Secret Past (9)

The three of them waited for another hour. During this time, Zhu Zhi even suggested that they walk down the mountain together in the dark, which would be better than staying here, but Qu Qing rejected it.

"It's raining so hard, and we don't know the mountain road. What if we slip and fall down the mountain?"

Just when they were about to despair, a strong light suddenly came from the dark night, followed by the sound of a car running, which gave the three of them a glimmer of hope.

But when the car stopped at the gate, the three fell into despair again.

Because what came from outside was the quarrel between Li Ming and Li Ying.

"I told you to just knock you out, why are you using so much force?!"

"Do you really think you're that capable? Huh?!"

"Brother! This guy is struggling so hard, how can I tie him up without some strength?"

"Forget it, forget it, carry it in first!"

The three girls looked unhappy after hearing this, but Li Ming and Li Ying were already at the door, so it was not possible to force their way out, so they could only go into the house.

Zhu Zhi wanted to run back to her original room, but Qu Qing grabbed her collar and pulled her back. The three of them entered the room of the five boys who had left earlier.

"What are you doing?"

Qu Qing tapped Zhu Zhi lightly and said in a low voice:

"You're stupid! If they find out we're still here, they'll definitely look for that room first. It's definitely better to hide here. And then we can find a way out!"

"Oh, that's true..."

Just as he finished speaking, the door to the living room was kicked open, followed by the sounds of Li Ming and Li Ying entering.

"Brother, what should we do with this guy?"

"Listen to Uncle Guo and tie him up first."

"Wait, have Jiang Yingying and the others left?"

"I don't know. They should be leaving. Brother, didn't you say someone would come to pick them up in the afternoon?"

"Yes...but why didn't the people from that welfare home contact me?"

"...No! Throw him to the ground first and search the building. Jiang Yingying and the others may not have left!"

Just as Qu Qing had guessed, the first place the Li Ming brothers went was their original room. The heavy rain outside actually drowned out the voices of Jiang Yingying and the others.

Hiding like this was no solution; Li Ming and Li Ying would eventually find this place. The three of them found an old broom in the room, hid behind the door, and waited for someone outside to come in.

There were chaotic footsteps outside. Jiang Yingying listened and it seemed that Li Ming looked around the room and then went to the yard, while Li Ying went upstairs.

What about the person who was kidnapped?

Jiang Yingying listened carefully and seemed to hear a soft whimper amid the sound of rain.

Li Ming moved very quickly. Before Jiang Yingying could hear clearly, she heard footsteps outside the yard hurriedly coming into the living room and finally stopping in front of their door.

Behind the door, Qu Qing stood in front holding a broom, Jiang Yingying and Zhu Zhi stood behind her holding clothes hangers, holding their breath with nervous expressions, and their palms began to sweat.

As the footsteps got closer, Jiang Yingying's hair stood on end and her heart was pounding.

Li Ming, who was outside the room, stared at the closed door in front of him, walked lightly, and slowly, his hand touched the door handle, and then he suddenly opened the door with a strong force.

The room was empty, and the air was filled with the smell of dampness and mold.

Li Ming did not go in directly, and now he looked at the door for a while before he stepped in. With every step Li Ming took, the hearts of the three girls behind the door lifted a little, and they held their breath tacitly.

No matter how brave Qu Qing was, her hands holding the broom began to tremble.

Li Ming didn't know that there was someone hiding behind the door. After entering the room, his first reaction was to check under the bed and in the wardrobe, but he hadn't taken a few steps inside when he suddenly felt a dull pain on the top of his head.

"Bang!"

The pain on the back of his head made Li Ming furious. He turned around and saw three girls hiding behind the door. Qu Qing continued his attack and hit him on the head with a stick the moment Li Ming turned around.

"Bang!!"

Qu Qing used almost all his strength, which caused blood to appear on Li Ming's head. He held his head and fell backwards in a daze.

"you!"

Qu Qing's hands were shaking, and she dropped the stick in her hand without reacting. Jiang Yingying took advantage of this moment to quickly pull her and Zhu Zhi out, running like crazy!

“Run!”

Jiang Yingying pulled the two of them out of the room and found a boy huddled in the corner of the living room stairs, his hands and feet bound. The boy looked about seventeen or eighteen years old, with some scars on his handsome face and his eyes tightly closed, as if he had fainted.

There was a lot of noise downstairs. Li Ying, who was upstairs, heard the noise and hurried downstairs. The building was not big to begin with, and when Li Ying ran downstairs, he happened to meet three girls.

"What are you doing?!"

Jiang Yingying's legs were shaking badly, but she still forced herself to run outside with the two of them. However, none of the three girls had ever seen such a scene, and their legs felt weak. However, Li Ying jumped down the stairs in two steps and three steps at a time, and in a few seconds she was already at the bottom of the stairs.

"Stop right there!"

The scar on Li Ying's face became terrifying because of anger. He gritted his teeth and wanted to chase after him, but unexpectedly at this moment, the boy who had his hands and feet tied beside the stairs suddenly stood up, straightened up and fell towards Li Ying, tripping him.

Li Ying fell flat on his face. The boy who tripped him had already straightened up and leaned on the handrail of the stairs. He used all his strength to yell at the three girls who had already run to the door of the small building:

"Run! Run!"

"My name is Luo Yuyi, and my brother is Luo Yuwen. He works in the Criminal Investigation Team of the Municipal Bureau! Hurry down the mountain to find my brother! He will help you!!"

“Run!!!”

All this happened so quickly that Jiang Yingying's feet seemed to be filled with cement. She looked at the boy in astonishment. Her confused mind could no longer process so much information.

What does that mean?! Why did Li Ming and Li Ying kidnap him? And who was that Uncle Guo they were talking about before?

Who is Luo Yuwen?

Li Ming, who was knocked unconscious in the room, woke up at some point and came out of the room staggering left and right, holding his forehead.

When Jiang Yingying saw Li Ming, the fear in her heart rose again. Finally, she glanced at Luo Yuyi who was curled up at the stairs, pulled Qu Qing and Zhu Zhi, and ran out of the building without looking back.

Li Ying got up from the ground and kicked Luo Yuyi hard in the abdomen.

"Well!"

The severe pain in his abdomen made Luo Yuyi curl up his body and bury his face in his knees in pain.

"Do you think you're particularly clever?"

Li Ying grabbed Luo Yuyi's head and slammed it hard against the stair step. Blood beads appeared on his forehead from the sharp corner of the stairs.

"If you have the guts, kill me now!"

Li Ying chuckled and threw Luo Yu to the ground.

"I'll deal with you when I get back!"

Li Ying picked up the fruit knife on the table and wanted to go out to chase him, but was stopped by Li Ming who was standing beside him.

Li Ming frowned and took the knife from Li Ying's hand.

"I'll go after him, you watch him."

"But...Brother, you all..."

Li Ming wiped the blood off his forehead, his expression became ferocious, and his previous gentleness towards Jiang Yingying disappeared.

"It doesn't matter. These three people saw his face and can't keep him."

"I'll take care of it. Keep an eye on him and don't kill him."

Li Ming shook his head, hid the knife in his sleeve, and ran out in the heavy rain. Li Ying was worried but couldn't persuade his brother, so he could only wait in the house.

When he turned around and saw Luo Yuyi in the corner, his anger surged again.

Li Ying picked up another fruit knife from the coffee table, squatted in front of Luo Yuyi, and gently tapped his cheek with the tip of the knife.

"I tell you, what you just said actually hurt them, did you know that?"

"Originally, my brother was soft-hearted and let them go, sending them to other welfare homes, but in the end, you did this."

"Now they have to die, don't you know?"

After hearing this, Luo Yu's face was covered with cold sweat and a hint of disdain appeared on his face. He slowly turned his head and spat at Li Ying.

"Bah!"

"It's obviously you who are harming people and killing people, yet you still say that I harmed them and you're being soft-hearted. What are you pretending to be?!"

"Pooh!"

Luo Yuyi's words irritated Li Ying, who stood up and fiercely kicked Luo Yuyi in the stomach twice. When Luo Yuyi tried to shrink back, he grabbed his head and forced him to look directly at him.

"I tell you the truth, even if they escape and find your brother, your brother will never be able to find you."

"Your brother is just an ordinary police officer. He doesn't have such great power."

"If you really want to live, then listen to me!"

Li Ying opened the basement door and threw Luo Yuyi in with great force. The basement was very deep, and Luo Yuyi rolled down the high stairs. The sharp corners of the steps scratched his skin, and he finally fell on a wet cement floor. The pain was so severe that he almost fainted.

Li Ying spat at the dim basement and slammed the door shut.

"If you don't want to die, stay here!"

***

There were only two roads after coming out of the small building, one leading to the bottom of the mountain and the other leading to the top. There were only dense trees and heavy rain around them. Jiang Yingying and the other two could not see the road clearly, so they could only grope their way down based on the slope and intuition.

The rain was so heavy that the three people were soaked and the mountain road was muddy. The three people ran as hard as they could for a long time, but the scene in front of them seemed to have not changed. There were only trees and the dirt road in front of them seemed to have no end.

“Ouch!”

Jiang Yingying tripped over the gravel on the ground, which tore her pants and left her knees bleeding.

The heavy rain almost exhausted the three people's physical strength. Qu Qing suggested taking a break at this time, but was rejected by Jiang Yingying.

"No, Li Ming and the others seem to be very familiar with this mountain, and there is only one way down the mountain. He will find us."

"I'm fine, let's go on."

Jiang Yingying was standing under a dense tree. She tore off her worn trouser legs and tied them into a knot at her knees.

The heavy rain continued to pour down, and there was no sign of stopping. Zhu Zhi was shivering with cold. Qu Qing took out a piece of clothing that was not yet wet from his bag and put it on her. The three of them continued to move forward in the heavy rain.

But in fact, Jiang Yingying herself could hardly hold on any longer. After about ten minutes, the three of them were really exhausted. Finally, they hid behind a big tree, planning to wait for the rain to subside before continuing to walk down the mountain.

The three of them sat together, hugging their knees to keep each other warm, and no one spoke.

The rain continued for a long time until it really stopped. Jiang Yingying glanced at the mechanical watch on her wrist and found that it was already early morning.

Zhu Zhi was exhausted and almost fell asleep leaning on Qu Qing's shoulder. Seeing that the rain had subsided and they could continue down the mountain, Jiang Yingying gently patted her face.

"Wake up, Zhu Zhi, we are going down."

But Zhu Zhi didn't react at all. Qu Qing felt something was wrong and touched her forehead, only to find it was terribly hot.

"Zhuzhi! Zhuzhi! Wake up!"

Zhu Zhi still had no reaction. Qu Qing and Jiang Yingying became anxious. Qu Qing hurriedly carried Zhu Zhi on his back, and Jiang Yingying led her in front of her and immediately started to walk under her.

The tree trunk where the three people rested was very large, completely blocking the people. The small raindrops fell on the leaves, making a rustling sound.

Jiang Yingying was walking in front, looking for the way down the mountain in the dark, but at this moment, an extremely familiar voice suddenly exploded in her ears.

"Jiang Yingying, where are you going?"

Jiang Yingying's heart skipped a beat. She paused, slowly turned her head, and found a dark shadow standing behind the thick tree trunk.

It’s Li Ming.