Everything happened so fast, and even Meng Renshu still couldn't believe this was happening.
Before his eyes, Shao Yufei was taken as a hostage. People clad in black with armed weapons barged in from the shattered window, and the venue descended into utter chaos.
No matter how he tried to calm people down, everyone was too panicked to hear anything. The guards couldn't do anything against them and were apprehended in no time.
Confusion, shock, and fear mixed into one. Meng Renshu was not the exception, even though he tried to keep a calm facade.
The only consolation he had was the thought that Li Caiyi wasn't here to witness this disturbing situation. He was a bit down when she left him after giving him cold shoulders, but now he couldn't be more grateful for that.
However, all blood drained from his face when he saw her standing with a table as her support amid the commotion.
When he saw her frightened expression, his heart sank. She looked dazed and couldn't make out which was what anymore.
It was the face of utter shock and helplessness.
He hated to see that expression on her. He wanted to shield her from everything that could harm her.
'',
However, the things he could do right now were little to none. Although he had called the police, it would still take some time before they reached here. They had no choice but to comply with their captor's whim in the meantime.
The sound of the gun was deafening, and it scared people of their wits. Meng Renshu was afraid Li Caiyi would also cry like few other girls around him, but she was surprisingly calm, with her eyes watching her surroundings cautiously.
Meng Renshu froze in astonishment. She had become much tougher in the short time he didn't see her. He knew she was awesome, but he found a newfound respect for her.
That took one thing off his mind, now if only he could find his father among this crowd, he would feel reassured. He hadn't seen him ever since Meng Yaoshu gave his speech.
"What's wrong?" Li Caiyi whispered beside him.
"I can't find my father anywhere." Meng Renshu replied in a hushed tone. "Have you seen him anywhere before the attack?"
"No, I didn't see him."
Meng Renshu grew restless as he imagined the worst possible scenario. He feared that these people also took his father hostage, just like what they did to Shao Yufei. Both of them were the most prominent figures in this party after all.
If something happened to Meng Yaoshu, how could he face his mother and sister later?
While he was stuck in his thoughts, a small and delicate hand fell on top of his. He looked down to find Li Caiyi's hand covering his, and her warmth slowly seeped into his cold hand. His heart, which previously beat rapidly in anxiety, gradually regained its original pace.
"You are the one who told me that everything will be fine once the police are here, so get yourself together. These people were clearly here for something, so I doubt they will harm Uncle carelessly."
Meng Renshu wanted to act cool by saying that, so he felt a bit ashamed when she turned his words back at him. He took a deep breath before replying, "Yes, you are right. Sorry for getting flustered."
"No need to apologize, it's natural to feel that way in this situation."
After that, Li Caiyi pulled her hand back. Meng Renshu was disappointed it had ended too fast, but quickly reminded himself this wasn't the appropriate time to think about that.
BLAM!
The sound of the door being slammed open started them, and another man clad in black entered the main hall. Because they wore the same type of clothes, it was hard to make out who was which but based on how they acted, Meng Renshu could tell that something worse was bound to happen.
His intuition was on point, as men in black suddenly walked around to search the guest. There were shrieks of dissatisfaction everywhere, but under their threat, no one dared to defy them.
Meng Renshu grimaced when one man roughly checked his body for any dangerous weapon. He swore the hands of the one who did a body check on him lingered longer than it was supposed to be on his body. To call it humiliating was an understatement, as disgust and anger welled up inside him.
When one of them moved closer to Li Caiyi and tried to put their hands all over her body, the anger he had been trying to suppress burst open.
His body reacted before he could think. Meng Renshu lunged toward the man and landed a punch on the man's face, making the man in black fall backward.
"Just try touching a hair on her body and I'll make sure you pay for this!"
"Ha. This pretty boy seems to lose his mind due to stress. Who do you think you are giving orders to?" The other man said in a mixture of amusement and disbelief, as he pointed the gun at his head.
"You look like a smart guy with a good brain. But what use is it if you can't even understand your current position? Make one more false move and we'll not hesitate to burst your head open."
"Aaaaahhh!"
Li Caiyi moved forward in an attempt to help him but was quickly detained by other men.
The shriek of panic and fear echoed in the spacious hall. Everyone covered with some closed their eyes shut as they didn't want to see any ghastly scene.
Meng Renshu gave him a murderous glare, and the man stiffened for a moment before he pressed the cold gun on his temple this time. "Whoa scary. So the pretty boy can look fierce too when he is cornered."
"Stop!" Li Caiyi shouted as she tried to struggle from her captor's hold.
"Oops, if you want your boyfriend to be safe and sound, I advise you not to make unnecessary moves."
"Xiaoyi, don't move! I'm fine, so don't do anything reckless!"
"You are one to talk!" Li Caiyi glared at Meng Renshu in disbelief.
The situation had taken a turn for the worst. Li Caiyi was afraid that they would find the knife she hid under her skirt, but thanks to Meng Renshu's intervention, she was saved for now. She didn't expect him to come to her rescue like that.
As grateful as she was, he really acted recklessly this time. Now, these men had their eyes on him. His wealth and family prestige meant nothing to them, so Meng Renshu was in a big pinch.
'ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ No(v) e lBin ᴏɴʟʏ.',
Li Caiyi was actually broken in a cold sweat. She traced back her memories and vaguely recalled that something like this did happen in her previous life. A terrorist raid on a high-class party attended by a lot of socialites and influential people.
However, the difference with this time was that she and Meng Renshu weren't supposed to be here during the attack. And it wasn't supposed to happen until a few years later!
She only heard about it from the news and didn't even know that the party mentioned at that time was the Glorious Days anniversary party.
No, could she really be saying for certain that the raid this time wasn't caused by her interference? Because she changed the course of history, the terrorist raid was advanced by a few years?