Chapter 130: The Lonely Hero (1/2)
“Who fired the shot?” asked Sun Tiger.
“It was Wang Yuanchao!”
The killing of the negotiating expert meant that Li Wenjia refused to negotiate. Sun Tiger immediately grabbed the walkie-talkie and shouted, “Xiaowang, don’t look into her eyes! Get out of there now!”
He had to repeat the message several times before we heard the answer, “Roger!”
I had an ominous hunch about this. A few minutes later, a police officer walked out of the paper mill. He looked slightly off, though. There was a gun in his hand. Sun Tiger was about to approach him to ask about the situation inside, but I quickly stopped him.
“Wait! He could be hypnotized. Tell everyone to step away from him!”
Everyone was startled and began to spread out. Most pointed their guns and rifles at Xiaowang.
“Put the gun down, Xiaowang!” shouted one of the team captains.
“Drop the gun, Xiaowang!” echoed Sun Tiger. “Don’t do anything stupid!”
Xiaowang suddenly raised his gun and was about to fire, but Sun Tiger shot first and the bullet hit Xiaowang. He shook like a leaf and collapsed. Red blood pooled around his lifeless body.
The realization that he’d shot down one of his comrades hit Sun Tiger hard. He punched the roof of a car until it dented and cursed at Li Wenjia.
“This is a provocation against all police officers!” he snapped. “I swear that I’ll bring this woman to justice no matter what!”
I gritted my teeth in anger. Li Wenjia seemed to be an unbreakable fortress!
When I looked up at the pitch-black sky, an idea popped up in my mind. I looked at the time—it was five o’clock. I told Sun Tiger and Xiaotao about my plan, but they refused it outright.
“No, I can’t let you take the risk,” said Sun Tiger. “How will I ever face your grandfather when I die if anything happens to you?”
“But this is the only way that we can defeat her!” I insisted. “Unless you ignore the safety of the hostages and attack the paper mill now!”
Sun Tiger still hesitated. Both choices just cost too much.
“No,” he said. “I promised your grandfather that I’d keep you safe. I can’t let you go in there and fight the psychopath yourself!”
A voice from the walkie-talkie interrupted us. It was Li Wenjia.
“Good evening, everyone!” she said.
Everyone was shocked. Several young officers even raised their guns at the walkie-talkies in panic. This showed how deep a fear the police felt towards this woman.
“I know you must be raring to kill me right now,” Li Wenjia taunted. “But there’s just nothing that you can do! It’s so boring in here. Well, I have a suggestion…”
I could tell what she was about to say. And sure enough, she said, “Let Huang Xiaotao come in. Once I kill her, I’ll surrender with no conditions.”
Sun Tiger grabbed the walkie-talkie and shouted, “You are not qualified to order us around! Don’t you dare provoke us again or you’ll meet an ugly end!”
As he spoke, a captain of the special squadron desperately shook his head and signaled him not to further anger the criminal. At that moment, we heard another gunshot coming from the paper mill. Everyone was startled.
“Another hostage just died,” said Li Wenjia. “What will you do, Officer Sun? Will you sacrifice the lives of dozens just to save one officer?”
Sun Tiger clenched his fist in fury. He gnashed his teeth and trembled in anger. Suddenly, Xiaotao stole the walkie-talkie in Sun Tiger’s hand and said, “This is between you and me, Li Wenjia. Don’t involve the others. I’ll go inside and meet you right away!”
“Good! I’ll be waiting for you!”
After that, we heard another gunshot and a buzz from the walkie-talkie. Most probably, it was Wang Yuanchao shooting the walkie-talkie inside. This meant that there was no more negotiating. I could picture the scene of Wang Yuanchao standing beside Li Wenjia like a deadly and obedient puppet and I shuddered to the core.
Xiaotao put the walkie-talkie down and said, “Sir, there’s no turning back now.”
Sun Tiger stood silently for a few seconds. His eyes were brimming with tears when he pleaded, “I order both of you to come back alive!”