Staring at the doodles on each page of the sketchbook, Professor Luo Xia grunted in displease. "Why are there so many symbols? Are you sure there are that many rooms in this underground tunnel? Where do they usually keep prisoners or intruders?"
If Ariana had been caught, then she must be captured and brought to a room for intruders. With the many pages of symbols, Li Shen Wen flipped through the sketches with her trembling hands. She was scared that if she made the wrong move, it would implicate Tian Yuo into this mess.
After a few more pages of skimming, she pointed towards a cracked eggshell symbol. "It should be this room, here. Those who get caught by the guards would be sent to this room to wait for their punishment for trespassing."
"What do you mean by punishment?" His voice deepened to contain his anger.
"It depends on who catches the intruder. There, the guards have the right to do anything to people that they trap. In order to become a guard for that place, those men must have committed a crime that was bad enough for them to be sentenced for a long time. Most of them were either released from prison or was dismissed from court because insufficient evidence."
She didn't dare to leave out any details or information that she knew about. At the moment, she could only spit out everything that she could remember and deal with the consequences later. Facing the silence that followed, she lifted her head and parted her dehydrated lips, "I've already told you everything that I know. Please, let me go. Don't touch my son. I promise that I'll leave with him and never come back."
Professor Luo Xia circled the symbol that she pointed to earlier and asked, "Are there other symbols that are used for prisoners? Punishments?"
"No, only the one that I pointed out earlier. The rest are used for the laboratory tests." Her legs gave away the last strengths she had and weighed onto her ankles. The hopelessness in her dull eyes was evident in front of them.
"You better have told the truth. We'll confirm whether everything you told us was true. If there were any lies, I'll have you buried alive in cement as you witness your son and husband's death. Mark my words. Last chance for you to make changes to whatever you provided. Do you have anything else to say?" His hands leaned on the cane and used it as support for him to get up from his seat.
Biting on her lower lip, tears continued to stream down her face as she shook her head. Zhi Hei followed Professor Luo Xia out of the cell while the guards locked the gates to the cell. Once they got out of the underground dungeon, Zhi Hei opened his mouth to ask about his request.
Before he said a word, Professor Luo Xia had paused his steps and turned towards him. With a smile, he said, "Once Ariana comes back safely and we find the culprit behind our suffering, you can do whatever you have in mind with them. Since they laid their hands on someone that you are fond of, I wouldn't mind leaving them in your hands."
Zhi Hei nodded and thanked him for understanding his thoughts. If it were other people, they would probably want to avenge using their own hands. They continued walking and Professor Luo Xia grinned, "I only let you have them because I know you never allow your enemies off easily. You might be more ruthless than I am. I know they'll be in great hands."
"You have that much confidence in my methods?" Zhi Hei opened the door to the car for the elder man to get in first.
"Very confident." He said as he got into the car and snapped pictures of the sketchbook. Once the photo album was created, he uploaded it to one of the group chats with everyone in it. He messaged the chat afterwards, saying, "Check out these pictures and we'll discuss our plans. Let me know if there are any updates on that Alexander person."
His messages were left on seen, but it didn't bother him at all because he knew that they were all focusing on the symbol sketches. It took less than half an hour for him to arrive at the hospital.
At the hospital, Alexander's operation was finished later than expected. His condition was stabilized, but he was not recommended to move for a while until his wounds are healed.
Chen Nan relaxed in the waiting area as he continued looking through the symbols from the group chat. "At least he is alive and well. I'm sure Ariana would be glad to hear this. When will he wake up?"
Chen Mu answered, "We didn't use a lot of anesthesia on him, so most likely within the next few hours. He should have a clear mind of what had happened and be able to talk."
"Good. Thank you." Chen Nan swiped on his phone screen and concentrated on the detailed drawings. Professor Luo Xia also stepped into the room and announced, "Since Alexander is alright, we need to sort out a plan. Everyone should have seen the photos that I sent in that chat, correct?"
Susu and Lily showed their phones to Chen Mu and Lin Que to keep them updated about what happened. Professor Luo Xia waited for everyone to have reviewed the symbols for at least once before continuing the conversation.
"What are these symbols? Why do they look like chicken scratch?" Zi Yan asked as she zoomed in on the sketches.
Professor Luo Xia answered, "These are the symbols that are in the underground tunnel. If we want to save Ariana, then we need to wait for Alexander to wake up and confirm the accuracy of these symbols. If he agrees with what we have, then that means Ariana could be found in one of these rooms."
"There are so many rooms, though." Susu frowned at the forty plus photos in the shared album.
"According to what I got from interrogating Li Shen Wen, the symbol that has a circle around it should be where they keep intruders. If she got caught, then she should be there. Therefore, the first place to look for is this one. There should be similar symbols on the walls or something that guides you to the room."
"So, all that's left is for Alexander to wake up before we make a move again?" Chen Nan stood up excitedly as if he could already see Ariana in front of him.
"Yes. So, all is on him now. While he is unconscious, Zi Yan, prepare everything Chen Nan would need. Prepare two sets just in case he wakes up and stubbornly discharges himself from the hospital." From the past interactions with Alexander, Professor Luo Xia could tell that he wouldn't ever let Ariana risk her life. When she accepted any difficult tasks, he would always shadow her without her knowledge.
Therefore, he wouldn't be surprised if Alexander would force himself out of bed for her.
On the other hand, Ariana recognized similar symbols on the wall and used it as a guide to lead her way through the random routes along the way. She moved quickly and made sure that she wasn't being followed by the old fellow. When she reached the last symbol and turned the corner, she found a wooden door with the same symbol engraved on it.
"This is the same symbol..? What's behind this door..?" Currently, she was at a dead-end. On her way to this room, there were no other doors. While this place is filthy with layers of dust and spider webs almost everywhere she had explored, only this door appeared clean.
She reached for the door handle, attempting to get into the room.
Her heart raced as her fingertips felt the cold handle. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath to gather her courage. Just as she was about to push the door open, a pair of hands held onto her wrist tightly.
"What are you doing here?"
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Sorry for repeating the same notes from the previous chapters~ This will be the last note I write about the new novel. If you haven't already and are interested in Lily and Lin Que's novel, then please search the following novel title and check it out~ It's been uploaded :)
Novel Title: Love at First Gaze
Thanks for your support <3