Although the military advisor was a weak scholar, he had been in the green forest for some time and could handle a frail and weak young lady like Yao Yire. He rode his horse forward, grabbed her and shouted: "Run again and I'll kill you!"

  Yao Yilei knew that the bandits were desperate and would stop at nothing, so she had no choice but to obey and return to her horse, continuing on their journey.

  The sun sets in the west, and it's about to get dark.

  A town five miles away, today is the day when the livestock market gathers. After a day of trading, hundreds of mules, horses and cattle have changed owners. The market has become deserted, with cow dung and horse dung all over the ground, the smell is pungent. Those animal traders are either squatting under the fence counting their banknotes and silver coins, or sitting in a restaurant ordering a bowl of noodles, calling for a pot of white wine to drink, and noisily discussing this year's market trends.

  A man and a woman walked into the market, the young waiter at the rice shop saw their dusty appearance and hurriedly invited: "You two, come in for a snack."

  As soon as the two entered, they caught the attention of the cattle vendors. What a fine couple! The man was eight feet tall and the woman seven feet, with a heroic scarf tied around her waist and boots on her feet. Her eyes were sharp and fierce, exuding an aura of murder... This must be what they call a knight-errant in storytelling... Hmm, these two knights seem to be dripping wet, probably just got into a water fight.

  This couple was Chen Zikong and Xia Xiaoqing, who had been tracking the kidnappers all the way to this point. The young man's call had lured out the hungry worms in their stomachs, and from morning till now, they hadn't eaten a single bite of food, but were starving. Xia Xiaoqing was a bit better off, having been filled with water earlier by the river, but upon smelling the aroma of meat buns, she couldn't help herself either.

  Chen Zikun took out a dollar and threw it on the counter: "Meat buns, as many as you can give me."

  "Alright!" The young man took out the steamer, and the hot meat buns wrapped in dry lotus leaves were put into Chen Zikun's carrying bag. He grabbed two big ones with his hands and stuffed them into his mouth, choking him so much that he rolled his eyes back.

  "Starved to death and reincarnated." Xia Xiaoqing cursed, and she also took a bun to eat, after a few bites, she choked too.

  "Sir, have a bowl of noodles to send you off." The young shopkeeper with a keen sense of vision brought over two bowls of noodles. Chen Zikun drank several big mouthfuls, wiped his mouth and asked: "Shopkeeper, did you see two men and one woman riding horses passing by just now?" As he spoke, he handed over a dollar coin.

  The young man saw him take out a large amount of money and turned his face to shout: "Ladies and gentlemen, who has seen two men and one woman riding horses on the road?"

  Someone else replied: "I met them when I was driving my camel over here. The three of them didn't take the main road, they took a shortcut to the east, all riding horses, and that woman was still wearing Western-style clothes."

  Chen Zikun and Xia Xiaoqing exchanged a glance, put down their bowls in unison, and went out the door.

  As he passed through the cattle market, Chen Zikun suddenly stopped and walked up to a small black donkey with four hooves trampling in the snow. He expertly checked its teeth and hooves, while the owner beside him smiled and extended his hand.

  Xia Qing stood beside him, tilting her head and watching suspiciously as the two men haggled silently with their hands hidden in their sleeves. After a moment, the deal was struck, and Chen Zikun pulled out thirty silver dollars to buy the little black donkey. The owner also threw in an old-fashioned wooden saddle for free.

  "The money is only enough for a donkey, you ride it." Chen Zikun said to Xia Xiaoqing.

  "Let me ride a donkey, how did you come up with that." Xia Xiaoqing's face turned red, and she spat, in her opinion, donkeys were for those rustic little wives who had returned to their parents' home to ride, while a martial arts practitioner like herself should be riding a tall horse to show off.

  As if guessing what was on her mind, the little black donkey let out a dissatisfied bray, its high-pitched cry attracting quite a few curious glances. Xia Xiaoqing wanted to leave, but her two swollen feet couldn't take another step. With no other choice, she pinched her nose and mounted the little furry donkey once again, continuing on their tracking journey.

  The sunset shone obliquely on the two people, as if it had embroidered a layer of red edges.

  ……

  Beijing Zhengyangmen East Station, Lin Wenjing stood facing the same sunset with a sense of melancholy. The train was late and had not arrived yet. Luggage was piled up on the platform, Aunt Mei was negotiating prices with the porter, her brother sat on a trunk blowing bubbles, his arm still wrapped in black crepe. The bustling station echoed with noise, but Lin Wenjing felt so lonely and cold.

  How she wished Chen Zi could appear in time and take her away, but this scene finally did not appear. The train puffed out steam and slowly entered the platform, and the crowd that had been waiting for a long time began to board the train. Lin Wenjing looked back at the direction of the waiting room again, still without seeing the shadow of that person.

  She knew he wouldn't come, softly sighed, carrying her suitcase and holding her little brother's hand, boarded the train.

  ……

  Yao Gongguan, Yao Cizhang paced back and forth in the living room, his pipe long extinguished but still puffing away. The lady had fainted several times upon learning of her daughter's kidnapping, and was now being consoled by a group of ladies. The useless officials from the Police Department, the Infantry Headquarters, and the Garrison Command were being led on a merry chase by the kidnappers, with no news to date.

  The sky had already darkened, but Yao Yile was still not released. Yao Cizhang knew something was wrong. Since the kidnappers could use phones and trains, they must have had someone guiding them. How could they not recognize a worthless German mark? This batch of counterfeit bills would not only fail to deceive the kidnappers, but also bring catastrophic consequences for his daughter.

  He couldn't sit still, personally picked up the phone and asked about the progress of Wu Bingxiang's case.

  The police department is also busy, today they arrested many people from the Zi Guang Car Factory. The detective team is intensifying their interrogation. In a dark dungeon, Xue Ping Shun and Che Fu Tou Wang Dong Liang are stripped naked and tied to a pillar. A stove with raging flames burns brightly, branding irons are heated to red hot, several burly men with furrowed brows and cold eyes haven't even started the torture yet but have already scared the victims into incontinence.

  Xue Ping Shun had been a patrol officer, but he had never seen such an array. Everything was fine, and then suddenly a group of detectives and patrol officers came and raided the Zi Guang Car Factory, arresting everyone. Luckily, Xing Er wasn't there today, or she would have been caught too.

  Old catcher Li Sansi walked over, with a smile and asked: "Old Xue, let's put it this way, we're colleagues, so be sensible and surrender, don't hurt the harmony, this isn't just any small police station, this is the Ministry of Internal Affairs' big shot, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, you know, it used to be the Department of Punishment, these torture instruments are leftovers from the Qing Dynasty, I really don't want to use them today."

  Xue Pingshun pleaded bitterly: "Officer, we are really innocent. The Miss Yao you mentioned, I haven't even seen her before. Da Kui is not that kind of person, he would never do such a cruel and unjust thing."

  Li Sansi sneered, suddenly pulled out two box guns and slammed them on the table: "These two guns were taken from under Chen Zikun's pillow in his bedroom. What do you have to say for yourself!"

  Xue Ping was dumbfounded, secretly cursing, "Big guy, why did you hide two guns at home?" Now the yellow mud has fallen into his pants, it's either shit or shit.

  "Let's not talk about it, let's just punish him." Li San Si waved his hand and a burly man came over to start adding bricks under Xue Ping Shun's feet. This was a traditional punishment, a relatively elementary form of the tiger bench.

  Even if it's just a trivial matter, Xue Ping Shun's old arms and legs can't take it, and he's sweating profusely from the pain.

  Li Sansi looked at Xue Pingshun's performance with a gloomy face, and based on his experience, this guy was likely to be really unaware of the kidnapping case.

  "If you don't confess, things will get serious." Li Sansi threatened, when suddenly someone came in from outside and whispered a few words. It turned out that the patrol police had found two corpses in the woods near where the Xiangshan case occurred, and after investigation, they were believed to be small-time henchmen of the kidnappers. The pursuers also found a couple who owned a rice shop, bound together five miles away, and it was discovered that Chen Zikun had tied them up...

  The case suddenly became mysterious, Li Sansi ordered a temporary suspension of the interrogation and went to report to Wu Bingxiang in person.

  At this time, Wu Bingxiang was on the phone explaining to Yao Cichang that everything was going according to plan and that Lian would be rescued soon. After finally placating Yao, another phone rang, and when he picked it up, it was a call from the Garrison Command.

  Originally, Deputy Commander Xu Shuzheng of the Army mobilized a division to attack the bandit gang led by Wei Sanpao, who was entrenched in a certain place in Hebei. The army used heavy machine guns and Krupp mountain cannons, and instantly flattened the stronghold, killing dozens of bandits and capturing Wei Sanpao alive. However, they couldn't find any trace of Miss Yao anywhere.

  "Bring Wei Sanpao in for questioning." Wu Bingxiang hung up the phone and saw Li Sansi standing at the door, so he asked him what was going on. Li Sansi briefed him on the progress of the case, and Wu Bingxiang also fell into deep thought. This case was getting more and more complicated.

  "Don't be in a hurry to punish him, let's wait and see," said Wu Bingxiang.

  ……

  Daxing County, Gaoge Village, it was already late at night. Three horses quietly entered the village. The dogs at the entrance of the village discovered strangers and immediately barked loudly. The three horses arrived in front of a house amidst the barking of the dogs. Hei Feng dismounted his horse and knocked on the door: "Mother, it's me."

  After a while, an old woman with a cane came over and opened the door: "Erbai, my son, is that you back?"

  "Mother, the Second Black has returned." Hei Feng said.

  The old woman lost her crutch and stretched out both hands to wipe the dark wind from her face, trembling with voice: "It's really my son who has come back."

  Hei Feng knelt on the ground and let his mother touch his face, two lines of tears falling: "Mother, are you feeling better? Can your eyes see things now?"

  "Alright, it's fine, just can't see with my eyes, no big deal, I'm used to it." The old woman smiled kindly and suddenly felt something, asking: "Son, who came with you?"

  Hei Feng wiped away a tear and said, "It's my friend, his name is Su Qingyan, and the other one... is my newlywed wife."

  The military advisor took off his hat and bowed, saying: "Auntie, I'm paying my respects to you." As he spoke, he gave a stern glance at Yao Yirei, signaling her not to speak out of turn.

  Yao Yilei was not having it and shouted: "Old man, I'm your son's captive..."

  Before she could finish speaking, the military advisor covered her mouth and said: "Auntie, this daughter-in-law was bought by Hei Feng for 100 big yuan, yet she doesn't listen to him."

  The old woman didn't suspect anything and smiled: "It's all right, dear, just come in quickly, I'll cook for you."

  Three people entered the yard, and the military advisor first tied Yao Yiren to the cowshed, then supported Heifeng into the main house. The old woman went down to the kitchen to cook, although her eyes were blind, but in her own home she was already familiar with the placement of various things, and her movements were no different from those of ordinary people.

  A few minutes later, Chen Zikun and Xia Xiaoqing arrived at the village entrance, where the dogs started barking again. Chen Zikun took out a meat bun and threw it to them, and the pack of dogs immediately chased after the meat bun, leaving no one to bother them. The two of them rode their donkey to the entrance of Heifeng's house, where Xia Xiaoqing jumped onto the courtyard wall with a light and agile movement, like a swallow. She glanced inside for a moment, then gave Chen Zikun a reassuring hand signal.

  Chen Zikun's climbing posture was a bit clumsy, and after jumping into the yard, the two searched around and found Yao Yirei tied up in the cowshed.

  Yao Yile saw a black shadow approaching, thinking it was Hei Feng, and was so scared that she began to whimper. However, the person stretched out their hand to their lips and made a silencing gesture: "Shh...it's me."

  "Wow wow wow", Yao Yire became even more excited, it was actually Chen Zikun who had chased after her. She was so excited that she had hot tears in her eyes, if she hadn't been tied up, she would have already thrown herself into his arms.

  Suddenly, Xia Xiaoqing rushed into the cowshed, made a gesture to Chen Zikun, indicating that someone was coming. Chen Zikun dodged behind a haystack, pulled out his bayonet, while Xia Xiaoqing hid behind the door, holding her breath and waiting to capture the incoming person at once.

  An old blind woman came in, stumbling and without any combat power. For a moment, Chen Zikun and Xia Xiaoqing were both stunned. The old woman walked up to Yao Yire, fumbled with the ropes on her body, and pulled out the rag stuffed into her mouth.

  "Child, I know you're a captive, hurry up and leave this village, head north for ten miles, that's where the county government is. Here are two rice balls, take them with you to eat on the road." The old woman handed over two rice balls and stuffed them into Yao Yire's hands.