(Author’s Note: Just a heads up before you complain in unlocking this chapter, this isn’t mentioned anymore in the previous chapters. And I’m dropping hints about the suspects for the kidnapping!)

  After Xiu Mei was put to sleep, she was quickly brought out by her uncle to the ambulance for tests. Xiu Mei’s Uncle, Yu Shi Jin, returned to the room where Xiu Mei’s friend, Ying Yue, lay dead.

  "What’s her status?" He asked the medics present on the scene.

  "Apologies, we tried reviving her by administering epinephrine and doing defibrillation but we did not receive any response. I’m sorry."

  "……"

  Yu Shi Jin’s heart turned heavy after hearing that. He looked at the body of the girl lying on the ground. He can see the severity of abuse that the girl experienced just by looking at her.

  Her body would’ve been fully n.a.k.e.d if the medics did not cover her up with a white cloth. Her hair was disheveled, and around her neck, you can see the traces of the abuse she went through. There are scratches in the different parts of her body, aside from the stabbed wound on her stomach.

  But most of all, it was the expression on the girl’s face when she died. Her dilated eyes were wide open, depicting the anguish and torment that the girl went through.

  Yu Shi Jin heaved a sigh and knelt. After chanting his prayers in his head, he covered the eyes of the girl to close it. He felt deep regret that he arrived too late. If he had arrived earlier, would this girl still be alive?

  He can already imagine the shadow that would be left on Xiu Mei after this. As a soldier who already faced death multiple times, a lot of his comrades left their posts because they couldn’t get over the traumatic experience they had in the field or the death of their fellow comrades.

  But facing his niece and to tell her this news, she would definitely be devastated.

  "Don’t miss any evidence. Take all the alive ones for questioning. I want to know who is the one behind all of this." He coldly ordered, before leaving the room to check on his niece.

  Xiu Mei was quickly confined in the military hospital and was undergoing some tests. As soon as her family arrived in the hospital, Xiu Mei’s mother broke down in tears after being told of the initial status of her daughter.

  There were a lot of bruises and marks left on her body due to the attempted s.e.x.u.a.l assault that she had gone through. She didn’t seem to have any major physical injuries aside from those but the doctor already advised her parents to prepare themselves.

  For victims of kidnapping that was s.e.x.u.a.lly assaulted, the possibility of them having physiological and psychological effects are high. In this case, after Yu Shi Jin said his statement on how Xiu Mei acted back in the room where they rescued her, the doctor was 80% sure that Xiu Mei would need the help of a psychiatrist at this rate.

  "Mr. Xiu, the Zhu family are calling on the phone."

  "Do we look like we have time to waste on them?!" Xiu Gu Ren roared in anger. Prior to the rescue of Xiu Mei, he was already aware of what happened beforehand.

  Half a day later, the family was finally allowed to see Xiu Mei. Xiu Mei’s brothers stood stiffly at the side after seeing their younger sister. From afar, they could see the bruises on their sister’s face. Some of it was even covered with a bandage.

  The noticeable part is that her wrists are bound on the bed with a cloth.

  "What’s wrong with our daughter?" Xiu Gu Ren asked after seeing his daughter.

  "Ms.Xiu Mei didn’t have any major injuries after further inspection. She twisted her left ankle and bruises in different parts of her body due to being dragged around. About why we have to bind her on the bed, Ms.Xiu woke up two hours ago during the inspection and she went hysterical so we had to inject her some tranquilizer to calm her down. So this is just a preventive measure so she won’t hurt herself in the process when she wakes up." The doctor declared.

  As soon as the doctor left the room to give the family their space, Xiu Mei’s mother, Yu Shi Huang approached her daughter on the bed.

  With trembling hands, she lightly caressed Xiu Mei’s face and smoothened her hair. Eventually, she couldn’t take it anymore and broke down to tears after finally seeing Xiu Mei’s condition.

  Xiu Gu Ren quickly hugged his wife to comfort her, but he couldn’t hide his emotions either. He was on the verge of tearing up but he was also filled with anger. His brother-in-law is still questioning the people who kidnapped Xiu Mei and Ying Yue but they were very determined to shut their mouths.

  Xiu Mei eventually woke up after a few hours. Fortunately this time, she didn’t turn hysterical. Xiu Mei saw her mother’s face as soon as she opened her eyes, and seeing her mom’s red and swelling eyes, all her memories from the day before came rushing back again. But what the family didn’t expect was, Xiu Mei couldn’t remember how she was even rescued from that place at all. Her memories stopped before she was forcefully pinned down on the table and almost got s.e.x.u.a.lly assaulted.

  But she remembered the most important thing. Xiu Mei spoke with a weakened voice,

  "Mom, how about Ying Yue? Where is she?"

  Her parents fell into silence as soon as they heard the question so Xiu Mei got even more nervous. She repeated her question.

  "Where is she? Is she okay? Can I see her?"

  Xiu Gu Ren clenched his fist and took a deep breath. He hesitated to tell the news to his daughter with her current condition but he knew that lying wouldn’t do any better. He was just about to open his mouth when his wife beat him to it.

  "Don’t worry. Ying Yue’s fine and is recuperating now in a different hospital. She’s with her parents so she’ll be okay."

  In the interrogation room.

  Yu Shi Jin barely controlled himself from torturing the kidnappers to pry open their mouths. Finally, after severely threatening one of the weakest willed people, they were able to gather some information.

  As he expected, someone paid them to kidnap Xiu Mei which is the very opposite of their first statement that they kidnapped the two girls for ransom after recognizing their uniform. The person who hired them paid them in cash, leaving no paper trail. They were only told to kidnap them and hold them for a few days before finally letting them go after they receive the ransom.

  Reading the short report, Yu Shi Jin frowned. If that person aimed to kill his niece, he would’ve hired an assassin instead so at least, they know that the person didn’t plan to kill from the start.

  But to specifically target his niece, that is very alarming. Given the number of enemies the Yu family and Xiu family alone, they can understand that Xiu Mei was definitely the easiest target since she is the weakest among both families. The thing is, Yu Shi Jin couldn’t figure out the motive behind the kidnapping.

  After hiring and paying the kidnappers, that person did not communicate with them anymore after receiving the word that they’ve kidnapped Xiu Mei. He even allowed to let them free once the kidnappers receive the ransom. Either way, Yu Shi Jin couldn’t find the benefit that person would gain after kidnapping Xiu Mei aside from bluntly declaring to the two families that he won’t be scared by them.

  He ordered his men to investigate where the paper bills came from but the investigation got stuck after finding out that it was an embezzled money that was stolen from a person that’s currently in jail.

  They even had it tested for fingerprints or DNA that could be used, but only the kidnappers’ DNA could be found all over them. That person’s style was so clean that he didn’t leave any trace behind.

  They tried tracking the number but was left with a dead-end since the owner has already been dead for two years.

  From those, Yu Shi Jin can conclude that the mastermind behind this is very intelligent, and cautious. This kidnapping is something he carefully planned, making sure leaving no evidence that will trace back to him at all.

  After delivering this initial report to his father and other members of the family, the Yu and Xiu family mobilized their men to investigate and dig deeper about the case. They couldn’t trace the call but they can at least identify which place the signal came from.

  And the thing is, it pinged back to S city, the city where the military headquarters are located in.

  The Yu family narrowed down their list of enemies within the city, including the military personnel are under suspicion.

  After investigating each of the families on the list, they couldn’t find an exact person to investigate but they are able to connect some of the unconfirmed pieces of evidence to three families.

  The Xiu family. The Ying family. And the Fan family.