novelraw Chapter 0158 Alone
Chapter 0158 Alone
West of the city, an abandoned textile factory.
The night wind blew through the broken window, making a sound like a ghostly wail.
Wen Ning was woken up by a bucket of cold water.
The biting cold instantly jolted her awake, bringing her back to her senses. She found herself bound behind her back to a rusty iron chair with thick hemp rope, her wrists aching from the tightness.
Three or four burly men stood in front of him, holding steel pipes and looking hostile.
Not far away, Wang Qiang was sitting on a wooden box, fidgeting anxiously and fiddling with a folding knife in his hand.
"woke up?"
Wang Qiang walked over and patted Wen Ning's cheek with the back of his knife, his eyes filled with malice.
"Miss Wen, don't blame me. Blame your CEO Jiang for being so ruthless, leaving me with no way out."
Wen Ning's heart was racing, but she forced herself to calm down.
She is no longer the little girl who could only cry.
She neither begged for mercy nor screamed.
Instead, he quickly observed the surrounding environment, and finally his gaze fell on Wang Qiang.
"Mr. Wang."
Wen Ning spoke, her voice weak but calm.
"Since it's about making money, there's no need to resort to violence. Jiang Ci will give you the core code and money as well."
"Shut up!" Wang Qiang roared, clearly highly stressed. "I don't believe him! Someone like him would definitely call the police!"
"He won't."
Wen Ning looked into his eyes, her tone resolute.
"Because I'm in your hands."
Meanwhile, her fingers were wriggling laboriously inside the large pockets of her trench coat.
That was the voice recorder she carried with her to take meeting minutes. When she was kidnapped, because it was hidden deep inside the pocket of her heavy coat, the kidnappers only took her phone and didn't find the recorder.
Using muscle memory, she pressed the raised switch through the fabric.
The red light silently illuminated deep within the pocket.
"Mr. Wang."
Wen Ning continued to coax him into talking, leaving behind evidence.
"You kidnapped me, demanding Limitless's core source code and a ransom of 50 million yuan. If Jiang Ci gives it to you, will you really let me go?"
"Or... are you planning to kill him?"
"Give me money and I'll release him! I only care about money, I don't want to take a life!"
Wang Qiang was enraged and roared loudly.
"As long as I get the code, I'll fly far away! Who cares about your life!"
It's been recorded.
Wen Ning breathed a sigh of relief.
Kidnapping and extortion of trade secrets.
This recording is enough to put Wang Qiang in jail for life.
Just then.
"boom--!!!"
A deafening explosion followed.
The warehouse's rusty roller shutter door was violently smashed open by a car.
The front of the car was dented, and dust billowed up.
Two blinding beams of headlights cleaved through the darkness of the warehouse like swords, shining directly into Wang Qiang's face.
"Damn it! Who?!"
Wang Qiang was so frightened that he jumped up and almost dropped the knife in his hand.
The car door opened.
A tall figure walked down against the bright light.
Jiang Ci.
He took off his cumbersome suit jacket, leaving him in only a white shirt and black trousers.
The sleeves were rolled up above the elbows, revealing the firm lines of the forearms with bulging veins.
He wasn't carrying a briefcase or a laptop.
Instead, he was dragging a rusty solid iron rod that he had picked up from the roadside.
The iron rod scraped across the concrete.
It makes a sickening "sizzle" sound.
It resembled the footsteps of death.
"Jiang... Jiang Ci?!"
Wang Qiang took a step back, looking at the man who resembled a demon, his voice trembling.
"Where's the stuff? Where's the code? You dare come empty-handed?!"
Jiang Ci remained silent.
He didn't even glance at Wang Qiang.
His gaze cut through the swirling dust and landed precisely on Wen Ning, who was strapped to a chair.
I saw the red marks on her face and her clothes that were soaked with water.
The last glimmer of reason in Jiang Ci's eyes was completely extinguished.
"court death."
He uttered two words in a low voice.
next second.
He moved.
No nonsense, no negotiation.
Like a wild beast that had completely lost control, it charged forward with an aura of destruction.
"Stop him! Kill him!"
Wang Qiang shouted in terror.
The four burly men exchanged a glance, then surrounded them, holding steel pipes in hand.
They were thugs who were paid to do things, and they already felt that kidnapping the big boss was too risky. Now, seeing Jiang Ci's reckless attitude, they were already feeling uneasy.
"Bang!"
A muffled thud.
Jiang Ci slammed the iron rod in his hand hard into the arm of the first person who rushed up.
The sound of bones cracking sends chills down your spine.
The man screamed in pain as his weapon flew out of his hand.
Jiang Ci did not stop.
He dodged another steel pipe to the side and punched the other man in the nose with his backhand.
Fast, accurate, and ruthless.
That's a completely reckless fighting style.
He wasn't a trained fighter and didn't have any fighting skills.
He relied entirely on a crazy drive.
He had a crazy, ruthless attitude: "If anyone dares to touch Wen Ning, I'll take their life."
"Get out if you don't want to die!"
Jiang Ci kicked away someone who was trying to sneak up on him, his eyes bloodshot.
"Is it worth risking your life for Wang Qiang's little bit of money?"
Several henchmen were intimidated by his imposing manner.
They were just thugs who did things for money, and they were all scheming and had ulterior motives because of the unfair distribution of the spoils. Now, seeing their companion lying on the ground groaning in pain, they started to back away one by one.
Nobody wants to fight a madman.
"Don't back down! Charge! He's out of strength!"
Wang Qiang grew anxious. He gripped the folding knife, watching Jiang Ci approach step by step, a vicious glint flashing in his eyes.
At this moment, Jiang Ci had his back to Wang Qiang, grabbed the tattooed man who was leading the group, and pressed an iron rod against the man's throat.
His back was wide open.
"Go to hell!"
Wang Qiang seized the opportunity, circled around to the side, raised his knife, and with a ferocious expression, stabbed Jiang Ci in the lower back.
That was a fatal spot.
"careful--!"
Wen Ning's pupils constricted sharply, and her heart nearly stopped beating.
His voice cracked from extreme terror.
Jiang Ci heard the shouts, but he was in the middle of a fight and had no time to turn around or dodge.
At this critical moment.
Wen Ning, who was tied to the chair, suddenly exerted her strength.
Her hands were tied behind her back, preventing her from moving, but her legs were free.
She gritted her teeth, used all her strength, and without caring about getting hurt, slammed herself and the chair to the side.
The heavy iron chair scraped against the ground, making a screeching sound.
"Bang!"
Wen Ning fell heavily to the ground, chair and all, and was overcome with excruciating pain.
But her leg tripped precisely on Wang Qiang's calf as he rushed towards her.
"ah--!"
Caught off guard, Wang Qiang lost his balance and fell forward.
The knife in his hand flew out and slid far away.
He fell flat on his face, right at Jiang Ci's feet.
Jiang Ci dealt with the thugs in his hands and suddenly turned around.
He saw Wang Qiang lying on the ground, groaning in pain.
They also saw Wen Ning not far away, who had fallen to the ground, chair and all, due to excessive force, looking disheveled.
She lay on the dusty cement floor, her hair disheveled and her cheek scraped, yet she still tried to lift her head to see if he was alright.
"court death."
Jiang Ci threw away the iron rod in his hand.
He rushed over in two strides and stomped hard on Wang Qiang's back as he tried to get up.
A "click" sound.
That was the sound of bones breaking.
"ah--!!!"
Wang Qiang let out a pig-like scream that echoed through the empty warehouse.
Jiang Ci looked down at the garbage at his feet, his eyes devoid of any warmth, only filled with chilling ferocity.
He lifted his foot, as if he wanted to add another stroke.
Just then.
The sound of urgent, sharp sirens came from outside the warehouse.
Approaching from afar, it instantly surrounded the entire factory area.
Red and blue flashing lights pierced through the broken windows, casting a mottled glow on the dimly lit warehouse.
"Listen up, you inside! You are surrounded! Drop your weapons!"
The sound from the loudspeaker boomed through the night sky.
"Bang--!"
The warehouse door was kicked open again.
A large group of fully armed special police rushed in, their dark gun barrels pointed at everyone inside.
"Don't move! Cover your head and squat down!"
Closely following the police was Zhang Annian, who looked anxious.
"Brother Ci! Sister-in-law!"
When Zhang Annian rushed in and saw the mess on the ground, and Jiang Ci, who was stepping on Wang Qiang and exuding an aura of demonic power, his legs went weak with fear.
"Brother Ci! The police are here! Stop!"
Zhang Annian shouted.
Jiang Ci stopped moving.
His chest heaved violently, the afterglow of a surge of adrenaline.
He slowly withdrew his foot.
They didn't look at the police rushing in, nor did they pay attention to the kidnappers who were running away with their heads in their hands.
He was amidst a cacophony of noise and chaos.
He slowly turned around.
My gaze pierced through the chaotic crowd and flashing police lights.
It landed on Wen Ning, who was lying on her side on the ground a few meters away and bound by ropes.
Eyes facing each other.
They were several meters apart.
It's like being separated by the boundary between life and death.
Wen Ning looked at him.
Looking at the bloodstains on his shirt, his disheveled hair, and his scarlet eyes that had finally regained focus.
She wanted to smile and tell him she was okay.
But tears fell first.
Jiang Ci stood there.
His hands hung at his sides, still trembling slightly.
He looked at her.
I'm sure she's alive, I'm sure she's still here.
The tense body finally relaxed at this moment.