---

Time: 4:30 PM, 33 hours left.

Ying Yue and Cocoa had their gazes locked and were staring at each other for God knows how long. She shifted a little in her place that caused him to bark.

"Arf."

Ying Yue stiffened a bit.

Cocoa leaned to nudge his face on her, but she shifted to back. He was furiously wagging his tail, dissatisfied for not being able to nudge and lick her.

"Ooowww…" he softly howled.

Chu Jie observed their silent interaction and then looked at Ying Yue. "Are you afraid of dogs?"

She softly bit on her lower lip. "A little."

"Why? Dogs are so cute!"

"Arf." Cocoa followed as if he agreed.

"That…I was young, an angry dog chased after me when I was coming back from school. Thankfully, a shop owner shooed him off. Otherwise, he would have bitten me. So, since then, I am a little afraid of dogs."

Chu Jie\'s gaze brightened. "You don\'t have to be afraid of Cocoa! He is a good dog. He won\'t bite you. Actually, he wants to be friends with you."

"Arf! Arf!"

"Really?"

"Yes. Why don\'t you pet him?"

She instantly shook her head.

"It\'s okay! I will help you. Trust me. He won\'t hurt you."

Ying Yue thought for a moment. She slowly raised her hand towards his head. Cocoa wagged his tail even more. But, she withdrew at the last moment.

"I cannot do it."

"Ooowww…" he sadly howled.

Chu Jie sighed. He held her hand. "Try it."

He slowly kept her hand on Cocoa\'s head even though she was slightly resisting. She instinctively shut her eyes.

"Arf! Arf!"

"See? He didn\'t do anything."

She opened her left eye and saw that Cocoa was obediently standing at his place.

"Oh…"

She nodded and slowly started to ruffle his fur, but she was still nervous that he would jump on her. But nothing like that happened, so she finally sighed in relief.

Ying Yue was steadily growing more comfortable.

"Arf!" Cocoa gently jumped on her lap and started licking her cheek. "Grr…"

"See? Cocoa is a nice dog. I know that because he has always protected me."

"I see. He is really nice. And cute too," she softly smiled.

"Hehe."

Suddenly, they heard a groan. "Ah…"

Ying Yue raised her head and, at the corner, saw a man lying on the floor, restlessly shifting on his place.

"Uncle! Are you alright?"

Chu Jie bounced up on his feet and ran towards him. Ying Yue quickly went too, followed by Cocoa.

She widened her eyes as she saw that the man\'s arm was a serious, bloody mess.

"What happened to his arm?"

"It\'s all those monsters! He is just like us, who they kidnapped. He is the man I told you whose hand they dipped in boiling water in front of me, and they were laughing!"

Ying Yue bent down and helped the man with Chu Jie. Cocoa was worriedly standing at his side too.

"Ah…"

She couldn\'t even imagine how painful it was.

Boiling water…

Her gaze dimmed as she felt bad for the man. She wanted to help him, but there was nothing in the room or with her that could tend to his wound even a little bit.

"Sorry, I am unable to help you."

The man slowly opened his eyes, breathing heavily. "W-who is she?"

His expression turned from serious to shock and then to horrifying when he learned everything.

He collapsed back on the wall, defeated. "They will never let us go. I am only alive because of this boy who asked to let us live for seven days. There are hardly thirty-two and a half hours remaining now. I don\'t see any hope."

"Wow, Uncle, I am still amazed. How can you guess the time? We can\'t even see if it\'s day or night outside."

He faintly smiled. "It\'s nothing, kid. Maths and science are my favorite subjects, so I am good at probability, calculations, and guessing. But I like science more."

Ying Yue asked, "What do you do?"

He frowned in pain as he felt the burning stinging in his arm. "As in?"

"Your profession."

"Oh, that. Sorry for such a stupid question. I am a doctor. To be precise, my specialization is in ophthalmology."

Chu Jie sheepishly smiled. "Wait, I know what that means…"

Ying Yue said, "Eye doctor, in simple terms."

The man nodded.

"Oh, yes! I remember now."

The man smiled in a self-deprecating manner. "Which is why the men outside were going to gauge my eyeballs out in the beginning. Because I am an ophthalmologist. Ironic, right? But they didn\'t after Chu Jie spoke. So, I guess they are saving the best for the last after these remaining thirty-two hours are over."

Silence.

"Forget it. I have given up on my fate already. I am thankful to this boy for the extra seven days, but it didn\'t change anything, and it wouldn\'t."

"Grrr…" Cocoa fiercely nudged his head on his good left arm.

Chu Jie protested. "No! I am sure big brother Bai Li and sister Xin Lei would definitely save us! Cocoa also wants to say the same thing - to trust them."

"Arf! Arf!"

The man helplessly shook his head. "Oh, I didn\'t introduce myself. My name is Long Hu. I am thirty-six."

"My name is Ying Yue. I am twenty and studying at University. You-"

Suddenly, the door barged open, and a man came inside with a creepy and sinister smile on his face. Everybody froze while Cocoa glowered at him and was ready to set his sharp claws on him. "Arf! Arf!"

"Heh! Come out, our new target, you woman. Get ready for the first session of your hell."

---

This was the first time that Rodey had stepped in this place where his boss and the men tortured their victims. Everybody was stupefied to see him coming as the door opened.

"Rodey! Are you really here?"

"Haha! Are you finally joining in the fun too?"

"Great! The woman will be here in no time. We have already sent someone to escort her here."

One of them sneered. "And then it begins. Gosh, I am drooling already."

Rodey outwardly smiled, no matter how much of strong resistance in his heart was shaking him up from within. He clenched his fist in his pocket, where he was gripping on to Ying Yue\'s handkerchief. "I am not interested in your fun."

"Che. So boring." He sighed. "Ah, I still feel so bad thinking that the other woman escaped. Whenever I think of two treats in front of me, I get so excited. But…"

"Yeah, such bad luck for us."

Rodey frowned. "What other woman?"

"Oh, you don\'t know? There was this other woman with the woman we caught at the interview place. Oh, wait. Where are the two men who went to grab them? They will tell you everything."

The two kidnappers - the same masked men appeared before Rodey. The man on the left said, "Yes, there was another woman. We were also surprised to see two women at that place. When we dragged them out, the woman whom we caught and is here now, pushed us using the car door and escaped with her friend."

The other man continued. "We chased after them, and as we caught up to them, we saw that the friend fell on the ground. The target was helping her stand up, but the friend pushed her to gain support. Our target fell, and her friend ran away. I chased after the woman, too, but she had already reached the main road, so I gave up."

Rodey finished listening from start to end without a single change in his expression. Then he suddenly burst out in laughter. "Ahahahaha!"

His reaction dumbfounded the men.

"Hey, what happened to him?"

"Why are you laughing? I don\'t think it was a funny joke."

"Yeah, we should be mourning that we lost her."

Rodey was still laughing like crazy. "You don\'t have to mourn anymore."

Everybody looked at each other in confusion.

"Why?"

Then his smile disappeared just as suddenly as it had come. "Hold on to that woman."

That earned him a series of protests.

"What? No. Why wait for more?"

"Yeah, no more waiting! She is already coming."

Rodey gave one threatening glance, and everybody shut up. "I said, send her back. I am going out for a while. So, behave."

And with that said, he already left without explaining anything else.

Risfun was the most annoyed. "Damn, what is that, Rodey planning?"

---

At Ying Yue\'s home, Ying Lan was worriedly pacing back and forth, waiting for her. No matter how many times she called, her phone was always unreachable.

"Yue...why is she so late? Why isn\'t she picking up her phone!"

Xue Xiying and Xue Jingjing were seated on the chairs near the dining table, uninterested in her worry and calmly eating apples. They shared a glance and smirked.

Suddenly, the door barged open and shut at almost the same time.

Rodey\'s figure dashed as if lightning had struck and his hand was already tightly gripping onto the back of Jingjing\'s neck, choking her. He banged her head on the table with a loud thud and leaned near her face, laced with shock, fear, and alarm.

He smiled. "You got a real bad habit of pushing your cousin, right? This time you got no idea in what kind of world you have shoved her into. So, let me take you so that you see that world for yourself."