Chapter 1232 An Old Photograph
Just before the convoy turned into the high-walled, watchtower-lined entrance of the Supervisory Bureau—
Xiong Yuting, who had been quietly focused on fiddling with the tassels of the amulet, suddenly moved her body without warning.
It wasn't an aggressive posture, but rather a slightly anxious leaning forward as if someone had suddenly remembered something.
But such a simple action made the hairs on Jia Daiquan's body stand on end instantly, even though he was always on high alert!
The muscles in his right hand, which was resting on his knee, suddenly tensed up, and he almost reflexively drew his gun!
However, his reaction speed seemed ridiculously slow compared to this girl.
A blurry afterimage!
Fast! Faster than Jia Daiquan, the former elite battalion commander of an air assault brigade, could possibly capture with his dynamic vision!
He didn't even see how the other party made their move. He only felt a blur before his eyes, and a cool breeze with a faint, strange fragrance brushed his cheek. The pale, almost transparent hand with slender, long fingers had already stopped just inches away from him as if it had teleported!
The fingertips were almost as thin as a sheet of paper away from his eyeballs!
Jia Daiquan's heart seemed to stop beating for a moment. A chill ran down his spine and up to the top of his head. Cold sweat instantly soaked through his clothes.
He could clearly see the edge of the fingernail so close to his face; it was clean, but had an unhealthy bluish-white tinge.
That hand... if it had continued forward...
hiss~
The relief of surviving the ordeal and the overwhelming fear overwhelmed him like a tidal wave.
His earlier intuition, which had been a dangerous warning, has now been confirmed!
This girl is no ordinary person; her physical abilities have reached an unbelievable and terrifying level!
Jia Daiquan could even assert that the other party had transcended the level of humanity...
At such close range, conventional firearms are not merely useless against her; she is fully capable of delivering a fatal blow before she can even draw her own weapon!
If a conflict had broken out just now, even if we could eventually subdue her with numbers and heavy weapons, I and my brothers would probably have suffered heavy casualties!
Where did this freak come from?
'Could he be some kind of reclusive master? Or some kind of immortal cultivator?'
Jia Daiquan, who was bored out of his mind every day after leaving the military, recently became obsessed with reading novels about pre-apocalyptic worlds. Given this situation, it was hard not to have some wild and imaginative ideas.
Such physical attributes, such speed and reaction time... if we could recruit them... wouldn't our supervisory bureau gain another powerful general?
The thought had barely crossed his mind when Jia Daiquan forcibly suppressed it, forcing himself to focus on the present moment.
It was only then that he realized that the girl's hand, which was resting in front of him, was not empty, but was carefully holding a... photograph?
Xiong Yuting remained in the same pose, handing over the photo, her purple eyes fixed on Jia Daiquan.
On that exquisitely beautiful yet icy face, the emptiness and bewilderment seemed to have faded somewhat, replaced by an extremely faint yet real... expectation?
Jia Daiquan even thought he was seeing things. This girl, whose eyes had been like ice from beginning to end, so empty that it made people tremble, actually had emotions in her eyes.
As Jia Daiquan's gaze shifted to the photograph:
The photo is a bit old, with worn edges and some stains, but the image itself is still quite clear.
The photo shows a young man holding a long-handled black umbrella, standing on a bridge.
The background was a bit blurry, but Jia Daiquan recognized it at a glance—the Xishui Bridge, a landmark building in Xishui District of Ye Province!
His gaze unconsciously focused on the young man.
His profile is as upright as a pine tree; even through the photo, one can feel his restrained and composed temperament.
The young man turned his head slightly, his gaze seemingly fixed on the distant mountains, his eyes calm and carrying a kind of...pure feeling of a college student.
etc??!
The contours of that profile... the expression in those eyes...
In an instant, Jia Daiquan's heart felt as if it had been gripped tightly by an invisible hand, and then it suddenly stopped beating!
The blood seemed to rush to the top of my head, only to freeze into ice in the next second!
His pupils contracted to their absolute limit at that moment! As small as needle points!
impossible!
Absolutely impossible!
How could it be him? ! !
The young man in the photo, who looks slightly immature and has a student-like air about him... is clearly... is clearly the one who now holds the high position of Chairman of the Emergency Military Committee of the Zhou Dynasty's End Times, in charge of the Central Plains War Zone, and whose word can decide the life and death of hundreds of millions of people—Commander Gu Chengyuan!!!
Although he looks younger in the photo and has a different demeanor, lacking the imposing and commanding presence he exudes today, Jia Daiquan would never mistake his unique features and deep eyes!
This is my superior!
Although Jia Daiquan, an officer of the air assault brigade who was assigned to Chongqing immediately upon his birth, had never had the chance to see that young yet dignified face in person, he had already deeply engraved it in his mind through numerous high-level teleconferences of the theater command!
At that moment, Jia Daiquan felt as if a bomb had been dropped on his brain, making a loud noise and leaving him completely blank!
All the speculation, all the vigilance, and all the absurd associations with "reclusive masters" and "immortal cultivators" were shattered by this photo at this moment!
This girl... this dangerous, eerie, and inhumanly powerful girl... she actually has a photo of the chairman from his student days?
She treasured this photo so much that, even in her near-dementia state, the first "important item" she took out to show was this photograph.
What is her relationship with the Chairman?!
An incredibly terrifying yet seemingly the only plausible guess uncontrollably invaded Jia Daiquan's mind—could it be... that she is the Chairman's long-lost relative? Or even... someone with a closer relationship?
For example... a former lover?
This wasn't just something Jia Daiquan made up; it was a plot point he'd recently come across in many novels!
The thought almost suffocated him the instant it occurred to him!
If... if that brat Long Hao had really fired his gun at the water station... if I had handled the situation slightly wrong and hurt this girl... the consequences...
Jia Daiquan dared not think any further. The cold sweat that had just dried on his back surged out again, instantly soaking through his inner clothes, which clung to his skin stickily and coldly.
A lingering fear far stronger than when he faced the threat of death before, like a cold, venomous snake coiling around his heart, chilled him to the bone!
His fingers, holding the photograph, trembled almost imperceptibly.
He suddenly raised his head and looked at Xiong Yuting again. The girl's purple eyes were still staring at him without blinking. The faint "expectation" in them now had a completely new and weighty meaning in Jia Daiquan's eyes!
Was she looking for the person in the photo? And was she, in her confusion, the first person who seemed to be in charge?
Jia Daiquan's throat was dry. He forcibly suppressed the overwhelming shock and fear, using all his strength to keep his voice from sounding off-key, even adding a subtle hint of respect that he himself was unaware of:
"Miss... this photo... you... you're looking for the person in this photo?"
His tone had completely changed.
It was no longer a businesslike interrogation, nor a condescending guidance, but rather a cautious probing, or even a hint of...seeking instructions.
Xiong Yuting still didn't answer, but her purple eyes seemed to brighten slightly for a moment because of his question, and her anticipation deepened.
Jia Daiquan took a deep breath, feeling as if the photo in his hand was as heavy as Mount Tai.
He carefully lifted the photograph with both hands, as if holding some fragile sacred object, and then, in a very low but extremely serious voice, commanded the driver in the front seat:
"Turn around! Forget the bureau! Go straight to the military region headquarters! Quickly!"
