Chapter 41: 41. Underestimated oneself
With the "red envelope," the speed of security checks greatly accelerated.
The sweltering weather made people irritable. The security officer tossed the passport over with a disgruntled air, muttering something in Annanese that was probably nothing pleasant.
Li Jin picked up his passport, continuing to nag non-stop:
"Some Annanese are unfriendly toward Xia Country people. You must be careful when you're traveling, Lu Yao. Don't get into conflicts with the locals, calling the police won't help if anything happens; the police are even more corrupt. The good thing is Xia yuan is widely accepted here, so you don't need to exchange currency."
In the course of their small talk, it became known that this person had been working in Annan Country for 2 years and was very familiar with the place.
Lu Yao responded from time to time, when suddenly, his brow furrowed. In a focused state, he sensed a gaze full of malice and greed!
With all senses searching, he realized that the gaze came from a dark-skinned security officer—who wasn't looking at Lu Yao, but—at the little girl Li Yino!?
~~~~~~~
After staying in Xia Country for a while, one could get the false impression that the world is full of peace.
Lu Yao left the airport with the family without showing any reaction.
Meeting a fellow countryman in a foreign land, Li Jin was very enthusiastic: "Lu Yao, my car is in the airport's parking lot, let me take you to the downtown area. It'll save you from having to call a cab."
"That would be great, thank you for your trouble."
"It's no problem; I'm heading that way anyway."
Impressed by the distinguished air of Lu Yao, Li Jin's family all got into the car and drove toward Xian City's downtown area.
~~~~~~~~
The street scenes in Annan Country resembled those in Xia Country from the nineties, with recent years seeing imitation of neighboring countries' openness, attracting many overseas investors.
As the city grew closer, Lu Yao relaxed. Although gang culture and chaotic public security were rampant in Annan Country, with extortion, shootings, and murders occurring frequently, he thought such actions unlikely under the broad daylight.
But the ways of the world are indeed unpredictable. When they reached a deserted street, a decrepit, unlicensed van forced Li Jin's car to stop, and four short, thin but fierce-looking men jumped out.
All armed with foot-long daggers, they wrenched open the car door, brandished their blades at Lu Yao and the others, signaling them to get out.
Thinking it was a robbery, Li Jin spoke in Star Alliance Language and his half-baked Annanese, indicating he would give them money and not to hurt anyone.
But these men were not there to rob. One of them, with a 'kill matt' hairstyle, snatched up the only 6-year-old Li Yino.
Holding the little girl, his face filled with lechery, he took a few intoxicated sniffs and started walking toward the van.
The little girl immediately burst into tears, and Li Jin and his wife's faces changed color. Ignoring the sharp knives, they furiously rushed over, trying to rescue their daughter from the pervert's clutches.
The thugs snarled a few sentences in Annanese, with a fierce look flashing across their faces, they didn't hesitate to stab with their knives.
At the critical moment, Lu Yao, who was well-prepared, stepped forward!
In his focused state, the attacking action of the three thugs with knives seemed as slow as a video at 0.5x speed.
Lu Yao deftly lifted their arms.
The trio's daggers instantly changed targets, stabbing each other as if they were involved in an internal fight.
They struck with deadly force, and with a "thud," the blades sank deep.
The three thugs screamed out loud, spraying each other with blood, convulsing as they fell to the ground.
~~~~~~~
All this happened too quickly. The Kill Matt who had been excitedly holding the little girl was caught off guard when he saw the dramatic turn of events with his companions. His face turned ashen with fear.
Instantly using the little girl as a shield, he yelled out in panic, "Don't come any closer, or I'll..."
Before he could finish, his vision blurred, and his windpipe was crushed by a palm strike, as he fell to the ground clutching his neck emitting a "hehe" noise.
```
The whole process took less than 10 seconds, and Lu Yao had already brought the little girl back to her parents, who were standing there dumbfounded.
The mother and daughter hugged each other and wept profusely, while Li Jin looked at Lu Yao in shock, "Brother, are... are you a special forces soldier?"
"No, just some family martial arts skills."
At this moment, his wife Zhao Ya ran over and berated Li Jin, "You bastard, going on about how great this place is and tricking us mother and daughter into coming here, we almost lost our daughter!"
Li Jin allowed his wife to hit and scold him, filled with fear, "Ah, I thought it wouldn't be so bad in the city area; I truly didn't expect..."
Lu Yao reminded them, "You should leave quickly. These people have been targeting the little girl since the airport."
Li Jin nodded, "Damn it, they are clearly here for people! I don't want the job anymore, let's go back to the airport now and catch the earliest flight home! Hurry up, let's get in the car!"
Li Jin had his wife and child get in the car, deciding to return to his country immediately.
Zhao Ya, holding her daughter in the car, expressed her concern, "Should we call the police?"
"Absolutely not!" Li Jin quickly stopped her, "These people dare to act like this in broad daylight; they must have backing, and it could even be collusion between the police and criminals. We won't concern ourselves with anything, just go straight home!"
He didn't dare to take risks with his family's lives and immediately made the safest decision. Then, he said to Lu Yao, "Brother, why don't you come with us?"
Lu Yao laughed, "I just got here and haven't had any fun yet, don't worry about me, you guys go ahead."
"Alright, brother, you are capable; you definitely won't be afraid. Then we're leaving now!"
Before leaving, Li Jin said earnestly, "I owe you big time for today. I cannot thank you enough; my cell phone number is also my WeChat. If you need anything, just say the word! I do know a bit about cybersecurity."
~~~~~~~
After the family left, Lu Yao strolled leisurely, looking at his own hands in amazement.
He had just knocked down four people in an instant, the whole process as relaxed and effortless as swatting four mosquitoes.
"I'm really strong. Ordinary people seem as laughable as 3-year-old children in my eyes."
Lu Yao's mindset began to change. He originally planned just to cause some trouble for "Xin Wang Pharmaceuticals", gather information and evidence, and report them to the authorities.
But the Annan government was so corrupt, Zhang Xin dared to operate here surely because he had greased palms at every level.
Since his own strength far exceeded his expectations, it seemed unnecessary to be overly cautious.
~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, elsewhere...
The four kidnappers played by Lu Yao lay in the ICU.
Three of the knife-wounded had their internal organs pierced, and after a token attempt at resuscitation, they were abandoned. Only the one with the shattered throat, the "Kill Matt", was left.
A short, thin man with long hair, dressed in black, was looking at the "Kill Matt" on the hospital bed, full of tubes, tears streaming down his face.
"Who did this! Why would someone want to hurt my brother! My brother is such a good person, how could anyone bear to lay hands on him!"
A female voice interrupted his weeping, "Ruan Qiang, your brother suffered brain damage due to asphyxiation; he's become vegetative with no hope of waking. Alas, if he liked little girls, he could have simply paid for it. Why did he have to seek thrills and kidnap someone from Xia Country?"
The speaker was a woman in a dress suit, looking through a medical report.
Ruan Qiang cried even harder, "It's all my fault, my brother knew I liked goods from Xia Country, so he specially prepared this. Why is this kid so foolish, I just wanted you to stay alive!"
The woman was somewhat speechless, seeing the deep affection between the deranged brothers. She paused before speaking,
"The one who did this is a master; the four of them had no chance to resist, and there are no signs of a struggle at the scene."
Ruan Qiang wiped his tears aggressively, "Manager Huang, can you find the one who did this! You definitely can, right! Please help me!"
Manager Huang flicked her hair, "Although they chose a place with no people and no surveillance to attack, so there are no leads, I found the person who gave your brother the information. He bribed a security checker at the airport to provide information, specifically targeting little girls from Xia Country."
```