Chapter 892: Joining the Rescue

Chen Dongyang, who appeared generous and easygoing, was in fact a vain and extremely jealous person.

Xu Juan and Yang Shanshan had been fighting over Chen Dongyang for years—openly jealous of each other, scheming in the shadows—precisely because Chen Dongyang enjoyed watching them compete.

In this arrangement, Chen Dongyang got his sense of satisfaction, while Xu Juan and Yang Shanshan got his protection and resources; all three were willing parties and quite content.

But now Lu Fangchun and Wang Bo, caught by Chen Dongyang, were in a bad spot—knowing Chen Dongyang's temperament, he would certainly destroy them.

"Cutting off arms and legs would be so much easier—why bother going to all the trouble of whipping them?"

Hearing Qi San's low complaint, Xia Qing breathed a sigh of relief.

Qi San must have been talking about Lu Fangchun and the other one—since their arms and legs were still attached, that was a good sign. But the two had been whipped until their flesh split open, and they might already be infected with the evolution bacteria; they had to be rescued as soon as possible.

Jiang Xiong, four meters away, whispered back, "You don't know squat. If we cut off their parts now, would Chen Deng still be willing to pay a fortune to ransom them?"

Chen Deng had raised Lu Fangchun and Wang Bo precisely to revive the Liang Qing Squad.

Qi San snickered, "Right, the dismembering has to wait until after we get the ransom. When Old Deng discovers he emptied his coffers to ransom back two cripples, I want to see how many days he can keep playing the good guy."

"You can't see it."

"Fair point—by then we'll already be in Guicheng. Heh… once this shift's over, I can head back and relax. That kid surnamed Lu has such fair, tender skin, it's fucking tempting…"

After confirming Lu Fangchun was here, Xia Qing silently retreated to a safe area and sent a message to Luo Pei.

These beasts were planning to assault thirteen-year-old Lu Fangchun—they had to be rescued immediately.

Luo Pei quickly replied: a Liang Qing eight-person squad is in West Area Forest Six, a Wild Beast Squad seven-person squad is in West Area Forest Five; the two speed-type evolvers will rendezvous with you in ten minutes. Cooperate with them in the rescue under the identity of Zhang Ling. Stay safe—with your strength, you can do it.

Seeing the combat strength of the Wild Beast and Liang Qing personnel that Luo Pei had sent, Xia Qing understood why Luo Pei had asked her to take part in the rescue.

Liang Qing's numbers weren't small, but their combat power wasn't high. Their squad leader was a Level 4 speed-type evolver, and the rest were all Level 3 or 4 evolvers; the squad had only one junior sniper.

That was normal—the Liang Qing Squad's overall combat strength currently ranked thirty-eighth in Hui Three. Presumably the top-ranked fighters in their team had been following Lu Fangchun and Wang Bo and had been captured by Chen Dongyang along with them.

The Wild Beast Squad's combat strength was a bit higher; the captain was a Level 5 endurance-type evolver, and the sniper was intermediate-level. Xia Qing guessed the reason Luo Pei had persuaded them to join the rescue was that Chen Dongyang was here.

If a high-level sniper joined this rescue operation, casualties would be far fewer.

Xia Qing retreated to find Handsome Giant Wolf, intending to send it away first. Human infighting was about to break out here, and there was no need for Handsome Giant Wolf to get involved.

But when she slipped back to the original spot, she found the fellow had already vanished without a trace.

Excellent! After dropping her off to find the person, the thing had no intention of taking her back at all!

Xia Qing hid her signature black blade well, pulled an ordinary-looking sharp dagger from her backpack, switched on the voice changer, then tuned her earpiece-type walkie-talkie to the rescue squad's frequency, and contacted the rescue team in the voice of Qinglong Squad's female sniper Zhang Ling.

Zhang Ling was the name of the Qinglong Squad's female sniper that Xia Qing had borrowed when taking part in the operation to assassinate Tang Zhengsu. At the time, Xia Qing had assumed Yang Jin had made the person up, until April of this year when Zhang Ling came to Mountain 49 for training, and Xia Qing learned the Qinglong Squad really did have such a person.

Zhang Ling, 28 years old, 175 cm tall, on the slim side, a Level 6 strength-type evolver and high-level sniper; the date she joined the Qinglong Squad is unknown.

Although Xia Qing and Zhang Ling didn't look alike, their builds and heights were similar; once they put on protective suits and masks, anyone not very familiar with both of them would have a hard time spotting the flaw.

The voice changer connected to the walkie-talkie had been modified at great expense by Daya of Territory Seven after Xia Qing dealt with Hui Six's poaching team, specifically to handle sudden situations like today's.

If her idol hadn't been so busy lately, Xia Qing would have asked him to make her one of those Zhang Shi-type masks—ones that, stuck to the face, could pass for the real thing.

Why change her voice and identity?

Well, of course it was because Xia Qing, who had come out to earn quick money and boost her combat strength, didn't want her true identity exposed.

Why had Chen Dongyang set his sights on Lu Fangchun and Wang Bo, and wanted to cripple them? Wasn't it because Chen Deng couldn't hold himself back and had paraded these two highly promising kids to show off?

Xia Qing was now a lord with a household to support (a 7,000-mu territory and dependents—Lao Da, Wolf Lao Er, and Little Feimao); when she went out on missions she had to be cautious and couldn't bring danger back to her territory.

After the two speed-type evolvers from the Liang Qing Squad arrived, Xia Qing learned that the opposing Level 4 speed-type squad leader was actually Lu Fangchun's mother, She Xing.

Xu Juan and She Xing were good friends, so Xia Qing had met her a few times as well. But right now Xia Qing was Zhang Ling, and didn't know She Xing.

After a brief greeting, the two sides quickly worked out an operational plan.

The Liang Qing Level 3 speed-type evolver stayed put to wait for the rest to assemble; Xia Qing and She Xing would first take out Qi San and Jiang Xiong 2,000 meters away, clearing a rescue corridor.

The reason for choosing to push in from the west was that Xia Qing had already scouted the route and confirmed there were no snipers lying in ambush along it.

In other words, the path Handsome Giant Wolf had chosen was very safe.

She Xing's target was the olfactory evolver Qi San; Xia Qing's target was the strength-type evolver Jiang Xiong, whose hearing, sight, and smell were all weak.

The two quickly circled behind the two sentries, who were chatting away enthusiastically, and moved at the same time. She Xing rushed in and cleanly snapped the neck of Qi San, who had been about to assault her son.

When hunting evolvers wearing protective suits and masks, snapping the neck is the fastest and quietest method.

Xia Qing, meanwhile, clamped her hand around Jiang Xiong's throat, pinned him to the ground, then with her right arm—quick, accurate, and ruthless—crushed his right shoulder blade.

Jiang Xiong's face flushed crimson, twisted in agony, unable to beg for mercy even if he wanted to.

Then, with She Xing standing guard, Xia Qing began the interrogation: "Where are Lu Fangchun and Wang Bo?"

Jiang Xiong shook his head, signaling for Xia Qing to let go, otherwise he had no way to speak.

"Use your fingers!"

Jiang Xiong, trembling, used his left hand to point toward the north of the abandoned village; seeing Xia Qing raise her blade as if about to slice off his arm, he was so terrified he immediately switched direction and jabbed hard several times toward the ruins to the south.

"Besides you two, how many people did Chen Dongyang bring?"

Jiang Xiong hurriedly hooked a nine with his finger and made a surrender gesture, hoping Xia Qing would spare his life.

After getting the answers she needed, Xia Qing tightened her fingers and directly took Jiang Xiong's life, then swiftly removed his earpiece-type walkie-talkie. With it, she could listen in on enemy intel.

Although she had promised her idol to obey the regulations and handle matters through proper legal channels whenever possible, when it came to choosing between knocking Jiang Xiong out and tying him up versus killing him, Xia Qing decisively chose the latter.

Because this was someone Xia Qing had long wanted to kill.

When Xia Qing went on missions with Xu Juan, Jiang Xiong had more than once withheld the supplies and points she was entitled to, and had several times tried to grab her to satisfy his lust. If not for Xia Qing's high vigilance and Xu Juan holding him back, she didn't know how many times he would have succeeded.

In Yan Long's words: a piece of trash like this doesn't deserve to stay alive and waste food.