The whole world went silent for Wei. It was as if time had stopped and so did his ability to talk or move.
Jiang Shan has kidnapped Madam Lihua!
Kidnap... Lihua... Kidnap... Lihua…
He could only blankly stare at Fu Renshu, who was looking back at him, distressed and extremely anxious.
"...Where is she again?"
Fu Renshu shivered, feeling the temperature drop. "Mrs. Zhang and Meng Ya said that…"
He told everything that had happened.
"Lu Bojing is there with her," he said in an attempt to console himself, but only he knew that it was fruitless.
"One of the onlookers who was hiding saw the last man taking Lu Bojing with Madam. He saw the whole fight and Lu Bojing had killed all his men except...the leader had escaped from the chaos, and he pointed the gun at Madam Lihua."
Wei tightly clenched his palm around the prison bar as he heard the last part.
"Lu Bojing had no choice, and Madam Lihua stopped him from taking any action too…"
At that point, Wei showed nothing on his face. Absolutely nothing. Even when Lihua would get hurt by just a scratch, he would run into panic mode.
But now that she was kidnapped by the enemy, Wei stood quiet. There were a million thoughts rampaging in his mind, and out of all those, only one came out of his lips.
"He has made a big mistake."
Wei lowered his gaze that began to swirl akin to an onset of a storm.
"Nobody can hurt my Lihua."
Fu Renshu found it difficult to breathe. The voice with which he spoke...nobody would dare to stand in a 50 meter radius as him.
"He had never started the war," Wei's eyes glinted with an unreadable darkness.
Fu Renshu understood him. Even though Jiang Shan had been plotting all this time by planting a mole, egging the gangs to go against Wei or be it the fake charges - For Wei, it was never a declaration of war.
It was for Jiang Shan, but not for the Mafia King.
But...
"But now, it has...He took away my Lihua. Now, the war begins.
Now, I will wage a war against him."
The sound of gunshots grew rampant outside. It was smelling blood everywhere.
Even around Wei.
"And then I will teach him what it means to step into the Mafia King's territory."
---
The news had reached Mingshen's ears too. He was staring at his guard, who had come to report it. His gaze was unnerving the poor guard, who had just come to deliver the news.
"Lihua is gone," Mingshen quietly stated.
"Yes, Boss."
"Bojing is gone."
"Y-Yes, Boss."
"I see."
He took a deep breath and rested his head on his chair, shutting his eyes. A sneer formed on his lips.
"In the end, he could only take Lihua away at gunpoint. In the end, he could only rely on a threat because he was too cowardly to face Bojing."
The guard didn't understand the last part. Only Mingshen knew about Lu Bojing's strength, and he had kept it that way for years. So, none of the guards knew about Lu Bojing's hidden power.
Mingshen smiled. "I must say my assistant did a good job. How many dead bodies are there?"
"Fifteen."
"Ah, he has given me a lot of research subjects…"
He opened his eyes that were now filled with frost. "But the group won't be completed without Jiang Shan, now would it? But Wei wouldn't let me since Lihua is gone. He would kill me if I tried to touch him. Jiang Shan is his prey now. Although I would like a piece of the pie, too, since he will be taking care of my assistant for a few days."
Suddenly, the door to his office opened with a slow creaking sound. Mingshen narrowed his eyes.
"Who the fuck is out there?"
But then he froze seeing Jia standing at the entrance, who was equally frozen.
The guard widened his eyes. "You…"
Mingshen said, "Leave."
The guard straightened up and quickly scurried away. Even though a prisoner was walking freely in his lab, clearly trying to escape, he didn't dare open his mouth to become Mingshen's next research subject. Mingshen hated it when his orders were questioned.
As they were now left in the room alone, the air turned suffocating and stagnant.
"...Did I hear you saying Lihua's name?"
Mingshen said nothing.
Jia walked slow steps and stood in front of his desk.
"Yang Mingshen. I asked you a question. Did I just hear Lihua's name?"
Things are gonna get difficult by a notch now, Mingshen thought.
Jia's heart was racing, yet she tried to maintain her composure. "She cannot be that Lihua, right? Even if my sister's name is Lihua, it's not like she is the only one in the whole world."
Mingshen said nothing.
*BANG*
Things are gonna get difficult by too many notches to count now, he silently corrected himself.
Her palm loudly hit the desk, and for the first time, Mingshen saw how Jia looked when she was truly angry.
Her palm is gonna get all red and sting later on. My desk is tough, after all.
Jia stared at him with absolute stillness in her gaze. "Just say yes, and I will go back to my room."
Mingshen stared back at her.
He just had to say yes.
"Believe me. You deny it, and I will walk away from here. I won't ever question Lihua's identity anymore."
Mingshen believed her.
"Just tell me that she is not my sister who you were talking about."
He knew what he had to do.
He just had to say yes. Matter over.
"I am afraid I would have to disappoint you, Spicy. The Lihua in my words, and the Lihua in your words are the same."
Jia said nothing.
"My guard reported about Lihua's kidnap. He wasn't talking about any other Lihua in this whole world. Unfortunately, she is the same woman who happens to be your sister. Song Jia.. Your sister has been kidnapped by the Mafia King's enemy."