

After speaking, Li Xiujin's gaze fell on Lu Mo's bandaged arm.

This bandaging technique had been used on him twice before.

As if keeping a promise to cover for someone, Lu Mo asked, "Is the Colonel alright?"

Li Xiujin replied, "Didn't you just see him? Why ask me?"

Lu Mo was left speechless.

"The Colonel was afraid you'd worry. He didn't mean to hide it from you on purpose..."

Li Xiujin waved his hand, telling him to shut up. "Get some rest."

After checking on Lu Mo, Li Xiujin hurried home. A small lamp was still on inside. He went to his shooting practice area and indeed found that one of the sniper rifles had been moved. Touching the barrel, it was still warm.

He went upstairs and entered the bedroom. Inside, Lin Ze was lying on his side in pajamas, eyes tightly shut, seemingly fast asleep—as if he had been home all along and never gone out. If not for his trembling eyelashes, the act would have been convincing.

Li Xiujin stood by the bed, motionless for a long while, just staring at him.

Lin Ze grew increasingly tense, his eyelashes fluttering more and more noticeably. Then he turned over, presenting his back.

Li Xiujin was so angry he almost laughed. He got into bed, turned Lin Ze back around, and kissed him while kneading his chest—engorged. He must have left very early and, with no chance to feed Li Chongyi after returning, so he'd been sniping long-range while gritting his teeth through the pain.

A dark look came into Li Xiujin's eyes. He kissed Lin Ze's lips until they were red and swollen, then a flush of shame spread across his cheeks.

Li Xiujin said hoarsely:

"Eyes open. I know you're awake."