Song Jici and the others raced toward the room where Jiang Nian and Tong Chuhe were staying.
Before they even got close, they spotted the door standing wide open.
Their unease mounted, reaching its peak when they found the room empty.
"The door's wide open, and they're nowhere to be seen. Something must have happened."
Wen Jincheng looked around and spotted a stun gun lying on the floor and a window left wide open beside it.
His expression darkened as he picked up the stun gun. He inspected the window frame, his fingers finding fresh soil stuck to it.
"They must have been attacked. The kidnappers escaped through the window."
Song Jici's face was grim. "We came out only a little later than Nian. Even if they were kidnapped, they couldn't have gotten far. After them."
Everyone nodded and leaped out through the window, following the trail toward the Back Mountain.
The area bordered the sea. They pushed through trees and shrubs, and the view suddenly opened up.
A broad cliff lay ahead, with a small wooden cabin beside it that seemed to be a forest ranger's temporary lodging.
This cliff was even higher than the one Jiang Nian had fallen from before. A large, tilted wooden frame, lashed together in the shape of a cross, stood at its edge.
Rough waves surged below the cliff. Above them, Jiang Nian and Tong Chuhe hung unconscious from opposite ends of the crossbeam.
Two vicious-looking men stood at the foot of the frame with cigarettes between their lips. They had been chatting idly when they suddenly heard movement in the woods.
Seeing their prey arrive, they grinned excitedly and raised their guns, aiming at the group.
The sight of Jiang Nian and Tong Chuhe hanging at the cliff's edge made Song Jici