When A Snail Falls In Love

Chapter 61.2

Tan Liang's solitary house was high up in the mountains. The big courtyard was silent, and the sunlight shone steadily on the blue cement buildings.

Ji Bai directed his team to converge carefully upon the house from different directions. When he gave the order, they moved as one body, rushing into the house with guns raised. However, the house was empty, where on earth was Tan Liang?

Ji Bai took note of the surroundings carefully. The house was furnished very simply, and everything was clean and tidy, with no signs of anything out of the ordinary. A criminal investigator got off his phone and reported, "The Forestry Department says that they have been unable to get in touch with Tan Liang since yesterday."

If, at the beginning, the others had not fully understood why Ji Bai had locked on Tan Liang as a suspect, as they saw that he had disappeared without without cause or reason, they began to suspect him as well.

At this point, another criminal investigator who had been checking the courtyard, ran in to report, "Team leader, from the tire impressions, he's driven a Forestry Department car down the mountain."

Ji Bai growled, "After him!"

——

Ji Bai led his small team in a charge down the mountain. Halfway down, they encountered a police patrol, and discovered that a ranger vehicle had gone past three hours ago.

Ji Bai glanced in the direction that the car had taken, and his heart clenched in anxiety – the farmhouse Xu Xu was in, lies in that direction.

He got into the patrol vehicle, and made repeated attempts to call Xu Xu, but the line was busy. The signal was intermittent in the mountain region, and later, he was unable to connect.

The foot of the mountains was currently a hive of activity. Several police cars were zooming back and forth, following Tan Liang's traces. The patrol car had just reached the farmhouse when Ji Bai opened the door and hurtled out without waiting for the car to stop, dashing into the courtyard.

There should have been two policemen on duty at the courtyard, but there was no trace of them. Xu Xu's room door was closed, and all was quiet. Ji Bai's breath caught in his chest, and he ran forward, pushing open the door with a 'bang'.

Sunshine and silence, and emptiness.

Ji Bai felt his heart plummet. He turned to look at the police officers who had entered with him, "Where is she? Where is she?"

No one could answer him. Ji Bai's face was ashen as he rushed outside, pulling out his handphone to call her again. This time, the call connected, and Ji Bai halted abruptly. He heard her voice over the line, "Ji Bai . . ." She was trembling.

"Where are you? Are you all right?"

"I'm on the mountain road, I''m fine." Xu Xu's breathing was ragged. "But something might have happened to Yao Meng."

——

Ji Bai hurried to the location Xu Xu had indicated, a remote mountain road. At least 10 police officers had gathered there, with Xu Xu in the middle, her face pale – when she received the photograph of Tan Liang being transmitted around the team, she had already lost contact with Yao Meng.

A ranger vehicle was parked at the side of the road. The licence plate verified that it was Tan Liang's, but it was currently empty. Moreover, at the side, were signs of a car having screeched to a halt. A criminal investigator told Ji Bai: "Chief, the tire impressions correspond to the BMW that Yao Meng was driving."

Tan Liang had gone down the mountain several hours ago. This also meant that Yao Meng had very likely been kidnapped for a period of time already.

Ji Bai looked at the tire impressions: "Notify all teams, track that car!"

——

After an indeterminate period of time, Yao Meng slowly recovered consciousness. However, her head was still heavy, and she was unable to open her eyes. She was well aware that this was the effect of an anesthetic.

A few random fragments of memory floated in her mind: she had turned the car around . . .a green ranger vehicle had shot out of a side road . . . she had gotten out to check on the car, and a clean-cut young man, a stranger, had walked towards her from the opposite direction, wearing a ranger uniform, smiling politely at her . . .

After that, her chest had become numb – it was a tranquilizer gun! Rangers always carried tranquilizer guns!

Where is this place? She could faintly make out a dark rock wall, was this a cave?

She exerted effort to open her eyes more, then felt someone pressing down on her chin, and a sweet liquid was poured into her mouth.

No . . . I don't want . . .

She had seen the information on the Angel Killer, she knew it was the taste of the Japanese-made aphrodisiac . . .

In her confused state, she felt herself being treated brutally. Most of the time she was unconscious, but when she did wake up, she only found herself in a pitch-dark place. As she was also in a drugged state, she could not see anything beyond that. She seemed to be saying many things, but she did not recall any of it.

PG-13 BEGIN: Her consciousness slowly became more lax, and she felt her body heating up. She heard a familiar voice moaning, and it took a while for her to recognise it as her own. After that, she felt a pair of strong hands holding her. An unfamiliar, warm body covered her own, and a man violently entered her.

The events of this time, for Yao Meng, were long and endless. Most of the time, she was unconscious. On the occasions when she woke up, the surroundings were pitch-black, and this, coupled with the effect of the drug, meant that she could not see anything clearly. She had a vague intimation that she said a lot, but could not remember a single word. The only impression she had, was of a man turning her this way and that, as if he could not be satisfied.PG-13 END

Later, when everything finally stopped, the cave was without light, she sensed a man standing in the darkness, looking down at her. She could only mutter faintly: "Don't kill me . . . I can't die . . . Qingyan, save me . . . Qingyan, save me . . ."