Qin Lie and Lu Ye's expressions changed instantly. Lu Ye stepped forward swiftly, drawing the dagger from his waist and pressing it against Wang Yan's neck. "Where is she?" he demanded coldly.
At the sa ti, Qin Lie restrained the man with the cart. Both n looked terrified, shaking their heads frantically. "I-I don't know," they stamred in fear.
Suddenly, sothing occurred to Qin Lie. He turned his gaze toward Wang Yan and asked, "Who told you to find Zhouzhou for fortune-telling?"
"I don't know them!" Wang Yan stamred, his face filled with confusion. Lu Ye's dagger pressed closer, leaving a thin trail of blood. Wang Yan began to tremble even more and hurriedly added, "I swear I don't know! I overheard people talking about it while I was shopping, and that's how I found out!"
Qin Lie then turned to the man with the cart. "And you? Who sent you here?"
The man shivered, shaking his head vigorously. "No one! This is my job! My shop went under, so I brought all the stuff back. Soone placed an order, so I was just going to take this to the delivery station."
Qin Lie pressed further. "When do you usually go to the station?"
"Right now... This is the ti the station opens," the man answered, his voice trembling.
Hearing this, Qin Lie's frown deepened. It all fit together too well.
They had driven for two hours to get here, and this place wasn't close to the Heaven Bridge. Zhouzhou had only just started gaining a reputation with her fortune-telling business. Even if word was spreading quickly, it was too unlikely for soone here to hear about her in such a short amount of ti.
Sothing wasn't right. It was clear that soone had deliberately sent Wang Yan to seek out Zhouzhou. More than that, whoever did this was familiar with the area, orchestrating everything down to the last detail. This was no coincidence.
Qin Lie exchanged a glance with Lu Ye, both of them realizing the sa unsettling truth. Whoever had taken Zhouzhou wasn't soone to be underestimated. Managing to take her away right under their noses—this person knew exactly what they were doing.
Qin Lie quickly scanned their surroundings. There were plenty of obstacles, and the cart had been stacked high enough to obscure their view. He had no idea who had taken Zhouzhou.
Without hesitating, he made the next move. "Surveillance caras," he said sharply. "Let's find her first."
Thinking about the bounty posted on the dark web, Qin Lie's eyes grew colder. If anyone dared to harm even a single hair on Zhouzhou's head, he would make sure they paid with their life!
anwhile, Zhouzhou slowly regained consciousness in a dark, windowless room, surrounded by pitch-black walls. As soon as she tried to stand, she wobbled and fell back down, realizing her body was completely weak.
She had never felt like this before. Her lips trembled in frustration as she pouted, "How much of that drug did you use?!"
She recalled the mont just before this. Soone had scooped her up, covering her nose without saying a word. Despite holding her breath as much as she could, she still inhaled a small amount. But the dosage... It was enough to knock out an elephant!
So infuriating!
Once she got out of here, she swore she'd find a way to turn those people in for a reward! But first, she had to escape.
Her small, chubby hands clenched in frustration. When she realized her legs were still too weak to support her, she reached for her little pouch, intending to grab an antidote. But her expression changed abruptly.
Looking down, Zhouzhou saw that her pouch was gone. Worse yet, the smartwatch her Eldest Brother had given her was also missing!
This is bad!
Without her pouch or the watch, how was she going to send a ssage to the outside world?
Her eyes scanned the room warily. To her dismay, there were surveillance caras everywhere, with no blind spots at all. Any movent she made would likely be caught imdiately.
Taking a deep breath, Zhouzhou cald herself and shuffled to the nearest wall. Slowly, she leaned against it and slid down to sit.
She bit her finger and used her own blood as ink to draw a symbol. Her plan was to send it to her Eldest Senior Brother, who would be able to find her. But just as the symbol flew toward the door, it was instantly shattered!
Zhouzhou's eyes widened in disbelief, completely stunned.
What just happened?!
She had never encountered anything like this before. With her strength sapped, her belongings taken away, and even her spells rendered useless, Zhouzhou--at the age of six--was feeling true fear for the first ti.
"Who's there?!" She glared at the cara. "Show yourself!"
But there was only silence. The stillness around her was eerily unsettling, and all Zhouzhou could do was wait anxiously.
As night fell, the effects of the sedative finally began to wear off, and she felt a little strength returning. Just as she felt a glimr of hope and was about to try opening the door to escape, a tube suddenly dropped from above, releasing a cloud of gas.
This scent was wrong.
Zhouzhou quickly covered her nose. However, the sedative quickly filled the entire room, draining away the strength she had just regained. She stumbled and fell to the ground again.
Irritated, she exclaid, "If you have the guts, co out and fight !" She hated underhanded tactics the most!
At that mont, a voice finally broke the silence.
A distorted chanical voice echoed through the room. "You have two hours. If you can't escape in two hours, the hundred kilograms of explosives underground will turn you to ashes."
With that, a red countdown tir lit up on the wall. Each tick of the clock sent a shiver through her heart.
Zhouzhou frowned tightly at the sight. She struggled to rip off a piece of cloth, covering her mouth and nose to block out the sedative.
Looking around, she noticed the emptiness of the room; there were no tools or anything useful in sight.
Her gaze slowly shifted to the iron door, determination flashing in her eyes as if she had made a decision.
She walked toward it, breaking into a light run. As she jumped, she slamd her acupoint into a protruding door latch.
With a loud "bang," Zhouzhou collapsed to the floor, her small body curling up in pain, her face twisted in agony.
Behind the surveillance screen, the person watching her clenched his fists tightly. His eyes flashed with a mont of hesitation, but he remained standing still, staring intently at the scene unfolding in front of him.
The sharp pain snapped Zhouzhou back to full consciousness. She mustered all the strength she had left and kicked the door open with one swift motion. The iron door crashed heavily onto the ground, and fresh air rushed in, scattering the sedative from the room.
Zhouzhou glanced around, annoyed to find that it was just another room with yet another door blocking her way. She puffed her cheeks in frustration and glared at the cara. "Don't tell there's going to be another door waiting for after this one."
Her soft and childish voice carried through the surveillance feed.
Inside the control room, several people turned to look at the man standing in the center. They had doubts about the setup from the beginning.
It's like a never-ending puzzle.
Seeing no response from the monitors, Zhouzhou sighed deeply, her expression dimming slightly. She couldn't help but think about her father.
How are Daddy and Brother doing now? They must be frantic with worry. She had to find a way out and et them as soon as possible.
With renewed determination, she headed toward the door. But before she could take another step, a sharp sound whizzed through the air. Zhouzhou imdiately dodged aside, and with a "ping," a needle embedded itself deep in the wall, its exposed tip gleaming with a dark, ominous light.
Cold sweat began to drip from her forehead.
Poisonous needle! She was angry. How despicable!
Now more alert than ever, Zhouzhou refused to let her guard down. Her small body continuously flipped and leaped, deftly avoiding the barrage of poisoned needles flying at her.
An hour later, she finally reached the next door. Without hesitation, she kicked it open once again.
Hmph, child's play! Nothing can stop Master Fugui!
But her victorious smile quickly froze on her face.
Another door stood in front of her.
Her lips trembled in disbelief.
"This is too much! You're bullying a little kid!" she shouted in frustration.
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