When Shan Ming returned to their temporary camp, it was already daylight.
Their night watchman was very nervous to see him with blood on his clothes. Shan Ming waved his hand, “I’ll find Ayer when he wakes up.”
He returned to his own tent. The child sleeping soundly. Shan Ming sat by the bedside and stared at the small curled-up body, feeling very puzzled.
Which big shot’s child was this that even the Chinese special forces had to cross the border all the way to the southernmost tip of Myanmar in pursuit? The little toy Shan Ming had picked up and brought home on a whim may soon bring them great trouble, which was beyond his expectations. However, no matter what kind of threat they face now, there was no retreat. Shan Ming lived a life with his head held high, fearless even in death. He wasn’t afraid of anyone or any power. In fact, the provocations from the military actually made him feel excited and stimulated.
Up to this point, what actually surprised him the most was how those people had traced them. When ordinally people hear that the plane crashed, especially in a primitive forest filled with deadly things, how could they ever expect a five-year-old child to be alive?
Assuming they found the wreckage of the plane but didn’t find the child’s body, and assuming they searched the forest for several kilometers or even a dozen kilometers based on the maximum distance a five-year-old child could travel on foot within a few days, how much manpower and resources would have been required for the entire search and rescue operation? Not to mention the risk of international disputes arising from illegal border crossings. The relentless determination of those people to eventually track down their employer and finally locked onto them for whatever reason was unbelievable to Shan Ming. He couldn’t imagine how much resources those people had poured into it.
Unless, if those people had firmly believed from the beginning that the child absolutely wouldn’t die, then it would have been reasonable for them to search tirelessly. Otherwise, searching aimlessly for a tiny child in the vast forest would have been like finding a needle in a haystack. But who would dare to assume that a five-year-old child was still alive under such circumstances?
The whole thing was unbelievable. Ever since the moment the child appeared, which was just over three months, there have been too many things about the child that Shan Ming could not explain.
It was too hot out and the child was only wearing a small tank top with no pants on. Shan Ming poked the child’s soft belly button with his finger. The child mumbled in response, rolled over, and hugged the blanket with his chubby arms and legs, sleeping soundly.
The child’s dad felt a surge of resentment in his heart, he thought, I’m risking my life here, how come you get to sleep so comfortably? He took out a marker from his bag, drew a crooked four-legged animal on the child’s belly, and then colored the child’s little birdie completely black.
As he was coloring, the child woke up. He rubbed his sleepy eyes and sat up, asking in a soft voice, “Dad, what are you doing?” Following the direction of Shan Ming’s hand, the child saw that the place where he peepeed was now black. He cried out in fright and scrambled into bed, trembling as he asked, “What are you doing?!” Find the original chapter at NovelPing.
Shan Ming was getting addicted to playing with him. The child’s thing was only as thick as his finger, it hung limply, looking quite interesting. Seeing the child’s miserable appearance, he burst out laughing.
The child touched his own belly, wanting to rub off the ugly pattern, but ended up rubbing his skin red without being able to remove it. The little birdie was the same, it was all black and its original appearance could no longer be seen. The child’s eyes turned red with anger, he glared at Shan Ming but didn’t dare to speak up.
Shan Ming took off his bloody clothes and threw them on the ground. “Go wash my clothes and then bring me breakfast,” he ordered.
The child pouted and held back tears, put on some clothes and angrily stomped on Shan Ming’s clothes twice before picking them up and leaving to wash them.
After a short while, Ayer came and woke him up, asking what had happened.
Shan Ming lit a cigarette and looked at the only person he trusted. He told Ayer about Shen Changze.
After listening, Ayer remained silent for a while, then slowly lifted his head. The deep and enchanting eyes shimmered with a terrifying light, “So you mean, he must be worth a lot of money.”
Shan Ming was stunned for a moment, then managed to suppress his urge to punch Ayer.
At that moment, the child came in with Shan Ming’s breakfast. Ayer, who had never given him much of a second glance before, suddenly stared at him with shining eyes, making the child quite nervous.
The child stood on tiptoe to put the breakfast on the table, spread a thick layer of butter on the bread, and then mixed the salad before handing it all to Shan Ming.
Ayer raised an eyebrow, “He’s already so used to serving you.”
Shan Ming spoke while eating, “If you don’t work, you don’t deserve to eat. The place we’re staying isn’t difficult to find, and once those people find us, we’ll be in a defensive situation. Let’s leave as soon as it gets dark.” This chapter is updated first at g.com.
“Leaving early would be ideal, but it seems that it’s extremely difficult to go out to sea right now. Did you gain anything last night?”
Shan Ming replied discontentedly, “All the ships docked at the port are cargo ships. Don’t expect them to be fast. I picked three with deep drafts and will pick the most suitable one when we get there. Judging by their tonnage, the fuel should be enough to get us to Indonesia. We can unload the cargo on the way, and I think there will be enough laborers on the ship.”
“I just spoke with Tiger Shark, and he found out that there’s a smuggling port in the southwest direction. He advised us not to provoke the local smuggling groups. However, if we can’t leave from this port, we will have to force our way out from there. They definitely have fast and powerful smuggling ships that the Marines cannot catch.”
Shan Ming nodded and said, “This is currently our only option. You should plan the route to the southwest port. If we can’t leave from this port, we’ll immediately drive to that smuggling port. As long as we leave with hostages on board, we’ll be safe.”
Ayer said, “I’ll go and tell the brothers to get ready. Let’s abandon half of the cars. We can’t take it all with us anyways when we fly from Indonesia. Bringing them onto the ship will increase the load.”
“Alright, I’ll tell them to split up the things in the cars.”
Shan Ming arranged for the contents of four of the cars to be distributed among the other four cars. Those four emptied cars only carried their personal weapons, they were prepared to abandon them to board the ship once they arrived at the port.
While everyone was packing their belongings, they noticed thick smoke rising from the nearby woods. The wind wasn’t strong, but it was persistently blowing in their direction, carrying an unusual smell in the air.
Ayer squinted for a moment and then shouted, “Forget the tents, everyone, get in the cars!”
In this dry and hot season, fire can spread quickly. Once the fire attracts attention, it’s only a matter of time before they are discovered. Having eight military off-road vehicles parked together in one spot, all with foreign occupants, was highly suspicious. Not to mention that everything they carried was illegal.
Shan Ming knew that this was most likely a trick played by the special forces, forcing them to reveal themselves.
Eight cars drove out one after another. Going to a legitimate port in broad daylight would be nonsense for such a large target like them, so Ayer opened the navigation device and decided to head straight for the smuggling port.