"She's already asleep. Is there something wrong?"
On the other end of the phone, Mo Xiuchen's voice was deep and calm, with no trace of emotion. However, Wen Jin, thousands of miles away, sensed something unusual. He coldly questioned, "Where are you right now? Even if she's asleep, the phone shouldn't be in your hands. Has something happened to Ranran?"
Although they were not biological siblings, Wen Jin and Wen Ran had lived together for over sixteen years, and their bond as siblings was deep. They naturally had a mutual understanding, almost like a sixth sense.
"I came to F City after work today. I had dinner a while ago and was about to head back to the hotel. She's been exhausted these past few days and fell asleep. What's wrong with that? If you don't need anything, hang up. I don't want to wake her, but if something is wrong, I'll wake her up."
Mo Xiuchen spoke without hesitation, lying smoothly, without a stutter. Although Wen Jin was suspicious, the distance between them made it hard to verify. He had no choice but to believe him.
"I don't need anything. Let her sleep," Wen Jin said reluctantly.
When he heard that Wen Ran had been exhausted and had fallen asleep before getting home, he felt a pang of heartache. He hesitated for a moment but didn't insist on hearing her voice.
Mo Xiuchen immediately hung up the phone. A minute later, the car stopped on the mountain. It wasn't just their car that had come up; there was also Ming Shu's car and people, who had been ahead of them the whole time.
When Wen Jin called, Mo Xiuchen had purposely asked Luo Haofeng to slow down the car, not wanting Wen Jin to hear anything unusual. He knew that Wen Ran hadn't told Wen Jin about what happened last night because she didn't want him to worry. Since that was the case, he would help keep it a secret for her.
Wen Jin, who couldn't even get out of bed due to his illness, wouldn't be able to help even if he knew.
Ming Shu's men had already subdued the others. Mo Xiuchen got out of the car and, abandoning his previous calm demeanor, grabbed one of the men and demanded, "Where is Wen Ran? What did you do to her?"
"She ran just now, and jumped off the cliff," one man replied, his voice trembling.
At these words, Mo Xiuchen's breath caught in his chest, and his face turned a dark shade of pale. His eyes narrowed, shooting out two sharp rays of fury. He grabbed the man by the collar, his voice low and dangerous, "Where did she jump? Take me there, now!"
Meanwhile, Luo Haofeng stepped forward and kicked their "boss" in the most painful place. A horrifying scream pierced through the mountain's silence.
"I'll take you there!"
Seeing their boss writhing in pain on the ground, just like Liu Ma Zi had earlier, the man's legs gave way, and he nearly knelt. He opened his mouth but couldn't speak. It was another man beside him who stammered, his voice trembling with fear.
"Mo Shao, I'll send two of my brothers to go with you to find Miss Wen. As for these men, you can decide how to handle them later."
Ming Shu spoke up, and Mo Xiuchen thanked him before heading in the direction the man indicated.
"Thank you, Ming Shu. We'll leave this to you. We'll go find Wen Ran."
Luo Haofeng said a quick word to Ming Shu and then followed Mo Xiuchen as they ran in the direction indicated. With flashlights in hand, they were no longer chasing in the dark like Wen Ran and the three men had been. On the mountain's peak, there were plants and grass, leaving traces wherever they went.
Mo Xiuchen followed the trail toward the cliff, a sense of unease and panic quietly creeping up in his heart. His grip on the flashlight tightened again and again, his knuckles turning pale from the pressure.
In his mind, a voice repeated over and over, silently assuring him: She won't be hurt!