Chapter 203 Adjusting the Surveillance Footage

A chilling silence descended upon her, broken only by her own heavy, suppressed breathing and the frantic pounding of her heart in her chest.

Time became blurred and long in the darkness.

Ji Wanqing didn't know how long she had been imprisoned; the pain in her wrists and the dryness in her throat constantly tormented her.

She knew that calling for help was useless; her mouth, sealed with tape, could only emit weak sobs, like a stone sinking into the sea in this desolate, abandoned environment.

The kidnappers would occasionally come in to check to make sure nothing was wrong, then quickly leave and lock the door.

In the end, she couldn't resist the fatigue and drifted off to sleep.

Time passed quietly until the next day.

Ten o'clock in the morning, in a private hospital room.

After finishing his work, Pei Yu stopped by Ji Wanqing's mother's hospital room.

At this time, Ji Wanqing would usually be here chatting with her mother.

However, only the caregiver was in the ward. When Ji's mother heard footsteps, she looked towards the door with a hint of worry in her eyes.

"Good morning, Auntie." Pei Yu walked to the bedside and said gently, "Has Wanqing not arrived yet?"

"Dr. Pei is here." Mrs. Ji snapped out of her reverie and smiled, but the smile seemed forced. "Not yet. This child is usually very punctual, but I don't know what's wrong with him today. I can't get through to him on the phone; it keeps saying it's switched off. I'm a little worried..."

"Turn off?" Pei Yu's brows furrowed almost imperceptibly.

Ji Wanqing is a very meticulous and responsible person, especially when it comes to her mother. She is never careless, so why would she turn off her phone?

And it seems she didn't go live last night? He was working overtime and didn't pay attention to the live stream. He only noticed the discussion when he checked the fan group this morning.

"Maybe her phone ran out of battery, or something happened on the way that delayed her," he reassured Ji's mother calmly, but a hint of doubt arose in his heart.

He took out his phone and dialed Ji Wanqing's number again, and as Ji's mother had said, it was switched off.

He opened his chat with Ji Wanqing; the last message was from the night before last when he sent her tea.

"Auntie, don't worry, I'll go back and check on things first." Pei Yu reassured Ji's mother, then left the ward, took leave, and rushed home.

He stood at the door and knocked several times, but there was no response from inside.

Was he sleeping too soundly?

Pei Yu increased the force of his knocking, banging loudly on the door.

At this point, he couldn't care less about politeness; all he wanted to do was make sure Ji Wanqing was alright.

No matter how loudly he knocked, no one came to open the door. It seemed that no one was inside, otherwise, such a loud noise would have been heard.

He took out his phone and dialed a number. "Help me check the surveillance footage near my hospital and Chenshu Huafu, starting from noon yesterday. Be quick. Okay, I'll send you the photos."

After hanging up the phone, he sent several photos of Ji Wanqing.

At the same time, Xie Chi was leaning back on the sofa downstairs, casually swiping his tablet.

The screen displayed Ji Wanqing's live streaming platform homepage, which he habitually checked every day, even when she wasn't online.

What did you do last night? You didn't go live or tell your fans.

He opened the fan group, which was bustling with activity today, but Ji Wanqing still didn't show up.

He glanced at the time; it was almost noon.

Based on his understanding of her, she would usually send a notification if she wasn't going to stream, and unless there was something special, she would generally pop up in the group chat.

But from yesterday to today, hasn't she been too quiet?

Could it be that something is wrong with her mother?

He immediately took out his phone and sent a message to Ji Wanqing, but waited for ten minutes without a response.

Xie Chi didn't have that much patience, so he made a voice call, but no one answered after it rang more than a dozen times.

A strange sense of irritation crept into his heart. He put on his coat and headed upstairs, only to bump into Pei Yu, who was just leaving the house.

Neither of them looked very happy. Pei Yu didn't even bother to say a word when he saw him. He just glanced at him and then looked away, walking to the elevator and pressing the button.

Xie Chi ignored him and went straight to knock on Ji Wanqing's door.

Pei Yu turned his attention back to him upon hearing the knocking and spoke calmly.

"She's not home, and we can't get in touch with her."

Xie Chi abruptly stopped knocking on the door, then turned sharply to look at Pei Yu.

"Can't get in touch? What do you mean?"

Pei Yu stared at the fluctuating numbers in the elevator, his tone remaining calm, but his tightly pursed lips betrayed his inner turmoil.

"His phone was off, he wasn't home, and he didn't go to the hospital. My aunt is very worried."

Xie Chi's face instantly darkened. He stopped knocking on the door in vain, walked a few steps to Pei Yu, and spoke in a low voice, but with a fierce aura.

When was the last time you saw her?

“We parted ways at the hospital yesterday afternoon.” Pei Yu looked up to meet his gaze, his eyes calm. “She must have disappeared on her way home.”

The two men stood in the empty hallway, the atmosphere tense, the subtle hostility from before replaced by shared worry and anxiety.

"What did you find out?" Xie Chi asked directly.

"I've already sent someone to check the surveillance footage," Pei Yu said without hiding anything.

Xie Chi chuckled, a hint of disdain in his voice.

"By the time you finish your standard procedures, it'll be too late." He ignored Pei Yu, immediately took out his phone, walked to the side, and dialed a number, his voice cold and urgent.

"It's me. I need to find someone. I'll send you the photo and information. She went missing yesterday afternoon near Chenshu Huafu. I need to know where she is now and who took her away, as quickly as possible!"

He hung up the phone and looked at Pei Yu, "My people are more efficient. They'll let you know if there's any news."

After saying that, he turned around and walked directly to the emergency exit, quickly going downstairs, clearly intending to act in his own way.

Pei Yu watched his retreating figure, his brows furrowed.

He knew Xie Chi acted recklessly, but at this moment, every additional effort made to find Ji Wanqing would increase their chances.

He suppressed his discomfort, the elevator doors opened, and he strode in, while simultaneously contacting the other party again to urge them to expedite the investigation.

...

Pei Yu used his family's connections in the police system in an attempt to quickly obtain surveillance privileges.

However, even for him, obtaining a large amount of social surveillance footage through formal channels would require time and procedures.

On Xie Chi's side, the efficiency of the gray area was obviously much higher.

Less than an hour later, his phone rang.

"Young Master Xie, we've found it. Yesterday afternoon at 3:20 PM, the target appeared at the convenience store at the entrance of the residential area. Afterwards, the target entered the alley leading to the side gate. A silver van without license plates briefly stopped at the entrance of the alley, and there were suspected hijacking actions. Then the vehicle drove away. We tracked the vehicle and it eventually disappeared in the old industrial area in the west of the city. The man with glasses, nicknamed 'Rat,' has a criminal record and has been very active on the deep web recently. It may be related to several recent harassment incidents targeting minor internet celebrities. We suspect that they planned this kidnapping, and the target was likely taken to an abandoned site in the industrial area."

As Xie Chi listened to the report, his eyes grew colder and colder, and his knuckles turned white from gripping the phone so tightly.

"The exact boundaries of the industrial zone, the possible number of kidnappers, and their equipment?"