Chapter 59: Can a Gloomy Extra Be Locked in a Dark Room? [25]

Chapter 59: Will the Gloomy Cannon Fodder Get Locked in a Dark Room? "25"

"Mm..."

When Mu Jin opened his eyes again, he still felt a bit dizzy.

He shook his head, looked at the rope around his wrist, then glanced at Wen Yihe, who was tied up beside him too.

Before he could do anything, he heard a slightly aggrieved voice from 648 in his head:

"Host, you're finally awake."

Mu Jin recalled that before he lost consciousness, he seemed to have heard 648 saying something about spiked wine.

He blinked: [Xiao Liu, what's going on?]

Mu Jin stared at the rope around his wrist. Last time, in order to deal with those thugs, 648 had helped him relax this world's restrictions on him.

Logically speaking, he should be able to break free from these ropes with a little effort now, but his wrists were rubbed raw without any strength coming through.

648 sighed: "Obviously, you've all been kidnapped. Right now you're out at sea, heading to a deserted island. You and Wen Yihe are locked up in here, and Ji Fengyan is in another room."

"I just went to check—these people were all sent by Mu Yu. It looks like Ji Fengyan is the target."

"But Ji Fengyan isn't in any life-threatening danger right now. That could change later."

648 brought this up and couldn't help muttering:

"It's really strange. Mu Yu, this vicious cannon fodder, has even less screen time than us—he's only mentioned twice in the plot. How is he both drugging and kidnapping the protagonist?"

"You'd think he was the big bad of this world or something."

After muttering, 648 looked at Mu Jin's rubbed-red wrist and said with some heartache:

"Host, don't struggle. They injected you with a banned substance, so you can't use your strength right now. If you keep struggling, you'll only hurt yourself."

Mu Jin sighed: [What a pain. Why do I have to get kidnapped just for eating barbecue?]

[If I'd known, I should have been harsher when I bagged him back then—just crippled him outright, and none of this would be happening now.]

Mu Jin paused, then continued: [But speaking of which, are you really sure he's not the villain? In the plot, the only one who ever kidnapped the protagonist was the villain.]

Although the timing of the kidnapping was different now, and the people being kidnapped were different too.

In this crappy plot, the only thing that could match the current situation was that incident.

648 was also uncharacteristically quiet for a moment.

"But the villain kidnapped Ji Fengyan because of unrequited love. Mu Yu doesn't seem to be into—"

Mu Jin: [But he drugged Ji Fengyan at the party last time too.]

648 hesitated: "He drugged him to take compromising photos of Ji Fengyan... probably, right?"

Mu Jin: [What if he just hadn't gotten there in time? What if he wanted to do something to Ji Fengyan and then take photos to threaten him into getting together with him?]

[And those parents—they never cared about "Mu Jin" at all. How come the moment they heard rumors that I was going to marry into the Ji family, they came running to stop it?]

The more Mu Jin talked, the more it made sense: [I haven't even heard about this, and I'm the one it's about, but they know about it without caring about me at all—Mu Yu must have said something.]

[And I remember the plot mentioned that Mu Yu used plenty of shady methods to get from being an illegitimate child to where he is now. That also matches up with the villain.]

[Xiao Liu, why don't you go look into it? If Mu Yu really is the villain, then this kidnapping is the one from the plot where Ji Fengyan's life is on the line.]

Mu Jin thought it over carefully and finally came to a conclusion:

[All I need to do is make sure Ji Fengyan survives this kidnapping, and the mission will be complete!]

648 was stunned, listening. Is that right?

He felt like something was off, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it...

But what Mu Jin said did sound pretty convincing.

648 thought for a moment: "Then I'll go look into it again. But host, your top priority right now is to find a way to escape and then rescue Ji Fengyan."

Mu Jin nodded slightly, his gaze falling on Wen Yihe, who still hadn't woken up beside him.

He sighed. In his current state, escaping probably wouldn't be easy.

[Xiao Liu, is there anything in the system store that can help me?]

648: "Let me take a look... Oh, there's a Strength Recovery Pill here—50 points. It bypasses all restrictions and restores all your strength."

"But it only lasts for half an hour. After that, there's a side effect—you'll go completely limp and weak."

Mu Jin: [...I don't think I can get both of them back to shore in half an hour.]

[Maybe you could call the cops for us?]

648: "No problem."

"A Jin..."

Just as Mu Jin was about to redeem the pill, he heard Wen Yihe's weak voice from beside him. He froze mid-motion and turned to look at Wen Yihe, who had just woken up.

"Where are we? What happened to us?"

Wen Yihe's voice was slightly hoarse. Looking at the ropes on his body, he frowned and tried to struggle, but eventually gave up helplessly.

Mu Jin thought about how Wen Yihe had been dragged into this mess for no reason. His look softened, and even his tone became gentler, carrying a hint of reassurance:

"It's no big deal. We've just been kidnapped. Don't worry—I'll get you out of here."

Wen Yihe was stunned: "Kidnapped..."

He stared straight at Mu Jin, who was tied up just the same yet could still calmly reassure him. A trace of unreadable emotion flickered in his eyes.

"So what do we do now?"

Wen Yihe gathered his thoughts and shuffled closer to Mu Jin. It was then that he noticed the red marks on Mu Jin's wrist.

This made him frown involuntarily, and even his usually gentle voice had a cold edge to it:

"Your hand is injured."

But Mu Jin brushed it off: "Mm, but it's not a big deal."

Wen Yihe suddenly lowered his head, leaning in to look closely at his wrist, then shifted so his back was to him and reached out to touch the rope around his wrist.

"A Jin, don't move. Let me get those ropes off you."

Mu Jin, who had originally planned to take a pill and snap the ropes with brute force, said, "Huh?"

"You know how to untie them?"

Wen Yihe replied softly, "Mm, I got kidnapped a lot as a kid, so I made a point of learning how later."

Mu Jin let out an "Oh" and quietly watched Wen Yihe, watching closely and memorizing his rope-untying technique.

He figured he'd have to learn it himself once they got back—it might come in handy in future worlds too.

Soon, the ropes around his wrists came loose.

Mu Jin rubbed his wrists, tossed the rope aside, and used the same technique to untie Wen Yihe's.

Wen Yihe rubbed his wrists, his gaze sweeping the small room as he spoke, his voice low and gentle:

"I wonder where Feng Yan is."

Thanks to 648, Mu Jin obviously knew where Ji Fengyan was, but he couldn't explain that to Wen Yihe—and didn't want to, either.

He just said, "I'm going to find him," and turned to go.

But Wen Yihe was quick—just as Mu Jin's hand was about to touch the doorknob, he grabbed his wrist, stopping him.

Mu Jin frowned, but remembering Wen Yihe was a victim too, he asked calmly:

"Why are you stopping me?"

"Wen Yihe, stay here. Once I find Ji Fengyan and deal with the others, I'll—mm?"

Wen Yihe covered his mouth, shook his head gently, and mouthed silently: "Someone's out there."

There was a small window in the door, and light from outside filtered through it—the only light source in the room.

Mu Jin heard sounds outside—two men passing by, deep in conversation. Their voices grew clearer as they got closer.

"What's the boss thinking? Isn't he into that young master from the Mu family?"

The man sounded a bit confused. "And that Wen Yihe—I thought the boss and him were pretty close. Why'd he have us snatch them too?"

His companion laughed. "You wouldn't know this, but Wen's been fighting the boss over the same piece of land and won't back down. So the boss had no choice but to have him grabbed."

"As for the Mu family's young master, he was just grabbed as a bonus. Once Wen's taken care of, the boss can swoop in and play the hero~"

The other guy said, "Gotta hand it to the boss—two birds with one stone."

By the time they finished talking, the two had already walked past without stopping at their door.

Whatever they said after that was too faint to catch.

Mu Jin froze and instinctively looked up at Wen Yihe.

Wen Yihe had already pulled his hand away from Mu Jin's mouth, but his expression had soured.

"I never thought it'd be him..."

Mu Jin said, "They were clearly passing by on purpose so we'd hear that. Don't buy it."

Wen Yihe was quiet for a moment. "A Jin, you really don't think Ji Fengyan's behind this? You trust him that much?"

Mu Jin felt stuck. He knew the real mastermind was Mu Yu, but he couldn't just tell Wen Yihe that—it'd be too hard to explain.

"They showed up too conveniently. Besides, I believe in Ji Fengyan. You're his best friend—he would never do something like this."

"Alright, Wen Yihe, stay here. I'm going to find Ji Fengyan."

Not wanting to waste any more time, Mu Jin patted Wen Yihe's shoulder and turned to go.

Wen Yihe stared at him, his gaze deep and unreadable, before following anyway:

"A Jin, I don't feel safe letting you go alone. I'll come with you."

Mu Jin hesitated for only a few seconds before nodding in agreement—he was genuinely worried about Ji Fengyan.

"Fine, but stay close to me."

With that, Mu Jin opened the door and had 648 exchange for the pill, swallowing it while Wen Yihe wasn't looking.

Feeling his strength return, Mu Jin flexed his wrists and quickened his pace.

He only had half an hour—in that time, he had to find Ji Fengyan and take care of everyone else.

Otherwise, once his strength gave out, things would get messy.