Chapter 22 — Forest Keeper

Khue and Nguyen hid behind a large rock near the stream bank, waiting in tense silence, their ears always listening to every movement around them. Nearly forty minutes passed, as long as a lifetime, before they heard footsteps in the distance, accompanied by the familiar flash of a flashlight — not the high-powered lights of the pursuers, but small lights, moving in an organized manner, true to the search formation of trained rangers.

"Hey Khue! Hey Nguyen!" Loc's familiar call rang out, accompanied by the voices of several other rangers in the station.

"Here!" Khue shouted, stood up, and felt a sense of relief when he saw the flashlight of the rescue team approaching.

Loc was the first person to run over and hug Khue in a rare, worried gesture of someone who had treated her like a descendant in the family for many years. "Thank God, you two are okay. Where are the clouds?"

"We got separated while fleeing," Khue replied, her voice cracking with pent-up anxiety. "I wonder where she is or if she's safe."

"I've sent another team to search in the direction she's likely to run to," Loc reassured, although his voice couldn't hide the worry. "Let's go back to the station first, regroup our forces, and then continue a more organized search."

On the way back, as the group moved cautiously through the dark forest, Loc pulled Khue closer, his voice low and serious. "Khue, there's something I need to say right away. I can't wait any longer. Just now, when I was organizing people to look for you two, I discovered that Tung wasn't at the station and couldn't be reached by phone."

Khue paused, her heart pounding when she heard that name. "Do you think Tung is involved in tonight's ambush?"

"I can't be sure, but it's too coincidental to ignore," Loc replied, his voice heavy. "I checked again and discovered that Tung had many calls to a strange phone number in the past week, the frequency suddenly increased on the days I planned for tonight."

Nguyen, who was walking next to him, spoke up, his voice also full of thought. "If it's true that Tung reported the news, it means that Bao's network knew almost all of our plans in advance, including the specific time and location. That explains why they reacted so quickly and accurately."

Khue felt a mixture of anger mixed with dull pain rising in her heart - not only because of being betrayed by a colleague who had lived with her for the past half a year, but also because of the realization that, no matter how careful they were, Bao's network was always one step ahead of them, always having eyes and ears in the most unexpected places.

"We need to find Tung, or at least verify it," she said, her voice cold but determined. "If it is him, we must stop him from continuing to cause harm, and we must also be more careful from now on."

The group continued to move through the night, both alert to the risk of being ambushed again and impatiently looking for news about May. At nearly 1 a.m., when they were almost back to the station, Loc's radio suddenly rang out an urgent call from another search team.

"Station Chief, we found May! She's safe, just a few scratches from running through thorn bushes, on her way back to the station!"

A collective sigh rang out in the group. Khue felt her legs buckle with relief and had to rely on Nguyen to stand. "Thank God," she whispered, tears suddenly welling up in her eyes as the emotions that had been pent up for the past few hours were now released.

When the group arrived at the station, May was there, sitting in the small medical room, a few scratches on her hands and face lightly bandaged, but overall healthy, although still shaking from the horrifying experience she had just experienced. Khue rushed to hug her friend, both crying in happiness because they were safely reunited.

"I ran into an area full of thorn trees. I had to take a long detour to get to the familiar trail," May recounted, her voice still shaking. "I thought I wouldn't find my way back, but luckily I met my search team."

"Did you see the faces of any of the pursuers?" Khue asked, still holding May's hand tightly as if to make sure her friend was really here, safe.

Cloud shook his head, wincing as he moved his scratched arm. "I'm not sure, it was too dark, and I was just worried about running. But I heard one of them call someone's name, apparently 'Sin', ordering them to split up and go in different directions."

That name made Khue more certain that it was Bao's men who directly organized the ambush, not a group of regular wood yard guards who randomly reacted when discovering strangers. This is a pre-prepared plan, aimed directly at them.

"If they had prepared in advance, waiting at the exact location we chose to observe," Nguyen said, his voice thoughtful, "then the information would almost certainly have been leaked before we departed, rather than being discovered by chance during observation."

After everyone was stabilized, Loc gathered the entire station, announced the suspicion related to Tung, asked everyone to be highly vigilant and not reveal any information about the incident to people outside the station in the near future. The atmosphere in the meeting room was heavy and heavy, as everyone gradually realized the severity of the betrayal from within.

Another young ranger, who was still close to Tung, spoke up, his voice filled with confusion. "Mr. Loc, am I wrong? Tung and I share the same room. These past few days I've seen him as normal. Could it be that he has an unexpected family matter that has nothing to do with this?"

"I hope so," Loc replied, his voice heavy. "But in the current situation, I can't just rely on hope. Anyone who has any information about Tung, even the smallest details, needs to report it to me immediately, so that I can make it clear in black and white, avoid wrongful death to innocent people, but also cannot be subjective if there really is betrayal."

The meeting ended in an atmosphere that was both tense and gloomy, with each person leaving the meeting room with their own worries — fear for their own safety, fear for the future of the investigation, and for some, perhaps a new, uncomfortable suspicion for colleagues they had never had to guard against before.

After the meeting, when everyone had dispersed, Khue sat alone with Nguyen in the office, reviewing the video he was able to record before being discovered - although short and shaky due to having to flee immediately afterward, the video still captured a quite clear image of Ta Quoc Bao directing the loading of wood onto the truck, along with a few seconds of images of iron cages containing wild animals.

"This is valuable evidence," Nguyen said, his voice still a little tired but shining with excitement. "Although not as complete as desired, it is enough to prove the existence and actual operation of this line."

Khue nodded, but her heart was still heavy from what she had just experienced — Tung's betrayal, the danger of nearly losing her life, and most of all, the feeling that Bao's network now surely knew the seriousness of the investigation targeting them, and would not hesitate to do anything to protect themselves, even more brutal actions than what had happened so far.

"We need to send this video to Mr. Duong immediately," she said, her voice determined even though her body was exhausted after a long and tumultuous night. "And we need to prepare ourselves for what might happen next. After tonight, I think things can't be delayed any longer."

Nguyen stood up, found the previously backed up USB, carefully copied the new video, then composed a short but complete email to Mr. Duong, including the GPS coordinates recorded from the gathering site. He sent it that night, even though he knew it might take him until morning to read it.

When the work was completed, he turned to look at Khue and saw her sitting motionless, her distant eyes looking out the dark window. He pulled the chair closer, sat down next to her, gently held her hand.

"What do you think?" he asked softly.

"I think of my father," Khue replied, her voice low. "Tonight, as I ran away in the dark, hearing the gunshots, I suddenly understood more clearly than ever the feeling he might have felt eight years ago. The loneliness, the fear, knowing he was facing people willing to do anything to silence him."

Nguyen squeezed her hand tightly, saying nothing, just letting that sympathetic silence comfort her somewhat. After a while, Khue continued, her voice becoming steadier. "But unlike you, I'm not alone. I have my brother, May, Loc, and Uncle Chinh. That's what makes me believe I can go to the end, where my father couldn't."