Chapter 116: The Abduction of the Daughters of Leucippus

Tick, tock. It is the sound of water droplets falling to the ground, and also the countdown of a life ebbing away.

A person’s life span is as long as their allotted vital energy.

Dizzy, lightheaded, and faced with endless darkness, the man desperately squeezed every molecule of oxygen from his lungs. The itch in his chest grew increasingly intense, his bloodshot eyes bulging as if they were about to burst. His hands gripped the towel around his neck with a death-like clutch, his resistance gradually shifting from weak struggles to total limpness.

Tick! As the final droplet fell, the man burst from the water in the bathtub, tore the wet towel from his neck, and exhaled a long, turbid breath. He lay back, breathing greedily, wiped his dripping cheeks with the towel, and glanced at the silent showerhead. He picked up a pocket watch from the side of the tub, pressed the stop button, and stared at the hand that had fallen two ticks short of the twelve. He sighed, "Still two seconds off."

"So what if you're two seconds off?" A woman in dark green silk pajamas walked into the bathroom. She padded barefoot to the man’s back, her red-painted fingernails tracing patterns over his bare skin. She pressed her flushed cheek against his back and breathed, her voice like an orchid, "As long as the feeling is right, two seconds more or less doesn't matter..."

The man swatted her hand away. While wiping the water from his body, he wrapped a clean bath towel around his waist, tossed the sodden towel onto the vanity, and gave her a cold look. "Why haven't you left yet?"

The woman pouted her vermillion lips, tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, and chirped coquettishly, "You insulted me; naturally, I need an explanation before I can leave."

The man scoffed and walked slowly out of the bathroom. His damp footprints trailed all the way to the living room sofa before he stopped. He picked up a glass of red wine from the coffee table, took a light sip, and slumped onto the sofa. He tilted his head to look at the woman, who was swaying toward him like a willow in the wind, and said expressionlessly, "The nanny changed your clothes..." He paused, then added, "The ones you were wearing were filthy and stained with wine; they would have dirtied my bed."

"That is the greatest insult of all!" The woman turned halfway and sat on his lap, her index finger tracing a path from his nose to his lips. "I was completely unconscious, and you just had a nanny change my clothes..." Her other hand quietly snaked beneath his bath towel, and she murmured with a flirtatious glint in her eyes, "You have no idea how disappointed I was when I woke up. My heart was broken."

The man frowned, pulled her slender hand out from under his towel, shoved her away, and moved to the other end of the sofa. "Hao Qian, not all men are driven by their lower halves. That act of yours doesn't work on me... besides, you're too dirty. I’m a germaphobe."

Hao Qian bit her lip, stung with indignation. "You're insulting me again!"

The man picked up a newspaper from the coffee table and, while sipping his wine, scanned the headlines. "Am I wrong?"

"You're absolutely right!" Hao Qian’s chest heaved, her face turning redder than a monkey's backside. She glared at the man with hatred. "Yes, I'm dirty! From now on, don't you ever come looking for me for anything. I'm way out of your league!"

The man glanced at her impatiently and waved a hand. "Change your clothes and leave on your own. I have business to attend to later; I don't have time to waste on you."

Hao Qian stomped her foot hard, pointed at him, and snapped, "Fine! I'm leaving, but one day you'll regret this!"

With that, she turned, stormed into the bedroom, quickly changed into her own clothes, grabbed her handbag, and marched out without looking back. The door slammed shut with a bang.

The man cast a sidelong glance toward the foyer, then looked down at a certain bulge in his bath towel. He sighed with a hint of regret and muttered, "What did I say wrong? She really was dirty. So much bacteria on her skin, plus the wine stains—wasn't a wash necessary? ...Sigh, my shower was a total waste."

Just then, his phone on the coffee table rang. He picked it up, answered, and his face gradually filled with frost. "Mm... alright, I'm on my way."

He went into the walk-in closet, opened the wardrobe, and selected a gray designer suit. He swept his gaze over a large, framed oil painting opposite the closet, his eyes narrowing slightly. He grabbed his keys from the shoe cabinet, left the room, and headed for the parking garage. He climbed into the driver's seat, started the engine, and sped away.

Once the car had left, Hao Qian emerged from a dark corner of the garage. She looked nervously in the direction of the departing car, took a deep breath, pulled out her phone, sent a quick text, and turned back toward the man's apartment.

Tiptoeing to his door, she produced a set of keys identical to the ones the man had taken earlier. She carefully turned the handle, slipped inside, and began to search the rooms.

Ten minutes later, Hao Qian stood in the center of the living room, her brows furrowed. Her eyes fell upon the oil painting opposite the closet. After a moment of thought, she approached it and stared for a few seconds. "The Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus?" she muttered.

She suddenly recalled someone telling her that in A City, hundreds of miles away, a woman named Jin Yue had been looking at this very painting in a gallery. Her eyes brightened. She bit her lip and felt along the frame, but found no secret mechanism. Gritting her teeth, she strained to move the heavy frame from the wall, revealing a square hollow in the center. Inside sat a fifteen-centimeter-tall statue of a demon.

She tried to pull the statue out, but it wouldn't budge no matter how hard she pulled. By accident, she gave the demon a twist.

*Click.* The sound of a mechanism turning echoed behind her. She turned to see the cabinet on the right side of the closet sliding open automatically, revealing a dark passage in the wall.

Hao Qian’s face lit up. She swallowed hard, crept into the closet, pushed open the hidden door, and peered into the pitch-black tunnel. She crouched down and entered. As she moved forward, she glanced at the various whips and shackles hanging on the walls, and goosebumps broke out all over her body. Covering her mouth, she quickened her pace.

Every road has an end, and the tunnel was short.

She steeled herself and rushed into the room at the end of the passage. By the dim light, she saw the scene inside, and her eyes sparkled brighter than the bulb on the ceiling.

The room was only about ten square meters, containing nothing but a single bed in the center and gray walls on all sides. In the corner, a woman with long, flowing hair sat huddled. She wore a white lace dress, her arms as fair as jade, clutching her knees, her eyes filled with terror.

Hao Qian hurried over. She stared at the woman’s delicate face and laughed with pure joy, "Qingxue, you really are here!"

Han Qingxue looked up, dazed, and gasped in fear, "Did they catch you too?"

"No, how could they..." Hao Qian shook her head, lifting her chin. "Do you have any idea who I am? I’m the resourceful 'Fairy Hao'; who could ever catch me? I’m here to save you from this hellhole!"

Han Qingxue’s pale face flushed with excitement. "My brother sent you, didn't he? I knew he would come for me." She looked behind Hao Qian. "Where is he?"

Hao Qian pouted. "Your brother is too busy to worry about you right now; the one who sent me is an old codger..." She explained how she had drugged Han Yuan. "It’s not that I didn't want to help your brother, but the situation is too complicated. I had to do what those people said—drug him first, then find a way to save you. But don't worry, the old man said your brother will be fine..."

"An old codger?" Han Qingxue asked suspiciously. "What kind of old man?"

"He didn't tell me his name, always wears a dusty, old-fashioned black suit..." Hao Qian shrugged. "But he seems to know you quite well; he even knew your childhood nickname, Niuniu. He said when this is over, he’ll treat you to dinner—a big bowl of plain white rice, all you can eat! Can you imagine how stingy that is? Who invites someone to dinner and only serves rice?"

"Zhang Xiaoman!" Han Qingxue’s eyes grew slightly red as she recalled the scene at the restaurant across from the police station years ago. "Hot white rice is the best... Niuniu wants three big bowls..."

Hao Qian pursed her lips. "Seems like you two are really close. Good thing I didn't help the wrong person. That old man acts all upright, but he’s full of mischief. I wanted to help your brother at the time, but he wouldn't let me. Said he wanted to teach your brother a lesson so he wouldn't be stirring up trouble after he’s gone. And that red wine... he said drugging your brother was enough, but he insisted I drink some too, claiming it would make your brother lower his guard and give me a chance to get in here to save you. I’m an actress! Why did I need to actually drink it? I could have just pretended! He insisted on some 'sense of realism'."

Han Qingxue listened to Hao Qian’s chatter, a beautiful curve forming on her lips. "He’s just a bit petty. You probably offended him by being rude, so he set you up..."

"Forget it, let’s not talk about him. Respecting the elderly is a virtue; I won't hold it against him..." Hao Qian pulled Han Qingxue to her feet and examined her carefully. "Did those people hurt you? Are you injured anywhere?"

Han Qingxue waved her off. "No... I suppose they figured a pregnant woman couldn't cause much trouble." She touched her stomach. "If it weren't for the father of this child, I wouldn't have gone along with them so easily... Luckily, when we passed through A City, I found a chance to see my brother; otherwise, I really would have been trapped here forever."

"You're pregnant?" Hao Qian covered her mouth in surprise. "Whose bastard is it?"

"Don't talk nonsense. If he were a bastard, what would that make me and the baby..." Han Qingxue shot her a look, her cheeks flushing. "He’s a good man. I’ll let you meet him one day."

"Truly, all the good cabbages get eaten by the pigs..." Hao Qian looked at Han Qingxue’s stomach. "Well, it’s not easy for people in our line of work to have a home. People only see the glory on the screen, not the bitterness behind the scenes... Qingxue, I have a small request. Can you grant it?"

"What request?"

"Can you let me be part of this child's life? In this industry, so many things are out of our control. I don't know if I'll ever have the chance to hear someone call me 'mother'..."

"That’s not for me to decide, you’ll have to ask her yourself..." Han Qingxue stroked her belly with a gentle smile. "She says yes!"

"Yay!" Hao Qian cheered. "From today on, I have a child! I have to work even harder to make money. Raising a kid isn't cheap—diapers, formula, calcium, iron, zinc, vitamins... then school, which costs a fortune... and when they’re adults, there's marriage, kids, buying a house..."

"You’re thinking way too far ahead," Han Qingxue laughed. "For now, let's just figure out how to get out of here."

Just then, a cold voice drifted from the tunnel. "Indeed, you are thinking a bit too far ahead. I doubt you'll ever hear anyone call you mother in this lifetime..."