<h4>Chapter 42: Chapter 43</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    Mi Na City was located north of Maija City and was the capital of Kachin state. Compared to the small cities which were just starting to flourish, Mi Na was a real metropolis where high-rise towers and enterprises gathered. Not to mention, it was also home to the powerful and the rich.


    Brother Lu was having a massage at a spa center when she got news of the explosion.


    Upon seeing her expression suddenly change, a follower who was serving her immediately waved for the beauticians to leave. Brother Lu quickly sat up whilst naked, showing her scar-covered body as she spoke coldly through the phone. “The bomb exploded, but why isn’t he dead?”


    Her follower on the other end paused before replying. “There was a Chinese police officer apanying Zhou Chengbo. He was great at fighting, and even went so far as to make a scene at the casino just now...”


    Brother Lu was taken aback. She recalled some news she heard a few days ago about a group of officials from China’s police force flying in to meet with the Burmese officials in Yangon. Nheless, China and Myanmar had been meeting frequently to discuss cross-border criminal issues since the beginning of the year, so she was not too bothered by this.


    In order to keep a low profile, the female leader who had a deep influence in both countries had refrained from going out during this period, and even took a step back to let her subordinates temporarily take over; she also would stick her head into every single of matter like she used to do before. After all, not too long ago she had experienced firsthand how skilled China’s police force was.


    Her subordinate might not have noticed, but she broke into a cold sweat as she connected the two matters.


    She thought for some time then replied, “Continue operations as per usual. However, ask the core members to immediately retreat and wait for my notice on when we’ll return to Maija.”


    Maija City.


    A handful of armed thugs carefully followed Ji Bai and Xu Xu out of the casino’s back door.


    Humans beings adapted to their situation, when a group of people is nervous and unsure about what the other party was going to do, they would always act cautiously and observe them before doing anything. Although it did not look like it, there was a silent, explosive face-off happening between the two groups.


    However, once they followed them out of the back door, they were horrified to see the bouncers who were initially guarding the door moaning on the ground after getting beaten up. Two men who looked as ferocious as Ji Bai now stood in their ce whilst behind them stood a few fully armed Kachin soldiers.


    Kachin soldiers would never enter a casino, but they were not technically in the casino and thus, the tacit agreement was void.


    Ji Bai kept holding onto Xu Xu’s hand as they passed by the Kachin soldiers and left through an alley before finally arriving at the bustling main street.


    Xu Xu hadpletely calmed down by now, and she looked up to smile at Ji Bai. However, when she tried to pull back her hand, she felt him tighten his grip powerfully.


    His face was still tensed up and he looked quite terrifying. His dark eyes seemed heavy and intense as he stared straight ahead whilst walking.


    This look was too intimidating, such that she was unable to shift her eyes away from him.


    “Are you alright?” Chen Yalin called as she ran toward them from afar.


    Ji Bai stared at Xu Xu. “We’re alright.” Then, he clenched her hand tightly one more time before letting it go.


    He then turned to speak to Chen Yalin softly as they walked ahead, leaving Xu Xu standing there alone. Xu Xu watched his powerful figure with his back turned and recalled the throbbing feeling that had shaken her heart when she had first spotted him in the casino, but this time, it was apanied by a slight ache in her heart.


    Soon enough, a few criminal police officers gathered around them.


    Ji Bai regained hisposed look and he said in a low yet strong voice, “Inform Director Sun about the incident – we’ve alerted the enemy and the criminals will most likely try to escape. We must bring forward the arrest operation.”


    After Sun Pu received Ji Bai’s phone call, he immediately made negotiations with the Burmese officials: They agreed to immediately notify the troops of nearby bases as well as police officers to seal off the whole city. Kachin’smander in chief also immediately ordered a small army to head to Maija City to help enforce thew during the operation.


    In just a day’s time, Maija City lookedpletely different, causing the locals to panic.


    At night, the criminal police officers returned to the hotel and had a short meeting to delegate tasks. Thew enforcing military would only arrive tomorrow morning, so they would have to keep watch all night outside Brother Lu’s main strongholds together with Ti Sai’s soldiers.


    Tonight’s task was incredibly dangerous as the criminals might very well fight for their life when put in a desperate situation.


    After the meeting was adjourned, Xu Xu went to the temporary control room alone. Her job was to manage logistics and coordinate the squads, and while it was not a dangerous task, it was equally nerve-wracking and stressful.


    Somebody knocked on her door as she wasmunicating with a local police officer regarding the cement of some blockages.


    Since the rescue, both she and Ji Bai had been so caught up with work that they did not get to speak to each other, but now, there were only ten minutes left before he needed to set out with the team.


    He had handled many high-risk tasks in the past, and he had always faced them calmly without any worry, but this time, he subconsciously came looking for her.


    Once Xu Xu opened the door, she saw him standing quietly in front of her. The lights in the corridor were very dim, so his features were slightly hidden, but whether it was his round forehead, his profound eyes, or his high and wide nose, they all seemed to be tough and hearty. Especially deep-set eyes, which were now locked onto hers.


    Xu Xu mouthed to him, “wait for a while,” then she returned to the table and sat down as she continued talking on the phone.


    The lights in the room in the room were bright and a small fan was blowing cold air from the corner of the room. She supported the phone between her shoulder and cheeks whilst she typed away on the keyboard. Her short hair was tucked behind her sweet, white-skinned ears, but a few stray strands were gently blown up by the wind; she was actually such a tiny, delicate person, but her sitting posture and demeanor were just like a man, steady, neat, and strong.


    Ji Bai suddenly recalled the scene inside the casino – the corridor was dark and quiet, and a couple of thugs were standing right behind her. Despite this, she put on a cold face, and even though she was panicked, her eyes shed her resolution as she slowly approached his range. Although he was standing in the dark, the me in his heart burned fiercely away.


    He thought to himself, ‘She has always acted so recklessly despite being in a rtionship with me. Doesn’t she know that she’s my one and only treasure?’


    As he watched her from behind, he felt as though she was touching his chest with her soft hands. A sense of warmth rushed through him as he could no longer take it and walked over to her.


    Xu Xu’s body shook inexplicably when Ji Bai hugged her from behind. She instantly felt his hot breath on her neck as his warm lips and tongue quietly kissed the napped of her neck. Xu Xu’s mind went nk, such that the voice of the Burmese official that was still on the phone with her seemed to be moving further and further away... A few secondster, she snapped back to reality and responded, then continuedmunicating clearly and quickly with the official. However, by the time she hung up, Ji Bai had left.


    Xu Xu did not think about it too much and continued looking at theputer screen, but for some reason, she felt impatient and hasty, and she did not even manage to finish reading a single page after this. She scratched her head and shook it to clear her thoughts, then stood up to look at the empty doorway.


    Xu Xu was no doubt a slow one when it came to love. In the casino, it naturally made her feel made her feel deeply touched when Ji Bai seemed to fall straight from heaven to save her life. That being said, after that she no longer thought about the incident nor did it linger in her memory. She knew that she would have risked her life and gone in to save him alone even if it was another colleague who was captured. But as she thought about her performance, she realized something. ‘If Ji Bai wasn’t the one being held captive, I probably would’ve been calmer. Ji Bai more or less made me rush my actions due to my worries.’


    In spite of that, Ji Bai’s hug lingered on her body. The deep emotions that had been growing inside of her came pouring out her heart once again, and that same throbbing feeling seemed to beat away more aggressively now that he had left. Xu Xu sat there and bit her tongue, she knew that only his touch would be able to get rid of it.


    When Xu Xu arrived at Ji Bai’s room, two other criminal police officers had just walked out; they were already dressed in bulletproof vests and were armed with their guns as the use of firearms for the operation had been specially permitted by both China and Myanmar.


    The lights in his room glowed dimly as Xu Xu noticed that Ji Bai was already wearing his bulletproof vest along with a ck handgun and an ammunition clip that was strapped around his waist. He was looking down to button up his shirt, but when he looked up to see that Xu Xu who had previously been intensely focused on her work suddenly walk in, the first thing that came to his mind was job-rted matters. He immediately asked, “Did anything happen?”


    Xu Xu’s warm cheeks flushed slightly as she quickly walked over and grabbed his cor before helping him button up his shirt.


    Ji Bai looked at his partner’s blushing face and her caring movements without saying a word. After Xu Xu finished buttoning his shirt, she did not say a thing, she simply grabbed onto his cor, tipped-toe, and lifted her head to kiss him. However, Ji Bai was faster than her, and he grabbed her waist at once to pull her closer to him, then, he lowered his head and kissed her passionately.


    The kiss was a quick one, and after they were done, Ji Bai went downstairs and left with their colleagues. Xu Xu cheerfully returned to her room to start working again, only this time, she felt that her mind was clearer, and all of her problems had been swept away.


    Indeed, emotions needed to be expressed and satisfied. The feeling of satisfying their mutual needs with Ji Bai felt very pleasant.


    Meanwhile, Brother Lu was not the only one who was disturbed in Mi Na City, Kachin’s suprememander, Commander in Chief Jue Wen was as well.


    It was gettingte as the lights at the royalkeside which was located in the suburbs lit up once again.


    There was arge vi by the waters, and in front of the door was a broad, green bamboo tform where Jue Wen sat back against a cane chair with his eyes closed.


    The deputy officer stood respectfully a few steps away from him. “Commander, are we sending the troops to enforce thew in Maija City? The people from China are pushing us very hard.”


    Jue Wen flung open his eyes. Themander who had been in the military for half his life already had deep wrinkles in the corner of his eyes, yet his physique was still muscr and burly like a young man’s, which made him still somewhat attractive. He kept quiet for a while then asked, “Which unit is closest to Maija City?”


    The deputy officer replied, “General Po’s second brigade, they’re controlling the areas near Maija City this month.”


    Jue Wen shut his eyes again and said inly, “Let Po go then.”


    In Maija City, after a night of stalemate and confrontation, dawn arrived.


    The highway into the city was dusty as huge trucks filled with soldiers shuddered down its length. The members of the task force were waiting by the highway to wee them in order to meet with the military’smanding officer as soon as possible; their hard work from the past month was finally going to bear fruit, hence everyone felt dignified and highly determined.


    Ji Bai and Xu Xu’s focus was one hundred percent on the case. asionally their eyes would meet, and they would exchange a brief smile with their eyes, but that was it.


    After some time, an off-road vehicle stopped in front of Ji Bai and the others. A tall and built officer walked over to them with some soldiers trailing behind him. He wore a grey and green camouge patterned uniform, had bronze-colored skin, and on his face was a dark red scar which made him look incredibly ferocious.


    Though his demeanor made him seem hostile, he nced at everyone then suddenly let out a wide smile and said in choppy mandarin, “Hello, I’m themanding officer of Kachin Independence Army’s second brigade, General Po. I hope that we’ll well work together.”


    When Po arrived at Maija City, Commander Jue Wen, who was far away in Mi Na City, had just woken up. He stood in front of his vi that was surrounded by the glisteningke and tall mountains as he gazed off into the distance.


    Upon looking at his quiet face, the deputy officer who was beside asked softly, “I’m quite confused about your decision yesterday. If you suspect that Po is the force behind China’s gang and that he was the one who created a disturbance in the border as well as embezzled heaps of money, why did you still let him go? There’s a proverb in China that goes, ‘stealing what is entrusted to you’.”


    Jue Wen smiled faintly and answered, “I’m not concerned about whether or not we can get rid of the China gang. Po has performed many meritorious services for me, and his prestige in the military is very high, but he has gone overboard over the past few years – I really despise it.


    “There’s also a proverb in China that goes ‘to kill someone with somebody else’s knife’. If he uses this opportunity to turn over a new leaf and enforce thew strictly, then I’ll tolerate him for the time being, but if he’s still presumptuous and causes chaos, I’ll kill him and express our sincerity towards China.”