Mobius was about to make a move when he saw Xia Qingtian next to him had already charged out.
"Stay away from her!" Xia Qingtian, grabbing a wooden stick she had picked up while hiding, swung it at Song Qi.
Song Qi, not dodging quickly enough, took a hard blow to his shoulder and gasped in pain.
The wooden stick immediately broke. Xia Qingtian threw away the weapon in her hand, grabbed Xiao Ni, and ran.
Song Qi lunged forward, grabbing Xiao Ni's ankle.
"It hurts so much!" Xiao Ni cried out.
"Let go of her!" Xia Qingtian pulled at Xiao Ni, and in her panic, kicked Song Qi in the head. The pain made Song Qi release his grip.
Xia Qingtian, pulling Xiao Ni's hand, ran down the mountain path.
Seeing this, Song Qi pulled out a gun and aimed it at Xia Qingtian's back. Just as he was about to pull the trigger, a foot kicked his wrist from the side.
A loud gunshot echoed in the night. A flash of fire, and the bullet deviated from its original trajectory, disappearing into the deeper darkness.
Hearing the gunshot, Xia Qingtian slipped, instinctively shielding Xiao Ni in her arms. They rolled down the slope and got stuck by a large tree. Xia Qingtian's lower back hit the trunk, and she gasped in pain. Her body instinctively jerked backward, her head hitting a rock with a dull thud. Before she could even cry out, she lost consciousness.
Mobius had struck Song Qi's wrist forcefully. When Song Qi lost his grip, Mobius successfully snatched his gun.
Seeing his gun taken, Song Qi shoved Mobius away and sprinted towards his own courtyard at top speed.
His flower room!
Those flowers were his life's work; he absolutely couldn't let anything happen to them!
At that moment, the sound of police sirens came from the foot of the mountain, and then a large contingent of police officers rushed up the sacred mountain.
Song Qi locked the door to the flower room from the inside, carefully placed the brightly colored flowers he was about to transplant into a silver briefcase, and then exited through the back door of the flower room, breaking into a run.
He knew another way down the mountain!
As long as he could escape, there was still hope!
He would succeed; he would finally be recognized. He wouldn't be the overlooked child from the orphanage anymore...
Pushing aside the knee-high grass in front of him, Song Qi's eyes lit up. He was close; he'd be there after this slope…
*Whoosh—*
The silencer-equipped gun flashed in the night.
In an instant, the bullet pierced Song Qi's head.
A man in black leather shoes emerged from the shadows, picked up the silver briefcase that had fallen from Song Qi's hand, and tapped his earpiece with one hand: "Target eliminated. Experimental data recovered."
"Leave the body for the police. You withdraw."
"Yes." The man strode away and disappeared into the night.
Mobius, arriving a moment later, looked at Song Qi lying on the ground, his gaze shifting slightly.
…
When Xia Qingtian woke up, the whole world felt blurry. The sounds were loud but seemed muffled, as if coming through water. She couldn't hear clearly.
Someone tried to snatch Xiao Ni from her arms. Xia Qingtian held on tightly, refusing to let go. Someone seemed to be yelling at her…
Then, a pair of hands cupped her face, looked directly into her eyes, and said something to her.
She couldn't see this person clearly, but instinctively, she felt she could trust them.
"Qingtian! Qingtian, can you hear me!" Mobius asked, holding Xia Qingtian's face with concern.
Only then did Xia Qingtian feel the world in front of her gradually clear, and the sounds reaching her ears became increasingly distinct.
"Mobius?" Xia Qingtian recognized the person in front of her.
"It's me!" Mobius let out a sigh of relief upon seeing Xia Qingtian recognize him. "It's over! Let go now, hand Xiao Ni over to the police. There's an ambulance at the foot of the mountain; you should go to the hospital for a check-up too."
"It's over?" Xia Qingtian looked at Mobius.
"Yes, it's over," Mobius nodded affirmatively.
Hearing Mobius say this, Xia Qingtian closed her eyes and fainted again.
When Xia Qingtian woke up again, it was already broad daylight.
As soon as she opened her eyes, she met a pair of anxious eyes. "Dad?"
"Qingtian! Qingtian, you're awake?" Xia's father finally felt the heavy burden on his heart lift.
"Does anywhere hurt? Should I call a doctor?" Aunt Liu, standing beside Xia's father, asked nervously.
"Are you thirsty? Hungry? Do you want some water?" Xia Qingyu stood on the other side of the hospital bed, also looking very worried.
"I'm fine." Xia Qingtian moved slightly. Her lower back ached a bit, and her head felt groggy, but otherwise, she was okay.
"You child, really…" Xia's father began, "The Xia Group's project had problems, and you didn't tell me. Why did you go playing the hero all by yourself? You don't know your own limits! And you…"
"Dad… it hurts…" Xia Qingtian was quick to concede when she needed to.
"The child just woke up, say a little less," Aunt Liu nudged Xia's father with her elbow.
Seeing this, Xia's father couldn't bear to continue and just muttered, "If it weren't for Mr. Gu reporting to the police in advance and guiding them, stopping the villain's atrocities in time, I'm afraid you'd be crying out in pain to the King of Hell!"
"Xiao Ni!" Xia Qingtian finally recalled everything. "How is Xiao Ni?!"
"That little girl is fine, just some abrasions," Aunt Liu said, holding Xia Qingtian's hand with concern. "You should worry about yourself."
"Xiao Ni's father…" Xia Qingtian remembered what she had seen and felt a pang of sadness. Xiao Ni was so young…
"He was also rescued by the police," Xia's father then recounted what happened after Xia Qingtian had fainted last night.
Xiao Ni's father, after being struck heavily on the head and pushed down the mountain, had gotten stuck in a tree. Because of the timely rescue, his life was saved, but he was seriously injured and would likely require hospitalization for some time.
Song Qi and the old Taoist priest were both dead.
The old Taoist priest had died of sudden heart failure, the same symptom as the previous two deceased.
Song Qi had died from a gunshot wound. The bullet was found at the scene, but the shooter was not apprehended.
Mr. Gu's people were cooperating with the police to handle the aftermath.
Because this involved Xia Group's important annual project, and Xia Qingtian was also injured, the matter had reached Xia's father.
Xia's father and the other two had been picked up by a car sent by Mr. Gu early that morning. Xia Qingtian had already completed her examination and bandaging and looked less disheveled, though she appeared a bit weak.
"This time, you owe Mr. Gu another favor," Xia's father said. "Make sure to thank him properly."
"What about Mobius?" Xia Qingtian asked. "Mr. Gu's special assistant."
"Assistant Lin?" Xia's father recalled the person who often accompanied Mr. Gu. "He's still at the police station cooperating with the follow-up investigation. He probably hasn't left the police station since last night."
"Is that so…" Xia Qingtian thought about Mobius following her up and down the mountain yesterday, encountering such an incident, and then having to work at the police station from last night until now. She felt a little bad.
When she had money and started her own company, she would definitely poach Mobius and offer him a great salary!