CHAPTER 224: CHAPTER 224 PEACE

It was the same on Yun Long’s end.

"Someone will be coming down from the plane shortly. Remember not to open fire with the sniper rifle unless they make any unusual moves."

The boarding stairs were quickly pushed into place by the Protectors.

"Alright, Comrade Xia, you can let people come down now," Yun Long said with the utmost seriousness.

Xia Liang rolled his eyes. "Okay."

He agreed and turned, pointing to the first person in the last row. It was a young woman in her twenties. Her face lit up with excitement as she was chosen, and she walked forward.

"Me, is it me?"

"Yes," Xia Liang nodded. "Remember, when you go out, raise your hands high so the Protectors outside can see them. Don’t make any other movements."

"Okay!" the young woman promptly agreed. "Can I go down now?"

"You can," Xia Liang nodded again.

The young woman took a deep breath, obediently raised her hands high, and stepped out onto the stairs. However, the moment she was outside, her legs went weak. The plane was completely surrounded by Protectors. To make matters worse, they were all aiming their dark, menacing guns right at her.

She immediately whipped her head back to look at Xia Liang, her eyes brimming with desperation, and her voice came out as a cry. "I’m scared! C-Can you walk me down?"

Xia Liang looked at her sternly. "No." He pointed at the Protectors below. "They are the ones who protect our city and Dragon Country—they’re the most admirable people there are. As long as you have a clear conscience, you should trust them."

His words filled the young woman with a sense of shame.

He’s right. These are the Protectors who keep us safe every day. How could I be afraid of them?

She nodded vigorously at Xia Liang. "I understand."

With that, she raised her hands again and walked down the stairs with her head held high.

The young woman actively cooperated with the Protectors, and she was cleared of suspicion in no time.

Soon, Yun Long’s voice came through the comms. "All clear."

"OK," Xia Liang replied without delay and immediately called for the next person.

The second person was a man, and he was also trembling inside as he looked at the dark muzzles of the guns. He opened his mouth to say something, but then he remembered the cute girl before him, whom Xia Liang had made go down alone. It would be even more out of the question for a tough guy like him to ask for an escort.

He immediately gave himself a mental pep talk. If a girl can do it, so can I.

He walked down, step by step.

The inspection proceeded in an orderly fashion. Xia Liang, however, was starting to feel a bit bored and decided to slack off. He had a flight attendant start calling the passengers. After all, all I have to do is oversee things.

He took out his phone and switched off airplane mode. He was just about to tell Qin Shiya that he would be delayed when his phone began to buzz insistently.

Xia Liang saw over ten missed calls, a dozen text messages, and even more notifications from WeChat. After glancing at a few messages, Xia Liang understood that Qingxue had somehow found out what was happening.

He immediately dialed her number.

"Hello, Xia Liang... is that you?"

"It’s me," Xia Liang hurriedly replied.

Hearing Xia Liang’s voice on the other end of the line, Qingxue clamped her mouth shut tightly. After a long moment, her trembling, tear-filled voice came through the phone. "Are... are you okay?"

"I’m fine, they were just a few thugs. I took care of them, so don’t worry. But I’m busy with other things right now, so I might be a little late getting out."

Hearing him say he was fine, Qingxue couldn’t hold it in any longer. She burst into tears, sobbing as she spoke, "I... I want to see you."

"No problem." Xia Liang naturally wouldn’t refuse such a small request and immediately initiated a video call.

The call connected quickly. Xia Liang looked at her through the screen. Her eyes were red, a clear sign she had just been crying, and she wiped away the fresh tears with her hand. From her surroundings, it was apparent she was just outside Qingyun Airport.

Xia Liang took the initiative to speak. "See? I’m perfectly fine."

He even asked the flight attendant in front of him to hold the phone so Qingxue could get a full view of him. Seeing that he was truly unharmed, Qingxue finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"It’s good that you’re fine, really good. Oh, right, Qiqi is with you, isn’t she? Is she okay?"

Seeing her so worried, Xia Liang felt a warmth spread through his heart. "Of course she’s fine, but she’s busy with other things. Next time something like this happens, try not to cry, okay? It’s nothing to worry about. Just a few petty thieves that I took care of in a jiffy."

Hearing that everyone was okay, Qingxue completely relaxed. However, when she processed what he had just said, she shot him a glare. She clearly didn’t believe for a second that he had handled the hijackers himself.

"I told you it was me, why don’t you believe it?"

"Alright, alright!" Qingxue played along. "Then tell me, how did you take care of them?"

Feeling it was harmless, Xia Liang launched into a vivid retelling of the events. At first, she was completely engrossed, her heart pounding with suspense. But when he got to the part about using a toothpick to defeat the enemy, Qingxue snorted with laughter.

"If you hadn’t mentioned using a toothpick, I might have actually believed you."

"Fine, don’t believe me then," Xia Liang retorted, rolling his eyes and offering no further explanation.

People are strange creatures. Seeing Xia Liang’s indignant expression, Qingxue actually started to believe him a little. She recalled seeing videos on some platforms where people could actually flick a toothpick hard enough to pierce a soda can.

This was exactly why Xia Liang, who could have used his superpower, had chosen to use a toothpick instead. It was a much easier explanation, given that plenty of people online could perform similar feats.

She couldn’t help but ask, "You’re not serious, are you? You used that finger-flicking trick to shoot a toothpick through the thug’s hand?"

"Of course!"

To avoid traumatizing Qingxue, Xia Liang didn’t reveal that the thugs had been killed. He simply said he had injured them.

They chatted like this for an hour, by which time the passengers on the plane had almost all been screened. Xia Liang waved at Qingxue through the screen, ready to end the call.

Some things can’t be revealed.

"The Protectors are coming aboard now. I need to cooperate with them for a bit, and then I’ll be out. Wait for me."

"Okay." Qingxue was not an unreasonable woman. She immediately nodded. "I’ll wait for you."

After saying that, she ended the video call.