Chapter 1050: Kept in the Dark

Not long after, a dark-skinned, thin, middle-aged man appeared, surrounded by over forty armed Bodyguards.

However, this group was very cautious; they did not dare to approach the house at all and stopped from a distance.

He was tightly protected by the Bodyguards in the very center of the formation.

Immediately after, several small soldiers trotted close to the house and shouted at the top of their lungs in Chinese toward the inside: "General Milai has come in person, just to negotiate with you! Send one representative over, and do not carry weapons, otherwise we will open fire."

He Yuzhu gathered his internal energy and said in a resonant voice: "Negotiation is possible!"

The soldiers outside continued: "You must come alone. Don't"

He Yuzhu turned his head to glance at Hu Bayi and said: "Hu, you all stay here."

Hu Bayi didn't even think about it; he tucked his gun into his waistband and said: "I'm going with you."

Wang Pangzi also followed up, patted his chest, and said: "Count me in!"

Dajinya and Xu Damao looked at each other; neither spoke, and their expressions were very complicated.

After a few seconds of silence, presumably feeling that cowering like this was truly inappropriate, Dajinya gave a dry cough and said vaguely: "Well... the two of us will watch the remaining people, otherwise we won't have a backup plan."

Xu Damao nodded immediately, "Right, right, we'll watch these people; this way, we still have a bargaining chip in our hands."

He Yuzhu looked at the two of them and said: "In case I die there, don't let them live either."

Upon hearing this, Xu Damao felt a sudden tug in his heart, and a layer of cold sweat broke out on his back.

He Yuzhu said no more, dragged the officer, and walked over boldly.

The officer winced in pain, limping as he walked in front.

The two stopped when they were about a dozen steps away from those people; the Bodyguards became visibly nervous, a clatter of bolts rang out, and the muzzles were aimed squarely at He Yuzhu, not allowing General Milai to show his face directly at all.

He Yuzhu stood there with his spine straight and shouted at the human wall: "General Milai, is your courage only this big? You don't even dare to face me and talk for a couple of sentences?"

There was silence behind the human wall for a few seconds, and then General Milai's muffled voice came through a loudspeaker, carrying a hint of annoyance after being provoked: "Talking to you is no problem! However, we must go into the car to talk!"

He Yuzhu curled the corner of his mouth and shouted: "As expected of a man who is a general, you are indeed a cut bolder than this bunch of your underlings."

He Yuzhu was searched from top to bottom by several soldiers, and only after confirming he was not carrying any weapons was he brought to the stretched Lincoln car.

The front, back, left, and right of the car were surrounded by armed soldiers, a dense mass; although the muzzles were not pointed directly at him, that sense of oppression pressed down like a mountain.

He Yuzhu bent down and climbed in, finding the space inside the Lincoln quite spacious; with leather seats and solid wood trim, it exuded the air of a nouveau riche, which was actually suitable for discussing matters.

As soon as he sat steady, General Milai also quickly climbed in and casually closed the car door with a "bang," shutting out the gazes and muzzles of the soldiers outside.

General Milai looked him up and down a few times and spoke first: "You have been wanting to talk to me; what exactly do you want to talk about?"

He Yuzhu leaned back against the seat, crossed his legs, and said unhurriedly: "You go all over the world contacting rich people to buy your jade, and when they come, you kidnap them. If this gets out, it doesn't quite match your status as a general, does it?"

After hearing this, General Milai had no expression on his face; he was silent for a moment, then suddenly changed the subject, staring into He Yuzhu's eyes and saying: "You are not an ordinary person."

He Yuzhu curled his lips and smiled, his tone carrying a hint of casualness: "General has a sharp eye."

General Milai leaned back against the leather seat and smiled, "I went to investigate you all and discovered you are Mr. He. If I am not mistaken—you are the 'Shadow' in the eyes of the CIA, right?"

He Yuzhu was stunned for a moment, then the corners of his mouth slowly curled up, "General Milai's information is indeed well-informed. But what I admire more is that you know I am Shadow, yet you still dare to come into the car alone to talk to me."

Upon hearing this, General Milai suddenly laughed heartily, the laughter echoing in the spacious carriage.

When he finished laughing, his expression turned serious, and he waved his hand, saying: "I won't hide it from you, doing these things is indeed dishonorable, but to tell you the truth—I didn't do any of this; it was an aide-de-camp of mine who did it behind my back. I have already brought him here today, he is in a car outside. I, Milai, today in front of you, offer you my apologies."

After saying this, he actually lowered his head, his attitude so sincere it didn't look faked.

He Yuzhu stared at him for a few seconds before speaking slowly, "Could it be that the money extorted and the people who died have nothing to do with you at all?"

General Milai raised his head, his gaze frank, and he nodded, his voice deepening: "You might not believe it, but this aide-de-camp of mine is my brother-in-law. How many heinous things he has done behind my back up to this day, I am only just finding out. I am sorry."

The carriage was quiet for a few seconds.

He Yuzhu had seen too many formidable figures, and too many deep-thinking old foxes accustomed to putting on an act, but at this moment he looked into General Milai's eyes—there was no evasion in those eyes, no guilty conscience, only an indescribable frankness.

He was truly moved by this sincerity.

He Yuzhu slowly exhaled, his tone relaxing a bit, but the weight in his words did not diminish at all: "If General Milai really didn't know about this, then I can let you go today. Otherwise—you know, you have no possibility of leaving alive."

General Milai nodded solemnly and was silent for a moment, "The reason I came to see you even though I knew there was danger is that I wanted to tell you one thing—my father was a member of the Military Statistics Bureau back then. However, from beginning to end, he never harmed anyone from your esteemed party."

He Yuzhu's face showed no ripples; he was not easily led astray by these words from Milai and continued to press: "Then the officer I captured, whose man is he exactly?"

General Milai sighed, rubbed his hands as if organizing his words, and only after a long while did he speak: "To be precise, he is my brother-in-law's man. But this kid botched the job and was captured by you, so the matter couldn't be covered up anymore... As a result, my brother-in-law came to me and said he had hooked a big fish. That was when I became suspicious, and when I looked back into it, I realized who I had provoked."

He smiled bitterly at this point and spread his hands: "I really didn't know about those petty, small-time dealings, and I couldn't be bothered to ask. But this time, I knew I had provoked you, and only then did I realize the matter had blown up."

He Yuzhu leaned against the seat, his gaze never leaving Milai's face, as if weighing the truth and weight of these words.