Nominal: Hou Liangping blocking the door? He was slapped away!

Su Zhenhai stood in front of the armchair with a puzzled look on his face, two walnuts still on the tea table, which he hadn't had time to put away.

"Sergeant, what happened?"

Su Zhenhai took half a step forward, wanting to speak up and make things clear.

Old Xu raised his hand and interrupted him directly.

They offered no explanation whatsoever, and didn't even have the patience to look at Su Zhenhai for a second longer.

Two bodyguards, each a good 1.9 meters tall, stepped in from the main hall entrance and stood on either side of Su Zhenhai, less than an arm's length apart.

Clamping, standard personnel control positions.

Su Zhenhai's face immediately darkened.

"take away."

Old Xu uttered two words, turned and walked out, the hem of his military overcoat catching a gust of wind.

In the courtyard outside the main hall, Su Zhenhai's two bodyguards finally reacted. Each one was more burly than the other, and they were usually like two guardian deities in this courtyard.

Seeing their leader being carried out, one of them rushed forward and reached for his waist.

"What are you doing! Let go of Director Su!"

The other one moved as well, taking two steps at a time to block Xu Lao's path.

The guards in the courtyard simultaneously pulled the bolts of their rifles.

"Click click click—"

A dozen or so metallic clangs rang out, as neatly as counting off, and the gun muzzles, which had been pointing at the ground, all rose fifteen degrees in unison.

Su Zhenhai trembled and immediately started cursing at the two bodyguards.

"Get back inside! What do you think you're doing?!"

The nearly seventy-year-old man's voice was so powerful that it echoed throughout the courtyard.

"He was my old squad leader!"

The two bodyguards froze, their hands hanging in mid-air, too afraid to move.

Su Zhenhai turned around and stared at Old Xu's back.

"Old squad leader, what's going on? At least tell me."

No one answered.

Two bodyguards grabbed Su Zhenhai's arms, half-carrying and half-pulling him, and shoved him into the second troop transport vehicle parked in the yard.

The car door slammed shut.

The entire process, from entering the door to being taken away, took no more than three minutes.

In the other room, Zhao Lichun clung to the door frame, his eyes almost popping out of their sockets.

From beginning to end, Old Xu didn't even spare him a glance.

They didn't look when they came, and they didn't look when they left.

Just pretend this person doesn't exist.

The convoy's engines started almost simultaneously, and the exhaust pipes of the troop carriers spewed out a cloud of white mist.

A Hongqi sedan led the way, followed by two troop carriers, as they filed out of the narrow alley and disappeared around the corner at the alley's entrance.

Zhao Lichun's legs went weak.

He slid down the door frame and landed on the threshold of the side room.

He was still clutching the suit jacket he had just taken off and draped over the back of the chair, his knuckles white, gripping it tightly.

But whether he was clutching the coat or the last straw, he probably couldn't tell anymore.

……

Forty minutes later.

The Western Hills on the outskirts of Beijing are a top-secret military base.

The convoy made seven or eight turns on the mountain road, passed three checkpoints, and finally stopped in front of a gray building.

Su Zhenhai was taken to the basement level.

The corridor was long, with fluorescent lights casting a stark white glow. The walls were covered in gray sound-absorbing material, so there was no sound when you stepped on them.

At the very end, there's an iron gate.

The door opened, revealing a small room with no windows, and the cell phone signal dropped to zero.

In the center of the room, there was an iron table and two iron chairs.

The tabletop was completely empty, spotless, and so clean you could see your reflection in it.

Old Xu had already taken a seat in one of the chairs, his briefcase resting on the iron table.

Su Zhenhai stood for two seconds when he was led to the door.

Old Xu raised his chin and pointed to the empty chair opposite him.

"sit."

Su Zhenhai walked over, pulled out the iron chair, and sat down. The iron chair legs scraped against the ground with a screeching sound.

There was no tea, no water, not even a cup.

The purpose of this place is very clear—it's not for reminiscing.

Mr. Xu opened the clasp of his briefcase and pulled out several documents with dark blue covers.

"Smack."

The first battle report was thrown onto the iron table and slid down to Su Zhenhai.

"Smack."

The second one.

"Smack."

The third one.

Each cover was stamped with a red seal that read "Top Secret," and the ink was so dark it was almost black.

Su Zhenhai lowered his head and opened the first document.

There wasn't much text on the page, but each line was numbered and dated.

Border infiltration operation, codenamed "Broken Blade".

Twelve people participated in the operation, and three returned to their units.

Task executor – Shen Zhong.

Turn to the next page, and you'll find a list of those who died in action.

Nine names, the youngest of whom was twenty-one when he sacrificed his life.

Su Zhenhai's hand stopped on that page.

Old Xu didn't let him take his time looking at it.

"Code name: Bone Shattering, High-altitude extreme cold assault, minus forty-two degrees Celsius, five days and five nights."

"Code name Iron Coffin, weaving deep into the jungle, the whole team was ambushed, and Shen Zhong carried three wounded soldiers on his back for seventy kilometers."

"Code name: Sunset—"

Old Xu slammed his hand on the iron table with a "bang," causing the entire table to shake.

"The casualty rate on that mission was 83%! Of those who survived, half spent two years in rear hospitals before they could stand up again!"

Su Zhenhai did not look up.

The battle reports were turned page by page, each page marked with red pen annotations. Some pages had curled corners, indicating they had been read countless times.

"This is the 'young major general who came from the Hu in Handong' that you mentioned."

Old Xu's voice was very low, but every word had a rusty quality to it.

"This is the person you asked Liu Qigang to investigate thoroughly and to 'deal with if necessary'."

Su Zhenhai's forehead began to sweat.

The cold air from the iron table seeped into my bones through my palms.

"You, Su Zhenhai, have been a leader for so many years and enjoyed so much good fortune."

Old Xu stood up, and the iron chair creaked on the ground.

"Have you ever thought that you could sit comfortably in that courtyard house, turning walnuts, sipping tea, and practicing calligraphy—"

"Who risked their lives for you on the border?"

Su Zhenhai's hands were braced on the edge of the iron table, his fingertips turning white.

It's not because of anger, but because I need this support.

The numbers in those battle reports, the names on those lists, all those things he had never known and never cared about, now weighed heavily on his shoulders.

Shen Zhong was not some "young major general who had just arrived in the countryside".

The Iron Curtain Agreement protects no more than ten people across the entire military.

Each one was fed with blood and flesh.

Su Zhenhai held onto the edge of the table and slowly stood up. His legs were a little weak, but he managed to stand.

"Old squad leader."

His voice was hoarse, completely different from the strong voice he had in the main hall that morning.

"I was confused about this matter."

"When Zhao Lichun came to me, I only heard his side of the story and did not verify it, but I had a thought that I should not have had."

"It was my fault."

Old Xu stood across the iron table, looking down at him without saying a word.

Su Zhenhai swallowed hard.

"From today onwards, I will cut off all contact with Zhao Lichun."

"I will no longer concern myself with anything concerning Handong."

The battle reports on the iron table were still spread out, and the names on the list of the dead were particularly clear under the pale light.

Old Xu stared at Su Zhenhai for a full ten seconds.

Then he spoke.

"Su Zhenhai, this is the last warning."

"Dare to utter another word about Handong—"

"All your benefits will be cancelled."