When Lu Yifeng learned about Xia Meilin's disappearance from Dong Hua, he practically went out of control in an instant. He ordered his men to lock Dong Hua up and torture him as a punishment for not guarding his wife well.
Lu Yifeng was surrounded by a deadly and menacing air as he watched the CCTV footage that was captured. There was a big and tall man, disguised in a worker's attire, waiting for his wife. He took his wife away and used the fire exit to avoid Dong Hua's sight.
Even with his calm and cold look, it was just a facade. He was panicking and worrying. He doesn't know where to look for his wife, or who took her. He doesn't have any lead except for that CCTV footage.
No one was contacting him. If someone called him and asked for ransom in exchange of his wife, he will be able to track the call... but that never happened.
He already sent his men to start looking for her, anywhere in the city or outside but without a lead, they weren't able to find her. They just keep on searching and searching.
"Please be safe..." Lu Yifeng clasped his hands together as he could only wish for her safety.
----
It was raining heavily outside, the surroundings were dark because of the dark weather. It was evening and this was something advantageous for Xia Meilin.
Xia Meilin's body was shaking so badly because of the cold weather, after all, she was only in her underwear. Her hands were still tied and so while hiding, she was looking for a stone with a sharp end. She used it and rubbed her rope on it. It took a long while before she was able to get free.
"Little missy, where are you?"
Duyi's voice was suddenly heard which made Xia Meilin's body shiver in fear.
She peeked and saw him looking around. He was drenched like her. But what caught her attention was the gun by his waist.
He didn't use it on her earlier since his goal was to get her back. "You know I can't go back without you, my bro will definitely get mad at me. Come on, show yourself. Aren't you feeling cold in this freezing weather? I can help you warm up~"
He continued walking while saying all of this. It was until he heard a loud 'thump' nearby.
He turned and smirked. "Are you over there?" He carefully walked towards the bushes, the place on where he heard the sound. His guards were up as he carefully looked over. He was surprised when he saw Xia Meilin's unconscious body on the ground.
He stood straight and smirked, "Ah, poor you." Thinking that she must have collapse because of exhaustion, Duyi bent over to pick her up.
He never expected that the moment he was within her reach, she'd open her eyes and steal his gun from his waist. She pointed it at him with a cold look in her eyes.
He raised his hand, "Careful there, little missy. You don't know how dangerous that can be."
Seeing that there was no fear in her eyed while she was holding a gun made Duyi nervous. Who would have thought that Xia Meilin was a schemy person? She deceived him again by acting that she was unconscious just to grab hold of his gun when he was near her.
Ji Ruo's words were ringing in her ears as Xia Meilin glared at Duyi. "It's either you kill or be killed. Never hesitate when you have a gun in your hands, Meilin."
Xia Meilin didn't blink when she pulled the trigger and shot him in his head.
Duyi's body fell on the ground; he never expected that she would become so fearless once she grabbed a hold of a gun.
Xia Meilin stood up, her legs were shaking. This was her third time in killing a man. The first was during her high school when she was abducted with her brother. She was shaking in fear as she watched her brother fight the kidnappers. Her hands were shaking while she was holding a gun, she couldn't pull the trigger. Xia Meilin was afraid because it was her first time. She has never shot another person and she couldn't bring herself to do so.
It was until she saw a man, sneaking behind her brother with a knife in his hand. Everything went blank to her when she saw the man who was about to stab her brother. She shot him without any hesitation.
"It's okay, Meilin. You may have killed that man but you killed that man to save your brother. You may have taken a life but you saved another for doing that."
Ji Ruo's words comforted her. Xia Meilin stopped shaking whenever she held a gun.
She did it to save someone that's why, killing another didn't made her flinch anymore, just like that day when she saved Lu Yifeng. It may have been the second time where she killed but she would always tell herself that if she didn't do that, then she wouldn't be able to save him.
Just like right now, she only pulled the trigger to save herself.
Xia Meilin walked with a blank look on her face as she held the gun tight. It was her only source of strength now. "I killed him... to save me. I killed him... to save me." She kept on mumbling to herself as she walked.
"He is a bad guy... bad guy..."
This was something that always happened to her after she killed another person. She would always try to convince herself that she didn't do anything bad because she protected herself.
Her body was drench and she was feeling so cold but her mind was running somewhere. She was not safe yet and because of this, she was pushing her body to go on.
Xia Meilin was only able to snap out when she heard tires screetching. She turned and saw a bright light in front of her.
The man driving the car went out of it while holding his umbrella. "Hey miss! Are you alright?"
She realized that she was in the highway now. The car stopped in front of her just in time when the driver saw her earlier.
The highway was surrounded by forest and she never thought that her mindless walking would bring her there.
Tears started streaming down her cheeks but that wasn't obvious because of the rain that poured on her. She let go of the gun as she took a step closer to the man. "H... Help... Help me..."
Seeing Xia Meilin's body covered in mud while she was in her underwear made the man think that something bad must have happened on her.
He quickly approached her and placed his coat on her. "I will not hurt you. You're safe now."
"Safe... I'm safe now?" She mumbled. She started feeling her body losing its strength. She felt her surroundings moving around, she couldn't hear a thing anymore. Xia Meilin ended up fainting before the man.
"Miss!"