16 It's an indirect kiss

The chair creaked as Chen Ai Yu gained consciousness and tilted her head upwards. She had almost forgotten how this had happened since she was half awake, but she definitely remembered. And how could she leave out any details? She had also recalled that the kidnapper didn't seem very experienced, he didn't wear a glove or anything, therefore she was sure that they would be able to find out who the culprit is quite quickly. She had trust that they would save her.

"What do we do with her now? The night passed and no one has come. She is still unconscious too... did boss mention anything at all? How could he tell you to kidnap her and nothing else? He hasn't even came here to collect her or anything. We can't have this scum staying here for too long. He wanted her alive so we have to feed her and all that bullsh*t. Damn it." Ai Yu immediately closed her eyes when she heard people speaking.

"Aish! Is she awake yet? At least try to wake her up... shake her or something," another voice replied. Soon after, she heard footsteps gradually getting louder and louder. "She's still unconscious... we can't even ask her anything. She's so damn annoying! Can't she just wake up already? I can't with this. How much are we even getting paid?" The same voice as the first person who spoke said.

Ai Yu took note of the air movement around her and could tell where he was standing or where he was moving. Her legs were tied to the legs of the chair and her hands were tied behind the chair, the only way she could think of getting out of this was smashing the chair. After all, the chair was pretty old and unstable, seeing as it creaked just because she moved her head.

As Ai Yu was thinking about ways to escape, she felt the wind close to her shoulder shift at a very fast pace. Even so, she didn't dare to move. Big hands roughly grabbed onto her shoulders and shook her back and forth without mercy.

The part which hurt the most from this action was her neck. She was releasing all her energy and pretending to be unconscious. No doubt about it, it was hard. Oh please stop already.... she couldn't help but think continuously. Finally, his gripped loosened and he yelled, "She's still unconscious and I tried shaking her, but she's still not waking up!"

A loud and frustrated 'tsk' resounded from one room to the other. "Ugh! Just forget it. Call boss and ask him what to do with her now. I'll be honest, she's a real pretty one so I hope he let's us play a little before he does whatever he wants with her. That'll be fun." Following after that statement were disgusting laughs.

Ai Yu couldn't be distracted. She tried to assume the amount of people there were based on the number of people who laughed, but it was close to impossible. She was so focused on the number of voices that she didn't think about distance. Without knowing distance, how would she know if the man who shook her earlier laughed along or not? Some others may not have laughed as well. She had a rough idea though, around 5 of them.

In this type of scenario, Ai Yu was actually a little excited. Why? She hardly ever told anyone and not many people knew, but she learnt martial arts as an extra curricular when she was in high school. The training place was outside of school, so people thought she wasn't in a club and was just going home.

"Whatever. We don't have time for this, we got a threat from the Xieyi gang just yesterday. They told us to prepare for a gang fight today and it's almost time. Let's go," the same guy from before said. Ai Yu assumed he was the leader since he ordered everyone around and when he said something which wasn't even funny, they would laugh.

"Yes, Gan Ta. Should we leave someone here though? To watch that girl," a new voice suggested. "How upsetting. We have to lose one man. Fine then, you stay here. Let's get our tools and get moving."

After the last sentence was spoken, they all responded in unison with a "yes, Gan Ta". So the leader's name is Gan Ta, Ai Yu was going to remember that. She heard the footsteps get softer and softer until a door slammed shut. She had to be sure before she did anything reckless, so she stayed still for a while. The guy who was left to take care of her stayed in the room the others were in earlier. She was sure of his location only after he harrumphed loudly.

Ai Yu knew that the chair would make a lot of noise whether she did it fast or slow, so she made it quick and swift. She prepared her legs and arms for impact, stood up, and dropped all her body's weight onto the chair as it hit the ground. It smashed into pieces of wood spread throughout the small room.

The guy came running in in complete shock as he saw Ai Yu get up from the ground. She could move her legs freely, but her hands were still tied together. She turned her head and swept a cold gaze past the man who was so shook he was frozen by the door. If they had used masking tape instead of rope, this would've been much easier for her, but they didn't. The rope they used was thick and tough, it was definitely going to be hard to get out of it.

Ai Yu hastily grabbed a big piece of wood from the ground and tried to cut the rope. That's when the guy snapped out of his daydream and charged towards Ai Yu. She smoothly dodged his punch and threw a high kick towards his chin. A loud crack was heard as he fell onto the ground, groaning in agony.

"Hey! How dare you...." he still had the energy to yell, but stopped when a sharp pain hit him where the sun doesn't shine. Ai Yu tore the masking tape they used to cover her mouth and stuck it on the guy's mouth. "It's an indirect kiss... he he!" She said cheekily, staring at him from above.

After she took care of him, she returned to trying to cut the rope bounding her hands together. Her heart thumped hard as she was scared that Gan Ta guy and all his people would return soon. After a hot minute of grinding the piece of wood against the rope, it finally gave in and her hands were free!

Ai Yu pulled the guy by the collar up against the wall in a sitting position and tore the tape off of his mouth. "Speak. Who told you to kidnap me?" She asked, not a single hint of warmth in her eyes as she stared directly into his. The guy was scared sh*tless, but he still replied, "Definitely not someone who knows you well.... you fight very well-" "Suck it up if you don't actually know the exact person," she interrupted him.

With irritation in her every movement, Ai Yu slapped the tape right back onto the guy's mouth. She searched him and found a cellphone in his back pocket. It didn't have a password, so she looked through it. It was a burner phone and there wasn't much worth noting so she dialled in Chang Chang's number. Her number was the only one she remembered.

As she was doing so, she walked towards a window and sneaked a peek. Surprisingly, they were in an apartment and she counted the floors, they were on the 6th floor. A satanic number... was the first thing which came to her mind.

"Hello?" Mo Chang Chang finally picked up.

"Yo, I got kidnapped," Ai Yu responded casually. A gasp sounded from the other speaker.

"AI YU! OH MY GOODNESS ARE YOU OKAY?! I HEARD ABOUT YOU GETTING ABDUCTED ALREADY OH MY-"

"Wait, chill, you're hurting my eardrums. I'm alright, the gang which were hired to kidnap just went for some gang battle or something. Anyways, what's up there? I have no idea where I'm at."

"Okay, I just told Chanming to contact the police. I'm recording our call. Describe your location?"

"I'm in an apartment on the 6th floor, and I can see our apartment from here. I think I can escape."

"Don't think so, only take the risk if you're sure! Please, stay safe... Okay, which side of our apartment can you see?"

"If I'm sure, it wouldn't be a risk anymore, ha ha ha. The... parking lot... if I stand in the parking lot facing the entrance of the parking lot, then I see the right side of it."

"They're searching now. Don't be scared..."

"I think you're the one that's scared."

As Ai Yu was about to laugh, she could hear loud groans getting closer from the outside and she quietened down immediately. "Listen, I think they're back. I'll stay in the call, but don't speak. Just listen. It's recorded after all. Don't respond after this," she whispered, tip toeing back into the room they put her in.

She placed the phone in the corner of the room so that it wouldn't be spotted and turned the speaker on. The door opened and the loud sound of footsteps were heard clearly. "Go check on the girl. Also, where's Qitang? He's supposed to be looking after that girl!" Gan Ta yelled in anger. "I'll go check on her. She should be awake by now. You guys go and wrap up your wounds," an unfamiliar voice replied.

Ai Yu hid to the side of the entrance to the room. The moment the guy stepped a foot into the room, she hit up on the shoulder, close to the neck. He passed out and she pulled him next to the guy, whose name is apparently Qitang, against the wall.

Qitang watched in awe as she returned to the hidden position next to the entrance.

After about 5 minutes, Gan Ta spoke again, "Aish, where did that idiot go? Didn't he go check on the girl? Why isn't he back? You, go check on those two idiots and the girl." "Yes, Gan Ta." If her suspicion from before was right and there really were around 5 people, then she'd have 3 down by the time she knocked out this guy. She would let the 4th guy scream before knocking him out so that the others, or maybe Gan Ta alone, will come in wondering what was up.

Ai Yu did the same to that guy as she did before. She laughed playfully as Gan Ta yelled for the assumed last guy to check up on all of them 'idiots'. As he came into sight, she punched him in the stomach and he let out a loud oof. After which, she hit him on the shoulder and tossed him aside, stepping out into Gan Ta's view.

Her suspicion was wrong. It was Gan Ta and beside him sat another guy. She wasn't fazed, though. She even felt a sense of thrill as her hands turned into fists by her sides. "Gan Ta... she...!" The guy exclaimed, pointing at her. "No sh*t, Sherlock. I can see her you dimwit," Gan Ta replied, grabbing the metal baseball bat beside him and charging towards Ai Yu. The guy just sat there with his finger still pointed at Ai Yu. He was so starstruck that he had stiffened up.

A smirk with a sense of mischief made it's way onto Ai Yu's face as she got into a fighting position.

"Try me."