The Legend of Chu Qiao - V1P2
Prologue (Part 2)
Time's up.
It was 1:20 a.m., and Chu Qiao had closed the bathroom door. She had walked over to the sink to wash her hands.
The prison was eerily silent; not a single sound was heard. Usually, a person would be most exhausted at this hour of the night. Even if someone were a special forces operative with rigorous training, their alertness and strength would be less than optimal. Chu Qiao looked calm. After washing her hands, she lifted the towel from the rack and dried her hands thoroughly. The loud swoosh of the toilet filled the cell as she pressed her finger to her pulse, silently calculating the time.
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4…
Time's up. Chu Qiao calmly turned her body and walked toward her bed.
Suddenly, a muffled bang sounded, and large splashes of water erupted from the pipes. A faint glow from the explosion was visible from the burst water pipe. Chu Qiao was nearby when a jet of water hit her, knocking her to the floor.
Outside the cell door, the prison guards were stunned. They could see the burst water pipe inside the cell and that the explosion had hit the prisoner. She might be dead or alive. With so much happening, the guards panicked and entered the cell's access code. With a walkie-talkie in one hand and a submachine gun in the other, they hurried into the cell. However, the sudden burst of the pipes disrupted the radio transmission. During those five seconds, the central station could only hear faint rustling from an unidentified channel.
Opportunities must be seized, as they might not come back. When the two prison guards rushed into the cell to investigate the burst pipe, Chu Qiao, who had been unconscious at first, suddenly opened her bright eyes. Instantly, her body moved as swiftly as a cat, and she burst out of the cell door. The guards were startled, but the door slammed shut before they could shout for help.
Chu Qiao ignored the furious prison guards and hurried into the surveillance room. She copied the footage recorded an hour ago and quickly transferred it to a small DVD, then cut, edited, and deleted parts of it. Then she dragged a chair and placed it under the camera, pointed it at the cell, and turned the DVD to face it. She played the edited video for the DVD to record. Afterwards, she went back into the surveillance room to cut off the walkie-talkie's transmission.
The timing was perfect. After five seconds, the mini explosive device used to burst the pipe began to self-repair after the blast. Leaked sections of the pipe were quickly mended with a liquefied adhesive that hardened rapidly. Throughout this, she had the tiny device hidden in her hair. Inside the sealed cell, the furious screams and howls of the trapped guards sounded like the buzzing of bothersome insects, the noise unable to penetrate the walls. The surveillance devices had returned to normal. The footage captured by the central station was from an hour earlier: a female prisoner sitting quietly on her bed while two guards did their rounds. Everything appeared quiet and normal.
Her gaze was sharp, and she checked her surroundings. It was all clear.
She returned to the surveillance room and opened the guards' supply box. After removing her wet clothes, she changed into the guards' uniform of the fourth prison. Once she put on her cap, she grabbed an AK-74U and attached a silencer. Placing the gun at her waist, she exited the room.
When the two prison guards decided to open the prison cell, it was not a rash or unplanned decision.
The fourth prison was located right next to the capital. Its geographical position was secretive and remote, and all prisoners held there were repeat offenders awaiting trial in the nation's senior military court, indicating its significance. Each prison cell was built with impeccable security. Every cell was independent, the weapons given to guards were state-of-the-art, surveillance was intense, and guards were adequately deployed. Three special forces operatives were assigned to guard each cell, split between the inner and outer doors. Like the cell Chu Qiao was in, if someone had the codes for the inner door, they could open it. For the outer door, they would need to obtain the fingerprints of the last person who locked it. Only then could it be unlocked.
The three guards were rotated regularly. At that time, there were already two guards in the cell. Chu Qiao held the film containing the guard's fingerprints she had prepared earlier and scanned it through the fingerprint scanner. Soon enough, a crisp click was heard. Wearing the standard military uniform, under the fierce gaze of the two guards, she openly walked out of the prison's main gates.
After passing the gates, a long corridor stretched out before her. She was now on level four of the underground prison. She still had a long way to go to reach her objective. The surveillance footage lasted only an hour, so she needed to move quickly.
In the fourth level of the prison, all the detainees were top military commanders and secret agents awaiting the ruling of the nation's military court. The detainees on level three were mainly wanted criminals. Level one consisted of the prison's officials' working quarters. Level two was where receptions were held for guests visiting the fourth prison, and that was where she had to go.
After walking for about 2 minutes, she left the cell area. At the end of the outer corridor, four highly trained, fully armed prison guards were holding submachine guns. The fourth prison had no air conditioning ducts and no empty underwater pipes. Besides this corridor, the only way to escape was to hack her way through the concrete walls. Escaping from this unscalable prison was nearly impossible.
When the guards saw Chu Qiao's unfamiliar face, they became nervous. The group leader raised his muzzle and yelled, "Stop there! Who are you? Password?"
Chu Qiao gazed directly into the guards' eyes as she stepped forward, straightening her back. Carrying a thick binder of documents in her arms, she said, "I am Colonel Liu Siwei from the military law department. I am holding document 12685, which investigates a case of military arms smuggling. Please call Lieutenant Colonel Tan Zhongming. I have important documents to deliver to him."
The guard remained dazed, frowning with confusion. He said, "Ma'am, Lieutenant Colonel Tan Zhongming is not on duty tonight. His number is confidential. Can you please show your identification?"
"The military law department does not need to show their identification in the 4th prison. I was invited to help on this case by Warden Li of the 4th prison. Three days ago, Colonel Lu Fanghao personally escorted me into the prison's trial hall, didn't you know?" Chu Qiao frowned as she sized up the guard out of the corner of her eye. She continued, "Which unit are you from? Are you familiar with military regulations? Tell me your serial number and your unit's code."
After hearing this, the soldier was shocked. Rankings in the military were clear. This lady had a way of speaking, and she seemed to be very familiar with Lieutenant Colonel Tan and Warden Li. He could not help but feel a tinge of reverence for her. He replied, "Ma'am, my serial number is 0475, belonging to the 8th Southern Army 309 Brigade Task Force 571. We are not under the authority of the regular army. We have just been transferred for two days, so we did not know that Lieutenant Colonel Tan had personally escorted you into the trial hall."
As Chu Qiao heard this, her expression softened, and her brows relaxed. She nodded and said, "You are from the 8th Army? How is your assistant commander, Commander Liu? Was he the one who brought you all in? Coming into the capital to work, are you guys staying for a few more days?"
The soldier started to respect her. He told himself that those in the military law department were truly different. He replied, "Ma'am, Commander Liu is doing well. Our team was brought here by Advisor Yan, and we won't be following him back to the South."
"Oh," Chu Qiao nodded and said, "I started my military career in the 8th Army, too, and was working in the intelligence department of the 8th Army. You can say we were comrades, too. When you see your commander, please send him my regards. Okay, I still have matters to settle. Go to the transmitting center to fax these two documents as a single form. Also, notify Advisor Zhang and Commander Hua's secretary that tomorrow morning at six, Colonel Liu Siwei from the military law department will visit to discuss some issues." Upon finishing her sentence, she turned and walked off.
The soldier stayed rooted in place, his arms wobbling from carrying the massive stack of documents, with "CLASSIFIED" printed clearly on the top.
Advisor Zhang… Commander Hua…
Walking out of the cell area of the 4th prison, the back of Chu Qiao's shirt was drenched with sweat. She leaned against the wall, slightly breathless. She raised her wrist and looked at her watch. Ten minutes had passed. Taking a deep breath, she stood up straight and continued walking.
After searching and monitoring the other levels, she finally arrived outside the VIP room on level two. Looking at the plaque hanging on the door that read "Military Law Department," the edge of Chu Qiao's lips curled into a tiny smile.
Very good. There is a lead for injustice and an owner for debt. She finally found the actual owner.
She didn't waste time figuring out the door's password. Then, she gently turned the handle and slid into the room sideways. Even though it was late at night, the corridors were very well-lit, and many people were still moving around. Chu Qiao kept her composure, held her head high, and walked through the Guest Department corridor, nodding and waving to the officials of the 4th prison as she passed by.
Although they did not recognize her, her calm demeanor and military outfit helped her blend in with the other officials without attracting attention.
Five minutes later, she exited the office corridor, and the employees' lounge of the Military Law Department came into view. She could smell the scent of alcohol wafting from that room; she knew she was in the right place.
Chu Qiao's slender hands were on the AK around her waist in no time.
A man wearing a black suit stuck his head out and was greeted with the black muzzle of the gun. With the help of the silencer, the bullet flew out of the muzzle and blasted a huge bloody hole in his chest. His pupils widened, and Chu Qiao quickly supported his body while covering his mouth, right up until his pulse stopped. Only then did she carry him into the room.
There were two rows in the room, each with sixteen people. Apart from the man who was just killed, the rest were still deep in sleep. These were insiders, the ones who took care of the informants and creators of legal identities. They were top-notch comrades armed with precise weapons.
Chu Qiao had always lacked compassion for her enemies. Although she had been involved in behind-the-scenes planning all these years, it didn't mean she lacked the courage to pull the trigger. Chu Qiao raised the pistol and aimed the barrel straight at a middle-aged man lying on one of the beds. With a dull thud, the man shuddered violently in his sleep and died without realizing what had happened.
Without any pauses, she quickly walked forward. After ten seconds, there was no one left alive.
Opening the door inside, only five men were sleeping soundly on the bed. Often, killing was much easier than eating or taking a bath. There was no hesitation. Five rounds were shot continuously, with dull thuds heard each time. Fresh blood oozed out of the wounds along with minute cracking sounds, the air soon filling with the nauseating smell of blood.
At the far end of the room, Chu Qiao found a small DVD while rummaging through the man's wallet. Standing over the scattered bodies, she turned on the device and began watching the videos.
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