Kidnappers

Su Weiguo was stunned as he listened to his daughter's heartbroken sobbing over the phone.

He had been conducting an experiment and had not looked at the caller ID at all.

But he had still heard his daughter's final words.

His beloved granddaughter, Su Nianxin, had been kidnapped. Though Su Weiguo usually did not pay much attention to matters at home, he truly cherished his daughter in his heart.

Especially that clever, mischievous granddaughter. Whenever Su Weiguo grew tired from his experiments, he would take out her photo and look at it.

Now that his granddaughter had been kidnapped, he was overwhelmed with anxiety. Many students nearby watched the old professor, who normally remained unflustered no matter how serious the situation, stand there blankly after answering the call.

Some students standing closer had already heard words like "kidnapping." Su Mei's voice on the phone had been loud, and many people nearby had heard her.

Seeing the old professor's body swaying, one student hurried over to support him.

Su Weiguo had devoted his entire life to experiments. Faced with something like this, he was completely at a loss. At that moment, all he wanted was to get to his daughter's side.

From the phone call just now, he had already sensed how unstable his daughter's emotions were.

He wanted to be with his daughter. What experiments? What scientific research? His daughter and granddaughter were what mattered most now.

Just like that, he set aside his experiment and the scientific research he loved. Right now, he only wanted to be a father and a grandfather.

Several sharp-eyed students saw the panic, unease, and deep self-reproach on the professor's face as he left.

The news that Su Weiguo's granddaughter had been kidnapped quickly spread through the research institute.

Though this was only a small research institute, there were many highly capable people inside.

The institute where Su Weiguo worked was directly under the state. Its director was a major figure who received a government allowance.

Everyone began using their own connections to help Su Weiguo find his granddaughter. These were the connections the old professor had accumulated over the years. Without him even needing to ask, many people volunteered to help.

Nanlin Island.

That night, Ye Yuan rode Little Shark here.

He had originally planned to take Little Shark to Zhang Gui's fish farm for another look, but Little Shark had brought him here instead.

Ye Yuan knew that Little Shark usually roamed around this area during the day, but he did not understand why it had brought him here for no reason today. Little Shark brought Ye Yuan to the point closest to shore.

Ye Yuan noticed a speedboat docked by the shore.

Ye Yuan had visited Nanlin Island many times before and had never found any signs that anyone lived here.

Little Shark's unusual behavior today, coupled with the speedboat by the island, made Ye Yuan decide to go up and take a look.

After soothing Little Shark, he secretly slipped onto Nanlin Island.

When he reached the long-abandoned resort hotel, he found a faint light deep on the second floor. It looked like the glow of an old-fashioned kerosene lamp.

He cautiously approached and stopped several meters away from the light, discovering that it came from a room without a door.

Occasionally, voices drifted out from inside.

"I'm telling you, Gouzi, can't you keep quiet? Stop muttering nonstop."

It was a young man's voice.

"Aren't you scared? This is kidnapping. I don't trust Brother Gui. What if he gets the money, abandons us, and runs off on his own?"

"No way, right?"

The first young man spoke again.

"You haven't been with him long, so you don't understand him. He's incredibly selfish. If he hadn't said that once this was done, my debt to him would be wiped clean, I wouldn't have done it. But what about you? Why did you do this?"

"Sigh, isn't it because of my family... Forget it. It's upsetting."

Then the room fell silent.

Ye Yuan did not dare get too close. From those few lines of conversation, he knew there were at least two people here. As for whether they had weapons, he had no idea.

Just as Ye Yuan was wondering whether he should get involved—

The young man spoke again.

"Gouzi, keep an eye on her. I'm going out to relieve myself."

Hearing that, Ye Yuan immediately hid himself in a dark corner.

He saw someone walk out of the room, but the light was too dim to make out his appearance.

The figure headed downstairs. Ye Yuan carefully followed behind him to see where he was going.

If the man moved farther away from the building, Ye Yuan believed that with his current strength, subduing someone like him should not be a problem.

Very soon, the man left the unfinished building and came to an earthen mound nearby. Humming as he went, he reached down to undo his belt.

Ye Yuan took out a telescopic baton from his space. Seizing the right moment, he swung it hard at the man's back. It was Ye Yuan's first time ambushing someone from behind, and he had put a great deal of force into it.

A crack sounded, followed by the sound of someone hitting the ground and a burst of agonized howls.

Ye Yuan quickly took out a rag and stuffed it into the man's mouth. Neither of the man's arms showed any resistance. That blow must have been truly severe.

He found some rope and tied him up.

Just as he finished doing that, a trembling voice sounded behind him.

"Who are you?"

Ye Yuan turned around and saw a man standing behind him, holding a baseball bat pointed at him.

Perhaps from nervousness or fear, the hand holding the baseball bat was trembling slightly.

Ye Yuan did not answer. Instead, he raised the baton in his hand and charged straight at the man.

Seeing Ye Yuan rush at him, the man raised his bat and swung it down. Ever since Ye Yuan had begun cultivating, his reaction speed had improved by leaps and bounds. What seemed like a fast attack to an ordinary person looked very slow in Ye Yuan's eyes.

He easily dodged the attack and struck the man's wrist with his baton. Since Ye Yuan did not know how capable he was in actual combat, every strike he made was with full force.

Crack.

The man's wrist twisted out of shape. He clutched it with his other hand and ran toward the shore.

Ye Yuan immediately rushed after him and kicked him, sending him tumbling directly to the ground.

After tying up the second man as well, Ye Yuan grabbed him by the hair and dragged him toward the first man. The man howled in pain. "Easy, brother! Easy!"

Ye Yuan tied the two men to separate trees and asked them, "Who are you people? What are you doing here?"

"Brother, let's talk this out. We're just night watchmen here. Isn't this place abandoned? Our boss plans to develop it, so he sent us here first to watch over it."

The second man answered.

Ye Yuan knew he was lying and struck him with the baton. The pain made him howl.

"Stop hitting me! Stop hitting me! We work for Brother Gui. We just kidnapped a little girl and are keeping watch here. We don't know anything else."

"Which Brother Gui?"

Ye Yuan vaguely thought of someone.

"Zhang Gui. Zhang Gui from Pinghai County."

"So it really was him."

Ye Yuan thought to himself.

"Who did you kidnap?"

Ye Yuan pressed.

"I don't know. Just a little girl. Brother Gui didn't say. He only told us to wait here for a phone call."

"Where is the child? Where is she now?"

"She's in a room on the second floor. We were afraid she'd make noise, so we gave her sleeping pills."

Enduring the pain in their bodies, the two men confessed everything.

Ye Yuan ignored them and went straight to the room where the little girl was being held. Under the dim light, he saw a little girl in a pink dress, tear tracks still lingering on her face.

She looked only three or four years old, even younger than his own Niuniu.