Insect Awakening
The temple fair was in a market not far from the Song family.
Duan Cheng was running from stall to stall with his phone out, showing a photo and asking, “Hello, have you seen this child?”
The stall owner shook his head, so he quickly moved on to the next one.
Fang Xin was also holding a photo and splitting up to cover more ground. She grabbed the attention of a hawker selling candied hawthorns.
“Excuse me, uncle, have you seen this child?”
The uncle leaned in to look at the phone for a moment, and a scene flashed through his mind—a middle-aged man hurrying by with a child in his arms, the child’s candied hawthorns was definitely bought from his stall, hence he took a longer glance.
“I’ve seen the kid, he bought a candied hawthorns from here, seemed to be with his dad, heading in that direction.”
Dad?
Ji Weiyi’s only father had passed away years ago.
A sense of dread clenched Fang Xin’s heart. It must be a kidnapping. After thanking the man, she immediately called Lin Yan.
“Sister Lin, I’ve found something out, a man took away Xiao Weiyi.”
“Which direction did they go?”
Fang Xin looked around. The temple fair was crowded and chaotic, situated right in the bustling center of town with roads leading every which way. There were several forks in the road corresponding to the direction that the uncle had pointed out.
She shook her head: “I’m not sure of the exact location, but what’s certain is that the person was taken away from the temple fair, and moreover, Captain Song’s mother wasn’t around.”
Mother Song.
Lin Yan’s heart felt as if it had been sharply pricked by the point of a needle, the sting leaving her speechless. It took her quite some time to regain her composure.
“Old Zheng?” she called out through the communicator.
“I’m on it.” Zheng Chengrui was typing furiously on the keyboard, his glasses reflecting the faint blue light of the computer screen and lines of code.
Jiangcheng City Bureau.
Technical Investigation Department, Network Security Brigade.
“Alarm, alarm, the server is being hacked into—” a large electronic display flashed with red exclamation marks.
A technician wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead and turned back, “Quick, go report to Director Feng, the firewall is under attack by an unknown hacker.”
Feng Jianguo slammed his palm down hard on the desk, causing the teacup to jump and rattle, as he paced back and forth in his office.
“Damn it, this Song Yuhang, what the hell is she up to? Her phone is off, and she’s nowhere to be found! And this Lin Yan—”
His anger surged even more at the mention of Lin Yan, slamming another palm down on the desk, he panted with heavy breaths.
“What’s all this about!”
“Director Feng, the Technical Investigation Department just reported that our server is under attack.”
Feng Jianguo, the seasoned criminal investigator, finally sensed that something out of the ordinary was afoot.
Taking leave at the same time, disappearing simultaneously, Lin Yan led a team to the airport’s control room to check the surveillance.
Who is she looking for?
Then came that street accident, followed by the crash of the black car tailing her; the injured have already been taken into police custody.
After that, their internal server was attacked.
Feng Jianguo shuddered suddenly: “Track the opponent’s IP, lock their position, and keep up with Lin Yan.”
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“Report, Forensic Lin’s car has been spotted on Tongyuan Expressway.”
Nothing could be done; her car was simply too conspicuous. The lookouts posted on the expressway almost recognized it at first glance.
“Stop her and bring her back.”
The officer tasked with conveying the order was taken aback, but upon seeing the stern look on Feng Jianguo’s face and his authoritative gesture, the officer saluted and hurried off.
“Yes, Director Feng.”
In the distance, police sirens echoed once more.
Lin Yan slammed on the gas pedal; the severely damaged car gave a groaning sound of protest but managed to lurch forward.
“Sister Lin, we’ve found something. Two vans went in different directions—one towards the Yeling Mountain tunnel to the north of the city, and the other near Tongyuan Expressway.”
Just as she expected, to force Song Yuhang’s hand, they kidnapped her family members and held them in different locations.
The purpose was to throw them off track and buy some time.
Song Yuhang had already headed towards the direction of Yeling Mountain.
And the other location wasn’t far from her.
Lin Yan opened her phone’s navigation and eyed the map.
A place to hide people would surely not be in the bustling city center, and there aren’t any residential areas near the Tongyuan Expressway. Besides, if they were to take the expressway, they’d have to go through a toll booth. A kid might manage to lie and cover up, but two adults tied up would definitely not escape the notice of the staff. So, they couldn’t have taken the expressway.
So where could it be?
Near the expressway, where are there hidden places without surveillance?
Lin Yan zoomed into the map with her fingers, her gaze landing on a lumberyard near the entrance to the expressway.
She pressed the tiny microphone on her ear: “Once you leave the temple fair street, there’s a hotpot restaurant on the roadside, the one where we ate before. Go in, order a private room, get a big pot, and then the waiter will lead you out through the back door. Remember to change your clothes. After you come out, head to the coordinates, 25° North latitude, 104°10″ East longitude. Wait for me there.”
Duan Cheng knew that this was her creating an alibi for them, and he grew anxious: “Sister Lin, what about you?”
Lin Yan swerved the steering wheel to the left, reversing direction amidst a blare of horns. She weaved through the traffic, barrelled through the toll booth’s barrier, and sped down the highway.
“Me? I’m off to save people.”
“I’ve arrived, release the hostages,” Song Yuhang parked the car on the ramp next to the Yeling Mountain Tunnel.
A voice from the earpiece chuckled softly: “No rush, Captain Song. Did you bring the thing I asked for?”
Song Yuhang clutched the folder in her hand, her voice gritty: “I’ve brought it.”
“Good. Tear up the page of the record with Guo Xiaoguang and his mother’s signatures and fingerprints, and throw it down the cliff.”
Night had fallen, and only the car lights illuminated the ramp, beside it, was a cliff as dark as pitch.
Song Yuhang clenched her teeth: “Let me hear my mom first.”
There was a pause on the other end, and then her mother’s cries came through: “Yuhang, Yuhang…”
She barely had time to listen closely when the call was abruptly cut off.
The man took over the conversation: “What do you think? She’s still alive, but…”
He paused slightly: “It all depends on what’s more important to Captain Song—this testimonial or your family.”
It was when he uttered those words that Song Yuhang suddenly sensed something amiss.
Before speaking with her mother, she hadn’t noticed it, but now, thinking carefully, her mother’s voice seemed slightly distorted compared to the man’s. It didn’t sound like a face-to-face conversation but rather like a voice coming through an electronic device.
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Moreover, she acutely perceived some background noise during her mother’s speech, reminiscent of the rumble associated with large machines at work.
Yet the man’s voice was, by contrast, exceptionally quiet.
It was thanks to the sharpness honed from years of criminal investigation work that she managed to remain calm under extreme conditions and analyze these clues.
Song Yuhang kept her composure.
“Alright, I’ll tear it up. But this game is getting pretty tiring. Let’s settle this once and for all, what do you say? You pick a place, I’ll hand over the USB directly to you, you release my family, and I’ll even go with you if that’s what you want.”
The person on the other end burst into loud laughter, “Good, that’s our Captain Song, straightforward! Then head into the mountains, I’ll be waiting for you in the wilds of Yeling Mountain.”
After the call ended, the screen showed her fiercely throwing the torn pieces of paper into the air, scattering them all over the mountainside.
“Lin Yan is already on her way to the lumberyard,” another voice came from the communicator.
“I know,” the man said, sipping red wine with an expression in his eyes that was enigmatic.
“Aren’t you afraid she’ll rescue them? Then Song Yuhang surely won’t hand over the stuff to you.”
The man set his wine glass on the table, leaned back, and reclined in the comfortable office chair.
“If she doesn’t go for the rescue, then she truly wouldn’t be Lin Yan.”
He set up the trap, calculating human nature, even guessing how far each person would go.
The voice paused briefly: “You really are…”
Truly a heart of a serpent and exceedingly malicious.
As if the man understood what he was about to say, he chuckled lightly, “A man isn’t considered potent without a trace of poison. To tell you the truth, I’m really quite looking forward to seeing her expression when she comes out and hears the news of Song Yuhang’s death.”
At the lumberyard.
“Mom, Mom…” Ji Jingxing called out softly, crawling towards her, her hands and feet bound. Her face was smeared with blood, clearly having endured some torture.
Mother Song was tied up against a radiator, her head drooping down, while the ventilation fan above buzzed relentlessly. The workshop was filled with fine specks of dust floating in the air.
Ji Jingxing’s eyes reddened, and she sniffled, shuffling over to her feet and nudging her leg with her shoulder.
“Mom, Mom, wake up, are you okay?”
Seeing her motionless and silent, Ji Jingxing choked up with sobs, tears streaming down unchecked.
The elder’s full head of silver hair was disheveled, her figure was gaunt to the extreme, her clothes stained with blood, her face not much cleaner.
Before she had found the child, Ji Jingxing harbored a sliver of resentment towards her; had she not taken Xiaowei out, the child would not have gone missing. But now, seeing her like this, that hint of resentment vanished without a trace.
In this world, what grandmother doesn’t cherish her own grandchild?
Ji Jingxing knelt up, leaning over to bite at the ropes binding her grandmother’s wrists, trying to saw through them with her teeth.
The radiator emitted a strong, pungent smell of rust, causing her whole body to shiver with a cold metallic sensation.
The rough rope scraped against her teeth, making them ache, and Ji Jingxing tasted a hint of blood, but she couldn’t bite through the rope.
“Creak—” The door swung open, and several men in black rushed in.
Ji Jingxing was both startled and terrified. Before she could say a word, someone grabbed her by the collar and violently threw her to the ground.
“Damn it, trying to escape, huh? I’ll teach you a lesson!” A whip as thick as a thumb came down, lashing across her face and head.
Ji Jingxing rolled on the ground, screaming hoarsely as the ventilation fan above cast a chaos of light and shadow.
Sobbing, she begged for mercy, barely holding on to life, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’ll give you whatever amount of money you want, just let me go, please let me go…”
The gang stopped their assault as the masked leader bent down, lifted her face, scrutinizing her closely.
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“It’s not about money; it’s that you’ve messed with someone you shouldn’t have. Do you understand?”
“And another piece of advice, you’d better stop provoking Lin Yan, or you won’t even know how you end up dead.”
A fleeting recollection of Song Yuhang’s warning flashed through Ji Jingxing’s mind, and tears brimmed in her eyes instantaneously.
The man let go of her, pressing down on her hair and flinging her to the ground.
“Think it through for yourself,” he said before instructing, “Close the door.”
With that, he left with his henchmen in tow.
The door was locked once again.
One of the subordinates leaned in and whispered, “She’s here.”
“Do as the young master instructed, let her in, but don’t make it too obvious.”
The subordinate nodded and quickly walked away.
Lin Yan climbed over the wall with her bare hands, landing softly on the ground. Before she could blend into the shadows, the searchlight whitewashed the surroundings.
Several men in black, brandishing machetes, pounced towards her.
Squad help her 😭
Squad help her 😭