Chapter 400 His family members were taken hostage by the other side.

Unfolding the slip of paper, one's eyes are immediately drawn to a line of large characters written in a crooked, illegible handwriting—

Your parents and family are in our hands now. If you want them to live, do as I say.

Immediately following this was a line of smaller text written in the same font, specifying the agreed time and place for the meeting.

As if afraid that Du Chenzhou wouldn't believe what was written on the note, the other party added a detailed description at the bottom of the note of what his parents often wore close to their bodies.

Although the person who wrote the note used concise language and simple descriptions, he clearly described the appearance and characteristics of the items his parents wore close to their bodies in just a few words.

Even the obvious wear and scratches on the surface were described verbatim.

Among them, the description of the jade pendant that his father always carried with him, which was his favorite and most treasured possession, and the dark brown scratch on the back of the pendant was particularly detailed.

Du Chenzhou still remembers that the scratch was accidentally left when he was playing with it when he was six years old.

His father held the jade pendant and grumbled about it for a long time, both angry and heartbroken. Because of this, he didn't even eat dinner that night and was forced to stand as punishment. He remembered it vividly and couldn't possibly have forgotten it.

This is something that only close friends would know. As far as he knows, even close friends would know the origin of the scratches on the jade pendant.

Aside from his father, only he and his mother knew about it.

But the note deliberately pointed out that the scratch was the same one he had when he was a child...

Fathers rarely tell others about things like this on their own initiative, so it's only possible that the person who wrote the note pressed him for answers...

When Du Chenzhou saw this, he felt his heart skip several beats.

The chill started from the tailbone and spread rapidly throughout the body.

Holding the note, Du Chenzhou felt his hands were as cold as ice, and they were trembling slightly uncontrollably.

He swallowed hard, his heart pounding as he read those lines over and over again, as if trying to see his parents, whom they had arrested, looking like now through those words.

Were they subjected to interrogation or abuse?

What exactly did they go through?

Why did they say they were going abroad to avoid trouble, only to end up in the hands of this unknown person...?

All sorts of questions flooded my mind in an instant.

Du Chenzhou anxiously clutched his hair.

"How could this happen... how could things have turned out like this?"

He originally thought his parents had gone abroad, and he thought it wouldn't matter if he couldn't contact them for a while, at least they were doing well abroad, and he would find them someday.

But now...

Du Chenzhou felt an indescribable unease in his heart. Faintly, he seemed to hear a voice echoing in his ears, a malicious laugh repeating itself, telling him again and again—

"Stop running! You can't escape! You can't get out of my grasp! Don't waste your energy! Hahahaha!!"

Du Chenzhou was panting heavily, his heart pounding so hard that his vision blurred, and his hand holding the note trembled violently.

Finally, he completely lost his strength, and his fingers loosened. The paper, like a leaf that had lost its moisture and life, drifted and fell to the ground.

At this moment, Du Chenzhou's world seemed to have fallen into complete darkness.

On the other side, at the entrance of Duanqiao Village.

Song Yaozu lay sprawled on a flat rock at the village entrance, a dog tail dangling from his mouth. He lay on his back with his legs dangling, humming an unknown tune, amusing himself with an air of nonchalance.

He may seem nonchalant, but whenever someone passes by, he always looks over immediately to confirm their identity.

Seeing that it wasn't the person she was waiting for, she rolled her eyes and lay back down.

The villagers were used to his behavior and didn't take it seriously. They secretly rolled their eyes and walked straight through the village.

Song Yaozu didn't know how long he had been lying there when suddenly he heard a familiar sound of footsteps.

It's probably her!

Song Yaozu was immediately delighted. His eyes darted around, and he quickly rolled over and hid behind a large rock, leaving only his eyes showing as he looked in the direction of the sound.

As he expected, a moment later, it was indeed Zhu Chunhong who passed by the big rock.

Song Yaozu chuckled, rubbing his hands together, and jumped out from behind the big rock, spreading his arms to block her way. He chuckled and his lecherous eyes roamed over Zhu Chunhong's body.

Zhu Chunhong was startled. She hunched her shoulders and took two steps back, her face full of panic. She turned around and tried to run away.

Song Yaozu is no good person; Zhu Chunhong doesn't even want to deal with him.

However, Song Yaozu was faster than her. He ran ahead of Chunhong in a few steps and once again spread his arms to block her way.

When Zhu Chunhong ran to the left, he blocked her to the left; when she ran to the right, he blocked her to the right, leaving her no chance to escape.

Seeing that Zhu Chunhong was at her wit's end, Song Yaozu chuckled and stroked his chin.

"Chunhong, why did you run away when you saw your brother? Don't you know that you've forgotten something?"

Zhu Chunhong swallowed nervously, crossed her arms over her chest, and hugged her shoulders tightly in a defensive manner. Due to excessive tension, her breathing was somewhat unsteady.

"Forgot...forgot what?"

Song Yaozu immediately clicked his tongue.

"Why are you still playing dumb with me? You say you forgot what? I've already seen you naked, so shouldn't we..."

Song Yaozu smiled broadly, his lips parted to reveal a row of yellowed teeth, and his sticky tongue licked his dry lips.

His lecherous gaze roamed over Chunhong, especially lingering on places he shouldn't have.

Zhu Chunhong grew up in a village, where she had little contact with people and things, and her mind was simple. She also received a traditional education.

When he stared at certain parts of her body like that, she screamed in fright and covered her arms even tighter.

"You scoundrel, you pervert!"

She cursed twice in anger, then hurriedly turned around and tried to run away.

How could Song Yaozu possibly give her that opportunity?

He tried to stop Zhu Chunhong time and time again, but she still relentlessly sought opportunities to escape.

The game of cat and mouse gets boring after a while, and seeing Zhu Chunhong's lack of tact, Song Yaozu became somewhat impatient.

After stopping Zhu Chunhong once again, Song Yaozu cursed under his breath with a cold expression.

"You bitch, stop pretending to be a virtuous woman!"

"If you've forgotten, let me help you remember. I've seen you from head to toe, inside and out!"

"According to the unwritten rules of our village, I'm basically your man now! I have to take responsibility for you and marry you!"

"And given our current situation..."

Song Yaozu chuckled wickedly, looking as if he was certain of victory.

"Besides me, I doubt any other man would dare to marry you."