"You won't find her. She's already dead," Yu Wan said with what seemed like a smear of blood at the corner of her lips. "There's been no SOS signal for such a long time. She can't possibly survive."
"Who do you say is dead?"
Xiao Yanzhi's voice was as cold as an ice cellar. His Adam's apple bobbed a few times, but his expression remained calm. "Yu Wan, I won't lay a hand on a woman, but it doesn't mean I won't deal with one."
Yu Wan was at the end of her tether now. She burst out laughing. "Xiao Yanzhi, do you think I'll care about your threats?
"Besides, I'm just being kind enough to inform you." Yu Wan ran her finger across her half-dry eye corner. "She got into Shang Zewen's car. She's his prey. Do you understand?"
Having spent a long time with people like Duan Yibo, Xiao Yanzhi certainly knew what "prey" meant.
"Shang Zewen is a devil!" Yu Wan's smile suddenly stopped. Her eyes were bloodshot with hatred. "He's most adept at torturing women, making them suffer to the extreme!"
After gritting her teeth, she laughed again. "Xiao Yanzhi, I'm really curious. If she's defiled by Shang Zewen, will you still want her?"
...
After Jiang Li sent a message to Xiao Yanzhi in the taxi, seeing that he didn't reply immediately, she thought he might be in a meeting.
She originally wanted to call him, but since she would see him at the airport in a few hours, there was no need for the call.
The taxi ride would be a long one. Maybe due to the poor air circulation in the car, Jiang Li felt stuffy and short of breath. She showed signs of carsickness.
Jiang Li had no choice but to put away her phone and cast her eyes on the scenery outside the window.
But for some reason, it became increasingly difficult for her to focus her eyes. The trees outside began to distort, and their colors in her eyes became strange.
She was so sleepy.
Her eyelids were almost impossible to lift. Before falling asleep, she struggled to set an alarm, thinking she would arrive at the airport in half an hour.
When the harsh alarm woke her up, Jiang Li suddenly opened her eyes.
But the environment she was in was not the airport. Instead, it was like a sewer. The air was filled with the stench of sewage, and it was so dim that she could hardly see her surroundings.
She took a few seconds to react.
Before, she was in a taxi on her way to the airport.
Then she fell asleep.
After that, she ended up here, with her hands tied. There was the sound of dripping water around.
She quickly realized that this was an underground space temporarily dug near the sewer.
From the surrounding walls, it could be observed that this place had been newly dug, and the soil was still fresh.
Jiang Li had never had a mortal feud with anyone. Even if she had offended people in the entertainment circle before, most of them wouldn't go so far as to kidnap her.
Could it be a crazy fan?
She tried to shout for help, but her voice couldn't travel far. Except for the thick and long sewer pipe above her head, not even light could get in.
"Baby, I knew we'd meet."
This familiar voice, accompanied by footsteps, gradually approached in the darkness and finally stopped in front of Jiang Li.
Shang Zewen bent down and pinched her chin with his rough index finger and thumb. "I was afraid you wouldn't accept my invitation, so I used a little trick. I hope you can forgive me."
In his other hand, he held a shiny sharp knife, glinting with cold light.
Jiang Li's mind instantly flashed back to the scene in the bar that night.
Whether it was the pungent smell in the sewer or the excessive anesthetic she had inhaled, she felt extremely nauseous and had an urge to vomit.
"Mr. Shang's invitation is really unique," she said, suppressing the churning in her throat. "Is forced possession considered a kind of romance in France?"
"Baby, you're really right," Shang Zewen said. Seeing that she remained calm in such a situation and could even joke with him, the excitement in his body grew stronger.
He wanted to see how long this woman could pretend to be calm.
He even wanted to see how shocking and exciting it would be to see this proud and prickly woman kneeling down and begging for mercy!
Jiang Li also smiled. "Mr. Shang, this is China. Your behavior is not romantic but illegal."
Shang Zewen motioned for her to continue.
"If you let me go now, since I've been missing for less than 24 hours, it's not enough to file a case, and you don't need to take any responsibility."
With a clear mind and without humility or arrogance, she showed him the right way. "If you don't let me go now, you won't have a way out."
"Thank you for the legal education. You're such a considerate baby," Shang Zewen said, licking his lips. Then his voice suddenly turned cold. "However, I don't need a cheap woman to show me the way!"
He slapped her across the face.
For a moment, Jiang Li felt dazed.
Her body fell to the ground with the force of the slap. Her cheek touched the soil, and the pungent smell rushed straight to her nerves. The urge to vomit became stronger.
"Baby, it's my fault. I used a bit too much force. Does it hurt?" Shang Zewen squatted down, looking at the quickly swollen face and clicking his tongue. "Even a beaten face is so beautiful. What should I do?"
Jiang Li gritted her teeth, and her tied hands clenched tightly into fists.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Shang Zewen finally felt a glimmer of pleasure. "Where's your high-and-mighty look? Are you begging for mercy so soon?"
The light in the sewer was so dim that it was impossible to see people's faces clearly, but Jiang Li could see Shang Zewen's dark eyes, full of peeping and scrutiny.
He was scrutinizing her emotions to see if there was any fear or anger.
The burning sensation on her face had gradually numbed, and the initial pain was not so intense. She closed her eyes and then opened them again, still looking at him calmly.
"You misunderstood," Jiang Li tilted her head and spat out a mouthful of blood on the ground. Then she said clearly, "I just think Mr. Shang's game is very boring."
"Boring?" There was a glint in Shang Zewen's eyes. "Then what do you think would be interesting?"
He rarely saw a woman who, after being beaten, remained neither anxious nor angry and could still communicate with him calmly. She was completely different from those cheap women who only knew how to scream and scold.
Great.
It was really great!
He had never seen such an interesting and stubborn prey!
"You abducted me and hid me in this place. Are you playing hide-and-seek?" she said calmly, though in fact, her back was already soaked with sweat. "If you like this game, I can play with you."
"Play hide-and-seek here?"
Jiang Li took a silent deep breath to make sure her voice didn't betray her. "Yes, right here."
"It sounds interesting," Shang Zewen said, looking quite interested. "What are the rules? Do I need to untie your ropes?"
He looked like he was really eager to play the game.
Jiang Li felt her head was heavy. She hadn't fully recovered from the slap just now. She secretly bit her tongue to stay awake and said with a smile, "Of course you need to untie the ropes. Otherwise, what kind of hide-and-seek is it?"