Chapter 35: Arriving Just in Time

(page 1/3)

“Brother-in-law, save me.” As soon as the call connected, before Mo Ran could even speak, Su Qingxue’s voice came through the receiver. The words were brief, only four syllables, but her voice trembled as she spoke.

Those four words alone made Mo Ran’s heart quake violently, for he could sense repression, fear, and helplessness within them. He knew then that this was no longer a simple case of running away from home; Su Qingxue must have encountered someone dangerous and was being threatened.

“Where are you? Give me your location.” Mo Ran wasted no words, immediately asking for Su Qingxue’s exact whereabouts.

“I—I don’t know where I am.” Perhaps the sudden turn of events had terrified Su Qingxue deeply; the receiver was silent for a while before she finally managed to utter this sentence.

“Send me your location. Quickly.” Mo Ran grew anxious, an ominous premonition spreading through his heart as he urged her.

Just then, there was a sudden crash from the receiver, followed by Su Qingxue’s shrill scream.

“Qingxue! Qingxue! What happened?” Mo Ran asked urgently, hearing the commotion.

“So you’re this girl’s brother-in-law, right? Looking for your little sister-in-law? Well, I refuse.” An arrogant voice now came through the receiver.

“What do you want?” Though he hadn’t seen the person, Mo Ran could tell immediately this was not someone good. He continued in a cold tone.

“What do I want? I’ve been roaming the underworld for years, played with countless women, but I’ve never enjoyed a student beauty as pretty as this one. I’ll have my fun, and then you’ll know where she is.”

The voice in the receiver was full of swagger, making Mo Ran clench his fists in silent rage, wishing he could smash the owner’s head with a single punch.

“Do you dare?” Mo Ran struggled to keep calm.

“Whether I dare or not, what does that have to do with you? Hahaha! When I’m done, I’ll be gone, and nobody will find me.” With the man’s arrogant laughter, the call was abruptly disconnected.

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Time was running out. Mo Ran didn’t hesitate; he immediately called Xiao Xiao and explained the situation.

“Give me your ex-sister-in-law’s phone number and one minute.” Xiao Xiao, sensing the urgency, didn’t joke around and demanded the information. Mo Ran complied at once.

With a “ding,” exactly one minute later, Xiao Xiao sent a location to Mo Ran’s phone.

“Abandoned building.” Seeing the location, Mo Ran wasted no time. He jumped onto a three-wheeled motorbike, twisted the throttle to its limit, and the motor roared at full power. To save the only person who’d ever treated him kindly during his three years as a live-in son-in-law, Mo Ran was ready to risk everything.

The university town to the abandoned building wasn’t too close nor too far—about twenty kilometers each way. But these twenty kilometers weren’t ordinary; it wasn’t quite crossing from the north to the south of the city, but from the north to the east. Part of the route passed through the city’s fringes, a zone frequented by vehicles entering and leaving Shanghai, which meant heavy traffic and many stoplights. With all the delays, the journey would take at least forty minutes. If he arrived in forty minutes, everything might be too late; he could even witness a real-life tragedy unfold.

Mo Ran dared not dwell on it. All that filled his mind now was the location of the abandoned building, a detailed map forming in his thoughts. The arrow pointed to the building, and he was the rapidly moving red dot. The shortest, fastest route was quickly mapped out.

“Let’s do this.” Mo Ran gritted his teeth, jerked the handlebars, and the three-wheeler shot onto the highway.

To save time, Mo Ran didn’t touch the brakes, nor did he ease off the throttle. He weaved through the dense traffic, risking collisions several times as he tried to shave off precious seconds, narrowly avoiding cars that sped off the moment the light turned green. Each near miss drew a trail of curses behind him.

Thus, by disregarding his own safety, Mo Ran compressed the forty-minute journey into a mere ten minutes and arrived.

“A taxi.” With one glance, Mo Ran understood. This naive girl, unfamiliar with the dangers of the world, must have hailed a taxi to find him and ended up deceived.

Without hesitating, Mo Ran finally entered the abandoned construction zone before the three-wheeler’s battery was completely drained.

The deserted site was overgrown with weeds, and for a moment, Mo Ran couldn’t tell which building it was.

“Calm down. I must stay calm.” With no clues, Mo Ran forced himself to settle, scanning the surroundings like a radar, probing every detail until he finally spotted something unusual.

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In the weeds ahead and to his left, the grass was bent in the same direction. Upon closer inspection, he could make out two sets of footprints of different sizes, messy and intertwined.

“This is it.” Following the direction of the flattened weeds, Mo Ran fixed his gaze on a building whose structural frame was already complete.

On the second floor, a greasy man leered at the terrified Su Qingxue, his eyes full of depraved desire. He allowed blood from the gash on his forehead to flow freely, staining half his face crimson, dripping onto the ground and his chest—a truly chilling sight.

“Don’t come any closer!” Su Qingxue held a piece of broken stone, threatening with all her strength, though her tongue was tied and her body trembled so violently the man scoffed. The tip of the stone was smeared with bright red blood, clearly from the wound on the man’s forehead—Su Qingxue’s handiwork.

“Well, a virtuous maiden, huh? The more you resist, the more I like it. I love it when women fight back fiercely—it makes the conquest all the sweeter.” Looking at the pitiful Su Qingxue, whose outer coat had vanished and whose wool sweater was torn to shreds, her snowy skin exposed, the pattern on her clothes stretched into three dimensions by her movements—luckily, she still had a bra on, or else nothing would be left to the imagination.

But to a man driven mad by lust, this tantalizing, half-concealed allure was the most deadly temptation. With every move Su Qingxue made, the depraved gleam in his eyes grew stronger, and his steps quickened.

“If you come any closer, I—I’ll call for help!” Su Qingxue gripped the sharp stone tightly, summoning all her courage.

“Go ahead and shout. Out here, in this godforsaken corner, you can scream your lungs out, but no one will come. Even if you tear your throat, it’s pointless. Shout—my buddies will enjoy it when you do.” The man grew more excited, rubbing his hands as the distance between them shrank.

Just then, a sharp whistling sound came from his right. Years of living on the edge gave the man an instinct for danger; almost simultaneously, his muscles reacted, and he quickly stepped back.

“Not bad, you’ve got some moves.” Mo Ran, holding a stone, spoke calmly.

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