Chapter 1232 — Let Me Go!

"It's confirmed. The man who took Xiaoxiao is a deathsworn of Red Conch. He's up on the eighteenth floor of the high-rise at Building A-16, with Xiaoxiao, but we still don't know which unit exactly," Feng Tianlong said. "The deathsworn has rigged the upper floors with explosives, and the detonator is inside his body — it runs off his heartbeat. The moment his heart stops, the remote sets the charge off. So as things stand, short of granting him what he asks, there's no way at all!"

"He can't die, then ... what about taking him alive?" Wei Zhao asked with a frown.

"That's no good either. He's holding poison in his mouth; if he bites down on it and kills himself, the bomb still goes off." Feng Tianlong smiled a bitter smile. "Deathsworn don't fear death. In their eyes there's no such thing as the fear of dying, so assassination is out, and taking him alive is out. So far no definite plan has been produced. All we can do is wait for the higher-ups to finish their meeting and decide whether Red Conch's second-in-command can be released ..."

"I see ..." Wei Zhao nodded. "Uncle Feng, let me go up and take a look."

"You? Go up and take a look?" Feng Tianlong was startled. "Xiaoyi, going up there now is no different from walking to your own death. You can't do anything to him, and one wrong move — if you provoke him and he swallows the poison there and then — then you and Xiaoxiao are both finished ..."

"He won't take poison so easily." Wei Zhao shrugged and smiled. "Only when there is absolutely no hope left will he choose to kill himself. As long as there is any hope of rescuing Red Conch's second-in-command, that is what he'll be aiming for!"

"Oh?" Feng Tianlong blinked slightly.

"Uncle Feng, a deathsworn is only ever one of two kinds: the kind who's forced into it, and the kind who volunteers. The forced kind obviously would never be sent on a mission like this — this mission is too important; if anything went wrong, if a deathsworn turned coat and the whole thing failed, it would cost Red Conch far more than it was worth." Wei Zhao reasoned it out. "So this deathsworn is very likely a volunteer. And if a man volunteers to give his life for Red Conch, then he's been put through rigorous *** and is utterly loyal to Red Conch. That being so, his first priority will be to save Red Conch's second-in-command; to a man loyal to Red Conch, that is an honor. So unless he has absolutely no other choice, he will not choose to kill himself before the mission is over — and that leaves us an opening!"

"Oh? Hearing you put it that way, that really is how it is!" After listening to Wei Zhao's analysis, Feng Tianlong nodded. A fanatic like that man would surely hold the second-in-command's life as something beyond measure in importance, for only by rescuing the second-in-command would he achieve the ultimate goal of his life; whether he himself lived or died was a secondary matter. Living or dying, either way, could not compare with the importance of the second-in-command!

That was also why he was willing to trade his own life for the second-in-command's. And it was precisely by seizing on that psychology of his that Wei Zhao dared to make such an attempt.

"Heh, I've dealt with that kind of man before. They may not care about life and death, but dying after the mission succeeds and dying after the mission fails are two entirely different states of mind!" Wei Zhao shrugged. "So I'll go up and have a look, see whether there's an opening."

"Even so — even if what you say is all true — it's still far too dangerous for you to go up there!" Feng Tianlong hesitated, then said, "Even if you can sit down and talk peaceably with him about something, apart from stalling for time it's of no help at all. That's the eighteenth floor. Even if you wanted to take Feng Xiaoxiao and run, getting down from the eighteenth floor — even by jumping — takes time, and that's time enough for him to detonate the bomb and blow you and Xiaoxiao to smithereens!"

"Trust me, Uncle Feng. I won't do anything that foolish," Wei Zhao said with a confident smile. "All right, then, that's decided. I'm going up!"

"Wait ... I can't make this call on my own. I have to report it to my superiors!" Naturally Feng Tianlong did not want to watch Wei Zhao go to his death as well. If Bureau Chief Xia agreed to release Red Conch's second-in-command, there was a chance Feng Xiaoxiao could come out of this alive — but only a chance. Who could say whether Red Conch's deathsworn would actually keep his word, or whether, once the second-in-command was safely out, he might suddenly change his mind, detonate the bomb, and drag them all down with him?

Such a possibility was not merely a possibility — it was a very real one. For the other man was a deathsworn, and nothing about him could be judged by ordinary reason.

"No need. If Xia asks, just say I went up on my own initiative," Wei Zhao said flatly, as if it hardly mattered.

"This ..." Feng Tianlong wanted to stop him, but he saw the deep concern in Wei Zhao's eyes, and in the end he did not. That Wei Zhao should show such devotion and loyalty toward his daughter moved Feng Tianlong, and gladdened him.

And besides, from what Feng Tianlong knew of Wei Zhao, Wei Zhao was a man of both courage and resource, a man of wits and valor alike; he did not do things on a rush of hot blood without thinking. So the fact that Wei Zhao was now proposing to go up meant that he must have some measure of confidence in the matter — at the very least, he would not do anything impulsive or irrational.

So since Wei Zhao had said as much, Feng Tianlong of course would not stop him any further. Wei Zhao's relationship with the organization he himself belonged to was a delicate one; he trusted that even if Bureau Chief Xia learned that Wei Zhao had gone up on his own initiative, there would be nothing for him to do but accept it helplessly.

Only Qiu Lingshan frowned, watching Wei Zhao's swiftly departing back with a touch of reluctance, an unhappy feeling churning in her heart. Wei Zhao was really going to do something so dangerous? Did he not know the man was a deathsworn? Did he not know there were explosives in the building?

Could it be that Feng Xiaoxiao was so important to him that he would risk his very life? If the person upstairs were herself, would Wei Zhao come to rescue her?

Hmm? It seemed that last time Wei Zhao had also gone deep into the tiger's den and rescued her from the dungeon of the kidney-harvesting ring! So that meant Wei Zhao did have a place for her in his heart! At that thought, Qiu Lingshan cheered up a little.

Naturally Wei Zhao had no idea that Qiu Lingshan was nursing all these tangled notions. Had he known, he would probably not have known whether to laugh or cry.

At this moment Wei Zhao in fact had no certainty of success; all he could do was take one step and see about the next. He knew well enough that the mysterious Bureau of Investigation was no monolithic block, and that Bureau Chief Xia's word was not absolute either — some things, even if he wished them, were beyond his power to decide.

So as to whether Red Conch's second-in-command could be released, Wei Zhao held no great hope; he could only rely on himself to find a way.

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