Chapter 234 Wrong Direction
Lu Rang remembered that as soon as he entered the restroom, someone covered his mouth from behind with a handkerchief soaked in medicine, and he instantly lost consciousness.
When Cheng Keke saw him wake up, it was as if she had found her pillar of support. She rushed over to him, grabbed his arm, and cried incoherently.
"Brother Lu Rang! They arrested Shang Wu! There were so many people, they beat her, and then they took her away in a car. I'm so scared..."
Lu Rang's head almost exploded.
He suppressed his surging panic: "Did you see which direction they went? License plate number, car model?"
Cheng Keke's face was covered in tears and snot, and she pointed shakily in the direction the highway had come from.
"Over there! A black minivan! It's old, I didn't see the license plate..."
Lu Rang immediately got up and walked to his car.
His eyes were frighteningly cold, and he exuded a terrifying aura of ferocity.
As he started the car, he yelled at Cheng Keke, who was still standing there in a daze, "Call your brother and tell him to send people to chase after me in this direction immediately. Don't follow me anymore!"
Cheng Keke trembled at his shout and nodded subconsciously.
It wasn't until the taillights disappeared that she seemed to suddenly come to her senses, a complex and unreadable emotion flashing across her face.
She just... pointed in the opposite direction.
She wondered if Shang Wu wouldn't come back, then would Lu Rang become hers forever?
And so, as if possessed, she said nothing.
Cheng Keke bit her lip, her hands trembling as she took out her phone. She first called her driver, and then reluctantly called Cheng Zhou.
As soon as the call connected, Cheng Zhou's anxious voice came through.
"Coco, where are you? A-Rang just called me, and his tone was off. He said something happened and he wants you to come home right away. What happened?"
"Brother..." Cheng Keke started crying again, sobbing half-truthfully.
"We've been robbed at a service area. Shang Wu was kidnapped by bad guys. Lu Rang went after her and told me to go home. I'm so scared..."
"What!"
Cheng Zhou exclaimed in surprise on the other end, and Lu You's voice suddenly rose in the background.
"Who was arrested? It has to be?"
Cheng Zhou was clearly panicked as well, and said urgently, "Send me your location, stay where you are, lock the car and don't move! We're coming right away!"
In less than forty minutes, Cheng Zhou and Lu You's cars arrived at the service area one after the other, almost racing.
Seeing that Cheng Keke was unharmed and hiding in their car, the two breathed a sigh of relief, but their expressions remained extremely serious.
"What exactly happened? Where is A-Rang? It must be true..." Lu You asked, her face pale, as she grabbed Cheng Keke.
Cheng Keke recounted what had happened again, this time calmer, but still insisted on pointing in the direction she had come from.
"They went that way, and Lu Rang went after them."
Cheng Zhou immediately made a phone call to use his connections to have someone retrieve surveillance footage along the route and contact the police to set up roadblocks.
Lu You anxiously kept dialing Lu Rang and Shang Wu's numbers.
One call went unanswered, and the other was switched off.
Time passed second by second, and Lu Rang, who followed Cheng Keke's directions, and the people Cheng Zhou arranged to investigate later, all came up empty-handed.
The black van seemed to have vanished into thin air.
Lu You's heart sank deeper and deeper. She forced herself to calm down and her gaze fell once again on Cheng Keke, who was still in shock but whose eyes were somewhat darting.
She suddenly walked up to Cheng Keke and stared intently into her eyes.
"Coco, look me in the eyes and say it again, which way did those people take A-Wu?"
Feeling guilty under Lu You's sharp gaze, Cheng Ke instinctively flinched and lowered her voice, "It's...it's from that side..."
It was this slight dodge that made Lu You's heart turn completely cold.
"Cheng Keke!" Lu You's voice suddenly turned stern, carrying an unprecedented pressure. "This concerns a life! You'd better tell me the truth! If you delay saving her because you gave her the wrong directions, have you thought about the consequences? Lu Rang will hate you for the rest of his life! None of us will forgive you!"
Cheng Keke was terrified.
"I've always been telling the truth, why don't you believe me?"
"You!" Cheng Zhou was so angry that he raised his hand to hit her, but Lu You stopped him firmly.
"Now is not the time to dwell on this."
Although Lu You was trembling with anger, she still retained her rationality.
"Immediately notify Ajang that we have arrived and have him direct us to find the person."
Cheng Zhou made the phone call through gritted teeth.
At this moment, Lu Rang had chased after the wrong road for nearly a hundred kilometers, but to no avail.
He was extremely anxious when he received a call from Cheng Zhou and learned the truth. He immediately turned around and chased after Lincheng at an even faster speed.
At the same time, we contacted all available resources to focus on investigating all exits leading to Lincheng.
...
On the other side.
Shang Wu woke up amidst a jolt.
Her neck and cheeks were still throbbing slightly.
Shang Wu found herself with her hands tied behind her back, thrown into the back seat of a van, with two thugs sitting next to her.
Thick fog still hung outside the car window, making it impossible to see where we were.
She forced herself to remain calm and observe discreetly.
The car eventually left the highway and turned onto a secluded dirt road, stopping in the yard of an abandoned auto repair shop.
The bandits dragged her out of the car and took her into a room filled with oil stains and the smell of rust.
Scarface and several other people were there.
Scarface wasn't surprised to see Shang Wu wake up; he walked up to her with a cigarette in his mouth.
"Awake? Did you mess up your brain? I'm actually a little reluctant to slap your pretty face."
Shang Wu stared at him coldly, without saying a word.
"Tsk, still looks the same as ever."
Scarface exhaled a smoke ring. "Do you know what we do? We specialize in working at service areas, targeting this kind of awful weather. The surveillance cameras can't catch us at all. Once we've succeeded, we slip through back alleys, completely unnoticed. We've done seven or eight of these, and we've never failed."
His tone was smug, as if he was certain that Shang Wu could not escape or reveal their secret.
"You seem like a smart person, and you're quite bold too."
Scarface suddenly leaned closer, his smoky breath hitting Shang Wu's face. "How about you work with us? Give us some advice on how to pick the fat sheep, how to escape safely, and we'll share the profits with you."
Shang Wu felt a wave of nausea, but her expression remained calm: "What if I say no?"
"No?" Scarface chuckled, reaching out to touch her face. "That's fine too. We haven't had any fun in ages, so we'll use you to vent our frustrations! We'll sell you off to some remote mountain village after we're done, and we'll still get a good amount of money!"
Several thugs nearby also let out lewd laughter and gathered around.
Shang Wu's heart pounded wildly; he knew that resisting would only lead to his death.
She abruptly turned her head to avoid his hand and quickly said, "Okay, I'll join!"
Scarface's hand froze in mid-air, and he looked at her with some surprise: "You've figured it out so quickly?"
Shang Wu forced herself to suppress all her fear and disgust, trying to make her eyes look sincere and even a little ambitious.
"I don't want to die, and I don't want to be sold. You're right, this is a quick way to make money, but I have a condition."
"Oh? You dare to make demands?" Scarface raised an eyebrow.
"I want a share, not too little, and you can't touch me."
Shang Wu stared at him. "Otherwise, I'd rather fight to the death. You should know that if you push me too far, I always have a way to get you into even bigger trouble."
Scarface squinted at her, seemingly weighing his options.
This woman is indeed clever, and ruthless enough.
With her joining, things might actually be more stable and we could earn more.
As for whether or not to touch her...
There will be plenty of opportunities in the future.
"Alright!" Scarface finally grinned. "It's your decision! From now on, you'll be our strategist! But if you dare to try anything funny..."
He made a throat-slitting gesture.
Shang Wu secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
First hurdle, temporarily cleared.
She must feign compliance to buy time, wait for rescue, or create an opportunity herself.
At this moment, Lu Rang and Cheng Zhou were frantically searching in the right direction, but it was like looking for a needle in a haystack.
The thick fog in the service area had not yet dissipated, making it feel oppressive and suffocating.
Lu Rang's car returned and stopped in front of Cheng Keke with a screeching sound of brakes.
He pushed open the car door, his whole body radiating cold anger, and walked step by step toward Cheng Keke, who was surrounded by Lu You and Cheng Zhou.
"What direction are you pointing in?"
Lu Rang's deep, hoarse voice struck Cheng Keke's heart.
Cheng Keke trembled with fear at the unprecedented ferocity in his eyes, instinctively shrinking back and letting her tears flow even more fiercely.
She repeated incoherently, "I... I meant over there, the way we came from..."
"Cheng Keke!"
Lu You could no longer hold back. She interrupted her sharply, grabbed her arm, and squeezed it so hard it almost crushed her bones.
"Which way did Shangwu go?!"
Cheng Zhou's face turned ashen: "Keke, now is not the time to be willful. Tell the truth!"
Faced with the simultaneous interrogation of the three men, especially Lu Rang's almost murderous gaze, Cheng Keke's psychological defenses completely collapsed.
She couldn't help but burst into tears, her body trembling violently. Finally, she admitted, haltingly, "I'm so sorry, I pointed in the wrong direction. Shang Wu went west of Lincheng..."
"In the opposite direction?" Lu Rang's pupils suddenly contracted.
He wasted almost an hour on the wrong road.
He didn't even dare to imagine what Shang Wu would encounter in that hour.
Lu Rang suddenly stepped forward, startling Cheng Keke so much that she screamed and fell backward to the ground.
Do you know what you've done?
Lu Rang's voice trembled with anger.
He could barely control the urge to strangle the woman.
Lu You felt a sudden darkness before her eyes, and her blood surged upwards.
She suddenly raised her hand and, with all her might, slapped Cheng Keke hard across the face with a crisp crack!
That slap was extremely hard.
Cheng Keke's face swelled up instantly, her ears were ringing, and she was completely stunned by the blow.
"Lu You!" Cheng Zhou exclaimed, but seeing the disaster his sister had caused, he ultimately did not step forward to stop her.
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