SES Chapter 181 Part 2

That was probably for the best. If it really was something terrible—video or photos—having someone else see it first would be another kind of harm to Mu Dai.

Luo Ren went into Mu Dai’s room, closed the door, and turned on the computer. When he plugged in the USB drive, he realized his palms were slick with sweat.

A folder popped up. It was indeed a video.

There were voices outside—Aoki, Yan Hongsha, the others were all there—but their presence didn’t help. Some pain and anxiety couldn’t be shared. You had to bear it alone.

Luo Ren took a deep breath and hit play.

A dim room. Lowered lighting. Iron bars. A sense of confinement. The camera moved downward, like a plane diving. Mu Dai lay prone on the floor, seemingly asleep, long hair covering half her face, completely still.

Luo Ren’s eyes stung. Mu Dai wasn’t sleeping. She was trained in martial arts; even her posture at rest was different. This was unconsciousness. There were no visible injuries—probably drugs.

The video jumped—several clips edited together.

In this segment, Mu Dai sat on the floor with her arms wrapped around her knees. Her expression was calm, even composed. That gave Luo Ren some comfort. If she still had the strength to maintain her dignity and resist inwardly, it meant she hadn’t suffered severe harm yet.

In the final segment, there was sound. Leopard was speaking.

Smiling, lazy yet disdainful, she said, “I’ll keep letting Luo know how you’re doing, and I’ll let you know how Luo is doing too. Come on—say a few words to your lover. Reassure him, or make him ache for you. Up to you.”

Luo Ren’s heart sank.

In most kidnappings, hostages’ videos were released to extort ransom. But Leopard implied that she would keep both sides constantly informed. The more confident she was, the more it meant she had things firmly under control.

After that, the camera moved closer—it must have approached Mu Dai. She seemed repulsed, angered, raising her hand to block it again and again, until she finally snapped and shouted, “Get lost!”

But she seemed helpless. In the end, she broke down, tears streaming, her forehead pressed against the bars as she murmured over and over. Luo Ren heard her say, “Luo Xiaodao… they all bully me…”

Her emotions were off. She kept repeating the same sentence, occasionally wiping her tears.

The video ended there—frozen on Mu Dai’s tear-filled eyes. Leopard had clearly edited it this way on purpose.

Luo Ren reached out, as if to touch Mu Dai’s face on the screen, then slowly closed his eyes. A few seconds later, he steadied himself, got up, and opened the door.

Yan Hongsha had her ear pressed to it, clearly trying to listen. Caught off guard, she nearly fell inside.

Luo Ren said, “It’s nothing. Aoki, come in for a moment.”

He had Aoki watch the video. Aoki frowned at first. When Mu Dai cried, he seemed almost irritated and muttered, “A little lamb is still just a little lamb.”

When the video ended again, Luo Ren asked expressionlessly, “What do you see?”

Aoki scrubbed the mouse back to the moment Mu Dai shouted. “Your girlfriend screwed up—but accidentally hit the mark. Based on the echo, the location should be a basement.”

Luo Ren nodded. “Leopard told me we’d meet in Lijiang. She wouldn’t bother lying about details like this. And she sent the video back via Cao Jiefang—she can’t be far from us.”

Looking out the window at the glittering lights near and far, he said, “She should be somewhere in the Old Town.”

Aoki thought for a moment. “Going door to door isn’t feasible, and it’d alert her. This video doesn’t give much else. We may have to wait… but your girlfriend looks like she’s barely holding on.”

“That’s not it,” Luo Ren said.

He had a gut feeling—Mu Dai was trying to tell him something.

In the first two clips—unconsciousness and silent sitting—Mu Dai’s behavior was normal. But the third clip was very different. The loss of control, the shouting, even the tears.

If this had happened when he first met Mu Dai, it might have seemed natural. But after everything she’d been through, this reaction didn’t quite add up.

And she’d said his nickname—Luo Xiaodao—as if she were speaking directly to him.

—They all bully me.

Was she trying to remind him that besides Leopard, there were others involved?

Who could that be?

Yan Hongsha and the others were the third group to watch the video. Apart from greater anxiety and worry, they had no constructive ideas. Luo Ren instructed them to keep things concealed in front of Huo Zihong. After returning, he also called Zheng Mingshan.

Zheng Mingshan was also struck by the phrase “they all bully me.” He said to Luo Ren, “It wouldn’t be strange at all if there were others. Leopard wouldn’t act alone. If my junior sister deliberately emphasized that, it might mean this ‘other’ is someone you know—but haven’t noticed.”

An insider? Luo Ren felt a chill run down his spine.

When he went to sleep, he ran through everyone he knew—Uncle Zheng, Uncle Zhang, Pingtin, Huo Zihong. In his dreams, faces shifted and changed: You can paint the skin but not the bones; you can know a face but not a heart.

He was woken by loud knocking.

When he opened the door, it was Wan San—clutching a piece of paper, visibly excited. Behind him was a yawning Aoki. Late at night, Wan San suddenly insisted on seeing Luo Ren counted as “going out,” however short the distance, so Aoki had to tag along for safety.

Wan San said, “Luo Ren, I just thought of something.”

Once inside, he showed Luo Ren the paper. Written on it were Mu Dai’s words.

—They all bully me.

Wan San said, “We’ve all spent some time with the boss lady. Everyone has habits in how they speak—their tone, their word choices. She could’ve said ‘they bully me,’ so why emphasize ‘all’?”

As he spoke, he circled the two characters with his pen.

Luo Ren’s heart jolted.

Wan San continued, “Those two ‘ge’ characters together form the character for ‘bamboo.’ Could she actually be trying to say that near where she’s being held… there’s bamboo planted?”