Free Web NovelChapter 697: Chapter 656 The Grand Finale_5
Zhou Ning tightly clutched Xia Momo’s hand, his grip so strong that it actually hurt her. However, Xia Momo didn’t pull away, knowing that Zhou Ning was terrified. After all, no one wants to experience the loss of a family member ever again.
"Don’t worry so much, we’ll be fine with Mr. Yang and Mr. Wang staying with us here. You go ahead with your tasks, and by the way, the canteen must have been where the gas leaked first before the explosion. The smell was really pungent."
Liu Yufei glanced behind her and patted Mr. Yang and Mr. Hen on their shoulders.
"You two protect them, head straight back to the hotel. The investigation teams from the two departments will arrive soon. It seems like the opponent is making their move promptly, this place is not safe." freeweɓnøvel.com
Zhu Xingxing and Xia Momo shook their heads together.
"We aren’t leaving, don’t worry we definitely won’t drag you down. Moreover, leaving in this chaos might actually be less safe. After all, no one can be sure that the hotel is safe. We’ll stay in the main building’s conference room and not go anywhere, I promise. Plus, we have our self-defense weapons."
As she spoke, Zhu Xingxing held up a scalpel.
Zhou Ning was at a loss for words, but the last part of her sentence indeed made an impression on him. Even though it was chaotic and dangerous here, they were all together, and the police presence was the strongest. If Xia Momo and the others were to leave his sight, if someone took advantage of that moment...
Zhou Ning shuddered, not daring to continue the thought. He glanced at Liu Da, too embarrassed to directly ask him to protect Xia Momo and the others. Hurriedly, he waved his hand behind him, signaling Peng Shinian, Gao Tie, Mr. Yang, and Mr. Wang to follow them upstairs.
Zou Jialong and Pang Tianhang didn’t leave and stood behind Mr. Zhao as if that would prevent Zhou Ning from noticing them. Mr. Qu, covered in dust and grime, ran out holding his notebook and joined the group.
Zhou Ning didn’t overthink it and waved his hand at Liu Yufei.
"Liu Da, go and check it out quickly. I’m not worried about anything else; I’m just afraid this explosion is a diversion. The blast hasn’t caused any substantial harm. It may just be a ploy to disrupt our formation and move Bai Qishan out. Once he is out in the open, regardless of whether we’ve prepared snipers here, the other side might be prepared to pay any price."
Liu Yufei nodded and ran toward Fang Mu.
Fang Mu had already picked up Mr. Liang, who was lying on the ground, and checked him from head to toe. He found that Mr. Liang only had a small cut on his head from the broken glass, which looked terrifying with dust and blood but was not a big deal.
"Master Liang, how are you feeling?"
Mr. Liang kept shaking his head as if he was extremely shocked and at a loss for words. He just pointed toward the kitchen, his finger trembling.
Following his pointing finger, Liu Yufei looked in that direction but didn’t see anything wrong and waved his hand at Fang Mu.
"Help Master Liang up and take him to Zhou Ning so they can treat his wound. I’ll go take a look over there."
Fang Mu grabbed Liu Yufei’s arm and stuffed Mr. Liang’s arm into his hands.
"You’re joking, I’m still here. You guys fall back, and I’ll take a look. It must have been a gas cylinder that exploded. If there are others that haven’t, it could cause a secondary explosion. I have experience with this."
While speaking, he picked up a piece of what looked like a torn curtain from the ground, poured a bottle of mineral water over it, and headed toward the smoky area. Liu Yufei, despite her worry, dragged and pushed Mr. Liang over to where Zhou Ning and the others were.
"Bandage Mr. Liang," he said, panting. "He hit his head and seems pretty shaken up by the ordeal. I’m going over to help."
Without needing Zhou Ning to act, Mr. Zhao found some clean gauze, dampened it, and started treating Mr. Liang’s wound. Mr. Liang incessantly murmured, questioning if he was going to die, mentioning his sick child at home who needed care, rattling on with his concerns about having both elderly and young dependents.
Mr. Zhao got impatient and poked Mr. Liang.
"Shut up already, it’s just a three to four-centimeter scar, far from your heart."
As he treated the wound, Zhou Ning stood up and looked in the direction of Xu Dayuan and his group. The situation at the entrance was no longer as chaotic as when they had first come down; the defenses had been rearranged, and even the armed police on the roof could be seen peering out, targeting the surroundings.
Fang Mu and Liu Yufei, along with others, had rushed into the still-smoking ruins of the canteen. With the thick smoke and dust, it was hard to make out anything inside. In fact, Zhou Ning had no idea where Bai Qishan was being temporarily detained, only that Xu Dayuan had briefly mentioned during the meeting that he was in the detention room downstairs.
But Zhou Ning truly hadn’t paid attention to the exits or anything. However, since the canteen could be blown up, the enemy clearly knew the location of the underground room. freewёbnoνel.com
After all, Ganzhou had a unique geographical position, unlike coastal cities where detainees are usually sent to detention centers. Here, in this sparsely populated area, detention rooms are generally quite large.
A moment later, Fang Mu and Liu Yufei had dragged out two large hissing gas cylinders, the kind that are quite large, while putting out the lingering flames and closing the valves as they dragged them along.
After this ordeal, Fang Mu was out of strength. He dropped the cloth, knelt on one knee, and kept gasping for air.
By now, the situation in the courtyard seemed to be under control. Tao Zhenshan, with his arm bandaged, continued to command the personnel on guard. Nevertheless, Zhou Ning was feeling very anxious at the moment, as if someone were choking him. He looked up towards the second floor; though the windows were gone, it still seemed safe inside the main building.
Just as he was thinking this, Zhou Ning’s phone rang. Having set it to vibrate for the meeting, it now buzzed frantically in his pocket.
Zhou Ning pulled out his phone. It displayed a strange number from Ganzhou. A bad feeling washed over him, sending a chill down his spine. That feeling of being watched had returned.
