The sunset dipping down the horizon was a deep shade of red.
A Chevrolet Suburban drove into the car park of the sanatorium. Wei Guanyi, who was already waiting, greeted Xia Lei as soon as he got out of the car.
âMister Xia, please follow me.â Wei Guanyi led Xia Lei to the building.
âDoctor Wei, are you sure that Doctor Ning has recovered?â asked Xia Lei.
âMister Xia, to be honest, I couldnât believe it either. Itâs a miracle. Youâll understand more when you meet her,â said Wei Guanyi.
Xia Lei was puzzled but chose to wait and see. He would be meeting Ning Jing soon and he would find out about her situation when he met her.
It was way past office hours so most of the doctors and nurses were off duty. The sound of footsteps echoed throughout the corridor. Coupled with the light emitted by the energy-saving lamps, it was a very unsettling atmosphere.
They stopped by the door of Ning Jingâs ward. Wei Guanyi said. âMister Xia, you should go in by yourself. Iâll stand by in my office. You can call me by the pager if you face any problems, Iâll come in a minute.â
Xia Lei nodded, then pushed open the door to enter the ward.
Ning Jing was standing at the balcony, watching the sun in the west. She was quiet and did not notice his arrival. Her hair fluttered with the evening wind.
Xia Lei was going to call her before he realised that she was so absorbed with something. He couldnât bear to disturb the peace. Thus, he chose to watch her quietly, waiting for the moment she turned around.
It didnât take long. Ning Jing turned around after one minute, her glance fell on Xia Lei immediately.
Their eyes met.
There was no emotional embrace. Not even a friendly greeting between them. It was as quiet as before.
Xia Lei was getting an eerie vibe from her calm expression. A thought helplessly crossed his mind. Had she really recovered?
They looked at each other silently. After about ten more seconds, a smile appeared on Ning Jingâs face. âXia Lei, youâre here.â
Her smile was unnatural.
But he still returned a smile of his own âHi, Ning Jing.â
âWhy are you being so polite with me?â Ning Jing said while curling the corner of her lips.
âYouâŠAre you alright now?â asked Xia Lei.
Ning Jing spun around. âWhat do you think?â
Xia Lei didnât know what was wrong with her. At this moment, she was in disguise.
âGet me out of here,â said Ning Jing.
Xia Lei came back to his senses. âYou could be discharged if youâve recovered.â
âOf course, I have,â said Ning Jing while she approached Xia Lei. Her pyjama-styled patient dress was dancing in the breeze. She seemed a lot thinner.
Inexplicably, Xia Lei took a step back.
Ning Jing stopped approaching Xia Lei. Her eyes were as deep as the ocean, piercing into Xia Leiâs soul.
âIf you need your family to sign on the discharge consent, Iâll notify them. I donât have the right to do so,â said Xia Lei.
âItâs pointless. They wonât let me leave but I must leave,â said Ning Jing.
Xia Lei slowly pieced together the situation. âWhat do you want to do after leaving?â
Ning Jing was suddenly silent. She frowned as if she was forgetting something and trying her best to recall it.
âNing Jing?â Xia Lei tried to call her. âWhat do you want to do?â
âI have no idea.â Ning Jing suddenly took a step forward and grabbed on Xia Leiâs hand. Then she said nervously. âBut I know you have to help me to leave here and give me ten million dollars.â
Xia Lei was startled.
âThey wonât let me out and mentioned that I need to be under observation for quite a while. I donât have the time for that.â Ning Jing grabbed Xia Leiâs hand r. âYou have to help me and give me ten million dollars.â
Ten million dollars was equivalent to sixty million RMB. This was a big amount. He couldnât just give her the money. Besides, it was obvious that she hadn't recovered. How could he give her that much money? Although he was rich, he wasnât stupid. He shook his head. âCalm down. Tell me, why do you need so much money?â
Ning Jing was silent. Again, she was frowning and trying to recall something.
âTell me, what are you going to do with that much money?â
âI donât know.â Ning Jing shook her head. âWhat I do know is that I need to get out of here. I want to go to India. I need ten million dollars.â
âIndia?â Xia Lei was shocked. âWhat do you want to do in India?â
âIâve no idea!â Ning Jing was suddenly out of control. She shouted at Xia Lei. âI donât know! Donât ask anymore! Help me to get out from here! Give me ten million dollars!â
âIf I refuse to do so?â Xia Lei said.
Ning Jing loosened her grip and took a few steps back. Tears welled up in her eyes, then the tears began to stream down her face.
âIâm sorry. Donât cry, Iâm just trying to figure things out,â Xia Lei explained. âI think you know that your identity is special as you are part of the expert group. You are undergoing treatment here and there are many restrictions to adhere to. If you want to be discharged, youâll need to go through a very complicated procedure. Itâs pointless for me to sign your discharge consent. Besides, I need to know what Iâm giving you the money for. So, tell me, why do you need so much money?â
Ning Jing held her head and crouched on the floor. She tugged her head in agony. âI donât know, I donât know! My head hurts. There is a voice who keeps telling me what to do. If I donât leave soon, Iâll die. I donât want to dieâŠI donât want to die!â
She was terrified.
Xia Lei could not remain his composure anymore. He approached Ning Jing, pulled her up and clutched her shoulder with both of his hands. He asked nervously. âYou mentioned that you heard a voice, whatâs going on? What did the voice say to you?â
âLeave here, ten million dollars, New Delhi in India.â Ning Jing spat out all terms in confusion.
âIs the voice threatening you?â
Ning Jing nodded. She seemed scared.
âHow did it threaten you? What did it say?â
âIf it wants me to die, I will die.â
Xia Lei was stunned. âWhat did you say? What do you mean?â
Ning Jing suddenly pushed Xia Lei off and took two steps back. âIf it says I will die, my heart will stop beating. It was like that yesterday. When I heard it call for me to die, I fell onto the ground and my heart stopped beating. I felt like I'd died, but my heart started beating after a minute.â As soon as she finished her sentence, she suddenly closed her eyes and fell onto the ground.
âNing Jing!â Xia Lei pounced upon her and held her by her waist, which prevented her from falling on the ground.
Ning Jing opened her eyes. âI want to show you how it happened.â
Upon hearing that, sadness hit Xia Lei hard and he was about to cry. She was a poor woman.
Ning Jing rested in Xia Leiâs embrace. Once again the tears were streaming down her face. âI donât want to die. Please get me out here and give me ten million dollars, okay?â
A tear rolled down from Xia Leiâs face and fell on Ning Jingâs cheek.
It was clear that she hadn't recovered. She had deceived the nurses and Wei Guanyi. This was the real her.
Should he get her out of this half-military administered sanatorium and give her ten million dollars?
Xia Lei was unable to make a decision. Who would trust a patient in this state? It was difficult to let her out of here. It was even riskier to let her go to New Delhi of India with the ten million dollars. How could he help here in such a situation?
However, another thing was troubling him. It was the voice that had been mentioned by Ning Jing.
He couldnât forget Ning Jingâs prophet role during the operation in Italy. If it wasnât for her painting, he wouldnât have found out the password and clues of entering the underground maze from Leonardo da Vinciâs art, Mona Lisa.
Just when he was still contemplating in agony, Ning Jing suddenly let out a loud belch before she lost all her strength.
âNing Jing? Ning Jing?â Xia Lei called out her name loudly and anxiously.
She didnât respond to him.
Xia Lei put his hand in front of her nostrils. It was at that moment he was shocked as if he was struck by lightning. She wasnât breathing!
âNing Jing! Ning Jing!â Xia Lei immediately panicked. He laid Ning Jing on the ground then placed his overlapping hand on the centre of her sternum and delivered chest compressions.
âWake up! Donât scare me like that!â
His mind was a mess, forgetting that he was in a hospital. The only thing he had in mind was to resuscitate her.
Chest compressions, artificial breathing, everything that he did didnât make her come back alive.
Xia Lei finally snapped back to his senses after thirty seconds. He got up from the ground and reached out to the pager beside the bed. He grabbed the pagers and shouted. âNing Jing is dying, please save her! Quick!â
There was no response from the pager.
âSpeak damn it!â Xia Lei shouted at the pager. It was at that time he found out that the wire to the pagers had been cut. He was stunned, who would cut off the wire of the pagers?
âCough!â The sound of cough came from behind.
Xia Lei turned his head around. He was stunned by what he saw.
Ning Jing propped herself up from the ground slowly with her arms. She couldnât stop coughing, tears were running down from her cheek.
The door to the ward was suddenly thrown open, Wei Guanyi and a nurse came barging in.
âMister Xia, what happened?â Wei Guanyi looked at Xia Lei and Ning Jing with shock.
Xia Lei put down the pager. âUh, nothing. You guys may leave, I need to talk to Ning Jing.â
âReally? Nothing happened?â Wei Guanyi was curious.
âNothing, please leave,â said Xia Lei.
Wei Guanyi left with the nurse.
Ning Jing finally got her breath back. âDo you believe me now? I donât want to go through it again, please help me.â
Xia Lei nodded, he then pulled out his phone to dial a number.
âI have been expecting your call. Alright, tell me, whatâs the bad news?â Qin Xiang was the recipient.
âHelp me with something.â
âYou want me to steal something?â
âNo, I need you to kidnap someone,â said Xia Lei.
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