Ignoring the fact that her wound was bleeding continuously, An Xiaoning hurriedly proceeded to free herself from the chains as soon as she found the keys.

She walked out slowly, clutching her stomach that was in excruciating pain, which worsened with every step she took.

Instead of leaving immediately, she dragged the deceased hitman towards an obscure spot by the stairwell, after which she took out his mobile phone and placed it inside her pocket. She then found her mobile phone from his clothes, only to realize it was out of battery.

An Xiaoning continued to wipe away the bloodstains on the ground with her sleeve before sitting down at the bottom of the stairs. Having exhausted all her energy, she panted heavily and could barely move another inch.

She was aching from head to toe. To make matters worse, she was also famished and parched.

She wanted nothing more than to escape this hellhole instantly. How she wished she could…

As much as she wanted to, she could not gather the strength and energy to escape. She could only place a call using the hitman's mobile phone. Although the hitman had Jin Qingyan's number saved in his phone, An Xiaoning refused to call him.

Instead, she quickly looked up Gu Beicheng's number in her mobile phone, which was running low on battery, and proceeded to give him a call.

Gu Beicheng picked up almost immediately. Well aware that the number had belonged to the hitman, he said right away, "Just what are you after? Release An Xiaoning and I'll give you whatever you want."

Leaning against the wall, An Xiaoning spoke in a feeble voice, "It's me… I… killed him. I'm hiding under the stairwell in the basement, the other hitman has sent Jin Qingyue away." She began panting heavily with her eyes half-closed.

"I'll come save you right away," he said, ending the call immediately.

An Xiaoning placed the mobile back inside her pocket.

She had not managed to get much sleep ever since she was abducted. Thus, she began to feel sleepy and lethargic all of a sudden.

However, she could only sleep in peace when Gu Beicheng arrives.

Bringing along some bodyguards with him, Gu Beicheng hurried down to the location where the hitmen were hiding. The hitman who was responsible for sending Jin Qingyue away had already left via a secret passage. According to plan, he had headed towards the location where he had agreed to meet the other hitman who was in charge of killing An Xiaoning, after which they would leave S Nation together.

Thus, Gu Beicheng had managed to arrive successfully. He noticed the bloodstains all over the ground as soon as he stepped foot into the basement. He then proceeded down the stairs and was greeted with the sight of An Xiaoning sitting on the ground with her back against the wall and her head tilted towards the side. Her face was stained with blood, and she appeared to be completely helpless.

"Xiaoning."

Upon the sight of his arrival, she managed to let out a faint smile before closing her eyes and falling asleep.

Gu Beicheng stepped forward to pick her up carefully in his arms and instructed his bodyguards to deal with the body of the deceased hitman.

Gu Beicheng had already informed the press and media of the matter as soon as he left his house. Thus, the news and media reporters had managed to capture the entire process of Gu Beicheng carrying An Xiaoning out of the hiding place, with the latter soaked in blood. An Xiaoning laid motionless in his arms with her eyes shut tight, as her long hair cascaded down his shoulder.

Jin Qingyue was still shivering from the trauma even when she had already arrived home. Mrs. Jin broke down into tears upon her arrival. "You really scared me!" exclaimed Mrs. Jin as she rushed forward to hug her daughter.

"I was almost frightened to death too," Jin Qingyue cried while in her mother's embrace.

The two then continued to cry together, after which Mrs. Jin said to the butler, "Set them free."

Jin Qingyue stepped inside the house, only to find that Jin Qingyan and the members of the Gu family were all tied up. She then realized the reason she had managed to make it out alive.

At that instant, she began to think that her parents were still the best in the end.

Mrs. Gu took a deep breath and glowered at Mrs. Jin. "I'll definitely expose the misdeeds you've committed to the media!"

"Do whatever you please. From my position, I didn't do anything wrong," Mrs. Jin said nonchalantly.

"That's enough, Qingyue has already come home. What are you still blabbering about?" Mr. Jin chided.

Mr. and Mrs. Gu then proceeded to leave at once, along with their son, Gu Dongcheng.

A deafening silence filled the air in the living room.

Jin Qingyan stood up without uttering a single word at all. Noticing an expression she had never seen on him before, Mrs. Jin handed him his mobile phone. "Qingyan, here's your phone."

He looked down and grabbed the mobile phone from her hands, after which he forcefully smashed it onto the ground in a sudden outburst with an austere expression on his face. He then turned to leave before the rest of his family could even react.

Jin Qingyan arrived at the entrance only to see Fan Shixin, who hurriedly alighted from the car and rushed forward to report to him, "Young Sir, Ms. An has already been sent to the hospital. I've just gotten news that she had managed to kill one of the hitmen, though she has also sustained injuries as she got stabbed in the process. However, Gu Beicheng has already dealt with the deceased hitman, and the police have arrested the other one who tried to flee."

"Which hospital is she in?"

"The People's Hospital."

Jin Qingyan grabbed his keys and hopped into his car before speeding away towards the hospital.

Fan Shixin hurriedly chased after him along with the other bodyguards.

Upon hearing the news, the three members of the Gu family quickly made their way to the hospital before even getting some rest.

Famished and exhausted, Jin Qingyue decided to remain at home instead with her mother's company, while Mr. Jin proceeded to the hospital.

The entrance of the hospital was surrounded by reporters from all media platforms.

Gu Beicheng waited patiently along the corridor. Upon hearing his mother's angry complaints about the atrocious act Mr. and Mrs. Jin had committed, he in fact felt a sense of empathy towards the latter, for he understood that they had wanted to save their daughter's life, just as much as they had wanted to save An Xiaoning.

He did not put the blame on Jin Qingyan either, since the latter was also tied up.

The surgeon proceeded to sew up the wound on An Xiaoning's stomach after disinfecting it and stopping it from bleeding. The wound was rather deep, though it was not too big. The nurse attending to An Xiaoning was startled to discover that the blood on An Xiaoning's pants did not come from the wound.

"Doctor, is she on her menstrual period or did she have a miscarriage?" the nurse asked inquisitively.

Finding it rather unusual as well, after taking a closer look, the female surgeon instructed, "Conduct an ultrasound scan on her."

"Alright."

An Xiaoning was pushed out of the operating theater after her wound was cleaned.

Everyone began to gather around the doctor and asked about her condition fervently.

"Please make way, we have to bring her for another checkup," said the nurse.

Thus, the crowd proceeded to move to the entrance of the ultrasound scan room from the operating theater.

Due to the fact that An Xiaoning was considered an important person, the scan was conducted carefully with the assistance of the gynecologists.

It was rather difficult to carry out the ultrasound scan, since the wound was located on her stomach. Fortunately, An Xiaoning had yet to awaken as the anesthesia had yet to wear off.

The scan was carried out smoothly.

The doctors sighed one after another after discussing the results of the scan.

Shortly after, An Xiaoning was pushed towards the operating theater once again.

"Hasn't her wound been closed up? Why is she being pushed in again, Doctor?" Mrs. Jin asked worriedly.

"Mrs. Jin has suffered a stab in her stomach, which greatly ruptured her womb, causing a miscarriage. After much discussion, we've decided to carry out another operation on her to remove the remaining fetal tissue," the doctor explained to the crowd in front of her.

"What!" Everyone gasped in astonishment.

Jin Qingyan froze in shock, stunned beyond words.