Transmigration; Married to My Ex-Fiancé's Uncle-Chapter 228; Kidnapping 1

The window.

Small. Decorative. The kind meant to provide natural light rather than serve as an actual exit. Currently open just enough to allow a thread of outside air to disturb the climate-controlled environment.

Shuyin crossed to it, her mind already calculating possibilities. The window was narrow but not impossibly so. A slim twelve-year-old could fit through it if properly motivated.

Or properly coerced.

Or unconscious and being manipulated by an external force.

She examined the sill with chilling attention to detail. Fresh...

She examined the sill with chilling attention to detail. Fresh scuff marks, recent enough that the paint dust hadn’t settled yet. And there, barely visible unless you knew to look, a smear of dark fabric residue. Possibly from clothing being dragged across the painted surface.

Shuyin’s consciousness expanded outward automatically, using her mermaid senses to navigate hostile environments.

Searching for Yuyan’s distinctive energy signature.

There.

Faint. Moving away. And wrong, dulled somehow, sluggish, like trying to perceive through murky water instead of crystal clarity.

Drugged.

The word crystallized in her mind with certainty. Someone had administered a sedative to Yuyan and extracted her through this window while the entire boutique remained focused on a carefully staged distraction.

Professional operation. Coordinated timing. Targeted acquisition.

Shuyin’s hands began to tremble.

She stared at them with detached irritation. Physical stress response. Unnecessary biological reaction. She willed the tremor to cease, commanded her autonomic nervous system to return to baseline.

The shaking persisted.

Annoying.

"Mrs. Lu." Ting Fei appeared in the doorway, his expression grim. "She’s not in the store. I’ve checked every location. Staff confirms no one exited through the main entrance, and the rear alarm system hasn’t been triggered."

"Window extraction," Shuyin said, her voice remarkably steady despite her traitorous hands. "Four distinct energy signatures moving east toward the service road. Yuyan’s presence is compromised, likely chemically sedated based on the pattern degradation."

Ting Fei’s eyes sharpened but he didn’t waste time questioning her methodology. "I’m initiating emergency protocol....."

"Execute from mobile position," Shuyin interrupted. "We’re moving immediately."

She turned to Chen Xiao, crouching to achieve eye level with him. His small face had gone pale, frightened but not yet panicked.

"Listen very carefully," she said, her tone calm and absolutely clear. "You will remain with Madame Chen. You will not leave this boutique for any reason whatsoever. Ting Fei will position security at the entrance. Do you understand these instructions?"

"But Yuyan...."

"I’m retrieving her," Shuyin stated. Simple fact. "But I require you to be safe first. Can you follow these instructions?"

Chen Xiao nodded, tears threatening but not falling yet.

"Good." She stood, already moving. "Ting Fei, assign two guards to Chen Xiao’s position. All remaining personnel are with me. Now."

The rear exit loomed ahead. Shuyin pushed through it decisively, the alarm blaring its useless warning as afternoon sunlight struck her face with inappropriate warmth and brightness.

The service alley stretched before them, narrow, shadowed despite the hour, lined with commercial dumpsters and delivery vehicles. Perfect location for conducting illegal business away from public observation.

Shuyin’s consciousness tracked Yuyan’s signature with focused intensity. Still moving. Still fading as the sedative pulled her deeper into unconsciousness with each passing second.

Dosage calculation unknown. Standard adult dose? Weight-adjusted? Miscalculated overdose potential?

Stop. Speculation serves no purpose. Execute retrieval.

She moved down the alley with controlled speed, quick but not running, efficient but not panicked. Her hands had stopped their tremor, replaced by a cold clarity that sharpened every sense to razor precision.

There.

The alley curved ahead. Shuyin rounded the corner and her eyes locked onto the target.

Four men. Professional bearing is evident in their coordinated movements and strategic positioning. Two of them supported a limp figure between them, silver hair catching available light, head lolling forward, feet dragging uselessly across the pavement.

Yuyan.

A van idled twenty meters distant. Engine running. Rear doors standing open like a waiting maw.

Fifteen seconds. Perhaps twenty. Then Yuyan would be inside that vehicle and tracking complexity would increase exponentially.

"Stop," Shuyin said.

Her voice wasn’t loud. Didn’t need to be. It cut through ambient urban noise, carrying absolute authority that made all four men turn simultaneously.

The leader, tall, professional assessment evident in his bearing, eyes cold and calculating, evaluated her in a single comprehensive glance. Designer suit. Expensive shoes. Solitary woman.

Not a threat.

Fatal miscalculation on his part.

"Walk away," he said flatly. "Final warning before this situation becomes significantly more complicated for you."

"Release her," Shuyin replied, her tone conversational and utterly devoid of negotiation. "Immediately."

The leader’s expression shifted, amusement mixing with contempt. "Or what? Will you file a complaint? Call mall security?" He glanced at his companions. "Lady, you’re severely out of your operational depth here. Last opportunity to walk away before....."

Shuyin’s magic lashed out.

No preamble. No warning. No wasted time on further verbal exchange.

Her consciousness wrapped around his mind like a constrictor, finding pain receptors and activating every single one simultaneously at maximum intensity.

The leader’s words choked off mid-sentence. His legs buckled, his body impacting the pavement with bone-jarring force. Hands flew to his head as sounds emerged from his throat that transcended language, pure vocalization of agony.

The other three men reacted with training, reaching for weapons, moving to neutralize the perceived threat, executing their contingency protocols.

Shuyin’s awareness split, consciousness fragmenting into multiple operational threads.

The second man’s vestibular system erupted with catastrophic vertigo. The world spun violently on multiple axes, up became down became sideways, and he collapsed, retching.

The third man’s motor cortex connection was severed. Muscles stopped responding to neural commands entirely. He dropped like an unpowered marionette.

The fourth, one of the men physically restraining Yuyan, attempted escape. Tried to drag her toward the waiting van.

Shuyin’s magic coiled around his entire nervous system. Every nerve fiber fired simultaneously in a cascading symphony of pure neurological overload. He screamed, released Yuyan, and crumpled.

Four seconds. Maybe five total elapsed time.

Four professional operatives reduced to writhing, incapacitated heaps while Shuyin stood thirty feet away, perfectly still except for the slight tremor that had returned to her hands.

Irritating physiological response.

Yuyan was falling, Shuyin moved with predatory speed, crossing the distance in rapid strides, intercepting Yuyan before she could impact the filthy alley ground. The weight was considerable; Yuyan was taller than Shuyin, lean but with solid muscle mass, but manageable with proper biomechanical distribution.

"I have got you," Shuyin stated, more factual announcement than emotional comfort.