Beauty and the Bodyguard

Chapter 35 - I'll Be Your Hostage

"I'll be your hostage- don't pick on her." Lin Yi stood up, speaking dully.

Mengyao couldn't believe her eyes! Was the man so unscared of death that he'd stand up for her in a situation like this?

Sure, he was paid, Mengyao understood that- but what worth did money have when put against your life? There wasn't a single person who didn't care about their life; it was human nature! As such, Mengyao acknowledged that Lin Yi wasn't acting on the basis of her father's money, that there was more to it than that.

In that instant, Mengyao didn't find Lin Yi to be such an irritating presence anymore. At the very least, the guy was a true man! Mengyao knew with clear certainty that Zhong Pinliang would never be able to take her place the way Lin Yi did right now, too- the guy would probably be more terrified than she was!

Eh? Why was she comparing Zhong Pinliang with LIn Yi? Mengyao pushed the thoughts away- it wasn't the time to be thinking of useless topics like that.

"Fucking hell!" Lin Yi's offer took Baldy by surprise. Everyone else had their heads lowered, dreading that they'd be the ones to get picked! What the hell was this guy doing, jumping out and volunteering??

"Who the fuck are you? I didn't pick you, kid!!" Baldy frowned as he glared at Lin Yi. "Get out of the way if you don't wanna die!!"

"You just need a hostage, don't you? Isn't it the same?" Lin Yi shrugged. "I'll be cooperative, so don't worry."

"Go fuck yourself!" The baldy was raging at that point. How could Lin Yi just ruin his pace, not a care for the world? With that, he lifted his gun and shot at him.

A mere bullet, however, was not fast enough to hit someone of Lin Yi's calibre, even if fired at point blank range. The Art of Dragon Mastery had heightened Lin Yi's reflexes to abnormal levels, and all it took was a slight twist to the side for Lin Yi to dodge the attack.

Yet a sudden thought crossed Lin Yi's mind as he turned- There was a girl right behind him! The bullet would undoubtedly hit her judging by the angle Baldy fired his gun at, and it'd injure the girl fatally should it connect!

Gritting his teeth, Lin Yi used the remainder of his time and reflex to turn his body back before the bullet reached him, planning to take the bullet himself! The bullet penetrated into Lin Yi's thigh, putting a frown on Lin Yi's face. Pain of this degree weren't too much for him, but it hurt nevertheless.

Fortunately, his positioning allowed him to receive the bullet properly. It only hit him in the flesh, not hitting anything vital.

"Ahh!!!" The crowd let out a cry of surprise simultaneously, and both Mengyao and Yushu covered their mouths with their hands. Lin Yi had been shot!

Yet the two saw everything. Lin Yi could've completely avoided the bullet if he hadn't turned his body back for the girl behind him.

At that thought, Mengyao turned her gaze onto the girl Lin Yi protected, a slight anger reflecting in her eyes.

"Jesus fucking christ, this guy!!" Baldy stared at the man before him. The guy was insane!

"Boss, more cops on the way…." One of the robbers said as he ran over, panting.

"Fuck!" Baldy cursed before point the gun at Lin Yi again. "We'll use you, since you wanna be the hostage so much! Ma Liu, you take care of him!"

"Yes boss!" It was then Ma Liu's turn to point his gun at LIn Yi's head. "Let's go, kid, this is what happens when you try to act the hero!!"

Lin Yi remained silent as he considered his options. The robbers were too far apart from each other- it'd be hard for him to take them down smoothly. There were also innocent civilians involved, and a state of chaos from the crowd would complicate the fight even further.

"You, little missy! Get up!" Baldy pointed his gun at Mengyao, still unwilling to let her go.

For some reason, Mengyao found herself less terrified than before. Yushu was about to stand up along with her as well, when Mengyao stopped her with a look.

Yushu had planned to go with Mengyao, but her gaze told her not to act on impulse- they'd be better off if Yushu stayed behind to rescue them later.

"Let's go!" Baldy barked as he pointed the gun at Mengyao.

Lin Yi, on the other hand, was feeling troubled. Why was the baldy so fixated on Mengyao, did he simply like her goods? It was the only explanation- there weren't any other reasons for the guy to be so insistent.

After all, only one hostage was enough to negotiate with the police. It didn't matter how many hostages you had, all you needed was one for the police to keep their guns at bay.

"Listen up you coppers!" Baldy yelled from the door the other robber was at. "Retreat back a hundred meters, and don't send anyone after us! I'll kill these hostages if you do!"

Song Lingshan frowned, unwilling to retreat under orders from a criminal. The robbers, however, had hostages with them, and Lingshan found herself with no other choice. She sighed. "Retreat!"

The vice-captain, in actuality, preferred not to have surrounded the bank head-on, acknowledging the stress it would build onto the robbers. Stress like that manifested in many forms, and were prone to cause unpredictable actions from the side of the surrounded. A subtle, hidden surrounding, on the other hand, would be the wiser move, considering the likelihood that there wouldn't even be hostages in the first place!

Yet the director rejected the suggestion, putting her off for her heroism.

Baldy then pushed the doors open and marched out with Lin Yi and Mengyao as hostages, pleased with the compliance coming from the police.

"Yao Yao!" Li Fu, who was standing next to Song Lingshan, exclaimed in shock.

"Mister Li, you know the hostage?" Lingshan asked, uneasy.

"That's Chu Mengyao, Mister Chu's daughter……" Li Fu was panicking. The chairman was out on a business trip, and it was his responsibility to look after Mengyao… He'd be in huge trouble should something happen to her.

"What…!" Lingshan froze, panicking as well. How did it make sense for Chu Pengzhan's daughter to be picked, out of all the civilians in there! The thing she dreaded most had come true, and she wasted no time in contacting the director. "Reporting sir! One of the hostages have been identified as Chu Pengzhan's daughter, Chu Mengyao….!"

The director of the police department started sweating upon hearing the words. "Play it safe and tread with care! We cannot afford to lose Chu Mengyao!!"

Chapter 36 - Damned Licence Plate

"But we have the snipers ready! They're ninety percent certain that they'd kill off the robbers! Song Lingshan argued.

"You said it yourself, it's a ninety percent chance! What about the other ten percent, and what if Miss Chu gets hit? Both of us will be responsible for that casualty!" The director scolded. "I told you to play it safe- listen to their demands before all else!! We'll decide our course of action afterwards!"

"Understood." Song Lingshan was troubled. She had planned to play a riskier hand and have the robbers sniped, but that was no longer possible considering how things stood. Even the director had forbidden it- what else could she do?

Baldy, on the other hand, was only pleased at the helplessness of the police. With haste, he got on the black SUV with the rest of his crew and left.

Song Lingshan could only watch helplessly as the car disappeared into the distance, hostages in hand.

"Miss…….." Li Fu panicked as he stared in the direction the car went. He had tried to call the chairman, but the it wouldn't connect.

"Rest assured, Mister Fu- the police will take care of this." With that, the vice-captain pulled out a walkie talkie. "Attention all squads, attention all squads! The bank robbers have made off in a black SUV, licence plate a74110!! Have tailing preparations in place!!"

"74110?" Lingshan thought about it as she mumbled the licence plate number to herself. These robbers were making fun of her! She dialed a number on her phone, pissed off. "Traffic police? I'm Song Lingshan, from the criminal department. Help look up a licence plate number for me, it's an SUV, a74110……. What? It's not an SUV…? Are you sure? Okay, I see."

Damned thieves! So that was why they put the licence plate on full display, it was a full-fledged taunt!! Lingshan couldn't take it anymore, she even looked the fake plate number up…!

Baldy had his lackeys tie Lin Yi and Mengyao up the instant he entered the car. He was looking at Lin Yi, amused and in glee. "I say, what the hell were you thinking, did you really wanna join the party that bad? We only wanted the Chu Miss here, but you-! You just had to be the hero, didn't you, forcing us to pull you along!"

Lin Yi was startled- the guy knew Mengyao! It was a possibility that hadn't even crossed both their minds- they only assumed that the hostage was picked randomly. Lin Yi even thought that Baldy's insistence was due to Mengyao's looks and his desire to have his way with her a little.

Never did it occur to them that the entire thing was a targeted kidnapping.

"Y-you… know me?" Mengyao asked subconsciously, taken aback as well.

"Yeah, why wouldn't we- you're the heiress of fucking Pengzhan Industries!!" Baldy explained gleefully. "Why the hell would I bring you with me, if I didn't know you?"

"Why are you guys kidnapping me….?" Mengyao didn't understand. It was evident that the group had everything planned out!!

"Why? Heheh…. You know why…" Baldy's smiled widely, his yellow teeth baring. "Think, what do you have on you worth kidnapping?"

"I…." Mengyao blinked in shock. This man wasn't after her body, was he!? At that thought, Mengyao concluded that it was very likely indeed. She was so pretty, so sexy, her eyes were big and her skin was white… Her chest was perfectly shaped, and perky, as well… It was only natural for a man to be interested in a body like hers.

N-noo…….

Mengyao was about to burst into tears as she imagined getting violated by this ugly-ass person. She'd rather die than let someone like him have his way with her!! She'd rather giver herself to Lin Yi than this disgusting criminal!!

Why Lin Yi? Because he was the only one Mengyao could think of. Zhong Pinliang irritated her so absurdly much that he was out of the question, and that really just left Uncle Fu and Lin Yi...

She cursed at how much of a failure she was. These three were the only men she knew!! Her social circle was way too limited..!

Why was she always so unlucky? Mengyao started thinking up a plan to get herself out of this mess as she contemplated on her unlucky life.

Mengyao's paling and blushing only told Baldy one thing- the girl was getting the wrong ideas. "Fuck! I have plenty of women, okay? I'm not interested in a kid like you!! I;m kidnapping you because someone's paying!!"

Mengyao instantly let out a breath, very glad that the kidnapper wasn't after her body.

"Boss, I'm fine with a kid like her you know? Maybe we could play with her a little?" Ma Liu grinned lustfully as he looked at Mengyao.

"Shut the hell up, Ma Liu!! The higher ups said that the girl's off limits- we need her whole." Baldy scolded.

"Aw, shit!! Pity." Ma Liu turned back, seemingly afraid of Baldy. "I'd die a pretty satisfied man if I get to do a girl that hot!"

"Stop bullshitting, just go get yourself a couple of schoolgirls with your payment after the job's done!!" Baldy didn't appear to take well to Ma Liu's lustful wishes.

Mengyao was even more relieved, at this point. These guys weren't after her body, so that was good- she didn't have to worry about being violated! What annoyed her, however, was the fact that this bald asshole decided to tie her hand up with Lin Yi's!

The guy was probably having the time of his life feeling her up!

Yet Lin Yi's hand reminded Mengyao of the scene back in the bank, where he pushed her down in order to take her place as hostage. It gave Mengyao a sensation she failed to understand.

What was with her? Could it be that this little gesture changed her view towards Lin Yi? No, that'd be way too fast! It wasn't that easy!

But would anyone else do what Lin Yi did, given the same circumstances? What was Lin Yi thinking when he decided to put his body on the line for her? Mengyao was getting confused- she didn't know anymore……

"Fuck!! What the hell are you smiling for?!" Baldy was not pleased. The girl was blushing and smiling, what the fuck? Didn't she understand her situation? It was an insult to his pride! The girl clearly didn't see him as a threat if she blushed and smiled in his criminal-filled SUV!!

"Ah-!" Mengyao froze in realization as she stopped smiling.