"You dare hit me...you coward, you actually dare to hit me."
Liu Xinghan touched her wrist, which was red and swollen from Zhou Ziwei's grip, and pointed at him angrily. However, the way Zhou Ziwei had gripped her wrist made her feel like it was about to break, and she couldn't help but feel a little scared of him. She no longer dared to confront him as before, so she had to turn her attention to someone else. She immediately turned around and grabbed Chang Li's arm, sobbing softly, "Brother Chang, you saw it too. This bastard actually dared to hit me! Didn't Uncle Xiao ask you to take care of me? You can't just watch me get beaten like this, can you?"
Chang Li wasn't someone who could be easily used as a pawn. Although he overheard the conversation between the two, Chang Li still felt a certain degree of contempt for Zhou Ziwei.
But when he saw Zhou Ziwei in his thin clothes again, his sense of contempt immediately vanished.
Just kidding. Would someone who can climb Mount Kashgar in sub-zero temperatures wearing only a single layer of clothing be the kind of coward Liu Xinghan described? As for Chang Li, he doesn't think he has that ability. If he were to wear such light clothing, let alone climb the mountain, he would probably freeze into an ice sculpture after just one walk around the bottom of the mountain.
Moreover, when Liu Xinghan lifted Zhou Ziwei's hair just now, he could see very clearly that there were no scars on Zhou Ziwei's forehead. Based on these two points, he could basically confirm that Liu Xinghan's words just now were a lie.
Although Zhou Ziwei seemed to have admitted it under Liu Xinghan's questioning and even apologized to her, who knows if he was just teasing the little girl? Besides, he's neither a judge nor a policeman, so how could he care about the past grievances between the two?
Captain Xiao did indeed ask him to help take care of Liu Xinghan, but there had to be a limit to that. He could provide Liu Xinghan with some special care in terms of living conditions and material things, but it would be absurd to expect Chang Li to take action against his superior just because of a single sentence from Liu Xinghan.
Chang Li immediately frowned and sternly rebuked Liu Xinghan, saying, "Have you made enough trouble? Director Zhou is our superior now. If you disrespect Director Zhou again, I will send you down the mountain immediately. And if Director Zhou wants to investigate this matter, don't expect me to protect you."
Liu Xinghan never expected that Chang Li, who had always been so protective of her, would reprimand her so harshly. Her lips trembled and she almost burst into tears. Just as she was pondering whether to encourage the other special forces soldiers to help deal with Zhou Ziwei, she suddenly heard a series of hurried footsteps outside.
"Something terrible has happened... The captain is in trouble... Ma Xiaoshan and the others have been kidnapped."
At the sound of the urgent shout, a soldier covered in blood stumbled into the tent...
Volume Two: The Assassin's Nightmare, Chapter 361: A Race Against Time
"What? What? Ma Xiaoshan has been arrested? Tell me clearly, what exactly happened?"
Everyone in the tent was startled by what the soldier said. Chang Li quickly abandoned Liu Xinghan and grabbed the blood-covered soldier to question him.
“Foreigners… there are foreigners on the mountain…” The soldier, panting heavily, pointed to the southeast and said, “The three of us just received orders to turn back from that direction. On the way, we saw two people there who seemed to be making snowdrifts. Ma Xiaoshan was in front and went over to ask them a few questions. He also warned them that the military had closed off the mountain and that they should leave immediately.”
But to everyone's surprise, the two men suddenly jumped up and started fighting with Ma Xiaoshan. Caught off guard, Ma Xiaoshan was taken down by the two men in just a couple of rounds.
When Xiao Wang and I realized something was wrong, we rushed over to help, but the two men were incredibly strong. I was punched in the face and then knocked down the slope, rolling all the way down.
However, at the same time I was hit, I also ripped off one of their masks. I saw that it was clearly a Caucasian, blond and blue-eyed... I rolled down the hillside, got up, and looked back. I saw that Ma Xiaoshan and Xiao Wang had been tied up by those two, and there was another person chasing after me. I knew things were bad; I knew I couldn't fight those two foreigners alone, so I quickly ran back to report to the captain.
After saying that, the soldier plopped down on the ground, panting heavily. It seemed that the long run had almost exhausted him.
"Foreigners have actually ventured up the mountain."
Upon hearing this, Chang Li's face immediately darkened. He waved his hand, about to issue an order, but suddenly remembered that there was Director Zhou, who was of a higher rank than himself, present. His raised arm froze in mid-air, and he turned back to Zhou Ziwei with an awkward smile, saying politely, "Director Zhou, what do you think about this... Please give the order quickly! What should we do?"
Seeing this, Zhou Ziwei chuckled, shook his head, and said, "You don't need to worry about me. Just do what you need to do. You are the captain here. I'm just here to help you. I'm only responsible for exploring the location of that cave. I don't care about anything else. You can make the decisions."
"Ah...this...how can that be, Director Zhou..." Chang Li greatly admired Zhou Ziwei's ability to wander around in such cold weather wearing only a single layer of clothing. In any case, he guessed that Zhou Ziwei's skills must be quite good. If Zhou Ziwei was willing to help, even if there were more foreigners, they wouldn't have to worry about anything.
So he didn't want Zhou Ziwei to get away with it, and immediately said, "Director Zhou, such a big thing has happened, how can you, as Director Zhou, ignore it? Give the order quickly! I guarantee that everyone in the team will follow your command."
Zhou Ziwei seemed to see through Chang Li's little scheme, smiled slightly, and said, "You, as the captain, should make the decision! However... while I can ignore other matters, foreigners have openly come to our country's territory to bully our soldiers. Since we've encountered this, of course I won't stand idly by. Captain Chang, you should make the decision. I'll just be a lowly soldier helping you out..."
Upon hearing this, Chang Li breathed a slight sigh of relief. He didn't dare waste any more time and immediately called Hu Zi and Gu Bin. Together with himself and Zhou Ziwei, the four of them immediately searched in a semi-circular pattern in the same direction as before, determined to find Ma Xiaoshan and Xiao Wang as quickly as possible and rescue them.
Once the enemy's trail is spotted, immediately signal with a signal flare.
Although in the vast mountains, a loud shout can be heard for miles when the distance is not far, shouting can easily trigger an avalanche. Therefore, they usually use signal guns to fire signal flares to communicate with their teammates.
Zhou Ziwei was also given a signal flare, and the four of them prepared to set off. However, before leaving, Chang Li glanced at Zhou Ziwei's thin clothes and asked him with a strange expression if he wanted to put on a cotton coat to keep warm. After all, it was getting dark, and there was a strong wind outside. The temperature would drop by seven or eight degrees Celsius after dark, and as they went further up the mountain, the temperature could drop to minus fifty degrees Celsius. Even if they were wearing thick cotton coats, they would find it unbearable after a while. Therefore, Chang Li was very worried that Zhou Ziwei might not be able to make it back alive if he went out like this.
However, almost everyone in the team only carried one set of cotton-padded clothes. After all, these things are quite heavy, and carrying an extra set of cotton-padded clothes while climbing mountains is definitely not a fun thing. Therefore, only Liu Xinghan, who did not carry any other equipment or guns, carried an extra set of cotton-padded clothes.
However, the relationship between Liu Xinghan and Zhou Ziwei is clearly strained now, so it might be difficult for Liu Xinghan to give her cotton coat to Zhou Ziwei.
However, Chang Li thought that human life was at stake, and if Zhou Ziwei needed it, then no matter how unwilling Liu Xinghan was, he would use orders to force Liu Xinghan to hand over the cotton-padded coat.
Sure enough, as soon as Liu Xinghan heard Chang Li's words, she knew what Chang Li was up to. Her expression immediately changed, and she turned around, grabbed a backpack and hugged it tightly to her chest. She glared fiercely at Zhou Ziwei and said, "Brother Chang, don't even think about me giving this cotton-padded coat to this bastard. I... I'd rather burn this coat as firewood than give it to this scoundrel."
Zhou Ziwei didn't even think about Liu Xinghan, and urged urgently, "Captain Chang, let's hurry up and get going! Otherwise, those two foreigners might run away again. Don't worry about me, it's only a few dozen degrees below zero, this temperature won't freeze me to death..."
After saying that, Zhou Ziwei immediately lifted the tent flap and was the first to step into the biting cold wind.
Chang Li turned around and glared at Liu Xinghan, then waved to Hu Zi and Gu Bin and said, "Let's go... The rest of you stay here and guard the tents. Don't go out unless necessary. We'll proceed with the next step of the plan after we get back."
"Hey... wait a minute... I want to go with you guys too." Liu Xinghan had been holed up in this tent by herself almost every day for the past two days, and she was already incredibly bored. But she also found it equally pointless to follow those soldiers around the mountains and fields like headless flies. Moreover, the fierce cold wind outside made her even more unbearable.
However, when Liu Xinghan learned that they were going to go out and fight two foreigners, she became excited and insisted on going along to see what was going on and broaden her horizons.
Chang Li naturally wouldn't agree to Liu Xinghan's request. If it were a normal search for caves in a fixed direction, it wouldn't be a problem to bring her along, but now that they were going to rescue someone, how could he bring such a burden along?
But Liu Xinghan glanced at Zhou Ziwei, still unconvinced, and pointed at his nose, saying, "What are two foreigners? I've practiced Taekwondo for years. Don't underestimate me just because I'm a woman; most men can't beat me... Look... this coward, for example. Back then, I beat him to a pulp. If even this coward can participate in your operation, why can't I?"
"Shut up!" Chang Li was truly enraged by Liu Xinghan. He glared at the arrogant woman and shouted, "Shut your mouth! You dare to insult your superior. I will report this to my superiors and punish you severely... Now you stay in the tent and don't go out without my orders. Otherwise... Hmph... If anything else goes wrong, it won't just be a matter of punishment."
Liu Xinghan has been with Chang Li here for several days now. In front of these special forces soldiers, she is like a little princess. Whether it is Chang Li or the ordinary soldiers, they all pamper her. They never let her do the dirty or hard work, and they always give her the best food and drinks first.
As for her usual joking and laughing, no one would get angry with her. But now, being reprimanded by Chang Li and explicitly stating that he would punish her, Liu Xinghan felt both ashamed and angry.
However, Chang Li was the captain after all. Since the captain had made such a stern decision, Liu Xinghan did not dare to insist on following. She could only mutter under her breath and retreat back into the tent. However, her eyes were darting around strangely. She thought to herself: If you won't take me with you, can't I just go by myself?
Chang Li had no idea that Liu Xinghan would have such thoughts. Seeing that Zhou Ziwei had already gone quite far, he didn't dare to delay any longer and immediately took the two of them and quickly chased after him...
"They've already escaped."
The four of them quickly found the area where a fight had clearly taken place, and they also saw a half-finished snowdrift. However, the two foreigners and the two captured special forces soldiers were nowhere to be seen; they had long since disappeared.
Chang Li anxiously turned on the spotlight above his head and carefully shone it into the snow, hoping to find footprints or something left by the people when they left, but he was quickly disappointed.
The wind on the mountain gets stronger as night falls, and any footprints left on the ground will be blown away completely within ten minutes, leaving no trace.
The marks of the fight were visible earlier because they were left deeper.
"Director Zhou, what should we do?!" Not being able to find the two foreigners wasn't a big deal, but Chang Li was extremely anxious because he couldn't find his two captured team members.
Since those two foreigners were going to make a snow nest here, they obviously didn't bring any essential overnight equipment like a tent.
The only thing you can do is dig a hole in the snow and use it as a temporary shelter from the wind and snow.
This wouldn't be a problem in ordinary snow, but in the frigid climate of Kashgar, very few people could endure this method. With temperatures dropping to minus fifty degrees Celsius, even if you're wearing the thickest clothes, sleeping in the freezing cold overnight could lead to complete freezing.
Ma Xiaoshan and Xiao Wang were tied up by the enemy and unable to move from beginning to end. If they were really tied up and left in the snow overnight, they would definitely be turned into ice sculptures by the next morning.
Zhou Ziwei knew that it would be dangerous if the two soldiers could not be found quickly. He hesitated for a moment and then said, "Then let's split up and search! I hope our soldiers are alright, otherwise... humph... I'll bury those two foreigners alive on this snowy mountain."
Hearing the chilling tone in Zhou Ziwei's voice, Chang Li couldn't help but shiver. He then forced a smile and nodded, saying, "Tiger, you're in a group with Director Zhou, and I'll be in a group with Gu Bin. We'll search from two different directions. Once we find something, don't be reckless and take action. Fire the signal flare immediately, understand? Those two foreigners are obviously very skilled. I'm afraid the two of us might not be a match for them."
Zhou Ziwei shook his head and said, "No need for two people per group, you three can go in a group! I can go alone."
"How can this be?" Chang Li immediately expressed strong opposition. This was a superior officer who had been parachuted in from above. If something were to happen to him, Chang Li would have even less of a chance to explain to his superiors.
Although Chang Li was also looking forward to Zhou Ziwei's performance and thought that Zhou Ziwei might be a very powerful expert, he still wouldn't feel at ease letting him act alone.
Zhou Ziwei chuckled and said, "Then it's up to you! As long as he can keep up with my speed, then let him be in my group. Otherwise... well, I don't need to say anything more, right?"
"Alright then... When it comes to speed, I, Tiger, have never been afraid of anyone..."
Tiger was already considered a formidable member of the special forces, especially since he grew up in the mountains and was most skilled in field and jungle warfare. He possessed exceptional physical abilities, particularly excelling in long-distance running. Upon hearing Zhou Ziwei's words, he snorted with some dissatisfaction. However, unlike Liu Xinghan, who was all brawn and no brains, Tiger knew that Zhou Ziwei was no ordinary strongman. Seeing Zhou Ziwei standing there casually in a single layer of clothing, he knew that Zhou Ziwei was no ordinary strongman and dared not underestimate him. He immediately mustered all his strength, determined to at least not let Zhou Ziwei surpass him in speed.
Seeing that Hu Zi was about to sprint like a maniac, Zhou Ziwei couldn't help but chuckle to himself. He wanted to find the two kidnapped special forces soldiers as quickly as possible, and naturally couldn't let Hu Zi hold him back. Therefore, Zhou Ziwei didn't intend to conceal his speed too much. He smiled slightly, then his figure blurred, disappearing like a fleeting shadow. When the others looked up in astonishment, they discovered that in just a few seconds, Zhou Ziwei had already sprinted over a hundred meters away. A few seconds later, he had completely vanished from sight. Looking down at the vast snow-covered mountain, there wasn't a single person left.
Even now, Hu Zi was still in the same stance as when he was about to sprint 100 meters, but he didn't have time to make any move until Zhou Ziwei disappeared from sight.
Or rather, it wasn't that he didn't have time to sprint, but that he simply didn't have time to react... Zhou Ziwei's speed was just too astonishing. Everyone believed that if Zhou Ziwei were willing to compete in the Olympics, then the title of world's fastest man would definitely not be passed on to those foreigners.
At this speed... even the fastest sprinters, whether 100-meter or 1000-meter, would be terrified and would never again have the thought of competing with Zhou Ziwei.
Tiger was in that state of mind. Now he realized how ridiculous his earlier action had been. With his speed, he was probably slower than a snail in Zhou Ziwei's eyes. How dare he think he could compete with Zhou Ziwei in speed... Even if he wanted to follow Zhou Ziwei around and get eaten in his dust, he'd better be able to keep up first...
“Hey… Tiger!” Looking in the direction Zhou Ziwei disappeared, Chang Li swallowed hard, then slowly turned his head and gently patted Tiger’s shoulder, who was still in a sprinting stance, comforting him, “Don’t get worked up… Tiger… This Director Zhou is no ordinary person, otherwise, how could he become a lieutenant colonel deputy director at his age? It’s too much to compare ourselves to others. We shouldn’t compare ourselves to such a genius, or we’ll be crushed by him.”
Tiger reluctantly stopped his awkward posture and said with a wry smile, "Then... what should I do? Should I follow Director Zhou and go check it out?"
Chang Li shook his head and said, "Forget it... let's just form a group of three! Those two foreigners are no ordinary people, so we should be more cautious. As for the speed that Director Zhou just showed, we don't need to worry about him at all. Even if he can't beat those two foreigners, if he wants to run away, I'm afraid no one can stop him."
Hu Zi and Gu Bin recalled Zhou Ziwei's fleeting speed just now, and couldn't help but nod in amazement. Then, the three of them could only set off together in another direction to search...
Zhou Ziwei shook off the three men and ran for several kilometers without encountering a single person, which made him secretly irritated.
On such a large mountain, finding a few people who might be deliberately hiding is really not an easy task... If this weren't a sub-zero temperature zone, Zhou Ziwei could release some of his Kun pets to search for them, but here it's clearly impossible.
All the Kun pets were hidden close to Zhou Ziwei's body, and in this low-temperature environment, all the Kun pets were in a state of hibernation.
Zhou Ziwei only needs to replenish their soul power once every other day. If he were to release them, these Kun pets would definitely not survive.
Volume Two: The Assassin's Nightmare, Chapter 362: Deafening
Zhou Ziwei stood on a frozen boulder, his brows furrowed slightly.
Without Kun Chong's help, using his soul power to search for people on this vast, white snow-covered mountain didn't seem to be of much use, which was really giving Zhou Ziwei a headache.
Alternatively, one could harness the force field space for rapid flight, which would be more efficient, but that would consume far too much of one's soul power.
Moreover, if you don't find the right direction, it's all for nothing no matter how fast or far you fly.
Or you could try using your hearing to capture useful information. On this vast, snowy mountain, because it is deserted, a loud shout can carry a great distance. Zhou Ziwei's hearing can be amplified tenfold, which means that... normally, while others can hear sounds from hundreds of meters away on this snowy mountain, Zhou Ziwei can hear sounds from several kilometers away.
Although being able to hear sounds from several kilometers away here might not be of much use, Zhou Ziwei felt that he could try to improve his hearing several times over.
Having obtained the attribute of electrical energy from the power of his soul, Zhou Ziwei was able to basically resolve the pain caused by the forced enhancement of his five senses. In theory, his five senses could be enhanced almost without limit.
In reality, whether it's physical agility, vision, hearing, etc., the maximum improvement is about ten times that of an ordinary person before it basically stagnates. No matter how much soul power is inputted into the nerve fibers, it will not have a qualitative improvement effect on his five senses.
However, that was before Zhou Ziwei had condensed liquid soul power. He believed that if he infused liquid soul power into the nerves related to hearing, his hearing could be further enhanced.
Of course... pouring liquid soul power into the nerve fibers is also quite torturous for the body. It felt just like when he first tried to pour a large amount of soul power into the nerve fibers. Even a slight breeze causing his clothes to rub against his skin almost made him feel like he was dying from the pain and itching.
The last time he was in Myanmar, he tried to control his body once because all of his misty soul power had been transformed into liquid soul power, making it impossible for him to use misty soul power to control his body.
However, that feeling was really not good. Even now, when Zhou Ziwei thinks about it, he still feels a little chilly.
However, if this time the liquid soul power is simply injected into the nerves related to hearing, it shouldn't be as uncomfortable as last time!
The thought that this method might further expand his five senses, which he had long been unable to improve, immediately excited Zhou Ziwei.
Let alone the fact that he's currently in a hurry to find the two special forces soldiers who were kidnapped by foreigners, even if nothing had happened, Zhou Ziwei would definitely be eager to try it out.
So Zhou Ziwei stopped running around like a headless fly and simply sat down on the boulder. He sank his consciousness into the vast sea of his soul, and quickly used his solidified soul consciousness to extract a drop of liquid soul power from the clear spring-like liquid at the very center of the sea of his soul. Then, with his will, he slowly stretched this drop of liquid soul power until it was like a shimmering silver thread. With a thought, he poured this silver thread, formed from liquid soul power, into the nerve line related to hearing...
"Boom—" Almost the instant the liquid soul power was poured into it, Zhou Ziwei suddenly felt a strong explosion resound in his eardrums...
"Damn it...is someone launching missiles at me again?" Startled by the loud explosion, Zhou Ziwei jumped up from the boulder. His movement was followed by a deafening roar, like countless missiles, atomic bombs, hydrogen bombs...it felt as if everything explosive in the world had exploded right in front of him. The shockwave made his head ring, and the intense vibrations caused him to lose his balance. He swayed and tumbled heavily onto the boulder with a thud.