Chapter 47

After the signal was sent, within less than an hour, rescue teams had already arrived on the island.

The Jiang family’s personnel, along with the Ji family’s forces and local rescue teams, caused the once quiet island to suddenly become bustling with activity.

The sound of helicopter blades, mechanical instruments, and search dogs filled the air, and the entire atmosphere was thick with tension and danger.

The man was indeed tough. In order to extract information about Jiang Muti’s whereabouts, neither Jiang Yunjuan nor Ji Feishi showed any mercy. Yet, he stubbornly endured it all.

Due to the inappropriateness of these scenes, Jiang Yunjuan had Yun Cheng send Yun Duo back to her room early on.

He also assigned Yun Cheng to wake up the other staff members, ensuring that the siblings were not involved in the interrogation of the criminal.

They were still young, too innocent, and even Jiang Muti was more twisted than they were. It was clear that they were not suited for such dirty methods.

By the time reinforcements arrived, the criminal’s information had already been uncovered.

It turned out that the man wasn’t after money, and his motives weren’t purely to harm them. He had his own sense of ritual in carrying out his actions. Although it was precisely this lack of decisiveness that led to his eventual defeat, his motives seemed to be the only way he could vent his long-held resentment.

Several years ago, this man had gone on a cruise with his sister, but they unfortunately encountered an accident. Although rescue operations were timely, the weather and sea conditions were harsh, and the speed of rescue was extremely slow.

Due to the priority given to rescuing the high-ranking officials, he was saved, but he watched helplessly as his sister disappeared into the sea.

The person rescued before them was none other than Jiang Yunjuan’s father!

When the man learned of the prominent status of his rescuer, he had been tormented by resentment and the decayed system controlled by the powerful for many years.

As a result, he abandoned his promising career and became a chef. Although Jiang Yunjuan’s father had unexpectedly passed away, this long-held hatred shifted onto his children.

It just so happened that they were also two siblings, and they were right in the middle of the sea. It was as if fate had conspired to recreate the scene from that time.

So, no matter what, he had fought for the chance to accompany them. He wasn’t after money, nor did he solely want them dead.

In fact, he hoped that after Jiang Yunjuan witnessed the helpless and lonely death of his sister and his own inaction, Jiang Yunjuan would survive and spend the rest of his life enduring that pain.

It was as if he wanted to replicate his own suffering and pass it onto his enemy unchanged.

After Jiang Yunjuan received this information, he recalled that many years ago, his father had indeed been involved in a shipwreck. Fortunately, it ended without serious harm.

At the end of the day, in the face of such an accident, the advantage of social status undeniably played a major role in the critical moments. People just want to survive, and Jiang Yunjuan didn’t find it shameful that his father was saved because of his status.

However, from the man’s perspective, it didn’t hinder his hatred toward the person who had taken away his sister’s hope of survival.

Just as now, for his sister, he could completely ignore the other party’s tragic experience—it was simply a matter of different stances.

When it became clear that no further information could be extracted, Jiang Yunjuan handed the man over to the professionals who had already arrived.

They still didn’t know where Muti was or in what condition she was, and delaying for even a second could lead to irreversible consequences.

The villa had already been turned upside down by the arriving personnel. They even found two hidden attics that neither of them knew about, but both were empty. Then, the search area expanded outward from the villa.

Ji Feishi stood downstairs, by the window of Jiang Muti’s room, looking at the rope that had been dragged down, deep in thought.

A report was handed over by the testing group, revealing that empty milk cups were found in both of the girls’ rooms, and the remaining milk tested positive for a substance that induces unconsciousness.

This explained why Jiang Muti had been taken from the window in the middle of the night without waking up and why Yun Duo had been groggy when she was kidnapped earlier that morning.

It was important to note that each of their rooms had a fingerprint and password lock. Jiang Muti and Yun Duo had exchanged passwords, allowing them to enter each other’s rooms freely.

Similarly, Jiang Yunjuan and Jiang Muti had the same arrangement, and it was said that they often woke each other up in the mornings. Likewise, Yun Cheng and Yun Duo must have also set up mutual access. In the evening, Yun Cheng sometimes needed to talk to Jiang Yunjuan about things, so they exchanged passwords as well.

In fact, it seemed that all of them had access to each other’s rooms. Of course, Jiang Yunjuan, as the head of the household, had access to all the doors in the villa.

In addition, the cleaning staff could unlock the rooms, but their access was time-limited and only valid during the day.

This was basic security protocol, so the perpetrator’s actions, without proper preparation, would not have been easy.

The men had all drunk alcohol the night before and were deeply asleep, while the girls only had juice. Normally, they should have been more alert, yet they ended up drinking the milk that caused them to fall unconscious.

Ji Feishi couldn’t help but ask, “Why did they both drink the milk at the same time?”

Upon hearing this, Yun Duo shot a resentful glare at her brother, and Yun Cheng turned pale, with a long face, he said, “The day before you arrived, we were at the beach, and I mentioned that their chests were still smaller than mine. That’s when they started drinking milk in the mornings and evenings.”

Even under such a tense situation, Ji Feishi was momentarily at a loss for words. He gave Yun Cheng a cold look.

His gaze focused on his chest, “You think your chest is bigger, huh? Do you believe I’ll stuff two balloons in there?”

Yun Cheng had just witnessed his brother’s fearsome side, and he was terrified. But still, he gritted his teeth and said, “Fine, don’t even talk about balloons, I’d take a saltwater bag if it meant finding Muti. I won’t complain again.”

Ji Feishi ignored his distressed expression and asked the remote handler from the Jiang family, “How did the drugs get in? You guys couldn’t have failed to control this, could you?”

The handler hurriedly replied, “No, no. All the personal items of the staff members on the island were delivered uniformly, and nothing forbidden could have been brought in.”

“We discovered that he was a professional pharmacist before changing careers. The drug likely came from local ingredients, but due to limited resources and the need to cover his tracks, the dosage was minimal, just enough for the two girls.”

Since the men had drunk alcohol and were expected to sleep more deeply than usual, this provided the perfect opportunity.

The perpetrator first spiked the two cups of milk, then climbed into the second-floor rooms through the window, carrying one person down at a time.

After hiding Jiang Muti, he had to repeat the process of abducting Yun Duo, ensuring that when the others woke up, they would obediently comply, experiencing the helplessness of watching a sister disappear without being able to do anything.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to take out everyone at once and deal with them smoothly, but the conditions were limited.

Ji Feishi’s room was next to Yun Duo’s, and in the morning, he heard some noise. He got up and peeked out the window, only to see Yun Duo being dragged out of the room window in a precarious manner.

He didn’t speak, afraid that the perpetrator might drop Yun Duo in the process and cause an accident. He quietly slipped out of the door, and when the perpetrator’s weapon fell to the ground, he quickly aimed it at Yun Duo’s neck.

He waited for a long time before finding the right moment to act and save her.

Now that the cause and effect were clear, no one was overly concerned about the details. The most important thing was to find Jiang Muti as quickly as possible.

The search dogs had already entered the forest and were pushing deeper into the layers, but there was still no result.

Jiang Yunjuan saw someone coming out of the temporary room where the criminal was being held and asked irritably, “Have you gotten anything from him?”

From the other person’s expression, he could tell there had been no progress. Noticing the displeasure on the young master’s face, the handler hurriedly said, “It won’t be long. After all, he’s just an ordinary person. I’ve already arranged for some additional medication to be sent from outside. It should be here in no more than two hours…”

“Two hours won’t do, every extra minute increases the danger for the young lady,” Jiang Yunjuan said in a deep voice. “Go tell him, unless he has no relatives left, I won’t have any moral boundaries or human principles left.”

His subordinate shuddered and immediately entered the interrogation room.

Many people had already arrived on the island, but there was still a sense of manpower shortage, and the island’s vastness felt particularly overwhelming at this moment.

Yun Cheng was helping the rescue team come and go, when suddenly the monkey from earlier came up to him, chattering and trying to pull him away.

Yun Cheng thought the monkey was just coming to play, but he was too busy to entertain it, so he said, “Why did you run out of the forest? Did you get scared by all the commotion? It’s fine, it’s fine, go play by yourself, we won’t harm you.”

But the monkey was relentless, and Yun Cheng was getting annoyed. “Go away! I don’t have time to play with you right now.”

However, the monkey kept running up to him, pulling on him and pointing towards the beach, even miming the action of digging in the water, wildly gesturing and calling out.

Yun Cheng was getting really frustrated. Just as he was about to chase the monkey away, he heard Ji Feishi suddenly ask, “Wait, what did the previous investigation say about how that person’s sister died?”

“She was swept away in the middle of the sea!” someone answered.

Everyone fell silent for a moment, looking at each other, and finally, Ji Feishi boldly concluded, “This person’s revenge has a strong sense of ritual, trying to satisfy their inner need to relive the state of mind they had at the time, so—”

Jiang Yunjuan interrupted, “The number of people we have right now is the limit of what we can deploy in the short term. Muti can’t wait that long, and we can’t focus on both sides. Going to the sea means abandoning most of the search on the island.”

He paused for a moment, then said with difficulty, “But my judgment is the same as yours.”

Moreover, there was the monkey’s unusual behavior to consider. Animals can’t speak, but it’s very likely that the monkey saw something when the person was taken away. The current anxious atmosphere made the monkey realize something, so it came out to tell them.

But even so, if they chose incorrectly, they wouldn’t know how much more time they’d waste, potentially pushing Jiang Muti into even more danger. So even though Ji Feishi was 70% sure the person was at sea, he still couldn’t act calmly.

Meanwhile, far in the middle of the sea, Jiang Muti wasn’t idle.

After finally suppressing her panic, she calculated that with the speed of this small speedboat, she couldn’t be too far from her island.

The person who brought her here must have tied her to another speedboat, thrown her into the sea, and then returned alone. Of course, at first, she had considered the possibility that they had kidnapped her with the intent of letting her fall off and drown.

However, she quickly dismissed that thought. If that were the case, the diesel fuel wouldn’t have been used up so completely.

Understanding this made her feel a bit better. The boat’s engine had limited power, and to ensure a round trip, it couldn’t have gone too far. Perhaps she could try to paddle back—

She wasn’t joking, she had to do something.

First, Jiang Muti used the sun to determine the time and direction, and then by observing the sunlight on the island at this time, she figured out the general direction of the island.

She then started paddling towards that direction.

The speedboat was mostly empty, likely an old boat left behind during the construction of the villa, rusty all over. Fortunately, it didn’t leak water, otherwise, she would have already been in a countdown to death.

But luckily, there were some leaves and branches inside, the kind of leaves the local chef had taught them to weave into crafts.

In terms of flexibility, they were similar to bamboo strips, and Jiang Muti carefully collected them one by one, mixing them with the branches to make a simple paddle.

But that wasn’t enough. The sun was becoming increasingly harsh, and the luxury of worrying about sunburn was no longer a concern.

First, she needed to ensure her stamina and maintain her hydration.

So, the remaining leaves were carefully torn into very thin strips, with a texture somewhat similar to skewers used for grilling.

She then made a simple bow, splitting the skin to make the string. It wasn’t very sturdy, but it should suffice for now.

The local chef had taught them a lot about the uses of these leaves. In addition to weaving, the locals would sharpen them and use them to fish in the sea.

Once sharpened, the flexibility and sharpness of the leaves, similar to bamboo skewers, would not create resistance in the water and could easily pierce the skin of some delicate fish.

However, compared to the locals who were raised in the sea, Jiang Muti was nothing but a rookie.

It took her almost half an hour, but she finally managed to shoot two fish, which was slower than Yun Cheng catching them by hand.

Fortunately, the two fish weren’t small—the smaller one was about two kilograms, and the larger one weighed over three kilograms.

But truth be told, she wouldn’t have been able to catch a smaller one with her eyesight.

One of the fish was a salmon, while she didn’t recognize the other one.

Since she hadn’t eaten since waking up, she had already used up quite a bit of energy by this point. She wasn’t sure if the other fish was edible, but the salmon was fine to eat.

Without further thought, she immediately began eating a few bites. She wasn’t starving, but when it came to self-rescue, she couldn’t afford to be picky and needed to keep her energy up.

She continued to paddle slowly forward. Sometimes, when she caught the right current, it helped her move faster, but other times, the wind would shift the boat off course, and without a point of support in the sea, correcting her direction became a struggle.

Her forehead, face, nose, and exposed arms and legs were burning painfully, and with the sweat, it felt especially sore—likely sunburned.

She pitied herself a little, being the type of person who usually couldn’t stand even a wrinkle on her skirt, yet here she was, enduring this.

She kept paddling in that direction, taking bites of fish whenever she was hungry, and biting the fish whenever she was still hungry (the fish: …).

Jiang Muti had no idea how far she had paddled, but she was almost exhausted. According to the sunlight, it wasn’t even noon yet.

Now, both of her arms were swinging only by willpower, and she wasn’t sure how much longer she could last.

Just then, she heard the sound of a helicopter’s roar in the distance, and Jiang Muti immediately perked up.

The sound grew louder, and once they spotted her, they flew directly toward her. A soothing voice came through a loudspeaker, and Jiang Muti finally confirmed that she had truly been found.

Soon after, a speedboat approached from another direction. Although the sea stretched endlessly, Jiang Muti could clearly feel the presence of planes and boats drawing closer, constantly communicating to confirm her location.

With her mood easing, she finally relaxed, and the tension that had been holding her together loosened. She collapsed, sitting down exhausted.

She grabbed the remaining fish beside her and took another couple of big bites, even though she had planned to ration it a bit more.

Then, a boat stopped beside her, and someone climbed onto her rickety speedboat.

“Jiang Muti?”

Jiang Muti looked up, only to feel a sharp pain in her nose and a salty taste from the fish still in her mouth.

From Ji Feishi’s angle, however, she looked like a mess—her hair was disheveled, her face sunburned, and she was munching on salmon while pouting and crying. It was a pitiful sight.

Ji Feishi was deeply moved, feeling heartbroken. Usually so arrogant and proud, she had been reduced to this, with a broken, makeshift paddle still in her hands—showing just how much effort she had put in.

His throat was tight with emotion as he gently held her, pushing the hair that had stuck to her cheeks from sweat and seawater behind her ear, patting her back. “It’s okay, you’re safe now.”

“You’re safe. Look! There are so many people.”

Just thinking about how she had been stranded on the endless sea, helpless and desperate for so long, having to suppress all her negative emotions and slowly paddling forward with just her strength, Jiang Muti’s heart ached for her.

But at the same time, he couldn’t help but feel deep admiration and respect for her from the bottom of his heart.

At this moment, she wasn’t her usual graceful self, the kind of composed elegance surrounded by a refreshing fragrance, but instead, she was covered in sweat and the salty stickiness of seawater. Yet, Ji Feishi found her particularly endearing.

At this point, Jiang Muti finally realized that the salty taste in her mouth was her own tears. She reached up to wipe her eyes, but the sunburned skin hurt just from the touch.

She hissed in pain, then threw the paddle away. “I swear, I’ll never row a boat again in this lifetime.”

“Okay, okay, no more rowing,” Ji Feishi quickly responded.

“Hold me tight!”

“Huh?” Ji Feishi didn’t respond immediately.

Jiang Muti continued, “Hold me tight, the kind that hurts.”

Before she could finish her sentence, she was pulled into a tight embrace. Jiang Muti immediately regretted saying those words.

She hadn’t expected that when he seriously tightened his arms, they would feel so powerful, like two steel beams that couldn’t be broken free from.

But the intense pressure and the warmth of his body made her feel secure, and Ji Feishi’s eyes were filled with a joyful, almost ecstatic expression.

After a long while, Jiang Muti’s emotions finally calmed down. Ji Feishi then grabbed a towel to drape over her and moved her onto the boat he had arrived on.

However, just as she was about to leave, Jiang Muti, who had just claimed she would never row again, didn’t forget to say, “Bring that paddle with you.”

It seemed she had formed a bond with the paddle that had accompanied her through hours of hardship.

Ji Feishi, helpless, naturally listened to her and took the broken paddle with him.

On the way back, he had already informed Jiang Yunjuan that they had been found. Since they had split up and gone in different directions, it would be faster for Jiang Yunjuan to meet up on the island rather than rush over.

But Ji Feishi couldn’t be at ease until he had spoken to his sister.

Jiang Muti took the walkie-talkie from her subordinate and spoke to her brother for a long time. When she heard that the monkeys had guided them toward the sea, she said, “Alright, this island will be their mountain peak from now on.”

The boat traveled full speed for over an hour before reaching the island. As Jiang Muti stepped onto solid ground again, she couldn’t help but sigh, “At the speed I was going, I don’t know how long it would have taken me to get back.”

Before she could finish her lament, she was suddenly embraced by Yun Cheng and Yun Duo, who had just returned from the forest after hearing the news.

Yun Cheng, with red-rimmed eyes, said, “It’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have said you guys had small chests. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have had to drink milk, you wouldn’t have been thrown into the middle of the sea, and you wouldn’t have had a knife held to your neck.”

Yun Duo, who had twisted her brother’s arm so much it had turned purple, couldn’t help but twist it a couple more times, her eyes watery as she nodded without speaking.

Jiang Muti waved her hand. “Hey, we could have found something else instead of milk. He’s a chef, after all, this kind of thing is hard to guard against.”

“But just now, Ji Feishi said you were going to get a breast augmentation, and that’s something to look forward to,” she added with a teasing smile.

Yun Cheng warily covered his chest and, after a long struggle, gritted his teeth and said, “Fine, but can it be smaller?”

Jiang Muti let out a laugh, though her face still burned with pain. Ji Feishi quickly said, “Why don’t you go apply the medicine first?”

He shot Yun Cheng a glare. “Stop making her laugh.”

Yun Cheng immediately fell silent.

While applying the medicine, Jiang Yunjuan returned to the island from another part of the sea. As soon as he entered the house, he saw his sister wrapped up like a mummy.

His face immediately turned grim. “Did you get scratched?”

Jiang Muti quickly replied, “Just sunburned, I just used special medicine, and I have to cover it up to heal faster.”

Jiang Yunjuan sighed in relief and came over to gently embrace his sister, while pushing Ji Feishi’s hand away from hers.

“I’m sorry, this is my fault. I was too careless. I’ll never let you get into this kind of situation again, never!”

Jiang Muti knew that with her brother’s personality, he was probably feeling deeply guilty, so she patted his back and said, “Some things happen without intention, there’s no security system in the world that’s flawless. Just learn from the experience.”

But how could Jiang Yunjuan be consoled by such a few words? After returning, he arranged for even tighter security for Jiang Muti. But that was a story for later.

However, when Jiang Muti found out that she had been taking the fall for their father, she was somewhat speechless.

She said to her brother, “Dad really doesn’t care about anyone. In the end, though, there are a lot of people who still care about him, even after he’s gone.”

Jiang Yunjuan sighed, “Who’s to say otherwise?”

After all this commotion, their vacation was ruined. Jiang Muti stayed on the island for two more days, and only left after her sunburn completely healed.

The others stayed with her, but with everything going on, no one had the mood to enjoy themselves.

Meanwhile, the monkey was considered a hero and started coming to the island more frequently. Yun Cheng would feed it fruits and food, even giving it a name.

When they returned home from the island, Jiang Muti kept the incident tightly under wraps, not telling anyone, not even close family.

Except for the housekeeper, Old Yun, who was heartbroken when he found out about her suffering. Upon their return, he prepared their favorite dishes to welcome them back, and even made a special bath with pomelo leaves for her.

She had originally planned to relax during the holiday, but instead, she ended up facing a series of unfortunate events. However, Jiang Muti didn’t take her frustration out on the island and didn’t sell it.

She still thought the island was quite nice, but her brother’s stance was that they wouldn’t go back there until the security had been upgraded.

Winter vacation certainly couldn’t compare to summer vacation. After a few days of turmoil, and then a few more days of rest, she’d have to start preparing for the New Year festivities.

And of course, the New Year was a time when the social scene among the upper class became especially active.

Although Jiang Muti had been shaken, it didn’t stop her enthusiasm for parties. And with parties, naturally, people who didn’t get along would inevitably collide, and trouble was bound to happen.