Chapter 1118 — Valentine's Day Special: Xiao Ning's Story, Part 3
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
"Go back where? Your people have probably been taken by now. If nothing unexpected happens, they'll use those men as hostages to negotiate with the local authorities and demand a ransom." Wei Zhao spoke calmly. "Go back, and you'll be taken too."
"Then are we... just going to stay up in this tree?" The girl's expression was a little odd.
"We can't go down yet." Wei Zhao shook his head.
"Not yet? Haven't they gone?" the girl asked, puzzled.
"They'll be back," Wei Zhao said.
The girl was slightly taken aback at his words and found it hard to believe, but she nodded all the same and did not argue. As she saw it, Wei Zhao would not do her harm.
Sure enough, some ten minutes later the jeep that had already left came driving back. It wandered to and fro nearby for a long while before finally stopping beneath a tree close by.
The girl's eyes went wide. Wei Zhao had been right after all — these men had actually come back. Had it been her, she would likely have assumed the danger was over and climbed down from the tree, and by now she would have been discovered.
"Where did they run off to? Did they really jump off the cliff?" The man who stepped out of the jeep was the leader of the armed men from before. His face was somewhat savage; he swept a furious glance over the surroundings and said, "Search. Keep searching! It's been a long time since I've seen a girl that pretty!"
"Chief, I suspect they've jumped off the cliff. There isn't a single footprint anywhere around here," the burly man who had been carrying the submachine gun said cautiously.
"I told you to search, so search!" the leader said, unwilling to let it go. "Alive, I want to see the person; dead, I want to see the corpse! Bring that girl back to me — when I'm done with her, she's yours to play with!"
"Yes, sir!" At the chief's promise, the burly man perked up at once. "I'll go around and take another look below the cliff!"
The girl's face was very pale, filled with shame and fury. She had not expected these men to be so shameless. Thank goodness Wei Zhao was at her side; otherwise her honor might well have been ruined here.
Wei Zhao had been right: there was no reasoning with these armed men. In their eyes there was no such thing as reason at all.
The girl sighed faintly. Thank goodness Wei Zhao was with her. Otherwise, those men who had come along with her — who seemed so loyal on the surface — were in truth only good at flattery, and when the crucial moment came they had failed her.
"We can go now." Seeing the jeep disappear into the distance, Wei Zhao let out a breath of relief. The warning signal from the jade pendant had vanished, which meant these men would not be coming back any time soon.
"Oh..." This time the girl had learned her lesson and nodded obediently.
This time, too, Wei Zhao did not choose to climb down from the tree. It seemed this area was still within the armed forces' sphere of operations; their search could reach this far, and there was no telling whether they might search here again. So, to avoid trouble, Wei Zhao meant to keep moving through the treetops.
The wound on his leg had already begun to heal. Leaping among the trees was no great difficulty for a man of early Yellow Rank strength.
At the thought, Wei Zhao made ready to take the girl in his arms once more, and said, "Sorry, but I'll have to carry you again."