Chapter 93: Chapter 48: Splitting Up (Part 2)
Although Old Qian lacks Jianghu experience, everything depends on who you compare him to. In front of Huang Xiaopang, he can be considered a veteran among veterans. He only understood a few details from the phone and managed to deduce and verify so much information.
Xiaopang: "Who did it, and why did they kidnap He Kao?"
Qian Guran: "Since the incident has happened, let’s first look around the room for more clues."
Just then, there was another knock on the door; upon opening it, it was the neighbor next door.
The ambulance had just arrived downstairs, and someone in emergency attire carried out a person from here. The neighbor was a bit worried after hearing the commotion, so they came over to inquire.
Qian Guran explained, "It’s nothing serious, don’t worry, it’s one of our colleagues from work, an emergency event that happened while working overtime. We rushed over when we heard the news... it’s probably something like appendicitis, not anything contagious."
The neighbor confirmed that He Kao was indeed taken away by the ambulance. When carried out, a breathing mask covered his face, appearing unconscious. The medical personnel said he had called the ambulance himself, but his condition was still unclear.
After closing the door again, Xiaopang asked, "Could it be that He Kao really fell ill suddenly?"
Qian Guran quickly inspected the apartment and said, "It’s very unlikely, he didn’t take his mobile phone, wallet, or ID card with him. Even if you’re going to the hospital for emergency response, you need to have your ID."
Xiaopang: "Could it be possible he was already in a coma at the time?"
Qian Guran: "If he was in a coma, then who called the ambulance, and who opened the door for the medical personnel... is this the door key?"
Huang Xiaopang: "That’s the door key. I gave it to him, but he didn’t take it."
Qian Guran: "How did you get in?"
Huang Xiaopang: "I have another set of keys."
Qian Guran: "He Kao’s phone is still here; do you have a way to unlock it? It seems to need his face for recognition."
Huang Xiaopang: "Let me try a password unlock... let me think, I remember his high school gaming account password."
Qian Guran: "Try it quickly; many people habitually use one password because it’s easy to remember."
Huang Xiaopang: "You don’t understand a programmer’s habits. Commonly used passwords aren’t singular; they’re a group of passwords. For unlocking a phone, it’s probably one of his short numeric passwords... hey, it actually opened!"
He Kao’s phone is very "clean," with hardly anything random, just some commonly used apps and tools needed for work.
Xiaopang quickly opened the call logs, discovering a series of missed calls all made by himself, while He Kao hadn’t made any calls today, let alone called the 120 ambulance.
Xiaopang frowned tightly: "He Kao had a voice call with President E yesterday. From the chat history before and after, it seems they were discussing work. Not sure if anything else was discussed; I’ll call and ask President E."
Qian Guran: "President E went on a trip out of town, didn’t she?"
Xiaopang: "She just claimed to have gone on a trip to Nanzhao, but she’s actually in Qi Yuan and hasn’t left. I need to tell her that He Kao was taken away by an ambulance at his work site. If he can’t be found, should we consider calling the police?"
Qian Guran advised, "I suggest not reporting to the police quite yet. The kidnappers likely don’t wish to be discovered. Taking advantage of the current long holiday, they won’t even be noticed at work.
It’s possible they’re after something specific, and as long as they don’t have it, He Kao should be safe. But if things get exposed, they might destroy the evidence or even harm the hostage."
Xiaopang: "What could they be targeting? Did He Kao take something from the storage box? My family spread the word that He Kao got a box full of gold bars!"
Qian Guran: "Very likely." He glanced at Xiaopang while speaking, thought for a moment, and added, "There might be other possibilities."
Huang Xiaopang: "I won’t tell President E that He Kao is missing and kidnapped; I’ll just tell her he was taken by an ambulance, not knowing which hospital, and ask if He Kao mentioned anything to her yesterday... huh, President E’s phone is unreachable."
Qian Guran: "It’s two o’clock now; she might have turned it on silent mode to sleep."
Xiaopang: "Old Qian, you know many people and have many ideas; what should we do now?"
Qian Guran: "The urgent matter is to find He Kao! At least we need to find out who it is and why they kidnapped him. Since it’s a kidnapping, simply taking him is not useful; they must have a further action planned."
Xiaopang: "Then we can’t just wait around here; let’s split up and try to find him, and keep in touch regularly!"
Old Qian: "That’s what I was thinking. The ambulance is a clue; I’ll quickly check with some friends... If we truly can’t find him, we may have to call the police."
At this point, he paused and added, "Let’s agree on a code. If I call or message you asking, ’Are you asleep?’ it means for you to immediately report this to the police.
In such a situation, it’s not just He Kao in danger; we might be in jeopardy too."
...
Somewhere outside Qi Yuan City, He Kao was bound and taken to a pitch-black empty room; Gao Xue’e beside him was still unconscious. He heard the conversation of the two guards outside.
These two evidently were just lackey following orders, thinking that He Kao and Gao Xue’e had debts they didn’t pay, and were captured to be taught a lesson to repay obediently.
He Kao had vaguely heard of this kind of debt collection method used in the underworld; ordinary people can’t handle such a fright, and he hadn’t expected to encounter it himself today.
The two henchmen clearly didn’t know the actual story; they were simply following orders to guard the place. There’s no telling who their boss is; they’re likely a local gang employed by some mastermind behind the scenes.
Since the mastermind temporarily isn’t present, it’s time to find a way. Unfortunately, while He Kao has extraordinary perception abilities, under such circumstances, he can only sense the general environment, unable to discern various details around him.
He needs some light, even if just dim, to illuminate more things in this environment and gather more information... He should at least figure out where this place is, right?
With this in mind, he slowly adjusted his posture and rose from the sofa chair.
His ankles were also tied, preventing normal walking. If he attempted a zombie-like hop, it might alert the guards outside. He crouched and rolled forward gracefully, then adjusted his stance and stood, conveniently backing against the small table by the wall.
With hands bound behind him, he felt the table, releasing perception while moving his hands gently up and down and laterally.
There was something that seemed like a small spherical object on the table. As he accidentally nudged the table, although catching it promptly without generating significant noise, the ball still rolled down, and he managed to catch it with his hand—it was likely a Peiyuan Pill.
He Kao had embarked on this "seclusion" cultivation, taking only an Essence Nourishing Pill and a Peiyuan Pill with him, each repackaged into a small Six-Flavor Rehmannia Pill container, resembling a ping-pong ball-sized pair of white plastic spheres clamped together.
The Essence Nourishing Pill had been taken the day before; surprisingly, the Peiyuan Pill was also brought here by the kidnappers. He thought for a moment before gently placing the Peiyuan Pill back on the table.
Though there should be other items on the small table, he couldn’t perceive them well. He shook his neck again, realizing that the "fake" Beast Claw he habitually wore had gone missing.
Something dawned on him, and he then sensed among the things on the table was the Beast Claw.
The small table was somewhat damaged; He Kao felt a thin nailhead protruding from the connection between the tabletop and the legs. Resting his excitement, he began rubbing the binding strap between his hands over the nailhead.
He was extremely cautious, trying not to make noticeable noise, careful not to let the nailhead scratch his wrist. Breaking the binding in such conditions wasn’t easy—it required precise positioning and considerable patience.
Although He Kao couldn’t see what was behind, fortunately, he could sense it.
He Kao noticed a strange phenomenon—items that were foggy in perception became clearer as his touching hands encountered them, such as the table’s edges and legs.
There were some items he initially couldn’t perceive, like the Beast Claw on the table. Once he recognized it, he could perceive it clearly.
After over ten minutes of rubbing, his awkward posture had rendered his legs nearly numb, with his ankle and outer wrists painfully constricted. But finally, he broke the strap tied around his wrists.
**