Chapter 73 – “Baba, I love you.”
Novel Title: 龙血 (Dragon Blood)
Author：水千丞 (Shui Qian Cheng)
Translator: K (@kin0monogatari)
Protagonists: 单鸣 (Shan Ming -MC), 沈长泽 (Shen Changze -ML)
*Please read at Novels Space.space, the original site of translation. TQ*
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Everyone gathered in Tiger Shark’s room, ready to move.
Shan Ming and the others came late so they said straight to the point, “We can’t go there with so many people.”
Tiger Shark just lit a cigarette and looked at Shan Ming for a few seconds. He then nodded, “You are right.”
Shan Ming didn’t want them to go with so many people because if Tang Jingzhi’s target was Shen Changze, then he must be well prepared. If he was ready to arrest a Dragon Blood Man, it must not be something they could handle. He would never let his comrades-in-arms go to such a risk. So they should go as little as possible. After all, there are too many people here and he is afraid that they would be sacrificed.
Tiger Shark’s idea is that if he is the one taking the hostages, he will definitely become more vigilant when he sees the other party bringing in so many people. He will be in trouble if he gets the other party in a panic. And the other party didn’t even ask them to come with only one or two people. This was obviously because the other party was quite confident in their own defence capabilities. They couldn’t rush out with all of them. It would be too dangerous.
Although the two had different ideas, they both made the same decision.
Ayer thought for a while, and said, “But I don’t agree with leaving anyone else alone. We should get somewhere nearby and send someone to investigate the situation. It would be best to rescue them if there is a chance. But if there is none…” Ayer looked at Tang Tingzhi and said nothing further.
If it doesn’t work, they can only exchange the hostages with Tang Tingzhi according to the kidnapper’s wishes.
But Shan Ming knew in his heart that things were far from that simple. But he couldn’t persuade these people not to go there right now. If it was him, he couldn’t bear to hide himself in a safe place.
Most people adopted Ayer’s advice and decided to go with them. They would wait for the opportunity to act.
After driving for three hours, Koski replaced Shen Changze from the driving seat and asked him to rest.
Shan Ming was sleeping in the back seat and Shen Changze laid down beside him, not feeling sleepy at all.
He turned sideways slightly and looked at Shan Ming’s side face in the dim light. He felt infinite warmth in his heart.
Shan Ming suddenly opened his eyes, which startled Shen Changze. It was too late for him to turn around so he could only stare back at Shan Ming.
Shan Ming frowned and said in a low voice, “You’re still not going to sleep after switching drivers.”
“I can’t sleep.”
“Bullshit. Just go to sleep while you can.”
“It’s uncomfortable to sleep in the car.”
“Nonsense. When you were a child, you could use any corner as a bed.” Shan Ming adjusted his posture to a sit. Lying down really hurts his back.
Shen Changze remembered that when he was a child, he always slept in Shan Ming’s arms. At that time, he actually didn’t want to get close to Shan Ming because Shan Ming was too cold. He was also such a person who made him angry and scared. But there is a very warm and down-to-earth embrace in his arms.
He approached Shan Ming and put his head on his shoulder, “It would be great if I didn’t grow up. It would be much more comfortable if you hold me when I go to sleep.”
Shan Ming blinked his eyes and suddenly felt inexplicably emotional in his heart. It was indescribable. He murmured: “Time flies by so fast. It’s already been ten years.”
Ten years have passed since he picked up Shen Changze, who was five years old at the time, in the virgin forest in Myanmar. In these ten years, Shen Changze has grown into a qualified mercenary as he wished. He also regards this child who he thought was a burden at the beginning as his real family.
Sometimes when he thought about it, he felt that the time went by too fast. He couldn’t help sighing: “I haven’t played enough with you yet. And you’ve already grown up.”
The chubby and fluffy kid he could tease in the past was really fun.
Shen Changze felt a pang of sadness in his heart for no reason. Time flies by and things develop way too fast. What follows this road is the conspiracy and the truth that are becoming even more unavoidable. He didn’t know what would happen on this trip, but he felt very troubled. He always felt that there was an invisible hand in the darkness manipulating their fate. This feeling of powerlessness made him panic.
He believed that Shan Ming felt the same too.
Shan Ming is rarely an anxious person and he never expresses such delicate emotions. When he sighed from thinking of the time passing by too quickly, Shen Changze knew that his father, who had always been brave and fearless, was also worried and afraid.
Shen Changze turned around and hugged his waist tightly, whispering in his ear, “Baba, will you be angry if I say I’m a little scared?”
Shan Ming was silent for a long time. He then said slowly, “Nope. I’m here by your side.”
Shen Changze’s nose was slightly sore and for some reason, he suddenly said; “Baba, I love you.” After he finished speaking, his heart was clenched together. He didn’t dare to breathe, feeling that he had made a big mistake. He didn’t dare to raise his head and didn’t dare to make a sound. He held his breath and waited for Shan Ming’s response.
Shan Ming was stunned for a moment. He then chuckled twice, “You little brat…” Then he was speechless.
Shen Changze felt relieved but he was also faintly disappointed. He closed his eyes and couldn’t help thinking that his Baba’s waist seemed to have become thinner.
After driving for a day, they finally started to approach the place marked by the coordinates.
To their surprise, this place is not what they imagined. There are no grey houses built on the sand and there are no flags of the Independence Party. It is not half-buried underneath like the Independence Party base stationed in Western Sahara. There are large tracts of rubber planted here and the roads are lined with endless stretches of sight. There are households scattered in the rubber forest and they seem to be richer than the small towns they passed by when they came here.
The coordinates in the CD are roughly around here and they can’t be more detailed. They are thinking about whether they should keep driving.
The sun was about to set and there were very few vehicles here. After walking along this road for a long time, only three trucks were encountered by them. So when a military off-road vehicle appeared in front of them, everyone became alert.
The off-road vehicle came head-on and stopped five to six hundred metres away from them.
The three cars of ‘Peregrine Falcon’ also stopped. Ayer jumped out of the car while Dino and Zouhuo followed Ayer on his left and right, holding guns. Kali leaned out half of his body from the skylight. The sniper rifle was facing the car.
A man got out of the car. It was a blond-haired white man without any weapons in his hands. But he didn’t panic at all. He said calmly, “I’m going to take away the man called Tang and a fifteen-year-old child from your car.”
Ayer said: “You didn’t say anything in advance about taking away the child.”
“Oh…” The white man pretended to be thinking and then raised his eyebrows, “We forgot.” He stepped back to the side of the car and knocked on the trunk. The trunk suddenly opened and on the large rear seat, a person was lying on it. It was Job! Although Job was unconscious, his breathing was smooth. His chest appeared to rise and fall steadily and the place where he was shot was bandaged.
The white man said in a commanding tone, “Now. Let them get out of the car.”
Tang Tingzhi and Shen Changze got out of the car. Shan Ming followed, staring at the man fiercely.
The man snapped his fingers, “That’s right. It’s exactly the same as in the photo. It’s the two of you.”
Judging from the meaning of this person’s words, they decided to take Shen Changze from the beginning. It was definitely not an impulsive idea. Ayer gave Shan Ming a questioning look while Shan Ming gritted his teeth and shook his head. He was a little afraid to look at Ayer’s deep blue eyes.
Everyone turned their eyes to Shen Changze. They looked confused, dazed, suspicious, and worried. But Shan Ming was like sitting on pins and needles.
It’s not a good feeling to deceive these comrades who need to rely on each other for their lives on the battlefield.
Shen Changze took a step forward, “Let’s go.”
Shan Ming grabbed his arm as he looked at his face over and over again with complicated eyes. He opened his mouth but felt like something was stuck in his throat.
Shen Changze smiled, “Baba, I will be back.”
Shan Ming told Shen Changze with firm eyes that he would definitely save him.
As usual, Shen Changze pinched Shan Ming’s thick palm. Suddenly, he felt a small hard particle in his palm. He shook his hand and caught it between his fingers. He knew that Shan Ming had given him a tracking device.
Shan Ming gave him a deep look.
Shen Changze gritted his teeth secretly. He turned around and took Tang Tingzhi’s arm and said softly, “I won’t let you die. Let’s go.”
Ayer yelled, “Stop!”
Shen Changze paused and looked back at him.
Ayer looked a little irritable, “I really hate how I feel right now. You are hiding something from me and everyone else. There must be something that only the three of you know. There must be!” Ayer sternly said to Shan Ming: ” Shan, we are brothers. What are you hiding from us? For so many years, Shen Changze’s identity has been a mystery to everyone. I have a strong premonition that what is happening right now has something to do with his identity. This gut feeling is extremely annoying. What are you trying to do? What are you hiding?!”
Shan Ming said in a deep voice: “I will explain it to you. But not right now.”
Ayer was angry. He grabbed his collar and wanted to punch him but Tiger Shark grabbed Ayer’s arm to stop him, “We will go back and talk.” He said to the white man: “I want to make sure that the other hostage is still alive.”
The man made a quick phone call and the call was connected quickly. He turned on the speaker. Pell’s voice came from inside, “I’m fine.”
Tiger Shark asked, “What time is it?”
Pell paused. “17:53.”
After they finished talking, the man hung up the phone, “We will release the hostage after we bring them back.”
“Why should I trust you?”
“Keeping her is of no use to us. We have shown our sincerity and returned the injured one to you. Besides, you can only trust us now. You can choose to wait here and we will send a car to send her over. But don’t try to move in or I won’t guarantee her safety.”
After he finished speaking, two more people jumped down from the off-road vehicle. They took off Tang Tingzhi and Shen Changze’s weapons, tools, watches, and even their belts, and handcuffed their hands.
Shen Changze took one last look at Shan Ming and then got into the car without looking back.
The other party lifted Job to the ground, got into the car and closed the door. They left the place with dust flying around.
By the side of the road, three Hummers were parked together. There were more than ten people standing on the road but they were all dead silent.
Tiger Shark raised his head and said in a deep voice: “Dino, Zouhuo, Tiny Knife, send Job and Falcon to the nearest hospital for treatment. Then leave immediately.”
They came back to their senses and quickly lifted Job into the car that Falcon was in. They then dragged the two of them straight to the nearest hospital.
After they left, everyone’s eyes fell on Shan Ming. Shan Ming was staring at the direction where the car had gone in a daze.
Tiger Shark grabbed Shan Ming’s shoulder with such force that he was about to squeeze Shan Ming’s shoulder bones out of the socket. He said coldly, “You got something to explain to us.”
Shan Ming looked at the doubt and anger in everyone’s eyes and felt flustered.
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Next update: 2023.–.–
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