Song Ning was blindfolded, gagged, and dumped on the floor of the small truck.
Her captors were professionals. Although there were quite a few of them, they barely spoke inside the truck.
Throughout the journey, the only sounds were Li Zekun's whimpers and the creaking of the truck's suspension.
The truck only stopped after roughly an hour.
They seemed to have reached a checkpoint. After stopping for a few minutes, the truck moved again.
It drove a little farther, then stopped for another few minutes.
It felt as though they had passed through another checkpoint.
Only after it drove another stretch and came to a complete stop did someone open the back doors and drag the two of them out.
Song Ning felt as though her bones had nearly been shaken apart. The unmistakable smell of machine oil filled her nose.
Clearly, this was a factory storeroom.
Someone gave them a warning in a grim voice:
"Don't try to escape, or you'll die!"
Then they left.
Song Ning lay quietly on the floor for a while. Once she heard no more movement nearby, she turned her head sideways and rubbed her blindfold against the floor until it shifted a little.
It was an extremely dilapidated factory building, with piles of rusty, discarded machinery scrap in the corners.
It should still have been morning, but the light inside was dim. It felt as though they were in the mountains, with something blocking the sun.
Li Zekun lay not far from her.
Like her, his hands and feet were bound separately, his eyes were covered, and his mouth was gagged. He still whimpered now and then.
The sight of him filled Song Ning with anger.
If he hadn't clung to her for dear life, she wouldn't have been kidnapped along with him!