Chapter 223 - We Have To

Lanni let out sigh after sigh as her thoughts ran wild. "Tomorrow is an important day and we definitely cannot afford to have any weakness. And Cheng Yu being held hostage by Li Xiyan is the greatest weakness we could ever have."

"What can we do?" Luna asked, and Lanni gave her a meaningful look. Luna felt chills down her spine. "No, no you do not mean that." 

"We have to save her, Luna. Or who knows what Li Xiyan might do to her to get to us?" 

"But we cannot even notify the police. We have no evidence that Li Xiyan kidnapped her." This time, it was Luna who was hesitant. 

"Have you been possessed by me? Since when were you such a lawful citizen?" Lanni mocked with a scoff. "We are going to save her ourselves." 

"That's dangerous. If we get discovered, we will all be in danger." Luna warned. She was one who would take most risks without any hesitation so if she felt that something was dangerous, then it really was dangerous. 

"But if we don't try, the only one in danger would be Xiao Yu." Lanni urged. 

Luna didn't want to leave her friend in trouble either but… "But I really can't leave the city. I would be in more trouble if I did." 

Lanni sank into contemplation. They couldn't just leave their friend, could they? There had to be a way. She could go to whichever city she had to because she was not under any restriction, but she needed Luna's help. If only Cheng Yu was being held within the city… Lanni's eyebrows knitted as she thought of something. That was right.

"We are not leaving the city." Luna looked at her quizzically, and she explained her hypothesis. "Li Xiyan knows that you would try to find Cheng Yu's location by hacking. She might have dropped Xiao Yu's phone in a fake location to mislead you." 

"Now that you mention it, we did find that Xiao Yu booked a train ticket to leave the city but we don't know if she actually boarded the train." Luna realized that they might have been fooled too. "Wait. But why did she appear in that location that Xiao Yu's phone is?" 

"Who knows? Perhaps she has other business there." Lanni dismissed. No matter why Li Xiyan went to that place, there was no way Cheng Yu was there. She wouldn't be so stupid as to let Cheng Yu have her phone with her. 

Luna grabbed her laptop. "Let me try to find where they actually went." 

"But how would you do that? Xiao Yu doesn't have her phone with her. " 

"Road surveillance from the day she disappeared." Luna had already started typing a series of codes. 

Lanni waited under bated breath then after a while, she had a thought. "Should we tell mom about this?" 

Luna didn't look up from her laptop as she answered, "I don't know, but she wouldn't let us go on our own and the fewer we are, the less the danger." 

Lanni couldn't agree more so she said nothing more of it. "I'll make preparations for our departure then." 

She hurried back to her room and made a phone call, then went to the closet and dragged out a full body mannequin. 

"Are you done?" Luna joined her and asked. She already had her bag that had everything they needed. When she saw Lanni drag the mannequin, she frowned in curiosity. "What's that for?" 

"In case mom looks for us." Lanni dressed up the mannequin in her nightgown then laid it on her bed. When she was done, she dragged another mannequin. 

"And what is that for?" Luna raised an eyebrow as Lanni seriously did the same thing with the second mannequin. 

"This is you." Lanni put 'Luna' in bed then covered the two of them, deliberately letting out some fabric of their nightgowns. "We had a sleepover in my room, and now we fell asleep." 

"This is crazy." Luna giggled. 

Lanni opened the window and urged, "Hurry! We should get going." 

Luna glanced at the rope she had tied onto the window and was speechless. This old trick still existed? 

"The curtain will cover it up." Lanni smiled, patting herself on the shoulder for covering all bases. 

They got down through the window and looked around. 

"Did I hear something?" A guard on patrol stopped in his tracks. The girls managed to hide behind the wall just as he turned. They trembled as he walked towards their hiding spot. He was definitely going to catch them. Lanni turned to ask Luna if they should explain it to him. Just before she did, the guard arrived and Luna stepped out before she could stop her. 

"Young Miss?" He was clearly surprised. 

"I'm just out on a stroll. Did I scare you?" 

"No, no, it's nothing young miss. Then you…" the rest of his words were swallowed as he fell into a deep sleep. 

"What did you do?" Lanni was puzzled when she saw the man on the floor. 

"I knocked him out. Don't worry; he will only be asleep for a few minutes." 

Lanni dragged Luna away. They left the compound without notice and there was a low-profile black car waiting outside. Lanni led Luna in. 

"Miss Li, I thought you had forgotten all about me." An Zichen greeted them when they entered the car. 

"I'm sorry to trouble you so late at night." Lanni apologized sincerely. It was just that anyone else would have notified Li Yuming. She couldn't get a stranger in their business either so a cab was out of the question. Besides, she couldn't possibly take any car without attracting attention so she had decided to call An Zichen. 

"You don't have to be too modest, Miss Li. I was scared you would never need me." An Zichen looked like he was doing well since leaving the Feng family. "Where are you going so late at night?" 

Luna took out her laptop and confirmed before telling him the location. An Zichen guessed that it must be urgent so he sped into the night. They arrived within just twenty minutes. 

Luna opened her bag and took out a mask then threw it at Lanni. Before she could ask, Luna took a spray bottle and shoved it into Lanni's hands. "If anyone notices you, this will make them sleep." 

Lanni understood and grabbed another mask. "We don't want Xiao Yu to sleep or we will not be able to get out." 

"Great." Luna took out a pair of wireless earphones and dialed Lanni's number then connected the call. "We will have to make do with this." 

"Is this really necessary?" It was Lanni's turn to laugh, but Luna took her laptop and checked one of the several windows on the screen. "I'll tell you when to enter." 

Lanni took in a deep breath and went straight for the house where she didn't know what to expect. It felt strange to willingly go to the tiger's den, especially when she knew that Luna could only tell her when to enter. There were no cameras inside the house so once she was in, she would have to face whatever or whoever she would meet. She went in at Luna's signal. 

There was no one inside; Luna must have done something to distract them so Lanni hurriedly started looking for Cheng Yu. Since she had to be sneaky, she could not call out Cheng Yu's name in fear of alerting them. She could only patiently check every room. 

"Xiao Yu!" she finally couldn't hold in her excitement when she saw Cheng Yu in one of the rooms, a yelp of excitement escaping her lips. She covered her mouth quickly and went forward. The girl had been bound with duct tape and was sweating profusely. From her quick breathing and the wounds and cuts on her skin, she must have suffered a lot. 

"Li Xiyan, how dare she? I will make her pay." Lanni declared as she swiftly freed Cheng Yu. 

"Lanni." Cheng Yu cried when the tape was pulled off her mouth. 

"It's okay. You're alright now." Lanni hugged her, feeling moisture gather at the rims of her eyes. They had all misunderstood Cheng Yu and called her a traitor… when she was actually a victim too… "I'm sorry Xiao Yu. If we believed you sooner, we would have found you sooner." 

"Don't blame yourselves. It was all so confusing." Cheng Yu understood them. If she were in their shoes, she would have misunderstood too. 

"Let's go quickly. Luna must have distracted those idiots. We should hurry before they realize something is amiss." Lanni recalled someone and asked, "Where is Xiao Ying?" 

"He should be home." Cheng Yu couldn't be too sure. However, Li Xiyan only needed her if she wanted to get to Lanni and Luna so logically, she shouldn't have kidnapped her brother. 

"Okay, let's leave." Lanni helped Cheng Yu up. 

"Going so fast?" A mocking voice emanated from the entrance.