Comprehension against the sky, creating the Five Thunders in the real world

He snapped out of his daze and pressed the answer button, but before he could even speak, a piercing electrical noise came through the receiver. The noise was so sharp it seemed to pierce his eardrums and even caused a dull ache.

Lin Beichen subconsciously moved the phone away, and only after his ears had adjusted to the static sound did he put it back to his ear.

A deep, metallic voice came from the other end of the phone: "Hao Jianhua is in my hands now."

At that moment, it was as if the air itself had frozen, and even breathing became difficult.

Even though Lin Beichen was usually calm and composed in any situation, he unconsciously clenched his fists and deliberately lowered his voice: "Who are you? What do you want?"

Upon hearing this, Xu Wei and Chen Jiale exchanged a glance and immediately realized that something was wrong.

The two leaned forward slightly, about to ask Lin Beichen what had happened, but were stopped by a look from him.

Lin Beichen remained frowning, listening intently to the voice on the phone.

"Who I am is not important; what's important is that you listen carefully to what I'm about to say," the other person said.

"Who are you? Why did you kidnap him?"

Lin Beichen's tone was anything but friendly; if the caller were standing in front of him right now, he would probably be in for a beating.

The person on the other end of the phone didn't seem to care and said bluntly, "If you want to save people, come to City A. Hao Jianhua—"

Hearing this, Lin Beichen was filled with questions, and his grip on the phone tightened unconsciously.

Just as he was about to ask further questions, the other party abruptly hung up the phone.

Lin Beichen's face instantly turned as black as ink.

At that moment, only two words were written on his face: anger.

But Chen Jiale was so worried about Hao Jianhua's safety that he couldn't help but lean closer and ask, "Instructor, what happened? What... what's wrong with Hao Jianhua?"

Although they didn't hear the contents of the phone call, they instinctively felt that it must be related to Hao Jianhua.

After calming down for a moment, Lin Beichen looked up at Xu Wei and Chen Jiale, his tone so calm it was chilling: "Hao Jianhua has been arrested. They said if they want to rescue him, we have to go back to City A."

"How is that possible? We didn't offend anyone on this trip. Even if we did, we've already returned home," Xu Wei said incredulously.

But Lin Beichen's serious gaze clearly told him that he had no intention of making such a joke.

He could only slowly go from shock to acceptance.

After a brief silence, Chan Ka-lok asked again, "So what do we do? Go back now or call the police?"

Lin Beichen, who was still pondering how to return, suddenly understood after hearing Chen Jiale's words.

He quickly took out his phone and dialed 110: "Hello."

"Hello, I want to report a case." Lin Beichen replied calmly.

After hearing his explanation, there was a brief silence on the other end of the phone.

This was probably the first time the police had received such a calm report; they even suspected it might be a prank.

Seeing that the other party did not respond, Lin Beichen emphasized again: "Hello, I want to report a case."

Only then did the dispatcher realize that this was not a joke, but a real police report.

The other party then asked several questions, which Lin Beichen answered truthfully one by one.

While confirming the filing of the case, the police still suggested that Lin Beichen personally go to the police station to assist in the investigation in order to find Hao Jianhua as soon as possible.

As a result, their plan to travel to City A had to be postponed.

But in order to find Hao Jianhua as soon as possible, the three of them did not hesitate and went straight to the police station.

After verifying Lin Beichen and Hao Jianhua's identities, the police worked extra hard on the case, even attracting the attention of the bureau chief.

After exchanging a few pleasantries with Lin Beichen, the other party presented the initial deployment plan for the case.

"As you can see, we have already deployed personnel at the airport, subway station, train station, and dock. We will notify you immediately once Hao Jianhua is spotted," the director said confidently.

Lin Beichen nodded approvingly, his expression softening slightly: "Thank you for your help."

The other party waved his hand repeatedly: "You're too kind. This is just our duty."

After the director issued the deployment plan, the operation was fully launched.

Lin Beichen and the other two could only stay at the police station to wait for news.

Time passed slowly.

Every minute and every second was torture for Lin Beichen and his group, as if they were counting down to the arrival of something terrible.

Finally, it was 6 PM, time to gather the intelligence.

Lin Beichen went directly to the director's office—although he knew this was against procedure, he had no choice but to find out about Hao Jianhua's situation as soon as possible.

When the bureau chief saw Lin Beichen arrive, he immediately stood up to greet him.

However, the composed expression on his face had dimmed slightly.

Lin Beichen's heart sank – he already had a premonition of bad news.

The director's next words further confirmed his concerns.

"I'm sorry, we have deployed a large number of additional police officers, but we still haven't found any trace of Mr. Hao Jianhua." The other party's tone was apologetic.

Lin Beichen shook his head: "It's alright. The other party obviously planned this, so naturally they won't let you find them easily."

This situation was unexpected for the three of them, but since they couldn't find any clues, they had no choice but to leave the police station and find a hotel nearby to stay in.

"Instructor, are we just going to wait like this? Maybe they've already left with Hao Jianhua. Or maybe we should go to City A and look for them now," Chen Jiale said seriously.

His anxious appearance made it seem as if he himself was the one being kidnapped, not Hao Jianhua.

Lin Beichen looked down and fiddled with his phone, seemingly not intending to respond.

Seeing his attitude, Chen Jiale couldn't help but feel dissatisfied, but he didn't dare to argue with the instructor like Hao Jianhua did, so he could only sulk silently.

After Lin Beichen turned around, he began to assign tasks: "Chen Jiale and I are going to City A. Xu Wei, you stay here and cooperate with the police to continue the investigation."

Xu Wei hadn't expected this arrangement at all, and he pursed his lips unhappily.

Lin Beichen noticed that something was wrong with him and asked, "Is there a problem?"

Xu Wei said somewhat shyly, "Instructor... I want to go with you."

Lin Beichen did not answer immediately.

His gaze shifted downwards, landing on Xu Wei's noticeably thinner figure due to his stomach upset a few days prior, and he refused almost without thinking.

"Your body hasn't fully recovered yet, so stay here and rest properly," Lin Beichen said.

That makes sense, but Xu Wei still doesn't want to stay here alone.

“But…” Xu Wei still wanted to try.

Lin Beichen interrupted him directly: "No buts. If you leave too, there will be no one here to cooperate with the police."

Hearing him say that made Xu Wei feel a little better, but the thought of being left alone still made him feel uneasy.

However, considering that Hao Jianhua's whereabouts are still unknown, he held back.

Lin Beichen and Chen Jiale rushed to City A overnight. When the plane landed, the sky outside the window was full of stars.

For a moment, neither of them knew where to go.

Just then, Lin Beichen's phone rang again. For some reason, this time the feeling of unease was even stronger; he even hesitated, unwilling to take out his phone.

Chen Jiale urged, "Instructor, there's news. Take a look and see if it's related to Hao Jianhua." Lin Beichen then took out his phone, and his face darkened noticeably when he saw the text message.

Chen Jiale peeked over and saw the address the other party had sent.

He immediately pulled back, looked around warily, then leaned closer to Lin Beichen and whispered, "How are they so resourceful? We were discovered as soon as we arrived. Did they plant something on us?"

As he spoke, he actually searched and checked himself and Lin Beichen, but found no suspicious listening devices.

How did the other party find out? Lin Beichen couldn't answer that question either.

Right now, the only option is to find the place using the address on the phone.

The taxi weaved through the bustling streets, the neon lights of the city outside the window gradually fading into the distance, until it finally entered a somewhat desolate area. Compared to the vibrant city center, this place seemed like a deserted suburb.

The car came to a stop, kicking up clouds of dust.

Lin Beichen and Chen Jiale felt a long-lost sense of familiarity as they stepped onto the muddy ground.

The two looked up and saw a house standing not far away.

They were almost certain at first glance that it must be the location the other party had specified—because the surrounding area was full of messy and crowded old houses, some of which had walls that were crooked and dilapidated, but this house stood there all alone, as if it were completely isolated from its surroundings.

Lin Beichen slowly walked towards the house and tentatively asked, "Is anyone home?"

The only response he received was the window frame creaking in the wind.

Lin Beichen turned and winked at Chen Jiale, signaling that he was about to push the door open. Once Chen Jiale nodded and was ready, he pushed the door open.

A heavy, dusty smell hit him, making Lin Beichen instinctively cover his mouth and nose to avoid inhaling more dust.

The room was empty.

But Chen Jiale suddenly saw a humanoid object sitting in the shadows directly in front of him.

"Instructor!" Chen Jiale called out softly.

Lin Beichen raised his index finger to shush him, signaling him to be quiet.

Because the light was too dim, Lin Beichen couldn't see clearly. He turned on his phone's flashlight and shone it on him—

Carlos Chan immediately covered his mouth and widened his eyes.

It was a blood-stained puppet with its limbs twisted off.

If you didn't look closely under the light, it would look like a living person with broken arms and legs.

What's even more alarming is that the name "Hao Jianhua" is written in regular script on the puppet's body, which looks particularly jarring.

Before Chen Jiale could recover from the shock, Lin Beichen's phone rang again.

He took out his phone and saw that it was that number calling again.

"Ah!" Chen Jiale was so startled that his hand trembled and he almost dropped his phone.

The two were plunged into darkness once more.

The phone's ringtone sounded particularly eerie in the dim light, carrying an unsettling aura, as if foreshadowing something bad about to happen.

Lin Beichen picked up the phone and handed it to Chen Jiale, signaling him to calm down.

He then pressed the answer button.

Sure enough, that dull hum of electricity came through again.

Fortunately, Lin Beichen was prepared this time and held the phone further away from his ear.

The static continued, and just as Lin Beichen was about to question the other party about their intentions—

A strange and maniacal laugh came through the receiver first.

Chen Jiale, who was standing nearby, heard everything clearly and felt a chill run down his spine. He instinctively moved closer to Lin Beichen, but before he could get any closer...
The person on the other end of the phone directly provoked, "This time you saw a puppet, but next time you'll see the real thing."

Because of this one sentence, Chen Jiale was so frightened that he froze on the spot and dared not move.

"What exactly do you want? I'm warning you, don't do anything reckless!" Lin Beichen roared.

His voice echoed in the empty room, finally falling to the ground, revealing his helplessness and anger at that moment.

"That depends on how you perform," the person on the other end of the phone scoffed.

Lin Beichen, unable to remain calm, roared again, "What do you want? We'll prepare it now! Don't touch him, or you know the consequences!"

Lin Beichen has never bothered to speak to people in such a threatening tone.

But if we don't say that now, who knows what those lunatics might do to Hao Jianhua.

He absolutely did not want to see Hao Jianhua's corpse next time.

Just when Lin Beichen thought such a threat would work—

All he got in response was the busy tone of the call being disconnected. The other party hung up again.

Lin Beichen unconsciously clenched his fist, and the hand holding the phone slowly lowered.

At this moment, he looked extremely dejected and disheveled.

Chen Jiale had never seen him look like this before.

He quickly grabbed his phone and went to Lin Beichen's side, asking with concern, "Instructor, are you alright?"

The other person slowly raised their head, glanced at him, and shook their head.

Lin Beichen put his phone back in his pocket, his face returning to its usual indifferent expression.

This made Chen Jiale almost doubt whether the angry, disappointed, and utterly helpless person just now was really Lin Beichen.

However, exploring these things is not the most important thing right now.

Chen Jiale steadied himself and asked, "What did he say? How is Hao Jianhua now? Where is he?"

The questions he asked were exactly the same questions Lin Beichen wanted to ask the other party but couldn't get answers to.

Seeing that he was indeed anxious, Lin Beichen told him the whole story of the call.

Then, he silently turned around and walked out of the room.

Only Chen Jiale remained, stunned in place.

By the time Chen Jiale came to her senses, Lin Beichen had already left.

He quickly grabbed his phone and caught up with Lin Beichen, anxiously asking, "Instructor, what should we do now?"

Chen Jiale was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan; he had never encountered such a difficult situation before.

But Lin Beichen didn't turn around, remaining as calm as ever: "Let's find a place to stay first."

Since Lin Beichen wasn't used to sharing a room, the two booked separate rooms. Fortunately, the rooms were next to each other and not far apart.

After settling in quickly, the two collapsed onto the bed, exhausted.

Lin Beichen, however, was wide awake and fell into deep thought.

It seems that their journey has been exceptionally difficult ever since they embarked on it.

Whether it's the wealthy man who desperately wanted to take their lives, or the person who kidnapped Hao Jianhua now—it seems the other side is always hiding in the shadows, while they are always exposed in the open.

Lin Beichen racked his brains but couldn't figure out who would go to such lengths to target them.

Just then, there was a knock on the door. (End of Chapter)