DTTM 23

Chapter 23: Change of Plans?

The scene spiraled into chaos when they realized a shooting had occurred.

Hotel security personnel and bodyguards from the team rushed over upon hearing the commotion and quickly surrounded us.

“What are you doing here?” Zong Yanlei glared at me, and as he spoke, blood kept trickling between his fingers, which were tightly covering his wound.

Yes, what am I doing here?

The assassin was obviously after him; the most dangerous place was right next to him.

What am I even doing here?

Despite my thoughts, my hands moved without hesitation. I grabbed Zong Yanlei’s arm, pulled him up from the ground, and then turned and ran into the hotel without stopping for a moment.

As we passed by Xu Chengye, who was slumped on the ground, he couldn’t help but reminded him, “Manager Xu, snap out of it!”

The hotel’s exterior walls were entirely made of transparent glass, which was not safe. Fortunately, there were several large stone pillars in the atrium, which could be used for temporary shelter.

I helped Zong Yanlei behind one of the stone pillars and made him sit down against it. A little while later, Xu Chengye, trembling, crawled over to us.

“That scared me to death… Mr. Zong, how are you feeling?”

I ripped Zong Yanlei’s clothes, exposing the wound on his waist.

It wasn’t a circular hole, but looked like a crack burned by flames. The skin was torn open, the edges were charred, and blood gushed out, quickly forming a large pool of blood on the hotel’s white marble floor.

Fortunately, the bullet did not appear to have entered his abdominal cavity.

“I won’t die.” Zong Yanlei examined his wound and calmly made the same judgment as me. “The bullet grazed past, but didn’t enter my abdominal cavity.”

Although it grazed him, the high-speed spinning bullet still tore through his muscle and fat layers, causing severe bleeding, and it was not yet possible to determine whether his internal organs were damaged.

I grabbed the white tablecloth from a table and pressed it against Zong Yanlei’s wound.

He hissed in pain and reflexively reached for my hand, but at the last moment he lost his strength and only held it.

“Be gentle…”

“How can I stop the bleeding gently?” I pried his hand away and pressed my full weight onto him. This time, Zong Yanlei just grunted and didn’t say anything more.

The first shot failed, and the assassin did not fire a second one. When the police arrived, the bodyguards led them to the shooting location, but reportedly they couldn’t even find a single shell casing.

However, the bullet that nearly pierced Zong Yanlei was quickly found, 7.62 caliber, with eight clear left-handed serrations on the bullet, crudely made, and without any manufacturer’s mark on the bottom.

This was a type of bullet that had been widely circulated among radical activists in recent years.

The team was quite frightened, especially Yi You, who was so stressed that he vomited, turning his hangover into gastroenteritis, and ended up in the hospital with Zong Yanlei.

Fortunately, Zong Yanlei’s examination revealed that no organs were damaged, and only suturing and debridement were needed.

“Lao Yan, take the rest of the people back to Baiyujing first. I’ll stay here.” While Zong Yanlei was in the operating room, Xu Chengye reverted to his reliable manager mode.

Consultant Yan scratched his head: “Alright, I’ll be going now. You guys be careful.”

Watching Consultant Yan’s figure gradually disappeared into the distance, Xu Chengye turned to me and said, “Jiang Man, do you want to go back to the hotel to take a shower and change your clothes? Mr. Zong shouldn’t be out so soon.”

I looked down at the bloodstains on my body and thought that if Zong Yanlei, who was obsessed with smells, woke up, he probably wouldn’t be happy to smell my scent. So I nodded and said, “Okay, then I’ll leave this to you.”

Zong Yanlei’s identity was special; he was not only the heir of the Zong family and the main driver of the Sun God Racing Team, but also the husband of Princess Chu Luo. News of his assassination attempt spread quickly among the media, and a large number of reporters crowded at the hospital entrance, handing microphones to any medical staff or even passersby who might know the inside story.

The hospital specially opened a side door that they didn’t usually use for me to pass through. I wrapped my white coat tightly around myself to cover the bloodstains and left quickly before the reporters noticed.

[Come see me right away.]

On the bus, I sent a message to Ye Shuer, but he didn’t reply until I got off the bus. Perhaps he was busy.

[Give me ten minutes.]

The neuro-navigation pods in the hotel hadn’t been moved out yet, so they were ready to use. I lay down inside the pod, still wearing clothes stained with blood and without even washing my hands.

When the neural tentacles connected to the chip at the back of my neck, and I opened my eyes again, I was already in “Sky Domain”.

Just then, Ye Shuer’s location invitation arrived. After I clicked “accept,” the door connecting to the Wan Shu Church suddenly appeared before my eyes.

I passed through the main gate. The church was silent, with no other worshipers except for the brown-haired figure sitting in the first row of the pews.

Sunlight filtered through the clear stained glass windows, casting slanted shadows on the ground; the tall statue, with it lowered eyes, stood solemnly and dignified as always.

At first glance, it looked the same, but upon closer inspection, you’ll find that the patterns on the stained glass windows were reversed, and the left and right hands of the statue holding the book and torch were also reversed.

This wasn’t the real Wan Shu Church; it was a mirrored space that Ye Shuer temporarily set up for our meeting.

Hearing the noise, the brown-haired young man, who was also wearing a white coat, turned around: “Ge…” He only managed to say one word before his expression froze.

“Ge, are you injured? What happened to all this blood?” He immediately got up and ran towards me anxiously.

“It’s not mine.” I scrutinized his reaction, not missing a single detail. “Someone tried to kill Zong Yanlei in Fantong. The assassin sniped from a rooftop a kilometer away, using 7.62 caliber 8mm bullets.”

Ye Shuer suddenly looked up: “Was this made by a Wo?”

“Didn’t you do it?” I blurted out.

“Me? How could I!” Ye Shuer’s eyes widened in shock. “I… I don’t even dare to kill lab rabbits, how could I possibly kill someone?”

It wasn’t him.

“What about Yu Xuan? Aren’t most of those radicals his subordinates?”

“Him? Why?”

Yes, why did Yu Xuan want to kill Zong Yanlei? He definitely knew my plan, it was impossible for him to act without warning, that wasn’t his style.

If it weren’t Ye Shuer or Yu Xuan, who would hate Zong Yanlei so much that they would want to kill him?

Or…maybe it wasn’t a Wo?

I fell silent, lost in a jumble of thoughts.

“Ge, are you angry?” After a long while, Ye Shuer spoke cautiously, “This is the first time I’ve seen you with this expression on your face.”

I was taken aback, but I calmly suppressed the anxiety of feeling out of control and put on my familiar smile again.

“No, I’m not angry,” I denied. “Zong Yanlei is crucial to our plan, and we still haven’t found the key. I’m just… a little anxious.”

“I didn’t expect it to be so dangerous to stay by his side. Ge, let’s put the ‘God-Making Plan’ on hold for now. I’ll think of another way to get the key. You should take this opportunity to submit your resignation and stop staying with the Sun God team.”

Here we go again, he’s become indecisive.

I raised my arm and patted his head with my blood-stained hand, gently comforting him, “We’ve already taken fifty steps out of a hundred, how could we possibly stop here? Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine.”

“But……”

“Think of your compatriots who have asked you for help, think of Scholar Ye, think of the bright and promising future of this country after everything is over.”

Ye Shuer pursed his lips, he still looked hesitant, but he nodded.

After my secret meeting with Ye Shuer, I quickly went back to my room to freshen up. When I arrived at the hospital again, Yi You had just finished his treatment and was coming out with Tan Yunmei.

“They must have mixed up the liquor yesterday. I’m not scared, I’m not that cowardly, you know me Xiao Mei…”

“Hmm.”

They got into the car while I stepped out. After a brief greeting, Yi You called me back and told me that they were going back to Baiyujing that night, asking if I wanted to go with them.

“No, thank you.” After thinking for a moment, I still declined his offer. “I’ll go with Mr. Zong.”

There were many people standing outside Zong Yanlei’s ward, including bodyguards, Xu Chengye, and several unfamiliar faces.

“You’ve arrived.” Xu Chengye greeted me as soon as he saw me, and said in a low voice, “Fantong’s mayor is inside talking to Mr. Zong, please wait a moment.”

With something this serious happening, the mayor couldn’t not come.

After standing at the door for about five minutes, the ward door opened from the inside, and two middle-aged men in suits came out. The one in the lead, with a trimmed mustache, glanced in our direction and quickly walked to the other side. As soon as he left, the other unfamiliar faces followed him.

“Finally gone. Jiang Man, hurry inside, Mr. Zong has been looking for you since he opened his eyes.” With that, Xu Chengye pushed me into the ward.

The ward was clean and tidy, the faint smell of disinfectant wafted through the air. Zong Yanlei, with a thick bandage wrapped around his waist and wearing a white hospital gown, leaned against the headboard.

The people of Penglai were naturally fair-skinned, but due to blood loss, his face appeared even paler than usual. However, this only made his jewel-like eyes shine even brighter and more dazzling.

He slowly turned his gaze, which had been fixed on the empty window, after hearing the noise, and our eyes met.

“Where did you go?” His voice was cold from the very first question.

I sat down on the single sofa next to the hospital bed and explained to him patiently, “I was covered in blood. I was afraid you wouldn’t like it when you woke up, so I went back to the hotel to shower and change.”

“Oh, I thought you ran away again.”

He’s bringing up old grievances again.

“I didn’t even help you win the GTC championship, how could I leave?”

There was a fruit plate on the bedside table. I didn’t know if the hospital or Xu Chengye had prepared it. I quickly picked up a banana and changed the subject, saying, “Would you like a banana? I’ll peel one for you.”

“The championship? In my current state, I don’t even know if I can participate in the next race.” As he spoke, he gently touched the bandage on his waist and abdomen. “There are still half a month before the Xuanpu race. If I can’t participate by then, the team may let Tan Yunmei drive the main car, and the secondary car will be driven by a substitute.”

That was certainly very possible, after all, his injury wasn’t minor, and it was uncertain whether he’ll be able to move around freely for at least half a month.

According to GTC regulations, all participants were prohibited from injecting or taking any painkillers. If Zong Yanlei competed, all of his physical characteristics, including his wounds, would be uploaded accurately.

Although whatever happened during the match wouldn’t affect his physical condition in reality, the constant pain would be a difficult obstacle to overcome…

“So, should we make the switch?”

My hand paused, and my gaze shifted from the peeled banana to Zong Yanlei’s face.

Seeing me looking at him, he smiled and asked again in a soft, treacherous voice, “Do you want to change drivers?”

My Adam’s apple bobbed, and I shuddered. I understood one thing from his unsmiling eyes, nodding would mean death.