Crimson Instinct

Chapter 120: Showdown in Tianjin (13)

*Xin Lei*

I looked at him and raised my brow.

I smiled and typed. "A little bit."

I pursed my lips. I typed again. "We are sorry that we misunderstood you."

Liao Huifang coughed a bit. 

Tian Song shrugged. "I understand."

I thought for a moment. "I heard what Duan Deming confessed. So I also understand that you were innocent. But where did you want to take us to Andingzhen?"

"To meet Zhen."

I widened my eyes.

I furiously typed. "Big brother? You wanted Bai Li and me to meet big brother?"

"Yes."

This was a serious revelation. Here I was, wondering where big brother was all the time, and Tian Song just wanted to take us right at him.

I sighed.

"Not only in Andingzhen, but I also tried to take you at Dongcheng too when you two visited the police headquarters."

Huh? How?

But he said nothing.

I blinked my eyes and typed. "Um, how?"

"When you escaped. I wanted to catch you two and use it as a pretext to let you meet him."

He turned grim.

"Unfortunately, I couldn't."

I see.

I anxiously typed. "Duan Deming said that the clients might have escaped. Is it true?"

Tian Song had no change in his expression.

"No. Before I came here, I already relayed to my team to look for them. I just got a message that they saw them escaping and are following them."

He said nothing further.

Liao Huifang asked in a quiet voice. "I hope they catch them."

Tian Song glanced at her. "I trust them."

I nodded, and so did she.

I typed. "Do they need your help?"

"They can handle it."

I felt relieved. I typed. "Can you come with me to find Bai Li? Before I came here, I saw a woman dressed in black. She had a gun with her, and she escaped in the direction where Bai Li is."

He narrowed his eyes.

"Who?"

Liao Huifang also looked at me questioningly.

I shook my head and typed. "I didn't see her face. She had covered her face with a mask. It was hardly possible in the darkness, but at least I figured out that she was a woman. I didn't know why she went there, but I am worried about Bai Li."

Tian Song softly nodded.

"We should leave."

"What about him? We cannot leave him here." Liao Huifang said, pointing at Duan Deming. There was an indescribable anger in her gaze.

Tian Song said, "Don't worry."

He took out a set of handcuffs. He went to Duan Deming's side and dragged him towards a pole. He raised his arm and locked his wrist against the pole with that handcuff. Then he found a rope and tied his feet with it. He also tied a cloth around his mouth.

"I will immediately call two of my men to come here and take him away. Until then, he would be tied up. The cuffs are special. He wouldn't be able to unlock or break it even if he wakes up."

He also took his phone with him.

Tian Song gave the instructions to this place through his earpiece.

He looked at him. "Do you know where Bai Li is?"

I nodded. I typed. "I know the way."

---

Liao Huifang was sticking to my side as we kept on walking. Well, she always did, but now I felt her behavior a little different.

Tian Song was stoic, and he didn't much say or took the initiative to talk.

I looked at Liao Huifang and raised my brow questioningly.

I signed. "What happened?"

She stiffened and awkwardly smiled. She nervously glanced at Tian Song. Then she looked back at me and made a pitiful face.

I didn't understand any of it.

Why was she making that face as if she made some big mistake?

She stuck closer to me and leaned her face towards my ear.

She whispered. "Xin Lei. I am dead."

I blinked my eyes. I blankly looked at her.

"Before you came, I bumped into Tian Song. At that time, I didn't know his real identity. So...so I got angry at him and slapped him. I thought he was sis's boyfriend."

Now that I looked at Tian Song, I could see a faint handprint on his cheek.

Liao Huifang lowered her head guiltily.

"A-and then I fought with him."

I looked at her in surprise. Like fist fight?

She nodded at me as if she understood my unsaid question.

"But, I lost." Her voice was meek.

My mouth twitched.

Well, it wasn't a surprise. She was still learning to fight while Tian Song had already undergone rigorous training when he must have joined the Intelligence Bureau. The difference in their strength was obviously not comparable.

I patted her head and smiled.

I was about to type, but she stopped me. "Don't type. He would hear it too!"

I sighed. I mouthed. "It's okay. You did your best."

Liao Huifang still looked a little nervous. "But that is not all. I...I also bit his hand while trying to escape from him towards Duan Deming."

I had no words to say. 

Now that I looked at him again, his hand, indeed, 

had the bite marks on it.

"I am scared, Xin Lei." She sobbed.

I signed. "Why?"

Liao Huifang looked at me as if I was an idiot. She urgently whispered. "Can't you see how scary he looks? He is expressionless the whole time, but actually, that is scarier. What if he beats me up because I hurt him? And I hurt him twice! He wouldn't let me go!" She cried.

"..."

"What if he arrests me for hitting an officer on duty? Don't they throw you in jail if you fight with them? Xin Lei, please save me." She begged.

"..."

"Isn't your brother an officer too? Can you ask him to say to Tian Song to let me go?"

"..."

I flicked her forehead.

"Ow!" She said a little loudly.

Tian Song stopped and glanced at us. I smiled and shook my head. Liao Huifang didn't even dare to raise her head.

I signed. "You are an idiot. He wouldn't do anything like that. You are overthinking."

"Why?"

I signed. "He would understand that it was a misunderstanding."

Liao Huifang bit her lips. "I hope he does."

I typed and asked Tian Song. "Do you know who tampered with the gantry cranes?"

"No. My team is investigating that as well."

There was silence.

It was difficult to walk because apparently another massive chunk of wall had collapsed, and it made the path messier.

I typed. "Do you think Yi Xing or Yi Xiaosi is the boss of this whole operation?"

"It is not definite. They could be. They couldn't be either."

But I wondered what was the purpose of making the gantry cranes collapse?

I paused. I typed again. "How is my brother?"

"Zhen is fine." Tian Song paused. "But he has lost a little weight recently."

My heart ached for him.

Stupid big brother. Are you not eating well? He was always like that, neglecting his health.

"He blames it on you, though."

I jerked my head towards him. I typed. "What!? Why me?"

Tian Song expressionlessly said, "He says that he wouldn't have lost so much weight if he didn't have a certain troublesome sister who couldn't stay put and be safe. She always gives him a headache."

"..."

I felt terribly wronged.

I typed. "He should be proud of me."

"He isn't. He says that you are a doctor, so stay in the hospital and treat patients. Don't bother with such a dangerous job."

I harrumphed. 

"That was why he sent me to bring you two to him. He wanted you out of this mess."

I sighed. I understood his concern. But well, I was stubborn, just like him.

Tian Song then gave me a mysterious glance.

I didn't understand the meaning of his gaze. But I felt a bad sense of foreboding.

"I should warn you that he knows about your relationship with Bai Li."

I coughed hard.

Fuck! So soon? How?

"He doesn't seem too happy about it."

I broke out into cold sweat.

"Zhen wants to meet two sooner because he wants to meet Bai Li."

Oh no. My brother...wasn't exactly that easygoing as my father. I felt a headache coming. I already didn't wish to reunite with him anymore.

He was going to give Bai Li a hard time.

I typed. "How does he know?"

"I told him."

"..."

What!?

I glared at him furiously. I couldn't believe it.

He shrugged. "Zhen told me to report everything related to you. So everything includes everything."

My chest heaved up and down, feeling breathless.

Aaaaahhh, I so want to beat Tian Song now! Why did he tell him?

I wanted to break the news to big brother to have the least impact.

Ughhhh! I could feel the storm coming from miles away!

We kept on walking while I had a new problem to think about. 

We stopped as we heard some noises.