Actually, the moment Li Xiaohu rushed into the house, he understood that Meng Yao probably had not suffered any losses.
However, he could not understand where all the blood on her body had come from if she did not have a single wound.
Meng Yao scratched her head and smiled awkwardly.
“It was chicken blood…”
It turned out that after brutally beating the three of them, she had quickly rushed into the kitchen and poured all the chicken blood left over from slaughtering a chicken two days earlier onto herself.
Since she was putting on a performance, she naturally had to make it convincing.
Zhang Guilan examined her body with heartache.
How had the once innocent and simple young woman been forced to become so calculating, one step at a time?
It seemed that Meng Yao had truly suffered a great deal during the past two years.
“Good child. As long as you’re all right.”
As she spoke, Zhang Guilan could not stop her tears from falling.
Li Xiaohu comforted her.
“Mom, Sister has finally left the Meng family. This is something worth celebrating.
“Why are you crying on such a happy occasion?”
“I’m crying because I’m happy. You wouldn’t understand.”
…
Meanwhile, when Jiang Jun returned home, he did not even have time to put down his briefcase before hurrying toward the old landline telephone in the living room.
Seeing how hurried he looked, Yu Mei quickly called out, “You’re back? Hurry and wash your hands. Dinner is ready.”
Jiang Jun did not respond. He anxiously dialed a number.
“Hello, please connect me to the Sharpshooter Eighth Company in the military district. Thank you…”
Anxious footsteps sounded from the other end of the line, followed by a familiar deep male voice.
“What happened?”
Jiang Jun recounted everything that had happened at the Meng residence that day.
Then he casually asked, “Is this woman truly important to you?”
The other person remained silent for a long moment.
“She’s very important. Help me take good care of her.”
Jiang Jun chuckled.
“You brat, I never thought the day would come when you finally understood romance.
“Don’t worry. As your older brother, I’ll definitely take good care of my future sister-in-law.
“Stay in the army without worrying. I’ll call again if anything happens.”
The person on the other end paused.
“All right. I’ll leave it to you.”
After he hung up, Yu Mei wiped the water stains on her apron and asked curiously, “What happened? Why are you smiling so happily?”
Jiang Jun pointed at her with an ambiguous smile.
“You’ll find out later.”
He then stood and looked toward the inner room.
“Where’s Haohao?
“You brat, hurry and come out for dinner!”
Yu Mei reminded him, “Stop shouting. He isn’t home. He’s receiving tutoring at his teacher’s house.”
Jiang Jun casually picked up a piece of meat and stuffed it into his mouth.
“That brat is never serious. He doesn’t study properly and only knows how to cause trouble all day.”
Yu Mei covered her mouth and laughed.
“Didn’t he inherit that from you?”
Jiang Jun was speechless.
…
Night had fallen, and most of the shops along the street had already closed.
Meng Yao had just finished receiving an intravenous infusion, while Zhang Guilan and her son had long since been persuaded by her to return home.
The empty concrete road was silent except for the cries of a few stray cats and the sparse lights shining from nearby homes.
When she reached an intersection, several miserable cries for help suddenly came from a dark alley on her left.
In her previous life, Meng Yao would never have dared walk along such a road at night, let alone rush forward to help someone.
But after experiencing death once and now possessing great strength, she boldly charged directly into the deep alley.
“Who’s there?”
“Who is it?”
Several dark figures were stunned.
They had not expected anyone to enter this narrow road so late at night, much less a woman.
One of the men had a buzz cut and a scar across his face. He glared at her viciously.
“Heh, interesting. It looks like we’re going to make a fortune tonight.
“Another one delivered herself straight to us.”
Another man, nearly fifty years old and dressed in worn work clothes, was holding a struggling little boy in his hand.
While the two men were distracted, the boy suddenly bit down hard on the webbing between the older man’s thumb and index finger.
The older man cried out in pain and instinctively released him, throwing him onto the ground.
“You little bastard! How dare you bite me?
“If the buyer weren’t urgently demanding the merchandise, I would beat you half to death today.
“Pah!”
So they were human traffickers.
Meng Yao hated the human traffickers who had switched her away from her family all those years ago.
How fortunate that she had encountered some today.
The scar-faced man narrowed his lecherous eyes and examined her with ill intentions.
His gaze made it seem as though he wanted to violate Meng Yao on the spot.
He asked vulgarly, “Are you still a virgin?”
Meng Yao did not become angry. She merely raised an eyebrow.
“Why don’t you try and find out?”
The older man grabbed the scar-faced man, who was eagerly preparing to pounce on her.
“Don’t ruin our business. Have you forgotten our main purpose tonight?”
He pointed at the young boy glaring furiously at them from the ground, warning the other man not to act impulsively.
Then he glanced at Meng Yao.
“Since she delivered herself to us, we’ll take her along.
“If she really is untouched, we can sell her for a good price.
“If she isn’t, you can still play with her later.”
The scar-faced man nodded in agreement.
“You’re still the clever one, Old Xu. My lust nearly made me ruin everything.”
Listening to their plan, Meng Yao suddenly changed her mind.
Originally, she had intended to beat the two men senseless immediately.
The scar-faced man took out a rope and tied Meng Yao up.
Then, taking the child with them, the four figures disappeared into the darkness.
The dilapidated small truck drove for a long time.
Because Meng Yao had been blindfolded, she had no idea where they had taken her.
When she opened her eyes again, dawn was almost breaking.
The moment she stepped out of the vehicle, Meng Yao froze.
In front of her stood a three-story Western-style building. The surroundings were extremely desolate, covered with uneven concrete ground.
No wonder the second half of the journey had been so bumpy that she had nearly vomited.
The little boy leaned nervously against her, his eyes filled with fear.
Sister, I’m scared!
Meng Yao immediately comforted him.
“It’s all right. Sister is here.
“Don’t worry. I’ll definitely take you home safely.”
The scar-faced man shoved her and ordered fiercely, “Why are you standing there? Hurry up and move!
“Don’t tell me you want me to carry you inside.”
Meng Yao rolled her eyes at him before following them into the building.
The moment the door opened, a bald man with a large exposed belly approached them. He wore flip-flops and held a string of prayer beads.
“Brother Hua.”
Seeing how respectful the previously vicious scar-faced man and the others were toward Brother Hua, Meng Yao assumed that the bald man must be extremely dangerous.
Had she not noticed a man in a shirt and gold-rimmed glasses sitting calmly at a dark wooden tea table by the window, drinking tea without any emotion, she might have believed Brother Hua was their leader.
“Did you bring the merchandise?”
The scar-faced man bent at the waist and nodded eagerly.
“Yes, we brought him. We also happened to abduct a woman along the way.”
The man in the shirt raised his head without changing his expression and stared directly at Meng Yao.
His unpredictable and deeply calculating eyes revealed no emotion whatsoever.
“Take them downstairs and guard them carefully until the buyers arrive.”
The scar-faced man obediently withdrew.
“Yes, Boss!”
The basement of the Western-style building was dark and damp.
The little boy anxiously untied the ropes around Meng Yao’s hands. When he saw her red wrists, he began crying helplessly.
“I miss my mother. I want to go home. Boohoo…”
Meng Yao gently stroked his head with heartache.
Had this child not encountered her, his fate would undoubtedly have been miserable.
“What’s your name?”
“My name is Jiang… Jiang Hao…”
Meng Yao’s eyes became determined.
“Haohao, don’t worry. Sister will definitely take you home, but you must listen to me.
“No matter what happens or what you see later, don’t make a sound. Do you understand?”
Jiang Hao nodded despite not fully understanding.
In the blink of an eye, Meng Yao disappeared before him.
His eyes widened. He tightly covered his mouth, not daring to scream for fear of alerting the criminals guarding outside the iron door.
Meng Yao gulped down several mouthfuls of lake water before entering the small wooden cabin.
She spoke to the system.
“I need a weapon!
“This is an emergency rescue. I’m willing to pay a high price.
“Also, I need an impenetrable protective shield because the enemy has a gun.”
The moment she finished speaking, words appeared on the enormous screen.
Specially Reinforced Invincible Golden Bell Shield: 300 Yuan
Meng Yao gritted her teeth and complained, “Why is it so expensive?”
“Because the ordinary version cannot stop bullets. This is a super-reinforced version. Not only can it resist blades and firearms, but it can also withstand modern weapons.”
Considering how powerful its effects were, Meng Yao painfully made the purchase.
A massive golden bell glowing brightly appeared around her, while a scorching iron rod materialized in her hand.
Its handle was tightly wrapped in thick ceramic-fiber cloth, with a layer of ice placed inside to prevent her hand from being burned.
This weapon…
Wasn’t it a little too crude and carelessly made?
The system replied, “It was included free with the Golden Bell Shield. There is no additional charge.”
Meng Yao laughed dryly.
A free weapon?
As expected, nothing free was ever good.