It was strange that the group searched every room, rounding up all the girls, whether they were hostesses or not, but they didn't find the three of them.
The lackey identified them one by one, shaking his head as he reported to Wu De.
Wu De, enraged, kicked me. The kick was heavy, and he wore riding boots. It sent me tumbling a great distance.
With my hands bound, I lay on my side on the ground, completely unable to move. I could only curl my body in pain, glaring at him with unyielding eyes.
He said fiercely, "You'd better tell me where that woman is, or you won't live to see dawn!"
I replied, "She ran out the back door before you arrived. I have no idea where she is now. You can beat me to death, but it's no use. I can't conjure a living person out of thin air."
He was about to kick me again when one of his men whispered something to him. He grunted, turned his head, and looked downstairs. I heard noises from below and guessed that Brother Leopard had arrived with his men and was storming in.
He hurriedly called all his men to concentrate there, then split them into two groups: one to guard the stairs and another to go down and meet the enemy.
Below, the sounds of fighting erupted. I squeezed my eyes shut and curled on the ground. None of this concerned me. I couldn't help, nor could I influence the outcome. I'd leave it to fate.
Wu De hadn't forgotten me. He had two of his men help me up and follow him.
Being dragged by them hurt all over. I stood with gritted teeth. Wu De didn't have time to deal with me then; he was directing his men to fight desperately.
Only then did I see the melee downstairs. Their men were fighting our men in a confused brawl.
I saw Da Kui break through the crowd and run upstairs. Several people tried desperately to stop him. Sticks rained down on him, but he ignored them, charging up like a dark harbinger of doom.
Wu De had dispatched most of his men downstairs, leaving only four or five here.
When Da Kui arrived, he didn't rush to save me. Instead, he went straight to Wu De and landed a punch on his nose.
Da Kui was tall, the only one who could reach the equally tall Wu De. I could only headbutt his stomach.
Wu De never dreamed that Da Kui would not fight his men but go straight for him, delivering a blow to the face!
Wu De didn't dodge this time. He staggered back a few steps, his head thrown back. Da Kui sidestepped and landed a left hook, knocking him to the ground!
Da Kui stepped on Wu De's chest, pulled out a dagger, pointed it at him, and then pointed at the men holding me, saying, "Let him go! Or I'll disembowel him!"
These two men were extremely reluctant. Da Kui pressed down with his foot, and Wu De said something in the Lao Burmese language. The two men then obediently untied my ropes.
I moved my freed hands, but I couldn't move them at all. They were numb, without sensation.
I shuffled a few steps to move back a bit, just in case I got in the way when the fighting started again.
Da Kui pulled Wu De up. Wu De tried to struggle, but Da Kui landed a punch on his stomach. My earlier headbutt hadn't landed properly, but this punch, hitting the mark, completely subdued him.
Wu De no longer made futile sacrifices and allowed Da Kui to drag him to the staircase.
Da Kui pulled a long whip from behind him and cracked it loudly in the air. The hall suddenly fell silent. Everyone, friend and foe alike, turned their heads to look.
Especially his men, who saw Wu De captured and eagerly wanted to rush forward.
Da Kui cracked his whip again at the foremost man, who immediately fell to the ground. The men behind him were so frightened they stood frozen, none daring to advance.
Da Kui held Wu De by the neck. Wu De clutched his stomach, bent over slightly, and looked at the men below in pain.
Da Kui said, "Tell your men to retreat outside the door, or we'll call the police and report you for armed trespassing across the border. This would be an international dispute. If you can handle it, you don't have to listen to me."
Wu De replied, "I'll listen, I'll listen. It's all that bastard Crown Prince's doing. He bribed my superior to assign me this difficult task. Please, show mercy and don't call the police. I can't handle it; international disputes are no joke."
After speaking, he said a few things in Lao Burmese. All his men raised their hands and withdrew. Once they had all withdrawn, Da Kui released Wu De and let him go downstairs.
Despite Da Kui only laying a few hands on him, Wu De was heavily injured. He walked downstairs slowly. Our men automatically stepped back a few paces to clear a path for him to leave.
Outside, a truck was parked. His men climbed onto the truck. Wu De's car was already parked by the entrance. He painstakingly got into the car and quickly told the driver to step on the gas and leave.
Da Kui turned to look at me and said, "They hit you pretty hard. Come, I'll help you back to your room."
I said, "The other girls are all missing. Let's go to the office first and see what's going on."
He helped me walk step by step towards the third floor. My heart was pounding. Three grown women had vanished without a trace. How could they have disappeared?
He helped me reach the office with great difficulty. The door was closed. Da Kui pushed it open and was stunned. The room was indeed empty.
The three of them were clearly in the room, and they weren't taken by those people. How could the room be empty?
Da Kui turned on all the lights and searched every corner, even checking the cupboards and wine cabinets. But how could these places possibly hide three people?
I shouted their names loudly, one by one, until my throat was hoarse, but there was still no sign of them.
Just then, someone came in from outside. I quickly asked him if he had seen Manager Lan. The person who entered was the lobby manager, who had also come in because Lan Ya was nowhere to be found. Hearing my question, he said anxiously that he had searched the second and third floors thoroughly and called their phones repeatedly, but no one answered.
When I heard about the phones, I quickly used my own phone to call Jing Lei. The phone rang, and it turned out to be in the office desk drawer, stubbornly ringing. No wonder no one answered their calls – they hadn't even brought their phones!
I went over and pulled open the drawer, seeing two phones lying inside. What was this all about? Even if they were running away, they should have taken their phones. Why deliberately leave them here?
The lobby manager quickly went out to rally more people to search. I looked at Da Kui, who quickly shook his head, even more confused by the situation.
Just then, Brother Leopard and Zhou Yingying came in. Seeing the two men anxiously pacing, they asked what was wrong. I told them that Lan Ya, Jing Lei, and Xiao Hong, three grown women, were missing.
Brother Leopard was also taken aback and asked me what had happened. I explained that Crown Prince had specifically asked Wu De to come and capture Xiao Hong. I told Xiao Hong to hide in the office. Miss Zhang was also present at the time. Later, when Wu De sent people to sweep the building, they didn't find them. After that, Da Kui and his men rescued me.
We came up to look for them, but as you can see, they were still gone.