Xu Xinghe's fingers, gripping the dagger, turned slightly white, but her expression remained unchanged. "My family has long since fallen into ruin. Where would we get any gold bars? You've come to the wrong person."
"Stop pretending!" The man's tone instantly turned fierce. "We've found out everything. The Xu family's assets are all in your hands. If you know what's good for you, confess honestly, or you'll regret it! I'll give you half an hour. I'll come back to you in half an hour."
The small window snapped shut, and the footsteps faded into the distance.
Silence returned to the woodshed.
Shen Jianqiu's face was deathly pale, and his hand gripping Xu Xinghe was trembling. "They...they're after your family's money? Then why did they arrest me?"
She's not a member of the Xu family!
Why not just arrest one?
Why did we have to bring her along?
Xu Xinghe gripped Shen Jianqiu's hand tightly. "Don't panic. Lin Chuan and Lian Xiao are definitely looking for us. Let's keep them calm for now, and then figure out a way to escape."
"It's all your fault!" Shen Jianqiu abruptly shook off her hand. "If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have been kidnapped to this place. What if they killed me? I'm my parents' only daughter. If I'm gone, how will they live?"
Tears streamed down her delicate cheeks, making her look incredibly pitiful.
Although she grew up in a large compound, she was only eighteen or nineteen years old and had never experienced such a life-or-death situation before. Fear had long since taken hold of her heart.
Looking at her trembling shoulders, Xu Xinghe felt a deep sense of guilt.
She pursed her lips and said softly, "I'm sorry, I've dragged you into this. Don't worry, I will definitely find a way to get them to let you go."
Shen Jianqiu wiped away his tears and said nothing more.
No matter how wronged or scared she felt, she knew that saying anything about right or wrong was meaningless at this moment; the most important thing was to get out alive.
Silence fell again in the woodshed, broken only by the suppressed breathing of the two people.
The occasional gust of wind passing by outside the window made it all the more terrifying.
Half an hour later.
The small window on the door was opened again.
This time, a pair of even more sinister eyes were revealed.
The man's voice was hoarse yet steady, clearly that of the leader of the kidnappers. "Xu Xinghe, have you thought it through? Where are the gold bars? Tell me, and I'll let you out."
"What if I told you, and you turned around and killed him?" Xu Xinghe met the other party's gaze without the slightest fear.
As long as the other party still holds onto the hope of getting the gold bars, they won't easily make a move against them; this is their only way to survive right now.
“We’re not that stupid.” The man’s voice came through the small window, tinged with sarcasm. “Kidnapping and murder are worlds apart. Killing you wouldn’t do us any good. Besides, if you really died, the people you know would probably turn Shanghai upside down to seek revenge. Keeping you alive is safer for us. I haven’t shown you my face, don’t you understand? As long as you cooperate obediently, I don’t need to take another life.”
Seeing his face means certain death.
Even if you can't see their face, you can still survive.
Xu Xinghe spoke again, "Since that's the case, I have a request: let my friend leave first. She's not from the Xu family, and she doesn't know where the gold bars are. Besides, you don't know her background, do you? She lives in a military compound; her parents are both active-duty officers, and everyone she knows is in the military. If you detain her here, once her family discovers she's missing, they'll use military resources. At that point, even if she hides in the countryside, let alone here, they'll still find her."
She stared into the other person's eyes and said, word by word, "My parents are gone, and my fiancé is just a soldier from another province; he can't cause too much trouble. But she's different. She has relatives backing her up, and she's a long-time friend of the Lian family. If I, a businessman's daughter, were to disappear, perhaps no one would investigate, but if she were to disappear as well, both the military and political circles in Shanghai would be in turmoil. You're a smart person; you should know what's more important."
The man outside the small window fell silent.
He certainly understands this principle.
His initial intention was to only arrest Xu Xinghe.
Unfortunately, Shen Jianqiu was right next to her at the time, and if she had captured Xu Xinghe, she would have definitely noticed.
To be on the safe side, we'll have to catch them both.
But now it's easier to expose their whereabouts. They're hiding in this abandoned house, relying entirely on the remote terrain to avoid being tracked down.
Once you go out to deliver someone, there's a high chance they'll be tracked down.
"No, no one can leave now. Enough talk, tell us where the gold bars are, or don't blame us for being impolite."
Xu Xinghe sneered, "I won't talk unless you release my friend. There's no one left alive in the Xu family now, and only I know where the gold bars are. Don't even think about attacking me. If you push me too far, I'd rather go to hell with the gold bars than let you get away with it!"
The man gave her a deep look, then closed the small window again.
It seems he went to discuss it with his companions.
Shen Jianqiu slumped onto the hay, speaking in despair, "He won't let me go... Am I really going to die here with you?"
Xu Xinghe took a deep breath and said firmly, "No, what they want are gold bars. As long as I don't say anything, I will always have the upper hand, and they won't dare to make a move against us easily."
Shen Jianqiu stared at her delicate and beautiful face, his eyes filled with anxiety. "But what if... what if they attack you?"
How could a girl as delicate and tender as Xu Xinghe withstand the torture inflicted by kidnappers?
If he were truly tortured, he might not only lose the gold bars, but also his innocence and his life.
"Why don't you just tell them where the gold bars are!" Shen Jianqiu's voice was choked with sobs, wanting nothing more than to escape this hellish place as quickly as possible. "They refuse to show their faces because they're afraid of being exposed, right? If they really wanted to kill us, they wouldn't need to worry about that. Maybe if they told us, they would let us go!"
"Wait a little longer." Xu Xinghe shook her head gently, her fingertips unconsciously stroking the dagger.
The gold bars are hidden in the space and must not be exposed unless absolutely necessary.
Because if she is exposed, she will be in even greater danger than she is now!
And it's a hundred times more dangerous!
Most importantly, Xu Xinghe did not believe that he was no match for these kidnappers.
She has medicine and weapons in her space. If she can catch them off guard, she might be able to escape and live to the death!
The problem is that the other party won't open the door, which is really difficult.
"You value money that much?" Shen Jianqiu stamped his feet in frustration. "Isn't life more important than gold bars?!"
"I don't care about money." Xu Xinghe couldn't explain the secret of the space, so she could only change the subject and waved the dagger in her hand at her. "Jianqiu, keep an eye on the door for me. Call me immediately if there is any movement. I'll try to pry open the window first."
Shen Jianqiu's eyes lit up as he stared at the gleaming dagger. "You actually hid this. Give it to me. I'm stronger than you!"
"Let me do it; my physical condition is better than yours."
"I don't believe it!" Shen Jianqiu rolled up his sleeves. "Let's arm wrestle. At times like this, the one with the biggest strength has to win!"
Xu Xinghe had no choice but to extend her hand.
The moment their hands clasped, she exerted a little force, and Shen Jianqiu's arm was easily pressed down onto the haystack.
The spiritual spring water she had been drinking these days had quietly transformed her physique, making ordinary girls no match for her.
Shen Jianqiu's eyes widened in surprise. Now he had no objections and immediately moved to the door, staring nervously at the small window on the door panel.
Xu Xinghe stood on tiptoe to look out the window. The wooden planks were nailed very high, and even with her best efforts, she could only reach the edge.
After a moment's thought, she walked to the pile of weeds in the corner and pretended to rummage through it, but actually took out a wooden box from her spatial storage.
Shen Jianqiu was focused on the doorway and did not notice anything amiss.
Stepping onto the box, Xu Xinghe finally reached the window.
The wooden strips were firmly nailed in place, but years of exposure to moisture had made them brittle.
She gripped the dagger and carefully chiseled the wood around the nail, trying to make as little noise as possible.
If you hollow out the rotten wood around the nail hole, the nail will naturally loosen and can still be hung on it with difficulty, making it less likely to be noticed by outsiders.
And it's obviously unrealistic to expect her to remove all the nails.
Time passed second by second.
An hour later.
Fine beads of sweat appeared on Xu Xinghe's forehead, and her arms began to ache, but she still gritted her teeth and persevered.
Just as she was about to loosen the third wooden strip, Shen Jianqiu suddenly exclaimed in a low voice, "Someone's coming! The footsteps are getting closer!"
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