"Arrange for someone to ensure Xiaoyan's safety around the clock," Hu Li instructed Hu Er after hanging up the phone. Hu Er nodded solemnly, assuring his compliance. Despite his outward calm, Hu Li's heart was in turmoil. Father Hu truly intended to kill Hua Yan.

After more than ten hours, the doors of the operating room finally opened, and two patients were wheeled out in succession. These two were Old Yang and Old Hei. Hearing the doctor's words, Hua Yan and Old Qiao both sighed in relief. The doctor said that although Old Yang was the most severely injured, his physical condition was the best. If he could get through the next twenty-four hours, he would recover.

Although Old Hei's internal organs were injured, the trauma was not severe. Being young, he would be out of danger after a few dozen hours as long as there was no major bleeding.

"Old Qiao, you should get some sleep. I'll stay here," Hua Yan, who had unknowingly slept for a while earlier, now felt much more energetic.

Old Qiao wanted to refuse, but when he tried to move, he realized his waist was in excruciating pain. "I'll ask Xiao Jiu to come and keep you company."

"Okay, don't worry about it, I'll handle things here."

Jiu Cheng had already arrived at the hospital. Being meticulous, he brought chicken soup, dumplings, and warm clothing for Hua Yan.

"Your face looks awful, and your hands are ice-cold. Drink this chicken soup to warm up," Jiu Cheng said worriedly and tenderly, scooping a bowl of chicken soup and handing it to Hua Yan.

At that moment, Hua Yan indeed felt famished. Smelling the rich aroma of the chicken soup, she couldn't help but be pleased. "Thank you. Where's this chicken soup from? It's delicious."

Jiu Cheng raised an eyebrow and smiled proudly, "I made it myself."

"Oh? Not bad at all, kid. You’ve got some skills; appearances can be deceiving," Hua Yan said with a laugh, giving Jiu Cheng a playful punch. Jiu Cheng laughed even more happily. Seeing the empty bowl, he filled another one for her.

"Here are some crab dumplings. Try them."

"The dumplings weren't made by you too, were they?" The dumplings had translucent wrappers, and the crab meat inside was white and tender, complemented by green onions, making them smell and look delicious. Each dumpling wrapper was pleated perfectly, showing the meticulousness of the person who made them.

Jiu Cheng nodded with a smile, thinking that Uncle Bai Hen's advice to win her heart with food was indeed effective. While Hua Yan was enjoying the food, Jiu Cheng began to get lost in thought. On his way upstairs, he encountered Hu Li.

Originally, he hadn’t planned to talk to him, but unexpectedly, the man who had always been indifferent to him took the initiative to stop him and asked if he could see Hua Yan. When he learned that Jiu Cheng was there to accompany Hua Yan, a cold light flashed in his eyes before he quickly concealed it.

In a gentle manner, Hu Li asked Jiu Cheng to wait for a moment because he wanted to buy some food for Hua Yan. Jiu Cheng unceremoniously showed him the insulated food container he was carrying, indicating that it wasn't necessary as he had already prepared everything.

The man just gave Jiu Cheng a long look and said thank you. Everything Jiu Cheng did was voluntary, and besides, it had nothing to do with Hu Li. Feeling a surge of anger, he was then comforted by the envy in Hu Li's eyes. Jiu Cheng left him with a triumphant smile before heading upstairs.

"Did you see Hu Li when you came up?" Hua Yan asked, remembering she had told Hu Li to go home and rest, wondering if he had left.

Internally conflicted about whether to hide the truth, Jiu Cheng eventually said honestly, "He was still downstairs when I came up."

"Ah, I knew it," Hua Yan muttered helplessly. Looking outside at the falling snow, she felt worried. Unless she went down herself, she knew she wouldn't be able to convince Hu Li to go home and rest.

After thinking for a moment, she decided that since Old Yang and the others were temporarily safe and Jiu Cheng was reliable, she would go downstairs herself.

"You stay here. I'll be back shortly."

"Alright," Jiu Cheng said, forcing a smile. He had no grounds to stop them from meeting. He was unaware that the Cheng and Hu families had decided to kill Hua Yan, which was why she was in this life-threatening situation, leading to many unimaginable events.

The hospital was quiet and much more tranquil at this late hour, with only the night-duty nurses, doctors, and some armed police officers on duty. Hua Yan took the private elevator down to the first floor.

Suddenly feeling the need to use the restroom, she turned and went to the ladies' room. What she didn't know was that a pair of sharp eyes were closely watching her from a slightly open ward door.

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This person made a hand gesture to the man lying in the hospital bed, who then sprayed a white mist in the room. Once everyone else fell asleep, he quickly sent a message.

The woman who had been observing from the door pretended to go to the restroom. Just as Hua Yan was about to leave the restroom, she saw a woman entering. The woman looked like a patient’s relative, with timid eyes.

Not sensing anything unusual, Hua Yan continued to walk out. As she passed the woman, the woman's pale lips suddenly opened, and a tiny needle shot out toward Hua Yan's neck.

The distance was too close, and Hua Yan, distracted by her thoughts, realized something was wrong only after the steel needle had already pierced her flesh. Moving at an extremely fast speed, she felt her vision go black and fell into darkness. In her last moments of clarity, Hua Yan cursed herself for having grown too complacent in peaceful days, forgetting the most basic sense of vigilance.

After a quarter of an hour, Jiu Cheng still hadn't seen Hua Yan return. He took out his phone, wanting to call her, but hesitated, muttering to himself, "They probably haven't seen each other for a long time and are caught up in each other's company. I shouldn't upset her, I'll wait a bit longer."

Despite his words, Jiu Cheng's heart was filled with a lingering sense of bitterness. Finally, he pulled a handheld game console out of his coat pocket and started playing to distract himself.

Time passed unnoticed. The man who had pretended to be a patient took Hua Yan out through the window of the restroom. They quickly crawled through a dog hole and emerged on a bustling night market street. Though there weren't many pedestrians, there were still quite a few. They quickly got into a car and sped away.

"Dragon Da, what does the master want us to do next?" the woman asked the man.

"Once we're out of the city, we'll switch cars and head straight to Waihai City. Someone there will take over this woman."

The woman glanced at the unconscious Hua Yan and asked curiously, "Does the master really want to send this woman away? If he truly dislikes her, wouldn't it be simpler to just finish her off now?"

Dragon Da glared at the woman and said, "Dragon Er, you're getting old and your brain isn't working well. There's a reason for keeping her alive."

Dragon Er punched Dragon Da a few times, and Dragon Da laughed heartily. Dragon Er continued, "Does the master really intend to give her to the Cheng family?"

"Do you think the master would personally stain his hands with this woman's blood? Once the task is done, you should forget all about this. The master wouldn't have sent us old-timers who haven't been on a mission for years if it weren't for confidentiality."

"Is the master worried about being caught by the young master? But with the young master's temper, without evidence, the master could still brush things off. Otherwise, who knows what might happen?"

"As long as you know."

Anyone paying attention on the road would have seen a car speeding by like a gust of wind.

The car safely passed through the checkpoint from the capital to Waihai City. After traveling a while, it stopped next to another car. In less than half an hour, Hua Yan had been taken to a port in Waihai City. A small ship took over, quickly disappearing into the vast sea. Dragon Da and Dragon Er immediately blended into the city center of Waihai City.

On the port, a fat man with large ears, dressed in customs uniform, smoked a cigarette and counted a thick wad of cash in a paper bag by flashlight. Excitedly, he muttered to himself, "This morning, I cursed those bastards for bullying me, making me work during the New Year because I have no connections. Didn't expect to earn thirty thousand bucks tonight. Just wonder what they took away in that black bag. Hopefully, their luck holds, or they might get caught by the patrol boats."

In the military hospital, Jiu Cheng suddenly snapped out of his game. Seeing that Hua Yan had been gone for almost an hour, he nervously told the other two armed police officers and rushed downstairs, but there was no sign of Hua Yan.

Blood rushed to Jiu Cheng's head. He knew Hua Yan wouldn't leave without a word, even if she was with Hu Li. In his panic, he quickly called Hu Li.

"What? Hua Yan came downstairs to find me? I didn't see her. I just left the hospital and haven't seen her at all," Hu Li said, alarmed. Hearing from Jiu Cheng that Hua Yan was missing, a voice told him something was wrong.

"Call your superior immediately and report this. We'll coordinate over the phone."

"What's wrong with the master?" Hu Er asked, noticing the drop in temperature inside the car and Hu Li's icy expression.

"Turn around!" Hu Li ordered, making a call to his trusted aides at the hospital to inquire about the situation.

Unfortunately, they were also in the dark. Hu Li had calmed down by now, realizing that someone capable of taking Hua Yan under his aides' noses was no ordinary person.

"You'd better bring Xiaoyan back to me," Hu Li said after a moment of thought, calling Hu Father.

Just as Hu Father had woken up, upon hearing Hu Li's enraged shout, he paused briefly before a smile crept onto his lips. However, when he responded to Hu Li, his voice carried a hint of anger, "Do you feel you've grown wings now? How did you manage to lose your woman right under your nose? If you have the guts, find some evidence, otherwise, even if you're my son, don't blame me for asserting authority."

This time, Hu Father hung up without any courtesy, leaving Hu Li to smash the car window in agony. Inside, turmoil raged within him. His anger was genuine, but he had also hoped to glean some information from Hu Father.

Unfortunately, the information wasn't what Hu Li wanted to hear. From Hu Father's words, he understood that regardless of whether Hu Father had been directly involved, he certainly knew about the incident. And now, Hua Yan must have been taken to a safe place.

Old Qiao, Jiu Cheng, and Hu Li continued their search for Hua Yan, but three hours later, they still had no leads. Meanwhile, at a mansion overseas, Cheng Cheng grimly entered the study.

"Father, the vessel sent to intercept Hua Yan's transport was sunk by a mainland patrol vessel."

"Oh?" Cheng Father's expression shifted for a while before he chuckled, "Well, that works too. Let that woman feed the fish. You just need to ensure there are no survivors rescued from the sea. Arrange for the Hu family to take over immediately. Since they handed over the person to our people before this happened, the Hu family has technically fulfilled the agreement."

As daylight broke on the mainland, Old Qiao delivered bad news to Jiu Cheng and Hu Li: an unidentified vessel in the open sea had refused to stop and was sunk by a coast guard vessel. They searched for survivors but found only scattered remains of flesh and wreckage, with no signs of anyone alive.