Chapter 471: The Crisis at the Airport
Tang Xiu’s expression drastically changed as he grabbed Turtledove’s collar and said in a heavy voice, “Are you sure time bombs have been planted in Shanghai Airport? You are not lying to me?”
“I may dare to deceive anyone, but not him,” replied Turtledove while glancing at Xing Li.
“Tell me the location of the bombs!” said Tang Xiu, clenching his fist.
“They were placed by Old Wolf, while I’m responsible to monitor the concert site. I don’t know their location,” Turtledove answered as he shook his head.
Tang Xiu took a deep breath, quickly looked at his watch and said, “How long does it take to get to the airport from here?”
“It will take an hour or so to drive there,” answered Turtledove.
Tang Xiu took out his mobile and dialed Liu Changxi’s cell number.
“Where are you now, Tang Xiu?” Liu Changxi’s voice came after the call connected.
“Secretary Liu, let us forget where I am first! I just received news that the extremists’ target tonight is not just Zhang Xinya’s concert, but they also placed time bombs in Shanghai Airport. The remaining time to the explosions is only 20 minutes or so.”
At the backstage of the concert, Liu Changxi suddenly contracted his pupils after hearing Tang Xiu’s report. His heart thumped so fast it felt like a hurricane. Panicked, he hurriedly asked, “Is this information really accurate and reliable, Tang Xiu? What are the exact locations of the time-bombs?”
“The news is reliable! But I don’t know where they have been laid,” said Tang Xiu.
In a deep and heavy voice, Liu Changxi said, “I’ll immediately contact the Shanghai Airport’s authorities and make them search for their locations as fast as possible. Also, I’m going to send some people over there.”
“I’m afraid it’s too late. However, we must inform the airport. Furthermore, I’ve already left the New World Center since I needed to deal with something elsewhere. I’m quite near Shanghai Airport, so contact the authorities from the airport and make them cooperate with me when I get there!”
Recalling Tang Xiu’s special abilities, Liu Changxi was immediately pleasantly surprised, “Great, that would be great! I’ll make sure to inform them. Please do it, Tang Xiu!”
“Mm!” Tang Xiu ended the call and walked toward the outside. He then said to Xing Li, who was following him, “You all go back to Jingmen Island. Do bear in mind that you must scatter into small groups and leave quietly. Don’t take the trains, planes, or public transportation vehicles, for those will expose your identities easily.”
“Copy that!” Xing Li’s stopped following as he looked at the back of the departing Tang Xiu. He quickly returned to the room to inform the others, and quickly left.
In the darkness of the night, Tang Xiu left the three-storied building. His figure was ghostly and extremely fast. Within just two minutes, he already arrived at the underground parking lot, and then drove away at a very fast speed.
As of now, his driving skills were virtually matchless. With a reaction speed and eyesight that were many times stronger than ordinary people; his driving speed was practically neck-breaking. His Range Rover SUV was akin to a mustang running wild on the wide road, with its speedometer pointing at 200 km/h. He even used his stellar reaction speed to directly cross several red lights.
Time was against him, he knew this perfectly well. A travel that one usually used one hour, there were only 20 minutes for him to arrive at the airport. Hence, he must speed up his car to the extreme. He even planned to abandon the car once he bumped into a traffic jam. Though his present cultivation was very low, his speed was comparable to the Land Rover’s speed limit if he was to push his it to the limit.
****
At Shanghai Airport…
The person with the highest position there was Chu Xianglong, the Airport Supervisor, who had just returned from Beijing. Beside him were two airport executives following him out of the cabin.
“Huh?”
As Chu Xianglong stepped down the ladder, he frowned deeply, because from more than a hundred meters away, several executives of the airport were surrounded by a group of airport security and were rushing towards him.
“Has something happened?” Chu Xianglong asked lightly to the two airport executives behind him.
“We don’t know,” Both men shook their heads and looked similarly confused.
Quickly, several top executives of the airport finally came before Chu Xianglong. One of them had beads of sweat streaming down his forehead as he quickly said, “Chief Chu, there’s an accident!”
“What happened?” Chu Xianglong creased his brows and asked in a deep voice.
“I just received a phone call from the Secretary of the Ministry of State Security. He informed us that there are time bombs in the airport. Please call this number, so you will know the specific details,” said the person in charge.
With a drastically changed expression, Chu Xianglong quickly dialed the number. After the other party answered it, he said, “I’m Chu Xianglong, may I ask who you are?”
“I’m Liu Changxi…”
Half a minute later, Chu Xianglong ended the call. His expression had already turned solemn, and immediately shouted, “Seal all the passages in the airport! Suspend all the planes about to take off and evacuate all tourists in the airport! Call the police force and the Bomb Disposal Squad to immediately scour the airport for the time bombs! Additionally, inform all of our people that if a person named Mr. Tang Xiu arrives, take him in at once, and prepare everything he needs, whatever it is!”
“I’ve already arranged it, Chief Chu!”
“Then, repeat it again! If there really are time bombs in our airport and we are unable to find them within the remaining time, the damage we suffer will be massive! Hence, each and every one of you must go into action, hurry up!”
“Affirmative!”
At this time, a passenger plane from Beijing was currently landing at Shanghai Airport. It slowed down over the runway, and quickly stopped at the pre-assigned apron. A few minutes later, a big-bellied and plump-faced Li Laoshan appeared at the cabin’s door. He deeply frowned as he slowly stepped down the ladder. Behind him, there was a slim, well-dressed, and beautiful female secretary and four bodyguards in black suits.
“The siren is on, Boss,” said a bodyguard, vigilantly observing the surroundings.
“Let’s ask about what happened,” said Li Laoshan with a nod.
“Roger that, Boss!” said the bodyguard respectfully.
At this moment, a broadcasting voice reverberated in the airport sound system.
“Attention, ladies and gentlemen. Please note that all routes at the airport are to be closed immediately because of security issues. All passengers are required to leave the airport at once…”
Security and safety problem?
Li Laoshan’s complexion changed. He was perfectly aware of the meaning of this type of broadcast. He had heard that similar situations had happened in several domestic airports. Most of them were issues related to an explosion.
“It seems like a major event has happened!” Mumbling to himself, Li Laoshan immediately shouted, “Let’s leave through the VIP lane!”
****
On a road more than ten kilometers from the airport, Tang Xiu’s complexion turned extremely grim. What he had been worrying about finally happened... a traffic jam on the road.
All the way here, he pushed his car’s speed to the limit, even causing some light and serious accidents. There were also many traffic policemen blocking his advance and in hot pursuit of him. However, after he contacted Liu Changxi, they soon disappeared.
“There’s nothing to do but abandon the car.”
While looking at the traffic jam in front of him, Tang Xiu quickly made a decision despite his impatience and anxiety. After he got out of the car, he quickly bolted toward the alley at the side of the road.
Amidst the dim lights of the night, Tang Xiu was like the incarnation of the Wandering God of the Night. At this time, one wouldn’t be able to see his figure flashing from the side even if they were to observe him with the naked eyes. Even if one were to focus their attention, they could only perceive a flashing shadow.
“It’s about ten kilometers from here to the airport, and the 20 minutes are up already!”
Tang Xiu was praying that the time for the time bomb to detonate could stretch. He firmly believed that as long as he could rush to the airport within a few minutes, he would be able to scour the entire airport. After all, nothing could hide from his observation once he covered the area with his spiritual sense.
When he was only two kilometers away from the airport, his keen eyes saw many cars rushing out of the airport; a lot of people were even turning around and running out to the roadside while carrying their bags.
“It seems that the airport has taken precautions against this predicament.”
Tang Xiu avoided running on the road and kept accelerating. When he arrived near the airport, his figure finally appeared from the curtain of the night and quickly bolted toward the entrance.
“The airport has been sealed, and no one is allowed to enter!”
A dozen police officers looked at Tang Xiu with vigilant expressions, and one of them shouted at him.
Knitting his brows, Tang Xiu said, “I’m Tang Xiu. I must go inside!”
Tang Xiu?
The police officers’ complexions changed. The police, who had just stopped Tang Xiu quickly said, “Are you, Mr. Tang? We have received a notice that you can go in at once. Our airport leaders are…”
Without waiting for him to finish speaking, Tang Xiu immediately dashed inside.
At the same time, he kept releasing his spiritual sense, which covered a radius of 200-300 meters. His face slightly changed when his figure appeared inside the airport lounge.
“Three bombs, and three minutes and fifteen seconds to the explosion time!”
Tang Xiu quickly glanced around and found that many police officers around were looking for the time bombs. He suddenly shouted at them, “There’s a time bomb in this trash can! Assign someone to take it away. There’s also one in there inside the fire hose, and another one in the pot on the left. What the hell are you dazing out for? Just get those time bombs faster! There are only three minutes left before they explode!”
All at once, dozens of airport police officers were rushing toward the three locations pointed by Tang Xiu. After they carefully removed the three black boxes, two bomb experts half-run into the airport lounge and quickly examined them. They finally determined that these three black boxes were all specially-assembled time bombs.