Chapter 878 — Another Fifty Million

"Mr. Gu, you are quite mistaken. I am merely a citizen acting out of righteousness. I can only guarantee that your daughter and her best friend will return alive. Whether they suffer harm or not is none of my concern - that will be up to the kidnappers!" The caller was completely unafraid of Gu Pengzhan's threat and spoke with shameless audacity.

Gu Pengzhan's heart went cold. His greatest fear was that his daughter and Xiao Shu would be violated by the kidnappers, and from the sound of it, it was highly likely they would do exactly that! Gu Pengzhan gripped the phone so hard his knuckles turned white, his body trembling slightly. "What must I do to keep Yao Yao and Xiao Shu from being hurt? Name your price and I will pay it!"

"Oh? With things having come this far, it seems Mr. Gu is unwilling to cooperate with me, then?" The caller shifted his tone abruptly and let out a cold laugh. "Very well, then prepare to pick up your daughter's and her friend's corpses..."

"Wait!" Gu Pengzhan heaved a sigh. It seemed that having his daughter and Xiao Shu return alive would already be the best he could hope for. As for the humiliation they might suffer, he could no longer afford to worry about that. Under these circumstances, it was not as if they had any choice in the matter, and as long as the whole thing was kept quiet afterward, it would still be far better than death.

"Oh? Has Mr. Gu changed his mind again?" The caller sounded as though he had Gu Pengzhan exactly where he wanted him, certain that the man would come around and continue their negotiation.

"Fine, I accept your terms. But please, try not to harm them. If at all possible, after this is over, I will find a way to scrape together another fifty million for you as compensation!" Gu Pengzhan said. "I, Gu Pengzhan, always keep my word - you can ask anyone in the business world about my reputation. When I say something, I mean it, and when I promise something, I deliver. I hope you can trust me!"

"I know your reputation well enough, but hmph, that is not for me to decide." The caller said indifferently. "Now go raise the money. I will call you again in a while to tell you how to deliver it."

"No problem. I will have it ready as soon as possible!" Gu Pengzhan said.

"Don't call the police, or your daughter will die a very miserable death." The caller gave Gu Pengzhan one final reminder.

Gu Pengzhan sneered inwardly. What happened to being a good Samaritan offering leads? Now you're telling me not to call the police? Finally slipping up, are you?

But naturally, Gu Pengzhan would not voice his thoughts aloud. He did not dare provoke the criminal and only said, "I won't. Please rest assured."

In fact, Gu Pengzhan had never intended to call the police in the first place. The other side clearly had formidable experts among them, and police involvement would undoubtedly provoke them further. Even if his daughter was eventually rescued, they might not be able to capture those experts. If that happened, what would the days ahead hold? These people would surely retaliate with even greater frenzy. The next time would not be something as simple as a kidnapping - they might well strike him down directly, the same way they had taken out Uncle Qing!

Not long after Gu Pengzhan hung up, Wei Zhao's phone began to ring.

Although Wei Zhao had been cultivating inside the jade pendant space, he had nevertheless been able to overhear the conversation between Gu Pengzhan and the kidnapper. He had said nothing about it, however, because he wanted to seize every last second to recover his strength as quickly as possible.

Now that the phone was ringing, Wei Zhao had no choice but to leave the cultivation space and return to reality. He picked up the call, expecting it to be the kidnapper again, but the screen displayed Qiu Lingshan's number instead.

"Hello? Any news?" Wei Zhao asked.

"We've already placed a tap on Mr. Gu Pengzhan's phone and listened in on the kidnapper's call. However, we weren't able to trace his location - the call was routed through a VoIP server overseas over the internet." Qiu Lingshan said with some regret. "Do you need us to do anything?"

"Not for now. I can handle this myself. There are clearly formidable experts on their side, and you're no match for them." Wei Zhao declined Qiu Lingshan's help.

Although Qiu Lingshan was slightly annoyed by his remark that she was no match, she knew deep down that she truly was no match! Her strength was on par with Uncle Qing's - she was an internal martial artist at the late Yellow Stage, while he had been an external martial artist at the peak of the late Yellow Stage. In a real fight, the two of them would have been evenly matched.

But the kidnapper had seriously injured Uncle Qing with a single palm strike. If she went, she would likely suffer the same fate!

"Then... take care of yourself... your silly girl will be cheering for you!" For some reason, a trace of worry crept into Qiu Lingshan's heart. He had always been so overbearing with her, so why was she actually worrying about him? Qiu Lingshan could not understand her own feelings...

"Huh, okay." Wei Zhao hung up.

Songshan City got its name from the many mountains that surrounded it. Aside from Shuangyan Mountain, which had been developed into a tourist attraction, the steeper mountain ranges had never been developed, and ordinarily no one ever went up them.

Among these steep mountains was one known as South Mirror Mountain. Of course, that was just a local nickname for it. As for its geographical name, hardly anyone could say, and it was uncertain whether the mountain even appeared on any map at all.

South Mirror Mountain was so named because it lay on the southern edge of Songshan City, while "mirror" referred to its sheer rock face, which, after a rain, became as smooth and slippery as a mirror and nearly impossible to climb. In short, the mountain had nothing to offer, and ordinary people never set foot on it.

Today, however, two vehicles were parked at the foot of this mountain - one was a Mercedes-Benz with plates from Donghai, and the other was a Toyota Previa minivan.

Up on the mountain, Zhen Yingjun had just finished making that call to Gu Pengzhan using a voice changer. For a moment, he too felt some hesitation. Originally, he had planned to demand two hundred million from Gu Pengzhan, then have his way with the man's daughter and Shen Yushu, kill Wei Zhao, and consider the whole matter settled.

But when he heard that Gu Pengzhan had proactively offered another fifty million, he could not help feeling a surge of temptation. That was fifty million! His medical treatment had cost only forty million in total, and Gu Pengzhan was offering an extra fifty million outright! All on the condition that Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu were not harmed.

It would be absolute nonsense to say Zhen Yingjun was not tempted - he was deeply tempted. What was fifty million, anyway? With ten thousand, he could already have any woman he wanted. For him to personally lay a hand on Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu was simply too heavy a price to pay!

Although this was the first time he had ever heard of someone voluntarily offering extra money to their own kidnappers, Gu Pengzhan's reputation was sterling, and he believed that if he returned Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu safely, Gu Pengzhan would follow through on his promise. Even so, he still felt a lingering unwillingness at heart.

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