11 Hostage

"Come now, your aunt can't wait to see you"

Having been separated from the Zhang family before, only she knows how much her heart has been yearning to see them. It has only been a day since her rebirth but the turn of event in these past few hours has made her realize more how much she had been a weak person before.

"Really uncle?" Her weak tone of voice doesn't escape the ears of her doting uncle.

Frowning slightly, uncle Zhang gently pats her head in reassurance, slightly thinking 'Just how much did Noah break her?'. Just as he's about to lead her outside, Ara notices a small inconspicuous pendant shop near them which seems to specialize in customized gifts.

"Uncle wait here for me, I want to get something for aunt" As she talks, she begins walking towards the shop, leaving uncle Zhang smiling dotingly at her as she walks toward the shop.

Taking out his phone, he begins to throw orders to the person on the other side.

****

Ara takes a look around the shop, noticing the different shapes and sizes of the many pendants in the shop. With some of them having been made of different jade and some of them different lusters of gold, silver, and platinum.

Taking a closer look, she notices a teardrop-shaped, jade pendant. The platinum chain attached to it seemingly of high quality, just as the jade. The urge to touch it finally overwhelms her and she reaches out to_

"Beautiful isn't it"

"Aah!"

Ara jerks away, intending to take a look at the person who scared her so much.

With a hand over her racing heart, she notices the old man next to the teenage boy who scared her. The boy has a teasing smirk on his face as he looks at her frightened face. With his bright orange overall attire, the whole look manages to bring out the youthfulness within his eyes.

"Chen Zhen, you clean up storeroom"

With the old man's words, the playfulness of the young boy is cut short as he trudges away from the scene. Now that the boy is gone, Ara carefully looks up at the old man. He has a long white beard that reaches his stomach and a small tuft of silver hair on his head, he is wearing faded blue robes along with some old sandals.

The look in his beady eyes though is what catches Ara off-guard.

"You take Feng shui, good for your peace"

Saying that the old man takes out the pendant that Ara was staring at and places it into her hand before she can realize what happened.

"Thank you uncle, I was actually looking for a gift for my aunt and this pendant will look good on her" She hastily nods her head with an awkward smile on her face.

"No, you take Feng shui for you and buy other gift for your aunt"

Having said so, the old man takes out another random pendant and gives it to Ara.

"What_"

"This pendant cost five hundred yuan, pay up" his dark, beady eyes peer at Ara with such intensity that she mechanically takes out a few hundred yuan from her purse and stuffs them into the man's hands before bowing hastily and leaving the shop.

The old man rubs his beard in thought after she has left.

"She make clumsy leader"

****

Coming out of the small shop, Ara rubs her head in a daze thinking of what just happened.

"Out of the way!"

She turns her head just in time to see a big burly man push through a crowd of old ladies, making his way towards her with a small black bag in his hands.

Her eyes widen and before she can dash away, the man grabs her arm and twists it to her back with the hand holding the bag. A cold object comes into contact with her neck and she yelps from pain as she realizes that the man has a knife.

Within seconds, a group of men in black with military insignia show up with guns in their hands. It is then that they notice that their target has a hostage in his hands. A girl at that.

Another man emerges from the group, with a mask over his face. His cold eyes peer at Ara with deep coldness, that she freezes in more fear.

"Sir, he has hostage Sir"

As if he didn't hear anything, the man moves closer.

"Viper, hand over the bag and I don't have to end your life here"

It has nothing to do with the fact that these words were spoken in French, but it is the meaning of these words that make Ara's eyes go wide in shock and fear, realizing that the man isn't here to save, rather his only concern is the bag in this guy's hands. 'Will I die just a day after I've rebirthed' She pitifully thinks as her eyes fill up with unshed tears of frustration, anger, and helplessness.

Before she can fully process her dilemma, the man holding her hostage who is identified as Viper replies in his french accent, the words dripping a hint of fear when he realizes the identity of the man who has come for him.

"General Jiang, I take orders from one person in my existence and that is not you, so before I slit her throat make way for my escape"

"And if I don't?" The man's mocking gaze doesn't escape Ara's eyes as she tries to gauge the best plausible course of action.

"Then everyone dies here today!" Viper burst out in a fit of rage, taking out a small gadget with loads of different wires from the bag.