Crimson Instinct

*Xin Lei*

I saw the same woman looking at us up and down, narrowing her gaze.

Great. If she was here, then that meant Chu Jie must be here too.

She said, "Spit it out."

Bai Li said, "Are you the boss?"

"Whatever it is, say it to me."

"If we had to tell everything to you who is NOT the boss, then we would have already told your minions."

"You have got quite the attitude, especially when I can just shoot you right here."

Bai Li shrugged. "Well, you did not. And even if you kill us, you are going to be in loss."

"Our boss is not here."

"Not my problem."

"I am my boss's right hand. You can tell me. Boss is out, and I don't know when he will come back."

We didn't have that much time. Plus, we didn't come here to strike a real deal. We just wanted to come here and save Chu Jie and possibly find out what was going on.

Bai Li didn't respond.

The woman looked furious.

"You don't really understand your position. Fine! Since you want to talk to the boss here, then you will have to fucking wait."

She glanced at the men.

"Take them inside. If anyone of them tries to resist, then just shoot that guy."

The men surrounded us, and on gunpoint started to lead us inside.

Bai Li said, "You are going to regret this treatment."

She sneered. "We will see."

The goons walked behind us, and we turned left.

At the far end of the corner, there was a room. They opened the door and pushed us inside.

"Don't act smart or else we will shoot you as per orders," The leader spat in anger and shut the door. I heard a click sound.

Liao Huifang exhaled a sharp breath. "What are we going to do now?"

I typed. "We will have to save Chu Jie and take over this base somehow."

"Eh? How are we going to do that?"

Bai Li said, "We have to take out the men."

"Are you crazy!?" She whispered. "There are four men and that woman. And we are only three."

"Grrrr…"

Bai Li said, "He is a fighter too."

"Well, okay, four. But it seems pretty much impossible. And you cannot see-"

I glared at her. I mouthed. 'Don't say anything further.'

Liao Huifang gulped. "I-I didn't mean that…I am sorry."

"Don't glare at her, Xin Lei. You are scaring her. And I don't mind, by the way."

I typed. "How do you know I was glaring at her?"

Bai Li chuckled. "Well, the way you tightly clutched my hand when that leader said that I am blind pretty much told me what kind of death glares you would have been giving him."

I pursed my lips.

Well, I was indeed furious. I wished to stab him with my anesthetic needles and beat the shit out of him.

I didn't like it when anybody insulted Bai Li like that.

No, wait. Why unconscious? That bastard must be awake to bear the suffering I will put on him.

"You don't mind. But I do," I typed.

I narrowed my eyes at Liao Huifang and typed. "He was in the army and has trained very hard to fight with embracing the darkness. He cannot see, but he can fight. And the best at that. He has saved me so many times already."

"S-sorry!" She bowed.

Bai Li waved his hand in dismissal.

Suddenly, Cocoa jumped to a side and wagged his tail as he circled around something.

It was quite dark in that corner.

Liao Huifang whispered. "What is the dog so excited about?"

"Cocoa. His name is Cocoa," Bai Li said.

"Oh... That's an indeed unique name. So what is Cocoa doing there?"

When we went to that corner, we saw something shining in red. As we headed closer, we found a young boy, lying unconscious.

It was Chu Jie, and that was his red tee!

I quickly typed. "Bai Li! He is Chu Jie. They have kept him here too."

I quickly bent to his side and turned him. His face looked pale. I checked his pulse and breath. They were even and steady.

I guessed they made him sniff chloroform and then brought him here.

Bai Li asked, "What happened?"

I was going to type, but Liao Huifang said, "He is unconscious."

"Can you wake him up?"

I didn't know how long the effect of chloroform was in place. And there was not any water to sprinkle on him to hasten the effect.

I sighed. I started shaking his arm, and Liao Huifang bent on her knees and did the same.

"Hey, Chu Jie," She called.

I rubbed his hands and his forehead. It took a while, but I saw the lines on his forehead, starting to crease into thin lines.

"He is waking up!"

Cocoa was also licking his cheek at the side.

"Mmnhh...huh…?"

Bai Li slowly said, "Chu Jie?"

"Mmnnh, my head…"

His head must be aching, and everything must be blur right now. Clinically, it would take at least ten minutes to get into his conscious state fully.

I held his shoulder and helped him to get up.

Chu Jie was pressing on his forehead. "It hurts."

I didn't have any medicine to give him right now, but I could do one thing. I took his hand and turned it back.

Acupressure. Pressing specific points on the body and giving the appropriate pressure could help ease the related symptoms.

For headache, there was a point called a union valley. It was between the base of the thumb and index finger.

With my thumb, I pressed and pinched firmly on the point for ten seconds. Then I circled on it clockwise first and then anticlockwise.

I typed after a minute. "You will feel better now."

"Huh?"

Chu Jie blinked his eyes, and confusedly looked at me. Then he saw my phone.

"What was with that robotic voice?"

Bai Li said, "She uses her phone to talk."

Chu Jie looked even more bewildered when he saw Bai Li and Liao Huifang and then a bit more when he saw Cocoa.

"A dog! He is so cute! But wait. Wh-who are you all? A-and where am I? What is this place?"

Bai Li said, "A woman brought you here, right?"

Chu Jie nodded. "Yes. She is my date. She was wearing a red dress."

Then he widened his eyes. "Wait, where is she? Is she okay!?"

"Don't talk so loudly."

"What is happening!? I don't understand." He was scared and confused.

I sighed.

Liao Huifang said, "What is this about a woman?"

Bai Li said, "The woman we met outside wearing that red dress."

"Yes! She is the one! Is she okay!?"

Bai Li shook his head. "Kid. She is fine. But you are not. Because she has kidnapped you."