r18novel Chapter 173 Did you secretly join the underworld?
Chapter 173 Did you secretly join the underworld?
"Lu...Mingfei?"
A faint, trembling voice, filled with disbelief, rang out from the darkest corner of the cabin.
Lu Mingfei looked in the direction of the sound and, with the faint light coming in from outside the cabin door, could barely make out the face that was stained but still bright.
He raised an eyebrow, and his heart skipped a beat.
The pressure on his hands loosened.
"How did you... end up trafficking people in Japan...?"
Su Xiaoqiang's voice was weak, but that familiar sharpness, which remained even in adversity, still shone through.
"I……"
Lu Mingfei was taken aback and was speechless for a moment.
To be honest, given the current situation...
He pushed open the door and entered. Outside, there were people he had tied up lying on the ground (although they were bad guys). Inside, several hostages were bound hand and foot, and he just happened to be there.
It looks like... no matter how you look at it
It's either a case of double-crossing, or he's the mastermind behind it all, coming to collect the goods.
It's like mud plastered all over your crotch; even if it's not shit, it looks like shit.
Explanation?
In this situation, any explanation seems inadequate.
Lu Mingfei's experience told him that at this point, he couldn't go along with the other party's questions; he had to take back the initiative.
"Su Xiaoqiang, how did you get kidnapped?"
He countered with a tone that perfectly balanced surprise and a hint of reproach, "Weren't you supposed to be preparing to take over your father's business and become your little princess, your domineering female CEO? How can you have such a poor sense of security?"
He tried to use his familiar, teasing tone to build rapport, while quickly scanning the interior of the cabin to guard against other potential risks.
That's right, the abducted acquaintance was none other than Su Xiaoqiang, his high school classmate, the one whose family was rich, who walked with a swagger, and with whom he used to bicker.
At this moment, Su Xiaoqiang did not huddle in a corner like the other hostages, but stood in the shadows inside the hatch.
She somehow found a broken piece of ship plank with sharp splinters in her hands, and held it high above her head, her body tense, ready to fight at any moment. But after recognizing Lu Mingfei, her posture became somewhat...
Hesitation between surrendering and smashing people.
The cabin was poorly lit, with only a little light from the doorway, the faint reflection of the distant harbor, and the dim starlight shining through the broken porthole.
Someone with poor eyesight or low vigilance might have actually been caught off guard by her sneak attack from the shadows.
Lu Mingfei remembered that after the last class reunion, he heard from others that Su Xiaoqiang did not go abroad to study after graduation, but instead went directly to her father's side to get involved in the family business and prepare to take over.
How did people end up being transported to Japan across the ocean in the blink of an eye?
But Su Xiaoqiang herself was also filled with confusion and grievances.
She just had a sudden whim. One day, on her way home after working overtime at the company, she suddenly remembered that she hadn't been back to visit the area near her alma mater in a long time, so she took a detour to go there and wanted to relive the feeling of her student days.
As a result, in a secluded section of road, I felt a numbness in the back of my neck, then everything went black, and I knew nothing more.
When I woke up, I was already on this smelly, rocking, and dilapidated ship, my mouth was gagged and my hands and feet were tied.
At first, she also thought it was a kidnapping and extortion, and thought that her family would receive the news and pay the ransom soon.
But the ship drifted at sea for six or seven days. Every night, the tape over their mouths would be roughly torn off, and they would be fed liquid food and water. The person who came never spoke. He wore a mask and sunglasses, and his face was completely obscured in the dim light.
She overheard the occasional conversations between the guards outside and could only confirm that the kidnappers were Japanese.
But the other party kept delaying mentioning the ransom, and there were several other men and women in the cabin who had suffered the same fate, which made her feel increasingly disheartened.
It's probably not for money, but for some other purpose.
It's not a good thing anyway.
But how could the proud and indomitable Little Fairy sit idly by and wait for her doom?
She had been secretly observing, using the rough protrusions at the seams of the cabin planks to rub the rope on her wrist.
Tonight, she finally broke a section of the rope.
Her original plan was to wait for the person feeding her dinner to come in, then fight back desperately, using the wooden block hidden behind her to deliver a fatal blow, and then steal the key or create chaos.
But to her utter surprise, instead of guards, she was met with someone breaking down the door...
Lu Mingfei.
Her first reaction was naturally shock and confusion, and even an absurd thought flashed through her mind:
Did this guy fail to study abroad and end up in Japan to join the underworld?
They even got involved in transnational kidnapping?
But the other people in the cabin, whose ropes Su Xiaoqiang had secretly helped untie, didn't care about any of that.
They only saw someone barge in, and Su Xiaoqiang seemed to recognize the person and even called out their name.
The instinct for survival and the pent-up fear of the past few days became an explosive force. The group exchanged glances, growled, and pounced on Lu Mingfei, who was standing at the door!
They had no weapons at hand, only fists and feet that had been bound for many days and were weak and powerless from hunger.
The outcome was, of course, predetermined.
Lu Mingfei barely moved his feet, only slightly turning his body and seemingly casually blocking and deflecting a few times with his arms. Accompanied by a few muffled groans and the sound of falling to the ground, the people who rushed at him seemed to have hit an invisible wall, falling to the cabin floor at an even faster speed. They couldn't get up for a moment, and could only groan in pain.
Only then did Lu Mingfei realize that when he subconsciously raised his hand to block, he had also grabbed a slender neck.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot."
Lu Mingfei chuckled awkwardly and quickly let go.
Su Xiaoqiang remained standing blankly in the shadows behind the door, still holding that ridiculous piece of wood in her hand.
She glanced at the people Lu Mingfei had instantly taken down on the ground, then looked up at the tall, nimble young man at the door. The image of Lu Mingfei from high school, who always seemed a bit downcast and whom she had mocked as a "loser," was completely incompatible with the man in front of her who exuded danger and control.
"Lu Mingfei, you..."
She put down the wooden block, her voice a little hoarse, "The changes are huge."
She missed that special class reunion last time.
She vaguely knew from other sources that the gathering was not simple; it seemed that Zhao Menghua had come to announce his new girlfriend.
Proud as she is, she naturally wouldn't go.
But when she heard that Lu Mingfei not only went but also shone brightly at the party, completely different from before, she felt a little regretful.
It's not that I regret not going to watch the excitement, but that I missed seeing the loser make a comeback and get slapped in the face.
Seeing it with my own eyes now is far more impactful than hearing about it.
The young man before me had his hair neatly combed, his facial features were much more defined than in high school, and his eyes appeared deep in the dim light.
The coldness and precision she displayed when she made her move reminded her of the bodyguard her father had arranged for her—a retired special forces soldier.
I wonder how that bodyguard is doing now; she suddenly fell into a coma the day of the incident…
Reality pulled me back from my chaotic thoughts.
"you……"
Su Xiaoqiang pursed her slightly chapped lips and finally asked the question that concerned her the most.
"Are they really involved in organized crime in Japan?"
She pointed to her fallen companion in the cabin, her eyes filled with complex emotions.
"Master Qingtian!"
Lu Mingfei immediately protested his innocence, pointing dramatically out of the cabin.
"You've really wronged me! Look at those people outside who're tied up, those are the bad guys who kidnapped you! I was clearly just trying to help those in need, a true hero! I'm just a representative of the victim's family and friends... uh, my classmates!"
To convince Su Xiaoqiang, he stepped aside, indicating that she could see the results of the battle outside.
Su Xiaoqiang was skeptical, but cautiously poked her little head out of the cabin. By the starlight and the faint light of the distant port, she saw many figures lying haphazardly on the pier and the bow deck, tightly bound with nylon cable ties, motionless.
She felt a little relieved; it seemed that what Lu Mingfei said might be true...
But in that instant when her mind relaxed slightly—
"boom!"
A muffled thud came from the direction of the cockpit on the roof, like something heavy falling to the ground.
Immediately afterwards, less than a second later, a languid yet slightly mocking female voice came through clearly, speaking fluent and standard Chinese:
"Xiao Lu—you can't resist pretty girls again? You're being too careless and leaving things unfinished."
As soon as the words were spoken, a figure nimbly leaped down from the shadows above the cockpit, landing silently on the deck and patting off non-existent dust from his hands.
It was Gu Nan.
She wore her usual lazy smile, her gaze sweeping between Lu Mingfei and Su Xiaoqiang, lingering especially on Su Xiaoqiang's slightly disheveled but undeniably beautiful face.
Su Xiaoqiang abruptly pulled her head back, looking at Lu Mingfei with surprise and uncertainty, then at the incredibly beautiful girl who had suddenly appeared outside.
Lu Mingfei sighed and rubbed his forehead in exasperation.
Well, I was only halfway through explaining when this older sister messed things up again.