Chapter 292: The Visitor (Part 2)

From that day on, I spoke terribly little at home. Lu Ayao would often stare at me for a long time, unable to bring himself to say anything. I knew he wanted to persuade me to take my medication, but he was afraid of aggravating my condition like last time.

Seeing me in such a bad mood, He Yu tried even harder to banter with me, but I rarely responded. The more he and Lu Ayao looked at me with that anxious gaze meant for a sick patient, the more irritable I became.

My mental state deteriorated accordingly. My mind was barely capable of thinking calmly, and returning to my former cool and composed self felt completely out of the question. It was as if the slightest disturbance could cause me to break down.

Bai Shenxian had once told me that when a mental illness manifests physically, it proves the body can no longer bear the emotional weight. At that point, medication becomes necessary to bring relief. But in my self-abandoning mindset, I had no desire to accept treatment at all.

For a time, I even had the illusion that I wouldn’t survive this winter.

With winter approaching, the draft through the old house was excessively fierce. I had to drag my lounge chair further inside and partially close the two wide doors to block the wind. That way, I could soak up the afternoon sun without feeling too hot or too cold.

I plugged in my earphones and settled everything, preparing to lie back and enjoy myself, only to see dark clouds massing in the sky. I had no choice but to drag the chair back under the eaves of the veranda. Sure enough, a light rain began to fall a moment later.

The old house was in a great location, sitting right beside the only river near the county seat. It was a standalone property, set away from the main road, so I didn’t have to endure the constant, piercing horns of semi-trucks. The only downside was summer nights, when the frogs along the river would start croaking wildly, driving me crazy.

There were too many people at the shop. I had reached a point where I felt suffocated in crowds, so I moved out of my own accord. My grandfather’s old house was a two-story building with a courtyard, offering more than enough space for He Yu and me. We repaired the door panels and drafty windows, hooked up the heating, and found living there had a charm of its own.

“Hey! Still sleeping in broad daylight? Have you seen Old Lu come back?” He Yu ran down from the second floor and unceremoniously kicked the leg of my rocking chair.

I opened my eyes groggily, removed my earphones, and looked around in a daze. “I don’t think so. Did he go out?”

He Yu threw up his hands. “Fine, Young Master, you just keep resting. Asking you is a waste of breath anyway.”

I watched him circle beneath the veranda before heading toward the first-floor kitchen. I stretched on the rocking chair and asked him, “Where did Lu Ayao go?”

He Yu emerged from the kitchen with an umbrella, shaking off the dust. “Up the mountain. When we went to watch the sunrise back then, I saw a lot of wild vegetables along the dirt road—all-natural, no additives. I remembered them today and asked him to pick some. Who knew he’d be gone for two hours without showing up?”

My head felt foggy, and as soon as the medicine kicked in, I got terribly sleepy. I instinctively rolled over to try to drift back off, but didn’t forget to reassure the worried He Yu:

“The mountain is pretty far, and the trail is bad in the rain. He’s probably just delayed. The mountains around here aren’t deep, so a person couldn’t get lost even walking with their eyes closed.”

“Oh? Look at you, changing your tune. That’s not your style.” He Yu walked over to my rocking chair holding the umbrella, giggling. “In the past, if he was gone for less than an hour, you’d be nagging me non-stop. What, are we growing distant? I knew the three of us were drifting apart!”

Hearing him say that made my temper flare instantly. I flipped back over. “Who the hell is drifting apart? Don’t you fucking spread rumors about me. If that Lu guy hears this, it’ll be another mess to settle. Do you think I haven’t been annoyed enough lately?”

He Yu opened his umbrella under the eaves, ignoring me. “Fine, fine, I’m done talking to you. I’m going out to look for Old Lu. Maybe he’s already on his way back; I’ll go meet him halfway.”

“What are you doing?” I threw off my blanket and sat up on high alert, quickly slipping into my shoes.

He Yu was caught off guard by my sudden reaction, standing frozen in the courtyard with his umbrella open. Before he could speak, I yanked him inside out of the rain, snatched the umbrella from his hand, and scolded him:

“Didn’t you get enough of hospital rehab? Do you want to go back and lie there for another few months? It’s pouring out there and the ground is slick. If you fall or get hurt out there, we’ll be right back to square one^[1].”

He Yu looked down at his leg. “Hey, I-“

“Zip it. You’re not going. I’ll go look for him. It’s just that path we took last time, right? I know, I know. We’ll both be back in a bit.” I cut him off, grabbed the coat hanging on the back of the chair, and put it on. Without giving He Yu another chance to speak, I quickly opened the umbrella and stepped into the rain.

The moment I stepped out of the courtyard gate, I let out a yawn. I blinked hard against my stinging eyes, shoved my hands into my pockets, and faced the cold wind, following the route from my memory.

The old house wasn’t in the county town; it was in a remote area. Combined with the torrential rain, there wasn’t a single soul to be seen on the rural path. I followed my memory to the stone-paved mountain path and climbed up the stone steps.

As the rain intensified, a hazy mist began to rise from the stone path. Visibility dropped from a hundred meters to about fifty. Given how winding the mountain road was, I reckoned it was probably less than fifty meters. I felt a surge of relief that I hadn’t let He Yu come; if he had tried to walk this path, he would have definitely ended up face-down in the mud.

After climbing the stone path for about ten minutes, I stopped to rest and pulled out my phone to call Lu Ayao. I searched the ground at my feet, thinking I might as well find a clean rock to sit on and wait. After all, there was only one way up and down the mountain, so I was bound to run into Lu Ayao when he came back down.

The forest rang with the steady drumming of raindrops hitting the leaves. I stood on the mountain path, pulled out my phone, and found Lu Ayao’s number. Just as the call connected, I felt a sudden, violent blow to the back of my head. The phone instantly slipped from my hand and fell to my feet.

The pain was slow to register, but my vision blurred immediately. My hand instinctively reached for the back of my neck, only to come away covered in blood. My body collapsed uncontrollably into the tall grass.

The umbrella fell beside me as I hit the ground. I watched my phone screen show that the call had connected, but then someone stepped out from the trees, picked up the phone from the puddle, and hung up. My consciousness slipped away completely, and I blacked out.

While I was unconscious, my mind remained hazy, thoughts drifting endlessly. Over the years, I’d made plenty of enemies on the streets. At one point, the people who wanted me dead could have filled a large student cafeteria, but without exception, I’d wiped them out before they ever had the chance to strike.

Logically, I shouldn’t have missed anyone significant.

I don’t know how much time passed before I gradually regained consciousness. Or rather, I should say that once I woke up, I continued to feign unconsciousness. I quickly realized I had likely been kidnapped. It wasn’t just one person; judging by the footsteps, there were at least three. They were hauling me off to God knows where, switching vehicles several times along the way.

By the time I was fully alert, everything before my eyes was pitch black. My head felt heavy and sluggish. Rough hemp rope had chafed a large patch of skin off my wrist. Using what little strength I could muster, I shifted my posture to test my surroundings, only to realize I’d probably been stuffed into a trunk.

So sloppy. Don’t they know that doing this puts the hostage at serious risk of suffocating to death?

With a black cloth blindfolding my eyes and my mouth gagged, I sighed inwardly. I hardly leave the house once a week, yet here I was, getting kidnapped. Only I could have such rotten luck, though I’d grown accustomed to these sorts of accidents years ago.

So I began to slam my head against the container and kick its side walls with my bound feet to make noise. The thing holding me was a large plastic storage bin; you don’t even have to try that hard to make those things echo with several times the actual sound.

After only a few kicks, I heard the screech of brakes. The van stopped, and someone opened the door and stepped out.

In an instant, light reached my eyes. Someone hauled me out of the storage bin, but they did it with such a careless yank that I fell directly onto the ground. The moment my palms hit the surface, I felt a layer of grit and sand.

It was likely an open area; the surroundings were deathly silent.

“Boss, he’s awake,” a voice said.

Immediately, another set of footsteps stepped down from the vehicle and walked over to me. As I lay flat on the ground, I felt a hand forcefully grab my neck to tilt my head up, while another hand yanked out the cloth stuffed in my mouth.

The man said, “Don’t worry. Your friends have already accepted the terms. Once they bring the goods to the exchange point, we can say goodbye.”

Terms? What terms? Still, I kept my expression neutral. When dealing with kidnappers, even as a hostage, you can never let them gain the upper hand. If you do, they’ll just find more leverage to use against you.

Blindfolded by the black cloth, I couldn’t see what they looked like, but I still gave a cold sneer. “Many people want me dead,” I said in a low voice. “You are undoubtedly among the stupidest.”

I had intentionally set a trap in my words.

Hearing this, someone nearby stepped forward and kicked me hard in the ribs, flipping me over so I rolled several times across the sandy ground. I lay on my back, gasping continuously from the pain. They must have stripped off my coat to search it when they bound me and never gave it back. The biting wind now made my head throb; I knew I was already showing signs of catching a chill.

“Damn it, kid! Don’t forget you’re in our hands. Keep talking trash and we’ll kill you!” The man spat on the ground.

Judging by the sound, the leader stopped him. The leader gave a dry chuckle, walked over, and hauled me up from the ground. He spoke to the other man: “We aren’t some bloodthirsty killers. Don’t worry about what the kid says. Once we get the goods, we move out! I’ve got no interest in facing a murder charge.”

My ears twitched slightly. It seemed the leader of this crew wasn’t nearly as experienced as my previous opponents. He had fallen right into my verbal trap.