C12

A man in a black jacket had been following Bing Xue since yesterday. He was now at the mall sitting at one of the tables in the food court.

He received a call. When he picked it up the man on the other side asked him, "When will you do it? I have paid you so much money and you have still not done anything."

The man in the black jacket said in an irritated voice, "Keep quiet! This is a foreign country. We have to do it quietly. If the authorities of Colchis are alerted even with your backing it will take some effort to squash the matter."

"Why do you need to be so impatient? It will be completed tonight. Don't Worry, she will be in your arms tonight." Then he ended the call.

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Song Jue arrived at the food court at 5 p.m. She saw Bing Xue sitting alone at a table. She was busy texting someone. It was obviously Yang Li. When she came near her, she could hear her giggling as she read something. Jue sighed and thought her friend had changed drastically since that dinner at the Golden Palace. She had never seen this side of her. Whenever she talked to Yang Li, she acted childish and silly. Her cold demeanor would vanish in his presence.

However, as soon as she left Yang Li's company her cold and distant aura returned and she became the old Bing Xue.

"What is so funny that you are giggling like an idiot. Show me as well. I want to laugh as well." Song Liu said as she came near Bing Xue.

Bing Xue quickly typed a message and then put the phone in her bag. She then got up and said, "Nothing just a silly joke. Let's GO!! We are going to do a lot of shopping today."

She dragged Jue before she could say anything. They shopped for 5 hours straight. They bought dresses, shoes, perfumes, make-up and other accessories. Bing Xue also bought a black T-shirt with white stripes. It was a men's T-shirt.

Jue asked with a grin on her face, "Hehehe…. That Black T-shirt looks nice. Who is it for??"

Xue replied with a straight face, "It's for me!! Who else?"

Jue said, "But it's a men's T shirt."

Xue quickly replied, "So!! Who said women can't wear men's T-shirt? How can you say such things in this day and age? I liked it and so I bought it. This is called women empowerment!"

Jue was stunned by Xue's reply. She didn't know when Xue had become so capable of speaking such bullshit. However, she didn't say anything and went along with her.

Both of them had their dinner at a restaurant in the mall. By the time they finished, it was already 11 p.m. Then they left the mall. As their apartments were in opposite directions, they bade farewell to each other and took separate taxis.

Bing Xue reached her apartment at around 11.20 p.m. When she was about to reach her door, she felt something was wrong. She slowed down and looked at her front door.

She realized that there were three people standing in front of her. All of them wore black clothes and their faces were also covered. She stepped back and as she turned around; she found another man blocking her exit.

She felt afraid. It has been a long time since she had felt this way. However, she didn't let the fear overcome her. Although, she was afraid all her senses were on high alert at that moment.

When she was 17, she had taken classes in kickboxing due to an incident. She had practiced it regularly since then.

Those people started closing in. She moved towards the single person at the exit and allowed him to come near her. The person rushed towards her. As soon as he was close to her, Xue suddenly took action and with all her strength kicked his groin region. The man was caught off guard. In order to protect himself, he bent down. But doing so he lost his balance and he fell down.

This gave Xue the opportunity to escape. She didn't think of anything else but raced towards the exit. There was some shouting behind her and then she heard footsteps following her. She didn't pay heed to anything and continued running.

Once she reached the road, she searched for her phone. But she had dropped it when she escaped those men. She started looking for help. But there was no one in the vicinity.

However, there was a multi-storeyed parking lot on the opposite side of Xue's apartment. She decided to ask for help from the guard in the parking lot. When she reached the guard booth, she found him to be unconscious. She heard footsteps very close to her. She ran into the parking lot and hid behind one of the cars.

The men continued to search and she tried to evade as much as possible. However, they were a professional team. They ultimately cornered her.

When they had surrounded her, she asked them, "Who are you people? And why are you after me? I don't have any money. And my family won't pay the ransom either."

One of the men snickered and said, "Hehehe…. we are not here for the money. We have been hired to kidnap you. The rest is not our concern."

Xue had a bad feeling about this. She was now desperate. She stood her ground to make a last stand.

She heard one of them say, "No mistakes this time. Don't lower your guard."

She heard the men sniggering as they moved in towards her. When they were close, she threw a punch followed by a kick. But she was soon restrained by them. They were 4 highly-trained mercenaries and she had no chance. It was already amazing that she had been able to hold on till now.

One of the men dosed her with a chemical and she started losing consciousness. She felt desperate and powerless. A tear rolled down her eyes as she gradually fell into darkness.

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The men tied Bing Xue and put her in their car in the parking lot. Their leader then made a call, "Hello. We have her now."

The man on the other side was excited by the news. The leader interrupted his excitement as he said, "However there were some issues and therefore it will cost you extra."

The man started grumbling but ultimately agreed to the leader.

The leader replied, "We will meet in half an hour at the designated place." Then he ended the call.

As the men were about to enter their vehicle they heard a voice behind them, "Interesting!! So, you are a foreign mercenary group. But I don't recognize your style and your markings. So, you must be from an insignificant organization."

"And still, you have the guts to kidnap someone in a foreign country."

All the men were stunned by his voice. They didn't even feel his presence till he spoke to them. They were pissed by his comment but they stood still. The man was dressed in black. He was wearing a black cap and a black mask.

It was Yang Li. They felt a cold and murderous aura from him. When they looked in his eyes it was as if they were staring into the abyss. They were all veteran soldiers who had experienced many wars and bloodshed. However, the feeling that this man gave them was nothing like they had ever experienced. It was as if they were facing a feral beast.

The leader in the black jacket spoke, "Wh-Who are you? And why is it your concern?"

"The girl you have kidnapped is my concern."

"Now tell me who ordered this and I will give you a quick death."

The mercenaries were nervous. They were not assassins ready to die for their mission. They did this to earn money. However, they now realized that they had landed themselves in a fatal situation. The leader gave a signal to the rest of them. The rest of them nodded.

The leader then said to Yang Li, "Ok we surrender and will tell you everything. But you have to let us go."

The leader continued to move towards Yang Li while speaking. As soon as he stopped talking, he took out an army knife from his boots and leaped towards Yang Li.

Yang Li smirked and said coldly, "Childish!"

The leader felt confident that he could gut Yang Li before the target could move. However, suddenly Yang Li vanished and he felt someone punch him in the gut. It was so hard that he vomited everything he had eaten earlier. He felt dizzy and fell to the ground.

He heard a whisper in his ear, "Wait here."

THUMP! THUMP!! BAAM!!

The leader turned to look at his men. He saw them lying on the ground. All of them had their spines broken. The man then took the leader's knife and slit their carotid artery.

The man came towards him and took out a needle. He then pressed one of his acupuncture points and he lost consciousness.

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