(Author’s note: The first half of the chapter may seem somewhat familiar to you since it was copied from the early chapters I wrote in the story. It’ll be easier for you to follow the flow of what transpired that night.)

  Xiu Mei continued reading her statement from ten years ago. In this file, she recounted all the events that happened that day. It was the hardest interview she had been through in her entire life.

  10 years ago.

  After Zhu Lin fled on his own after sacrificing Ying Yue, the two girls were immediately captured by the men and knocked out. Before Xiu Mei lost her consciousness, she could hear someone screaming to chase after Zhu Lin as well. Then, she completely blacked out.

  Hours later, Xiu Mei woke up from the pain she was feeling on her cheek. Her head kept hitting the cold floor of the truck they were in because of the uneven ground. As soon as she woke up, Xiu Mei felt a sense of panic after realizing that she couldn’t see anything at all.

  Where was she?!

  "Ying Yue?" She murmured, trying to find Ying Yue’s presence inside the vehicle.

  "Mei Mei, are you awake?"

  As soon as she heard her voice, the panic in her heart lessened.

  At least Ying Yue is still safe.

  "How long have you been awake?"

  "I’m not sure. Probably half an hour now?"

  "So there’s no one but us here in the back of the truck?"

  "Yeah."

  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.

  The driver seemed to be driving on a rocky and bumpy grounds causing the truck to shake back and forth while moving forward in an unsteady manner. The random acceleration and halt would often cause them to hit onto somewhere inside the enclosed truck.

  For the rest of the ride, Xiu Mei continuously cursed herself for leaving all the tracking devices she had on her body. Aside from the phone, her parents also added some tracking devices on her necklace and watch that she removed when she skipped her classes earlier.

  Damn it! If she had just kept them on, her parents could immediately find her location and save them.

  Her inner turmoil continued like that. She was regretting it. She was regretting all her actions now that could’ve prevented this from happening. And now, even she wasn’t sure whether they could really survive or not.

  An hour later, the truck went 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, both of 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 carelessly 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 fully adjusted to the darkness so she couldn’t figure out what was in front of her.

  "Mei Mei, where are we?" Ying Yue’s voice trembled as she asked her. She turned to where the source of the voice was and blinked twice until she could finally make out her outline. She saw her struggling trying to sit up from her lying down 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 is high and she felt that the truck climbed 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 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.

  Hours passed when the door was pulled open again. Instantly, the two of them became on high alert. Ying Yue and Xiu Mei back away towards the wall as they fiercely glared at the two men who were smiling so smugly at them. The men looked very unkempt and they could smell the strong smell of alcohol from their bodies.

  The two girls grew more nervous after realizing the two people didn’t seem to be in their right minds.

  Xiu Mei grew more apprehensive when she realized that these guys weren’t only drinking but they seemed to be inhaling some drugs just a while ago. She could smell in the air something different and unfamiliar so she wasn’t sure if it was really drugs.

  "Since both of you are already here, why don’t you play with us?" One of the two men remarked, sounding very excited.

  The two men pulled them up and dragged them outside the room. Since the room they were in was dark, she was momentarily blinded by the brightness of the room they were dragged into.

  Xiu Mei trembled in fear when she saw what was in front of her. She couldn’t count how many men were in the room but she saw four tables were occupied by them and the bottles of beer piling up around the area. Some were smoking and inhaling some white stuff too.

  "Here are our desserts!" The two men announced making everyone in the room turn to their direction. Ying Yue and Xiu Mei were scared of the gazes they were making when all the men in the room looked at them.

  "Since the agreement did not say that we can’t touch them, we can at least take the interest first then the ransom later." One of the drunk men said. He staggered while walking towards Xiu Mei but since they were being held down by the two men, she couldn’t avoid his disgusting touch when he caressed her face.

  "Then we can start the party then!"

  Suddenly, Ying Yue was dragged to a different part of the room.

  Ying Yue looked at Xiu Mei in panic, fearful of what was going to happen for the next minute. The two girls knew what the men were planning to do to them so they put up a fight. Ying Yue struggled while being dragged and Xiu Mei also did the same.

  "Oh, feisty ones. Isn’t this more interesting?"

  Xiu Mei was startled when she felt someone licking her behind her neck. She reflexively tried to push away the man behind her.

  Xiu Mei was then dragged towards a table and was forced to lie down. They held her bound arms above her head while someone was touching the different parts of her body. She continued to struggle until she felt that she felt her feet being loosened from being bound. As soon as her feet were completely freed, she took the opportunity to kick and attack the men around her before they could climb on her body.

  Xiu Mei pulled her arms away forcefully from the one holding down her arms. She grabbed the nearest bottle she could reach and smashed it to one of them. She kicked and attacked like that when she heard Ying Yue’s scream and the sound of something being torn apart.