"Enough."
Meng Wanyue handed the phone back to Xu Mu. "But I think we shouldn't take his phone — there might be a tracker in it."
"Alright, I'll listen to you."
Xu Mu nodded and tossed the phone to the ground.
"There might be fingerprints on it, so be careful."
Meng Wanyue put her foot on the phone.
Crack!
The phone shattered instantly; the ground seemed to tremble along with it.
"Wanyue, good thing you're here."
Xu Mu gave Meng Wanyue a thumbs-up.
[Favorability +5]
Meng Wanyue blushed slightly and lowered her head, then asked, "Mr. Xu, where do we head next?"
Xu Mu hesitated, took out the room card — the hotel name and room number were printed on it.
"Let's check out this hotel."
"Okay."
Meng Wanyue nodded.
…
Elsewhere.
Mu Qingying watched the image on her laptop vanish and wondered what was happening over at Xu Mu's side.
Lin Yang drummed his fingers on the table in rhythm — he knew Nine Fingers well.
No surprise: Nine Fingers was probably planning to take a big payday and then kill Xu Mu afterward.
But it had been so long — why hadn't he called?
Nine Fingers was the kind of man who couldn't take his eyes off women. He even liked to record videos while working. The woman in front of him, Feng Yue, was exactly his type; he shouldn't leave.
"Lin Yang, I think the guy you hired is unreliable — maybe he's already betrayed us."
Feng Yue sneered beside him; she'd already given up on being saved. If she was going to die, why die meekly?
Lin Yang looked at Feng Yue with contempt. "When he gets back, you'll be thrilled — after all, he's an old man."
Feng Yue's gaze was like a blade. "Even as a ghost I will not let you go."
"But I'm an atheist."
Lin Yang said lightly.
Mu Qingying was still crying; she didn't know why. Maybe it was because Xu Mu didn't fear death and had come to save her — after all, he'd been a victim in this incident too.
…
Xu Mu and Meng Wanyue had already driven to the hotel shown on the room card. It was located inside Wucheng.
"Wanyue, I'll wait here. You go into his room and see what you can find."
Xu Mu had parked the car on the road outside the hotel and took the room card out.
"Sure, that's easy. Mr. Xu, wait in the roadside parking spot up ahead."
Meng Wanyue put on her baseball cap, got out of the car, and walked into the hotel. Xu Mu drove and parked further down the road.
He waited for about ten minutes before Meng Wanyue reappeared and sat in the passenger seat.
"Well? How was it?" Xu Mu asked immediately.
"I disabled the cameras on the third floor. In his room there was only a small suitcase — besides clothes and weapons, there were just a passport and ID, nothing useful." Meng Wanyue rummaged through her bag. "The electronic devices were some cameras and bugs. Oh, and this."
Xu Mu saw an electronic watch in Meng Wanyue's hand — probably a recent model. He took it and checked its data. One app caught his eye: the map.
He opened it and his eyes lit up.
"Mr. Xu, what's wrong?"
Meng Wanyue noticed his expression and asked.
"Look at his map search history." Xu Mu returned the watch to Meng Wanyue.
Only then did she realize. The history contained several entries — Wucheng, this hotel, and one more specific location: Wucheng Old Street Steel Mill.
Xu Mu had earlier gone to the fertilizer plant. Why would he search for a steel mill?
A quick check on his phone showed that the steel mill was on the far east side of Wucheng and had long been abandoned. The fertilizer plant was on the far west side — the two sites were very far apart, practically spanning the whole city.
"It looks likely that Feng Yue and Mu Qingying were tied up there."
Xu Mu closed his eyes and thought hard about what to do.
"Mr. Xu, let me go rescue them — I can move more easily on my own." Meng Wanyue suggested.
"No," Xu Mu refused outright. "Lin Yang isn't someone simple."
No matter what, Lin Yang was practically the male lead and had a very high Fate level. Even if Meng Wanyue were stronger, Lin Yang might still be able to deal with her by chance. Besides, Meng Wanyue might not actually be stronger than Lin Yang.
Just as Xu Mu was agonizing, a police car passed by.
"Of course! Why was I so stupid?" Xu Mu smiled. "Since we know the address, let's call the police."
After all, the kidnapped aren't close to Ye Tong or anything. Calling the police would already be chivalrous of him.
Thinking that, Xu Mu took out his phone, though he didn't know what reason to give when reporting. After weighing his options, he decided to tell the truth. Lin Yang wouldn't directly fight the state — aside from dealing with a villain, Xu Mu hadn't broken the law, so he shouldn't be blamed.
With that in mind he dialed. Xu Mu explained everything: he'd received a threatening call this morning telling him to go to the steel mill. The Xu family still had influence in Jiang City, and once they heard his identity they immediately launched a rescue team.
It wasn't long before officers from the security department came to meet Xu Mu. The leader was a square-jawed middle-aged man; upon seeing Xu Mu he asked, "Xu Mu, is what you said on the phone true?"
"Of course. If I lie, I'm willing to accept legal responsibility." Xu Mu said earnestly.
"Alright, then let's go."
The middle-aged man ordered his officers to start their vehicles and follow them.
…
At the same time.
Lin Yang was still waiting for Nine Fingers' call when a youth suddenly ran over to him.
"Boss, bad news!"
"What happened?" Lin Yang frowned.
"There are cameras installed on the road to the steel mill, and a police car is heading our way!" the youth said quickly.
"What? How do they know about this place? Damn! That bastard Nine Fingers!"
Lin Yang never thought Nine Fingers would die. His only thought was that Xu Mu must have bribed Nine Fingers enough to make him betray them.
"Boss, what do we do? The cameras I set are five kilometers away; at their speed they'll be here in a few minutes." The youth was frantic.
"Hahaha! I told you the people you hired aren't reliable." Feng Yue laughed.
Mu Qingying's long-suffering heart finally settled — if Xu Mu had bribed Nine Fingers, then he should be fine.
Lin Yang flipped his palm and produced a dagger, then sprang up in an instant and appeared in front of Feng Yue. The dagger's tip was only one centimeter from Feng Yue's left eye.
Feng Yue instinctively shut her eyes in terror.
"Feng Yue, do you think I don't dare kill you?" Lin Yang stared at her coldly. "I'll first ruin that face of yours for sleeping with old men — how's that?"