Earlier, Tang Yanqing was fighting one against four, and that noise also attracted Xia Zuo, who was at another exit far away. However, since it was Tang Yanqing battling four people, Xia Zuo held back and did not co out.
Upon hearing Tang Yanqing’s call, his heart also skipped a beat. So it turns out that even when she was fighting four at once and couldn’t be distracted, Tang Yanqing still noticed him.
Xia Zuo crawled out from the ruins, and as his perspective shifted, he could see the ard personnel approaching from a distance.
He was also taken aback, instantly realizing where Tang Yanqing ant by "go back."
The situation was urgent, there was no ti to lose, so he nodded quickly: "I’ll leave now and return to gather reinforcents. Tang Yanqing, I entrust you with the gentleman temporarily."
However, Tang Yanqing narrowed her eyes and looked over: "I want you to go back to the hotel, not to gather reinforcents to co over. I want you to guard Jieyou well with the people over there, and absolutely not to spread out the personnel and expose Jieyou to danger again!"
Xia Zuo understood Tang Yanqing’s aning, worried that George might have another trick. Such diversion tactics George had used several tis, to be prepared in case he couldn’t succeed here, then turn to hurt the young miss again.
Yet Xia Zuo hesitated: "But if we don’t gather reinforcents, what should we do here?"
If he also left, there would only be three people left: the gentleman, Tang Yanqing, and Shi Nian. How could just the three of them deal with so many people?
"Don’t worry about it!" Tang Yanqing’s eyes were fixed on the approaching Isee personnel, "You just need to guard Jieyou well."
At this critical mont, the biggest fear was wavering. Since the situation was disadvantageous, among all the people here combined, at least a child must be safely kept!
This is human nature, even if the adults face death today, the most innocent little life must at least survive.
Xia Zuo understood, resolutely turned around: "Alright, tell the gentleman and miss. As long as I have a breath left, the young miss will definitely be safe!"
Xia Zuo left.
In the vast open space, only Tang Yanqing faced those approaching people alone.
Viewed from above, those people were like waves, while he was an inconspicuous isolated island in the sea. Without much effort, he would be swallowed by the waves.
.
In the tunnel, though the hidden tir bomb couldn’t be seen yet, the ticking of the countdown was consistently ringing out, each tick shattering the eardrum and striking colder and colder on the heart.
Huangfu Huazhang squinted his eyes towards the not-too-distant exit.
George’s bomb installation was quite unique; unlike other kidnappers who often placed bombs on hostages, he had carefully checked Shi Nian and found no bombs or fuses.
Since George didn’t play it that way, he must have a thod that he found more entertaining for himself.
Unable to speak at the mont, unwilling to let George gauge his psychological movents, he reached out and wrote in Shi Nian’s palm.
Shi Nian was initially slightly taken aback.
She had a slight instinctive resistance, worried that Huangfu Huazhang had lied, intending to treat her as if she were Tang Yanqing; but when his fingertips traced over, she felt a peculiar sense of familiarity.
Then she recalled sothing about the past, a remark George had inadvertently made...
Thus, she cald her mind and focused intently.
The strokes finally successfully transford into words in her heart.
He wrote: "The fuse might be on the door."
Shi Nian’s heart quietly sank. Based on the number of steps taken, she could roughly estimate the distance and knew that the exit door was right in front of her, but the hope of escape might also end abruptly here.
Calming her thoughts, she nodded towards Huangfu Huazhang, acknowledging his idea.
George wanted revenge on Huangfu Huazhang, but with years of accumulated hatred, George wasn’t satisfied with just taking Huangfu Huazhang’s life. He wanted to toy with and tornt Huangfu Huazhang. Hence, he could indeed have set the fuse on the exit door.
Even if they reached the exit, just one door away from safety, rely pushing the door could still result in their demise!
Likewise, if Tang Yanqing or Huangfu Huazhang’s subordinates ca to rescue earlier, not knowing this and hastily opened the door, the bomb would instantly be triggered, and everyone would still perish underground.
In this, Shi Nian felt a small bit of relief: before unlocking the door and triggering the bomb tir with the code, Tang Yanqing had safely passed through that door first.
.
After swiftly assessing the situation, Shi Nian instead cald down.
At this mont, only she and the gentleman were in the tunnel; even if an explosion were to occur, the damage could be minimized.
Her greatest concern now was for Jieyou.
She quietly wrote in Huangfu Huazhang’s palm: "Jieyou..."
Huangfu Huazhang felt a deep pain in his heart, took a deep breath, and answered in her palm: "I left everyone to safeguard the child’s safety."
Shi Nian’s eyes ward, then she nodded with a slight smile, writing: "Well done."
Moreover, Tang Yanqing was above; if an explosion occurred in the tunnel, she believed he would protect Jieyou for her and the gentleman, ensuring Jieyou would be well taken care of for a lifeti as if she were his own.
Thus, she feared nothing.
Smiling, she closed her eyes in the darkness, listening attentively.
Having spent many days in darkness, she realized once again that it wasn’t only a disaster but a special gift.
After listening for a while, she smiled and wrote in Huangfu Huazhang’s palm: "Southeast, Southwest, cell."
Huangfu Huazhang instantly understood: she referred to the directions from which the ticking tir sounds ca, possibly indicating where the bombs were set.
Using night vision equipnt, he quickly turned back, following her instructions to search.
The southwest corner was the easiest to find, buried beneath a patch of hay. The bomb’s wiring wasn’t overly complex; after studying it for a few minutes, Huangfu Huazhang boldly snipped the red wire...
Imdiately, the tir stopped at a certain number.
Shi Nian smiled and high-fived Huangfu Huazhang.
Next, the two headed towards the southeast.
This bomb was mounted on the ceiling, near a hidden electrical conduit.
Huangfu Huazhang turned on the flashlight, handing it to Shi Nian. He would defuse the bomb.
Finally, able to use her eyes, Shi Nian looked up at the bomb’s original position with an inexplicable intuition that she couldn’t articulate imdiately.
Indeed, this bomb was more challenging than the previous one; in addition to the traditional red and blue wires, there were green and yellow wires added. Though only two more wires, the judgnt ti and risk factor increased exponentially.
Huangfu Huazhang glanced at Shi Nian, who placed the flashlight under her chin like when mischievous as a child, giving him her most mischievous grin.
He couldn’t help but smile, shaking his head helplessly. Yet he couldn’t deny that her mischievousness eased his heart significantly.
In the empty tunnel, George’s laugh echoed: "How is it, bastard, having fun? Minesweeper, haha, a classic, isn’t it?"
Huangfu Huazhang took a deep breath, transferring the scissors from the red wire to the blue wire.
The 5-minute countdown on the tir was glaringly red, provoking anxiety with every flicker.
This bomb disposal ga tested reasoning abilities, but the ti limit made it, to so extent, a gamble.
His initial instinct suggested red, but since the previous bomb was disard with the red wire, psychology analysis would suggest that George wouldn’t set the critical wire as red this ti as well.
Conventionally, after red, it should be blue.
Yet the hesitation made him hesitant to cut. If he was wrong, not only would he die, but so would his little girl.
Shi Nian saw Huangfu Huazhang’s hesitation, but since he was already up by the ceiling, she couldn’t write in his palm. She took a deep breath and asked him in her hotown dialect: "What are the colors?"
Huangfu Huazhang listened and paused.
This dialect he rembered. Back when he was treating his illness in that city, the dialect was constantly ringing in his ears. He realized Shi Nian’s intention.
This tactic is similar to the "wind talkers" during World War II or how Chinese forces communicated using the Wenzhou dialect in Vietnam War tis - using regional language accents to confuse the enemy, so even if heard, it equates to hearing nothing.
Huangfu Huazhang searched his mory, trying hard to recall the vernacular to respond.
Shi Nian then asked again: "Which wire do you want to cut?"
Huangfu Huazhang hesitated for a mont: "Blue."
With every word, the tir lost another ten seconds. Shi Nian was tense, too anxious to speak, but even without speaking, ti kept ticking down.
Shi Nian clutched the flashlight tightly: "Not just blue; it needs more colors. Sir, what colors make up Peacock Blue?"
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