Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The sky was dark like a piece of dirty rag.
The camel bells on the horses could be heard in the mountains.
The horses walked slowly and leisurely on the path.
The shrill siren of the village was farther and farther away from them.
When Xiang Wan thought about how Bai Muchuan would behave after finding out that she was missing, her mind started to wander off and her stomach felt like it was being burnt.
She was being carried by a horse and she was placed on the saddle, on her stomach. Her stomach felt bloated and uncomfortable. Every now and then, she would feel a piercing pain on her wound whenever her thigh brush past the saddle…
She did not know how long such torture lasted. When the sky gradually darkened, when the horses finally stopped moving, she was about to vomit.
“Get down!”
When she heard a gruff voice, the next moment, she found herself being dragged to the ground like she was a piece of rag.
Xiang Wan felt her vision blurry after falling down to the ground. She endured the pain and supported herself up with her arms. The first thing she did was vomit!
She was dizzy, and she felt her stomach acid travelling up her throat.
She couldn’t care anymore. “Uurgh…”
She threw up on the pants of the man who had dragged her down!
“D*mn!”
“… My bad!”
Xiang Wan changed direction and continued to vomit.
This time, it took longer. She lay there, spitting out all the porridge and the fried egg she had that morning, and her stomach was now empty.
“Uurgh… Uurrggh…”
She thought that someone would come to beat her up.
In the end…
It was quiet all around. Not one of them bothered with her.
Even the unlucky guy whose pants got dirtied because of her, ignored her and went off somewhere while cursing away.
The rest of them just remained at their positions, waiting for her to finish vomiting…
After a while, the burning sensation in her stomach slowly faded away, and she slowly turned back.
“Excuse me, I need a piece of tissue…”
Her request…
The men who kidnapped her here looked at her as though she was a moron.
“Uh! My apologies!” Xiang Wan immediately showed a smile. “I forgot that our relationship is that of the kidnapper and the victim!”
“…”
Was she a comedian or something?
Well, Xiang Wan had deliberately said that to appear humorous.
Gaining the favor of the kidnappers was also a way to reduce the chances of being hurt by them…
As she thought about her situation, she was also observing her surroundings.
Hmm… she seemed to be on a mountain?
The winds were strong and the howling sounds were a little too piercing as she felt her ears might swell.
Well… this environment seemed strange?
Xiang Wan was slightly taken aback by the building before her.
This was actually a monastery… or a Taoist temple?
Xiang Wan had never done research on this. By just looking at the shape of the building, she could only tell that it was either a monastery or temple. She even felt that the person who ordered for her to be kidnapped to this place… that was considered blasphemy against the deities.
Weren’t they worried about angering the Bodhisattvas?
However, this place was a very run-down place.
The structure was as though in tatters. Xiang Wan was certain that nobody had come to offer incense for a long time.
It was highly possible that the Bodhisattvas there would have gone away to get food, and would have no time to bother about trivial matters in this place…
“Are you feeling better?”
A piece of tissue suddenly appeared before her.
She suddenly felt like tearing at the sight of the piece of white tissue.
“Thank you!” Xiang Wan took it.
But at the same time, she suddenly realized that the haughty tone of this man sounded a little familiar?
A sudden chill made Xiang Wan turned to that man. “You are…”
The man had walked out from one of the doors of the building. He was alone with his hands placed behind his back, facing the wind.
What stunned Xiang Wan was—he was actually wearing a white, Taoist robe!
His white Taoist robe made him feel like a deity under the wind… but his face was as though the guards of hell that had come to take souls away…
Yes, he had a mask on him.
It was an elaborate and exquisite mask.
The design was rather similar to those masks used in Sichuan Opera.
However, the malicious-looking mask and the white Taoist robe formed a perfect contrast against each other…
It was too eye-catching!
Xiang Wan took more than five seconds to regain her senses—
She was in a daze, but she was not afraid.
Sometimes, she was a peculiar woman.
When she realized that she had no way to get out of a situation, she was able to calm herself down.
She had to at least find out who this person was, right?
She composed herself and straightened her back before she looked at him in the eye.
“Criminal nowadays are also into cosplay?”
“Cosplay?” That man laughed and Xiang Wan found that his pronunciation of that English word sounded perfect.
Well, at least his pronunciation was better than Xiang Wan.
Also, the strong feeling of familiarity in his voice made Xiang Wan seem distracted for a while.
“Friend, I think we seem to know each other?”
Friend? This form of address made the man startled for an instant.
“You’re really interesting! I almost couldn’t bear to let you die!”
“Oh, so you actually wanted me dead?” Xiang Wan pursed a smile and then showed a puzzled frown. “If that’s your goal, I think you’re going in the wrong direction… It’s so simple to kill me, but you have to go one big round and involve so many people. Isn’t it too hard on you?”
“Nope!” That man let out a chuckle. “Life is dull. Now that there’s someone to accompany me in this game, I couldn’t have asked for more!”
Was it not tiring to talk in such a formal way?
Xiang Wan felt goosebumps for an instant and smiled faintly. “Times have indeed changed. Criminals nowadays are getting cultured, highly-educated, and advanced!”
The man neither talked back nor moved. His eyes were staring through the mask, at her.
This time, there was a slight spine-tingling feeling.
Xiang Wan was apprehensive, but she would not back down easily.
She looked back calmly at him while observing the surrounding from the corners of her eyes. Her brains were working hard as she contemplated if she had a chance to escape…
Besides the masked man, there were another five or six men. They were the ones who took her away from the village.
Judging from the time they took to travel here, the place should have a distance of about 20 to 30 miles from the village?
When they came, they didn’t take the main road. Xiang Wan saw the scenery that they passed by and knew that they had chosen a forest path. Due to that, it would be difficult for Bai Muchuan to catch up to them in no time.
Moreover, it should be useless to shout for help in this place?
There should be no other people in this wilderness?
“What are you thinking about?” That man suddenly walked over to her and scrutinized her face. “Are you thinking about how to deal with me?” He showed a gentle smile. “Or… you’re thinking when your little lover will come to save you?”
“…”
Little lover?
He sounded really creepy.
Now that the man moved closer to her, Xiang Wan was suddenly startled as she looked at his eyes.
“You’re… Meng Chi?”
“…”
As Xiang Wan was unsure, she had asked very softly.
If it was Meng Chi, such a change was too fast and too incredible!
However, when the man heard this name, he stopped his steps.
After a while, he placed a hand on his mask. “I’m not Meng Chi. But, you can call me that!”
No wonder his voice sounded so familiar!
When she heard it carefully again, it was really Meng Chi’s voice!
So he was the one who wanted to kill her?
Could it be that the mastermind behind the 121 case… was him all along?
Xiang Wan’s heart pounded furiously due to that thought.
Recalling those instances of her encounters with Meng Chi, her heart was on tenterhooks.
“CEO Meng’s words… I don’t quite understand?”
“… I don’t understand, either. Mm, let’s do this instead… for the sake of convenience, you may call me Meng Chi.”
When Meng Chi replied that, his eyes under the mask slightly dimmed.
“Does it matter who I am?” He smiled. “It doesn’t matter… name is just a code, who it is, no one knows. Life is short, but that’s not important. The important thing is that you need to pay for your sins…”
What the?
Xiang Wan could make neither heads nor tails out of it.
Could it be this Meng Chi was a lunatic?
“What sin did I commit?”
“Original sin.”
“…” He must be crazy!
Meng Chi took a look at his two subordinates standing behind her. “Why are you two in a daze? Hurry and invite Miss Xiang in!”
“… This way please!”
The two subordinates felt they suffered the brunt of Meng Chi’s anger.
Nevertheless, they had to continue their act…
Xiang Wan looked at the few men, her mind was filled with question marks.
Perhaps the only thing she should feel glad was… having met a cultured criminal, she need not suffer any violence. Could that count as a good thing?
…
After being “invited” into the supposedly structure that she thought should be a monastery or temple, Xiang Wan realized that all her guesses were wrong.
It was neither a monastery nor a temple.
There was an old, worn out plaque hanging above the door where three faded words were written on it.
“Wen Xin Nunnery!”
Oh! It was originally a nunnery!
It was not known when the words on the plaque were written.
In addition to the three characters which were still somewhat visible, the couplets on both sides of the door were no longer visible.
Inside was a dilapidated courtyard which was overrun with weeds. At first glance, it seemed uninhabited, however, if one were to go deeper into the nunnery, one would notice there were several rooms which had been cleaned and tidied.
They sure know how to disguise!
The people at the foot of the mountain did not know that there were people in the nunnery, right?
Meng Chi followed behind her and entered the hall of the nunnery. His white Chinese Han-style robe when matched by his well-built stature made him look like an immortal, as if he was shooting a drama—of course, the prerequisite was not to look at the mask on his face.
“Miss Xiang, please take a seat!” Meng Chi showed a please gesture and then sat on a wooden chair.
Xiang Wan took a look; there were four chairs in the hall with one table in the middle.
The decoration of the hall felt a little like a period drama location set.
Xiang Wan pulled a chair and sat down before giving Meng Chi a glance.
“Did you shoot too many dramas and films that you’re being possessed or something?”
Meng Chi seemed to be smiling behind his mask. Due to the presence of that ominous looking mask, every action of his made Xiang Wan felt cold and creepy. “Miss Xiang, you’re very humorous!”
“…”
Humorous? I’m serious!
Xiang Wan: “I’m waiting for you to unravel the mystery behind all these!”
Meng Chi was looking at his mobile phone and looked up at her instantly when he heard her words.
This time, he spent more time scrutinizing her.
Xiang Wan was not fazed. “I believe you must have a reason for bringing me here besides wanting me dead… Otherwise, you don’t need to waste time, right? CEO Meng is someone who handles major business dealings after all.”
Meng Chi: “You’re smart!”
Xiang Wan was actually very anxious inside and was indifferent to compliments. “So, let’s get straight to the point and not delay anymore time!”
Meng Chi considered for a moment. “You’re really not afraid of death?”
Xiang Wan did not reply to him directly. “You’ve just said earlier that you couldn’t bear for me to die. So I thought that there must be some value in me!”
Meng Chi shook his head. “What a real pity. Such a clever woman…”
“…” Xiang Wan could not get it.
A second later, Meng Chi puffed another sigh.
“I brought you here purely to let you die.”
“…”
