Chapter 84 Encountering Crisis
"Who are you?!"
Su Jiaojiao's heart sank suddenly. Her fingertips gripping the phone turned white instantly. Her almond-shaped eyes, which had been smiling just moments before, were now filled with frost. The cotton candy in her pocket crumpled unconsciously, the sweet scent mingling with a sudden surge of panic, causing a sharp pain to churn in her chest.
"Don't worry about who I am. Just remember this: 10 PM, abandoned steel mill in the west of the city. If you're even a minute late, Li Meng will lose a finger!"
The man's voice was like sandpaper scraping against an iron plate, carrying undisguised malice.
"And if you dare bring anyone with you, I'll make sure you both die here today!"
"Beep beep beep—"
The phone was abruptly hung up, the dial tone shrill in the receiver. Su Jiaojiao's hands trembled uncontrollably. Li Meng was the only friend in this world who truly cared for her.
They streamed and battled each other online. When Li Meng was attacked by trolls, she would be the first to rush in and confront them. To her, Li Meng was already like family.
Without thinking twice, she grabbed her coat from the sofa and rushed out.
The motion-activated light in the entryway turned on, illuminating the group photo of five people hanging on the wall—in the photo, she was surrounded by four men, smiling broadly. Lu Jinyuan's hand was on her shoulder, Jiang Yi gently brushed the stray hairs from her temples, Gu Yanchen held up a newly completed sketch, and Lin Xingche tilted his head, making a big heart shape with his hands next to her cheek.
It felt like an invisible hand was squeezing her heart, the pain almost making it hard to breathe.
She couldn't tell them that the mysterious man's words were like a curse.
It gripped her nerves tightly.
She knew these four men's personalities all too well: Lu Jinyuan's domineering nature, Jiang Yi's meticulousness, Gu Yanchen's obsession, and Lin Xingche's impulsiveness. Once they found out about this, it would inevitably cause a huge uproar. At that point, no one could guarantee that the mysterious man wouldn't act desperately and harm Li Meng in the slightest.
Su Jiaojiao bit her lower lip and rushed out of the villa. The night wind blew against her face, carrying the chill of late autumn, making her cheeks sting. She hailed a taxi and, when she gave the driver the address of the abandoned steel factory in the west of the city, the driver couldn't help but glance at her a few more times:
"Young lady, that place has been deserted for many years; it's not safe to go there at night."
"I...I'm going to see a friend."
Su Jiaojiao forced a smile, but her voice trembled uncontrollably. Leaning against the car window, she watched the neon lights rushing past outside, the voice of the system, Tuanzi, flashing through her mind.
[Host! Your heart rate is currently too fast and your blood pressure is soaring. Do you need to activate the emergency defense procedure?]
The system dumpling's voice was anxious.
[The signal is weak near the abandoned steel plant, making location tracking difficult. Are you sure you want to go there alone?]
"I have to go," Su Jiaojiao closed her eyes.
[Don't worry, Tuanzi, I have top-tier fighting skills, you won't be in danger.]
Just then, the system's voice sounded again.
[Love Level Warning! Mr. Lu Jinyuan's emotions are fluctuating abnormally; he seems to have discovered you're no longer at the villa!]
Su Jiaojiao's heart skipped a beat. Just as she was about to say something, the taxi slowly pulled up in front of a deserted clearing. The driver pointed to a huge, dark shadow hidden in the night not far away:
"Little girl, that's the abandoned steel mill."
I'll leave you here; this place is too eerie.
"Thank you, Master."
Su Jiaojiao paid the fare, opened the car door, and was immediately hit by a pungent smell of rust and dust. The night, like a thick black cloth, shrouded the entire steel plant completely, with only a few broken windows letting in a menacing gleam in the moonlight, like the eyes of monsters coldly staring at her.
She took a deep breath, stepping over the rubble and discarded parts scattered on the ground.
He walked step by step toward the gate of the steel plant.
"Squeak—"
Pushing open the rusty iron door, the sound was particularly jarring in the silent night. The factory was empty, save for a few abandoned machine tools and steel furnaces, standing silently in the darkness like lurking beasts. Moonlight streamed through holes in the roof, casting dappled shadows on the floor. The air was thick with the stench of blood and machine oil, making her stomach churn.
"Su Jiaojiao! You really came!"
A sinister male voice suddenly rang out, accompanied by the sound of chains being dragged.
Su Jiaojiao suddenly looked up and saw a tall man slowly emerge from the shadows deep within the factory. He held a gleaming dagger in his hand, the tip of which was still dripping with blood.
Behind him, Li Meng was bound to a rusty iron post with thick hemp rope, her mouth gagged with rags, her eyes red-rimmed. The moment she saw Su Jiaojiao, tears streamed down her face like broken beads, and she let out a series of sobbing sounds.
"Li Meng!" Su Jiaojiao felt as if her heart had been ripped out.
She wanted to rush over, but the man's gaze stopped her in her tracks. He approached step by step, the ferocity on his face exposed in the moonlight. In his features, one could vaguely see a resemblance to Manny.
"Are you Manny's brother?"
Su Jiaojiao's voice was so calm that even she was surprised. Top-notch self-defense skills circulated within her body, gradually relaxing her tense muscles. Her brain was working at high speed, analyzing the situation before her.
"At least you have some brains!"
Manlei glared at her fiercely, the veins bulging on his hand gripping the dagger.
"That's right! I am Manlei! Su Jiaojiao, you bitch! You ruined everything for my sister! She could have become a top blogger, she could have made a lot of money, she could have married into a wealthy family! It's all because of you! You exposed her, you made her the target of online scorn, you made her afraid to even leave her house now!"
Man Lei's voice grew increasingly agitated, and he suddenly raised his dagger.
The cold light reflected off his distorted face:
"My sister is right, you're a vixen! You seduce men with your face, climbing over other people's corpses to get ahead! Today, I'm going to make you taste the bitterness of disgrace! I'm going to smear your face so that no man will ever like you again! I'm going to make you live in hell, just like my sister!"
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