The rhythmic sounds of raindrops hitting the car roof was all the two girls could hear from the truck. Both of their hands and legs bound, and their eyes blindfolded by a piece of cloth, they could only stay put and reserved their energy.

  Since their freedom of movement was taken away, they really couldn’t do anything.

  "Ouch." Ying Yue lightly reacted as she hit her head on the surface. Xiu Mei hissed a bit when her forehead bumped onto something hard as well.

  It felt like the truck was currently driving on a rocky and bumpy groundas the vehicle continued to shake back and forth while moving forward in an unsteady manner.

  The random acceleration and halt often causes them to hit onto somewhere inside the enclosed truck.

  An hour later, they felt the truck go into a complete stop. Before they could absorb what’s currently happening, both girls heard the door of the truck opening as it made a loud creaking sound.

  Few pairs of steps resounded as one of them spoke. "Bring them out."

  They weren’t able to struggle as they were roughly manhandled as they pulled them up to stand up.

  "Let me go!" She heard Ying Yue say while she was being pushed to get off the truck. Xiu Mei also tried struggling to free from the hands of their kidnappers but ultimately failed in the end.

  "Silence!" What she heard next was a light sound. Xiu Mei grew worried as she realized that Ying Yue was slapped by the kidnapper just so she could shut up. Seeing that putting up a fight would not bring them any good, the both or them remained quiet for the rest of the time.

  They finally dragged them by their arms while climbing out of the truck.

  Due to the uneven ground, Xiu Mei couldn’t help but trip every now and then while her body was continuously being dragged forward.

  A few minutes later, they were thrown to the ground making both girls land on their faces as they crashed to the ground. Before they could even speak to complain, they felt the cloths on their eyes loosened. What they heard next was the sound of the doors closing and some sound of metals clinking before it went silent.

  Xiu Mei took a full minute of blinking continuously before she could make clear of her surroundings. Since it was dark, her eyes haven’t adjusted to the darkness so she couldn’t figure out what was the things that were inside the room.

  "Mei Mei, where are we?" Ying Yue’s voice was shaking as she asked her. Xiu Mei saw her trying to sit up from her position.

  "Away from the city, definitely." Xiu Mei realized this fact. Her eyes trailed onto the outlines of boxes on the other side of the room.

  She was very sure of the fact that their kidnappers had brought them outside the city. "A mountain, or a plantation, probably."

  An uneven and rocky ground, how could you possibly find it inside a city? The probability of them being imprisoned in the mountains was high as she felt that the truck ckimbed in an elevated ground in a continuous manner for more than half an hour.

  "Mei Mei, I’m scared." Ying Yue cried out in fear, as she pulled her knees closer to her. Her stance completely showing that she was completely confused and helpless to what was happening to the both of them.

  "Don’t be afraid. Help will come." Xiu Mei tried to give a reassuring gaze to Ying Yue as she responded to her. Though, she herself didn’t know whether she was speaking it to Ying Yue or to herself instead.

  Ying Yue’s expression completely engraved in her mind. The once presentable Ying Yue currently held a fearful face covered in mud. Her hair was in a complete mess and uniform full of mud.

  "NOOO!!!" Xiu Mei heard a shriek and she automatically followed the source of that voice. The scene distorted in front of her before finally showing her a new room.

  A light was lit in the middle and bottles of beer piled up on the table. The smell of smoke covered the room as she could hear the laugh of people who were watching across the room. Their eyes was focused on the person at the center of the room. Her eyes trailed to where they were looking at.

  There,she saw Ying Yue on the ground. Her eyes wide open, her uniform nowhere to be found and she could some scratches and blood across her body.

  But what scared Xiu Mei the most was the lifeless gaze on the eyes of her best friend.

  "Ying Yue!!!"

  Xiu Mei suddenly bolted upward from lying down on her bed. Her hands were cold but she was weirdly sweating so hard. She was even catching her breath like she had jogged for quite awhile.

  Breathing hard, her eyes darted to the beaming red clock on her bedside. It was still 3 in the morning but it felt like she had been sleeping for quite a long time. She grabbed her phone when she saw that the screen was blinking to life.

  It was then she had finally remembered something.

  Xiu Mei was too busy these past few weeks and her mind too preoccupied that the date she always remembered was already approaching.

  On her screen flashed a reminder.

  Ying Yue’s 10th Death Anniversary.