Under the moonlight

Chapter 138 Leaving

"But speaking of which, what were you two talking about just now?" Li Shuo's eyes gleamed with cunning as his gaze swept back and forth between Xu Ao and Zhao Meng.

Xu Ao stared at him for a while, then turned to look into the distance, as if answering him or saying to Zhao Meng: "Regarding Huang Meng, I never intended to back down. It was to stop her. Since I couldn't stop her, she is still mine now, in the future, and forever."

After leaving those words, Xu Ao turned and left. Li Shuo watched his figure gradually disappear into the night, then turned to Zhao Meng and asked, "Did you understand what he said?"

“Yes, I understand. He is indeed a trustworthy person.” After saying that, Zhao Meng turned around and patted Li Shuo, who was staring blankly, with a relaxed and relieved smile in his eyes.

“Okay, you understand. Let’s go, let’s two old bachelors lean on each other in this foreign land!” Li Shuo said and tried to put his arm around Zhao Meng’s neck, but Zhao Meng stepped back and pulled away, giving him a glare. “Who’s an old bachelor? I’m young and strong.”

"Alright, alright, you're young and strong, I'm old, okay?" Li Shuo looked at Zhao Meng helplessly. Why would a grown man still care about his age?

Their elaborate digging operation was clearly observed by the mercenary through his binoculars. Of course, his face showed no worry about facing the accusations from Country C, but rather a cunning smile, like a fox waiting for its prey to take the bait.

"Boss, why don't we just charge in?" a mercenary asked, looking at Saudi Arabia with a smug smile.

"Hmph, I want to see just how capable he is. His country can't even get in now. I don't believe that his country would risk more lives for a few." Saudi Arabia's eyes flashed with a bloodthirsty coldness, his tongue licking his dry lips, like a fox that was already thirsty but had to wait patiently.

"Oh, I see."

Inside an abandoned factory in the suburbs.

"Brother, we've been here for two days already, damn it, we're almost out of food, what are we going to do!" Lai Tou San scratched his hair anxiously, looking worried.

"Yeah, big brother, didn't you say we'd only have to wait a little while? How come it's been two days? Could you be lying to us?" Pockmarked man added.

"Probably not. They can't easily get out of the lockdown area, and medicine is their lifeline right now."

“But those mercenaries were watching so closely. If he hadn’t told you beforehand that there was a shortcut in the airport that would allow us to avoid them, we wouldn’t have been able to leave the airport.” Ma Zi glanced at his relatively calm boss and couldn’t help but remind him.

"Yeah, brother, how about we go to the embassy? At least..."

"Bullshit! Going to the embassy would be like walking into a trap! With Xu Ao's character, he could just send us straight to a prison in Country C!" He couldn't help but glare at the pockmarked man. He really had no backbone at all. Nothing had even happened yet, and he was already scared and trying to shrink back!

"You guys wait quietly. I'll go out and check when it gets dark. If he doesn't come back, we'll go find him. Damn it, we risked everything to steal this medicine for him. If we don't make money from it, I'll take him down with me!" After saying that, he threw the cigarette butt in his hand on the ground and crushed it hard. His eyes were red as he stared at the ground, as if he was using his anger to give himself some courage.

As they huddled among the rubble and bricks like rats in a sewer, Xu Ao began to get restless. The expected thing did not happen. The mercenaries did not make any move as he had anticipated. Twelve hours had passed since they started digging the pit with great fanfare. They couldn't possibly be unaware of this, yet there was still no movement.

"How cunning." Xu Ao had been keeping watch at the entrance of the embassy lobby so that he could keep an eye on the surroundings at any time, but it was as quiet as ever, as deserted as ever, as if the world outside the embassy had been put on pause. Everything, even the grass by the roadside and the clouds in the sky, had stopped.

Such tranquility is unsettling.

"It's precisely at times like these that we need to stay calm," Zhao Meng said calmly, having walked up to him at some point and also staring at the embassy entrance.

"Three days have passed since we arrived. This afternoon, we're preparing to take action."

"Have you thought it through?" Zhao Meng looked at Xu Ao with some surprise. His decision was indeed a bit rash. Acting rashly without knowing the other party's attitude could have unforeseen consequences.

“If we don’t act now, what will happen to them? The epidemic won’t wait for us forever.” Xu Ao’s eyes were downcast, and his expression was tense. “Please help me notify them to have a meeting.” After saying that, Xu Ao took the lead and walked upstairs.

"A meeting? Who should we notify?" Zhao Meng thought for a moment, then went upstairs and knocked on Huang Meng's door. "Can I come in?" Zhao Meng asked politely, seeing that Huang Meng had only opened the door a crack.

Zhao Meng stood ramrod straight outside the door, a smile on his face. Huang Meng was taken aback for a moment. Zhao Meng seemed a little distant today, but she didn't think much of it and quickly said, "Of course, you're my boss!"

After Zhao Meng came in, he didn't sit down immediately. Instead, he stood by the door, looking at Huang Meng with sincere and clear eyes. "Um, Xu Ao asked me to help him notify people to attend a meeting, but I didn't know who to notify, so I came to you."

"Oh, okay, I understand. I'll go find Jiang Ying later. You take Li Shuo to Xu Ao's office first!" Huang Meng said succinctly upon hearing his purpose.

"Okay, sure." He had fallen behind earlier, and the door was only partially closed by him. After speaking, he turned and left, clean and efficient.

Huang Meng stared at the door he had gently closed, momentarily lost in thought. Why did he seem to have become so cold towards her? But as soon as the thought crossed her mind, she realized she was being too narcissistic. Even a blind person could sense the relationship between her and Xu Ao, let alone him.

After spending these past few days together, she had never heard him mention the past again, so he must have already understood her thoughts. Huang Meng suddenly chuckled, finding it somewhat amusing. When she first met Zhao Meng, she was indeed quite surprised. A boy who suddenly barged into her youth, a boy who had missed his youth—it was just a story that most people would experience in life. Since they had missed their chance, that was the outcome.

I almost fell into this obsession and ignored the real world.

Thinking about it, I can't entirely blame Xu Ao. Did I care enough about him during that time? I was so immersed in the past that I forgot the people from those days had changed. Wasn't that meeting with He Xinxin and the others a slap in the face from reality?

Dwelling on the past will only lead to being abandoned by time.