Chapter 431: The Moment of Truth — A “Father and Son” Showdown That Tears the Soul Apart |
Hall Four.
On the massive screen, the wind howled fiercely.
The Glock in Jiang He's hand didn't stay perfectly still like the guns of typical movie heroes; instead, it trembled at high frequency.
"Two years."
Cha Cai stared at the dark muzzle of the gun, his voice torn apart by the wind.
"Seven hundred and thirty days. Ah He, even if you were a dog, after being fed for this long, you'd wag your tail when you saw your master."
Cha Cai pointed to his own chest and let out a bitter laugh. "I treated you like a son, and you used me as a wound to heal?"
Jiang He didn't speak.
His eyes were terrifyingly bloodshot, the whites filled with red streaks.
"I'm a cop."
Jiang He finally spoke.
"I know." Cha Cai took a step forward, ignoring the gun aimed at him. "Right now, I'm asking about Ah He! The one who took a blade for me, who called me Uncle, who told me he wanted to make big money and get married!"
"He's also a cop."
"There never was any Ah He." Jiang He's gaze was hollow and resolute. "From the very beginning, there was only a cop."
From the audience, sounds of sobbing came.
Chu Hong sat beside Jiang Ci.
She was all too familiar with this state.
Back when Jiang Yanjun was alive, sometimes he'd wake up with a start in the middle of the night and just sit at the head of the bed, staring into space.
When she asked what was wrong, he'd only say he'd had a nightmare.
Now she understood.
It wasn't a nightmare. It was him in his dreams, unable to tell if he was human or ghost.
"Only ghosts don't need to sleep."
Chu Hong silently recited this line that Jiang Yanjun had once said as a joke, tears silently falling onto the back of her hand.
[Ding! Detected a surge of Heartbreak Value across the entire audience!]
[Heartbreak Value +999!]
[Heartbreak Value +1288!]
Jiang Ci sat in the darkness, listening to the rapid-fire prompts in his mind, his face expressionless.
He simply gently squeezed his mother's ice-cold hand back.
On the massive screen, the negotiation had broken down.
Cha Cai looked at Jiang He, who was impervious to all reason, and the last trace of tenderness in his eyes completely extinguished.
"Fine... Very fine."
Cha Cai laughed up at the sky, his laughter manic.
He raised the black remote control, his thumb hovering over the red detonation button.
"Since we can't be father and son, then we'll be ghost brothers!"
"Don't any of you come closer! Whoever comes, I'm taking them all to the afterlife!"
This roar stopped the police force that was closing in.
The commander, looking at the finger that could press down at any moment, had no choice but to order a retreat.
It was the entire underground explosive network of the stronghold.
Once detonated, the entire mountaintop would be flattened.
A stalemate.
The wind grew even stronger.
Just when everyone thought the standoff would continue, Cha Cai suddenly moved.
He turned and sprinted toward the ten-thousand-foot cliff behind him.
"He's going to jump with the remote!"
From the last row, the veteran criminal investigator let out a low exclamation.
Once the remote left the signal-jamming zone or was accidentally triggered during the fall, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Almost simultaneously.
Jiang He moved.
Without any hesitation, he directly threw away the gun in his hand.
On this razor's edge between life and death, he launched himself forward.
"Bang!"
Two figures collided heavily, tumbling into a tangle on the gravel-strewn cliff edge.
There were no fancy choreographed moves or polished fighting techniques.
This was the raw, feral biting and tearing of two beasts in a desperate situation.
The camera cut to an extremely shaky overhead shot.
The Nu River roared below them, gravel clattering as it fell into the abyss.
Jiang He straddled Cha Cai, both hands desperately trying to pry Cha Cai's grip off the remote.
Cha Cai went savage, slamming a fist into Jiang He's already severely injured ribs.
"Crack."
The sound of bones breaking could be heard even through the screen.
Jiang He, played by Jiang Ci, had his entire face twisted in agony. Cold sweat immediately mixed with blood and streamed down his face.
But he didn't let go. Instead, he pressed all his body weight down.
"Let go!!" Cha Cai roared, grabbing a sharp rock and smashing it viciously against the back of Jiang He's head.
Once.
Twice.
Blood flowed into Jiang He's eyes from his forehead, his vision turning a complete blur of red.
But it was as if he couldn't feel the pain.
For that remote, to keep these drug dealers from taking everyone down with them, he was throwing his life on the line.
"This kid..."
Old Zhao in the back row had completely forgotten he was watching a movie.
He leaned forward, his fists clenched so tight his knuckles cracked.
On the screen.
Jiang He's consciousness was already beginning to fade.
But he still stared intently at that remote.
That was an obsession.
Even if he died, he had to finish this final mission.
"AHHHHH——!!!"
A beast-like roar.
Jiang He sank his teeth into Cha Cai's wrist.
It wasn't a fake, symbolic bite; he truly bit through the flesh and sinew, all the way down to the bone.
Cha Cai, in pain, loosened his fingers.
The remote slipped from his grasp.
With a flash of his eyes and hands, Jiang He used the last shred of his strength to snatch up the black box.
He engaged his waist.
"Swoosh——"
The remote arced through the air and plummeted into the bottomless gorge of the Nu River.
A few seconds later, there wasn't even an echo.
The crisis was averted.
In Hall Four, everyone subconsciously let out a sigh of relief.
The hearts that had been lodged in their throats finally settled back into their chests.
However.
On the massive screen, the music abruptly stopped.
Only the sound of the wind remained.
Cha Cai, who had been struggling wildly just a moment ago, suddenly went still the second the remote fell.
He lay amidst the pile of rocks, his chest heaving violently.
He looked at Jiang He straddling him, face smeared with blood and grime, like a vengeful spirit.
The ferocity on Cha Cai's face slowly faded.
He smiled.
It was an extremely eerie smile.
Exactly the same expression he had when cutting the birthday cake for Jiang He years ago.
"Ah He."
Cha Cai's voice was very soft, scattered by the wind.
"The mission is done, right?"
Jiang He panted heavily, pressing him down firmly, his eyes full of vigilance.
Cha Cai slowly raised the hand that had been bitten bloody and raw, reaching out to touch Jiang He's face.
Jiang He instinctively wanted to flinch away, but his body was pushed to its absolute limit; he couldn't move.
The blood-covered hand gently patted Jiang He's cheek.
"Good job."
"But, Ah He..."
A light flickered in Cha Cai's eyes, a light named madness.
"Uncle told you."
"Wherever Uncle goes, he takes you with him."
"We're going home."
At that moment, time seemed to stretch out.
In a close-up shot.
Cha Cai's other hand slowly, slowly, pulled out from the mud-caked side of his military boot.
In his fist was a dark green object.
A death grenade.
It was what drug dealers kept for their final moments.
And now.
Cha Cai's thumb had already pried open the thin safety pin.
The faint metallic scraping sound, amplified by the Dolby Atmos, exploded in everyone's ears.
"NO——!!!"
On the screen, Jiang He's pupils abruptly contracted to pinpricks.
The frame froze.
Frozen on the safety lever about to flip open, and on Cha Cai's smile of someone who had already accepted death.