1154 Trap
Similar to the earlier one, this call was also made from a random roadside phone booth. No one could remember what the person looked like. It was as if he could do magic and make everyone forget about him.

Perhaps he had used some kind of high-tech equipment to cover up any traces of him, but what could it be?

Xia Wen stayed up the entire night while staring at the case. There were many things on his mind, including the Tan family, the Xia family and even the Qiao family. However, he still decided to go and save Tan Jing, even if it meant meeting his own death.

The next day, Xia Wen went to the forest in the western suburbs as agreed. He did not go in blindly without making any plans. Before he left, he wrote a letter and asked his secretary to deliver it to Xia Mao. After reading the letter, Xia Mao would definitely come and save him. Based on his calculations, help should arrive at around the same time when he found Tan Jing.

“Such effort just to trick me into going up the mountain.” Xia Wen laughed mockingly.

There were many marks on the trunks of the trees in the surrounding area. Some of these marks were caused by animals, while others were man-made. Lu Miao and his people had drawn markings on almost every tree trunk. Only a few had meanings to them and the rest were there to obfuscate.

Lu Miao had his own selfish motives in doing that. Cheng Gu always said that Xia Wen was very capable, and that if not for Xia Wen’s poor health, he would probably be the invincible “God of War” now. Lu Miao did not believe what Cheng Gu said. If Xia Wen was really so capable, why would he have put his wife in danger?

Furthermore, he must be out of his mind to dare to come here alone for a woman. Only a fool would do this.

“Big brother, he has already entered the forest. Should we take action?” one of Lu Miao’s underlings asked.

“There’s no hurry. Let’s wait a little longer. I haven’t observed enough yet,” Lu Miao said.

Xia Wen took every step carefully. He carefully inspected the stones on the road, the weeds in the surrounding and the branches on the trees to see if there was anything different about each of them.

He had already left the army for a long time and it was inevitable that he was unfamiliar with these things since he had not trained for a long time. However, for Tan Jing’s sake, he must persevere.

After three or four hours, Xia Wen still had nothing. He did not manage to find any valuable information. He even began to wonder if the person on the phone was playing a trick on him or if he was really unable to find anything.

“Did you really do proper markings?” Even Lu Miao began to wonder if his subordinates had done the markings properly.

“We… we don’t know how to make the markings, big brother. We just casually drew a few things…” the underling lowered his head and said fearfully.

Lu Miao was so angry that he kicked the underling to the ground. What a piece of trash! They made him wait so long for nothing!

“Trash! A bunch of trash! What’s the use of having you! Is your brain for show? Don’t you know anything except how to eat?” Lu Miao pointed at his underling and scolded him.

“Big brother, I’m sorry! I’m sorry! Give me another chance! I’ll definitely do it well! Don’t worry!” the underling knelt on the ground and said fearfully.

Lu Miao did not even bother to look. He waved his hand and the subordinate beside him simply hacked this underling to death with a clean stroke. This underling did not even have time to react.

“Let’s move!” Lu Miao picked up his gun and walked towards Xia Wen, taking extra care along the way.

Xia Wen looked at the withered grass that had been blown by the wind and the traces of footprints on the ground. He was quickly able to estimate the number of people and their approximate build.

Using the depth of a person’s footprints, the size and the way weight was distributed, he could make out how the person walked.

“Come out, I know you’re nearby,” Xia Wen suddenly stood still and shouted to his surroundings.

If he continued forward, he would fall into the trap set up by Lu Miao.

“Not bad, not bad. As expected of a member of the Xia family. You manage to find my tracks,” Lu Miao said as he clapped his hands.

Xia Wen muttered to himself, “The sound of your footsteps is almost as loud as a bear’s…”

“Where’s my wife?” Xia Wen went straight to the point.

“Don’t be so anxious! Have fun with my guys first! We’ll talk about it after we’re done playing.” Lu Miao gestured to his band of brothers and they all rushed forward.