Chapter 376: Abducted by Human Traffickers

"I'm just taking a walk." Ji Wan answered vaguely.

"Oh, that's perfect! My house isn't far ahead. We can take a shortcut and get there quickly." The old lady pointed to a narrow and deep alley nearby. "My bag of potatoes is too heavy. Could you... help carry it for me a little further? It's just to the entrance of the alley."

The old lady's eyes were full of pleading.

Ji Wan looked at the dimly lit alley and felt a sudden pang in his heart.

But looking at the old lady's hunched back and expectant eyes, I couldn't say no.

Maybe she was just overthinking it.

"good."

She nodded slightly and took the cloth bag which was not too heavy.

The old lady immediately smiled and turned to lead her into the alley.

The alley is very narrow, with mottled and crumbling walls on both sides. The further you go in, the darker the light becomes, and there is a faint musty smell in the air.

The hustle and bustle of the station behind me gradually faded away.

For some reason, Ji Wan's heartbeat quickened.

"Old woman, how far is it?" she asked softly.

The old lady did not answer immediately, but instead quickened her pace.

Just when Ji Wan felt something was wrong and wanted to stop.

There was a sudden sharp pain in the back of my neck.

Everything in front of my eyes went black in an instant, and my body fell limply.

Before she lost consciousness, she seemed to hear the old lady sighing with relief. Her voice was no longer old, but instead carried a hint of ruthlessness.

"Finally got one. Take it away quickly and don't let anyone find it."

Deep in the alley, another figure flashed out from the shadows and quickly dragged the limp Ji Wan into deeper darkness.

The cloth bag filled with potatoes rolled to the ground, and a few round potatoes, covered in dust, lay quietly on the cold ground.

A cold wind blew into the dead end.

When Chi Wenyan learned that Ji Wan had disappeared, he immediately arranged for people to look for her.

The numerous bodyguards in black looked solemn as they carefully searched every inch of the ground.

The trash can at the end of the alley exuded a rotten smell, which mixed with the lingering smell of cheap perfume in the air, making it disgusting.

The flashlight beam swept back and forth between the mottled, damp walls and the dirty ground.

Suddenly, a faint light pierced the eyes of a bodyguard.

He squatted down.

In the dust in the corner, a small platinum earring lies quietly.

The earrings are shaped like a delicate ginkgo leaf with clear veins and the edges are inlaid with tiny diamonds, which reflect a cold light under the flashlight.

The bodyguard's breathing stopped. He recognized the earrings. They were the pair that Miss Ji never took off.

He carefully picked up the earring with a clean handkerchief and immediately dialed the number.

On the other end of the phone, Chi Wenyan was standing in front of a huge floor-to-ceiling window, overlooking the lights of the city, and the air pressure around him was terribly low.

The cell phone rang suddenly, breaking the silence in the office.

He picked up the phone, his voice cold.

"explain."

"Mr. Chi, I found Miss Ji's earrings in a dead end alley near the Chengnan Bus Station."

Chi Wenyan's fingers holding the phone suddenly tightened, and the knuckles turned white.

He had personally put on the pair of ginkgo leaf earrings for her. She treasured them so much that she was reluctant to take them off even when she went to sleep.

How could I fall in such a dirty place for no reason? A chill instantly ran up my spine from the soles of my feet.

Something happened to her.

This thought exploded in his mind like thunder.

His eyes suddenly became fierce, like the blade of a knife tempered with ice.

His voice was frighteningly calm, yet every word carried a sense of oppression, as if a storm was about to come.

"Her favorite?"

"Yes, Mr. Chi, it's not wrong."

The bodyguard's voice on the other end of the phone was trembling.

Chi Wenyan turned around abruptly, his eyes filled with raging anger and panic that almost swallowed him.

He couldn't imagine what she had experienced alone in a strange place.

"Seal off all exits of the station, retrieve all nearby surveillance cameras, investigate, mobilize all forces, find the person, alive or dead..."

He paused, his throat seemed to be strangled by something, and he couldn't utter the word no matter what.

"If she loses even one hair, I will bury everyone with her!"

Chi Wenyan hung up the phone, and the phone screen made a slight cracking sound when he squeezed it.

He grabbed his suit jacket that was draped over the back of his chair and strode out of the office.

Meanwhile, on the other side.

The dull pain in the back of his neck gradually became clearer, like a cold wedge driving into his bone marrow, and Ji Wan's consciousness struggled out of the chaos.

Her eyelids were so heavy that they seemed glued together. She struggled to open them, and the first thing that came into her sight was a blurry darkness.

The air was filled with a strong earthy smell, mixed with sweat and some indescribable sour smell, which rushed straight into the nostrils.

She moved her fingers and touched the cold, rough ground, which was bitingly cold.

This is not that alley.

Fragments of memory flooded back into my mind.

The hunched old lady, the pleading eyes, the heavy cloth bag, and the sudden and severe pain in the back of her neck.

She was cheated.

The old lady was not someone who needed help at all. Realizing this, her heart sank suddenly into a bottomless abyss.

She tried to push herself up, and the pain in the back of her neck made her gasp.

Looking around, she could see clearly the environment she was in with the faint light from the only dim light bulb above her head.

This is a cellar.

The four walls were made of rough earth, the ground was uneven, and some musty-smelling junk was piled in the corners.

The space is not big, but it is extremely depressing.

What frightened her even more was that she was not the only one in the cellar.

Several figures were huddled in the dark corner.

There were women and the outlines of several figures who were clearly children.

Low sobs came intermittently, like fine needles piercing Ji Wan's heart.

Fear was like an icy vine, instantly wrapping around her heart.

She subconsciously reached into her pocket, but it was empty.

Her cell phone was missing, the watch on her wrist was missing, and even one of the ginkgo leaf earrings that Chi Wenyan had given her was missing.

The sack of potatoes and her own bag were both missing.

The kidnappers took away everything that might have contact with the outside world.

A sense of despair overwhelmed me.

So many people are imprisoned here.

Where will they be taken?

What will happen?

Ji Wan didn't dare to think too much about it, and his stomach was churning.

She forced herself to calm down.

Crying and being afraid won't solve anything.

You must find a way to save yourself.

She took a deep breath, suppressed the sob in her throat, and scanned every corner of the cellar with sharp eyes, trying to find any possible breakthrough.

The only exit from the cellar seemed to be a skylight overhead, covered with heavy wooden boards, with the outline of an iron lock faintly visible at the edge.

The walls were compacted earth, with little leverage.