CHAPTER 2b: ABDUCTED (PART II)

When Lei MengXi woke up, she couldn't see anything. It was not just because she was not wearing her eyeglasses and more so, not because she had gone blind but because she was wearing a blindfold. Yes. Her abductors even blindfolded her. If only they knew that even without it, she was as good as blind.

"F*ck!" Finally, Lei MengXi was not able to hold her anger anymore. She let it out that one profane word that she had been holding since afternoon. "F*ck! F*ck!"

She repeated her curses when she realized that her hands and feet were bound by rope.

"Big sister..."

She heard a voice of a girl not far from her. There was reluctance and fear from the voice. "A... are you okay?"

"..." Did I just cursed in front of a child?

"Sister..." Another voice rang out. It was still a voice of a young girl but it sounded younger. "Are you feeling uncomfortable?"

"I'm fine." I sinned! I let these kids hear profanity!

"Big sister, why did they covered your eyes?" The voice of the first girl rang again.

"I don't know. Your eyes are not covered as well?"

This time, many voices answered with "no" which startled Lei MengXi. She was actually surrounded by bunch of kids.

"Big sister, you are the only one here with blindfold."

"..." Lei MengXi was speechless. Among these people, she was the only one who couldn't see clearly yet she was the only one who was blindfolded. Are they stupid?

Lei MengXi then lowered her voice. "Is there any guard watching?"

There was a moment of silence before someone replied also in low voice, "N-none. The guards are outside."

Lei MengXi fell silent for a moment. Somehow the voice that replied to her was quite familiar as if she had heard it somewhere. She turned to the direction of the voice and asked, "You, have we meet before?"

The voice replied in shy manner, "I - I don't think so."

Upon hearing that voice again, Lei MengXi finally recognized it.

"Yan'er! Is that you?"

"Big sister, you know me?" The voice sounded surprised. Then, like a child whining to her mother, Yan'er continued, "I was going to the field to bring food for grandma when a bunch of people surrounded me."

"Yan'er, come closer. I'll untie you."

"But you are also tied." Yan'er was hesitant. Few agitated voices also rose from among the children.

"Shh. Be quiet. Just come here and sit behind me."

Yan'er obediently came and sat behind her. They were sitting back to back with each other. Lei MengXi extended her binded hands until she reached Yan'er's tied hands. It was tied with big rope which Lei MengXi was thankful for. After all big ropes are easier to untie than smaller ropes.

With great difficulty, she began untying the rope Yan'er's hands. Her own hand was hurting from the force exerted by the rope tied to her but she did not mind it. After a few minutes, the rope successfully came loose.

"Big sister, my hands are free now." Yan'er said in delighted voice which again caused a little stir to the crowd inside.

Lei MengXi shushed tbr girls. Yan'er immediately crouched down and untied the rope in Lei MengXi's hands. After that, she untied the rope on her feet too, and one by one, untied everyone.

Lei MengXi felt that her eyes had been restrained for tok long so she took off the blindfold and as expected, all she can see were blurry silhouettes. Based on the amount of light she can perceive, it must be morning already.

"Big sister, you are the one with Mister Shen Lian, right?" Without the blindfold, Yan'er was finally able to recognize her.

"En. Let's get out of here first. You must be quiet and listen to my instructions carefully."

The girls really quieted and vigorously nodded their heads like little ducklings.

"Let's pretend first that we are still tied. Yan'er, how many guards are guarding us right now?"

"Uhm, I think there are three outside. But they are all drunk and are sleeping on the table."

"Alright. Stay there and be quiet. I'll call them."

Lei MengXi walked closer to the door. Though she can see silhouettes, she still find it very troublesome that her glasses were not with her. When she was closer to the door, she began tying her feet and put on her blindfold again, loosely.

Then she began calling.

"Anyone! Someone! Hello! I need to go to the bathroom!"

Because it was Lei MengXi, even though she was calling for an attention, her voice was still soft and low.

"Anyone there! Big sis needs to relieve herself and can't hold up anymore!"

"..." These kids are pretty daring huh.

Because of that coarse shout from one of the girls, one of the guards stirred awake. Maybe, because of hang over, he walked in distraught and opened the door of what seemed to be a prison.

"What are you brats yelling at?" He hissed angrily at the girls while massaging his temples.

"I... I have a stomachache. I need to relieve myself." Lei MengXi was very nervous that she could her her own heartbeat.

The guard looked down and said, "If you want to sh*t, do it here! What's with the fuss?"

"Alright." Lei MengXi conceded. "But I ate something bad yesterday so please don't blame me if my trash reek this whole area."

"Sh*tty brat!" The guard muttered angrily before crouching down to untie the rope on Lei MengXi's feet.

Lei MengXi felt that the man was not on guard so she vigorously shook his head until the blindfold fell down. At the same time, she lunged the rope she was concealing towards the silhouette of the guard and while the guard was caught off-guard, she quickly shot up and moved to his back, pulling the rope with full force, strangling him to unconsciousness.

"Ugh..." The guard struggled, boring his hands on the rope and trying to get away. But the other girls did not gave him chance to do so. The all sprang from the ground and using the ropes that were originally tied to them, they helped Lei MengXi on strangling him.

The guard's face was blue from suffocation. After a few minutes, his body became stiff and he no longer struggled.

"Bis sister, he is not moving."

After hearing that, Lei MengXi finally let go of the man. Then she placed her index finger on her lips, signalling the girls to be quiet. All the girls tiptoed while walking outside, sneaking away.

Lei MengXi tried to follow them but because her vision was blurry, she tripped on the threshold. A hand gripped hers and she heard a whisper. "Big sister, this way."

Lei MengXi followed the girl who turned out to be Yan'er. She had no idea where the other girls went to, but she had a vague understanding that they may have dispersed to different places.

Their escape was eventually discovered as someone pursued them. From behind, someone shouted, "There are two over there!"

The two of them ran as fast as they can, with Lei MengXi tripping from time to time. Yan'er did not let go of her hand and keep on urging her to go faster. With the Twist and turn of the way, Lei MengXi could only guess that they were in some sort of an alley. Suddenly, Yan'er pulled her into a corner to hide. Both of them are catching their breath and they crouched behind some cylindrical objects which Lei MengXi could barely recognize as wooden barrels. The two of them stayed still, not letting any sound out. After a few minutes, they heard rushed footsteps passing by. Both of them held their breaths, until the footsteps disappeared.

After a few moments, Yan'er sighed. "Big sister let's get out of this place."

But Lei MengXi shook her head. "Yan'er, my eyes are not in good condition right now. I'm afraid that if I go with you, we might get caught again. You go ahead and ask help from the police... I mean, from the authorities. I'll wait here."

"But big sis..."

"Go ahead. It'll be safer this way."

Yan'er was still reluctant to go. After a few moments, she stood up.

"Alright. I'll be back. Wait for me here, big sister."

And Lei MengXi saw the silhouette walked away.

Sigh.

Lei MengXi leaned on the wall. Her knees were still weak from fright. She silently wished that Yan'er could find help and rescue her. She was just relaxing for a bit when she heard sets of rushed and heavy footsteps on the streets. So, she nervously pushed herself against the barrel.

Out of nowhere, a hand once again covered her mouth.

When Lei MengXi realized that someone was beside her, her instinctual reaction was to bite. And so, she opened her mouth wide and chomp!

She took a big bite of the hand as if it was some sort of tasty bun.

The one holding her just made a hissing sound but did not let go of her. And when Lei MengXi opened her mouth to bite again, she was stopped by a soft, gentle whisper behind her ears.

"It's me. Don't be scared."

Upon hearing that voice Lei MengXi stopped struggling and dropped her guard. When the other person realized that she was more relaxed, he withdrew his hand.

"Mister Shen, why are you here?"

Shen Lian did not answered immediately and instead shushed her. Then, Lei MengXi felt that Shen Lian tucked something in her ears and after a few moments, her vision becomes clear.

Lei MengXi could only thank him as she fixed her glasses in her eyes. She had not know where did she lost it and had no hope of retrieving it.

They waited until the surrounding becomes quiet. And when they felt that the road is cleared, they immediately left the place.

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