Chapter 299 - She's gone

He decisively struck the man unconscious. This man would not talk anymore just by the look in his eyes, so it was useless to talk to him further. His feet immediately ran to where he left Xiong Zhi.

Zhi'er.

His heart raced with ominous premonition.

He rushed back with the fastest speed he could muster.

His restless heart hoped she was still there.

In less than a minute, he arrived where he had left Xiong Zhi. 

He froze in place, gasping. His face paled visibly.

There was no girl standing there, waiting. Xiong Zhi's shadow could not be seen anywhere.

Only the bag with the unused joss sticks was left on the ground.

Linfeng was horrified. His heart pounded loudly. Panic, anxiety, and worry instantaneously exploded within his heart, making it hard for him to breathe for a moment.

"Zhi'er..."

He immediately stopped thinking of the worst and took a deep breath.

A dark flame burst out from his eyes. 

'I must find her at all cost!' 

He calmed himself down.

He kneeled on the ground and keenly checked the footprints. He steadied his shaking hands and took hold of the dried leaves that were recently just crushed. He had to know which direction the abductor and his Young Miss went.

While tracing the steps, he continued to multitask in his mind.

There might be a car waiting nearby. Linfeng tried to remember what the walk side looked like before. He concentrated his thoughts. 

They went by the candy stalls, two children ran around and passed by, a boy with a bike rode by them, and there was a man reading a newspaper, his entire face covered by it on the bench.

His mind zeroed in on that image. There it was. The man was reading the yesterday's newspaper. It was not something to be suspicious about, but when examined, it actually meant a lot.

Linfeng clenched his fist. How could be so foolish?!

His mind had clearly found the man a bit suspicious as he was reading the papers from yesterday when there were available new ones just by the store they had passed, but he dismissed it as overthinking. 

But now that he recalled, it was that same newspaper that the airport had handed over to the passengers of the plane yesterday. Who would have the mind to read that once inside F City?

The man clearly came with them in this city at the same time. Although there were so many visitors from various cities and the man could have simply been one of them, but normally, it was a detail he would put into his mind and keep note of.

Why did he throw that suspicion at the back of his mind?

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath again.

Clearly, he had become so muddled and less sharp... all because he was too immersed in the sea of love. Because of his negligence, now, his Young Miss...

His heart raced, afraid of what terrible things could happen to his Young Miss.

Linfeng must not let that happen!

In a few seconds where his thoughts were in overdrive, he finally found a direction.

He stood up and rushed to the place where he last saw the man. It seemed like the people who kidnapped his Young Miss were professionals as they cleverly covered their tracks from where Xiong Zhi was taken. 

If that was the case, he would start at the place where the man had sat on the bench.

His intuition was telling him that that man must be the one… 

If he still was not able to find anything from it...

His dark eyes flashed maliciously.

Torture could bring about miracles. He would take that small fry's life while torturing him to death.

But that would take some time, so it was the last option.

For now, he must rush and do his best to find the Young Miss.

Linfeng ran as his surroundings blurred. For some reason, this situation felt so painfully familiar.

An aching loss was eating at his heart.

'Young Miss... Please, please, be safe...'

*****

The ground was rough and dusty. It was an extremely uncomfortable place. The girl lying prone on the ground began to stir.

...?

Xiong Zhi groggily opened her eyes. 

The first thing she noticed was darkness. Next, she felt something tied around her head.

…Was she blindfolded?

...!!!

She was instantly alarmed.

She tried to move but both of her hands were bound. Her feet were also tied together. She couldn't move.

The darkness made her nervous.

Just a moment ago, while she was waiting for Linfeng to come back, a man passing by suddenly came to ask her for directions. As she was not a local citizen of the town and was not familiar of the place, she politely answered that she did not know and that she was only a tourist as well.

However, that man was very insistent and asked if she could take a look at the picture of the shrine in the tourist guide book that he had with him. He said that she might have seen it somewhere while she was touring around. She ended up agreeing to take a look, but the man suddenly took out a spray instead of a guide. He caught her unprepared and was able to spray it on her face at point blank range. Then, she became dizzy and blacked out.

She could not remember anything after that.

Kidnapped!

She panicked for a bit as the realization that she was kidnapped dawned onto her. 

Was it kidnap for ransom? Or was she kidnapped by enemies of the Xiong family?

Various thoughts started popping up in her mind. 

She was just with Linfeng earlier...

Right, Linfeng!

Like magic, her anxiety and panic slowly ebbed down at the thought that she was with Linfeng just a few moments ago.

For sure, Linfeng was looking for her.

She gritted her teeth as she forcefully pushed down any negative emotions and slowly sorted out her thoughts. Her mind began to think clearly again. 

How long had she been unconscious? 

Linfeng would surely not take long in catching that guy. He surely would return as fast as he could. And then, once he saw that she was not there anymore, he would definitely start the chase.

Xiong Zhi believed in Linfeng the most. He was one of the most capable butlers trained in existence, who stood on top of the cream of the crop. Since he was not here yet, then it must not have been too long since they knocked her unconscious.

Xiong Zhi tried to listen to her surroundings. At first, she could only hear silence and faint sounds of summertime insects.

A short while later, she heard a creaking sound and the sounds of footsteps.

"Clear. Everything's clear. However, Bao Lan was out of reach. That damned guy was on low battery again for sure." A deep of voice of a man sounded in complaint. "That little bastard is always dozing around."

Another voice answered, a bit raspy.

"Let that guy be. He must have some troubles with that teenager. Are you sure we are not followed?"

"Don't worry, all the tracks we made are gone."

"How about Bao Lan's?"

The man with the deep voice snorted. "Bao Lan can handle himself."

"F$#k it, they never said the target was dating such a capable boy. Why the hell was that teenager so strong?"

"Tsk! That's why I hate unreliable clients. And they would only blame us if we mess up."

"Whatever, let's finish this fast. The school staff will start looking for her if they do not see her at six."

"Camera."

After a short conversation between the two men, she heard some rustling sounds.

Instantly, she felt the hair on the back of her neck rise up as chills crept up her limbs.

What were they planning to do?

"Hehehe. This is my favorite part," one of the two laughed maniacally.

"If we are not in a hurry we must have a choose a good location for this," one said on regret.

"Maybe we should have prepared a bed for this..."

Xiong Zhi stiffened at their words.

A familiar feeling crept up on her. 

These... these beasts!

Rage and indignation filled her mind as coldness seeped into her bones.

Whoever behind this, she would not forgive them!