Chapter 772: Chapter 757: Ready to Make a Move (Part 6)
"You two stay behind and guard the gate, don’t let even a fly get out. The rest of you, follow me over." As soon as Qiao Shan arrived, he immediately sprang into action, dividing his team into two groups: one remaining in the vehicle to guard the gate and the rest following him into the Factory to capture Spring Xiu.
The noise made by his subordinates climbing over the fence caused Qiao Shan to frown deeply. This commotion was practically a signal to the enemy. He rushed over and scolded them in a low voice, "Fuck, all of you get down! Have you all got a death wish? Want to get shot by Spring Xiu’s people? Keep it down, damn it! Go one by one!"
Qiao Shan was clearly a bit too tense. Not to mention the raging northern wind’s howling, the loud snores of the two sleeping men on the first floor of the office building could drown out the noise made by his team.
But better safe than sorry; Qiao Shan’s burst of anger did indeed reduce the noise significantly. Only after all nine men had climbed into the Factory did he begin to cross himself.
Without a doubt, compared to Spring Xiu and his men who came to the Factory for the first time, Qiao Shan and his team had lived in the Factory for a considerable time and were very familiar with the layout of the roads inside.
Moreover, when they left, He Lei had specifically instructed them to lock all doors and windows tight, leaving only the office building and the chairman’s office on the second floor unlocked. The aim was to give Spring Xiu a surprise, a bloody surprise made of corpses.
So Qiao Shan believed that once Spring Xiu entered the Factory, he wouldn’t choose to break other doors but would go straight into the office building.
After confirming the target location, Qiao Shan’s group immediately moved into action. To avoid detection, Qiao Shan opted for advancing individually. Although this took considerably more time than moving as a group, it greatly reduced the risk of exposure.
The nine men smoothly arrived at the stone lion statue outside the office building. Qiao Shan tried to peer inside, but it was pitch black, and nothing could be seen. Instead, rhythmic heavy snores echoed from the hall.
After a considerable waiting period, Qiao Shan gauged the number of people sleeping in the hall by listening to their breathing patterns, recognizing traits of uneven tones, concluding there were probably two people inside. As for the remaining one, surely he was assigned guard duty.
This posed a bit of a problem, as entering the hall without alerting this guard seemed unlikely.
But if they barged in without ascertaining the positions of the enemy, it was likely they’d be caught off guard themselves. What to do?
Time slipped by rapidly, and the cold temperature made the subordinates, who had to maintain a crouching position, feel their legs go numb and sore. Nothing could be more painful than being bombarded by snow in the middle of the night in this bitter winter. All ten men waited with anxious expressions, painted red by the cold, for further instructions from Qiao Shan.
"You, crawl over there and get that door open!" After some deliberation, Qiao Shan finally spoke, though his order left the designated subordinate speechless.
How could this be different from sending him to his death? Not to mention opening the door, he’d probably be riddled with bullets before it even opened.
The subordinate assigned this order judged the situation accurately.
Qiao Shan indeed hadn’t placed his life in consideration. His intention for assigning this task was to entice the enemy into revealing their positions at minimal cost with one person.
Of course, if the enemy didn’t notice anything unusual, that would be the best outcome. However, this scenario was not in Qiao Shan’s initial expectations.
The subordinate silently cursed at Qiao Shan’s ancestors down eighteen generations, but despite his cursing, he didn’t dare defy him at this critical moment. Though risks were high; verbally refusing now might lead to being dealt with right there and then by Qiao Shan.
With a mindset akin to visiting a grave, the subordinate slowly crouched down. The thick layer of snow felt like a large, cozy duvet on the ground, making it surprisingly comfortable to lie on. For a moment, the subordinate felt reluctant to move.
Qiao Shan timely urged from behind, in a low voice, for him not to waste time.
Though he was extremely unwilling, the subordinate started moving forward slowly with his stiff body.
Under his rubbing movements, a long groove soon formed on the originally untouched snow.
The subordinate successfully crawled to the transparent glass door, obscured by mist formed from condensation, making it hard to see inside from outside.
He wiped the glass gently twice and peered through. But shortly after, the glass was again obscured by the white breath he exhaled through his nose.
He gave up on trying to see inside from outside, realizing it wouldn’t change his task of opening the door.
He figured conserving energy might serve him better, just in case, if he had to make a quick escape later.
"Zzrr!" the door emitted a grating tear, causing the subordinate’s heart to jump in sync. Instinctively, he paused his actions.
After about several dozen seconds, he gradually steadied himself. The door had been opened a crack, but fortunately, the noise didn’t stir anything inside, except for the continued low snoring.
With previous experience as a lesson, the subordinate mustered courage, palms pressing harder, pushing the door halfway open.
This time, the door cooperated quietly, making no more noise.
Noticing the opening was spacious enough for him to crawl through, the subordinate withdrew his right hand and continued advancing inward.
With memories from before, he skillfully avoided the potted decorations near the entrance, and soon, he pinpointed the positions of Spring Xiu and the other by following their snoring.
As his eyes gradually adjusted to the dark environment, the silhouettes of two figures on the sofa became clear in his sight.
Having found them, the subordinate was quite excited. He suppressed his thrill and cautiously observed the surroundings again, but didn’t spot the third person, leaving him puzzled.
Unable to do much else, he retreated the same way silently, exiting the office building.
The retreating subordinate felt as if reborn, taking several deep breaths before hurriedly reporting to the slightly impatient Qiao Shan: "Brother Qiao, found two people inside, both sleeping. I looked closely for the other one, but didn’t find him."
There should have been three people, yet the subordinate only found traces of two, clearly dissatisfying for Qiao Shan. But sending him back risked creating variabilities due to time delay, so Qiao Shan could only inquire further.
(To be continued. If you like this work, feel free to visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users can visit m.qidian.com to read.)
