Chapter 43: Xixi, Hold On

On the other side, inside the private jet.

Fu Yancheng stood at the porthole, his tense, cold profile outlined by the tumbling sea of clouds beyond the glass. His eyes were as dark as ink, swirling with an anxiety he could not disguise.

He gripped his phone tightly. Suddenly, a missed message alert popped up—it was from Qiao Xi. She had tried to reach him.

Earlier, his phone had no signal at high altitude. She had looked for him—but where was she? Had something happened to her?

He hurried to call back, but the phone could no longer connect.

Almost immediately, he received another message from Susu.

It said that after Qiao Xi had gone to the Fu Corporation, she seemed to have had a fight with Qin Yiren. After leaving the lab, her car was intercepted by an unknown vehicle on a remote stretch of road, and then she disappeared completely.

Fu Yancheng's fists clenched.

Where could she be? Who had taken her?

Could it have been Qin Yiren's doing?

Every second in the air was tormenting his heart.

“How much longer?!”

Fu Yancheng demanded without turning his head.

Zhou Ze swiftly checked the flight data. “President Fu, one hour and fifteen minutes until arrival.”

“Everything is arranged. As soon as we land, a car will be ready—we’ll reach the area near where she disappeared within five minutes.”

Fu Yancheng forced himself to remain calm.

He had to use this flight time to organize everything.

“Zhou Ze!”

“Yes!” Zhou Ze stood at attention at once.

“First, mobilize all our resources and contacts in the country.” Fu Yancheng’s voice was low and steely. “Tell the tech department to do whatever it takes to locate the last place Qiao Xi’s phone signal disappeared!”

“At the same time, use every authorization to retrieve all surveillance footage before and after the section where she went missing. I want to see clearly who took her!”

“Second, notify the police at the highest level, explain the situation, demand the immediate formation of a special task force, and have them synchronize all leads with us!”

“Understood, President Fu!”

Zhou Ze immediately turned and began working rapidly at the professional communications station in the corner of the cabin.

Command after command was dispatched at lightning speed.

When all was arranged, Fu Yancheng closed his eyes, fists trembling.

“Xi Xi, hold on... wait for me...”

He murmured under his breath, his voice carrying a vulnerability and plea he had never known.

—

No one knew how much time had passed before Qiao Xi awoke with a splitting headache and a suffocating pain.

Her hands were tied behind her back with coarse hemp rope, her ankles bound together as well. Her mouth was sealed with tape, leaving her able only to utter muffled sounds.

Three masked assailants stood not far from her, conversing in low voices in a foreign language.

The leader was fiddling with her phone, apparently checking its contents.

Seeing that Qiao Xi had awakened, one of the men approached her.

He crouched down and roughly tore the tape from her mouth.

“Speak! What’s the password?!”

He barked in broken English, his eyes fierce.

Qiao Xi's lips were cracked, her throat burning like fire.

Suppressing her fear, she croaked out in English, “Who are you? Did Miller send you?”

“How much is he paying you? I can give you double, no—ten times as much!”

The man sneered, clearly amused by her offer.

“Cut the nonsense! The password!”

When Qiao Xi pressed her lips together and refused to answer, the man lost patience. He slapped her hard across the face.

The sharp sound echoed through the empty, derelict building.

Qiao Xi’s head snapped to the side, her cheek instantly swelling, a thin trickle of blood at the corner of her mouth. Her ears rang.

“You refuse a toast, so you’ll drink punishment instead!”

Another man came over, wielding a metal rod.

Without a word, he slammed it against Qiao Xi’s bound calf.

“Ah!”

The searing pain made her scream, tears springing to her eyes.

It felt as if her bone had fractured.

“The password!”

The man pressed again, metal rod threatening her other knee.

Qiao Xi was shaking with pain, cold sweat soaking her back.

“I... I don’t know...”

She gritted her teeth, her voice quivering with agony.

“Looks like you need a lesson!”

The leader lost all patience, motioning to his companions.

Immediately, another man pulled out a stun baton and pressed the switch.

Blue arcs of electricity crackled menacingly as he drew nearer...

Qiao Xi watched in terror, then squeezed her eyes shut in despair.

Her body shook violently from the cold, pain and fear overwhelming her.

Yancheng... where are you...

She screamed silently in her heart, tears mixing with icy water as they slid down her cheeks.

—

Inside the private jet.

“Still no sign?!” Fu Yancheng spun around, his voice hoarse with suppressed anguish, his eyes bloodshot.

Zhou Ze’s forehead was slick with sweat.

He repeated the commands urgently into the comms, but the only answer was the same despairing “search ongoing.”

“Expand the search! Go through every place she could possibly be, every person connected to her!”

Fu Yancheng continued to issue orders in a low, steely voice.

This feeling of powerlessness was driving him to the brink of madness.

He wished he could crush every place that might harm her—pulverize those scum into dust.

Yet here he was, trapped ten thousand meters above the ground, not even knowing which direction she was in.

Every second of delay strained him past his limits.

Never had he hated distance and time so much.

—

At that moment.

Zhou Ze suddenly looked up, his voice breaking with excitement, “President Fu! The tech team has a breakthrough!”

“The phone’s signal flickered one last time before vanishing—right at the edge of the abandoned industrial zone in the west of the city!”

Fu Yancheng went rigid.

“Full speed! Go there at once!”

He roared the order.

—

In the abandoned industrial building.

The man with the stun baton approached. Qiao Xi squeezed her eyes shut, teeth clenched. She would never yield!

The man jabbed her savagely, and instantly, a powerful current surged through her body.

“Ah!”

Qiao Xi screamed in agony, her body convulsing violently, vision going black as consciousness was ripped away.

She collapsed limply to the ground, utterly motionless.

The thug retracted the baton and kicked her unresponsive body.

The leader checked her phone again—still locked. He cursed under his breath.

Just then—

Bang!

A tremendous crash echoed from the lower floor.

Footsteps pounded, followed by a stern shout: “Police! Don’t move!”

The thugs upstairs blanched in shock.

“Damn it, how did they get here so fast?!”

The leader barked at his men, “Retreat through the back!”

He dove instinctively for Qiao Xi, trying to seize her as a hostage.

Fu Yancheng was the first to storm up to the second floor, Zhou Ze and a squad of elite security and police close behind.

At a glance, Fu Yancheng saw Qiao Xi lying motionless on the ground.

“Xi Xi!”

She was soaked through, her cheek swollen, unconscious, blood at the corner of her mouth.

In that instant, a tidal wave of fury and murderous intent drowned him.

“If you touch her—!”

Fu Yancheng roared.

He lashed out and kicked the man reaching for Qiao Xi square in the chest, sending him flying with a scream.

One last thug, seeing this, flashed a vicious look, snatched up an iron bar from the floor, and swung it at the back of Fu Yancheng’s head.

“President Fu, look out!”

Zhou Ze shouted, leaping to intercept, but it was too late.

Fu Yancheng felt a sharp, excruciating pain at the back of his head, grunted—and the last thing he saw was Qiao Xi’s pale, peaceful face...