Chapter 203 – My Lady Heroine in the Holographic Online Game – Mouse in Hand (17)
The drug the kidnappers used was quite strong—under normal circumstances, Bai Tang shouldn’t have woken up for at least twelve hours. But they hadn’t counted on the fact that two systems were by Bai Tang’s side.
When Bai Tang was taken into the car, since the systems didn’t know where the kidnappers were taking him, Qiu’er and Xiao A chose not to wake him up.
After all, Tang Tang had been so exhausted lately—letting him rest for a while wasn’t a bad idea.
When they arrived at an abandoned warehouse by the sea, Bai Tang was thrown inside without a shred of mercy. Fortunately, Qiu’er was quick and slipped a cushion under him just in time. Unfortunately, the kidnappers shut the door too quickly to notice anything unusual.
Xiao A began investigating the truth behind the kidnapping, and to his surprise, discovered that the kidnappers were actually in contact with Jiang Yiran.
“We’ve caught him—excellent. Tell me the location, I’ll come right away.”
Jiang Yiran hung up the phone with a smug smile.
Bai Tang, oh Bai Tang… in the end, you’re still going to fall into my hands.
Although Jiang Yiran had moved into the Bai household, she had always lived in Bai Tang’s shadow. Father Bai and Mother Bai constantly talked about Bai Tang.
The eldest and second Bai brothers always centered their conversations around him.
The elderly couple who doted on him—though they never said it out loud—had been mentioning their grandson more and more since the three Bai brothers moved out.
Had she not done enough? Had she not been filial enough to the elders? Why did no one ever speak of her merits, while Bai Tang was constantly on their minds?
Bai Tang—she wanted to see him cry in pain, writhing on the ground, kneeling and begging for mercy. Once he was no longer “clean,” she didn’t believe Qi Hongyi would still like someone who had been passed around by who-knows-how-many men.
She had specially invited several men with certain “special preferences” from the red-light district, certain that they would give Bai Tang an unforgettable experience.
Jiang Yiran was far too arrogant. She thought that, because Organization X never failed, no one would ever be able to find out Bai Tang’s whereabouts.
Little did she know, Xiao A had already sent Bai Tang’s location to Qi Hongyi.
Qiu’er cleared the drug from Bai Tang’s system, and Bai Tang quickly regained consciousness.
“Where is this place?” This wasn’t the soft bed in the break room. Bai Tang looked around the dim surroundings, feeling disoriented.
“Tang Tang, we’ve been kidnapped…” Qiu’er said anxiously.
“Kid—kidnapped?” Bai Tang tried hard to recall. There was no kidnapping plot involving the male supporting character in the original storyline.
“It’s the female lead—that little b*tch is holding a grudge because you killed her in the game. She kidnapped you to get revenge,” Qiu’er said angrily. “It wasn’t even my Tang Tang who killed her! If she’s so tough, why not go after the male lead instead? The Thunder Pearl is a unique hidden weapon of the Tang Clan, you know…”
Meanwhile, on Qi Hongyi’s side—
He returned to his office and immediately opened the break room door to check if Bai Tang had woken up. When he saw a small lump under the blanket on the bed, he was planning to tease him a little.
“Little squirrel, time to wake up…”
Qi Hongyi walked over and pulled back the blanket—only to find a black plastic garbage bag underneath.
Where did Bai Tang go?
He stepped out of the CEO’s office and asked the staff, “Has anyone seen Assistant Bai?”
Someone in the employee area replied, “No, wasn’t Assistant Bai in the CEO’s office the whole time?”
Hearing their response, a bad feeling rose in Qi Hongyi’s chest.
His expression turned cold, like a sudden drop in temperature. “Who has been in my office?”
Everyone looked at each other nervously. The CEO’s imposing presence was suffocating.
A man who had previously asked about the janitor replied, “The janitor went in to take out the trash.”
He paused, then added, “It was a new janitor—he said the old one was out sick.”
At that point, there was no longer any doubt what had happened.
Someone had kidnapped his Tang Tang—his fiancé—from within his own company.
“Find them,” Qi Hongyi said, suppressing his fury with great effort.
Right now, he was both terrified and enraged. So much time had already passed—he feared something might have happened to Bai Tang, and he was furious at himself for failing to protect him. How could the kidnappers have taken him right under his nose?
Anyone who went to such great lengths to sneak into the company and abduct Bai Tang clearly wasn’t in it for the money. The first person that came to Qi Hongyi’s mind—someone who had a grudge against Bai Tang and hated him deeply—was Jiang Yiran.
He immediately made a call and ordered someone to track Jiang Yiran’s location.
Sure enough, a large sum of money had mysteriously disappeared from Jiang Yiran’s bank account. Five minutes ago, she had hired certain individuals from the red-light district.
Qi Hongyi’s heart sank. He clenched his teeth in fury. “Jiang Yiran, how dare you…”
Just then, his phone rang—an anonymous text message had come through. It contained Bai Tang’s current location.
Qi Hongyi’s first instinct was to think Jiang Yiran had sent it.
The men she had hired clearly had one goal: to humiliate Bai Tang.
If she had now sent him the address… did she expect him to watch?
Qi Hongyi’s eyes turned cold and dark. No one could hurt his Tang Tang. No one.
CRASH—
A glass on the table suddenly shattered.
When the staff looked again, the CEO’s office was already empty.
Out on the highway, a car sped furiously down the road. Wherever it passed, it kicked up swirling winds, scattering fallen leaves into the air before they gently drifted back to the ground.
The anonymous message hadn’t come from Jiang Yiran—it was from Xiao A. Jiang Yiran’s real plan had been to record everything and send the footage to Qi Hongyi and the Bai family.
After learning of Jiang Yiran’s scheme, Bai Tang cursed her shamelessness under his breath. He was just about to turn back into a little squirrel and escape through the window…
When suddenly, the warehouse door swung open, and a blinding light flooded in.
Bai Tang instinctively raised his hand to shield his face.
“Oh, you’re awake already? Well, that’s good—being awake makes it all the more intense,” Jiang Yiran said, dressed in expensive designer clothes and wearing heavy makeup that had erased whatever beauty she once had.
A vicious smile lingered on her face as she looked at Bai Tang with undisguised hatred. “You know, I really hate you. So, beg me to let you go—maybe I’ll spare your life.”
“Tang Tang, don’t listen to her. The female lead just wants you dead,” Qiu’er said.
“The male lead will arrive here in half an hour,” Xiao A said, keeping an eye on his location.
“Okay, got it,” Bai Tang replied silently in his mind.
Bai Tang wasn’t about to believe Jiang Yiran would let him go. If she intended to spare him, she wouldn’t have mobilized so many people and resources to capture him. He had also seen the people behind her—their expressions were disgusting, clearly up to no good.
He had seen those kinds of looks before. Having been through so many worlds, Bai Tang had witnessed all kinds of scenes.
He stepped back a few paces and glanced at the upper left corner window.
Jiang Yiran thought Bai Tang was afraid. She waved to the people from Organization X, telling them to go guard the exits to prevent any nosy intruders. She was being cautious—if Qi Hongyi showed up, she believed Organization X could stop him.
As the warehouse door slowly closed, the interior fell into darkness, with only a faint light streaming in from the window above.
Jiang Yiran turned on the lights, and the warehouse was fully illuminated.
She set up a camera, then gestured for the men to start.
One by one, the men approached Bai Tang with malicious grins.
Bai Tang took a few more steps back. “I’m warning you—don’t come near me.”
Jiang Yiran sneered coldly, while the men thought Bai Tang was just bluffing. If he had the ability to escape, he would have done so long ago—there was no way he’d still be locked up in the warehouse.
But to be honest, the boy in front of them had delicate, smooth skin—clearly someone who had never been exposed to their kind of life, obviously pampered and raised gently. To have a fling with such a boy would be worth paying extra for.
They didn’t know what grudge the boy held against that woman, but whatever it was, this was how she chose to deal with him. Well, it was a windfall for them.
The men lunged at Bai Tang—but unexpectedly, the fair-skinned boy didn’t get caught. Instead, one after another, the men fell to the ground like a stack of dominoes.
A small yellow-brown squirrel leapt into the air, jumping over the heads of the sleazy men—and even above Jiang Yiran—while scattering the powder on its paws onto them.
He jumped onto a hanging electric lamp, which creaked and squeaked harshly under his weight.
Jiang Yiran couldn’t see what was happening inside the circle of men but knew they hadn’t attacked yet. She shouted angrily, “Hurry up!”
The men struggled to their feet, starting to strip off their clothes one by one.
Jiang Yiran was satisfied. For some reason, she felt a burning heat all over her body—probably because the warehouse was stuffy and poorly ventilated.
She pulled open the buttons at her collar but still felt hot; her mind began to blur.
Why was it so hot…?
The men staggered toward Jiang Yiran, their only thought in their heads was the order she had given them: Take down the boy, take down the boy… No boy? Take down the girl, take down her…
Soon, a series of disturbing noises came from inside the warehouse.
Outside, the Organization X guards remained deaf to it, faithfully standing watch.
Suddenly, the screech of brakes came from ahead. The Organization X guards immediately went on alert and cautiously approached the stopped car.
They held their weapons and advanced slowly—only to be knocked aside by the suddenly opened car door. Qi Hongyi stepped out, moving like a ghost, breaking each Organization X member’s neck one by one.
“Such powerful demonic energy,” Xiao A said, holding Qiu’er tightly as she shivered from the shock of the demonic aura.
Bai Tang was technically a squirrel spirit, and since demons and spirits were somewhat similar in nature, he didn’t feel any discomfort.
The warehouse door was violently broken open.
Sunlight poured in eagerly from outside. Qi Hongyi walked in through the bright light, his aura like a monster crawling out of hell.
He looked down at Bai Tang’s clothes scattered on the ground, his mind fractured with worry. Then he glanced at the tangled heap of pale men and women and grabbed one man by the collar, breaking his neck with a twist.
“Tang Tang, Tang Tang…” Qi Hongyi shouted madly. As he pushed aside the last man, to his shock, Jiang Yiran was at the bottom of the pile.
He froze. Where was Tang Tang? Where was his Tang Tang?
Suddenly, he heard animal-like squeaking sounds.
“Squeak, squeak, squeak—”
“Tang Tang, are you there?” Qi Hongyi looked up toward the top of the warehouse.
“Squeak, squeak, squeak—”
A little squirrel leapt down, and Qi Hongyi instinctively caught the falling creature.
It was a cute little squirrel—the ears were exactly the same as the ones he had seen atop Tang Tang’s head before.
“Tang Tang, is that you?” Qi Hongyi gently touched the squirrel.
“Squeak, squeak, squeak—”
Although Qi Hongyi couldn’t understand what the little squirrel was saying, he knew. He felt it—this was his little squirrel, his Tang Tang.
At this moment, he was overwhelmingly grateful that his Tangtang was a squirrel spirit.
“Tang Tang, please change back. Let me see you.” Qi Hongyi seemed to have thought of something. His voice was hoarse, filled with guilt and love. No matter what had happened to Tang Tang, he loved him—only him.
Bai Tang suddenly felt the fur on his body getting wet. But it wasn’t raining outside, and the warehouse wasn’t leaking—where was the moisture coming from?
He looked up and saw Qi Hongyi crying.
“The male lead thinks the host was harmed or something like that, but I can read his thoughts. He doesn’t despise the host; he’s actually blaming himself for not protecting the host better,” Xiao A said while stroking Qiu’er’s fur.
Who gave those people anything, anyway?
Bang—
The little squirrel in his palm suddenly transformed into a smooth-skinned boy.
“I’m fine, don’t cry~”
The soft, gentle voice was soothing.
Qi Hongyi held the lost-and-found boy tightly. “Tang Tang, Tang Tang, it’s my fault—I lost you…”
“No, no, Yi Yi, you’re the best~”
Bai Tang hated seeing his precious man upset, so he hugged Qi Hongyi back. “See, nothing’s wrong with me.”
Qi Hongyi looked over Bai Tang’s body following his words. The boy’s skin was fair and smooth, with no bruises or wounds.
The sudden joy and this too-perfect scene made Qi Hongyi’s breath catch.
But some discordant noises still rang in his ears. Qi Hongyi took off his jacket to wrap Bai Tang but noticed the boy wasn’t wearing any pants.
“Tang Tang, you’d better change back into the squirrel.”
The man’s voice was hoarse in an unnaturally strained way.
With another bang, the smooth-skinned boy transformed back into the tiny squirrel in his palm.
Qi Hongyi put Bai Tang in his pocket, then shot a disgusted glance at the man and woman still entwined nearby—he had already dealt with the other men.
His eyes glinted fiercely. Since Jiang Yiran liked men so much, he’d find her a few more.
Author’s Note
This chapter is quite long—there are more words than before.
By the way, Jiang Yiran is asking for trouble, and no one can stop her. Just wait for the male lead’s revenge!