Chapter 240 - 240 Kidnapped (Part 2)

240 Kidnapped (Part 2)

“Where are Zhao Zhan and the others?”

There were many people on the street, and when he looked up again, they couldn’t find Zhao Zhan and Jiaojiao.

“Maybe Zhao Zhan took her somewhere else to play.” Fang Tianliu was getting happier at that thought.

“Xiangjun, it’s just the two of us now. Do you want me to go with you to have a look around?

“I heard that in the center of Huai County, there are exquisite lanterns made by the county government. There are all kinds of lanterns hanging on the wall. As long as you can guess the riddle correctly, you can choose the one you like. If you can guess enough riddles, the most beautiful lantern in the center of the wall will belong to you.

“Xiangjun, I’ll go and win one for you!”

Li Xiangjun glanced at Fang Tianliu and couldn’t help but laugh. However, she didn’t say anything to attack him. “Okay, then I’ll wait for you to win a lantern for me.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you get the most beautiful one!”

Fang Tianliu couldn’t help but grab Li Xiangjun’s wrist excitedly. He saw her frown and immediately loosened his fingers. “I forgot that your wrist is injured. Does it still hurt?”

Li Xiangjun shook her head.

The light of the lantern reflected in her eyes as if it were embellishing the fine stars.

Fang Tianliu was dazed for a moment. He held Li Xiangjun’s wrist and stood there in a daze, staring at her without blinking.

The atmosphere on that side was inexplicably sticky. On the other side, Yue Jiaojiao helplessly dragged Zhao Zhan to the river.

“Zhao Zhan.”

“Does your head hurt?”

“It doesn’t.” Yue Jiaojiao was so angry that she laughed. She had wanted to say that he was so close to her that she couldn’t walk normally, but after some thought, she swallowed her words and only rubbed his head.

“We can put river lanterns here.”

“I’ll go with you.”

Zhao Zhan carefully protected her from behind as they walked down the stone steps to the bottom of the bridge.

“We didn’t prepare any river lanterns. There are some on sale over there.”

“Let’s go and pick a nice one.”

Yue Jiaojiao excitedly walked towards the place where the river lanterns were being sold. There was a bustling circle of people there. Even though they were holding hands, Zhao Zhan’s eyes were still closely watching her movements for fear of any accidents.

With great difficulty, she squeezed through the crowd. Yue Jiaojiao carefully selected a river lantern and handed it to Zhao Zhan. “Zhao Zhan, we can get this one. You pay here, and I’ll go to the side to borrow a pen and paper to write my wish.”

“Alright,” he said.

Zhao Zhan asked for the price, took out a few copper coins from his purse, and handed them over. When he turned around, she was gone.

“Jiaojiao!”

Zhao Zhan felt a little flustered for no reason. He squeezed through the crowd and headed toward the pile of paper and pen. “Jiaojiao?”

There was no response.

He clenched the river lamp in his hand and searched around the river, but there was still no one.

“Manager Zhou.” Zhao Zhan ran all the way back to the Huai Jing Inn. He was burning with anxiety when he looked at the other man. “Can you ask your assistant to lead the way? I want to go to the county government to report that my wife has been kidnapped by bandits.”

“Zhao Zhan!” Fang Tianliu stumbled into the inn and saw Zhao Zhan’s anxious voice. “Good thing you’re here! Xiangjun disappeared! I plan to go home and find my mother, and ask her to send someone to find Xiangjun.”

Zhao Zhan’s face sank. “My wife is gone too.”

“It must be a human trafficker.” After hearing what they said, Manager Zhou hurriedly said, “Every year during the Lantern Festival, there will be children and young girls who go missing. Madam Zhao might be safer with a woman’s hair style, but I’m afraid Li Xiangjun will be in worse condition.”

“Sir Zhao, Fang Tianliu, I’ll get someone to ask around. Once I find any traces of the two ladies, I’ll immediately send someone to report to the Fang family.”

“Fang Tianliu, I’ll have to trouble you to send someone to stand guard at the city gate.” Zhao Zhan forced himself to calm down quickly. “I see that there are runners patrolling the streets. I’ll go and ask if there are any other girls missing. If there are too many missing girls on the streets, the runners will definitely pay attention to any suspicious activity.”

“Alright, then let’s split up.” Fang Tianliu’s usually cheery face was now serious. “If you have any news, Zhao Zhan, wait for me at Fang Yuan bodyguard agency.

“I know.”

The two of them then left Huai Jing Inn and went their separate ways.

On the other side, Yue Jiaojiao could only struggle for a moment when she was put in the gunny sack before she quieted down and allowed the other party to take her away.

It was useless to struggle anyway, and she might even be beaten up. She might as well save her strength so that she would have enough energy to run later.

However, the others had tied her wrists tightly with ropes as well.