Ti Shen-Chapter 14

"Before I've confirmed anything, you should just stay put."

Reacting to what Lan Kuang said, Ran Feng Ge stumbled backwards purposefully as though he was frightened.

The four bodyguards immediately surged forward to surround Ran Feng Ge, before looking towards Lan Kuang for further instructions.

Ran Feng Ge felt a shudder run down his spine; was it his fight or flight response?

If it came down to fighting, taking all four men at once would cost him a significant amount of energy. In addition, Lan Kuang was still in the equation; if he were to join the fray, what they had in the past might be revealed.

Even though he was stuck between a rock and a hard place, he did not forget to consider all his options and how the real Jing Qiu Han would react in this situation.

"Master, you promised me…" Ran Feng Ge said softly, giving in without a fight. Wind and Fire each held onto Ran Feng Ge's arms as he gave his most troubled expression to Lan Kuang, "Master…"

Unperturbed, Lan Kuang replied "You agreed to come back to my side too, did you not?"

"But, I have not seen my sister…"

"We will discuss the matter of your sister after I have verified the information you have provided me. If it is as valuable as it seems to be, your sister will be granted her freedom." Lan Kuang rose up from the chair and took two steps towards Ran Feng Ge, fingers lifting up his chin, "As for you, just sit quietly in confinement. Take this as punishment for taking so long to acquire the data."

Ran Feng Ge pretended to put up a fight, and amid his struggle his phone, weapons and the like were all taken away.

In the end, Ran Feng Ge was escorted by all four men into the car that was waiting downstairs.

He was placed on his side across the back seat, blindfolded with his hands tied together; Ran Feng Ge decided to close his eyes and pretend to sleep.

In his heart, Ran Feng Ge felt regret. Looks like there is no way I'll be able to attend the thank you dinner!Boss Su, I swear it is not my intention to stand you up. With Lan Kuang being the suspicious man he is, there is nothing I can do! Looks like I'm going to have to stay with him for a few days.

♦

Nightfall, 7 PM

Ran Feng Ge's appointment with Su Yi Mo was supposed to be at 6 PM.

Su Yi Mo has already waited for an hour.

Glancing at his watch again, the minute hand was now over the number 6. Su Yi Mo could not stop himself from calling Ran Feng Ge's number, but no one was picking it up.

He called again, but still no one picked up the call.

He repeated the calls a few more times, only to have someone end the call prematurely.

Su Yi Mo had already guessed that something bad must have happened.

His fingers flew across the phone screen swiftly, typing out the message "Where is he?"

At the other end, Lan Kuang who had been playing with the phone that had been ringing nonstop, clicked open the message that had just arrived, the edges of his lips rising into a grin, and replied with "No comment", before switching the phone off.

As expected, the little traitor's value in Su Yi Mo's eyes was not small.

Su Yi Mo could not help but redial the number again, but this time, a female voice sounded "Sorry, the number you have dialled is currently not in service". As soon as he heard this, Su Yi Mo dropped his hand, his expression darkening.

Since he could not get into contact with Ran Feng Ge, then it meant that Lan Kuang must have him.

Jing Qiu Han wanting to discuss terms with Lan Kuang was more than enough to expose his betrayal, Lan Kuang keeping Ran Feng Ge who was playing Jing Qiu Han, meant that he had no intentions of letting him go.

Thinking that providing a sizable compromise would allow Lan Kuang to drop his defences, who would have thought that this fellow was smarter than he seems, to actually use Jing Qiu Han to threaten him.

Should I abandon Ran Feng Ge?

With his skills, weapons knowledge and ability to transform into anyone, in addition to his quick-wittedness, he should be able to get out of this by himself unscathed right?

Should I make all of the information Lan Kuang just received obsolete?

If Ran Feng Ge cannot be rescued, it would be stupid to allow himself to be made so disadvantaged wouldn't it?

Fingers tightened across the phone in his hand, Su Yi Mo furrowed his brows as he thought about the situation. Finally, with a flick of his wrist, Su Yi Mo replaced his phone onto the coffee table, silently telling himself you have to remain strong.

Since Lan Kuang was keeping "Jing Qiu Han", naturally, there would be a motive behind it, something to do with what Su Yi Mo has on hand.

"Jing Qiu Han" was Lan Kuang's blue chip, at the moment, he is still safe. At the most, he will only be under house arrest.

For now, Su Yi Mo could only remain calm and composed and wait patiently for Lan Kuang to contact him.

As for the information that was given, you can't expect great returns without significant risks, right?

Lan Kuang's next step would most likely be to verify the validity of the information, if he were to find out that everything he was given was fake Ran Feng Ge would definitely be in danger.

Right from the start, Ran Feng Ge knew that he was but a pawn in this game. He will just have to grit his teeth and go with the flow for now.

Just hope for the best that Ran Feng Ge will be safe and sound when they get to him.

If he was not wrong, Su Yi Mo guessed that Ran Feng Ge was most likely locked up in a secret off-site location.

♦

The room Ran Feng Ge was to be locked in was big, but it was very tightly sealed. There was very little light within and all four walls were made of metal and except for the door there were no other routes of ventilation. Once the door closes, there wouldn't be any light at all; it would be as though he was sucked into an abyss.

Ran Feng Ge felt a strike of fear through his heart, this place… brought back some very unpleasant memories.

"Get in!" Without giving Ran Feng Ge a chance to argue back, the person who had brought him in pushed him into the room and sealed the door, leaving Ran Feng Ge locked inside!

The impenetrable darkness, the silence and the fear would slowly eat away at a person's sanity.

This was even worse for Ran Feng Ge who had a traumatic past.

He normally did not think about things that had already gone by but in this situation, Ran Feng Ge could not help but relive those memories.

Taking a deep breath, Ran Feng Ge made his way to the back wall, and closed his eyes as he sat down.

He had to force himself to think of things that helped him relax.

What kind of present should he get for Xi Ran and Xiao Mi's wedding? The two of them are very hard to placate, if he gifted them something that was not what they wanted, he was sure they would give him a beating to remember. And it must be given in a pair, it cannot be too expensive but at the same time it cannot be too cheap. Thinking about their wedding, Ran Feng Ge could not stop the feeling of envy from bubbling up within him; to be able to meet the right someone, and to want to stay together for the rest of your life may sound easy, but in fact it was easier said than done!

When will I be able to meet my destined partner?

Ah, ah… I'm thinking too much…

Ran Feng Ge pulled his knees up against his chest and rested his chin on the top of his knee, silently calculating his assets, the amount he calculated out in the end left him stunned as he did not realise that he had that much to his name!

Where should I migrate to in the future? Should I stay here? But there is both Su Yi Mo and Lan Kuang here, it might not be wise to remain here. But Xi Ran and Xiao Mi's bar is here, and I've already agreed to be their waiter when the time comes.

Thinking about his friends, Ran Feng Ge could not stop the small smile from pulling at his lips. Forget it, those two aren't calculating fellows. If Ran Feng Ge tells them that he wishes to migrate overseas to settle down, those two will not say anything, but will instead drop everything, sell the bar and be ready to travel with him as a set of three.

If Su Yi Mo gets impatient, he should be able to at least guess what had happened, right?He is a smart man, he's definitely the kind who knows exactly when a relationship is unsalvageable and to pull out at the optimum time. If not, his little lover and his sister's rescue mission would require more than what he has done so far.

That is how businessmen are. They must always be able to ensure that their losses are kept to a bare minimum.

Time seemed to be passing slowly and yet at times, it was as though time was just zooming by.

Ran Feng Ge was unsure of how long he had been locked up for. He could only constantly go over all kinds of past memories. Every time he opened his eyes he found that he was still stuck in the same place, surrounded by a deep darkness, making him question if he were even breathing.

As his legs were numb, Ran Feng Ge stretched them out to try and get some blood flow back into them. Once the numbness had subsided, Ran Feng Ge attempted to stand up but was overcome by a wave of dizziness; his ears rang loudly with the sound of nothingness. Ran Feng Ge rushed to settle back down onto the floor again, after sitting for some time, Ran Feng Ge felt that he could no longer hold himself upright and proceeded to lay on the ground.

Ran Feng Ge understood that most times when people are locked up, it was a test of mental strength. To be locked up in a room such as this where there was nothing and no one, it's not hard for thoughts to stray. Once they have been locked up long enough, even the strongest will break.

He had been locked up here for quite a long period, even though he was unsure of the passage of time, signs of air deprivation were starting to show.

For now he could only minimize body movements by allowing himself to lie there silently.

Ran Feng Ge slowed his breathing and slowly drifted off to sleep.

It was pain that forced him from his slumber. His stomach was cramping painfully and it felt as though his intestines were knotting up. It made him nauseous and sick, the breaths he now took were shallow, his heart was beating very quickly, and the tremble in his hands was getting stronger. All in all, Ran Feng Ge was feeling very uncomfortable.

He knew he was suffering from moderate air deprivation and hunger.

Painstakingly, Ran Feng Ge reached for the small cube of chocolate he had in his pants pocket, and bringing it up to his lips used his teeth to rip the wrapping away, Ran Feng Ge then popped the chocolate into his mouth.

The energy content in this little bit of chocolate was very high, it can even be used as a meal replacement sometimes. This can even be classed as a life-saving food stuff.

Ran Feng Ge was sure that he shouldn't be eating chocolate when he was suffering from such extreme gastric pain, but if he had to choose, he chose a chance to live. Eating this chocolate would worsen his gastric problems, but at least he will be able to hang on a little longer. If he did not eat the chocolate he wouldn't have had the energy to carry on and would have most likely died here. And so, all he could do now was grit his teeth and ride out the cramping pain.

Ran Feng Ge managed to stay awake for some time after eating the chocolate, but his consciousness now appeared to be drifting away slowly. It was painful and difficult to breathe now, so much so that the pain from his gastric disease seemed to disappear.

Ran Feng Ge realised that if no one were to rescue him now, he would most definitely suffocate to death soon.

At the moment his consciousness was about to fade into nothing, the door to the room was suddenly pulled open. Hurried steps rushed towards his direction, pulling along a draft of cool fresh air from the outside. The person pulled the nearly unconscious Ran Feng Ge up, and with one swift motion, carried him in their arms! With large strides, said person quickly exited the room.

Ran Feng Ge had no strength left, and all he could do was struggle to keep his eyelids open. His sight was blurred from the lack of oxygen so that he could not make out who the person carrying him was. But this kind of cool, icy atmosphere, could only belong to one person… Could this person be Su Yi Mo?