Chapter 317: How Can He Be Both Handsome and Capable?

"Battalion Commander, I'm going to patrol the Main Hall."

Lan Li saluted, then turned and headed toward the waiting hall.

The veteran who was "humiliated" was so angry his brain felt like it exploded, his mouth spouting off like a telegraph.

Fortunately, several companions nearby held him back; otherwise he would have charged up to fight that kid.

Seeing the military dog with a chicken‑leg sandwich in its mouth and an innocent expression, Yang Yong couldn't help but laugh in exasperation.

He waved his hand, giving the dog permission to eat, then massaged his temples vigorously and inexplicably laughed several times.

Indeed, when a person is utterly speechless, they end up laughing.

Lan Li is good at everything: his military training is outstanding, and he's a top student from Tsinghua and Peking University in the science‑and‑engineering track.

But his emotional intelligence is absurdly low, even normal social interaction is difficult; I don't know how this kid has survived so long.

Or perhaps, from childhood to now, aside from studying, his family never let him have normal contact with others?

Last time, Yang Yong specifically took the kid to the Division headquarters to watch the commendation ceremony, just to show him how the soldier named Lu Yang knows how to be a person.

Learn how others speak, learn others' emotional intelligence, and end up learning nothing.

With the same meritorious performance, Lu Yang can, in a few words, coax comrades and leaders into a placenta, sharing glory.

Lan Li, however, makes comrades so angry it makes their teeth itch, and even when receiving awards, there are barely any applause below.

Being straightforward isn't wrong, but excessive bluntness is clueless and makes people dislike you; yet this kid's abilities are so thrilling that it gives him and senior officers constant headaches.

Nevertheless, what Lan Li said earlier has some merit; the lockdown has yielded no clues for so long, clearly the direction is wrong.

After a moment's consideration, Yang Yong still took out his phone, ready to report this hypothesis to the Chief of Staff and see whether to adopt a new approach.

But just as he pulled out his phone, the other end called first: "Chief of Staff, I was just about to call you?"

Xiong Yao's stern voice came through the handset: "Listen first—police have a lead; a villager this morning heard gunshots on a nearby mountain and found several 7.62mm shell casings, suspected to be left by the culprit."

"Police have already gone ahead, the armed police are on their way; you leave a small group at the station, and the rest rush over to assist."

"Take all the military dogs, to prevent the culprit from becoming alert and fleeing; we may need to search the mountain later."

"Yes!"

"By the way, what were you going to tell me earlier?"

Yang Yong quickly made the report, and Xiong Yao on the other end nodded slightly after hearing it.

"Lan Li's observation is sharp; among all those checking, he alone spotted the thief and quickly subdued him in a short time—good performance."

"Moreover, he anticipated that the culprit was hiding in the mountain, proactively offered suggestions, showing forward‑thinking."

Yang Yong laughed: "After all, it's the mind of a science‑and‑engineering prodigy; his analysis is naturally clear and orderly."

Xiong Yao hummed: "However, in dealing with people, he still needs proper instruction. The unit isn't a solo fight; a lone‑wolf temperament, no matter how gifted, is destined not to go far."

"He must learn to unite comrades and understand what collective consciousness is."

Yang Yong glanced at the military dog licking a stick, forced out a faint smile: "He's already, already made some progress. Earlier, I saw him voluntarily buy food and share it with comrades."

Xiong Yao laughed: "Oh, that does seem like a notable improvement. Alright, hurry and lead the team over; cooperating with police to complete the mission is urgent."

"Yes."

Yang Yong grabbed the radio and immediately summoned the team to move out.

The sun gradually set, on the overgrown mountain path.

Lu Yang and two others had been following the old man, winding through twists and turns for over fifty minutes, almost getting dizzy from the circuit.

"How's it going, does your foot still hurt?"

Lu Yang turned his head, glanced at LiMin, who was limping and clearly falling behind.

LiMin, never having undergone field training, had twisted her ankle on a stone, and was now being supported by Liu Ziqiang.

This also indirectly slowed the whole group's speed considerably; after all, they were tracking an old man and a pregnant woman—if they were young adults, they'd likely have been lost.

"Already, much better."

"Let me see."

"Really much better."

Lu Yang saw the old man seemed to stop, standing still and searching around, so he immediately crouched to examine LiMin's injury.

He lifted his pant leg, looking at her ankle swollen red like a bun; Lu Yang and the other instantly changed expression.

"Your ankle is swollen like that, and you didn't say a word, yet you kept walking this far with us—do you not want your foot?"

"Sorry, Brother Lu, I caused you trouble."

LiMin's face was full of guilt; she had promised not to be a burden before departure, yet she became a liability.

Liu Ziqiang said: "Stay here, don't go. Later Liu Ziqiang and Brother Lu will follow, and we'll come back for you later."

LiMin tried to act tough and say she's fine, but Lu Yang cut her off: "We don't need to keep following; that old man is probably about to hide the person nearby."

The three hid behind a rock, looked that way, and indeed saw the old man leading the abducted woman toward a slope.

They had thought the old man would climb up, but unexpectedly he brushed aside the dense vines covering the slope.

From behind, a dark hollow opening was faintly revealed, seeming to have a few wooden fences.

"Cave?"

This is a truly untouched deep mountain; abundant rainfall has caused vegetation to grow wildly.

If they hadn't followed the old man here, they'd never have imagined that behind this lush green tangle lies a hidden cave.

No wonder previous searches by local police couldn't find the abducted woman; hidden in such a godforsaken place where even birds don't defecate, even if the entire Sixth Company showed up, they'd still be searching until next year!

Moreover, back at Hope Elementary School, Teacher Zhang had told Lu Yang some very cruel truths.

Some families, fearing the woman might escape, lock the abducted woman with iron chains like livestock in a pigpen, or in some spot on the back mountain.

Others, due to poverty, have two or even three brothers sharing one wife.

There are also cases where a woman bore a child for this family, then was bought back by another family in the neighboring village, who then raised the child.

So, Cheng Yuanyuan was lucky; she ran out, happened to run into Lu Yang and his group, and was successfully rescued.

Those who receive no help eventually either become breeding tools, are resold, or simply die.

Teacher Zhang said that when she was young, she once saw a kidnapped woman with her own eyes; because the woman kept resisting and trying to escape, after being caught she was beaten to death.

Precisely because of that, Lu Yang became resolute in upholding justice, determined to expose the ugliness hidden beneath this picturesque scenery.

"We'll wait until the old man leaves, then we'll try to rescue him."

"What if she's numb and refuses to leave, what do we do?"

"Then we mark the location, make a sign, and hand it over to the police after descending the mountain."

"Alright."

Lu Yang's way of handling problems is more mature and calm.

He is both brave and clever, not greedy for glory; when something exceeds his ability, he never forces it.

But when he teases new recruits, he can be wildly imaginative, absurd to the extreme, completely breaking the usual pattern.

Thinking of the countless unforeseen dangers on the way there, LiMin's gaze at Lu Yang was full of little stars, as if she had already become a little fan.

"How can he be so handsome and at the same time so outstanding, so charismatic!"

But LiMin didn't know that Mo Bu Sixth Company Lu Yang already has a number‑one little fan, Chen Panpan; even if he wants to be a fan, he must queue up for a turn.

At the same time, the old man pulled aside the vines and dragged the woman into the cave.

But he found that the lock that had been fastened to the door had mysteriously vanished.

Puzzled, he opened the door, tried to stick his head inside, and in the darkness a trembling, black gun barrel protruded.

Clack clack clack!

A rapid, shrill sound rang out.

The old man was hit by the oncoming bullet and was drenched in blood.

The woman behind him was also struck by stray fire, fell into a pool of blood, and let out a painful wail.

The sudden scene made Lu Yang's pupils dilate wildly, and Liu Ziqiang's and LiMin's minds went instantly blank.

"Gun......?!"

Before LiMin could utter the word, Lu Yang pressed his hands hard on his and Liu Ziqiang's heads, his force so great it nearly pressed their faces into the ground.

He was afraid that, due to stress, the two would make some move and thereby expose their concealed location to the enemy.

Immediately after, two men emerged from the cave; one of them cradled a shortened double‑barreled hunting shotgun.

When he came out, he first pointed the muzzle cautiously around, clearly someone with some military training.

The other man was thin and trembling, unable to stand steady, holding a folded 56‑type submachine gun in his arms.

Lu Yang noticed that the muzzle of that 56‑type submachine gun was still drifting with wisps of white smoke, clearly indicating that the one who had pulled the trigger earlier was this frail‑looking fellow...