"Huff... huff..."

"Huff... Mr. Wa, how much longer? I can barely keep running..."

Amidst the dense old forest, two disheveled men dressed in thick layers were swiftly sprinting along the rugged mountain path.

The man referred to as "Mr. Wa" appeared to be in his forties, slightly overweight, with greasy black hair, a face full of sweat, and a ruthless gleam in his eyes. He was none other than Wa Xueming!

At this moment, he was holding a phone, periodically checking the satellite map on the screen.

"Almost there. Just another 2 kilometers to the rendezvous point. Once we hand over the money, we can blend into the lumber truck, leave Kokang, and return home via the Muse County border!"

Wa Xueming had served in the military long ago, and after retirement, he transferred to a local machine tool factory as a maintenance team leader.

Six years ago, being too trusting of a friend's exaggerated tale of getting rich, he resolutely resigned and came to Northern Myanmar, only to be deceived, robbed of his ID card, passport, and money, and later sold to the Jinyuan Group.

Due to his advanced age and straightforward nature, he couldn't engage in electronic fraud, so he was thrown into the mine as forced labor, working there for five or six years.

The bit of skills he learned in the army were useless here, as the mine had many overseers and armed thugs. Besides being tougher to beat, he had no other recourse.

So, he endured all this time.

Finally, he made it to today.

For this escape, Wa Xueming had made ample preparations in advance. Seizing opportunities to leave the mine on routine trips, he secretly contacted a smuggling route.

Then he prepared a knife, money, two phones, a fully charged power bank, menthol balm, and most importantly, clothes and shoes. Without good shoes, running on the mountain trail was impossible.

Over the years at the mine, he'd seen too many people fail in their escape attempts because their shoes broke on the way.

Also, for the clothes, the mine's perimeter had wire fences with blades. Wearing more clothes when climbing over them could reduce injuries.

Therefore, even during the hottest days of July in Northern Myanmar, Wa Xueming wrapped himself up completely. Taking advantage of a shift change, when the mine's defenses were weakest, he mustered the courage to knock out an overseer with Sun and climbed over the wall, escaping into the deep forest heading northwest.

The two kilometers were finally endured.

Wa Xueming wiped the sweat off his face, hid behind a tree with Sun, and dialed a number.

Soon, the sparse sounds in the forest signaled the arrival of two thin men in floral shirts.

Seeing no ambush, Wa Xueming finally showed his face:

"Wei, over here!"

"You must be Wa Xueming? Got the money?"

"Yes, got it. Thirty thousand per person, all here!"

Wa Xueming hurriedly pulled out two stacks of large red bills from his pocket, all the savings they'd managed to accumulate over the years.

"Alright, follow me."

Wei squinted, took the money without counting it, and beckoned them to a shabby green truck, pointing to the hollow wood: "Get inside here and lie down. No matter what happens outside, don't make a sound or show yourselves, understand?"

"Understood!"

Wa Xueming hurriedly led his companion inside, already fantasizing about the happiness of returning home.

Evening, Jinyuan Building, basement.

"Dahai, this woman doesn't seem to be moving. Did we give her too much?"

"Damn, so fragile!"

Sun Dahai put on his pants and kicked the orange-haired woman away into the corner, then led the thugs to the wall.

"Dahai, we were wrong!"

"Please let me go, Dahai!"

"Dahai, I promise I won't run again. Considering my years of service, spare me!"

Wa Xueming knelt naked on the floor, watching his comrade on the operating table having a kidney removed, and shuddered in terror, pleading desperately.

He never dreamed that the smugglers he painstakingly contacted were in cahoots with the Bai Family.

Facing their pleading, Sun Dahai waved his hand expressionlessly:

"Shut them up, beat them!"

As soon as he spoke, Ahui and the thugs swung steel pipes at Wa Xueming and the others.

"You morons, hit harder!"

"Yes, Dahai!"

Saying this, Ahui hit harder, and the cries of the three only seemed to excite the thugs even more.

And at that moment.

The hitherto desperate Wa Xueming suddenly straightened his back. His head was violently struck by a steel pipe, knocking him to the ground, but strangely enough, he remained unfazed, making no further pleas.

With his eyelids half-closed, in his black pupils.

There was only an extreme, chilling terror!

...

Kokang Development Zone, an independent villa.

A slightly chubby man dressed in a black silk shirt, dark gray trousers, and brown crocodile leather shoes was drinking tea in the tea room. His features were prominent, always with a gentle smile at the corner of his eyes.

The tea barely touched his lips when there was a knock at the door.

A tall, robust thug entered, bowed his head, and said:

"Mr. Shao, there's still no news. I see Ningzhou City's police news has been released; they cracked a drug trafficking case that night. Could our people have been caught?"

This man was Shao Liang!

Shao Liang's hand paused slightly, and the smile at his eyes gradually turned downward, trembling, as his once-kind eyes turned fierce.

Immediately, he picked up his phone and dialed a number:

"Dahai, where are you? I need you to find two clean identities for me. I have to return home on the 29th to handle some matters!"

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