Chapter 761: Captive

Chapter 761: Prisoners

Inside his own bedroom, Li Huowang cautiously parted the starry-sky curtains, peering outside to check for any suspicious eyes.

Finding everything calm and still, he nodded to Yang Na behind him. "All clear. Let's go!"

"Mom! Na-na and I are eating out, so don't make enough for us."

"Out again?" Sun Xiaoqin, who was currently dancing in front of her phone stand, rolled up her sleeves and walked to the doorway, watching the two depart.

She couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy. "Sigh, truly a son who gets a wife and forgets his mother."

Despite her words, Sun Xiaoqin was quite pleased in her heart. Her son had been acting more and more like others his age recently, growing far more playful.

The pair arrived at the neighborhood gates, quickly scanned two shared bicycles, and set off toward their gathering point.

That location remained Orange Isle, yet no longer atop that abandoned building, but rather within a half-built basement of a villa.

The reason for choosing the basement was simply because they had emerged victorious in their last clash with those entities, and had captured a few prisoners.

When Li Huowang and Yang Na reached the entrance, they exchanged a few brief words with Chen Hongyu, who was guarding the door, before stepping inside.

As soon as he entered, Li Huowang saw Qing Wanglai conversing with a man tied to a chair.

"Osanalakodinakinatikokinaravu?"

"Oceioiko?"

"Eseganiduanoau, nakaeakaseoceibibioceioiko..."

"It doesn't sound like English; it doesn't even seem to belong to the Indo-European family."

Yang Na whispered softly to Li Huowang while pulling a phone from her bosom, intending to record their conversation. Li Huowang walked over to Qing Wanglai's side, staring at the bearded man on the chair. "How is it? How's the talk going?"

"Sigh, not very well. Their guard is very high. No matter what I say, they won't lower their defenses, let alone speak of peace talks," Qing Wanglai said, his brow tightly furrowed.

Beside them, Wu Qi, who was rummaging through the possessions of these people, spoke up: "These people are all carrying diplomatic passports bought from poor island nations, and their identities are all fake. There are no leads here either."

"How is it on your end? Is anyone still watching you in the neighborhood?" Qing Wanglai asked Li Huowang.

Hearing this, Li Huowang's expression grew much more relaxed, completely devoid of his previous tension.

"No more. Ever since we raided their nest, that sensation of being watched has never appeared again. It seems it was definitely them monitoring me before!"

Li Huowang glared resentfully at the row of fellows tied up against the corner of the wall. It was precisely because of these characters that he had always been paranoid, misunderstood by others as mentally ill.

Now it seemed he was indeed not sick.

"But these are all men here. I remember there was a woman carrying an umbrella among them who wasn't caught."

"It's inevitable that a few would escape; it's of no great consequence. As long as the majority are in our hands, we have bargaining chips." Having said this, Qing Wanglai resumed his conversation with the bearded man tied to the chair.

Li Huowang walked before those men, scrutinizing their faces in an attempt to identify the ones who had kidnapped him.

However, because some time had passed, and combined with his slight face-blindness toward foreigners' features, he found it somewhat difficult to discern whether those people were among them.

What Li Huowang was doing, these people clearly did not know, but as he drew near them, a trace of dread surfaced on every single face.

Li Huowang's ferocious actions from before had truly left a deep, indelible mark in their hearts.

"Hey! Someone's coming." Hearing Chen Hongyu's voice, everyone in the room looked toward the basement door.

Soon, a familiar face appeared before Li Huowang—Zhao Lei.

His eyes darted about evasively and his expression was rather awkward, yet he remained standing there with no intention of leaving.

"You're back?"

Qing Wanglai walked over to Zhao Lei, reached out to pat his shoulder gently, and then, draping an arm around his shoulders, turned to announce to the others: "Come, let us applaud and welcome the return of our old companion. If not for his help, we wouldn't have been able to catch these people."

Amidst the sparse applause, Zhao Lei's prior betrayal was treated lightly, his sins absolved by his contributions.

Yet Li Huowang did not give him a good look. A fellow who betrayed both sides could hardly be said to possess any loyalty.

Faced with the companions he had once betrayed, Zhao Lei also appeared deeply uncomfortable, but he ignored the strange glances around him and stayed, thick-skinned.

"You've had contact with them before, why don't you give it a try?" Qing Wanglai pointed to the bearded man tied to the chair.

Zhao Lei nodded, yet the moment he walked over and before he could finish half a sentence, the bearded man spat a great glob of saliva onto him, speaking with passionate fury.

Though Li Huowang could not understand what the fellow was saying, it was not hard to guess that it must be some incredibly foul profanity.

As Zhao Lei retreated, Li Huowang came to his side. "See that? No matter which side, traitors get this kind of treatment."

Faced with Li Huowang's sarcasm, Zhao Lei paid no mind. He looked around neurotically. "Where is Qian Fu?"

"Tied up, waiting for his personality to switch back."

Li Huowang assumed the other would follow this topic, but instead, Zhao Lei leaned into Li Huowang with a tense expression, lowering his voice to a whisper: "Do you really still believe this is real? After so many bizarre things have happened, you still think this is real?"

"Hmm?" Li Huowang looked at Zhao Lei with some confusion, thinking to himself, "What madness is this fellow gripped by?"

Thinking this, Li Huowang began to walk away, lest the other's condition infect him.

Yet Zhao Lei snatched hold of Li Huowang, saying with an agitated expression: "Think about it! Think carefully! Can this be real? How many people have died! Why hasn't any police come to trouble us? Why did we make such a massive commotion and yet no one noticed?"

"Think about the contradictions in our details! Those discordant places that are usually hard to detect!"

"Zhao Lei!" Qing Wanglai's voice came from behind, his usually gentle tone becoming exceptionally stern.

Zhao Lei let go of Li Huowang, stepping back with evasive eyes, never uttering another word to Li Huowang.

"We have things covered here, Li Huowang, why don't you head back? If there's news, I'll message you," Qing Wanglai said to Li Huowang with a faint smile on his face.

"Thanks, but no need. I have nothing to do anyway, might as well help out since I'm idle."

As Li Huowang spoke, something suddenly occurred to him. He crouched beside the dozens of prisoners and began to inspect their fingers one by one.

Back when they kidnapped him, he had bitten off two of someone's fingers. If that person was still here, they ought to be among them.