Chapter 36: Escape; Underground Auction! Reduced to a Plaything.
The moment the tablecloth was suddenly yanked up, Jiang Chenyan rose abruptly. The heavy dining table subsequently crashed into that person, and he kicked the other’s abdomen hard. The person let out a muffled groan and fell straight to the floor.
The red wine glasses on the table were knocked over. The deep red wine liquid poured down along the edge of the table, spreading into a large patch of dark wine stain on the floor, with broken glass pieces mixed in. The air was instantly filled with a pungent smell of alcohol.
The huge commotion attracted the other searchers.
“Fuck, how is there another person!”
Several people cursed. “Could it be someone wanting to play the hero saving the beauty? Just shoot him dead.”
Unable to care about much else, Jiang Chenyan turned and lunged for the glass window. His fingers frantically fumbled with the latch, only to find the window was locked.
A flash of anxiety crossed his eyes. He suddenly grabbed a wooden stool from nearby, and with strength in his arms, smashed it hard against the glass. A dull impact echoed in the space.
The moment glass shards flew, Jiang Chenyan grabbed the trembling person on the floor. “You jump first!”
The youth stumbled and lunged for the windowsill, glancing down. His head spun. No way. “S-second floor…”
“Stop wasting time. It’s just the second floor,” Jiang Chenyan tsked impatiently. As soon as he finished speaking, a sharp whistling sound suddenly rang out.
A bullet grazed past his ear. A few strands of black hair mixed with tiny beads of blood floated to the floor, staining the white carpet.
His pupils constricted. He grabbed the stool from the floor and held it in front of him. “If you don’t hurry, I’m going to be finished here today.”
Hearing this, the person on the windowsill dared not hesitate any longer. He closed his eyes and leaped from the window, rolling several times upon landing to dissipate the impact force. His bones felt a bit out of place.
Jiang Chenyan followed immediately after, throwing the stool in his hand hard toward the people in the room. Seizing the gap while the others dodged, he turned and jumped down. Upon landing, he grabbed the person on the floor and dashed toward the mouth of the alley without looking back.
Exasperated curses came from behind, but because this was a public place, they didn’t dare to shoot recklessly again.
One of them said in a low voice, “Hurry and notify the higher-ups. The several of us will chase first. We absolutely cannot let them escape.”
The sound of footsteps came closer and closer like a life-calling drum. Jiang Chenyan gripped the youth’s wrist and ran desperately. Amidst his hurried gasps, he questioned, “Wait, who exactly are they? Why are they chasing you so relentlessly?”
The youth’s face was deathly pale. “They… are not human. They’ve been torturing me…” He suddenly stopped. Thinking of something, he fell into complete despair. “By the way, I have a tracker on my ankle. Don’t worry about me; you go first.”
“Why didn’t you say so earlier?!” Jiang Chenyan stopped abruptly, grabbing the inconspicuous black device on the youth’s ankle. He raised his hand and smashed it hard against the corner of the wall nearby.
The metal casing hit the wall with only a dull sound, without even a scratch.
Jiang Chenyan stared at the immobile tracker, the veins on his temples throbbing. He ground his teeth and cursed in a low voice: “What kind of piece of junk is this? Why is it so solid?!”
The people behind were already close at hand, allowing them no time to delay even for a second.
Jiang Chenyan grabbed the youth’s arm and shouted hoarsely, “Follow me.” He then dragged him toward a robot specialty store at the corner. The store was full of metal bodies and parts, which happened to be able to interfere with signals.
The two stumbled into the store. The robot models on the shelves shook from the impact, but there was no sign of the owner.
Jiang Chenyan dared not delay. He quickly scanned the surroundings, pulled the youth to bend down, and drilled behind a stack of large robot bodies. The thick metal casing instantly blocked their figures, temporarily isolating the footsteps outside.
The owner was behind the counter tidying things up. When he stood up, he was dumbfounded.
Several brawny men in black entered the store one after another.
“Did you see two people come in?”
The owner shook his head blankly. “What people? I haven’t seen anyone.”
“Search!” the leader barked. His subordinates immediately prepared to start turning things over.
The owner became anxious, afraid they would damage his beloved robots. He hurriedly stepped forward to block them. “Truly, no one! Oh, right—” He changed his tune, purposely pausing. His gaze drifted as he pointed out the window. “I think I saw two people running over there just now. Just… just in the direction of that alley mouth!”
The leader hesitated.
“Metal will interfere with the tracker.” One of them suddenly spoke, looking at the metal bodies in the store. “If they hide here, the signal would have cut off long ago. It’s highly probable they ran somewhere else.”
There was some logic to these words. “We’ll go chase at the alley mouth. You stay here. If you see anyone, notify us immediately.”
the remaining person nodded. Ignoring the owner’s obstruction, he bent down and scanned between the robot bodies, his footsteps coming closer and closer to the corner where Jiang Chenyan and the youth were hiding.
Jiang Chenyan’s gaze darkened. Seizing the gap when the other turned around, he suddenly lunged from behind the robot, clenching his fist and smashing it hard against the person’s cheek.
The other staggered to the floor. Just as he reached out to touch the communicator at his waist, Jiang Chenyan stepped forward again. His knee pressed against the person’s chest, and his elbow slammed hard against the back of the other’s neck, knocking him unconscious.
Snatching the gun from the other’s waist, Jiang Chenyan turned to aim at the tracker on the youth’s ankle and pulled the trigger.
With a “bang,” the tracker instantly emitted black smoke, its casing pierced with a hole.
Efficiently putting the gun away, Jiang Chenyan took a breath and said to the pale-faced person, “It’s fine now; it’s already broken.”
Against the light, some people were already stunned. Jiang Chenyan’s entire being was dazzlingly white, with several dark red bloodstains winding over him. It was unclear if they were from others or his own.
His deep black pupils were as bright as obsidian, holding an un-dissipated cold sharp edge. His three-dimensional brow bone and high-bridged nose outlined an exquisite, three-dimensional contour. However, that bloodstain landing on his cheek added a bit of broken elegance. Cold and beauty clashed startlingly on his face.
Not noticing the daze of the person sitting on the floor, Jiang Chenyan looked at the owner. “Thanks.”
The owner was already dumbfounded. “…”
What was the situation?
“When did you guys come in?”
Jiang Chenyan let out a light laugh. “It’s not important. You should close the store and hide for a bit.”
The owner hated trouble and didn’t want to deal with the mess. He simply lay on the floor and played dead. “You guys hurry and leave.”
Jiang Chenyan’s Adam’s apple rolled. He reached out and pulled the person on the floor up. “Let’s go.”
The two of them walked out along the dark alley. The more Jiang Chenyan thought about it, the more he felt it was tricky. In this situation, he really didn’t know where to take the person to be safe.
He fished out his communicator and simply dialed Kai Lan. “I have someone here. Can you come and pick them up?”
“Are you joking? The two of us aren’t even on the same planet right now! How do you want me to pick someone up?” Kai Lan’s voice, between laughter and tears, came through the communicator. In the middle of the night, he wanted to curse at Jiang Chenyan.
Jiang Chenyan paused, gave a light cough, and changed his tune: “Oh, I said it wrong. Just arrive tomorrow. Count it as me owing you a favor; you will be my benefactor.”
“Don’t be so quick to play nice. What person? What’s the name? I can’t just go pick up a stranger, can I?”
Jiang Chenyan turned to the youth beside him and asked, “What is your name?”
On the communicator, Kai Lan instantly exploded: “So you don’t even know the person’s name, yet you’re letting me pick them up?!”
“Mo Qingyu.” His voice still carried a bit of hoarseness.
“Mm, Mo Qingyu.”
Jiang Chenyan repeated the name into the communicator.
Kai Lan’s voice came through the communicator: “I understand. Send me the address.”
“Thanks, benefactor.”
Kai Lan: “No need, ancestor.”
“…”
Hanging up the communication, Jiang Chenyan turned to look at Mo Qingyu beside him, his gaze deepening. “Tell me, why were they chasing you? And you seem very afraid of them. You were chatting quite normally before; how did you suddenly become a different person?”
Mo Qingyu lowered his eyes, his fingertips clenching until they were white. “You saw it too. This bar looks like a place for pastimes on the surface, but it actually hides many XX specifically for serving guests.”
“Then you…” Before Jiang Chenyan could finish his words, he was interrupted by Mo Qingyu shaking his head lightly.
“I’m not.” His voice was very low, carrying an undetectable bit of trembling. “I escaped from the auction. Actually, the negative first floor of this bar is not a warehouse or a dock; it’s a giant auction house.”
Jiang Chenyan’s brows knitted together. Suddenly, it all made sense—this bar was too luxurious, it could even be said to be excessively luxurious.
“What they sell are Omegas like us,” Mo Qingyu’s voice carried a chill. “Especially those with higher grades.”
There, they were prey, they were playthings, they were everything except human.
Jiang Chenyan’s brows knitted even deeper, his knuckles involuntarily clenching.
Behind the seemingly glamorous bar was hidden such a filthy industrial chain. Just thinking about those Omegas being bought and sold as commodities made his stomach churn.
His terminal beeped. Jiang Chenyan opened it to see it was a message from Shen Shiyue:
[They have already started asking about you. When are you coming back? Has something happened?]
Only then did Jiang Chenyan remember the group in the box. He slapped his forehead and turned to Mo Qingyu. “I have to go back first. I’ll talk to you in detail once I’m done.”
He quickly booked a nearby hotel on his terminal and showed the order page to Mo Qingyu. “Remember this hotel address well, and save my contact information too. If there is any danger, you must call me immediately. In about a few hours, I can come find you.”
As he spoke, Jiang Chenyan reached into his pocket, pulled out a stack of star coins, and stuffed them into Mo Qingyu’s hand.
Mo Qingyu stared at the star coins in his palm, his fingertips trembling slightly. He looked up at Jiang Chenyan. “Thank you.”
“Forget it. You probably don’t have identity information. I’ll take you to open a room first.”
After settling Mo Qingyu, he found a quiet corner, wiped off the remaining blood on his face with a wet wipe, and straightened his crumpled clothes. Only then did he rush back to the previous gathering place without stopping.
Pushing open the door, the box was still noisy, and some people were already half-drunk.
Ji Xuan was slumped on the table, his cheeks flushed, and he had long since stopped moving.
Luo De saw him first and let out a light laugh while holding his wine glass, his tone carrying an indescribable tease: “Impressive. To avoid drinking, you really went all out. That was quite a long time in the bathroom.”
Jiang Chenyan didn’t explain, only curling his lips as a tacit agreement. He walked straight to sit beside Shen Shiyue. Glancing at the slumped Ji Xuan on the table, he asked with a frown: “What happened to Ji Xuan? Drinking to this extent?”
“He was plied with drinks by the person beside him.” Shen Shiyue lowered his voice, his gaze scanning Jiang Chenyan’s collar. He hadn’t noticed earlier, but now that he was close, he saw a bit of un-wiped dark red at the edge. “Where exactly did you go? Did something happen?”
“It’s not convenient to say now. I’ll tell you in detail once we return to the hotel.” Jiang Chenyan picked up an unopened drink from the table and took a sip, suppressing the dryness in his throat.
“By the way, where’s that Bai Ning?”
Shen Shiyue added expressionlessly, “I let him go back to rest early.”
“Mm.” Jiang Chenyan responded, his fingertips still pinching the wine glass, unintentionally looking toward the box door.
A knock suddenly came from outside the box. After a few knocks, it stopped. The movement was so light it was as if they were afraid of disturbing the people inside.
Luo De put down his wine glass and raised an eyebrow with a tsk, his tone carrying a bit of impatience: “Come in.”
The door was slowly pushed open. Several people in black uniforms peeked in. But once they saw the unfamiliar faces in the box, their originally tensed expressions couldn’t help but freeze. Even their footsteps softened, and the whole room suddenly became quiet.
They were hesitant, not knowing if they should speak.
Luo De let out a cold laugh, signaling them to be quiet, and said to everyone, “Don’t panic; they’re all my subordinates.”
As he spoke, he even smiled at Xie Huaijin. He somewhat understood Xie Huaijin’s identity and knew this person’s family background was out of the ordinary.
Jiang Chenyan’s expression had already frozen. His brows knitted into a tight knot. He recognized them at a glance—the profile and figure of the leader were clearly that of the person who had been chasing him and Mo Qingyu.
He quietly clenched his hand hidden under the table, his fingertips pressing into his palm, while he unobtrusively observed the other’s reaction.
The other should be able to recognize him…
He silently hid himself in the shadows.
He truly hadn’t expected that these people were Luo De’s subordinates.
Translator’s Note: Enjoying this so far
— Lili
Recommended Reads
