Yao Yilei was struck by three whips and placed horizontally in front of the saddle, letting out a sharp cry. Ah Fu heard his mistress's pitiful cry and subconsciously wanted to lift his head, but immediately received a blow.

  "Don't dare to look up, close your eyes, count to one hundred and then open them again, or I'll kill you!" A violent voice exploded in his ears, Ah Fu was so scared that he tightly closed his eyes and started counting: "One, two, three..."

  The hoofbeats faded away, and the surroundings returned to calmness. However, Ah Fu felt that there was still a gun pointing at his head. He didn't dare open his eyes and continued counting: "Fifty-six, fifty-seven..."

  Two passersby walked from afar and saw a big tree lying across the road, a smoking car stopped, and a person kneeling on the ground muttering to himself. Suddenly feeling that something was wrong, they went forward and asked: "What's going on?"

  A Fu opened his eyes to see a man and a woman, seemingly father and daughter, dressed and looking nothing like bandits. He realized they were travelers and immediately cried out: "Bandits! Kidnapping! They've taken our young lady away!"

  "Don't be in a hurry, speak slowly." The middle-aged man took out a water bottle and let Ah Fu drink some water, then instructed his daughter: "Xiao Qing, take a look around."

  A Fu took two sips of water, calmed down a bit, and recounted what had just happened. The middle-aged man listened, his brow slowly furrowing.

  The daughter looked around and came back saying: "There are probably fifteen bandits, with horses, heading south. There is blood on the ground but no corpses."

  The middle-aged man said: "Going to Xiangshan Temple to pray and make a wish, I encountered such a thing. Xiaoqing, do you say help or not?"

  "Help? Of course I'll help! In broad daylight, how can we let bandits forcibly abduct a civilian girl!" The daughter's face was full of heroic spirit.

  The middle-aged man thought for a moment and said, "We'll split up. You, young fellow, go back and report the case. Xiao Qing, follow the hoof prints and see where they lead. Remember, don't startle the snake in the grass."

  "Daughter said: 'Dad, what are you doing?'"

  "I'm going to save people, no time to delay, let's go!" The middle-aged man lifted the hem of his coat and tucked it into his waist, striding quickly into the forest by the side of the road. His daughter followed the hoof prints and also went in. Ah Fu calmed down and turned around to sprint wildly towards the city.

  ……

  Chen Zikong rushed through the forest, and when it came to navigating mountain gorges and old forests, he was a master. Last year, when the bandits were besieged by government troops, they had been hiding in the Changbai Mountains, but even in such dense forests, Chen Zikong moved with ease.

  He ran out dozens of steps away, dodged behind a large tree, and carefully listened to the sounds behind him. There were two pursuers, who were also skilled in tracking in the forest, and they were closing in on both sides.

  If he wanted to escape himself, it was of course a foregone conclusion, but Chen Zikun's mind was filled with Yao Yire's screams, damn three cannons, dare to move my woman, can't live anymore!

  He immediately warned himself to calm down, the other party were all old thieves who had been through the years, and it wasn't easy to deal with them. He looked around, had an idea, and agilely climbed up a big tree.

  Xiao Hu and Xiao Bao were two of San Pao's most trusted subordinates, whose original names were not these but had been changed to code names after joining the group. The two held guns and knives, searching along the way according to the direction in which the grass and trees on the ground were bent or broken, until they suddenly lost track under a big tree.

  "Damn it, can't you fly anymore?" Xiaohu cursed, looking around, the mountain forest was quiet, and there was no one in sight.

  Suddenly, a drop of hot liquid dripped onto his neck, and when he reached out to touch it, it was blood!

  "Look up in the tree!" Little Tiger raised his head and saw something coming towards him. He didn't have time to dodge, and was stabbed in the throat by a bayonet from a rifle that had fallen from the sky. He stumbled twice before falling to the ground.

  The little leopard hastily pulled out the gun, and a black shadow on the tree rushed towards him, knocking him to the ground. The two of them wrestled for a moment, and then there was a "bang" sound of the gunshot. The little leopard stopped moving, with a pool of fresh blood under his body.

  Chen Zikun stood up, holding the pistol he had just snatched, but upon closer inspection, it was a single-shot muzzle-loading pistol. Searching another person's body, they didn't even have a gun, only a dagger.

  "Damn, with this equipment, you still dare to rob, aren't you ashamed?" Chen Zikong pulled out the dagger stuck in the bandit's throat and wiped it on his shoe sole. Suddenly, he felt a burning pain under his armpit, lifted his arm to look, and found that a bullet had passed through, scorching his clothes. In the chaos of escaping, he hadn't even noticed, fortunately, it was just a graze, with little blood loss, and wouldn't hinder his movement.

  He quickly identified the direction and chased after the fleeing bandits in the south.

  A few minutes later, a middle-aged man arrived at the scene and found two bandits lying on the ground. He reached out to feel their pulse and they were already dead.

  ……

  Ah Fu ran until he was out of breath, his lungs were about to burst. He was a rickshaw puller, how could he compare with those who made a living by relying on their legs? Not even two miles had been covered before he couldn't take it anymore. Squatting by the side of the road, panting heavily, a car whizzed past and then stopped. The person in the car stuck his head out to ask: "Are you from Yao Zilong's household?"

  "Right, right, I am." Ah Fu hastily stood up and saw the familiar license plate number. He immediately recognized that this was the exclusive car of Xiong Xiling's wife from the Ciyou Orphanage in Xiangshan. Suddenly he burst into tears: "Save us! Our young mistress has been kidnapped!"

  Madam Xiong happened to be in the car, and hastily let Ah Fu get on board. She turned around and drove towards the city, with the situation being urgent, the car sped forward at full speed, continuously honking its horn, rushing all the way back to Beijing, and went straight to the Ministry of Communications.

  Yao Zichang was in a meeting, discussing the Shandong Jiaoji Railway issue. The Japanese person he was negotiating with face-to-face was very tough and arrogant, making Yao Zichang feel mentally exhausted, his right eyelid twitching non-stop.

  The door of the conference room was gently pushed open and the secretary came in and whispered to Director Yao: "Something has happened at home."

  Yao Cizhang's heart skipped a beat, he stood up and said: "Excuse me." Then followed the secretary to the corridor.

  "What's wrong?"

  The girl was kidnapped.

  "What!" Yao Zicong felt dizzy and almost fell to the ground, but his secretary quickly supported him. "The driver is waiting for you in your office."

  "Alright, go file a report... no, wait a minute." Yao Zicong mustered up his energy and arrived at the office, where Ah Fu, the family's chauffeur, was pacing back and forth anxiously. Beside him stood an elegant woman who seemed vaguely familiar.

  Without beating around the bush, Yao Cilang asked straightforwardly: "A Fu, what's going on?"

  At this time, Ah Fu was no longer so terrified, and his mind was clear. He recounted the events one by one, and Yao Cilang wrote down a few key words on paper: Hebei Big Hero, Wei Sanpao, 500,000 taels of silver.

  "They also said that if you're late for one day, the young lady is no longer a virgin, and if you're late for two days, you'll lose a finger." Ah Fu repeated the three sentences verbatim, infuriating Director Yao to throw down his brush and curse: "This is simply extortion!"

  His daughter is his heart's flesh, and the Yao family is not short of money. If the kidnapper wants a few tens of thousands, Yao Zilong can take it out without blinking an eye. But 500,000 yuan is absolutely an astronomical figure. The assets of wealthy families are all in real estate, industry, stocks, and bonds, and it's impossible to have so much cash on hand.

  Seeing Yao's anxious and flustered appearance, Mrs. Xiong advised: "Don't be in a hurry, the kidnappers are just trying to get as much money as possible, we can't let them disrupt our composure."

  "Who are you?"

  "I am the principal of Xiangshan Orphanage, Xiong Zhu Qi Hui." said Madame Huagui.

  It turned out to be the wife of former Premier Xiong Xiling, Mrs. Xiong. Yao Zichang stood up respectfully and was about to say a few polite words when Mrs. Xiong said: "Your daughter was robbed on her way to give clothes to orphans at Shangshan Ciyu Institute, we also have responsibility for this, if necessary, please speak up, Director Yao."

  "Thank you." Yao Zicong was anxious and about to go raise some cash, when the phone on his desk suddenly rang. At this moment, he still had the mind to answer the phone for work, hastily putting on his coat and hat, but the phone kept ringing nonstop. After thinking for a moment, he went over to pick up the receiver and asked, suppressing his anger: "Where?"

  "Is Yao Zicong?" The voice was very strange, as if it was pinched out of his throat.

  "Who are you?" Yao Cizhang was getting impatient.

  "Hehe, it was Uncle Cannon who told me to make this call."

  Yao Cizhang was stunned, the kidnapper had actually called his own office!

  "He lowered his voice and asked: 'How's my daughter?'"

  "Miss Yao is doing well, I wonder if you received the gift Cannon sent over?"

  "I received it, but 500,000 is too big a sum, can't we make some adjustments?"

  "Go ahead, no problem." Unexpectedly, the kidnapper agreed in one breath.

  Yao Zicong let out a sigh of relief and asked tentatively: "50,000 yuan, that's all I can come up with."

  "Hey, you're really good at bargaining, okay, let's do it your way. Since you're paying, don't blame us for not being generous. The mountain brothers have been wanting to taste the flavor of a foreign girl for a long time. Hehe, I'm sure it'll be thrilling. Let the brothers play with her for a year or so and then send her back, maybe she'll even have a little one in her belly."

  Yao's anger was about to burst, he couldn't help but want to smash the phone, but thinking of his daughter's safety, he could only force himself to calm down and say: "What do you want?"

  He sneered, "It's not what I want, it's what you want. Cannon has made it clear, a flat price of 500,000 yuan, and the person will be released before midnight. If it's late by one day, it's still 500,000 yuan, but the person will be in the mountain stronghold, where the brothers have not seen a woman for half a year, and no one dares to guarantee anything. If it's later, Cannon is impatient, maybe he'll cut off a few fingers and send them to you as a gift. You weigh your options."

  "Alright, where is the ransom being exchanged?" Yao Cizhang finally gave in.

  "Haha, indeed satisfying! We won't make it difficult for you either. This 500,000 can be in gold bars, foreign currency, or any other form, just one thing, don't use the traffic bank's notes. Once you've gathered everything, hang a red lantern at the entrance of the embassy, and I'll send someone to notify you where to deliver it."

  Just as he said that, the phone hung up. Yao Zicong was covered in cold sweat. The kidnappers were too ruthless and seemed to know everything about his family. He feared that even if he paid for their safety this time, they would never have peace again.

  He thought for a moment and made up his mind: report the case!

  In less than ten minutes, Wu Bingxiang, the director of the Beijing Police Department, rushed to the office of Minister of Communications Yao Zichang and personally investigated the case. He first carefully inquired about every detail of the Afu case at the time of its occurrence, and then came to a conclusion.

  "There must be a traitor among us, and this traitor is Chen Zikun!"