Chapter 293: The Visitor (Part 3)

They tossed me into the car, likely the back seat given how spacious it felt. Two men were assigned to watch me, flanking me on either side. As soon as I sat down, I started feeling grateful that they hadn’t bothered to gag me with cloth again. However, the hemp ropes were tied in tight knots; even with the right techniques, untying them would take time.

I listened as the kidnappers climbed in and slammed the doors. Judging by the way the sound traveled, I estimated they were in a five-passenger minivan, likely an older model. The screeching of the manual window cranks grated against my ears.

People like this would never take the highway. They would stick to national roads and take shortcuts whenever possible. I leaned back against the seat in silence, occasionally rubbing my arm against the backrest with small, subtle movements. Before long, I had shifted the Horse-Head Blade hidden in my sleeve into a more favorable position.

Sewing dagger sheaths into my undershirts was a habit I couldn’t seem to break, and I hadn’t expected it to actually come in handy today. My sweater was quite loose, and it seemed they hadn’t noticed the Horse-Head Blade wedged in my sleeve when they stripped off my coat to search me. Or perhaps the blade was simply too small and discreet.

Five men. Even unarmed, I could have taken them, but with a weapon, I felt much more confident.

Suddenly, a phone vibrated nearby. The men in the car instantly shifted their postures, and the chatter died down as they fell silent. One man pressed a knife against my throat, wordlessly threatening me to stay quiet.

Then, a voice came from the passenger seat: “Answer it.”

The call connected. The voice on the other end was muffled, but I heard the kidnapper to my right say, “You say the items are ready? Good. The exchange will be at the pier. A life for the goods. Don’t try any clever tricks, or we’ll kill the hostage immediately.”

Before I could hear any response from the other side, the call was cut. I took a deep breath, intending to gain some sort of advantage for myself.

“Hey, brothers, my eyes are starting to hurt. How about taking this blindfold off? You’re watching me anyway, it’s not like I can run.”

“Shut up! One more word and I’ll gag you!” The man beside me snapped, backhanding me across the face. The blow left my ears ringing.

Fury began to simmer in my chest, and my expression darkened.

Right then, I heard the leader in the passenger seat say, “Boss Gan, don’t blame us for treating you this way. You’re not like a normal hostage. We know all about what you used to do, so we have to be careful.”

“You want that Reclining Sheep statue?” I said abruptly.

The men in the car all fell silent at once.

It seemed I had guessed correctly. I let out a low chuckle and continued, “Your boss wants to move the Reclining Sheep overseas for resale, so he targeted me. He kidnapped me as a hostage to force them to hand the statue over to you.”

I ran the math in my head, remembering the person who had bid so aggressively against me at the auction. If not for them, the price wouldn’t have been pushed almost into nine figures.

The man in front said, “Boss Gan is a smart man, but realizing this now won’t help you. Your friends have already accepted the terms. They’re bringing the goods.”

I fell silent. The Horse-Head Blade slid slowly down my sleeve until it nearly reached my cuff. I couldn’t let them reach the pier; I had to take care of them on the road.

Light flickered outside as the vehicle passed through a short tunnel and immediately plunged into another. The hands bound behind my back moved slightly, and the Horse-Head Blade slipped out, caught firmly in my palm.

The sharp, curved blade sliced through the hemp rope around my wrists in an instant, freeing my hands. I had already calculated the distance to the two kidnappers flanking me. The moment I moved, both of them snapped to attention.

“What are you doing!”

We were still inside the tunnel. I didn’t waste words. Bracing against the back seat for leverage, I twisted my hips with practiced skill. My feet left the floor and kicked the man on the left squarely in the head. The knife in his hand clattered onto the floor mat.

The guy on my right tried to grab me, but I had anticipated him. A split second before momentum pulled me down, I spun the Horse-Head Blade in my hand, aiming the edge straight at his carotid artery. With a light flick of the tip, the artery burst, spraying blood across half my face.

Just then, I heard a gun being cocked up front. Sensing danger, I quickly pulled my legs in and rolled onto the floor mat. A gunshot rang out just as I tucked my head, but the van swerved violently as if hit hard from the side.

The impact shifted the gunman’s aim, sending the bullet into the back of the seat instead. At the same time, I heard screeching brakes and more gunfire. I had no time to wonder what was happening. I braced my feet against the other kidnapper in the back seat to push myself up, using the blade to slice through the remaining ropes on my arms.

My stiff, numb arms were finally free of their restraints. With trembling hands, I immediately tore off the blindfold covering my eyes. Light rushed back into my world.

I saw the kidnapper in the passenger seat firing wildly at two black SUVs overtaking them. Powered by heavy engines, the SUVs swerved aggressively, one in front and one alongside, clearly determined to force the van to a stop.

Taking advantage of the chaos, I sat up from the floor mat and sliced the ropes on my feet. I clamped my legs around the neck of the guy I had kicked earlier and gave a hard twist. His neck snapped instantly, and he slumped against the door, lifeless.

Suddenly, the SUV on the left veered right, its front end slamming hard into the van. The van was knocked off course and pinned against the edge of the tunnel, the sharp scraping sound sending up sparks. I was thrown against the side window, but I quickly adjusted my posture, timed it right, and hurled the Horse-Head Blade.

The tip of the blade struck a specific point on the windshield, shattering the entire pane. The kidnapper in the passenger seat, the only one with a gun, was showered with glass shards. I seized the moment to snatch the gun from his hand, tossed it out the window, and slammed my elbow into his head.

In an instant, the SUV in front slammed on its brakes, completely pinning the van in the tunnel. All three vehicles stalled, their bodies battered and scraped beyond recognition. The two men in the front seats were covered in blood from the glass shards, their lower bodies trapped in the wreckage as they wailed in agony.

Once I was certain they could no longer get out, I picked up the Horse-Head Blade from the back seat. I kicked aside the van’s loose door and stepped out, leaning against the smoking vehicle to look at the two reckless SUVs up ahead.

The SUV on the left was already empty. Two people rushed down from the lead vehicle in a frantic hurry. When I caught sight of one of their faces, I was surprised. It was my mother and Lu Ayao. Gan Rong was the first to leap from the driver’s seat; she slammed the door and sprinted toward me.

“Why are you here?”

I hadn’t yet recovered from the metallic stench of blood, which was still dripping down half my face. My expression was dark and heavy.

Before I could finish asking, Gan Rong pulled me into a tight embrace. She was frantic with anxiety, the dark rings under her eyes showing she hadn’t slept, and her red-rimmed eyes looked ready to overflow with tears. I had never seen her like this. There had been one time in the past, but I had been in a deep coma then.

She held me, then pulled back, rubbing my neck before pulling my wrists up to inspect them repeatedly. She kept asking, “How is there so much blood? Where are you hurt?”

“The blood isn’t mine. It belongs to someone else.”

As I spoke, I glanced with a hint of reproach at Lu Ayao following behind her. But out of the corner of my eye, I caught the blood splattered across the car window. It suddenly hit me that compared to a hostage, I looked much more like a murderer right now.

My hand holding the blade trembled slightly. The last thing I wanted was for my friends and family to see me in this state.

Lu Ayao’s eyes held a rare trace of exhaustion. He met my gaze but paid no mind to the change in my expression. “You’ve been missing for seven whole days,” he said. “Everyone is looking for you.”

I froze.

Then, I heard the sound of a line of vehicles approaching from the opposite direction. I looked up to see six or seven Grand Cherokees with blazing headlights pulling to a stop at the tunnel exit. My mind went blank at the sight.

Before the cars had even come to a full stop, He Yu jumped out of one in a panic, still clutching that bronze reclining sheep^[1] in his arms. Seeing me limping from a distance, he ran toward me, nearly tripping halfway. He was only saved by Bai Shenxian, who had just stepped out of another car and caught him.

Seeing this, I stepped past Gan Rong and hurried up. He Yu found strength from somewhere; he let go of Bai Shenxian and grabbed me, pulling me into a tight embrace. I could feel his entire body shaking. It was only when his hands touched my back that the trembling slowly began to subside.

I patted his back and told him I was fine.

He wiped away tears, murmuring, “As long as you’re okay, as long as you’re okay… You scared me to death, you scared me to death…”

“I’m fine, really, I’m fine,” I emphasized again.

Han Cheng stepped out of the passenger seat, while Bai Shenxian leaned against the car, looking uncharacteristically solemn. “You really did scare everyone to death,” he said.

I looked at him, then at Lu Ling and Chen Canghai, who was carrying a laptop, and the crew from the Lu Clan and Gan Clan filing out of the cars. Once they saw I wasn’t in any serious danger, they got straight to work, efficiently handling the van and making phone calls.

“These guys were sneaky. They dragged you across several provinces and kept heading into mountain ravines. It took a lot of effort to pinpoint your exact coordinates,” Lu Ling said.

Chen Canghai nodded vigorously beside her. I placed a hand on his shoulder and gave it a firm squeeze. Looking around at the Lu Clan members who had come along, I said to Lu Ling, “I didn’t expect a small matter like this to disturb you.”

Lu Ling stood with her arms crossed. “If the Lu Clan let you get killed by a few small-time thugs, it would make us look incompetent.”

Seeing that I still looked doubtful, she added, “Their boss probably thought you were just some rich kid when he kidnapped you. He didn’t realize he’d poked a hornet’s nest. He fled abroad yesterday to lie low, but it doesn’t matter. In a little while, I’ll find someone to deal with him and eliminate the threat for good. You don’t need to worry about it.”

My mouth twitched at her words.

The phone she was holding showed an active call, displaying Tian Yuqing’s name on the screen. It seemed he was determined to have a hand in eliminating the threat for good, too.

I rubbed my head in resignation, thinking to myself that this was one hell of a scene. I hadn’t realized so many people cared whether I lived or died.

Looking around, almost everyone I knew had come. Even Bai Shenxian, who usually never left the Miao village, had rushed here. Lu Qianshan kept circling me, his mouth chattering nonstop, while Bai Shenxian held a medical kit and kept nagging me to get into the car.

My gaze drifted past them. Lu Ayao stood quietly in the distance. Our eyes met. He had a bandage wrapped around one hand, though I didn’t know where he’d been injured. No matter how many years passed, he was always like this; even if his teeth were knocked out, he would swallow them down. He never uttered a word of complaint, no matter how much pain he endured.

I shifted my gaze back to the empty off-roader. In truth, I had realized back in the van that such aggressive, self-destructive driving wasn’t the style of anyone here. After the off-roader had forced the van to a stop, the driver had abandoned the vehicle and fled.

They had traveled thousands of miles for me, yet I had more than once entertained the thought of finding a random place to end my life.

I exhaled slowly and raised a hand to my forehead, feeling that I really was running a fever.

After returning, I rested for three days. He Yu waited on me hand and foot as if I were an emperor, cooking a different variety of dishes every day until I felt quite embarrassed. Bai Shenxian also sent over many expensive medicinal herbs to nourish my body, writing out a prescription and instructing Lu Ayao to make sure I drank the decoction.

In the evening, taking advantage of He Yu’s absence, I sat on the courtyard steps with a bowl of steaming chicken soup, sipping it bit by bit. He wouldn’t let me be out in the wind, and I was feeling stifled staying inside. Lu Ayao finished packing his luggage and came to sit beside me.

“The Lu Clan has business to attend to; I need to go back. Remember to take the medicine on the table,” he said.

I wrapped my coat tighter around myself and gave a soft “Mm.” “About before… I’m sorry. I’ve been in a bad state of mind. I shouldn’t have said those things to you.”

Lu Ayao shook his head calmly. He looked up at the sunset glow on the horizon, and I noticed the jade buckle hanging around his neck had slipped out from his collar.

“I have never doubted my decision to betray the clan to save you.” Lu Ayao turned to look at me. “From now on, we will all be by your side.”

A few sparrows by the roadside flapped their wings as they returned to their nests, and the courtyard was filled with the fragrance of sun-dried medicinal herbs. Watching the sun dip below the horizon, my eyes grew moist. These years of growing up had been too painful, like the slow torture of a thousand cuts from a sharp blade, carving my early life into shattered fragments, piece by piece.

Too many unspeakable things had been suppressed in my heart, and in this moment, they surged forth only to dissipate into the air. All the resentment, the guilt, and the constant anxiety of those years suddenly collapsed because of a single sentence from one person.

None of it mattered anymore.

He Yu kicked the front gate open aggressively. Seeing me sitting on the steps in thin clothing, he brandished a broom leaning against the wall, ready to strike. “Gan Ji! I told you not to stay out in the wind! Are you trying to anger your brother to death? If you fucking pull another stunt like this, I’m fucking done serving you!”

I gulped down the last of the chicken soup in one breath, tucked my tail between my legs, and bolted up to the second floor.