Chapter 2268 — A Ten-Million Ransom

"Nothing much, really—only that Wu Chengtian gave chase, except he was no match for the other side. He didn't even last a single move..." Gu Mengyao said with a bitter smile. She said nothing about the Wind-Thunder Purple-Lightning Beast. For one thing, the beast was not something to be spoken of openly; for another, she did not want to reveal that it had already located the kidnappers' hideout. If she did, and Qiu Lingshan charged in recklessly, she could well land in danger. The caliber of these kidnappers had surpassed all expectation—they were certainly cultivators.

"What!" At Gu Mengyao's words, Qiu Lingshan stared at her in shock. She knew exactly what Wu Chengtian was capable of—a peak late Mystic-Rank like herself, and one who cultivated both inner and outer arts. If even Wu Chengtian was no match, if he could not survive a single move, then what terrifying strength did these kidnappers possess? They had to be at least Earth-Rank experts!

"And Wu Chengtian is already an early Earth-Rank expert now..." Gu Mengyao added.

"What, early Earth-Rank?" Qiu Lingshan drew another sharp breath. So she had underestimated the kidnappers after all. To think that even an early Earth-Rank expert had been settled in a single move. It seemed this kidnapping was not nearly as simple as it had first appeared...

"Yes. At first we assumed the kidnappers were after Wei Zhao, which was why they took Wang Xinyan. But now it looks as though the first people they notified were Wang Xinyan's parents. The kidnappers probably have little to do with Wei Zhao..." Gu Mengyao said.

"After Wei Zhao?" Qiu Lingshan was slightly taken aback.

"Wang Xinyan... is Wei Zhao's girlfriend at school." Gu Mengyao decided to put it that way. Explaining all those ambiguous entanglements would only invite trouble, so she might as well say it plainly. Besides, compared with Qiu Lingshan, Gu Mengyao was more inclined toward Wei Zhao choosing Wang Xinyan. After all, she and Xiaoshu had never quite hit it off with Qiu Lingshan. True, Qiu Lingshan had fought desperately to protect them earlier, but that too had been predicated on Wei Zhao.

"Ah?" Xiao Qinlin and Wang Xuben were stunned by Gu Mengyao's words. Their daughter had found a boyfriend at school? Was she not involved with Kang Zhaolong of the Kang family...

The two of them felt as though everything had been thrown into chaos. Earlier they had speculated that Wei Zhao might have kidnapped their daughter, but now it turned out that their daughter and Wei Zhao were actually a couple. Could it be that the Kang family, displeased, had hired someone to do this?

"Then... could it be someone from the Kang family..." Wang Xuben, seeing his wife's meaning, ventured to ask.

"The Kang family couldn't possibly have an expert of that caliber," Qiu Lingshan said with a shake of her head. "And from the looks of it, it's not them either. If the Kang family were behind this, they would still be targeting Wei Zhao and wouldn't have called you. So this kidnapping, I suspect, is closer to an ordinary one—only the kidnappers are rather unusual. Let's wait for their call and see what demands they make."

"That's all we can do!" Wang Xuben nodded. He found it strange that his daughter had fallen in love at school, but he had no heart to ask about such things now. Their daughter's safety came first. Once she was out of danger, it would not be too late to inquire in detail.

Gu Mengyao glanced at Qiu Lingshan, hesitated, and said nothing. She wanted to mention the matter of the hidden Pi family, but such matters were, after all, at a level Qiu Lingshan could handle—her only worry was that Wang Xuben and Xiao Qinlin might spread it. The Pi family was on friendly terms with Wei Zhao at present; if the other hidden families learned of it, it could prove disadvantageous to the Pi family. Better to wait until Wei Zhao returned.

"Then we'll be going now. What we know isn't much—only this." Gu Mengyao said.

"All right. If anything comes up, contact me anytime!" Qiu Lingshan's powers of observation were keen indeed—she had naturally noticed Gu Mengyao's hesitation. Perhaps, with Wang Xuben and Xiao Qinlin present, she had found it awkward to speak plainly. So Qiu Lingshan decided that in a little while she would call Gu Mengyao privately...

Not long after Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu had left, Wang Xuben received the kidnappers' second call.

"Wang Xuben?" From the other end of the line came that strange voice, distorted by a voice changer.

"It's you. How is my daughter?" Wang Xuben recognized at once that this was the kidnapper who had called before.

"No need to worry, Mr. Wang. Your daughter is doing very well at present—at present, of course!" the Big Mule said. "If you don't want anything to happen to your daughter, Mr. Wang, then you'd best do exactly as I say."

"What do you want?" Wang Xuben asked.

"Have ten million ready, then wait for my call." With that, the other party hung up outright, giving Wang Xuben not a moment to reply.

"Wait..." Wang Xuben stared helplessly at the dead phone and shook his head. These kidnappers did not play by any rulebook at all. He had wanted to stall for time as Qiu Lingshan suggested, but the other side had simply hung up.

Wang Xuben looked at Qiu Lingshan with a bitter smile, while Qiu Lingshan waited for word from Liu Wangli.

"How is it?" Qiu Lingshan looked at Liu Wangli as he came over.

"Captain Song, the tech team traced the call just now, but it was routed through multiple relays from overseas. There's no way to trace it in the short term..." Liu Wangli said.

Qiu Lingshan nodded. So the other side were old hands at this sort of crime, thoroughly familiar with such tricks. She had more or less guessed as much and had not held out much hope. Since the other side had fielded an expert far stronger than even an early Earth-Rank, tracing their identity through the phone would hardly be easy...

"Any trace of the vehicle?" Qiu Lingshan asked.

"No. It's a new commercial vehicle, smuggled in—there's no such model domestically, so there's no information to be found. And the route the kidnappers took was all back streets and alleys, with no surveillance footage..." Liu Wangli said.

Qiu Lingshan had largely anticipated this result. She turned to Wang Xuben and asked, "What did the kidnappers say?"

"He only said to have ten million ready and wait for his call, then nothing more," Wang Xuben said. "Officer Song, do you think I should go and raise the ten million right now..."

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