Chapter 118: Seductive Appearance

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"Tactics?" Jiang Jingwei's eyes lit up as she rested her chin on her fingers, striking a pose. "Li Dongze is right; we do need a tactical plan. After all, we are an official organization, not brainless villains. I have an idea."

"Brainless villains are probably smarter than you," an inappropriate thought crossed the minds of everyone simultaneously.

Li Dongze asked, "You have an idea? Please share."

Jiang Jingwei said, "We'll charge in. Tengyuan and Yuanshi will lead the way, while Guan Ya provides cover fire. I'll seize the opportunity to launch a sneak attack, and we'll break through individually."

"This tactic sounds good, almost like having no tactic at all," Zhang Yuanqing thought while anxiously awaiting news about his niece.

Li Dongze, surprised at himself for seeking advice on tactics from a Fire Mage, continued, "The enemy has hostages, so we can't charge in recklessly. We need the Night Stalker's expertise in stealth. But relying on Yuanshi alone is too risky. Guan Ya, contact Yuan Ting and have him come as quickly as possible."

"Alright!" Guan Ya took out her phone and stepped aside to make the call.

Li Dongze continued, "The Night Stalker's stealth time is limited, and even if he infiltrates the hospital, he might be detected by surveillance. Therefore, Wang Tai, you need to hack into the hospital's monitoring system."

Wang Tai immediately opened his laptop and started working.

Li Dongze then looked at Jiang Jingwei and Tengyuan, saying, "We don't have stealth abilities. We'll stay here to draw the attention of Li Xianzong and the other criminals. I'll be responsible for negotiating with Li Xianzong and try to distract him as much as possible."

At this moment, Guan Ya interrupted, "Captain Yuan said he'll need fifteen minutes."

"Fifteen minutes?" Li Dongze furrowed his brow and glanced at Zhang Yuanqing. He said, "We'll try to delay them until he arrives. Don't act impulsively, Zhang, you can't face those criminals alone."

Tengyuan, Wang Tai, Jiang Jingwei, and others shared the same sentiment.

The criminals were clearly targeting Yuanshi, and their boldness was both provocation and provoking. Given Yuanshi's level, entering would almost certainly lead to certain death. Although this was discouraging, it was also a fact.

Guan Ya suddenly remembered that Yuanshi's niece was an intern doctor at Pingtai Hospital, which he had mentioned during their investigation of the Spirit Servants incident.

"No wonder he's so anxious," Guan Ya thought.

Zhang Yuanqing sat in the car, closing his eyes to calm himself. He didn't argue with Li Dongze, as his colleagues' concerns were valid.

Rushing in recklessly wasn't the only option, but that didn't mean there weren't other methods.

At this moment, no one noticed a cute and agile infant spirit making its way toward the hospital and the administrative building occupied by the criminals.

"Let's send Little Distractor to scout and check on my niece's situation first," Zhang Yuanqing had his own thoughts and plans, and in this situation, the role of a Spirit Servant was becoming apparent.

Surveillance couldn't detect it, and ordinary Spirit Realm practitioners couldn't sense it, unless there happened to be a Night Stalker or Illusionist among the kidnappers. However, these two professions were too rare, so it was unlikely. Even if they were, Zhang wasn't worried about Little Distractor being discovered, as the hospital was filled with numerous spiritual beings.

Time ticked away, and at the eighth minute, Li Dongze picked up the walkie-talkie and pressed the button, saying, "Yuanshi is almost here. It's rush hour, so it's taking some time. Wait for another three minutes."

He repeated it three times.

Only then did Li Xianzong respond with a mocking tone, "Don't play the delay game with me. I can kill one person per minute, and I always keep my word. You can also try to storm the hospital and see if I'll blow everyone up."

Li Dongze's expression became serious, and he put down the walkie-talkie, looking at Tengyuan. He whispered, "Get ready to impersonate Yuanshi and enter the hospital to stabilize the criminals."

His previous words weren't meant for negotiation or delaying time; he was testing the enemy's attitude.

Tengyuan replied with a simple "Okay," and added, "Yuanshi, let's change our attire."

His dressing style leaned towards middle-aged, and although Yuanshi's identity as the Heavenly Lord Yuanshi was strictly confidential, there were rumors circulating among officials that "Heavenly Lord Yuanshi" was a young man, and this information might have leaked.

Without knowing how much information the enemy possessed, it was best to stick to what was known about the real person.

Zhang Yuanqing had to temporarily split his focus, quickly changing clothes with Tengyuan. He also gave Tengyuan his cap and mask.

Li Dongze once again picked up the walkie-talkie and said in a low voice, "Li Xianzong, are you causing trouble in Songhai because you're after Heavenly Lord Yuanshi?"

Li Xianzong's voice came through the walkie-talkie, nonchalant and provocative, "That's right! The large-scale slaughter instance is about to open, and I'm a bit short on resources. Borrowing someone's head to exchange for a few items is just a little entertainment for me."

Whether it was intentional or his natural demeanor, this guy's voice was rebellious and carefree, as if Heavenly Lord Yuanshi was a fat lamb waiting to be slaughtered, pushing the provocation to its limit.

Not to mention Zhang Yuanqing, even Guan Ya felt annoyed listening to him. Jiang Jingwei, who had a quick temper, was grinding her teeth in frustration.

As expected, Li Dongze, who had asked for the enemy's tactics, didn't waste any more words and put down the walkie-talkie.

On the other side, Little Distractor was swiftly crawling and passing through walls. Soon, it reached the first-floor lobby.

The lobby had several dead bodies lying on the floor, and the sticky blood had stained the tiles red. Over a hundred ordinary people huddled together in fear, some crying, some trembling, and some too terrified to speak.

Two armed criminals walked among the crowd, alert and occasionally leering at young women.

On the first floor, there were only two people, so as long as the surprise attack wasn't avoided, I can eliminate them instantly. These guys really think they have me figured out? They've made such a big fuss; they want to die, so be it.

Zhang Yuanqing suppressed his anger and controlled Little Distractor to move to the second floor.

Although he was still a young infant spirit with sparse hair, his speed was impressive. Upon reaching the second floor, he found the waiting room filled with hostages.

Without hesitation, Little Distractor moved up the stairs to the third floor. The third floor appeared empty, as if the hostages had been moved down to the second floor or were hiding somewhere else.

Finally, the infant spirit arrived on the fourth floor.

On the fourth floor's waiting room, a thin middle-aged man stood with a gun in his left hand and a short blade in his right. He had a cold and stern gaze, scanning the crowd, shouting, "Bow your heads and crouch down. Anyone who doesn't cooperate, I'll blow your heads off."

The hostages obediently complied, trembling in fear.

Little Distractor couldn't find his niece on the fourth floor. Suddenly, screams echoed from the obstetrics and gynecology department.

The fourth floor had two more kidnappers, one of them dragging people inside.

Zhang Yuanqing's heart sank, and he controlled Little Distractor to move quickly toward the source of the screams.

Inside the office, Dr. Zhao's face turned pale with fear. The slightly plump doctor's body trembled uncontrollably.

"They're coming up," Dr. Zhao said in panic. "Why haven't the security officers arrived yet? Are we going to be killed? Why haven't they come yet?"

Jiang Yubaithe comforted her, "Don't worry, someone will come to save us."

Her calm tone and confident demeanor, while mysterious to Dr. Zhao, brought her some comfort.

Suddenly, the office door was kicked open forcefully, making a loud bang. Dr. Zhao was startled and tried to shrink herself as much as possible, covering her mouth.

The man at the door was burly, with a shaved head and a menacing look. Upon seeing the woman hiding under the table, his coarse face showed a momentary surprise before his triangular eyes glinted with excitement.

"I like your expression just now," he said with anticipation. "You looked very scared."

At that moment, the woman, still hiding, changed her attitude abruptly, moving away fearfully and wiping her eyes as if crying.

"Don't come near me," she said, her voice trembling, "Please don't come near me."

Damn it!

Outside the hospital, inside a business car, Zhang Yuanqing observed the scene through Little Distractor's eyes. He straightened up and spoke rapidly, "Captain, my niece is in danger. I'll take action. I'll hold on until Yuan Ting arrives."

Without waiting for a response from Li Dongze and the others, he disappeared from their sight in an instant.

In a split second, the atmosphere became tense and serious. Li Dongze waved his hand, signaling Tengyuan to enter the hospital, and then he gestured to Wang Tai to prepare to infiltrate the surveillance system.

After giving the orders, Li Dongze pressed the button on the walkie-talkie and said sternly, "He's here, he's entered the hospital. Do not harm the hostages."

Through the walkie-talkie, Li Xianzong responded nonchalantly, "Very well! Let him go to the first-floor lobby, and don't avoid the blind spots in the surveillance. Otherwise, I can't guarantee the absolute safety of the hostages."

Ending the call, Li Xianzong picked up another walkie-talkie and said, "The fish has taken the bait; all team members, be on high alert."

In the obstetrics and gynecology office, Li Xianzong heard the voice coming from the walkie-talkie on his chest. He frowned, contemplated for a few seconds, let out a sneer, and didn't take it seriously.

He wasn't under Li Dongze's command and had joined in purely for the sake of wreaking havoc on society, not to hunt down someone named Heavenly Lord Yuanshi.

He knew he didn't have much time left to live, so before dying, he wanted to indulge himself a bit.

The burly man holstered his gun and licked his lips as he approached Jiang Yubai. "I liked the expression you had just now; your frightened look is very tempting."

At that moment, he suddenly felt a chill on his shoulder, as if it had been touched by ice.

Instinctively, the burly man reached for his shoulder, but he didn't touch anything.

Two seconds later, he lost his vision.

With no hesitation, the burly man started dodging blindly while igniting the flames that covered his body. He manipulated the flames to expand into a fiery wave, trying to protect himself from a potential close-range attack.

Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his chest, a sensation of his flesh being torn apart by something.

He was familiar with this kind of pain, as it was caused by bullets piercing through his body. However, he hadn't heard any gunshots.

The pain came again, bullets hitting him consecutively, tearing his heart into pieces.

By this time, the "blindness" had worn off, and the burly man was stunned, looking in the direction of the office desk. There stood a young man with black-red scars on his face, hands, and chest. He held a large-caliber pistol with a dark red shell.

He stood in front of the female doctor, having shielded her from the flames. His gaze was cold as he said, "I like your current expression. The way you look before you die is also very tempting."

(End of this chapter)

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