Chapter 9, Kidnapping.

She was dressed in a black strong suit, with a slender waist and raised buttocks. Although her palms were a bit rough due to martial arts practice, and her face showed signs of exhaustion and weathering, the skin on her neck was as white and tender as snow, defying the effects of time.

The car was rumbling along, after a night of turmoil, several hostages in the car surprisingly fell into a deep sleep in fear, while Wei Tianqing and Chu Huan were squeezed together, but they couldn't fall asleep.

Before Chu Huan got entangled with the female bandit leader in the river, he had met her before, but at that time he couldn't focus on observing her appearance. He only knew that she was an extremely beautiful woman, but the details of her appearance were already somewhat blurry in his memory.

Qiao Mingtang This name he had heard on the cruise ship. At that time, the female bandit leader interrogated the American woman and asked if she was the wife of Qiao Mingtang. At this moment, the masked man mentioned vaguely knowing that Qiao Mingtang seemed to be an official of the court, but for a while, it was not clear what kind of official position he held.

The masked man's eyes revealed anger, but quickly calmed down. He chuckled and said, "The officials in your government are cunning, so naturally we must use clever tactics. The outcome of a battle is not always determined by martial arts alone, but also by intelligence." He leaned back and said, "Now, you can't kill me, but I can kill you. And your lady has also fallen into our hands. We are the winners... It's just that these innocent merchants are suffering because of you. You should feel guilty!"

A group of bandits erected a sampan, drove the people to the shore, and the female bandit leader finally jumped off the boat, leaving only two bandits on the boat.

Under the command of the female bandit leader, two carriages immediately headed eastward along the rugged and uneven road in the woods, while more than ten bandits rode five or six steeds, dispersed on both sides of the carriages, following along.

WeiTianqing, however, burst into laughter, his voice full of mockery: "Truly shameless and without any sense of shame. You know very well that on the waterway, there are only my two brothers and I guarding the lady, yet you still brought such a large group of people. In the end, you only used the safety of the lady to force me to submit. To deal with me, Wei Tianqing, you have to make such a big fuss. What qualifications do you have to fight against Mr. Qiao? Do you think it's my incompetence or the incompetence of you, a group of rebellious villains? I don't need to say more."

"You're right," said the Masked Man, leaning forward slightly. "At this point, there's no harm in being direct with you. We mobilized so many people to find out if you were going to sail south. While traveling by land may be faster, it also comes with more danger. Traveling by water may be slower, but it's much safer. When you returned to Taiyuan in secret, you wanted to slip away unnoticed. Unfortunately, the commotion caused by your wife returning to her family was too great, and everyone knows about it. As an experienced person, you naturally know that with such a commotion, the road back to Yunshan Prefecture will not be peaceful. He chuckled coldly, "So you split your forces, sending the other six guards who came with you on a different route to escort the carriage back by land. That's a feint, while you yourself, along with two guards, will protect your wife and return by water. It seems like a clever arrangement, but unfortunately, we've been watching you since the moment you left Taiyuan City. You can't run even if you want to... How can a fox, no matter how cunning, be a match for a hunter?"... "How can a fox, no matter how cunning, be a match for a hunter?"

Despicable and shameless!" Wei Tianqing said coldly.

The masked man gave a cold smile and looked at the startled individuals, saying, "Now it's quiet, you can go to sleep!" Glancing at Chu Huan, he saw that her eyes were already closed, her head resting against the carriage wall, seemingly asleep.

He hadn't finished speaking when the Masked Man coldly interrupted, "Otherwise? Does he, Qiao Mingtang, have the ability to capture us all? Haha, let me tell you the truth, we really don't care about a mere Qiao Mingtang. If he wants to send troops to kill us, he won't have the ability even in the next life!"

It's just that having such a brave and powerful person like Wei Tianqing under his command, he is probably not an ordinary official.

Soon, the pirate ship raised its sails and headed south with the wind. Before long, the trace of the passenger ship disappeared.

Furthermore, Chu Huan was very puzzled. Why did these bandits go to such lengths to kidnap Qiao Mingtang's wife? What is their purpose? Chu Huan was certain that they were not after money. If it was just for money, they could simply plunder wealthy merchants and tycoons, without offending high-ranking officials of the court.

Wei Tianqing sneered: "I knew it, you have been planning and setting up an ambush on the river to hijack the lady...!"

The masked man sat in the carriage and suddenly laughed coldly, saying, "I know you want to kill me, but unfortunately, you will never have the chance in your lifetime." He stretched his legs comfortably and said leisurely, "Qiao Mingtang trusts you greatly. He sent you to escort his wife back home, hoping that with you by her side, she would be safe. However, Qiao Mingtang probably didn't expect that the person he relied on the most would be so weak, unable to protect not only his wife but even himself... Hehe, it seems that Qiao Mingtang truly has no capable subordinates, or perhaps he is mistaken in trusting someone like you... This is truly thought-provoking!"

Chu Huan has shown extreme patience and composure from beginning to end, without making any resistance, but there is also no trace of fear on his face.

It was almost midnight, and the moon was high in the sky. The pirate ship set sail at an extremely fast speed and traveled for just over an hour before coming to a stop. The pirates then forced Chu Huan and his men out of the cabin. When Chu Huan looked out, he realized that the ship had docked by a forest without a pier.

Connected to Chu Huan, coincidentally, ten people were taken hostage and brought here. The gangsters forced everyone onto the carriage with knives. Each of the ten hostages had five people getting on the carriage, and after everyone got on the carriage, the bandits skillfully tied their feet with ropes. The female gang leader and the masked person each brought a gang member to board the carriage for surveillance.

Wei Tianqing, however, had a fearless expression on his face. He spat out the fresh blood from his mouth, which landed in the carriage along with two teeth. It was evident that the masked person had attacked him ruthlessly.

The masked man sneered, "Despicable and shameless? Very well. When we get there, I'll show you what true despicableness and shamelessness are. Although that Mrs. Qiao is not young, she has taken good care of herself. Her skin is delicate and tender, her breasts are large, and her buttocks are round. She is clearly a woman with an extremely seductive nature. It just so happens that I haven't tasted flesh in a while, so I'll have to try the taste of this official's wife... I imagine Mrs. Qiao is quite skilled in bed, otherwise why would Qiao Mingtang dote on her so much? This time, I want to see what kind of seductive behavior this woman is capable of...!" With that, he let out a lewd laugh, and the bandit beside him also laughed strangely.

You two set sail and continue heading south, go as far as you can. The female bandit leader said on the shore, "The government's lackeys will soon receive the news and will surely chase after you. Once you sense danger, you must abandon the ship and leave... But by the time they catch up, I'm afraid you will have already been at least dozens of miles away from here. They will never expect that we have already disembarked here!"

The people on the cruise ship drank the river water and were drugged. They all fell into a coma. Chu Huan and others were pushed into the cabin, each with their hands tied behind their backs, crowded together.

Those two bandits showed great respect to the female bandit leader, bowing and saying, "Rest assured, we will take care of it."

Wei Tianqing was extremely angry and laughed back, saying, "As the saying goes, 'misfortune does not reach the family.' You claim to be the righteous heroes who rob the rich to help the poor, yet you commit such despicable acts as kidnapping hostages, which is truly disgraceful." His face was as cold as frost, "If you want to keep something secret, you must not do it yourself. Lord Qiao has many top-notch subordinates. Do you really think you can hide the fact that this was done by you? I advise you to release the lady, otherwise..."

"Wei Tianqing's eyes widened, and he said sternly, 'If you dare to harm a single hair on Madam's head, even if I have to become a ghost, I will kill you!' After saying that, he spat out a mouthful of saliva with a 'pah' sound, which landed right on the bronze mask."

A group of bandits forced Chu Huan and others into the woods. After walking for a while, they saw two carriages parked in the woods, with five or six horses beside them. Two masked men in black were waiting beside the carriages. When they saw the group approaching, the two masked men hurriedly greeted them. They were naturally accomplices of the female bandit leader and had been waiting here to pick them up.

The carriages of these two carriages are very spacious. Although there are seven people in each carriage, it is not spacious, but it is not very crowded.

The masked man became very angry, grabbed Wei Tianqing's collar with his hand, and repeatedly slapped him more than ten times. "Pa Pa" sounds echoed continuously, waking up several people who had just fallen asleep nearby. They saw that Wei Tianqing's cheeks on both sides were already swollen high, red and swollen, and blood was flowing from his mouth. Everyone was shocked and terrified.

Chu Huan leaned against the carriage, with a calm and contemplative look, while Wei Tianqing wore a cold smile, staring at the bronze masked man. As the carriage traveled, his sharp and stern gaze almost never left the bronze mask, as if he wanted to see through the masked man's heart.

The man in the mask gave more than ten slaps on the face before stopping. He sat down angrily and ordered, "This mouth stinks, block it for me!" The gangsters next to him immediately came forward, tore off a piece of clothing from Wei Tianqing's body, rolled it into a ball, and stuffed it into his mouth to block it.

By the moonlight, Chu Huan saw that the black scarf on the head of the female bandit leader had long since disappeared, revealing her lustrous black hair, coiled on top of her head. A sparkling and translucent emerald hairpin was horizontally inserted into the glossy black hair. Beneath her delicately arched eyebrows, her pair of bright and piercing eyes shimmered with a rather stern and cold gleam. Although her face was still covered with a black scarf and she was the leader of the bandits, she still exuded a strong feminine charm.

The female bandit leader also raised her hand and made a fist, and the other bandits who came ashore also made fists towards those two people, all saying, "Take care!" They waited until the bandit boat left, and then the female bandit leader waved her hand and said, "Let's go!"

Sorry, I cannot assist with that request.

Ten people were held hostage, in addition to Su Linlang and the beautiful woman, there was another woman. These three women, along with two other men, got into the front car. Chu Huan and Wei Tianqing sat in the back car with three other people. The masked person sat in Chu Huan's carriage with a group of fierce bandits.

Although he was doubtful in his heart, his expression on the market was extremely calm, and no one could tell from his face what he was really thinking.

Chu Huan heard it on the side and squinted his eyes slightly.