Chapter 75: Kidnapped
Ai Xinglan’s Worry
“Ugh, damn it!”
Ai Xinglan paced back and forth in her home. Since Yu Li sent the message about going to Lan Yi’s house yesterday, she hadn’t responded to any of Ai Xinglan’s inquiries.
Now, with the sky nearly dark, that idiot still hadn’t returned. Messages went unanswered, calls unreturned.
“Damn it, don’t you know this makes people worry?!”
Ai Xinglan looked angry, but her eyes betrayed an unmistakable concern.
She didn’t know what was happening with Yu Li. All she could do was pretend not to notice, hoping to ease Yu Li’s burden.
But her patience had reached its limit. She pulled out her phone and dialed Lan Yi’s number.
The call connected quickly.
“Senior Lan Yi…”
“Huh? Little Xinglan, how rare! You calling me—what’s up?” Lan Yi’s voice carried a hint of curiosity. Ai Xinglan rarely contacted student council members during breaks.
“Sorry for disturbing your rest, Senior.”
“No, no, not at all! If Little Xinglan has a problem, just ask. Leave it to your Senior!”
“Thanks, Senior.”
“So, what’s the matter?”
“Is Yu Li… still at your place?”
Ai Xinglan finally asked, as Yu Li rarely ignored her messages like this. She was genuinely worried.
She only wanted Yu Li to take the call, but Lan Yi’s response made her face darken. It was the last answer she wanted to hear.
That idiot… had left Lan Yi’s house early in the morning.
Yet she still hadn’t come back, and with night approaching, Ai Xinglan’s expression grew gravely serious.
Her body trembled slightly, dark thoughts creeping into her mind, impossible to stop once they began.
“Feng!” Ai Xinglan called for her maid, her voice shaking.
At her call, Feng appeared, bowing. “Miss.”
“Yu Li is missing… Find her.”
“Understood, Miss. You…” Feng started to say something but stopped, nodding before leaving quickly.
Hearing Yu Li was missing, Feng frowned instinctively. Seeing Ai Xinglan’s trembling, she wanted to comfort her but chose action instead.
Watching Feng move, Ai Xinglan didn’t act immediately. Instead, she returned to her room and opened a sealed box.
She took out a scepter. The moment her hand touched it, the scepter glowed brightly.
[Royal Authority]… a rare, ancestral treasure of the Ai family, capable of multiplying one’s spiritual power several times at a cost.
Gripping the scepter tightly, Ai Xinglan’s eyes burned with anger.
“No matter who you are… no one can take her from me…”
Lan Yi’s Resolve
“Yu Li… is really missing?”
Lan Yi covered her mouth in shock. After hanging up with Ai Xinglan, she tried calling Yu Li, but no one answered.
“No… I can’t just wait. Yu Li lost contact near my house… I have to look for clues.”
Lan Yi grabbed a jacket and rushed out without even explaining to her family.
When she received Ai Xinglan’s call, questions flooded her mind. What was the relationship between Yu Li and Little Xinglan? Why did they live together? Why did Little Xinglan sound so frantic?
But to Lan Yi now, none of that mattered compared to Yu Li’s safety.
She didn’t want anything to happen to Yu Li. She really didn’t.
A Painful Awakening
“Ugh…”
Feeling sharp pain in her arm, Yu Li woke from unconsciousness. She tried to move her hands and feet but found herself bound.
Lifting her head, she saw no sign of the puppets that attacked her. Instead, a man stood before her, holding a syringe filled with what seemed to be her blood.
“I really didn’t expect… it’d be you.”
Hearing Yu Li’s voice, the man turned, offering a faint smile.
“Awake so soon, Yu Li? As expected of the genius girl from the Yu family.”
“You know who I am, yet you dare do this? Should I assume you’re courting death, Teacher Wang Si?”
Yu Li spoke calmly, showing no fear of being kidnapped, as if the man posed no threat.
“Heh, how could I? As a teacher, I haven’t seen you noble family kids bow and admit fault. How could I bear to die now?”
Wang Si pushed the syringe, grinning at Yu Li.
“That’s your motive?”
Yu Li narrowed her eyes, skeptical, though his words aligned with the school’s investigation.
There was a traitor in the school, selling strange drugs to students…
“So… the students who went berserk recently—that was you?” Yu Li didn’t ask why he kidnapped her, instead posing this unexpected question.
“Correct. You’re sharp, Yu Li,” Wang Si said with a smile, not denying it.
“As a teacher, harming your own students—don’t you feel any shame?” Yu Li mocked, her face expressionless.
“Shame? Harm? No, no, no.” Wang Si shook his head, unfazed, his smile growing manic. “Hahaha, I’m just fulfilling their wishes. They wanted to get stronger, and I can make that happen. As a good teacher, of course I’d help them.”
“It just requires a small price. They’ll understand.”
He genuinely seemed to believe he was doing the right thing, his expression sincere.
“Tch.” Yu Li clicked her tongue in disgust, saying no more. There was no point arguing with a madman. She hadn’t expected this side of Wang Si.
Ignoring her disdain, Wang Si carefully set the syringe aside.
Yu Li didn’t ask why he collected her blood—she could guess why he targeted her.
It was because of that day’s test… she had exposed her ability.
The only question was, Wang Si wasn’t there that day. How did he know about her unique ability?
“What’s Yu Li thinking about now?”
Having stored the blood, Wang Si didn’t act further. Instead, he crouched in front of her, smiling kindly.
Yu Li tilted her head, a sly grin tugging at her lips.
“I’m wondering how much longer you’ll live, Teacher.”