“What did you say?” Qin Rui was dumbfounded. “You…”
“Can you give me Lu Ming’s location?”Yao Tanginterrupted before he could ask anything else. She glanced at the time on her phone.
For a moment, Qin Ruicould only blink at her, but he quickly composed himself. “Yes, the clan has devised a tracking system exclusive to the members of the family. Let me log into it.”
Three years ago, all the big families in the capital came together and created a specialized GPS to prevent the mysterious incident from happening again.
Qin Rui’s fingers danced on his phone as he accessed the system. He found Lu Ming’s location pretty quickly. Oddly enough, he was in a public bath.
Although he was only going by a vague impression of the boy, Qin Ruididn’t thinkLu Mingwould be in such a place. He was understandably baffled.
Upon further inspection, he found that another user of the system had checked Lu Ming’s location twenty minutes ago.
But then he realized something else… Lu Mingwas just an insignificant drifter to his own family, so who would want to know his whereabouts?
What was going on?
Frowning, Qin Ruizoomed in on the map and sawLu Ming’s dot flashing rapidly on the screen.
This indicated danger.
He turned to Yao Tangand said, “I guess it will take some time before we can meet up with him. According to the system, he’s currently in a bind. Not to worry, though. I’m sure someone has already gone to rescue him.”
“Really?” Yao Tangasked. “Aren’t we going to do anything?”
Qin Rui shook his head emphatically. “Someone else looked into his location a few minutes ago. It’s probably the family security. They often use the system for protection services.”
When he saw that she wasn’t convinced, he added, “Trust me. This tiny dot will stop blinking in five minutes or so.”
He had great confidence in the system, as well as his family’s security network.
However, the dot was still blinking long after the five-minute mark. At this point, it finally dawned on Qin RuithatLu Mingwas in serious trouble. His nonchalant air immediately dissipated.
That other person who had also checked the boy’s location probably had evil intentions.
Now, it was up to him to go and rescue Lu Ming.
“I have to go,” Qin Ruisaid toYao Tang. “Lu Mingis in danger. He may be a distant cousin, but we’re still related. I have to go and help him.”
He silently thanked her for bringing up Lu Ming’s location.
Otherwise, that cousin of his just might die, and no one would know until it was too late.
Qin Rui proceeded to call the guards of the Lu family in City A. The line kept ringing, but no one picked up. He made two more attempts to contact them, to no avail.
Seeing that he was spiraling into a panic, Yao Tangplaced a steady hand on his wrist to calm him. “Here, let me drive. Send meLu Ming’s address.”
“Okay!” With a frantic nod, Qin Ruiunbuckled his seatbelt, and they transferred seats.
Yao Tang took to the steering wheel naturally. She stepped on the accelerator, and before long, they were speeding into the night.
…
Di Tianle Bathing Center, a top-class public bath for the elite.
In one of the steaming rooms of the establishment, a pudgy man clad in a bathroom sat front and center, flanked by two blonde beauties on either side.
Other people were there, too, some of them immersed in loud conversations and boisterous laughter, while others busied themselves with a game of cards.
The atmosphere was lively, in a rather unsettling and obscene way.
A waiter stood to one side, unfazed in the face of such reckless revelry.
In a far corner, a boy lay on the cold tile floor just beside the massive bathing pool.
He was all battered and bruised, his blood oozing out from the gashes in his arms. He was barefoot, with his trousers torn and bloodied.
One of his eyes was almost swollen shut, and he struggled to breathe in small, labored pants.
