Chapter 56: Kidnap
Translator: Storm in a Teacup
As uneasy as she was, this smell was very familiar to An Rushuang, but it was when she was in the endless desert where the soldiers’ corpses could merely be wrapped by the horsehide…

Why would there be such strong bloody smell in the capital city? Even if the girl was injured just then, she would be surely dead given the pungent bloody smell.

It was definitely a trap. An Rushuang thought.

There came the sob of the girl behind the door, which turned weaker gradually. Thinking she may be lifeless already, An Rushuang became more hesitant. If she broke in, it was, perhaps, a dangerous trap waiting for her.

However, if she left…

The girl was injured because of her. Thought having no idea whether it was serious or not, An Rushuang was undoubtedly the culprit.

She, staring at the small house, sneaked up to the dark side before looking into the room, where the teary girl clad in peach red dress was sitting on the floor leaning against the door, looking at An Rushuang in surprise.

“Why are you here?!”

“I am worried about your injury…”

Thump!

The girl’s face suddenly blurred before the dark curtain finally descended.

“Ha-ha! We caught a big fish!”

There suddenly came a dull laughter with strong smell of alcohol. Staring at the man with stubble all over his face, Zhao Xiaotao murmured, her voice almost imperceptible, “Dad… What have you done!”

She pounced on the strong man all of a sudden, seemingly regardless of her bleeding arm.

Zhao Laoda caught a glimpse of An Rushuang lying on the ground after a chuckle, and then turned to Zhao Xiaotao before she said in a muffled voice, “Humph! You really make me disappointed. Go fetch some alcohol and pour it to her mouth. Ask him where he was from when he wakes up.”

“Dad, we can’t do that… We can’t.”

Zhao Xiaotao clutched Zhao Laoda’s legs and implored, tears trickling down from her cheeks. “Dad, how many taels of silver do you want? I will get, get them for you…”

“Bah!” Zhao Laoda spitted on her savagely before kicking her away, “You have ruined my clothes. You even can’t make that much money as a prostitute! Drag your mum out of the bed if she is still alive! Find out where he was from!”

*

Looking at the rotating sands in the air, An Rushuang felt nothing but dizzy.

If a horse could have expressions, her face would be scrunched up. Who on earth was that Zhao Xiaotao? Had she known her identity already before setting up the trap?

“Impossible.” An Rushuang shook her head.

Before An Rushuang passed out, the girl was surprised at her presence. It’s obvious that the she had never thought An Rushuang would follow her to the house. Who was she then? Did she do it for An Lingshan? Since she didn’t have much hands to assist her now, it was necessary to have a second thought before action. She wouldn’t do that. What’s more, she had no motivation at all.

Counting out all her acquaintances one by one, An Rushuang, lying on the desert, felt severe headache. It worried her more that she even had no idea whether she was alive at the moment.

She went around the bar for god knows how many times, nearly suffocated by the rope on her neck. Suddenly, An Rushuang was surrounded by coldness, frosty enough to chill her bones. However, with the striking bloody smell dashing to her nose, she actually felt relieved. Shuddering in the wet and heavy coldness, An Rushuang felt her head going to explode. Though it felt bad, at least she knew she was still alive.

Frowning a little bit, An Rushuang opened her eyes slowly.

Seeing An Rushuang’s eyebrows trembling and her misty eyes glancing over, Zhao Xiaotao couldn’t help lowering her head in guilty. “Sorry, it’s all my fault. I will find a way to take you out. Are you okay ?…”

Given her extremely red eyes, it was obvious that she had sobbed for a long time.

An Rushuang, still in dizziness when Zhao Xitaotao apologized to her, was more confused. It took her a long while to see things clearly again.

“Where… am I?” Her voice was hoarse, as if she hadn’t drunk water for many days.

“Sorry…” Zhao Xiaotao murmured, her head lowering.

An Rushuang was suddenly infuriated. “Stop saying sorry! I am asking you where I am! Why was I staying here! No more useless apology! I came to help you, but you reward me like this?”

She was such a fool coming to the girl’s rescue. Shouldn’t she merely live for herself after the rebirth! Why did she follow her conscience, a worthless thing which should have been abandoned earlier to feed the dog!

Otherwise, how could she been kidnapped… So ridiculous!

Trembling a little, Zhao Xiaotao began to shed tears in silence. Her unreasonableness and fierceness totally disappeared without a trace.

If her arms hadn’t been bound, An Rushuang would surely awake her by a good slap!

“There is no need to ask. We won’t tell you.”

There came a slow and hoarse voice behind An Rushuang before a wooden bucket was thrown to the ground, rolling to the shade like a skull.

A person, whose gender was unknown, came up to An Rushuang in no hurry.

She frowned at the figure, which was covered by black cloths all over except half of the face filled with dark brown scars, perhaps, burns. The eyes, seemingly two slits, almost overlapped each other at the middle of the face. Compared with the darkness outside, the figure was more like the darkness itself.

Who was that?

Watching the figure approached her slowly, An Rushuang noticed that being lame, “it”couldn’t help lurching to one sides when walking, just like a doll. The girl in peach red dress rose to her feet after rubbing off the tears on her cheek. Totally not afraid of the monster, she ran forward with red eyes before calling mum affectionately.

Mum?

Was it a woman?

The woman looked at the girl gently and touched her hair. Though she had a terrible face, the woman’s hands were snow white, even more delicate than An Rushuang’s.

“Xiaotao, ask her.”

Her voice was terrible, her words being simple.

Maybe she really had suffered severe burn, An Rushuang thought.

If this woman was Xiaotao’s mother, and they had lived here without any restriction, it meant An Rushuang had been kidnapped by this family.

The one who knocked An Rushuang out couldn’t be Xiaotao, the weak girl, or the disabled woman, so the answer was…

“Is your father who abducted me? Where is he?”