The Overlord Flower's Guide to Intercepting a Woman's Wife's Death and the Male Lead&

[Detection indicates that Su Xingmian has been transferred separately by the leader, increasing the difficulty of the rescue. The host currently holds the advantage.]

Song Qingqing leaned back in her car seat, her fingers fiddling with the collar of her military overcoat, her mind racing faster than the wheels of a car.

Zhou Bingheng may already be suspicious of her.

She indicated a direction of northwest by north, but the car turned around and headed south by east, which suggests that he had other clues.

Every second she stays in this car, the more exposed she becomes.

The division commander's family compound was her domain.

Her aunt recognized her, her uncle had connections, and she was familiar with every network of relationships; that was where she could control the situation.

She gripped her collar tightly, letting herself sink into that vivid memory.

The suffocating feeling of being covered by coarse cloth, the fear of darkness descending.

The tears came out very quickly.

She let out a suppressed sob.

"Auntie... Auntie..."

His voice trembled, and his breath came out in fragments.

"I...I dreamt they were chasing me again..."

Song Qingqing raised her hand to wipe away the tears on her face. The blood on her knees hadn't dried yet, and her trousers were stained with a dark red stain.

"Battalion Commander Liang, could I... could I contact my aunt?"

She sniffed softly.

"I don't want to go any further, I want to go home."

Liang Jin turned his head, unsure of what to say, and glanced at Zhou Bingheng.

Zhou Bingheng had already turned around.

"Comrade Song has been frightened and is no longer suitable to follow along to the front lines."

He took a small bottle of tranquilizers from the first-aid kit in the car, handed it over, and spoke politely.

"It's hard to sleep on the road, this will help you rest."

Song Qingqing kept her head down and didn't look up at him.

"Thank you, Political Commissar Zhou."

A backup vehicle was dispatched, and two soldiers accompanied it.

As she was being helped into the car, she glanced at Zhou Bingheng, who was still standing there.

He didn't look at her; he was looking down at the map.

Song Qingqing cheered herself up in her heart.

Without empirical evidence, his suspicion remains just that—suspicion.

Regardless of whether Su Xingmian was rescued or not, she still has a chance.

She hasn't lost yet.

The car headlights moved eastward into the distance, gradually shrinking into two bright spots before finally disappearing completely into the night.

Zhou Bingheng then took out his notebook from his inner pocket, turned to the page with Song Qingqing's name on it, and added a few lines at the bottom.

Liang Jin leaned closer, only managing to glimpse three sets of time points and a few lines of fine print before the notebook was closed.

Liang Jin didn't ask any more questions, but Zhou Bingheng spoke first.

"South-southeast, gravel road, uphill slope."

He looked up at the sky.

"Based on the distance, the hideout is no more than 20 kilometers from here. Travel light and quickly, with not too many people. First, confirm the safety of the hostages."

Liang Jin started the car.

*

The smoke entered faster than Liu Xiaomai had anticipated.

Thick smoke, carrying the smell of burnt wood, seeped in from the cracks in the wooden lid and the corners of the walls, choking people and making their throats tighten and their eyes water.

By the time the rescue arrives, the weakest among them will likely have choked to death by the smoke.

Can't sit still.

Liu Xiaomai has been here for eight days, and every day she counts the steps, the footsteps, and observes every visible detail.

The cellar had only one exit. The wooden lid was secured from the outside with latches, the joints were rusty, and there was some looseness on the right side.

The human traffickers have left, and they have a chance.

She stuffed the pills left by Su Xingmian into the mouths of the weakest girls.

Then he took off his coat and soaked it in the half-ladle of water, tore it open, and separated it into strips.

Cover your mouth and stand up.

She woke up each of the unconscious people.

Some people cried, some had weak legs and couldn't stand, and some covered their mouths and noses and shrank into the corner.

Liu Xiaomai grabbed the little girl who was clutching the red string.

"Even if you're going to cry, stand up and cry."

Her voice was very low, but every word was powerful.

"Mianmian has been taken away. We can't let her down, understand?"

All the girls gathered around, nodding through their tears.

Liu Xiaomai had the three people in the best condition stand on the wooden ladder and bump them with her shoulders.

Each strike was a muffled thud, echoing in the increasingly thick smoke.

Someone bumped their shoulder and bruised it; someone else took their place.

Liu Xiaomai also went up and bumped into it.

The little girl picked up a brick from the corner and handed it to Liu Xiaomai, who took it and smashed it against the lock.

On the seventh strike, a section of the rusted iron broke off.

Eleventh, the wooden cover loosened.

Smoke billowed out from the gap, fresh air rushed in, and several people knelt on the ladder, coughing violently, their faces covered in tears and snot, their hands trembling.

Liu Xiaomai pushed the wooden cover open completely, climbed out, and the first thing she did was turn around and pull people down.

One after another, one after another.

She kept pulling the last girl out of the cellar.

*

When Zhou Bingheng and Liang Jin arrived, a corner of the embers in the abandoned sheepfold was still burning.

Seven girls sat on the gravel outside, their clothes tattered and dirty, their faces covered in cigarette ash and tear stains.

The short-haired girl standing in the middle, with bruises on her shoulders and skin worn raw on her palms, was patting the back of someone who was struggling to breathe.

Liang Jin jumped out of the car, then paused for a moment.

He had seen even more horrific scenes, but the spirit emanating from these girls brought tears to his eyes.

Everyone's eyes were red, but no one was in despair or in a daze.

Those who should cry are crying, those who should hold on are holding on, and those who should save lives are still saving lives.

Zhou Bingheng got out of the car, took off his coat, covered the nearest girl with it, and waved for the soldiers to come forward.

The moment Liu Xiaomai saw the military uniform, the tears she had been holding back for so long finally fell.

She asked a question through tears.

"Is there anyone here named Zhou Bingheng?"

Liang Jin turned his head away.

Zhou Bingheng walked over, squatted down, and looked her in the eye.

"I am."

Liu Xiaomai sniffed and began to speak.

Eleven people were imprisoned, four left, and the rest are still here.

The leader came three times, and she noted the time, the number of people, and the direction he came and went each time.

"They come in from the ditch on the east side, by mule cart, taking forty minutes to an hour."

She paused after she finished speaking, looking into Zhou Bingheng's eyes.

"Mianmian asked me to tell you that there is someone above the leader."

"The boss calls him 'sir'."

Zhou Bingheng placed his hand on his knee, his knuckles slightly tucked in.

Liu Xiaomai then recounted how Su Xingmian had saved someone with acupuncture in the middle of the night, and mentioned the pills used.

"But this morning, the eldest brother took her away alone."

Liu Xiaomai's voice finally trembled.

"They said they wanted to give it to that gentleman."

She choked for a moment, then wiped her face hard with her sleeve.

"Please save her, she's a very good person."

Zhou Bingheng squatted on the gravel ground and remained silent for a few seconds.

The hand resting on her knee clenched and then relaxed.

She is my fiancée.

His voice was soft, as gentle as usual.

"I will definitely go to save her."

Liu Xiaomai's tears fell onto the back of her hand, burning her scalding hot.

The other girls also cried.

They only spent less than a day with Su Xingmian.

But that girl gave them acupuncture in the darkest night to prolong their lives, left them life-saving pills, and didn't even utter a cry before being taken away.

Now that they've been released, she's been sent to the deepest place.

The girls held each other's hands, praying desperately that their men would bring them back.

Liang Jin arranged for Xiao Zhao to escort the girls to the medical station, while Zhou Bingheng went alone into the cellar where the embers of the fire had been extinguished.

The kerosene lamp shattered on the ground, and the oil seeped into the rammed earth.

He found several sets of vertical bars carved with fingernails in the corner.

The shortest set has five questions. The longest set has twenty-three questions.

His finger paused on the twenty-three lines for three seconds without saying a word.

He left the cellar and stood on the ground to observe the entire abandoned site.

This gesture reminded him of someone.