Chapter 323: Chapter 323: Nobody Believes the Truth
"Qingqing!"
Gu Xinsheng was stunned as well; he never expected to run into Su Qing on this mission.
Gu Xinsheng hadn’t connected Su Qing to the case he was about to handle at all. He quickly pulled Su Qing aside and asked, "Qingqing, weren’t you supposed to be in Yun Province? What are you doing here?"
Su Qing blinked. "Uncle Gu, I’m your guide."
Since Gu Xinsheng would find out sooner or later, Su Qing decided to just come clean.
"The guide?" Gu Xinsheng understood immediately. His brow furrowed. "Nonsense!"
Before arriving, Gu Xinsheng already knew how dangerous this case was. They would be fighting a group of desperate outlaws. He also knew that someone had already gone deep into the mountains to scout the situation, but he never would have imagined that person was Su Qing!
"Qingqing, do you have any idea what you’re doing? Do you know how dangerous this is? If your mother found out, how worried would she be? If something happened to you, what would your mom, your grandma, and your grandpa do? Have you even thought about that?" Gu Xinsheng scolded in a low voice.
He knew this girl, Su Qing, was headstrong and daring, but he never imagined she had this much nerve. Walking into the lion’s den all alone... this...
Just thinking about it sent a wave of belated fear through Gu Xinsheng, and a cold sweat broke out on his back.
"Uncle Gu, don’t worry. I’m fine, see?" Seeing Gu Xinsheng fly off the handle, Su Qing quickly tried to soothe him. "I know how to weigh the risks. I cherish my life, you know."
"You know how to weigh..." Gu Xinsheng was truly anxious now. With Su Qing mixed up in such a major case, it would be one thing if they managed to catch all the outlaws in one fell swoop. But what if one slipped through the net and came after this girl?
A thief can bide their time for a thousand days, but who can stay on guard for a thousand days?
If anything happened to this girl, forget the Li family’s panic—he wouldn’t even be able to forgive himself.
But then he remembered that Su Qing wasn’t one of his soldiers, after all. Gu Xinsheng stopped mid-sentence, his tone softening. He asked, "Qingqing, when you went into the mountains, were you discovered?"
Su Qing shook her head.
"That’s good." Gu Xinsheng breathed a sigh of relief. "Alright, here’s the plan. You’re not going into the mountains with us this time. Just draw a rough map of the route, and we’ll follow it. You are not to get involved in this case any further."
"No way." Su Qing quickly shook her head. "Uncle Gu, I have to be on this case. Don’t worry, I promise I won’t hold you back."
"Is this about holding us back?" Gu Xinsheng growled. "Do you have any idea how dangerous this is?"
"I know." Su Qing nodded. ’That’s exactly why I have to go. It’s the only way I can help from the shadows. I hope that, in my own way, I can protect the people who are out here protecting everyone else.’
"You know, and yet you still..."
Before Gu Xinsheng could finish, Su Qing quickly said, "Uncle Gu, I have a reason that means I absolutely have to go. I’m definitely going with you."
"You!" Seeing the determination in Su Qing’s eyes, Gu Xinsheng sighed. He knew it. This girl was too headstrong. ’Fine,’ he thought, ’I’ll just have to protect her more closely.’ "Alright, then. When the time comes, you must stay by my side. No running off."
Su Qing smiled. "Okay."
Then, as if remembering something, Su Qing quickly added, "Oh, right, Uncle Gu, please don’t tell my mom or my grandma and grandpa about this. They’ll just worry."
"And you’re just now realizing they’d be worried?" Gu Xinsheng shot Su Qing a glare.
Su Qing just giggled sheepishly, and Gu Xinsheng could only sigh again.
"Hey, wait a minute." Su Qing looked at Gu Xinsheng and asked, "Uncle Gu, I remember my mom saying you were being transferred to Beijing. Why are you leading the team here this time?"
Besides, for a high-ranking leader like Gu Xinsheng to lead the team personally!
"Once this case is wrapped up, I’ll be heading to Beijing." Gu Xinsheng didn’t hide it from Su Qing. "This case is of critical importance, which is why I’m leading the team personally."
Su Qing nodded and didn’t ask any more questions. She then gave Gu Xinsheng a general rundown of what she had seen. As he listened, Gu Xinsheng’s brow furrowed tightly. The situation was even more serious than he had imagined. Since the people from Chuncheng hadn’t arrived yet, Gu Xinsheng told Su Qing to get some rest. He then got busy with his men, reviewing the operational plan again, striving to take down these outlaws with the fewest casualties possible.
The others saw how familiar Su Qing and Gu Xinsheng seemed to be, and although they were curious, no one asked any questions.
At noon the next day, Qiao Wensong and his team arrived in Sanshui Town. He was quite surprised to see that Su Qing and Gu Xinsheng actually knew each other.
However, the case was the priority. After a discussion, the group decided to rest until evening before setting out. This way, they would arrive at the plantation in the wee hours of the morning, when people are at their drowsiest and most vulnerable to a surprise attack.
As they were about to leave, Gu Xinsheng once again stressed to Su Qing that she must stay by his side. Su Qing just smiled and agreed readily. ’After all,’ she thought, ’once we’re in the mountains, what I do is my own decision.’
As dusk fell, the team slipped quietly into the mountains.
Su Qing led the group toward the plantation. The deeper they went, the darker Gu Xinsheng’s expression became. "A mountain this deep, and you came in all by yourself?"
"Ah, that’s right." Su Qing said with a smile, "Don’t worry, Uncle Gu. I used to come into the mountains to gather herbs all the time. I’m very familiar with them. Even tigers and bears have to turn and run when they see me."
"Keep dreaming," Gu Xinsheng said irritably. Tigers and bears turning and running? Those were huge wild animals. Even highly trained people like them weren’t guaranteed to win a one-on-one fight against one of those big creatures.
Su Qing just grinned. ’Oh well, no one ever believes the truth.’ She suddenly missed A Jin, Da Hei, Er Hei, and San Hei. ’I’ll have to go visit them when I have the time.’
From the side, Qiao Wensong smiled and said to Gu Xinsheng, "Commander Gu, this girl is truly incredible. You know of Da Hu Mountain in our Yun Province, right?"
Da Hu Mountain. Of course, Gu Xinsheng knew of it. It was a famous, vast, and ancient mountain range in Yun Province, full of uncharted areas that no one had ever managed to enter and explore. The level of danger there was likely even greater than on the mountain they were currently on.
"Su Qing went into Da Hu Mountain all by herself," Qiao Wensong said. "My colleague and I were rescued by Su Qing in there. At the time, she even helped us catch those two fugitives."
Gu Xinsheng was speechless.
’Well, I’ll be,’ he thought. He had just reached a whole new level of understanding regarding this girl’s audacity.
But no matter how capable Su Qing was, Gu Xinsheng’s protective instincts demanded that he keep her under his watchful eye. After all, they weren’t about to face tigers and bears, but a group of vicious, armed criminals.
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