Chapter 24: Buried with the Dead
Zhu Xiaoyue explained, "There have been a total of seventeen kidnapping cases in Ling City, including Zhuo Yi, that makes eighteen."
Li Xiaoyao grunted, pulled out a cigarette, lit it up, and listened quietly.
Zhu Xiaoyue went on, "These abducted people have three things in common; first, they are all women."
Li Xiaoyao rolled his eyes, thinking what the hell kind of commonality that was.
"Second, they were all abducted at subway entrances or bus stations," Zhu Xiaoyue’s emotion intensified as she spoke, "Third, when they were abducted, they were all holding a big doll in their arms."
As Li Xiaoyao listened, he found it quite interesting. He glanced at Liu Ming and noticed Liu Ming’s expression was ugly, which meant the commonalities Zhu Xiaoyue mentioned must be important.
Li Xiaoyao threw the cigarette butt on the ground and kicked Liu Ming, "That Wang Ru’an guy, who is he? Where does he live?"
Liu Ming answered honestly, "He owns a chain of hotpot restaurants, very rich."
Li Xiaoyao said impatiently, "Don’t fucking gasp while talking. Tell me everything at once."
Fearing that Li Xiaoyao might smash his remaining fingers in anger, Liu Ming quickly said, "Wang Anru’s son died last month..."
At that point, Zhu Xiaoyue couldn’t help interrupting, asking, "What does his son’s death have to do with you kidnapping girls?"
Li Xiaoyao said, "Let him finish, don’t interrupt."
Zhu Xiaoyue glared at Li Xiaoyao; this guy actually spoke to her in that tone and told her not to interrupt.
Hmph, right now the priority is the business at hand. I’ll tolerate this slight. Once we rescue those girls, I’ll settle the score with you.
Liu Ming continued, "Wang Ru’an’s son pursued Zhuo Yi while he was alive. Now that his son is dead, he wants to find a wife for him."
"Fuck!" When Li Xiaoyao heard this, he couldn’t help but swear aloud.
"Motherfucker, finding a wife? The guy’s dead and still wants a wife, so this is to make Zhuo Yi join him in death, eh?" Li Xiaoyao was furious; he was truly shocked. He had thought it was just an ordinary kidnapping but didn’t expect such an atrocious act.
Li Xiaoyao lashed out and kicked Liu Ming, cursing, "Fuck, are you even a man? Selling your ex-girlfriend off for someone else’s burial? You fucking piece of shit!"
Li Xiaoyao’s kicks were exceedingly fierce, and with each blow, there was a loud thumping sound, occasionally accompanied by the sound of Liu Ming’s bones breaking.
"Stop hitting him." Zhu Xiaoyue ran over to pull Li Xiaoyao away, genuinely afraid Li Xiaoyao would beat Liu Ming to death.
Although Li Xiaoyao was very angry, he knew he could actually kill Liu Ming if he continued like this.
Li Xiaoyao stepped back and sat down in the chair, took out another cigarette, and finished it in a few puffs.
With a cold look in his eyes, Li Xiaoyao stared at him and asked, "Where is Wang Ru’an?"
Liu Ming was so battered he could hardly breathe. He weakly said, "He lives in Ling City..."
Li Xiaoyao wrote down the address, kicked Liu Ming in the head, and turned to walk outside the house.
Zhu Xiaoyue ran up to hold him back, "Li Xiaoyao, don’t be impulsive, I’m going to call for backup now, to get a rescue mission underway."
"You guys work too slow, I only trust myself." Li Xiaoyao shrugged off her arm and walked away.
Zhu Xiaoyue turned to look at the unconscious Liu Ming, hesitated for a moment, then jogged over and kicked him hard in the head twice more, before following after Li Xiaoyao.
Zhu Xiaoyue ran after Li Xiaoyao while taking out her phone to call the station.
"Hello, Chief, it’s me. I’ve caught the kidnapper. Yes, I’m all right. Hurry over, I’ve knocked him out. You can take him away when you arrive. The address is..."
There wasn’t a taxi in sight, so Li Xiaoyao grabbed a motorcycle from someone’s house, and the owners pulled on him, refusing to let him go.
Zhu Xiaoyue rushed over, flashed her police badge, and threw her wallet over: "I’m a cop. My ID is in the wallet. I need to commandeer your vehicle. I’ll leave the wallet with you, and when I’m done with the bike, I’ll come back for it."
After she spoke, Zhu Xiaoyue swung her leg over and mounted the motorcycle behind Li Xiaoyao, wrapping her arms around his strong waist, and said to a somewhat stunned Li Xiaoyao, "Stop dawdling and get moving."
Li Xiaoyao twisted the throttle, and the motorcycle roared to life, shooting off like an arrow from its bow, leaving a trail of dust behind.
Li Xiaoyao made a call to Zhang Meng while riding: "Meng Meng, head to security now. Have them dispatch ten people to a location to wait for me."
Zhang Meng bombarded him with questions from the other end of the line, but Li Xiaoyao simply told her to get to security immediately to call for help.
In times of need, Li Xiaoyao suddenly realized he really should have some people he could call on at any moment.
Though he could mobilize these security guards as well, after all, they worked for the company. They were ordinary people and, like today’s incident, if Li Xiaoyao had his own people, he would have sent them straight into Wang Anru’s house to subdue him.
But he couldn’t do that with these guards. For a simple reason: they wouldn’t dare do something like breaking into a residence.
Li Xiaoyao throttled the motorcycle to the max, reaching the city center in half an hour, then drove straight to the residential area where Wang Anru lived.
As they reached the entrance of the residential area, Li Xiaoyao saw the young security men from the department standing outside the area.
"Boss, the property management won’t let us in," the guards said, approaching Li Xiaoyao as they saw him arrive.
Li Xiaoyao glanced at Zhu Xiaoyue, who knew what he meant. She pulled out her police badge and showed it to the property manager, saying, "Police investigation, open the gate."
The property manager, seeing Zhu Xiaoyue’s badge looked legit and also not wanting any trouble in the complex, obediently opened the gate.
Li Xiaoyao smiled for a change: "The police badge is quite useful, though it’s really just for scaring the ordinary folks."
Zhu Xiaoyue glared at him: "What are you trying to say? Who’s scaring anyone?"
Li Xiaoyao glanced at her chest and kindly reminded, "Officer, don’t get mad, but your button’s about to pop off."
Zhu Xiaoyue glared at Li Xiaoyao angrily: "Li Xiaoyao, you…"
"Enough with the yous, let’s move. Catching the criminal is more important."
Zhu Xiaoyue watched Li Xiaoyao’s back, irritated to the point of gritting her teeth, thinking that after this incident, she must give him a lesson and show him she wasn’t so easy to bully.
The residential community was an upscale villa area, with Li Xiaoyao leading the security guards and Zhu Xiaoyue quickly toward one of the villas.
The villa’s interior was lavishly decorated in the classical style of Xuan Country.
In the vast living room of the villa, there sat a corpulent man on the sofa, with a woman lying at one side of the couch.
The woman’s hands and feet were all bound. She looked pale and frightened as she watched the man.
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