Chapter 15: Xiaobing Is Kidnapped
Lu Yuan clutched the bank card and ran all the way back home.
This day felt like a dream. First the system awakened, and then he quickly secured the money for his mother’s treatment.
He was very satisfied with the negotiation he had just completed. In his previous life, he had not been someone good with words. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have ended up doing so poorly.
Back then, he had no background, no support—he couldn’t even speak loudly.
But things were different now. He had the system as his backing—there was no greater support than that. That’s why his thinking was so sharp today, and he could converse with a big boss like Jia Shengnan without showing the slightest fear.
“Xikanuo can preserve my mother’s life for two years. So next, I need to go all out and get into Cultivator University. Once I become a cultivator, I should be able to find a way to completely cure her.”
As for whether he could get in, Lu Yuan was no longer worried. The most important factor for admission was true essence—represented in the system as his true essence stat. He already had 120 points, far exceeding the baseline requirement.
If needed, he still had 999 merit points, which could increase it even further.
Besides saving his mother, Lu Yuan was personally very curious about Cultivator University. Who would want to spend their whole life as a cook?
There were many secrets in this world, and Lu Yuan wanted to understand them. But only by becoming a cultivator—the ruling class of this world—would he have that opportunity.
Filled with joy, Lu Yuan quickly ran home. He knew Xiaobing must be anxiously waiting, and he wanted to tell her the good news in person.
But Xiaobing wasn’t there.
Lu Yuan knocked on the door for quite a while, but there was no response. Confused, he used his key to open it—and found the place empty.
Did Xiaobing go out for something urgent?
He tried to convince himself of this, but couldn’t.
There was no way Xiaobing would leave at a time like this!
His heart began to race violently. A terrible premonition suddenly rose within him.
He took out his phone and called Xiaobing. As expected, the ringtone sounded from the sofa.
“She didn’t take her phone.”
Lu Yuan picked it up and looked at it—the screen was locked.
It was lunchtime now. He had only been gone for five hours. Something must have happened during that time.
“There are no bowls on the table or in the sink. That means Xiaobing already finished breakfast and washed the dishes.”
Lu Yuan forced himself to calm down and began searching for clues.
“The shoe rack hasn’t been touched. All her shoes are still here. Even her slippers are here. She didn’t leave wearing shoes.”
“The mop is placed beside the shoe rack. That’s not our habit.”
“The cooking pot on the stove is gone. It had preserved egg and lean pork congee in it.”
“This means…”
Lu Yuan suddenly dropped to the kitchen floor. In a gap near the cabinet, he rubbed some dirt between his fingers. As a chef, he could easily tell if the kitchen had been disturbed.
“This is fresh soil from outside. Someone came in wearing shoes.”
“Because they left footprints, they roughly wiped the floor with a mop before leaving. Then they leaned the mop against the shoe rack and exited.”
Lu Yuan pressed close to the ground to examine further, and sure enough, he saw faint drag marks from the mop.
“These are all the clues I can find for now. It’s certain—Xiaobing has been kidnapped.”
Lu Yuan sat on the floor, his expression twisted with rage. He had just gathered enough money for his mother’s treatment, and now his sister was in danger. He felt like smashing everything in front of him—but he didn’t act on that impulse. He knew it wouldn’t help. Right now, Xiaobing could only rely on him.
“So who did it?”
“Kidnappers?”
“No. This is a poor neighborhood. It wouldn’t attract criminals like that.”
“Could someone have found out I got over a million from Jia Shengnan and kidnapped Xiaobing for ransom?”
“Was it Jia Shengnan’s secretary?”
“No. The timing doesn’t match, and there’s no motive. If he wanted the money, he could’ve transferred it directly to himself and run.”
“Could it be obsessed fans?” Lu Yuan thought of another possibility.
“Dragon Boat Sister” had gone viral along with the zongzi. Many people were searching for Xiaobing’s identity—someone might have tracked her down.
“No… not that fast. She only became popular last night. There’s no way someone could find her so quickly.”
“Could it be a cult?!”
Lu Yuan recalled how, on the first day after his rebirth, the cultivator Ji Yin had flown to the school to warn everyone about cult activity.
“A cult wouldn’t have a reason to kidnap Xiaobing. From everything I’ve learned, cults target high-profile figures. Xiaobing is just a high school student…”
“No!”
Lu Yuan suddenly stood up.
“It is the cult!”
Just one day ago, Xiaobing had been an unknown student. But now things were different. She had appeared on TV last night, and her popularity online was exploding—she was likely more well-known than some local public figures.
The cult had every reason to target her.
The more he thought about it, the more convinced he became.
To locate their home so quickly, this wasn’t the work of a single person—it had to be an organized group.
But it wasn’t a professional operation. They had left behind many clues, suggesting most of the members were ordinary people.
Organized structure, kidnapping, mostly ordinary members—what else could it be if not a cult?
“A cult!”
Lu Yuan clenched his fists and turned to leave the house.
……
At the same time, on the outskirts of Ningcheng, in an abandoned factory.
Xiaobing’s hands and feet were bound. She lay half-reclined on the cold concrete floor, her hair messy, her small face streaked with tears.
Nearby, six people sat around a table, loudly slurping porridge. They varied in age and gender.
The large pot on the table had been taken straight from Lu Yuan’s stove.
Not only did they kidnap Xiaobing—they even took the congee. Outrageous!
“So good.”
A sallow-faced middle-aged man looked up and sighed in satisfaction, then turned to Xiaobing. “Little girl, what’s this porridge called? Where did you buy it?”
Xiaobing was both scared and furious.
“You’re all dead! My brother will never let you go!”
The threat was as weak as scratching an itch. The man sneered. “Your brother is just an ordinary high school student. Your father’s just a worker. Your mother is lying in a hospital bed. Who exactly are you counting on? Go ahead, tell me.”
Xiaobing was momentarily speechless. These people had already investigated her family thoroughly. But she refused to give in, stubbornly saying, “My brother is very strong.”
The man sneered again, no longer interested in responding.
An elderly woman with graying hair beside him advised, “Little girl, for the divine master to take interest in you is your blessing. Once you witness the divine master’s power, you’ll understand—we’re doing this for your own good.”
“Let me go home!” Xiaobing cried.
Seeing this, the old woman stopped trying to persuade her.
“Foolish mortal. The divine master will redeem you.”
Even in such despair, Xiaobing believed her brother would come save her—and beat these bastards into pancakes.
But in reality, Lu Yuan was about to face a huge problem.
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