Chapter 157: Revenge

2022-05-20

Right now, only Gu Chen, Zhao Xiaoli and I were in the office. We were all about the same age. Zhao Xiaoli seemed a bit shy, but she still chose to tell us what happened.

Zhao Xiaoli said, “Those ten days felt like the longest of my entire life. When I woke up, I was already tied up. That’s when I knew I’d been tricked, but I had no idea by who. The person wore black clothes, a mask and glasses, covering their whole face.”

At that point, Zhao Xiaoli rolled up her sleeve. We saw several deep bruised marks on her wrist—clearly from being tied up with rope. The evidence was right there that she’d been restrained.

Zhao Xiaoli continued, “I’ve got other injuries too, but it’s not really convenient to show you guys.”

We understood—after all, it’d be awkward for an eighteen-year-old girl to undress in front of two grown men.

I waved my hand and said, “Someone will do a full checkup for you soon. For now, can you tell us everything that happened to you?”

Zhao Xiaoli let her sleeve fall and continued, “At first, I was terrified. I screamed and struggled, shouting for help. The person panicked and gagged me, afraid the noise would attract attention. Every time I struggled, he’d tie me up even tighter, digging his fingers painfully into my skin.”

We all frowned as we listened closely.

“I realized the more I fought back, the worse he’d treat me.” Zhao Xiaoli’s face clouded over with sadness. “So I stopped struggling, stopped screaming. That seemed to satisfy him. Early on, he kept asking me if I knew where Hao Ren and Wang An went.”

“He asked you that?” I interrupted.

Zhao Xiaoli nodded earnestly. “My first thought was that maybe my dad had made an enemy somewhere. But my dad’s always been kind, never picked fights even though he’s skilled at martial arts.”

She went on, “Then I thought maybe my brother got into trouble. Wang An was known for getting into fights as a kid, so maybe he’d bullied someone and ran off. But that’s not who he is. My brother’s a good person—he’s never bullied other kids.”

Wang An actually lived by the rule: never provoke others, but never back down if someone picks a fight. If you never bothered Wang An, he’d never bother you. The way he treated Guo Feng said it all. Even though everyone mocked Guo Feng for his intellectual disability, Wang An comforted him instead. That alone showed he’d truly learned Hao Ren’s sense of martial spirit.

Looking at Zhao Xiaoli, I asked, “If you didn’t see his face, did he have any other distinctive features? Anything at all—don’t leave anything out.”

She thought for a moment, then as if recalling something said, “Yes, actually. During the first few days, because I kept struggling, he’d have to hold me down. Whenever I touched his left arm, he’d flinch away really sharply.”

That caught my attention at once.

She continued, “It felt like he had an injury on that arm, and later on he made sure I couldn’t touch it.”

“And then?” Gu Chen asked.

Suddenly, tears began rolling down Zhao Xiaoli’s cheeks. She said, “During those days all I could think about was escaping, but he watched me constantly. By the fifth day, I realized this place was really remote. I could hardly hear a sound from outside. That’s when I knew—I couldn’t outsmart him. I had to pretend to go along with whatever he wanted.”

I nodded, encouraging her to continue.

She went on, “Every day he asked about my dad Hao Ren and my brother Wang An, but I honestly didn’t know where they were. After seven or eight days, he started getting more and more irritable. He was furious—telling me if he found them, he’d kill them both. The longer he couldn’t find my dad and brother, the longer he kept me locked up.”

“I still don’t know what my dad and brother could have done to make him so angry.” She looked truly worried. “But I could tell—he really would hurt them. On the tenth day I still had no idea where my dad and brother were, so—so he tore off my clothes.”

Zhao Xiaoli’s tears kept falling. “He said since he couldn’t find them, he’d make me pay instead. After that he left. He didn’t give me anything to wear—he just tossed my clothes aside. I grabbed my pants, used my belt’s buckle to saw through the ropes and escaped.”

“Once I got out, I realized just how deserted the area was. I walked down the road as far as I could, finally flagged a rideshare driver willing to take me and got myself back here.” She was still shaken. “The whole time I was terrified he’d come after me, so I called a cab as soon as I got out of the car.”

I frowned, asking, “Do you know where the place was?”

Zhao Xiaoli nodded. “I do! I memorized the route on the way here.”

I continued, “Was he always alone? Or could there have been others, just in similar clothes so you couldn’t tell?”

After thinking it over, she answered, “He did come alone, but the house had more than one room. I heard him arguing with someone outside more than once.”

“Did you hear what they said?” I pressed.

She replied, “It sounded like someone was telling him to stop, to quit before someone died. But he wouldn’t listen and kicked the other guy out. He told me that lives meant nothing to him, and he’d get rid of my dad and brother sooner or later.”

“Thank you.” I told Zhao Xiaoli, “Alright, let’s let the female forensic examiner check you over. If you’re physically alright, we’ll head over to the house where you were held. Does that sound good?”

Zhao Xiaoli nodded.

We left the room. I told Guan Zengbin everything and he nodded in agreement.

Guan Zengbin closed the office curtains. From outside, you really couldn’t see a thing. We could only pick up the low sounds of voices, not what was being said. Honestly, that was for the best—a little privacy spared everyone the embarrassment. An hour later, Guan Zengbin came out first.

She glanced at us and said, “I’ve just examined Zhao Xiaoli. She has a lot of bruises—some big, some small. As I checked, I asked her how she got them. The small ones are from being grabbed forcefully, the big ones from being hit with a belt. There are both old and new injuries, so it all seems to check out.”

“But,” Guan Zengbin shook her head and glanced over at the soundproofed office.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

She explained, “She said she was assaulted before coming here. So I paid special attention checking her, but there was no physical evidence at all.”

I had no expertise in this area, so Gu Chen and I just stared at Guan Zengbin, lost.

Frowning, I said, “We can’t be sure of anything yet. But since Zhao Xiaoli isn’t in danger, let’s head over to the house. Bring your kit. We have finger prints from Zhang Bin and the others. If we find their prints on site, that’ll seal it.”

Gu Chen drove. Zhao Xiaoli gave directions. Wang An stayed behind.

On the way, Zhao Xiaoli was still anxious. With our reassurance, she gradually calmed down. When we reached the cabin, nothing inside had changed since Zhao Xiaoli left. The person who abducted her hadn’t come back.

The door was unlocked—just a simple three-bedroom setup.

This place was out on the outskirts of Yumu City. Renting a house like this can’t be cheap.

I frowned again and headed inside.

In one of the bedrooms, we clearly saw the cut rope still inside. I pulled on gloves and picked up the rope, inspecting it closely. The frayed edge suggested it’d been cut through bit by bit with something dull and metallic. The other end was tied to the bed frame. The bed looked heavy—almost impossible to break free otherwise.

Guan Zengbin was already searching the place for fingerprints. I surveyed the place too.

The house itself was spotless. Someone must have been cleaning it regularly.

I texted the address to Mary so she could check out who owned the property.

It didn’t take long—Mary found the owner and sent me his phone number.

Chatting with the landlord, I learned he’d rented the place out a month earlier, but had moved out of the province for work long ago. The home had been empty ever since.

I asked, “Who rented the place?”

The landlord replied, “I never met the renter in person—everything was handled by the real estate agent. But the agent told me the tenant’s name is Zhang Bin.”