novelThe Secret About the Past (88)
| ← Ch.0469 | Ch.0471 → |
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Not to forget, she was a member of the Gu family too.
An Xiaoning racked her brains to come up with a possible suspect who instigated the abduction. After pondering it through thoroughly, the only names she could think of was Xu Youran and Gu Dongcheng.
Who would stand to gain the most if Gu Beicheng and Lin Mingxi went missing?
It was none other than Gu Dongcheng.
Without them around, he would have the Gu Corporation all to himself.
Who would benefit the most if An Xiaoning went missing?
Xu Youran, of course.
Perhaps Xu Youran has already found out about the possibility of me belonging to the Xu family, that's why...
A grave expression formed on An Xiaoning's face.
Indeed, if you don't eradicate the root cause completely, there was bound to be more trouble in the future.
While she knew that the two of them were the greatest suspects behind the act, she could not make any accusations without concrete evidence.
Neither could she interrogate them both immediately, lest she alerts the enemy unnecessarily.
It would be the most foolish decision to do so.
Upon knowing that such a serious incident had occurred, the hotel worked at top efficiency and quickly settled the matters An Xiaoning instructed them to.
An Xiaoning immediately understood what she had to do next after looking at the screenshots of the footage as well as the registered details of the guests belonging to that room.
She instructed her assistant and bodyguards to stay behind in the hotel while she headed to the address on the personal identification card used for registration.
To her disappointment, the personal identification card was robbed from the original owner, who explained the situation to An Xiaoning. The victim had been frightened by the robbery as well.
An Xiaoning had lost her lead.
An Xiaoning knew that the perpetrators would have definitely fled the country using a private boat or jet instead of boarding a commercial plane or ferry.
The greatest likelihood was that they had left on their private ferry. After all, they were bringing two other people with them.
She again thought of the possibility that the mastermind was probably not after Gu Beicheng and Lin Mingxi's lives, for they would have taken the chance to kill them right away when they were drugged unconscious instead of going through the hassle of taking them away.
Xu Youran would definitely be more ruthless than to spare their lives, which meant it was likely that Gu Dongcheng was the one behind it.
At this point, An Xiaoning had already pinned the two of them as the main suspects.
She then hailed a taxi to the nearest ferry terminal.
She managed to obtain the information she needed after bribing the workers at the terminal.
According to the staff in charge, there was a private ferry that left the terminal at midnight and headed in the Southwest direction. The staff also immediately verified that the ferry belonged to the people in the photos An Xiaoning had shown him.
It would be too late to take chase now since the ferry had departed at midnight, which was several hours ago.
Nonetheless, An Xiaoning decided to still chase after them.
Without hesitation, she ordered for the helicopter to pick her up. She then embarked on a journey towards the direction given by the staff in charge while looking out of the helicopter with a pair of binoculars.
The helicopter did not soar too high above the sea, though it was advancing at top speed.
Needless to say, it was traveling much faster than a ferry would.
On the helicopter, An Xiaoning instructed the bodyguards and assistant to keep mum and ensure that no news of Gu Beicheng and Lin Mingxi missing were leaked to the public. She warned that they would face severe punishment should they fail to keep the news secret.
An Xiaoning constantly pondered about where she would take the two of them if put in the shoes of the mastermind.
Since they can't die, the mastermind would definitely take them somewhere far away from home, such that it was impossible to go back.
She then began to wonder just what place that could be.
"Where's the furthest we can head to in this direction?" she asked the pilot.
"F Nation. It's an extremely underdeveloped country that is not only the furthest from where we are but also known to be primitive. I heard that the citizens in that country are all aboriginals who aren't exposed to technology at all. There's no internet connection there either."
"Let's head towards F Nation while following the route taken by sea."
"Got it."
She sat in her seat with a heavy heart. If she guessed correctly, they would definitely be able to stop the ferry before they make it to F Nation, given the vast difference in speeds of the ferry and the helicopter.
But then again, that's only if her assumptions were correct.
An Xiaoning was filled with anxiety and uneasiness. She sent Jin Qingyan a text message to inform him that there would be a delay in her return due to an urgent matter that cropped up at the last minute.
Not wanting to worry him, she decided not to tell him the real reason for the delay.
It was not because she did not trust him but rather because she was worried sick about the safety of Gu Beicheng and Lin Mingxi. Although she knew that they were likely to still be alive, she could not help but worry that they might have broken their legs or something of the sort...
She thought it would be better not to make Jin Qingyan worry about her as well, because she understood how terrible it felt to be worried.
Jin Qingyan gave her a call upon learning that she would be delaying her return to S Nation.
"Why is there a delay? Do you know that I didn't sleep well at all last night because I was excited about you coming back today?"
"I didn't catch a wink at all last night either. I initially planned to go home today too but something cropped up all of a sudden. I'll be back very soon, " said An Xiaoning, forcing herself to sound relaxed.
"Don't forget our pact, " Jin Qingyan said in his alluring voice.
An Xiaoning could guess his expression from the way he sounded over the phone, as much as they were miles apart from each other at the moment.
"I won't. I remember it very clearly. Okay, I have to get to work, " she said, staring out at the window of the helicopter.
"Alright."
After hanging up the phone, An Xiaoning leaned against the window. She was extremely sleepy and fatigued, yet she did not dare to close her eyes to fall asleep.
Noticing how tired she was, the pilot said, "Young Madam, take a short nap. Even though we might really catch up with them halfway, it'll still be quite some time before we do."
"Alright." She then instructed her subordinates to help her keep a lookout.
She was incredibly tired and fell asleep as soon as she closed her eyes.
__
"Rascal, why are you taking so long!" the malicious-looking man hollered at the other man steering the ferry.
"Boss, it's not that I'm slow. Our boat is just too old and there seems to be a malfunction again."
"It's already broken down so many times throughout our journey! I've seriously had enough. Let's get a new ferry once we get paid. Stop the boat somewhere and repair the faulty parts before continuing, " the leader instructed.
"Alright."
The leader of the gang then turned around to enter the cabin. Staring at the couple before him, he squatted down in front of Lin Mingxi and said, "You've got such a pretty face. What do you say I do you right in front of your husband?"
Lin Mingxi struggled with all her might to unleash herself from the ropes, but to no avail despite having tried for so long.
Not wanting to create unnecessary trouble, she hung her head low and stared at the ground while remaining silent.
"Don't think I won't do anything to you just because you're keeping mum." The leader grabbed her chin and moved his lips closer towards her.
Glaring daggers at him, Gu Beicheng bellowed, "I dare you to lay a finger on her!"
| ← Ch. 0469 | Ch. 0471 → |