<h4>Chapter 1038: Chapter 1045: Dangerous Situation (2)</h4>


    Ling Chen stood still, listening intently for a moment, and realized the footsteps were approaching him. Immediately, he turned off the phone’s light, quietly leaned against the wall, and fixed his gaze ahead.


    After more than ten seconds, a faint light appeared in Ling Chen’s line of sight. Focusing intently, he realized the faint light came from a phone screen. A young man in his twenties, holding a phone, was gasping for breath as he stumbled along, covered in filth, looking as disheveled as one could be.


    When the young man got closer, Ling Chen suddenly lunged forward, quickly locking the other’s neck and thrusting him against the wall.


    The young man was startled, struggling desperately, and shouted loudly, "No, don’t kill me, please, give me a chance!"


    "Shut up!" Ling Chen said softly, "Look carefully at who I am first."


    Hearing this, the young man aimed the phone screen at Ling Chen. After seeing Ling Chen’s face clearly, the young man breathed a big sigh of relief and rxedpletely.


    "Chen, you’re... you’re here at the perfect time, please, help us." The young man pleaded.


    "What happened?" Ling Chen asked, "Why did youe here? Also, what about Nanrong Hao, have you seen him?"


    "Haozi got separated from us, I don’t know where he is now. Chen, you must save us, several people have already died."


    Seeing the young man’s tense appearance, Ling Chen loosened his grip and patted the young man’s shoulder, saying, "Don’t be afraid, as long as I’m here, no one can hurt you. Tell me, what exactly happened?"


    The young man took a couple of deep breaths and finally began to speak slowly, "Chen, it’s like this..." He then exined everything that had happened.


    After listening, Ling Chen felt a heavy weight on his heart and cursed silently. No wonder Song Mingzhe was here; it was because of Zhu Hong and Zhu Xiaozhu. Ling Chen never expected that it was Nanrong Hao who kidnapped Zhu Xiaozhu. As for the reason, Ling Chen didn’t even need to think; it was obviously for revenge. But Nanrong Hao’s thinking was a bit naive; did he really think he could kill Zhu Hong and avenge his father?


    "What about Zhu Xiaozhu? Is she here?" Ling Chen asked.


    The young man nodded and said, "Before Zhu Hong arrived, Haozi locked her in a room in the basement, nning to release her after Zhu Hong died."


    "Do you know the specific location?"


    The young man pointed down the passage he came from, "Follow this road, about thirty meters in, turn left, and there’s a room ahead. If she hasn’t been rescued, she should still be there."


    "Okay, get yourself out first." With that, Ling Chen quickly walked inwards.


    "Chen." Watching Ling Chen’s retreating figure, the young man suddenly thought of something and quickly called out to Ling Chen, reminding him, "Chen, the basement is full of venomous snakes, several of our brothers were bitten and died, you’d better be careful and stay safe."


    Ling Chen responded without looking back, "Got it, you get out quickly."


    Walking in the pitch-ck passage, Ling Chen advanced cautiously by the light of his phone. After the young man’s reminder, Ling Chen became even more careful. It wasn’t hard to guess that those snakes must have been Song Mingzhe’s pets. Ling Chen had witnessed their fearsome nature when hest fought with Song Mingzhe and his group, and he still felt some lingering fear.


    Soon, Ling Chen arrived outside the room the young man described. Seeing the slightly ajar door, Ling Chen murmured to himself that something was wrong and quickly pushed the door open. As expected, the room was empty, not a single person inside. Before he arrived, someone must have rescued Zhu Xiaozhu.


    However, Ling Chen could not confirm whether it was Zhu Hong who rescued Zhu Xiaozhu or someone else.


    Bang!


    While pondering, Ling Chen suddenly heard a loud explosion over his ear. Along with the explosion, the whole basement started to shake slightly, and dust began falling from the ceiling inyers.


    What happened?


    Ling Chen was shocked, and before he could react, he heard sessive ’bang bang’ explosive sounds outside. At the same time, the ceiling and the walls of the room all cracked, filling with fissures.


    Not good!


    Seeing this situation, Ling Chen immediately understood what had happened. Someone must have detonated the explosives ced under the building.


    Based on what the young man earlier had said, Ling Chen already knew about Nanrong Hao’s n. Nanrong Hao, now a management member of the Hongyu Group, was responsible for the redevelopment project in the Old City. These buildings needed to be demolished by sting, so he must have been aware. Hence, he chose to meet Zhu Hong here. Once Zhu Hong arrived, he only needed to detonate the explosives pre-buried under the building to easily kill Zhu Hong, avenging his father.


    What Ling Chen was worried about now was whether Nanrong Hao and Zhu Xiaozhu had managed to escape from the basement. If they were still here, they would definitely be in mortal danger.


    No time to think more, Ling Chen rushed out of the room, lighting his way with his phone, hurrying towards the site of the explosion. Along the way, Ling Chen noticed that the walls on both sides of the passage had already cracked, and stones asionally fell from above.


    No way! These were all decades-old buildings, and now that they’ve been sted, they could copse at any moment. I must evacuate as soon as possible. If I’m anyter, I might be buried inside too.


    Not far ahead, Ling Chen saw a pile of stones fall from above, blocking the door ahead. With the path blocked, Ling Chen had to find another route, which would undoubtedly take more time.


    At this moment, outside the building, the policemen who heard the explosion were all shocked, quickly contacting their superiors and evacuating all the crowds around. After more than ten minutes, several police cars quickly arrived on the scene, led by Xia Mutong.


    "Captain Xia!" A male policeman quickly approached Xia Mutong.


    "What’s the situation inside?"


    "It’s not clear yet. The explosion urred in the central building. Upon careful observation, due to the explosion, cracks have appeared in that building and several surrounding buildings. They might copse at any time."


    Frowning, Xia Mutong asked, "Are there still people inside?"


    "No, we checked yesterday, and all the residents of the buildings have already been evacuated."


    "Very good." Xia Mutong slightly rxed and said, "Extend the perimeter around the st point by twenty meters and prohibit any unauthorized personnel from approaching." While saying this, another police officer hurried over, saluting Xia Mutong.


    "Captain Xia, lots of journalists have arrived over there, and they want to know the situation."


    After thinking for a moment, Xia Mutong said, "Tell them the police are actively investigating and eliminating danger. We will inform them as soon as there’s a result."