Deadly Trap.

Chapter 6. Find her before killing the hostage.

It was rush hour along the riverfront in Minzhou. A matte night-blue Panamera Turbo S sped along, weaving through traffic towards the hospital. Quenxus gripped the steering wheel tightly: "Boss, the special forces report they're in position. Shall we just storm in?"

In the back seat, Gu Mufeng rested his chin on his hand with a playful expression, yet surprisingly composed: "Rushing in? Are you crazy?"

He sneered. He liked the idea, but he was more composed, decisive, and precise; a strategy unfolded clearly before him like a net: "Have you received threats or ransom?"

Quenxus replied respectfully, "Brother Dai from the Foreign Affairs Group is keeping an eye on it. Not yet. Because it's a public hospital, Brother Dai can't infiltrate it easily..."

His fingers tapped casually on the chair, but Gu Mufeng's cold eyes remained silent in thought. There was no ransom, no threat. But Kai's urgent plea for help was clear and unmistakable. There was only one possibility.

He grinned maliciously. Whoever made a move against "his woman" had not yet succeeded.

"Quenxus, have the security team disguise themselves and immediately guard the main entrances and exits of the hospital."

Calmly, Gu Mufeng gave the order: "The traffic team, with their equipment, immediately begin retrieving the location and communication information. The search team, cast a wide net and search everywhere!"
"Dai coordinated with the hospital to ensure that the area within five meters of me was cleared, and that not a single word was missed. I personally searched the hospital."

He led his entire team forward with overwhelming force. Did those three petty kidnappers dare to make a move? He only needed to make a show of force.

Sure enough, when he arrived at the hospital discreetly, life, aging, sickness, and death unfolded as he had expected, seemingly as usual. However, Gu Mufeng led his team to quickly divide tasks, and like shadows, men and women precisely dispersed, blended in, and infiltrated every corner to investigate.

Without making a sound, Gu Mufeng headed straight for each staircase.

To plan to silently remove a living person from the hospital, from the very first moment, even if it's done in disguise, aside from the morgue... it's the stairwell.

After frantically searching five stairwells, his cold gaze and slight panting stopped at the doorknob of the machinery factory area. This corridor was relatively deserted, with the low hum of machinery behind the doors. Gu Mufeng's brows twitched silently.

Sensing that he was being questioned, Quenxus, who was following closely behind and setting up the clearing, immediately replied, "Boss, this side is locked, and there's a security gate over there."

Gu Mufei glanced at the card reader beside the door but didn't answer. The hospital's machinery factory area was vast. His phoenix eyes, sharp as knives, swept across the area around the door with a slicing motion. The calluses on his fingertips pressed against the cold doorknob. The door was indeed locked.

Immediately, he dialed Su Li's number.

A soft vibration came from behind the two of them.

The dirty sheets were piled high on a cleaning truck that was scheduled to be dispatched the next morning. Without thinking twice, Gu Mufeng simply lifted them up, and the fabric fell to his feet as if in submission.

Sure enough, he picked up Su Li's phone and wallet from the filth. He weighed the phone in his hand.

Imagine, in the flashback, Gu Mufeng could almost see Su Li being gagged, strangled, and dragged into the suddenly opened machinery factory area. Her phone and personal belongings, in the way, were ruthlessly stuffed into the trash heap. Su Li's struggles wouldn't have lasted more than five seconds.

Gu Mufeng snorted: Years have passed, and the methods of kidnapping people in the underworld are still so outdated.

Abandoning his investigation of the door lock, Gu Mufeng quickly began to carefully examine the row of cleaning trailers. Finally, under one of the trailers, his sharp eyes spotted a faint glimmer of light.

Gu Mufeng quickly knelt down on one knee, his snow-white shirt and silk vest stained with dirt, and his platinum brooch chain dragging on the ground, but he didn't care at all.

He stretched out like a push-up, suppressing the urgency in his heart, and his slender fingertips finally touched the spot of light that his gaze had been fixed on. His fingertips instantly hooked into his palm and clenched tightly.

A crystal earring. Adorned with congealed blood.

Gu Mufeng's fingertips jerked sharply. The earring was too cheap, but the scab caused him a sudden, sharp pain. His brow furrowed instantly, and his phoenix eyes froze. His disheveled shirt collar was open, revealing a horizontal scar across the base of his neck.

“…Su Li.” He murmured to himself in a low voice.

It was her. She acted decisively, tearing off her earring and throwing it under the car, which cut her earlobe in the process.

Those earlobes... the ones he kissed.

His eyes narrowed, and Gu Mufeng's gaze instantly sharpened. His command was almost cold-blooded:

"Quenxus, give the order. Security team, unlock the door. Everyone, immediately search for the other earring. It's in the factory area. It won't be long, the person hasn't gone far."

Orders were given and obeyed without question. A large number of people infiltrated from all directions, and his team immediately deployed their forces.

In the storage room, Su Li huddled weakly in a ball. Her wrists ached and swelled, and she carefully hid the steel nail brush she had just found under her skirt. She whispered, "...Who...are you?"

Across from him, the man anxiously twirled his knife. As if worried that a short knife wouldn't be enough for self-defense, he then set his sights on the storage cabinet in the corner.

"How did you know someone was going to kidnap me?" Su Li probed more cautiously.

The rapper, seeing her as delicate, didn't take her seriously at all: "You should thank me. You're too much trouble."

The man feigned nonchalance, inserting the tip of his knife into the keyhole. His lock-picking movements were so practiced; at the same time, a blinding glint of ferocity flashed in Su Li's eyes. Taking advantage of the knife being stuck in the lock, she lunged forward:

"Explain yourself clearly," Su Li said firmly, "or I'll call the police!" Having planned this for a long time, Su Li took advantage of the man's softened and careless attitude and snatched the phone from his sleeve.

The man opposite him, provoked, blurted out, "Call the police? Are you crazy, Gu—"

His expression changed drastically; the man was even more terrified than when he had heard the kidnappers say they would kill him.

Oh no. If that person finds out...

Su Li keenly sensed something was wrong: "Gu—?"

The man immediately changed his tone in a low voice: "Please consider the situation!"

So weird.

Seeing Su Li narrow her eyes warily, the man quickly flattered her: "Alright, alright, great-grandmother. My name is Kai, I was sent to keep an eye on your safety..."

Sent here? Su Li was shocked.

"Who sent you?" she asked, focusing on the key point.

But to Su Li's surprise, this time, Kai suddenly made up his mind in a very short time: "...Go ahead and call the police. It doesn't matter who saves me, right? Just pretend I'm tied up too, okay? Damn it."

Despite being astonished by Kai's impromptu quick thinking, Su Li gritted her teeth and remained calm. She weighed the situation: her kidnappers clearly had a specific target in mind, using a direct chokehold with professional and ruthless methods. She had no enemies, and there was no value in being kidnapped.

"Kidnapping?" Su Li's heart skipped a beat; the suffocating feeling of being strangled still lingered in her throat. If there's kidnapping, there must be a redemption. Could it be...?
Using Kai's phone, she quickly dialed the number.

"You—!" Kai lunged at the phone without thinking.

"Hello." The baritone voice coming from the phone's speaker was calm and crisp, but this time it carried a long-awaited urgency.

Kai's hand, which was outstretched in mid-air, froze: "Boss?"

The door to the storage room was kicked open violently, splinters flew everywhere, and the sharp, deafening impact was deafening.

"Leave no survivors."

Startled and screaming, Su Li gripped the steel nail brush and hurled it forcefully at the face of the person entering the room.

But the next second, her wrist was twisted against the wall by a force so strong it almost snapped. The person pressed down on her, completely blocking any escape route.

Su Li looked up in astonishment, her gaze meeting Gu Mufeng's deep, abyss-like eyes.

Before him was clearly the figure she had intimately caressed. His blond hair was disheveled and fell loosely; his eyes were like deep water, and his breathing was steady, as if the person who had just rushed down the door had never existed.

As he precisely gripped and blocked the steel nail brush, crimson blood slowly slid down. His chin and arm were held aloof, not allowing a single drop of blood to fall on her.

Gu Mufeng's expression remained unchanged. Looking down at him, his voice was deep:
"Su Li, it's me."

In an instant, Su Li's extreme fear transformed into excitement, her breath catching in her throat. Shock and anger surged within her simultaneously. She stared at his white shirt, stained and soaked with blood, her gaze finally settling on the horizontal scar across his neck—

Like half a beautiful necklace.

Her pupils dilated slightly, and Su Li was shocked: the scar was too sharp. For a moment, she felt a sudden chill on her neck. It was as if the scar had cut into her neck as well.

"Have you seen enough?" Gu Mufeng broke the silence first.

He slightly turned his head. The long scar on the side of his neck disappeared in an instant, immediately swallowed by the shadow of his collar. In that brief moment, his face once again displayed that enigmatic, warm, and remarkably innocent smile from when they first met.

Clenching her teeth, Su Li's voice was like a swift, sharp knife, cutting coldly into his heart, piercing and clear:
"Gu Mufeng, who... exactly are you?"

>>>>>
Next chapter: Facing the Blade

[Author's Note | Chapter Six]

Some people appear to be at ease and decisive, seemingly overseeing the whole situation, but they only have one goal in mind—

Did Su Li's counterattack today please the readers?
Does this powerful alliance and two-way collaboration meet the expectations of our readers?
In the next chapter, how will Gu Mufeng answer Su Li's question?

Let me know your opinions in the comments section. I'll definitely correct any mistakes the author makes.

Thank you again to every reader for adding this to their collection, following the story, and voting!
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(End of this chapter)