176: Chapter 176 Teasing with a Perverse Taste

That wasn't hitting on someone.

Li Li looked at the wrist exposed through the gap in the partition.

The red marks were deep.

Two circles.

The edges were turning purple.

This wasn't from a watch pressing down, nor was it from a bump.

It had been tied up.

The Gray Hoodie was still blinking.

Three fast blinks.

Three slow blinks.

Three fast blinks.

SOS.

Li Li placed his coffee cup back into the cup holder and leaned back.

There were six seats in first class in total.

Three in the first row.

Three in the second row.

He was sitting by the window on the right side of the second row.

The Gray Hoodie was sitting in the middle of the first row.

Four other short-haired men were positioned around him—front, back, left, and right.

Pressing down from the front.

Blocking from the back.

Guarding the sides.

Escorting.

Li Li looked down at himself.

Cap brim pulled low.

Mask pulled high.

Gray Hoodie.

Standard passenger attire.

Why was that person asking him for help?

Unless that person recognized him.

Li Li didn't move.

With insufficient information, acting first was just handing the enemy a knife.

What if they were just being dragged by their wife on a trip to Hanoi?

He paused for a moment.

That was unlikely.

But he could eat his meal first.

After the plane leveled off, the cabin lights dimmed.

A flight attendant pushed the meal cart over.

Li Li chose the lobster set meal.

Jiang Rumu said not to touch airplane food carelessly.

She didn't say if lobster counted.

A gray area.

Reasonable intake.

He cut off a piece of lobster meat and ate it slowly.

On the other side of the partition, the Gray Hoodie stopped blinking.

The man on the left side of the first row whispered something in English, his voice harsh.

The Gray Hoodie sat back, and his sleeves were pulled down as well.

Li Li finished the last bite and wiped his hands.

There were no lights outside the window.

Nearly an hour after takeoff, flight CX890 from Hong Kong to the Imperial Capital should normally be heading north along the South China coastline.

At this time, there should be city lights below.

But there was only darkness below.

A patch of clouds broke open.

Moonlight fell through.

The ground reflected light.

The sea.

Li Li pushed the meal tray out by half an inch.

He pressed the dinner knife under the napkin.

The Imperial Capital is to the north.

The sea is to the south.

This plane's direction was wrong.

— —

Guangdong Air Traffic Management Bureau, Area Control Center.

Zhou Wei stared at the radar screen.

Midnight shifts are the worst for this kind of thing.

Most flights were on their flight paths; only one green dot was veering off toward the southeast.

Flight Number: CX890.

Cathay Pacific.

Hong Kong to the Imperial Capital.

The scheduled route should be heading north, passing through Eastern Guangdong and Fujian, then entering East China airspace.

Now it had deviated by fifteen degrees.

It was still deviating.

Zhou Wei pressed the talk button.

"CX890, this is Guangzhou Area Control. Radar observes your flight path deviation. Please confirm your current heading."

There was only background noise on the frequency.

"CX890, calling from Guangzhou Area Control. Please respond."

Five seconds.

Ten seconds.

No response.

Zhou Wei checked the secondary radar information.

Altitude: 36,000 feet.

Speed: 480 knots.

Transponder normal.

No 7700 squawk.

No 7600 squawk.

No 7500 squawk.

No emergency reported, no communication failure reported, and no unlawful interference reported.

Yet it just wouldn't answer.

It was still flying toward the sea.

Zhou Wei stood up.

"Director, CX890 has deviated from its course and is not responding to calls."

The duty director pushed back his chair.

"Call them again. Simultaneously notify military aviation for coordination."

Zhou Wei pressed the talk button again.

"CX890, this is Guangzhou Area Control. If you receive this, please respond."

Still no sound.

On the radar screen, the dot veered off a bit further.

— —

CX890, Business Class.

At seat 42K, a middle-aged man woke up.

He sat up, glanced out the window, and froze.

Below was the sea.

A vast expanse of sea.

He had flown this route many times.

From Hong Kong to the Imperial Capital, one hour after takeoff, this shouldn't be what was outside the window.

He pressed the call button.

Thirty seconds later, a flight attendant walked over.

"Sir, is there anything you need?"

The man pointed out the window.

"Is this flying to the Imperial Capital?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then why is there sea below?"

The flight attendant bent over to look, and the smile on her face stopped.

"Please wait a moment, I will go confirm."

She walked forward and called over another blonde flight attendant.

The blonde flight attendant was flying this route for the first time and was also working with this crew for the first time.

After looking out the window, the two didn't speak again and went directly to find the Chief Flight Attendant.

The Chief Flight Attendant's surname was Chen, and she was in her early thirties.

After hearing the report, she picked up the internal phone and dialed the cockpit.

Beep— Beep— Beep—

No one answered.

She dialed again.

Still no answer.

Chief Flight Attendant Chen hung up the phone and quickened her pace.

She passed through business class and entered the first-class aisle.

Li Li was sitting on the right side of the second row.

He didn't look up.

The sound of high heels on the carpet became increasingly urgent.

This wasn't a cabin patrol.

This was an incident.

The sound of heels stopped at the cockpit door.

Three knocks on the door.

Standard procedure.

Five seconds later, two more knocks.

Heavier.

A few seconds later, five knocks.

Urgent.

There was no response from inside the door.

The aisle went quiet.

Just as the Chief Flight Attendant's palms began to sweat.

The cockpit door opened.

She breathed a sigh of relief.

The metal door hinge made a short sound.

The next second, she saw the captain lying on the floor.

He looked at her, his eyes filled with despair, crawling desperately outward.

The back of his shirt had been stained red with blood, and a sharp knife was plunged into his back.

He was crawling toward the cabin.

The Chief Flight Attendant was about to scream.

Immediately after, someone covered her mouth from behind.

She only managed to make half a sound.

The man's English voice came close to her hair.

"We only need to land safely at Hanoi airport."

"We won't harm the passengers."

Paused for two seconds.

"If you scream, you will be the second person who doesn't cooperate."

Paused again.

"The first one is already lying in front of you."

What made the Chief Flight Attendant even more desperate was that she saw the co-pilot in the pilot's seat turn his head, his expression smiling, filled with madness and obscenity.

The face she once thought was handsome now wore a terrifying smile.

Subsequently, the man slowly released his hand, and the Chief Flight Attendant was able to breathe.

She was teary-eyed and didn't dare to make a sound.

The man nodded with satisfaction, turned his head, and saw the captain was gone.

There was blood on the floor; the man looked at the bloodstains and shook his head—how could he possibly escape?

He walked toward first class.

His leather shoes stepped on the carpet with a heavy sound.

He pulled back the curtain, and the six seats in first class came into his view.

What he found strange was that the captain's body was in the aisle on the right side of the second row, and his other three companions and the traitor were not in their seats.

"Damn it, do you need three people just to go to the bathroom?"

The man walked toward the captain's body, looking at the seat of that passerby next to it.

The compartment door was open, revealing the figure of that man from the East trembling inside.

The man from the East didn't even dare to look up, his limbs curled up, his head buried between his knees.

It seemed the other party knew the situation and had been warned by his companions.

The man's twisted pleasure flared up; he wanted to scare him again.

He walked toward his compartment, deliberately making his footsteps very loud.

Each of his steps made this man from the East tremble once.

And the trembling of the man from the East made him even more excited, causing him to stomp even louder.

After a few cycles, he arrived inside the compartment, right next to the man from the East's head.

He gently touched him with his finger, and the other party almost jumped up in fright.

"Hahahaha."

"Rest assured, friend. As long as you cooperate obediently and don't make a sound, you will all be safe when we reach Hanoi."

"We are not here to kill for money."

"Did you understand? If you understand, nod your head."

When he saw the man from the East nodding frantically but still not daring to look up, he laughed until he was out of breath.

Suddenly, he used a fierce tone again, "But if you want to do something, look at the captain's fate first."

When the other party's body trembled even more upon hearing the words "captain," his twisted pleasure was finally satisfied to the maximum.

He straightened up and turned to leave. At this moment, he saw the captain's body and noticed that the knife in the captain's back was gone.

He looked up abruptly, looking toward the middle seat of the second row. When he walked over just now, his mind was entirely focused on his twisted pleasure, and he hadn't noticed that a person was lying against the back of the first row.

It was his companion, lying motionless on the floor. Looking at the blood on the floor, he was clearly dead.

The man turned around immediately, and in the corner of his eye, he felt a glint of dangerous silver.