In a dark, humid, and in a very quiet place, a person is chained to a chair with a blind fold breathing calmly. He has been asleep for the last 12 hours. The blood that had been coming out of his head was now dry. If anyone would see this person they would say that he would not be alive but in this case they were wrong. Slowly a mumble could be heard from this person. Zhan was now waking up. With a throbbing head and a dry mouth Zhan woke up to complete blindness. It took him a bit to realise that where he was and how he was.
Zhan could not remember much of what just happen a few hours ago. All he knew was that he could not move nor hear any noise other than a few trains that would be passing close by. At first when he could not see anything in front of him he thought that maybe he was blind, since that he had a massive headache. But as soon as he moved his head he realised that he had a blind on and that was the reason for his blindness.
Afraid to make any move since that he was not aware of what was around him, he started thinking about what had happen hours before to get him to be where he was now. Thinking hard as much as he could due to his pain, he gone back to the moment he said goodbye to Yibo and got into the taxi. At first nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Everything was the same as any other day until half way during the trip to the hospital.
~~ Flashback ~~
The taxi was on route for the last 8 minutes when without warning it change direction. Zhan that was on the back seat relaxing, getting ready for another 12 hour shift in the hospital notice the change. The only reason for the route to be changed would be traffic but today it was clear so there was no reason for the sudden change.
Zhan: "Excuse me, I think you are going the wrong way. I need to get to the hospital and this is not the right way, excuse me... excuse me..." As much as Zhan tried to get the drivers attention he was not getting any. He was being completely ignored and this caused Zhan to be on the alert.
He looked around to see if he could find the information on the driver so that he could call Yibo or the police but there was none. Suddenly a laugh brought Zhan's attention back on the driver.
Taxi Driver: "Did you really think that I would let you go away from me to then come back to stay with that man once again?" Zhan realised that he knew that voice. He had heard it before but could not quite pin point who this person was. The driver has dark glasses on as well as a cap which would hide his face. But the moment he finish saying the words he took the glasses and cap off and looked back at Zhan.
Zhan: "HE PENG! Why are you doing this? Please let me go." He Peng laughed. He loved seeing Zhan in complete panic.
He Peng: "I said to you before. You belong to me and me alone. Not that stupid rich boy."
Zhan tried to open the door off the taxi to try and leave but found them blocked. He then picked up his phone to try and call Yibo to let him know but somehow there was no signal.
He Peng: "Did you really think that I would be that stupid and let you call that man... not with this." He then lifted up a signal blocker that would disable any form of signal to anyone close to the taxi.
Zhan knew then that he was in more danger than he could possibly think of. He was stuck on his taxi. After a good look he realised that he taxi looked like a car that had been modified to look like a taxi so most likely the windows could not be broken either. All he could do would be wait for He Peng to take him somewhere and when he would try and get Zhan out. He would fight with all he had.
However what Zhan did not expect was for He Peng to be a lot more fitter than before and there was no way he could fight him alone. In the end He Peng managed to hit his head with something metallic making Zhan unconscious.
~~ End of Flashback ~~
Now that his memories of what happen, Zhan started to panic. He remember all the things that he tried to do years ago and how far he had gone. But this time it was different. Yibo was not around so there was no way for him to save Zhan once again. While he tried to pray to be saved and to find a way out of this situation his failed to realise that someone had gotten in. He only noticed when the blind folds were removed from his face.
It took a while for Zhan to be able to see anything since that the small light in the room was hurting his eyes. His headache was aching so much and this was causing some problems for his vision. After blinking for a while he finally managed to regain the full use of his eyes. He was in shock. Zhan was expecting to find He Peng right in front of him but to his surprise Yifei and Wen Xiu were the ones present.
Yifei: "Look what we have here? For once that brat has done something right." Yifei was looking at Zhan with a smirk but then it changed back to a disgusting look.
Wen Xiu: "What are we planning now? Yibo and everyone else might know that he is missing by now. We can not just let him stay here!" Wen Xiu seemed to not be happy to have Zhan.
Yifei: "We will keep him for just a bit until we know more. Then we can finally kill him."
As soon as the words came out of Yifei mouth, Zhan went into complete panic. He knew that Yifei was capable of so many things but murder? That was a step too far. Was this really his fate? Would he be able to say a final goodbye to Yibo? All his plans he had with Yibo was now going away.
Meanwhile across the town, Yibo together with Yanli, Cao and his brother Haikuan were in Yibo's apartment trying to find out where his mother and Wen Xiu could have possibly taken Zhan too. They would not be that stupid to hold them in the mansion, so there were going through all the properties that belong to Yifei and Wen Xiu.
Yibo had not taken any break since the moment he found out that Zhan was missing. The cops were going through all the paperwork that they had received about all the bad deals Yifei and Wen Xiu had done. They had more than enough to arrest both but no one seemed to know where they were. Cops were already after the drug dealers and were aware of the all the drug deals going on all they needed was to find out the people behind it. Now they had more than enough to know that Yifei and Wen Xiu were the masterminds behind all this. However with the news that they had kidnapped someone things were different.
Yibo and Haikuan were working with some special people that would be able to help then all they needed now was to find where Zhan could possibly be.
In the kitchen Yanli was trying to do something for everyone to eat and drink but she could not help herself from feeling lost. There wasn't much they could do to help Zhan at this moment. She felt useless. Cao would try and guarantee that they were doing everything they could to bring Zhan back safe and sound.
A knock on the door made everyone in the room stop everything they were doing.
Haikuan: "Are you waiting for anyone?" Haikuan said looking at a shocked Yibo.
Yibo: "As far as I know no." He responded back. A small glints of hope came to him. Could this be Zhan. But the moment he open the door his hopes went away.
Meng: "We came as soon as you told us he was missing. Can we come in?" Yibo cuddle Meng and waved at Cheng.
The moment they knew Zhan was missing, Yanli called her brother in Korea to let him know. Together with Meng they organised a quick plane trip. They could not just simply stay behind when they knew that Zhan was in danger once again.
Yanli run straight away to her brother and Meng and broke down even more. She was glad to have her brother there with her for more support but she just wished that he was there for a different reason.
Cheng: "Is there any more news about where he could possibly be?" Cheng was in shock. He knew how bad Yifei was and knew that she was capable of hurting Zhan more ways than one.
Haikuan: "So far there isn't anything. We are trying to find out all the properties that belong to both of them. They would not be stupid to bring him to the houses so all there is left would be any buildings that would be far away from anything to not cause suspicious."
Cao: "Agreed."
~
Back to the industrial building where Yifei and Wen Xiu were keeping Zhan, all hell was breaking loose.
Wen Xiu: "That mother fucker. How dare him do this! I told you that kidnapping him would cause us nothing but problems and look at it now. We have nothing." Wen Xiu shouted at Yifei.
Yifei: "What do you mean nothing? What the heck is going on now?" Yifei was confused.
While she had been in the room with Zhan alone having fun beating him, Wen Xiu had a call from one of his workers to let him know that the cops had come to the office as well as his buildings were the supplies were to confiscate it all. When he checked it all he found out was that his money as well as all his international accounts were now blocked.
Wen Xiu: "Somehow the cops got wind of all our operations and accounts. We have lost everything. All the money, drugs, everything is gone! The cops got it all and at the moment they are looking for us. We got nothing. Nothing at all! And the only person that would be in position to do it would be you son. I told you that concentrating on your son and his lover would be a waste of time and look at it now. We lost everything thanks to your obsession with his love life."
Yifei was not happy to be accused of losing all the things she had worked hard to get over the years she lost it. "I lost everything working hard to help you out. Don't put the blame on me. We are on this together and together with have to work to figure a way out not even if we have to use that germ to get it. I will not lose my company and money."
They spend the next few hours trying to figure out what to do to get it all back or at least some of it.
~~
Time was passing by and the dread of finding Zhan alive was getting higher. With still no news of Zhan's whereabouts Yibo, Cheng and Haikuan were slowly going crazy. They were all gathered together at a building that housed some intelligence services that have worked together with Yibo this last few years. No one knew they existed.
Cheng: "Wow. This place is massive. How they managed to keep things secret?" Cheng was amazed with all the technology available as well as man power.
Yibo: "They been working on high end jobs that not even cops know about. If there is anything that you want it done or for someone to go missing then they are the best of the best for it. Hence why we here." Yibo answered.
Cheng: "That is impressive but still... How did you know where they were and how to find them?" Cheng understood that it was not a simple to find them as you would led to believe. They were a probably very good at what they do hence why no one knew about it.
Unknown person: "I guess both me and him can answer that question for you?" Cheng and Haikuan could not believe their eyes. Yibo had spoken to his brother before about the intelligence group but did not disclose anymore information about how and who they were. Only that they have help him keeping things quiet and for a good reason since that they were aware that Wen Xiu was trying to find out more about Yibo for years.
Cheng: "Holly crap... What are you guys doing here? It has been years since the last time I saw you guys." Cheng was amazed to see his old friends Ji Li and Zhu Zanjin.
Ji LI: "Well if someone had not taken off to another country and said goodbye to us, he would have been able to keep in touch." He said with a smirk. All the friends were aware that nor Cheng, Yanli or Zhan had anything to do with it and it was in fact his parents.
Cheng hugged his friends. He was happy to know more about them but at the moment other matters were more urgent.
Zhu Zanjin: "Well as much as I would like to explain more about what has been happening all this years and how we got to this, there is more important things to sort it out at the moment. Please everyone come with me.
Yibo nodded his head in agreement and together with the other two walked to a room that had monitors all over a big wall. In them they could see various locations that were being monitored and checked.
Li Bowen: "Well , well, well. Look who decided to show up again. Mate it is so good to see you again. How's things? And the Wife?" Li Bowen that just got into the room recognised his friends that were together with Yibo. He knew all about Haikuan and how his life had been but not much about Cheng.
Cheng: "Li Bowen. It is so good to see you too. Looks like everyone decided to stay close to each other. Everything is good. Meng is at Yibo's apartment at the moment keeping Yanli calm, but other than that she is good too."
Ji Li: "Well guys once again I'm sorry for breaking up the chit chat but we need to sort something out. Yibo I got all the information you have send."
Yibo: "Did you guys managed to find anything?"
Ji Li: "From what we gathered the cops are all over the paperwork from your mother and Wen Xiu. We gave them the information about the international account without them knowing that it came from us. They will not be able to use that money either. Cao had managed to informed the investors of the Wang's company and they came in an agreement to come to the WYXZ company. At the moment they have blocked everything from the Wang company as agreed. If your mum tried to make any move they will know it straight away. With what they got both will be in Jail for a while."
Yibo was happy to know that finally his mother would get what was coming to her. Now all he needed was to concentrate in finding Zhan as quick as possible. "What about the locations? Any news?"
Zu Zanjin: "As you can see from the monitors, we have send guys to check most of the facilities without success. They were not there plus there wasn't anything that we could use to find them. Time is of the essence and it is dark now which block us from doing much. I'm sorry to be the barber of bad news but we have not found anything. Are you guys sure that they don't have any other places that they could use that you don't know about?"
Haikuan: "We have gone through all the paperwork. Everything that we have on both will be on those papers. Other than them I don't know any other place."
Li Bowen: "This is a massive problem. Zhan could be anywhere by now and only god knows what they have done to him. We know they have not used their passports to leave the country but we can not put pass the fact that they could have use alias passports. We have cameras in the airports and people there checking to see if someone close to their appearance shows up and so far nothing. This could mean that they are still close. Another thing that it is of concern is the fact that they have not done no calls or demands. By now I'm sure they are aware of the police presence and about all the possessions being taken. I'm sorry Yibo but I need to say that we can guarantee that Zhan could even be alive."
Everyone looked at Yibo and saw the anger he had. Yibo felt that somehow Zhan was indeed alive even if not well. "I know he is alive. I don't know where or how but something tells me that he is alive and waiting for me. So until I see his body with my own two eyes I will not quit trying to find him. We just need to think harder on what we are missing. Nothing is amiss."
Everyone could only agree with him. There was no other choice. So for hours everyone in the room went through all the information available to try and find out more about what they were missing.
A phone call broke the small silence that had happen in that room. Cheng's phone was ringing. When he looked at it he could see that it was Meng. He told everyone who was it and that he needed to take the call to make sure that everyone in the apartment was ok. He promised to not give too much away in the meantime just enough to keep the girls calm.
Cheng: "Hello babe. Is everything ok?"
Meng: "Hi hun. Well everything is ok as it can be. Cao has done some tea with some pills to make Yanli sleep since that he is exhausted and have not sleeped since this morning. How are things there? Any news?"
Cheng: "I'm afraid not. It is good that Cao can look after Yanli and you. So far we have checked all the buildings and houses that belongs to Yifei and your dad but with no luck. We did not managed to get any new information. It has all be complete silence which is scary."
Meng: "Dad always had things in secret from mum. He was always done bad deals behind her back that we probably will never find out. I can't believe that he would go as far as kidnap Zhan and for what? What was the point in all of this really?"
Cheng: "I don't know babe. I really don't know but I hope they would at least say something at least so that we know that Zhan is alive and well. It has been more than 18 hours now without any information. As much as I don't want to lose hope... It is hard."
Meng: "I know hun. You need to stay strong though. Yibo and Yanli need us now more than ever. I can't imagine what is going thought their minds at the moment... Have you guys find anything on that He Peng at least?"
Cheng froze. In all the things going on, Cheng had completely missed something. "That is it? It has to be!"
Meng was confused. "What is what hun? Cheng... Hun... What is going on?"
Cheng: "Babe I've got to go. I will tell you if something comes up. Please have a sleep aswell. It will not be good for you in your state. Don't worry about us. We will probably stay around here until we know more about Zhan. As soon as I have anymore information I will let you or Cao know. Please help my sister and don't worry too much. It will not do you good ok? Love you."
Meng: "Love you too. Please stay safe."
Cheng: "I will."
With that Cheng finish the call and run to where all the other ones present were. "Guys I think I found something that might help us."
Yibo hearing the news got his full attention back to him. "What?"
Cheng: "We all been concentration on both Yifei and Wen Xiu that we completely missed an important person, He Peng."
Ji Li: "What about him. We have check how he managed to get out of prison and so far he is clean. He was granted early released due to good behaviour."
Cheng: "Yes but how about his background? For years prior to go to jail he managed to get away with things like attacks and rape. Someone has helped him right?"
Li Bowen: "Yes. Wen Xiu had helped him all those years by buying the silence of police officers and the parents of the people involved. But I don't see how that help us."
Cheng: "Yes. My father in law had helped him but what about when he got into jail?"
Yibo: "From what I had gathered before, Wen Xiu did not want to be associated with his nephew the moment he got into jail. So he must had someone help him other than Wen Xiu. I know it will not be my mother."
Cheng: "Exactly my point. My father in law did not want to be associated with He Peng in case police would be after him and finding out about all the bribery done by him over the years so explain to me now. Why would you go back and work together with someone that did not help you and you end up in jail thanks to them? That makes no sense right. So He Peng must have found someone to help him. And I'm assuming that this person he must have found it in Jail."
Ji Li together with Li Bowen and Zhu Zanjin done an extensive search all about He Peng from the moment he got into jail. Everything to the last minute. Who he associated with? What he had been up to?
Haikuan: "Holly crap! Are you guys seeing this?"
Everyone in the room were shocked. Even thought He Peng managed to get out for good behaviour from prison they did not expect to find that in fact He Peng even in Jail was not a good person. Together with other police officers and some workers from the same prison, He Peng had access to many facilities and money in exchange of murders as well of drugs. He was well respected by other criminals by the time he left prison and had access to many other things on the outside.
Li Bowen: "Guys are you seeing what I'm seeing? He got access to many building around the port area that we have never checked. Could it be that Zhan is in one of them?"
Ji Li: "There is only one way to find out. I will send our guys to check everyone of those building and if Zhan is there we then organised for them to rescue him."
Yibo was ecstatic. After so many hours without any information, this last bit of hope was all he needed at the moment. He was tired but did not want to sleep until he knew that Zhan was safe and sound.
Haikuan: "Bother I know that you are tired but you are refusing to sleep as well as eat but this is not good for you. You need rest. At the moment there isn't much we can do. They have everyone checking the buildings but until then please try and get some rest." Haikuan says holding his brother shoulders.
Yibo: "Zhan is out there god knows in what condition, Probably very scared and alone. I will not and can not just sleep when he is not with me."
Haikuan could understand his brothers pain even thought he would not admit. "I know Didi. I can imagine how you feel but please understand. This is not good for you. Do you think that Zhan would be happy to know that you are suffering just as much as he is. It will not be good for you to be sick when he needs you the most. A small nap will do you good as well as food. It will help you have the energy you will need the moment we rescue Zhan. I promise that the moment they find him I will wake you up if you are not awake by then ok? Please brother!"
Yibo thought about it and he knew that his brother was right. He has not eaten since morning and he was in fact tired. A small nap would help him gather strength needed to the right moment. Against himself he ate something and laid down in a small sofa that was located not very far from the main room while everyone Haikuan and Cheng done the same. Their friends were now focus on finding this said buildings and seeing if in fact Zhan was there.
============ Notes ============
This is not a long chapter but I wanted to leave the possible rescue to the next chapter otherwise this one would be soo big.
Thanks everyone for the nice comments and votes. It has help me no end and it has been a joy to write the book.
If you got any questions for me or any confusion about the story please feel free to let me know.