Chapter 1434: Exactly the Same
Huo Shaoheng glanced at him.
Zhou Qiyuan remained expressionless.
Among the four of them, Yin Shixiong looked like he was about to kill someone by slaughtering them with a blade.
Although Zhao Liangze tried his best to hold back, the tears at the corners of his eyes still revealed the nervousness and uneasiness in his heart.
He had always been the most vulnerable among the four of them. However, after Bai Shuang’s death, he finally became stronger.
Huo Shaoheng was supposed to be the calmest and most ruthless of them all. But because Gu Nianzhi had been kidnapped, his calmness was only superficial.
No one knew that just five minutes ago, his mind was still in a mess.
Therefore, the person who appeared the calmest was Zhou Qiyuan.
Huo Shaoheng calmed down and glanced around the living room. He stared in the direction of the door and narrowed his eyes. He seemed to understand what Zhou Qiyuan was implying.
He nodded and walked slowly to the door. He stopped in front of the elevator and said, “If it were me, I would have set up an ambush in this building a few days in advance.”
As he spoke, he looked upstairs.
If he remembered correctly, Gu Yanran used to own an apartment upstairs.
However, this apartment had probably been repossessed by Gu Nianzhi. The key card had also been changed, but no one lived in it.
Therefore, those people knew that there was an empty apartment in this building.
He walked over from the elevator door and stood at the door while saying, “… Then, I’d cast an electronic shield to disable all the electronic devices here.”
Huo Shaoheng continued walking forward, “Then, I’d break the surveillance camera at the door. At this time, the people in the room would have noticed someone outside.”
Yin Shixiong and Zhao Liangze quickly stepped aside and watched Huo Shaoheng walk to the door alone.
He pulled out his gun and aimed it at the door lock. “I’ll ring the doorbell first. If the people inside aren’t fooled, I’ll shoot the lock.”
Gu Nianzhi’s key card had been specially processed, so it wasn’t easy to make a fake replica.
However, as long as they used an electronic shield, there would be a 10-minute time difference. One shot to smash the door lock would be enough to do the job.
Huo Shaoheng pushed the door open and walked into the house. He was completely immersed in the scene.
“… the people inside will definitely resist, but they will also try to hide. I will kill the people who resist with one shot…”
He paused at this point and looked at Zhou Qiyuan. “Why didn’t they kill Xiao Ye?”
They had only inflicted serious injuries.
They had fired so many shots, but none of them had broken her bones or hit her arteries.
Any one of them would have been enough to make Xiao Ye’s situation ten times worse. However, they didn’t do that. They had only neutralized her ability to fight.
Zhou Qiyuan nodded and said slowly, “Generally speaking, we should have killed Xiao Ye first and then taken Miss Gu with us.”
This was probably the only thing that didn’t make sense.
Huo Shaoheng walked to the figure of Xiao Ye lying in the middle of the room and continued, “Nianzhi must have been hiding in…”
He looked towards the bedroom because it was the only place he could hide in a hurry.
He couldn’t continue what he wanted to say.
Zhou Qiyuan continued on his behalf, “… the assailant must have used Xiao Ye’s life to threaten Miss Gu. He must have shot Xiao Ye so many times to intimidate her.”
“… Nianzhi is so kind-hearted. How could she watch these people kill Xiao Ye in front of her…” Yin Shixiong shook his head. “This silly girl couldn’t help it and came out on her own.”
Actually, she only needed to hold on for ten minutes before she would be rescued.
However, if she really held on for ten minutes, Xiao Ye would definitely die.
After pondering over this carefully, this choice was too cruel for both Gu Nianzhi and Xiao Ye.
Zhao Liangze whispered, “They didn’t kill Xiao Ye. They just tortured her. It seems like… they seem to know Nianzhi very well. They knew that she wouldn’t stay hidden. They simply let her watch Xiao Ye get killed.”
Huo Shaoheng placed his hands behind his back and didn’t say a word. The lines of his jaw were taut, like a sculpture. He was exquisitely handsome, but there was no sign of life or vitality on his face.
All his emotions seemed to be buried in an unfathomable black hole, and no one could see the bottom of it.
Zhou Qiyuan walked around the outline of Xiao Ye on the carpet. He said, “Did you see that? There are no footprints on the ground, which means that they have excellent anti-detection abilities. “Our professionals have searched the area with their equipment, but we really can’t find any footprints other than those belonging to Xiao Ye and Miss Gu. We don’t even know how many people were here…”
Yin Shixiong crossed his arms and stared at the bullet marks on the window. “That’s not surprising. We also use special plastic covers to cover our shoes when we’re on a mission.”
For example, they did this when they went to the Japanese temple to deal with Yamaguchi Aiko (Yoko).
They had yet to find out who the assailant was.
“That’s right.” Zhou Qiyuan looked at Huo Shaoheng again. “Huo Shao, did you see it? Their modus operandi…”
Huo Shaoheng said without batting an eyelid, “I saw it. Their modus operandi is exactly the same as ours.”
This case seemed to be the work of the special operations forces.
If Huo Shaoheng wasn’t the head of the special operations forces and the three people around him weren’t absolutely trustworthy, he would have suspected that someone on the inside had betrayed them.
However, everything would have remained unchanged. If there was truly someone inside who had betrayed them, there would have had countless opportunities to abduct Gu Nianzhi without anyone knowing. That person wouldn’t have waited until today and they wouldn’t have had to leave such a bloody scene. This appeared to be a demonstration.
Therefore, this reasoning was illogical.
If it hadn’t been someone from the special operations forces, then who had done it? Could it have been someone from their foreign counterparts?
Huo Shaoheng had once trained in Mossad, Israel. He had returned home to form the special operations forces. The way they trained was similar to the training methods abroad.
Zhao Liangze and Yin Shixiong also thought of this.
Yin Shixiong’s thick eyebrows were knitted. “Could it be the work of those bastards from abroad?!”
Zhao Liangze immediately took out his phone and entered the password. “I have to look up the information on the foreigners who recently entered our country.”
Zhou Qiyuan crossed his arms thoughtfully. “Looks like we have to activate the emergency measures from abroad.”
Huo Shaoheng’s expression was grim. He immediately asked Zhou Qiyuan, “Have you blocked all the major customs ports at the capital airport and the roads out of the city?”
Zhou Qiyuan quickly replied, “Yes, sir. I immediately sealed off the airport as soon as I received the news.” Huo Shaoheng nodded. “Also, today was the military parade and a drill. Hence, all the planes in the city are not allowed to take off before the drill. The port is temporarily closed. I’ve set up checkpoints on the roads leading out of the city, and I’m currently checking the cars one by one.”
Huo Shaoheng’s expression relaxed slightly, and he placed a hand on Zhou Qiyuan’s shoulder. “Well done.”
Even if he had been in the capital at that time, he could only have done so much.
As a leader, he was happy that his subordinates could take charge of their own affairs and not have him worry about anything.
Huo Shaoheng heaved a sigh of relief, at the same time, he looked at Yin Shixiong. “Search through the items here and pull up all the surveillance footage from today. Qiyuan said that the surveillance footage was only blocked for ten minutes. Go and see if there are any clues before and after the ten-minute mark.”
“Yes, sir!” Yin Shixiong saluted and immediately went out to search the property in the apartment complex and pull up the surveillance footage.
Huo Shaoheng waved at Zhao Liangze. “Little Ze, come back with me. You are to look up the information on foreigners entering the country. I’ll report this matter to General Ji.”
He wanted to mobilize all the manpower and resources to form an inescapable net that would make it difficult for the other party to escape.
…
When his phone rang, General Ji was on a military plane back to the imperial capital.
He took it out to take a look and realized it was Huo Shaoheng’s phone number. He quickly answered the call and asked, “Shaoheng, what happened at your place?”
General Ji only found out about the emergency departure of Huo Shaoheng’s private plane from Rihe City’s military base after the end of the exercise.
Huo Shaoheng’s solemn and low voice sounded from the other end of the phone. “… Xiao Ye was seriously injured and Nianzhi was taken away.”
“What?!” General Ji cried out involuntarily. “How could this be?! What happened to your security measures?!”
Huo Shaoheng smiled wryly. “The other party is very familiar with our security measures. They even tore off Nianzhi’s secret GPS device and threw it away.”
General Ji was shocked and furious. He almost blurted out, “Could there be another mole?!”
However, he remembered that he was still on the plane, so he swallowed his words and said, “I’ll be back soon. Hurry up and report to me!”
Huo Shaoheng quickly replied, “Yes, chief. I’m waiting for you at the airport.”
General Ji took a deep breath and began to comfort Huo Shaoheng. “Don’t worry, a lucky person will be able to find her way. In all these years, she’s only had an accident last year. She even went abroad. Don’t feel too guilty.”
The corners of Huo Shaoheng’s mouth twitched. He knew that it wasn’t convenient for General Ji to speak, so he didn’t say anything more. “I’ll wait for you to come back.”
Half an hour later, General Ji’s military plane slowly landed at the imperial airport.
Not long after, he got into the car that had come to pick him up. Huo Shaoheng was waiting for him in that car.
Secretary Cao personally drove the car, so General Ji and Huo Shaoheng could immediately discuss the matter in the car.
General Ji’s face darkened. “Tell me again, what exactly is going on!”
Huo Shaoheng recounted the situation that happened at Gu Nianzhi’s apartment and finally said, “That was what happened. We’ve ordered the airports, customs ports, and highways to be sealed. Traffic can enter but cannot leave.”
General Ji nodded. “That is exactly what should be done. I’ll immediately contact Speaker Long and Prime Minister Bai to inform them of this matter.”
After all, sealing off all the airports, customs ports, and highways involved a lot of resources.
They could have used the military parade and exercise to seal off the area for a few hours.
However, if it took any longer, they would need to support their request with a more substantial reason, as well as seek cooperation from other departments.
Huo Shaoheng needed General Ji’s support to obtain more authority to deal with this matter.
He and General Ji discussed and analyzed the matter along the way. By the time they dropped General Ji off at the military compound, they had already drawn up the preliminary plans.
“This matter will be handled according to the procedures we discussed just now.” General Ji got out of the car and said seriously, “Shaoheng, you have to stay calm. If you can’t control your own emotions, I will send someone else to take over.”
Huo Shaoheng had completely calmed down by now. He quietly helped General Ji get his briefcase out of the car and said calmly, “You’re worrying too much. I’m feeling alright. I don’t have any turbulent emotions that need to be controlled.”
“Really?” General Ji glanced at him from the corner of his eyes. He realized that Huo Shaoheng was indeed calm and composed. He spoke calmly and acted at a moderate pace. He really didn’t look like he was panicking because his loved one had gone missing.
Of course, he might have been panicking internally, but it was hard to tell since he had such excellent patience and self-control.
General Ji felt even more satisfied with him. “Okay, go ahead and find her as soon as possible.”
Huo Shaoheng replied in a low voice, “Yes, Chief.”
Huo Shaoheng watched on as General Ji entered the house. He turned and walked to his private car. At that moment, his phone rang.
It was a call from Yin Shixiong.
Huo Shaoheng quickly picked it up. “Did you find anything?”
Yin Shixiong was looking through the surveillance footage of Gu Nianzhi’s apartment. Although there was a 10-minute gap, the footage before and after the ten minute mark was intact.
With Yin Shixiong’s insight and analytical skills, he watched the video for half an hour before he locked onto a black SUV that had entered and exited the apartment complex.