203: Chapter 203 Jiang Rumu's Focus

One centimeter.

Another centimeter.

Li Li's left hand was hooked around Su Wantang's forearm, his palm slick with sweat and blood.

The friction was about to give out.

Su Wantang hung outside the twenty-fifth floor, her right hand dangling, her cold tea-brown waves messy in the wind, her entire body swaying uncontrollably.

She dared not look down.

The people downstairs had already started screaming.

Twenty-five stories up.

If she fell, they could skip the emergency rescue procedures entirely.

Li Li's left hand slipped another half-centimeter.

The rebar dug into his right palm, slicing a gash into his hand.

"Damn it," he thought. "Should have flown to the Imperial Capital tomorrow morning."

—

Outside the main entrance of the Mandarin Oriental.

Deputy Commissioner Li Wenbin stood by the police car, a third unlit cigarette dangling from his mouth.

He had quit smoking for twelve years.

But the situation tonight made him feel that quitting could wait until tomorrow.

Six ambulances were parked there.

More than sixty guests had already been evacuated from the roof.

Paramedics were draping blankets over people, checking blood pressure, and treating abrasions.

A few wealthy individuals, having just stepped off the ambulances, made finding their phones their first priority.

Then, finding their lawyers.

Deputy Commissioner Li Wenbin felt a toothache just watching them.

They had just barely saved their lives, and the first thing they asked was about compensation.

The reflex arc of capitalists was truly professional.

The helicopter pilot's voice crackled over the radio.

"Command, there are two batches of hostages left on the roof, about twenty people. Expected to take three more flights."

Deputy Commissioner Li Wenbin pressed the talk button.

"Where is Li Li?"

There was a pause on the other end.

"Haven't seen him. I've been flying ever since I took over the shift. He went toward the banquet hall and hasn't come back out."

Deputy Commissioner Li Wenbin took the cigarette out of his mouth.

Something was wrong.

After the explosion earlier, Li Li had only replied with "Small situation."

There had been no word since.

Just as he was about to call out, chaos erupted outside the police cordon.

Two dozen reporters were shouldering their cameras, pushing in the same direction.

Microphones were thrust forward.

Camera flashes fired in rapid succession.

Deputy Commissioner Li Wenbin's face went dark immediately.

Whoever could drive reporters this crazy at a time like this couldn't be an ordinary citizen.

He gestured to a nearby officer.

"Go take a look."

The officer ran over.

Half a minute later, he returned, his expression even worse than before.

"Deputy Commissioner, it's Jiang Rumu."

Deputy Commissioner Li Wenbin almost bit his cigarette in half.

"That Jiang Rumu from the entertainment industry?"

"Yes, the one who is very close to Li Li."

Deputy Commissioner Li Wenbin didn't know that Jiang Rumu had been at the banquet to begin with, but news headlines for tomorrow were already popping into his head.

"Jiang Rumu Appears at Terrorist Attack Site Late at Night."

"Li Li Missing, Jiang Rumu Rushes to Hong Kong."

"Terrorist Attack Site Suspected to be Dating Reality Show Death Trap."

No.

Absolutely not.

"Bring her in."

Deputy Commissioner Li Wenbin suppressed his anger.

"Don't let her stand in that crowd of reporters, or there's no point in checking the Hong Kong entertainment trends tomorrow—they'll all be about her."

Two officers pushed through the reporters and brought Jiang Rumu inside the cordon.

Jiang Rumu was wearing a thin orange jacket, her hair tied in a ponytail, with no makeup on her face.

Once she entered, she didn't look at the reporters or the cameras.

She only looked at the scene.

The fire trucks.

The ambulances.

The helicopter landing pad.

The stretcher area.

No Li Li.

Her footsteps faltered.

"Ms. Jiang."

A voice came from the right.

Qin Xiaoshan was sitting on the rear step of an ambulance, his left arm wrapped in bandages, his face also covered in abrasions.

He tried to stand up.

Jiang Rumu walked over and pressed down on his shoulder.

"Don't move."

Qin Xiaoshan chuckled.

"Sister Jiang, I'm fine. Just hit by some glass."

He patted his legs.

"My legs are fine, I can still run. Captain Cheng and the others are still at the front; I was dragged out by the paramedics."

Jiang Rumu glanced at his arm.

"Where is Li Li?"

Qin Xiaoshan immediately perked up.

"Brother Li is fierce!"

"I just heard the Hong Kong Police say he went into the Mandarin Oriental alone and slaughtered his way through the terrorists!"

He used his right hand to mimic a shooting motion.

"Three of them, bang, bang, bang, all down!"

"Then he even flew the helicopter, sending the hostages over here in batches."

Jiang Rumu interrupted him.

"How did he get in?"

Qin Xiaoshan stumbled.

"This… I really don't know."

He scratched his head.

"I just know he forced a plane to land first, and then I don't know how he ended up back in the hotel."

Someone nearby chimed in.

"He went to save you."

Jiang Rumu turned around.

Yin Ruoying was standing two meters away.

Her glamorous Hong Kong-style curls were undone, the dark cherry-red ends sticking to her neck.

Her makeup was badly smeared, and there was a red mark on her left cheek.

The strap of her evening gown was askew, and her knees were scraped.

The short-drama queen, who usually fought for lines, screen time, and pacing, wasn't fighting for anything right now.

She stood there, her voice somewhat hoarse.

"The hotel is full of terrorists."

"He wore a mask and disguised himself as a terrorist to sneak in."

"I was captured and taken to the gym, and he saved me when he passed by."

Jiang Rumu didn't respond.

Yin Ruoying took a step forward.

"After he kicked the door open, the first thing he said wasn't for me to leave."

"It was to ask if I had seen you."

Jiang Rumu's hand, hanging at her side, twitched.

Yin Ruoying looked at her, her voice lowering.

"Jiang Rumu, he killed many people."

"But when he entered that building, the first person he looked for was you."

The wind from Victoria Harbour blew over.

Everything around them was chaotic.

Reporters were still filming.

Paramedics were shouting.

Officers were maintaining the cordon.

But Jiang Rumu didn't ask anything else.

Yin Ruoying opened her mouth, wanting to add something.

Boom!

A burst of fire erupted from the upper levels of the Mandarin Oriental.

A shockwave pushed dust surging outward.

Everyone froze for half a second.

Then the crowd exploded into motion.

"Back up!"

"The building structure is compromised!"

"Retreat!"

Reporters ran with their equipment.

Paramedics pushed stretchers back.

Fire trucks began to reverse.

Police cars sounded their sirens to clear the area.

Deputy Commissioner Li Wenbin grabbed the radio.

"Li Li!"

"The southeast corner from the fifth to the twenty-fifth floor has completely exploded!"

"What's your situation over there!"

There was static on the channel first.

Then, Li Li's voice came through.

"Small situation."

"Everyone is fine."

Deputy Commissioner Li Wenbin let out half a breath of relief.

The next second.

A cracking sound came from inside the building.

It was deep.

It was dense.

On the southeast side of the Mandarin Oriental, from the fifth to the twenty-fifth floor, the exterior wall began to cave inward.

Immediately after, the entire section plummeted.

Concrete, rebar, glass, and flames all crashed toward the ground.

The deafening roar drowned out the police sirens.

The ground shook along with it.

Deputy Commissioner Li Wenbin was dragged backward by two officers.

He didn't struggle, only looked up at the building.

Dust billowed up, covering half the structure.

Everyone was retreating.

Jiang Rumu didn't.

An officer came over to pull her away.

She shook him off.

Dust pelted her face, but she didn't wipe it away.

She kept her eyes fixed on the twenty-fifth floor.

A dozen seconds later.

The dust cleared a little.

A large chunk of the southeast corner of the Mandarin Oriental had been blown away.

Rebar protruded from the jagged edge, and fire was still burning.

Near the roof on the twenty-fifth floor, a small section remained intact.

Jiang Rumu saw it.

A person was lying on the edge of the fracture.

His right hand was hooked onto the rebar.

His feet were braced against the concrete.

His body was pressed very low.

His left hand was extended outside the building, gripping another person.

That person was hanging outside the twenty-fifth floor, hair messy in the wind, face covered in dust, making it impossible to see their features clearly.

But Jiang Rumu recognized the person above.

Short, layered hair.

Dark jacket.

She wouldn't mistake that figure.

It was Li Li.

"Damn it," Yin Ruoying cursed aloud beside her.

It wasn't a performance for the show.

It was a genuine curse.

Jiang Rumu turned her head.

Yin Ruoying's face was pale, and she slapped her own forehead.

"I'm an idiot."

"Why did I ask him that!"

Jiang Rumu spoke.

"What did you ask?"

Yin Ruoying gritted her teeth.

"Before the elevator doors closed, I asked him if he had seen Su Wantang."

"I was thinking we were in the same Company; I had seen Zhou Hui, and I had heard about Sun Kezheng's fate, so I just asked where Su Wantang was since I hadn't seen her."

"I didn't think it through, given the relationship they used to have."

Jiang Rumu looked back up at the building.

The woman Li Li was holding with his left hand had cold tea-brown hair flying wildly in the wind.

Su Wantang.

She recognized her.

Li Li's ex-girlfriend.

And someone who had been signed by the Company.

That name was not unfamiliar to her.

During the Dating Reality Show, it often appeared alongside his name.

Jiang Rumu didn't ask why.

She didn't ask why Li Li went back to save her.

She also didn't ask why Yin Ruoying had been so loose-lipped.

She just stood there, looking up at the twenty-fifth floor.

She asked Yin Ruoying one thing.

"What happened to Sun Kezheng?"

Yin Ruoying looked around and then whispered, "Li Li told me he was tortured to death, a bomb was stuffed inside him, and there was nothing left."

Jiang Rumu sighed. Regardless of everything, they were acquaintances, and such an outcome was truly lamentable.

But she had no time to dwell on this, instead looking up at the building.

She saw something else.

Su Wantang was still sliding down.

Li Li's left hand was barely holding on.

Qin Xiaoshan, nearby, also saw it.

He stood up from the ambulance step, his injured left arm bumping against the door, his face twisting in pain.

But he didn't sit back down.

"Brother Li…" His voice was dry.

"The injury on his left hand hasn't healed."

"He's going to lose his grip, isn't he?"

No one answered.

Jiang Rumu stood there.

The wind blew her ponytail loose.

Her hands began to tremble.

On the twenty-fifth floor, Su Wantang slid down another notch.