The car has been vibrating for a very long time, shaking all the way, as if they were leaving the city. The road was all mud, and driving through would kick up all the dust and ash, which was enough to make people cough until their eyes were red and itchy.
They seemed to be almost there as the crook who was keeping an eye on them suddenly uttered out an “ack” sound and used his knees to lift himself up. He then covered their eyes with some kind of black cloth and loudly yelled out,
“Motherfucker, my butt’s numb from all the sitting. What the heck were you two men doing driving up in the middle of the night to the mountains? You aren’t fucking gay prostitutes, are you?!”
They had followed Huo Ming Chen since the very beginning at the highway. They planned to act then, but then they saw another person inside the car. To avoid any unforeseen events, they withheld going forward with their plan and kept waiting from a distance away. Who could have thought that the two of them were still together even this late at night? The contractor was urging them, and seeing that the sky was dark, they gritted their teeth and decided to kidnap them both.
Now they have two hostages when they only received money for kidnapping one person. It was like an assassin killing someone without receiving any money; a man would feel like they had been cheated out of a profit for doing a deed for nothing
Lu Qi thought inside his heart that he was glad that they didn’t go too crazy, otherwise they would have been seen. As if Huo Ming Chen could tell what he was thinking, he lazily sighed and said,
“Don’t think about it too much. That kind of thing is impossible.”
He and Lu Qi were not people who fooled around randomly. At best, they would talk their mouths off, but that was it. Besides, who would be bold enough to have sex in the wild? Not even worrying about the bugs, you’ve got to at least be worried of the bacteria and viruses.
Just as he finished talking, he was pushed by someone from behind. The crook yelled,
“Why do you talk so much!”
He had been very bored during the entire truck ride. So when Huo Ming Chen and Lu Qi were talking, he didn’t hesitate to listen in on them from the beginning to the end of their conversation and because of that, he became very annoyed at their long conversations.
The two of them were brought to a place that seemed to be some sort of warehouse. The kidnappers did not take off their blindfolds, and after listening to the sound of a metal door being locked, they seemed to be surrounded by silence.
In the dark, humans will feel extremely unsafe, and this would especially include Lu Qi, the kind of sensitive person who overthinks. His eyebrows were furrowed the entire time, always feeling like the ball still had not dropped. He slowly moved backwards, taking one step at a time, wanting to lean against the wall. He stopped when he heard Huo Ming Chen’s voice echo around the room,
“Lu Qi, are you here?”
This place seemed very spacious, as Huo Ming Chen’s words echoed, but Lu Qi’s heart seemed to settle down for some reason.
“I’m here.”
“You stand there and don’t move. I’ll come find you.”
In this kind of situation, Huo Ming Chen was unexpectedly stable and steady, able to make anyone feel safe. In the darkness, he searched in a stable and purposeful manner, and within a matter of minutes, he could feel Lu Qi. Lu Qi was first shocked and then calmed down.
Huo Ming Chen said, “Lower your head, I’ll take your blindfold off.”
Lu Qi listened to him and lowered his head. Huo Ming Chen came closer and used his sense of touch to help him. A slightly cold nose stroked across his face, and in the middle of banging their heads accidentally, they kissed a few times and in the end Huo Ming Chen successfully used his teeth to bite the blindfold off.
A brightness shined in Lu Qi’s face, and with this, his vision became clearer. He squinted his eyes and lowered his head, copying Huo Ming Chen’s actions and taking off Huo Ming Chen’s blindfold. Then he took the time to take a look at their surroundings.
This was a very simple and small dirty warehouse. The ground was littered with dry grass and above them was a vent about the size of their hands. Nothing else was there, except for the door beside them that seemed to have been in need of maintenance for many years. It was full of rust, and as it could not close by itself, the door was locked with chains, but they could peep a little through the cracks to scope out the situation outside.
There were four thug-like figures sitting around a square table outside, playing cards and drinking alcohol. There were also peanuts in their hands, and you could occasionally hear faint boisterous laughter. Someone asked what they should do with the confined men, and the bald leader said,
“Listen for news from the employer I guess. Even if you kill them, these two pieces of scrawny pale white meat are of no use.”
Upon hearing that, Lu Qi’s face paled, as if truly becoming that scrawny white meat they were referencing. Huo Ming Chen’s face was also not looking very good. If they were rushing to kidnap him today, this would no doubt be an attack on Huo Ming Cheng. And thinking about the innocent Lu Qi who has been dragged into this, thinking about the board meeting tomorrow, his face became leaden with weight.
That specific crook seemed to be a little dumb, as he scratched his head saying,
“Da-Ge1, I’m hungry. I don’t want abalone or bird’s nest. I want to eat rice.”
The bald man seemed to have a headache and could only facepalm and said,
“San-Er, Biao-Zi2, you two drive the car into town. Bring something back to eat.”
The two called out by name seemed a bit unhappy,
“Da-Ge, we are not hungry. Whoever is hungry should go buy it. Driving will take several hours. And also, we have to look after the two inside.”
The bald man who had a hooked dart tattooed on the left side of his face did not speak and mashed a handful of peanut shells. In a rough voice he yelled,
“Da-Han does not recognize roads. If you let him go into town, he could drive the car straight into the police station. Also, if we plan to finish this job tomorrow, there will be too many people outside in the daytime. We are going to have to hide from the public eye for a while. Could it be that tomorrow we can’t even eat a meal?!”
He took a look at the door inside,
“As for those two meal tickets, they’re tied up. Four people isn’t enough? What could they do?”
The two called San-Er and Biao-Zi could only stand up and ask everyone what they wanted to eat and then left with the car.
Huo Ming Chen listened to the entire conversation and once he heard the car starting up and leaving, his dark eyes surged with schemes and plans. He turned his head to look at Lu Qi, and soundlessly moved his lips,
“There’s still four more outside.”
Lu Qi understood his meaning.
They have to think of a way to get out now since there are fewer people which meant that they have a higher chance of escape. Once those two come back, if they were to kill the two of them, then this is exactly what they call putting themselves up on the chopping block to be butchered.
But at most Huo Ming Chen could only fight two, and Lu Qi…… Lu Qi would have trouble with even one.
Huo Ming Chen moved, and from his sleeve dropped a lighter. This was something he had secretly hidden when he got out of the car. His fingers searched for a long time and finally found the button to press down. A blue flame lit up immediately and licked the rope on his wrist and skin.
A faint burning smell started to emit, and Huo Ming Chen scowled but said nothing. His forehead started to sweat furiously and after a hard tug, the rope fell onto the floor.
Seeing this, Lu Qi’s eyes brightened,
Notes:
*1 Da-Ge: translates as to mean big brother, and in this case, is actually a title for the leader of the gang rather than Da being a surname.
*2 Biao-Zi: like “-er”, “zi” is a suffix to call someone younger than you but not as young as a child