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Bonus chapter! Thank you to asdf for the donation! ^^
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The basement door was kicked open with a loud bang as Zhou Jinchen and Xu He rushed in anxiously.
Since there were no lights in the basement, the two immediately turned on their phone flashlights, illuminating the situation.
Without thinking, Zhou Jinchen quickly ran toward the person lying on the ground, his voice carrying a hint of urgency and tension that even he hadn’t noticed. "What’s wrong?"
"What happened?"
Xu He moved faster than Zhou Jinchen. He swiftly scooped up the person from the floor. Realizing that the person in his arms was terrified, he gently and softly comforted, "Don’t be scared, don’t be scared, I’m here."
Ruan Qing clung tightly to Xu He's neck, burying his head in Xu He's chest. His eyes were red, and he bit his lower lip hard, his delicate body trembling slightly.
It was clear that he was absolutely terrified.
The body Xu He had just warmed with his own temperature had grown cold again.
Xu He narrowed his eyes slightly. Something was very wrong—Ruan Qing had been afraid of the dark before, but never to this extent.
Something must have happened.
Xu He patted Ruan Qing's back lightly, his voice full of tenderness. "It's okay now, I'm here."
"I won't let anything happen to you."
Because Xu He was faster than Zhou Jinchen, Zhou Jinchen’s hand remained awkwardly suspended in the air. He retracted it with a blank expression.
Suddenly, he found the scene before him incredibly annoying.
Zhou Jinchen’s tone turned colder, with a hint of impatience. "What's wrong with you again? Didn’t I give you a flashlight?"
The flashlight was no longer in Ruan Qing’s hand; it had fallen to the side when he collapsed on the ground.
The flashlight’s beam had returned to its usual brightness, as if the dimming earlier had just been an illusion.
No one noticed this detail, not even Ruan Qing.
Ruan Qing clung tightly to Xu He, his voice trembling as he spoke, filled with unease, "There's something... something scary here."
Ruan Qing's eyes were red, brimming with tears. "It's so dark here, I don’t want to stay."
His words sounded very willful, but his voice was soft, trembling, and laced with sobs. Just hearing it would make anyone’s heart melt, stirring compassion deep inside.
It made people want to fulfill his every wish immediately.
Neither Xu He nor Zhou Jinchen responded to that remark.
Before they got the money, this young master could only stay here.
There were workers constantly coming and going outside. If they let this young master leave, not only would they not get the money, but their act of hiding him here would also be exposed.
This remote basement was the only place no one would come to, and staying here was the only way not to be discovered.
Xu He paused for a moment, then spoke gently, "There's nothing scary here. Could it be that you saw it wrong?"
"There is, there is." Tears welled up in Ruan Qing's beautiful eyes, and his pale, slender fingers trembled as he pointed to the corner. "Just now, I saw a dark shadow flash by over there."
Both Xu He and Zhou Jinchen looked in the direction Ruan Qing was pointing.
Zhou Jinchen used the light from his phone to illuminate the area and walked directly toward it.
In the corner where Ruan Qing had pointed, there were some discarded tools and miscellaneous items piled up, looking quite dirty and messy.
It was enough to hide something.
For instance, a person.
Zhou Jinchen's eyes narrowed slightly as he slowly approached the pile of clutter, a hint of danger flickering in his gaze.
Perhaps Zhou Jinchen's footsteps startled something, for a dark shadow suddenly darted out of the corner.
"Squeak, squeak, squeak—"
The sound made it clear what the dark shadow was.
Zhou Jinchen stopped in his tracks and shone his phone's light on the shadow. "It's a rat."
Upon hearing this, Ruan Qing's body froze slightly. He cautiously lifted his head from Xu He's embrace and looked toward the spot Zhou Jinchen had illuminated.
It was indeed a rat.
The rat seemed somewhat frightened by the light, scurrying around in a frenzy, trying to avoid the beam of the flashlight.
After seeing what the shadow was, Ruan Qing paused for a moment and said nothing more, releasing his grip on Xu He's hand.
As expected... he couldn't leave this room.
Even though the group's attitude toward him was somewhat ambiguous, he still couldn't leave this room.
Kidnapping?
Imprisonment?
The clothes he was wearing were of good quality and definitely not cheap. His hands were free of calluses or any signs of hard labor, clearly indicating that he had grown up pampered and privileged.
In contrast, the group around him was dressed in cheap, worker’s clothing, and their hands were rough—clearly accustomed to heavy labor.
He and this group clearly came from two completely different worlds.
It was highly likely that he had been kidnapped, though the reason for his sudden amnesia was unknown.
His mind was blank, unable to recall anything.
He didn’t know why he was here, nor why he had been kidnapped.
He didn’t even know what this group of people intended to do.
The location was unclear, their purpose unclear, and even his identity was unclear.
Ruan Qing’s eyelashes fluttered slightly, and he anxiously clenched his pale fingers.
The only thing he could be certain of now was that this group wasn’t made up of good people. They clearly wanted to use him for something.
Moreover, it seemed he wouldn’t be able to leave this basement until they had achieved their goal.
Just a moment ago, Ruan Qing had scanned the basement with a flashlight. Besides the door, there was only a small window.
The window was high up, so high that even standing on the clutter in the room, it would be difficult to climb up.
But even if he managed to reach it, it would be of no use. The window was too small to allow a person to pass through.
And to make matters worse, there were iron bars on the window, making escape impossible.
It seemed there was no way out of this room other than through the door.
And Ruan Qing hadn’t been lying.
He genuinely felt that something terrifying was present in this room.
It was a feeling of malicious, sticky darkness, as if something was watching him.
The sensation sent chills down his spine, making his hair stand on end, with every cell in his body screaming for him to run.
It was as if staying in this room any longer would lead to something terrible happening.
Only when the people who had kidnapped him were present did that feeling of being watched lessen somewhat.
Ruan Qing tried his best to calm down, carefully observing everything around him, trying to find a way to escape.
After Ruan Qing released him, Xu He lowered his gaze to his fingers, as if the feeling of holding the boy still lingered at his fingertips.
That was a sense of satisfaction.
It felt like a satisfaction that encompassed the entire world.
So much so that his heart felt full, yet he still wanted more.
He wanted this person to belong to him completely, to stay in his arms, unable to go anywhere.
Xu He lowered his gaze, concealing the emotions in his eyes. He looked at Ruan Qing and smiled slightly, "Maybe it's because there are too many things piled up, attracting the mice."
After saying this, Xu He stood up and began walking toward the pile of clutter. "I'll move these things out."
"That way, there probably won't be any more mice."
With all the clutter, it was hard to catch the mice or even know if there were any left.
So, moving everything out seemed like the best solution.
But the amount of stuff in the corner wasn’t small, and it might take more than ten minutes to finish.
Still, Xu He didn’t hesitate. Once he reached the corner, he started moving things.
Ruan Qing paused when he saw this. He carefully glanced at Zhou Jinchen. Only after making sure that Zhou Jinchen showed no particular reaction did Ruan Qing pick up the flashlight from the floor and stand beside Xu He to light the way for him.
Xu He glanced at the boy, who was standing quietly beside him, holding the flashlight. His gaze softened, and he gave the boy a gentle smile.
Seeing this, the boy's eyes curved slightly, and he returned a faint smile to Xu He.
The boy was extraordinarily beautiful, like an ethereal being who had mistakenly wandered into the human world. His pure, clear eyes and delicate features, combined with his gentle smile, made him resemble peach blossoms after the rain—so stunning that the world seemed to lose some of its brightness.
It was the kind of beauty that could leave someone momentarily speechless in awe.
For a fleeting moment, Xu He's grip on the objects he was holding tightened, as if trying to suppress something.
Eventually, Xu He looked away and silently continued carrying the clutter out the door.
Ruan Qing followed closely behind, shining the light for him, obediently trailing along in a way that softened one's heart.
They were getting closer and closer to the door.
Just as Xu He was about to step out, he suddenly stopped. Standing inside the doorway, he simply threw the objects he was holding outside.
But he himself didn’t step out of the room at all.
Seeing this, Ruan Qing also stopped and quickly scanned the area outside the door with his peripheral vision.
It was pitch black, nothing could be seen, just like this room.
Due to the angle, Ruan Qing couldn’t shine the flashlight outside, so he could only rely on the sound of throwing things out to make a judgment.
It probably wasn’t outside.
The sound made when throwing things had a faint humming quality, clearly a sound that only occurred in a narrow indoor space.
Could it be... a corridor?
Zhou Jinchen stood beside them, not stopping Xu He, nor speaking, merely watching Xu He with a trace of obvious mockery in his eyes.
How laughable, like a toad wishing to eat swan meat.
A low-level worker dreaming of winning the only son of a real estate tycoon?
It wasn’t possible before, not now, and never will be.
This kidnapping merely caught Ren Yanqing off guard. After this incident, it would be almost impossible to kidnap this precious young master again.
And aside from this kind of kidnapping situation, people like them could never have any connection with this young master.
Xu He had no idea what Zhou Jinchen was thinking; he was moving things seriously and swiftly.
In no time, he had cleared out quite a bit of the clutter.
Ruan Qing looked at Xu He, who was lifting heavy objects with his bare hands, his gaze deep in thought.
This man’s strength... was it a bit too much?
Could it be that memory loss has affected his judgment? Was this normal strength for an average person?
The next time Xu He moved some clutter, Ruan Qing also stepped forward to help, as if not wanting Xu He to work alone while he stood by idly.
Ruan Qing placed the flashlight on some nearby debris, then tried to lift it with all his strength.
It wouldn’t budge... at all.
Ruan Qing applied more force, but the clutter remained completely unmoved.
Instead, his own hands were rubbed raw from the effort, his palms burning painfully, to the point of being almost unbearable.
It was just like when he had fallen to the ground earlier, the pain causing Ruan Qing's tears to well up instinctively.
He lowered his gaze to his reddened hands, his delicate brows furrowing slightly.
Although he had no memory, his subconscious told him that this situation seemed abnormal as well.
What on earth was going on?
Thank you for the chapter!!
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