Chapter 1461: Chapter 1510: The Thick-Nerved Meng Xiaofei
Yanagio Inujiro snorted heavily, pointing at Li Yifei, and said, "Li Yifei, go ahead and talk, but you’ll die today regardless."
Li Yifei grinned, smiling irritatingly, and said, "Getting angry because you can’t win the argument? We can fight, but not now. I need to make sure my sister is safe first."
Yanagio Inujiro replied, "I won’t stoop to killing a woman. She’s at the foot of the mountain. Once you’re dead, she can naturally go home."
Li Yifei shook his head, saying, "If I want to run, you can’t stop me, but I haven’t run, so you have to let me be sure she’s safe."
Suppressing his anger, Yanagio Inujiro pulled out a phone, dialed a number, muttered a few words into it, then quickly tossed the phone to Li Yifei.
Li Yifei took the phone, said hello, and then heard the breathing on the other end pause before a scream suddenly came two seconds later: "Ah, it’s Yifei... My God, it’s really you! Why are you calling me?"
Li Yifei moved the phone slightly away from his ear, her sudden scream had made his eardrums ache.
"What do you mean I’m calling you?" Li Yifei replied speechlessly. How absent-minded could you be to ask such a question?
"Uh...right, I’ve been kidnapped, so I have no idea where my phone is, and I couldn’t get any calls even if I wanted to!" Meng Xiaofei’s voice suddenly lowered, sounding somewhat lost as she said, "I guess I’ve just been missing you guys so much these days that I’m hallucinating. Alright, I’m hanging up now. I overate at breakfast, so I’m going back to sleep. Bye, Yifei."
If it weren’t the wrong occasion, Li Yifei really wanted to laugh. How absent-minded was this girl? Seeing Meng Xiaofei about to hang up, Li Yifei hastily shouted, "Hey, it’s me, I’m really calling you."
The other end of the call went silent for a moment, then seconds later, Meng Xiaofei screamed again. Li Yifei was prepared this time, holding the phone far from his ear, and heard Meng Xiaofei shouting, "Oh my God, it’s really not a hallucination. Yifei, where are you? Boo hoo, I’ve been kidnapped. Are you here to rescue me?"
Li Yifei replied, "Of course, if not to rescue you, why would I come to Japan?"
Meng Xiaofei, sobbing and speaking in a coquettish tone, said, "That’s wonderful, Yifei. I... I’ve been kidnapped, these people are too wicked, they’re bullying me. You have to help teach them a lesson!"
Li Yifei’s breath caught. Hearing the word "bullying," he couldn’t control his anger and glared at Yanagio Inujiro, asking word by word, "Them? The ones who kidnapped you? They did what to you...?"
Meng Xiaofei blushed, realizing she misspoke, and quickly explained, "Not that kind of bullying. They just won’t let me leave, and they tied my hands and feet with ropes. They’ve locked me in a room for days without even a TV. I asked for a book to read and they threw me a book in Japanese. I can’t read it at all..."
Li Yifei almost crushed the phone. He had thought that the "bullying" she referred to was an assault... In that instant, he wanted to attack Yanagio Inujiro opposite him, but it turned out Meng Xiaofei was talking about this...
I should have known, if this girl was really bullied, she’d be jumping mad, not talking so absent-mindedly like now, Li Yifei thought to himself.
Knowing Meng Xiaofei was fine, Li Yifei could temporarily relax. He would hold back Yanagio Inujiro here, while the rescue would be left to Sophia.
When Li Yifei ascended the mountain, he proceeded slowly. He found that there were some other people on the mountain, but their skills were not high. Sophia should have no problem dealing with them.
"Yifei... where are you now? How do you have a phone from here, did they extort you?" Meng Xiaofei suddenly asked worriedly, not waiting for Li Yifei to answer, she continued loudly, "Quick, tell me, how much am I worth? Is it over a million, Huaxia currency or US Dollar? It better not be Yen, that’s too cheap."
Li Yifei very much wanted to rush over to the other end of the phone now, tapping Meng Xiaofei’s forehead and asking what on earth could be in her head to make her imagination stretch so far.
Sighing inwardly, Li Yifei said, "Don’t ask so much for now. Just stay put where you are. It won’t be long before I come to get you out."
Meng Xiaofei nodded repeatedly, saying, "I’m not in a hurry. I’ll take a nap; I ate too much just now, my stomach is so big now. Boo hoo, I’m doomed, I’ve gained so much weight these days. You probably won’t recognize me when you see me, and don’t you dare call me a fatty."
"Alright, alright, I won’t call you that. Go take a nap now, that’s it, I’ll... see you soon," Li Yifei said, pausing, deciding that Meng Xiaofei should stay completely unaware for now. Even if she found out, it would be afterward. Li Yifei didn’t want to tell her he was about to face a life-and-death battle for her sake.
Meng Xiaofei hummed a response, saying, "Be careful, the people here are not very friendly. If they ask for more money, just give it to them, I can’t repay you in this life, I’ll repay you in the next."
Li Yifei grinned silently and said, "Alright, it’s settled. We’ll continue in the next life."
After hanging up the phone, Meng Xiaofei burst into tears, afraid her sobbing would attract the guards. She could only bury her face in the blanket, crying her heart out.
The days Meng Xiaofei has been living through are nothing like she described. She gets only one meager meal a day and stays in a rundown shack, with drafts blowing through and rodents and spiders visiting at night. Those people don’t care about her, just keeping the door locked, not afraid she could escape.
These were tolerable; Meng Xiaofei had similar experiences as a child. Now it’s just about getting used to it again. She’s got a big appetite, but when there’s no food, she can endure the hunger. The key issue is that she’s been kidnapped, especially knowing she’s been taken to a foreign country, not her homeland.
Even if Li Yifei is immensely resourceful, it would be hard for him to find her. Meng Xiaofei initially felt desperate, thankful no one came to humiliate her, or she might have ended up as a corpse. Despite her confusion, she’s quite strong-willed.
In these days, Meng Xiaofei outright abandoned hope, thinking it’s unlikely anyone would come to rescue her, which weirdly improved her mood. Just now, she was counting ants in the corner when someone handed her a phone. Hearing Li Yifei’s voice, her mind started racing.
After crying for a while, Meng Xiaofei felt she had finally vented. These days she didn’t even dare to cry, unable to express her emotions.
She wiped her tears, biting her lip, pondering how long "a while" that Li Yifei mentioned could be. Could she truly take a nap, waiting for Li Yifei to descend like a god from the heavens, waking her, the little princess, with a kiss?
"Pfft!" Meng Xiaofei spat out, startled by her bold thoughts. "What kind of little princess are you? You don’t even count as Cinderella, just a poor hostage..."
Pouting, Meng Xiaofei spoke to herself again, "Yifei, I know you’ll come, but please don’t be in a hurry, be careful."
Not long after, Meng Xiaofei started worrying again. Earlier, when she mentioned money, Li Yifei didn’t contradict her, but he didn’t specify the exact amount either. Meng Xiaofei suddenly realized, given Li family’s wealth, the kidnappers wouldn’t likely do it for just a million or two million. Could they be demanding over a billion?
"Oh my, when did I become so valuable? Over a billion, how can I ever repay that? Not in this life, the next life, or even the one after!" Thinking of this, Meng Xiaofei hugged her legs, curled up on the bed, muttering, "Looks like I’ll be sold to Li Yifei for generations, he’s really getting a bargain."
As Meng Xiaofei entertained wild thoughts, Li Yifei tossed his phone aside, feeling relieved upon learning Meng Xiaofei was safe. But his animosity towards Yanagio Inujiro hadn’t diminished a bit.
Yanagio Inujiro pocketed the phone and walked a few steps towards Li Yifei, saying, "I’m quite curious about how you became an Innate Expert. You should know it’s incredibly difficult, especially for men..."
"Defeat me, and you’ll naturally find out!" Li Yifei didn’t want to waste more words with Yanagio Inujiro, so he straightforwardly said, "Make your move."
Yanagio Inujiro waved his hand, replying, "Don’t rush, don’t rush. You’re dead anyway, why hurry now?"
Then he continued, "It’s fascinating how I can sense you’re genuinely an Innate Expert, with abundant True Qi inside. That’s astonishing. From what I know, nowhere in the world has a method to create Innate Experts, yet here you are, standing before me..."
Yanagio Inujiro circled Li Yifei, speaking as if to him, but also as if talking to himself.
Li Yifei also pivoted, cautious of the opponent.
Yanagio Inujiro added, "I think we can make a deal. I can spare your life. You choose to surrender to me and reveal the secret of becoming an Innate Expert. I’ll release your sister. How about it?"
Li Yifei smirked, shaking his head and saying, "Not interested. Even if I had a way, do you think I’d tell a Japanese?"
Yanagio Inujiro’s eyes narrowed, a cold gleam flashing. His voice dropped a few degrees, saying, "You won’t cry till you see the coffin. I could kill you as easily as turning my hand. I’m offering you a chance to live, yet you don’t appreciate it!"
Li Yifei laughed heartily, stopped, and pointed at Yanagio Inujiro, saying, "Yanagio Inujiro, you overestimate yourself. You think creating worthless experts makes you something? Living all these years, yet still not recognizing who you are. You’ve only lived a few decades longer than me; stop pretending. Shouldn’t I say, here’s an opportunity for you to run. If you don’t run, this time next year will be your memorial day."
Li Yifei’s words were truly peculiar, but his sudden transformation into an Innate Expert piqued Yanagio Inujiro’s curiosity. He’s spent decades researching this, hoping to create dozens or hundreds of Innate Experts, leading them to conquer the world.