50. A Clean Sweep
Along the way, Leng Yuhe kept chasing the defeated enemies. Although his plan had worked, he did not dare to let down his guard.
Shen Nan knew that he had been deceived by Leng Yuhe this time, but now it was too late for him to regret. He could only try to remedy the current situation.
“Commander, our man from the front reported that besides Leng Yuhe, there are a few high-ranking officials in his army and they have been escorted away.”
“Did he mention any specific features of those people?”
“He just said there were two women and one man. He didn’t see their specific features clearly.”
Shen Nan thought for a while and habitually turned the ring on his thumb. He was trying to find a way to defeat Leng Yuhe.
“How long have they been away?”
“They were just about to leave when we retreated. They should not have gone far now.”
“Send someone to chase them immediately. Make sure to catch them up and bring them back to me whether they are alive or dead.”
Shen Nan had always remained calm, but now his delicate lips were slightly twitching. No matter what identities those people had, as long as they could be brought back to him, he would use them to threaten and deter Leng Yuhe. In that case, he would have the opportunity to reverse the current adverse situation.
Shen Nan walked to the window and looked at the gloomy sky outside. “I hope our victory will come soon.”
Suddenly, he thought of Su Zhiyou. Although he had been keeping this woman for so long to make use of her, he had gradually become fascinated with her beauty, hypocrisy and tenderness.
If he failed completely this time, people of Country Y would definitely hold him accountable. At that time, he didn’t know if he could still survive or not. After arranging the final mission to his subordinates, he actually wanted to visit Su Zhiyou.
At this time, Su Zhiyou just returned from outside.
In order to expand the influence of that news regarding Su Ruoqing and Mingzhe, she had planned to continue publicizing the new photos she had through the press. However, it was out of her expectation that Leng Yulin and Mingzhe would join forces to investigate this matter, and they almost found out that she was the culprit.
Fortunately, she had bribed someone in that newspaper, who leaked the news to her in advance. Since she failed this time, she could only find another newspaper to carry out her plan.
Lying on the bed, Su Zhiyou was deeply disturbed, and she suddenly heard the sound of door opening.
“Why are you back? Didn’t you go to command your troops?” As she asked, she felt fortunate that she had been back in time.
Shen Nan didn’t say anything. He took off his jacket, pulled off his tie, and then he lay wearily beside Su Zhiyou.
Seeing that he didn’t speak, Su Zhiyou quickly sat up and massaged him, but her hands were suddenly held tightly by Shen Nan’s. The ring on his thumb hurt her a little.
“What… what’s wrong?”
Shen Nan looked at her with an unreadable look, and Su Zhiyou felt that the man in front of her was different from before, but she still couldn’t figure out what he was thinking.
“I have a question for you.” Shen Nan suddenly pulled Su Zhiyou near to his chest with great strength.
“If one day I have nothing left, will you stay with me, or will you leave me immediately?”
The sudden question made Su Zhiyou feel a little confused, and she didn’t know how to answer it. Her feelings towards Shen Nan began with gratitude and dependence, but over time, his menace and moodiness gradually made those feelings disappear.
Since Su Zhiyou didn’t answer his question, Shen Nan smiled with mockery.
“When I was a child, my family was very poor. Only my mother raised me up, and I didn’t know where my father was. My mother never let me ask my father’s whereabouts. At that time, everyone could easily bully me…” Shen Nan started to tell his past to her. Truth be told, he had never told anyone about this.
“Later, I went to steal money and saved it, so that I could afford my tuition. I was fed up with living in poverty. Later, my mother became seriously ill, but she insisted on not taking medicine, saying she would rather die of illness than use the money I stole. Then she really died.”
Shen Nan spoke expressionlessly, as if he were telling someone else’s story. Only Su Zhiyou could feel his hands getting cold.
“I was an industrious student, and I made acquaintance with everyone who could be useful to me. I saved a lot of money in various ways, but I couldn’t become a member of the upper class due to my background, so I premeditated the encounter with my current wife.”
Su Zhiyou’s eyelashes trembled slightly, and for some reason, she was afraid to hear the story of Shen Nan’s wife.
“She’s the daughter of a commander. She’s noble, young and beautiful. I tried every means and finally made her fall in love with me. I made used of her to pursue my study in Country Y, but that was not enough for me…”
At this time, an anxious voice rang outside the door. “Commander, Leng Yuhe has already sent people to set up an ambush at the border. They chased our soldiers and fought against them. Almost all of our people were wiped out.”
Shen Nan sighed and closed his eyes. When he opened his eyes again, he regained his composure. “I’ll solve it. Wait for me here. Remember that no matter what sounds you hear, you can’t leave the room.”
After saying that, he pushed the door open and left, leaving Su Zhiyou alone in the big room.
Bai Chongxiu took Su Ruoqing with him, and the two of them didn’t have any communication in the car. They were preoccupied by their own thoughts.
Suddenly, they heard the sound of gunshots. Bai Chongxiu hurriedly pressed Su Ruoqing’s upper body on his legs. Su Ruoqing wanted to struggle but was held by him with more strength.
“Don’t move!”
“Mr. Bai, there are soldiers chasing after us.”
Bai Chongxiu glanced back, and he indeed saw a few cars behind them. The enemies were about to catch up with them. Looking at the small number of enemies, he decided to take the plunge.
“Stop the car and prepare to wipe out the enemies.”
The soldiers were stunned at the command, but in an instant, they accepted the order and were ready to execute it.
The two groups of people fought violently, and the enemies gradually gained the upper hand. Holding his pistol, Bai Chongxiu sat in the car with Su Ruoqing, and he didn’t look anxious at all.
“Quick! Protect Mr. Bai and Madam!”
Bai Peiya’s car and guards arrived in time, and the enemies were instantly at the disadvantage. They were all killed within minutes.
It was the first time that Su Ruoqing had ever encountered such an accident, and she was really frightened. Her face, which had already been bloodless, was even paler. Bai Chongxiu looked at her and wanted to comfort her, but he didn’t know what to say, so he just kept silent.
“Miss Bai, we are safe now.”
Hearing the soldier’s words, Bai Peiya quickly got out of the car and ran to Bai Chongxiu’s car. She looked quite worried.
“Bro, are you okay? You scared me to death.”
Bai Chongxiu touched her head gently and comforted her in a soft voice, “It’s all right. Don’t be afraid.”
Sitting beside him, Su Ruoqing had been silent. Bai Peiya glanced at her and didn’t say anything to comfort her.
“Notify all the soldiers to go ahead at full speed. We must go home as soon as possible.” Bai Chongxiu ordered the soldiers to leave as quickly as possible after they finished dealing with the enemies’ bodies.
It had already exceeded the agreed time, but none of the people sent out had returned. Shen Nan knew that the plan to kidnap those three people to threaten Leng Yuhe had failed. He wondered what would happen to him next. Would he die?
Putting on the military uniform that he hadn’t worn for a long time, Shen Nan dismissed all the remaining subordinates. He knew that Leng Yuhe never spared his opponent’s life in war. Even if he was a bad person, he couldn’t bear to let so many people die because of his incompetence.
At this time, Leng Yuhe’s army was celebrating their victory. Their plan was so successful that it took only half a day to eliminate all the enemies.
The soldiers celebrated their win with great joy, while Leng Yuhe stood at the center of the battlefield with blood on his whole body.
As an old saying goes, there is no real winner in the war.
Behind the victory of the war, both sides paid a heavy price, which was the loss of countless lives. This was the cruel side of wars. The purpose of a war was to maintain the rule of the Empire, and few people cared about the soldiers who died on the battlefield.
For the first time, Leng Yuhe felt he was just like a tool. Looking at the blood-red sky, he wondered if the sun on Su Ruoqing’s side had the same color.
“Clean up the battlefield and find Shen Nan.”
After a long time, the soldiers reported to him, “General, all the bodies have been counted, but we didn’t find Shen Nan’s body.”
After hearing this, Leng Yuhe picked up his gun again. Shen Nan indirectly killed Adjutant Xu, and he must avenge his brother.
“General, it’s too dangerous for you to go find him yourself.”
“You don’t have to accompany me. Judging from Shen Nan’s character, I know he won’t take any further action since he has already lost the war.” Then he left.
In a secret base in Province S.
“Colonel, Shen Nan has failed. We have lost our chance to make use of Province S again.”
“It doesn’t matter. There’s an old Chinese saying that victory and defeat are both common in battle. Besides, Shen Nan is not easy to control. Now I’m very interested in that man called Leng Yuhe. He is not a man to be trifled with.”
At this time, Leng Yuhe had found Shen Nan, and he was furious as he looked at Shen Nan’s relaxed manner.
“Shen Nan, you didn’t expect that you would end up like this, did you?”
“Are you here to make fun of me?” Shen Nan stood up from his chair, still turning the ring on his thumb.
Leng Yuhe was stimulated by his provocative words and raised his gun. He shot Shen Nan’s left knee.
Shen Nan lost his balance and fell to his chair again. “I thought you would kill me with one shot.”
“Of course not. You owe me my brother’s life. I want to torture you to my heart’s content before killing you.”
After saying that, Leng Yuhe raised the gun and fired three shots, shooting Shen Nan through all his limbs.
“You are good at threatening people, right? Now, let me walk you through the feeling of your own life being threatened.”
Shen Nan’s face was pale, but he was unable to move. Therefore, he could only watch Leng Yuhe shoot him once and again. Leng Yuhe didn’t directly kill him, for he wanted Shen Nen to die because of excessive loss of blood.
“You must be smarter in your next life.” Leng Yuhe threw his pistol down to the ground and turned away, for he had more important things to do.
Shen Nan felt the blood slowly flowing out of his body. He couldn’t endure the pain anymore, and he fell to the ground.
Su Zhiyou had heard everything that happened upstairs, but Shen Nan had told her not to go out. Besides, she wasn’t brave enough to go out herself. She didn’t dare to check the situation downstairs through the crack at the door until the gunshots stopped for a long time.
Shen Nan fell in a pool of blood, with bright-red blood surrounding him. This scene stimulated Su Zhiyou a lot, and she hurriedly pushed the door and ran downstairs.
“What’s wrong with you? Where are the people who were supposed to protect you?” Su Zhiyou wanted to help Shen Nanshen up, but she was intimidated by his serious injuries.