Chapter 58: Together We Run Towards Freedom

Oh!

So it was all an illusion. When they arrived at what they perceived to be a dangerous place, they imagined it to be a place of light.

That light was a figment of their imagination.

Inside the ward, Zhang Hongmin huddled in a corner with his daughter, trembling all over. He was truly terrified.

Benefactors they were indeed, but there was no mistaking that they were mental patients.

The two were completely unrelated.

They couldn't be compared.

Li Laifu and the others entered the ward and observed the scene. The four experts from the Special Department saw the evil creature lying on the bed and immediately became alert, but they discovered that the creature had no life signs.

Dead!

How did it die?

They looked at the father and daughter huddled in the corner. Could they have done it? But it didn't seem like it.

"Where are they...?"

Li Laifu was startled. Where did the two mental patients go? He hoped they hadn't been eaten by the evil creature. If that were the case, the situation would become very complicated. If Hao Ren knew about this, he would berate him, curse him, and might even sue him.

"Vice President, you're finally here!"

For Zhang Hongmin, the past few moments had been pure torture. He had witnessed the two mental patients pinning the monstrous gentleman to the bed and conducting all sorts of inhumane examinations.

"Were they eaten?" Li Laifu asked.

Zhang Hongmin hurriedly replied, "Vice President, no, they weren't eaten. Here's what happened: This monstrous gentleman came into our ward, seemingly looking for someone. But when he didn't find whoever he was looking for, he said he had the wrong room. Then my benefactor dragged him onto the bed."

"Then the other mental patient took out needles and started jabbing them into his head. You wouldn't believe how miserably that monster screamed."

The four experts from the Special Department examined the scene.

"No mistake, this is the Level Three evil creature we're looking for. Who killed it?"

"We don't know yet."

"Call someone to transport the body back and find out what happened to this creature."

At this moment, the expert who had graduated from the Buddhist Academy, rubbing his shaved head, approached Li Laifu and jokingly said, "That blow you landed on my head earlier, although I don't feel anything yet, might have given me a concussion. You're responsible for this."

Li Laifu didn't have time to deal with him and ignored him completely. Instead, he continued questioning Zhang Hongmin.

"Where did they go?"

Zhang Hongmin nervously replied, "They left. I heard them say something about being responsible for killing him, and then they ran off."

Li Laifu slapped his forehead in frustration. This had become complicated.

The two mental patients had escaped during the chaos in the hospital.

If they went outside…

The situation would become very tricky.

He didn't dare tell Hao Ren yet, fearing his outburst. It was better to try and find them first.

Li Laifu addressed the four experts, "I'll leave the rest to you. I can't handle this, I have other matters to attend to. Goodbye."

With that, he immediately called Huang Guan and gathered the security guards to search for the two mental patients.

The bald man watched him leave, pointing and saying, "That man has no manners."

On a city street.

Old Zhang walked down the street, looking at the passing crowds, somewhat fearfully and nervously shrinking closer to Lin Fan.

"Don't be afraid."

Lin Fan put his arm around Old Zhang's shoulders.

"I'm here. No one can bully you."

Old Zhang huddled, clutching his beloved needle case, cautiously watching the passersby.

He was still accustomed to the environment of his home and didn't particularly like this place.

Seeing how nervous Old Zhang was, Lin Fan scratched his head and said, "I'll take you somewhere."

Old Zhang nodded, gripping Lin Fan's clothes, keeping his head down, and avoiding looking around. Lin Fan, on the other hand, walked with his head held high, a smile on his face. Their attire was peculiar, naturally attracting the attention of passersby.

Lin Fan maintained a smile, sincerely looking at everyone who glanced at them.

It was indeed a bright smile.

But it made the passersby shudder.

Some passersby, seeing the tags hanging from their chests, trembled. These two were from the mental hospital! They quickly hurried away.

Lin Fan wanted to take Old Zhang to a place where there were no people.

A while later.

Under the cross-river bridge.

Lin Fan and Old Zhang sat on the grass, watching the rolling river water flowing before them, quietly observing. Neither of them spoke.

Old Zhang relaxed.

"It's so peaceful here."

"Yes, it is."

They looked at each other and then chuckled. This was the first time they had been out alone. At Qingshan Mental Hospital, they couldn't leave; there were always people watching them.

And they didn't like going out either.

Being at home felt the best.

It was quiet here, with the sound of flowing water and the horns of ships in the distance. Everything was so beautiful.

They lay on the grass, looking at the sun in the sky. The warm sunlight shone on them, making them feel at ease. Everything was peaceful and comfortable.

"Is my acupuncture really that useless?" Old Zhang asked.

"It's useful," Lin Fan replied.

"But why have I never succeeded? I even killed someone. I'm so sad, I want to cry. I really wanted to help him."

Old Zhang sniffled, his eyes reddening, filled with self-blame. That ugly person had died in front of them.

Lin Fan said, "You have succeeded. I am an example of your success. I believe your acupuncture is useful."

Old Zhang felt comforted and his mood improved. "Yes, I also believe that you can cultivate. Others don't believe it, but I truly do."

"So, we just need to be ourselves and not care about what others think. They might be different from us," Lin Fan said, gently pointing to his head.

Old Zhang nodded seriously, "That's very likely."

"I'm sleepy."

"Me too."

Old Wang: Hey! Hey! You were just blaming yourself, and now you're fine?

Gradually, they closed their eyes and lay quietly on the grass. They loved the environment here; everything was perfect.

After an unknown amount of time.

Noisy sounds came.

"呜呜呜..." (Wu wu wu... - sounds of struggling)

Someone was struggling.

"Boss, is this brat really worth that much money?"

"Isn't that obvious? Do you know who his dad is? He's the richest man in Yanhai City, and this is his only son. Do you know how lucky we are? This is luck sent from heaven! It was worth squatting in the toilet for three days to finally catch this kid."

"Boss, how much ransom are we asking for?"

"At least a few hundred million."

"Ah... so much."

The two men talking were kidnappers. One was skinny and猥琐 (weizuo - meaning obscene, lewd, or wretched). The other was fierce and had a scar on his face that looked like a centipede crawling across it.

Lin Fan was awakened by the noise and slowly opened his eyes, rubbing them and glancing over. It seemed someone had appeared here. Had they found them so quickly?

He got up and looked towards the source of the noise. A van was parked under the bridge. Two adults were dragging a child out of it. The child's hands and feet were bound, and his mouth was covered with tape.

Lin Fan just watched quietly, not understanding what they were doing.

The two kidnappers were busy.

The younger kidnapper saw someone standing in the distance and trembled, then tugged at his boss's sleeve.

"Boss, someone's there."

Scarface looked at Lin Fan, his brow furrowed, and touched the gun at his waist. It seemed he would have to silence a witness.