yournovel Chapter 20, Kidnappers?
Chapter 20, Kidnappers?
Yan Xi followed behind the mother and daughter, but didn't go very far.
A residential building with mottled exterior walls, an open staircase, and GG signs on the walls for "tutoring classes" and "miracle drugs".
Even at night, you can still hear noisy noises downstairs, which clearly indicates that this is not a proper place for people to live.
Upon arrival, the mother and daughter asked her to wait downstairs while they went upstairs to get the money.
Yan Xi frowned. This place didn't look like a place where she could withdraw money. Was she going to have to borrow from someone again?
"Don't try anything funny."
She gave them a casual warning, but still let them go upstairs.
What followed was a long wait. Yan Xi glanced at her phone; the time on the screen had changed from nineteen to twenty, almost making her impatient, before she finally heard movement from the stairs.
Qian Zhen ran down excitedly, carrying two paper bags in her arms.
She handed one of the packets to Yan Xi and said hurriedly, "Here you go, Xiao Yan, please count it."
Yan Xi was suspicious. She took the paper package and opened it. It was indeed full of money, and after counting it, it was indeed the amount she owed her grandmother.
"Is everything alright now?"
Qian Zhen thanked her apologetically, "I'm sorry, Xiao Yan, I couldn't control myself and I lied to you and Aunt Yan."
Yan Xi put down the paper package and looked into the dimly lit stairwell. "Where's Yin Yin?"
"She's already asleep."
Qian Zhen immediately replied, "My friend's house is here. Yin Yin has to go to the hospital for a check-up tomorrow, so we're planning to stay here for the night. It'll be convenient for taking the subway tomorrow too."
Yan Xi's suspicions grew stronger, and seeing Qian Zhen's apologetic smile, she suddenly clenched her fist.
"You wouldn't have sold your daughter, would you?" she asked through gritted teeth.
"How could that be?"
Qian Zhen trembled and quickly waved her hands, "With such strict investigations now, there's no such thing as human trafficking anymore. I just borrowed some money from a friend to tide me over. Yin Yin is perfectly fine!"
"Workover costs?" Yan Xi sneered. "Your friend is quite generous, lending you so much at once."
The paper package handed to her contained nearly 140,000 yuan. Qian Zhen also had her own paper package, which was bulging and clearly contained a considerable amount as well.
"Our relationship... is pretty close."
Qian Zhen was talking nonsense.
Yan Xi pretended to go upstairs: "I'm going to see Yin Yin."
"Hey, wait a minute!" Qian Zhen stopped her.
When Yan Xi looked over again, she cautiously said, "Yinyin is probably asleep by now. After her check-up at the hospital tomorrow, I'll bring her to play with you, okay?"
Yan Xi didn't speak, but took a step back.
Qian Zhen visibly breathed a sigh of relief.
Yan Xi ignored the lying gambler and went around the residential building to a dark, deserted corner. She then took the hair tie-shaped raven feather wand from behind her head.
"Transformation."
She rested her wand against her chest and murmured a chant.
Amidst a phantom hum, jet-black raven feathers fell from the void, slowly swirling around the girl's slender figure. Countless magical lines burst forth from the gem in the wand, and millions of ribbons wrapped around Yan Xi's body. Ripples spread from beneath her feet, the raven feathers and flowing light trembled together, turning into stardust and dissipating, leaving only black gauze and lace outlining the girl's exquisite curves.
The raven slowly opened its eyes.
A stream of deep purple-black magical light shot into the sky and plunged straight into an old, dilapidated residential building not far away.
Crackling sound.
The glass shattered, startling everyone inside the house.
"Who! Who is it!?"
A man in a black suit roared, grabbed an iron pipe and hurled it forward, but ended up flying backward and rolling several times on the ground.
Upon seeing who it was, everyone swallowed hard: "A...a magical girl!?"
The man in the suit, who had struggled to his feet, instantly calmed down. He raised his hand, which had been under the table to retrieve something, and took a deep breath: "What brings Your Highness here?"
Since the newcomer is a person with extraordinary martial arts skills, any resistance will be ineffective.
Upon hearing the leader's words, one of the underlings glanced sideways, seemingly asking with his eyes, "Why do you call him Your Highness?"
The leader glared at his underling, telling him not to focus on such details, and continued, "This is the office of the Holy Temple Disaster Relief Institute in Yincheng. We have a legitimate license issued by the mayor and have always abided by the law. We have never done anything wrong. Your Highness, I am ready to assist you with anything you need."
"I'm looking for a girl."
Huiya's voice was as cold as ice.
The expressions of the people present all changed.
"Boss..."
One of the underlings called out in a low voice, but the boss held him down.
He walked to the locked room next door and gently pushed it open. Huiya saw Yinyin lying on a single bed, fast asleep.
"We did not hurt her."
The eldest brother explained, "It's just that her mother is temporarily unable to fulfill her parental responsibilities, so she's temporarily entrusting her to our care. Many poor families in the old streets of Yincheng do the same thing. You can inquire about it; the Disaster Relief Institute never does anything illegal."
Huiya let out a barely perceptible sigh of relief, not in the mood to listen to his boss's explanation.
He walked to the bedside and picked up the girl, and none of the people present dared to stop him.
She transformed into a streak of light and soared into the sky.
……
When Cheng Chen arrived at the company early in the morning, she noticed that the atmosphere was a bit off.
He leisurely took a cup of coffee from the receptionist and strolled slowly to the elevator lobby to wait for the elevator.
He was somewhat used to the hushed discussions and the stares from all directions, and as he sipped his drink, he sighed that it was another peaceful and tranquil day.
"Producer, something's happened."
"puff!"
Coffee sprayed all over the wall, and Cheng Chen coughed forcefully.
Congcong appeared out of nowhere again, startling him.
The assistant took out a handkerchief to wipe the coffee that had dripped onto his collar, while handing him her own phone.
Then Cheng Chen saw the top trending news headline: "Magical Girl Breaks into Home, Assaults People Without Provocation, and Kidnaps Underage Girl!!!"
Below the news headline is a video that is clearly from surveillance footage.
The black-clad magical girl barged into the room, stormed into the bedroom under the watchful eyes of four men, and left with a sleeping girl.
Cheng Chen: !? !
Cheng Chen: (ﾟдﾟ)
He didn't care about the coffee all over his hands, grabbed Congcong's phone, and watched the video twice more.
In the related recommendations section, I also saw a tearful post on a personal account by someone claiming to be the mother of the abducted girl. The post included details of her deep affection for her daughter, her daughter's serious illness, and her inability to accept the outcome. At the end, there was a QR code requesting donations from netizens.
"Let me confirm first, is the video real?"
Cheng Chen started to have a headache.
Congcong stared at him and nodded vigorously twice.
"Where are they?" he asked again.
"Miss Huiya is in the president's office, and the little girl in the video is there too," Congcong said in a low voice.
"Take me there first."
Cheng Chen took a deep breath and finally understood why the company atmosphere was so strange.
The delinquent magical girl, who has clashed with several producers and is quick to resort to violence, is almost as famous in the company as Matsuru, only in a different direction.
Congcong nodded immediately and led Cheng Chen into the elevator.
As the elevator ascended, he asked, "What does this have to do with the Holy Church Disaster Relief Home?"
The battle between magical girls and monsters in this world has lasted for at least several hundred years, causing countless losses of public property and injuries to people. Naturally, a belief system has sprung up everywhere.
The purpose of the Disaster Relief Institute is to pray to the Holy Spirit in exchange for protection from magical calamities. In times of ignorance, magical girls were even regarded as the source of calamities, and believers were urged to send their daughters to the Disaster Relief Institute's blessing school so that the Holy Spirit could cleanse their bodies and prevent them from becoming magical girls.
Cheng Chen didn't know much about them, only two things.
The first thing is that the Holy Temple Disaster Relief Institute was very active in Yin City six years ago, and the four Holy Spirits they worshipped were all Disaster Beasts. He had fought against one of the Holy Spirits, the 'Prayer Lord,' many years ago, and that Disaster Beast rabbit had already reached the fifth tier, 'Star Disaster.'
The 'Prayer Lord' is the weakest of the four Holy Spirits of the Disaster Relief Institute. The Supreme Holy Spirit they worship is also an existence that transcends the upper limit of the conventional magic system. Therefore, they are able to rival the 'Dream Ball' founded by the Fairy Demoness and become one of the most powerful magical forces in Yin City.
Compared to the two, the Magical Girl Association is utterly insignificant.
The second incident occurred six years ago, shortly after he decided to retire. The Holy Temple Disaster Relief Institute was attacked by a mysterious powerful figure, resulting in the deaths of all four Holy Spirits and the destruction of the Disaster Beast organization that almost ruled the entire Yin City overnight. No one knew what had happened.
Since its destruction, the Disaster Relief Institute had long disappeared, but unexpectedly it has reappeared.
"The woman in the video claims that it was the office of the 'Sanctuary Disaster Relief Institute,' and that she left her daughter there overnight while she worked the night shift, but the tragedy happened unexpectedly. As for whether it's true or not, it can't be confirmed, but when the Disaster Relief Institute was destroyed, many demons and monsters fled, and over the years, there have been quite a few remnants operating under the name of the Disaster Relief Institute," Congcong replied.
He paused for a moment, then added, "In addition, the public relations department has noticed that someone has been deleting posts in an attempt to suppress the buzz."
Cheng Chen frowned and asked, "Suppressing the heat? Disaster relief center?"
Congcong shook his head, indicating that he did not know.
She continued, "The problem isn't with the Disaster Relief Center, but with 'Paradise Entertainment.' Our public relations department discovered that a large number of online trolls have joined the discussion about the incident, and the magical girl in the promotional video is one of our trainees."
Only former employees of the company knew that Huiya had not debuted and was affiliated with Yinfu Entertainment.
Paradise Interactive Entertainment is a new company established with the support of large capital after Guwu left.
Our competitors are all our benefactors; if there's an opportunity to kick us when we're down, we certainly won't let it pass.
This is a good opportunity to damage the reputation of the Music Bureau Entertainment.
Cheng Chen temporarily set aside his doubts about the Disaster Relief Institute and asked, "What's the public relations department's strategy?"
"The public relations department is not interfering for the time being; they are waiting for your and the president's opinions," Congcong replied quickly.
He nodded slightly, indicating that he understood.
Cheng Chen is not afraid of going up against any disaster relief institute, nor does he care how his competitors' online trolls hype things up.
He muttered to himself, "I just hope our kidnapping magical girl can give me a reasonable explanation."
……