CHAPTER 111: CHAPTER 111 FIGHTING BROKE OUT

Besides Li Tianyao’s subordinates, even coast guards were reporting to him. It seemed Zhang Xuebin also took orders from him.

When Li Tianyao stepped out, An Yan seized the opportunity to call out to Xiaohe. "Why are you also reporting to Li Tianyao?"

"Miss An Yan, you might not know, but Captain Li is the overall commander for this operation!"

"Captain Li? The overall commander? Is he one of your men?"

"Strictly speaking, Captain Li is with the military. I don’t know if you’ve heard of the Shenlong Combat Team!"

Xiaohe explained that the Shenlong Combat Team was an elite counter-terrorism unit established by the military.

Li Tianyao was the captain of the First Team, and in his three years of service, he had achieved several legendary feats.

Although Shenlong’s First Team no longer existed, Captain Li remained a revered figure to every soldier.

So, when the higher-ups learned he was here, they immediately put him in command.

An Yan was speechless.

「A day later, An Yan had mostly recovered.」

Lying around was too dull. She got up, put on her raincoat, and prepared to go to the large tent where Ling Xiao and the others were.

Just as she reached the entrance, Lu Feng stopped her. "Miss, the Young Master said he’ll be free shortly. If you wish to go out, he will accompany you."

An Yan paused for a few seconds, then nodded. "Alright, I’ll wait for him."

Seeing her turn back inside and remove her raincoat, Lu Feng left to report to Li Tianyao.

An Yan watched him leave through a crack in the tent flap. Then, she put her raincoat back on and waved a hand gently outside.

The other sentry guarding her door promptly fainted.

An Yan caught him, leaned him against the tent, and hurried to the large tent where Ling Xiao and the others were.

Zhang Xuebin and Xiaohe were questioning Ling Xiao and the other three.

"Mr. Ling, do you remember where you were kidnapped?"

"I was on my way to Shangjing City for an auction. I must have fallen asleep on the plane, because I woke up in this house."

Liang Chen added, "Su Siming and I also fell asleep on the plane heading to Shangjing City."

Ya Zhuo nodded. "Me too."

The four of them had been on three different flights and had fallen asleep at different times, yet they all woke up in the same place.

"Have you seen the person who kidnapped you?" Zhang Xuebin asked.

All four shook their heads.

"Just one person, dressed in black with a mask. He was responsible for bringing us poison, food, and water!"

"But there’s one thing I’m sure of: he’s not afraid of Li Tianyao."

Ling Xiao continued, "He tried to force me to drink some concoction. I told him that if I died, Li Tianyao would never spare him, but he just scoffed."

"It seemed like he was looking for someone named Gu Shifang..."

An Yan’s dark eyes suddenly narrowed. "Gu Shifang?"

"Yes. He had a vial of poison and said I’d die instantly if I drank it. Of course, I refused. Then the floor split open, and I fell into icy water. I must have passed out from the cold."

"When I woke up, there was that vial of poison again. This time, refusing to drink meant being dropped directly onto an iron plate..."

While Zhang Xuebin continued his questioning, An Yan stood up and left the room.

The rain poured down in torrents, the waves crashed relentlessly, and the deafening noise was grating on the nerves.

She stood there until her rain boots filled with water, though she didn’t know for how long. Then, she turned.

"Where is Li Tianyao?" An Yan stopped a coast guard.

"Captain Li is at the command post!" the coast guard replied, pointing.

An Yan headed in that direction. Lu Feng, who was guarding the entrance, was startled to see her.

"Miss, what are you doing out here?"

"Is he busy?" An Yan asked, her expression icy.

Lu Feng felt a chill.

"Miss, please wait a moment. I’ll go get him."

Lu Feng, moving stiffly, lifted the tent flap and went inside.

Shortly after, Li Tianyao emerged. Seeing her standing in the rain, he took the umbrella Lu Feng handed him.

His expression was calm, as if he were genuinely innocent.

"Bored?"

"Yeah."

An Yan turned and walked into the downpour.

Li Tianyao held the umbrella over her head, seemingly unconcerned about getting wet himself.

The rain drummed down.

After they had walked a few hundred meters, An Yan stopped. She took a breath, looked up, and met his gaze. "Ling Xiao and the others were captured because they were mistaken for Gu Shifang!"

Li Tianyao nodded. "Yes."

"In this world, besides you, who else would go to such lengths to find Gu Shifang?"

Li Tianyao’s gaze instantly darkened, his eyes sweeping over her face. "So... you think it was me who kidnapped them?"

An Yan remained silent.

He chuckled darkly. "Yes, I kidnapped them. I tortured them. I wanted to use them to find the real Gu Shifang!"

"You..." An Yan hadn’t expected him to admit it so readily. "Why would you suspect them of being Gu Shifang?"

"Simply because they all deliberately got close to you!"

"Just for that? But I already promised you I wouldn’t associate with them! And you also said Gu Shifang wouldn’t easily harm those close to you, didn’t you? If so, why would he try to get close to me?"

"Then how did you know they were here? How did you get such precise location information?"

"Because I made Ling Xiao’s prosthetic arm. It has a built-in emergency beacon!"

"So, you’re saying you outwardly agreed to keep your distance from him, but secretly didn’t!"

"Li Tianyao, be reasonable! What good is an emergency beacon? If I truly wanted to contact Ling Xiao, I have a hundred ways to do it without you knowing... COUGH, COUGH!"

Li Tianyao seized An Yan by the neck, his eyes blazing with a terrifying rage, like an abyss of fury.

Almost instinctively, An Yan’s wrist shot up. She gripped the hand choking her and drove her knee hard into his lower abdomen.

She had never wanted things to come to this with Li Tianyao.

Even though she knew martial arts, she had never imagined fighting him.

But this time, he had gone too far!

When An Yan grabbed his wrist, Li Tianyao was prepared. He twisted sharply to the side, dodging the knee she had aimed with all her strength.

An Yan didn’t even see clearly how he did it before he trapped her attacking leg.

The hand she had been gripping, now free from her neck, twisted and seized both her hands in his.

At that moment, she felt like a trussed animal... no, she still had one free leg.

Ignoring everything else, An Yan aimed a whip kick at Li Tianyao’s head!

With a surge of strength in both hands, he threw her into the air!

"Yanyan!"

An Duxuan had followed Li Tianyao out.

He had initially considered skipping out of the meeting. Was it really appropriate to watch another man with his sister?

Instead, he saw the two of them fighting.

He could also tell that An Yan’s martial arts skills were no less formidable than Li Tianyao’s.

His sister was a woman, after all. Even if Li Tianyao was ruthless, surely he wouldn’t hurt her.

And yet, Li Tianyao had just tossed her into the air.