Chapter 5: Xue Qian Meixue did indeed use a transport plane to evacuate some people from Xiangcheng before the explosion.

But the only escapee known by name was a college student surnamed Ye, recognized by someone at the base as a former classmate.

As for the others, they used aliases, so their real identities were unknown.

*

An hour later.

After interrogating all five captives, Jiang Yan stood up, feeling a wave of exhaustion.

This fatigue came more from the shock of learning part of the truth than from physical effort.

“Miss, we’ve told you everything. Can you let us go now?” Ding Dayong mustered his courage and asked weakly.

Chu Hui chimed in, “Yes, you see, Ding and the others and I have all cooperated fully. Surely you’ll keep your word and let us go?”

By now, he’d fully accepted the reality.

There was no going back to the Blazing Flame Base.

Even though he’d be valued at any other base, that was only if he could survive to get there.

For now, he could only rely on Ding Dayong and the others.

They were all in the same boat now.

Even if he’d offended them before, he’d noticed along the way that they were all muscle and little brain.

As long as he humbled himself and played his cards right, he could manipulate them.

The four men looked at Jiang Yan with hope, only to see her pull out a roll of duct tape from her bag and, without a word, seal their mouths shut again.

“Sorry.”

Under their incredulous gazes, Jiang Yan took out something that looked like an oversized battery, with a red digital countdown.

An invisible force lifted the “battery” and suspended it from the ceiling.

【00:59】

Beep—

Beep—

……

With each beep, the countdown ticked lower.

Even if they weren’t experts, they’d seen enough movies to recognize a time bomb.

“Mmm! Mmm! Mmm!” Eyes wide with terror, the men immediately kowtowed to Jiang Yan.

Someone even started crawling toward the wooden door like a maggot.

Jiang Yan had already opened the door and stepped outside.

Bang! The door slammed shut and was locked from the outside.

They had indeed confessed everything, even more than Jiang Yan expected.

But even if they hadn’t committed atrocities at the base, Jiang Yan couldn’t let them live.

Some secrets could only be kept if taken to the grave…

Outside, the blizzard raged on.

The sky was dark and heavy.

Jiang Yan put the chainsaw away into her storage space, took out a pair of snow goggles, and then retrieved a snowmobile.

Bang! Bang!

Inside, the men threw themselves desperately against the door in vain.

Jiang Yan glanced back coldly, started the engine, and sped off in the direction Ding Dayong had indicated.

【00:00】

Boom!

With an earth-shaking roar, the wooden cabin was blown to pieces, flames shooting skyward—only to be quickly buried by the avalanche pouring down from the mountaintop."