A faint glimmer of hope mingled with deeper apprehensions welled up in her heart.
She instinctively moved closer to the door, eager to hear more clearly.
Just as she was intently listening to the sounds outside, her body leaning forward slightly and her ear pressed against the crack of the door—
Suddenly, something unexpected happened!
The yellow - haired man, who had been squatting on the ground, seemingly listless due to blood loss and fear, his eyes suddenly flashed with a fierce and crazy look!
He had been waiting for this opportunity!
The police were coming, and there seemed to be some unidentified people outside. He couldn't just sit there and wait for his doom!
After all, he didn't want to go to jail.
Taking advantage of the moment when Meng Ruozhao's attention was distracted, he suddenly kicked the ground hard with his untied left foot and slammed his body backward!
Meng Ruozhao was caught off - guard. The sudden force made her stagger and fall to the side.
The art knife tightly held in her hand flew out and clattered to the ground not far away.
As for the yellow - haired man, somehow, with his injured right hand, he had quietly grabbed an iron crowbar from the scattered tools beside him.
It was used to pry open fabric rolls and was very heavy.
Just as Meng Ruozhao lost her balance and fell to the ground, the yellow - haired man showed a ferocious look on his face. He summoned all his strength and swung the crowbar, smashing it hard at the back of her head.
"Oof!"
A dull thud sounded.
The excruciating pain spread like erupting magma, instantly engulfing Meng Ruozhao's entire head.
All the scenes in front of her shattered like a broken mirror and were quickly swallowed by the endless darkness.
She didn't even have time to let out a complete scream of pain. Her consciousness fluttered like a kite with a broken string and plunged into the boundless abyss.
The last remaining sensations were the cold and hard ground and the nauseatingly strong smell of blood in her nostrils...
Half an hour earlier, in a suite on the top floor of an international hotel thousands of kilometers away.
Pei Jiangmu had just finished a time - consuming and nerve - wracking trans - national video conference full of tension.
He rubbed his throbbing temples and habitually picked up his phone.
He wanted to check the time, but more importantly, he wanted to see if there were any messages from Meng Ruozhao.
Although he knew she might already be asleep, he had gotten into the habit of checking his phone at any time.
The screen lit up, but there were no new WeChat messages.
He instinctively opened the app that was connected to the home living - room camera, hoping to see if she had fallen asleep safely.
However, the screen was completely dark and unusually quiet.
At this time, she usually would have been home. Even if she was asleep, she would have left a small night - light on.
An inexplicable sense of uneasiness seized him without warning.
His heart felt as if it was being tightly grasped by an invisible hand, making it hard for him to breathe.
This sudden and intense feeling of palpitations made him fidgety.
He immediately called Meng Ruozhao.
"Sorry, the number you dialed is powered off..."
The cold system prompt was like a poisoned ice pick, stabbing into his eardrum and instantly spreading throughout his body.
Powered off? Ruozhao never powered off her phone!
She said she was afraid that clients and he wouldn't be able to reach her.
Moreover, there was always a power bank in her bag.
For some time now, she had never gone this long without replying to his messages.
Just now, he had also checked the store's surveillance camera and found it was completely dark. He didn't know if it was due to a power outage or if it had been sabotaged.
Something was wrong!
This thought exploded in his mind like a thunderclap.
All his fatigue was instantly replaced by overwhelming panic. His face turned deathly pale under the light.
"Qi Yu!"
He shouted sharply towards the outer room of the suite. His voice was slightly distorted due to fear.
Qi Yu almost burst into the room the next second.
When he saw Pei Jiangmu's bloodless face and the terrifying storm raging in his eyes, his heart sank: "Mr. Pei?"
"Immediately! Right now! Contact our people in Haicheng. Go to [Floating Cloud Studio] and the apartment as fast as you can to confirm Meng Ruozhao's safety! Now! Right now!"
Pei Jiangmu's voice was urgent and hoarse, filled with an almost out - of - control anxiety.
"Her phone is powered off, and there's no one at home. I have a bad feeling! A really bad feeling!"
Qi Yu had never seen Pei Jiangmu so out of control. The panic and fierceness in his eyes were almost palpable.
He didn't dare to delay for a second. He immediately took out the encrypted communication device and started to urgently contact the security personnel arranged in Haicheng.
Pei Jiangmu paced restlessly in the room like a caged animal.
He redialed Meng Ruozhao's phone again and again, but all he got was the cold "powered off" message.
He opened the photos of her saved on his phone. Looking at her smiling face, his heart tightened with pain.
The fear of losing her was more terrifying to him than any overt or covert attack from his business rivals.
He regretted it, regretted leaving her side, regretted not arranging more rigorous protection around her...
Time ticked by. Every second felt like being in an oil pan.
It seemed like an eternity had passed before Qi Yu's communicator finally rang.
He quickly answered it. As he listened to the report, his face grew more and more solemn.
"Mr. Pei..."
Qi Yu put down the communicator, his voice heavy.
"Our people rushed to [Floating Cloud Studio] and found that the store door had been pried open. There were signs of a fight and looting inside."
"There were also several suspicious men in the store. When they saw our people, they immediately tried to run."
"Our people are trying to control the situation... but... Miss Meng hasn't been found for the time being!"
Miss Meng hasn't been found!
These seven words hit Pei Jiangmu like a sledgehammer on his chest.
His vision went black, and his body swayed violently. Fortunately, he quickly grabbed the table beside him to avoid falling.
"Search! Dig the place up if you have to and find her!!"
He almost roared. His eyes were instantly covered with bloodshot eyes, boiling with a destructive storm.
"Contact all the connections you can! Mobilize all resources! I want to know where she is and who did this in the shortest possible time!!"
He roared at Qi Yu. Every word seemed to be squeezed out between his teeth, full of a bloody aura.
At this moment, he was no longer the young man who sometimes acted coquettishly and was sensitive and insecure in front of Meng Ruozhao.
He had become the cold - blooded heir of the Pei family again, willing to do anything to achieve his goal.
He tightly clenched his fists. His nails dug deep into his palms, but he didn't even notice the blood oozing out.
There was only one thought crazily echoing in his mind:
Ruozhao, you must be okay!
Wait for me!
I'm coming right away!
At the same time when he was in a rage.
In the warehouse of [Floating Cloud Studio], Meng Ruozhao lay quietly on the cold ground.
The wound on the back of her head was still bleeding steadily, soaking her disheveled black hair and leaving a small, glaring patch of dark red beside her pale cheek. She had lost all consciousness.
She knew nothing about the conflict outside the door or the man in the distance who was almost going crazy with worry for her.
The darkness swallowed her.
But it seemed to push her into another world.