---
At the secret base where Chu Jie, Ying Yue, Cocoa, and Long Hu were kept, another loud shrill echoed throughout the place.
Xue Jingjing was thrown on the ground. She hit her elbows and knees as she collided on the ground that felt as if her bones almost broke.
The men around her were dumbfounded. The guards who kidnapped Ying Yue exclaimed. "Hey, she is the same woman who escaped!"
That immediately started murmurs.
"Wohoo! So we got a double treat after all!"
"This is freaking amazing!"
Everybody looked at Rodey in appreciation. "Thanks a bunch, Rodey. We didn't know you went to pick her up."
"You made things more interesting now."
Rodey smirked and didn't respond.
Xue Jingjing slowly turned around and jolted to see so many people laughing at her. Then her glance shifted at Rodey, and she burst into tears.
"Y-you! What is this place? Why did you bring me here? Let me go!"
One of the men laughed. "What is this place? Hmm...a place where we gather to see a particular crimson shade of blood for having loads of fun~"
She knitted her brows in confusion.
"Why did he bring you here?" He chuckled. "So that we can have loads of fun with you."
She froze and looked at them, horrified.
"Let you go? No chance!" The men started laughing again.
Xue Jingjing had no idea what the hell was going on. "I-I don't understand…" Stream of tears rolled down her cheeks, "I just want to go back! Y-you all have kidnapped me! That's a crime! You will all go to jail!"
Everybody laughed even more. "Jail? And us? You talk funny things. And don't shout so much. Nobody is going to hear you. Your screams won't reach anybody's ears."
Rodey sneered and was satisfied to see the horrified look and tears on her face. Even though he never participated in what they called 'fun,' he decided to stay here for the first time to see how they torture her.
Suddenly, they heard a voice from the intercom. "I see everybody is gathered. Oh, and our toy is here as well!"
"Boss!" Everybody cheered, "You are here!"
"Thank you for your patience."
Then after a moment of silence, the boss, aka CrimsonInstinct, said, "From what I remember, she is not the same woman we caught."
Xue Jingjing froze. She was already starting to freak out with her shaking and trembling body. As soon as she heard what voice from the intercom, she thought about Ying Yue.
Are they talking about Yue? Is she here too?
She suddenly exclaimed. "Yes! I am not the woman! It wasn't supposed to be me! Didn't you kidnap Yue? Then why did you bring me here?" She sniffled and cried, "There is a big misunderstanding here so-so please let me go…Do whatever you want with that Yue bitch. I was not involved in all this!"
She was hopeful that after this, they would let her go.
Rodey coldly smiled at her. If left to him, he would have already drilled a hole in her head. Even at this point, she was pushing Yue to the fire.
Silence.
CrimsonInstinct laughed out loud. "Oh, dear. I like this woman. I can see my reflection in you. We are really similar."
Xue Jingjing was delighted and wiped her tears. "I am glad. I knew it was a misunderstanding. You wanted Yue, and she is already here. Can you please let me go now?"
A beat of silence.
"Sure."
Xue Jingjing hopped up in excitement. She didn't know what freakishly scary place this was, but she realized it wasn't any good. The people here weren't normal, even dangerous, and she wanted to escape from this hell as soon as possible.
Thank God!
She glanced at Rodey and inwardly sneered.
You kidnapped me here, but I am out now! Haha!
Rodey knew what she was thinking by the look she gave. But he could only laugh at her stupidity.
Fool. Your brain is seriously in your knees.
"Open the door, Bloodygame."
"Yes, boss!"
He stepped forward and opened the door.
Xue Jingjing rushed towards the exit, but as soon as she kept her hand on the door to step out, Bloodygame smirked and suddenly shut the door in a flash.
"AHHHHH!" she let out a scream that could pop anybody's ears out.
The door jammed her hand between itself and the wall hard. The pain that shot up in her palm as the door sliced in her skin and slowly crushed her bone was simply unbearable and excruciating.
She looked at her hand in horror as a stream of blood was gushing out akin to a river. The eyes that had dried up became wet again.
"AAHHHH! MY HAND!!!"
Rodey chuckled at her sight.
CrimsonInstinct said through the intercom. "Sure, we will have fun with that 'Yue' too that you speak of. But if we get a double treat to enjoy ourselves, then why to let it go?"
The voice sinisterly laughed. "Welcome to our heaven, dear. I hope you serve us well."
---
Su Weiyuan was calmly watching the man walk inside. But he didn't come into the light, so his face was still hidden in the dark.
"Captain Su Weiyuan. Good to see you."
Su Weiyuan instantly recognized that it was a voice changer machine with which he talked.
"A little birdie told me that you and your commander are looking into something along the lines of proving someone innocent. Who is it, I wonder?"
Silence. There was not any other sound except the man speaking.
"Oh, is it ex-Major Bai Li?"
Su Weiyuan kept boring his sharp gaze at his dark figure. The man slowly walked in the dark as if he was taking a stroll.
"Is this about that civilian's death? But isn't it already proved that Bai Li killed him? So why are you unnecessarily digging that case again?"
He sighed.
"Captain Su Weiyuan. Have you forgotten how Bai Li suffers from PTSD? It's clear that freaked out at the last moment and shot the wrong person. I admire the brotherhood you share with Bai Li. But there is a limit to how much blind belief you have in him. It feels like you cannot accept that he did the wrong thing. That he killed the man. So, you are hell-bent on proving him innocent even if he is not."
Su Weiyuan narrowed his eyes.
"The little birdie also told me that your commander was sniffling around to see the autopsy report again of Tan Ye. Then you went to visit Yu Zichen."
Su Weiyuan smiled from inside.
"So, I think you have figured out something. Am I right?"
He stayed silent. He wasn't in a position to say anything anyway because of the cloth tied on his mouth.
"I want to know how much you know."
Silence.
"Oops. Silly me. I forgot your mouth is covered. How will you speak?"
Without still showing his face, he came forward and took out the cloth. Su Weiyuan took a deep breath after feeling stuffy and suffocated for so long.
He looked up at him. "If you think Bai Li is guilty, then why have you brought me here?"
Silence.
"What I do shouldn't interfere with anything. If Bai Li is truly guilty, then no matter how much we investigate, again and again, we will get the same result that Bai Li killed Tan Ye. So, what are you afraid of?"
"Tell me what you know. Depending on how much you know, I can think of what to do."
Su Weiyuan shook his head.
"You will kill me anyway, no matter how less or how more I know. You are going to kill me if I tell you that I know your identity. You will still kill me if I told you that I don't know anything."
"Of course not. I cannot be that harsh."
"You secretly are an ally of the culprits. I know how much harsher you can get and why not since you killed Tan Ye to get Bai Li out of the army because he was getting way too close in grabbing your neck."
Silence again.
"He could have caught Rodey if not for your interference, and that begs the question, how was it possible for anyone to know about his mission. Apart from Lin Zihao, Major General and me, only Sergeant Zi Mimi and Major Yu Zichen knew about it."
"I see. Of course, it would be Yu Zichen. After all, he handled the case previously. He retired too just after it got over."
"No. That's why I met him today. I believed when his wife, Yu Jiao, said that she forced him to retire. She has quite a strong personality. I don't see Yu Zichen taking any option other than to retire at her insistence."
"Then, there is nobody left, Captain."
"Are you forgetting Sergeant Zi Mimi?"
"She worked under Yu Zichen's command."
"But if Yu Zichen's retirement is a coincidence, then it means that she works under someone else's command too. Secretly and unofficially."
Silence.
"I figured out who."
No answer.
"When I thought about who else could know about it in the army, I suddenly remembered a strange thing that started particularly happening after the incident at the container terminal."