The third installment,

...

The Maserati is undoubtedly a luxury car with top-notch quality.

But this type of sports car is still considered small, and when it collides with a fierce beast like the Hummer, especially when it's passively hit, it's difficult not to suffer damage.

The airbags popped open with a bang, protecting the siblings Ye Huan and Ye Ming inside, but the Maserati bore the brunt of the impact, being slammed from the middle of the road to the flowerbed at the roadside.

Such a heavy collision, although the Hummer had shown considerable restraint by not hitting the driver's seat directly, and instead made impact towards the rear of the car, had lessened the force to an extent.

However, such an abrupt shock wasn't something ordinary people could withstand. Ye Huan was indeed a formidable martial artist and almost instantly reacted, but the Maserati's airbags were too sensitive; they inflated rapidly, preventing her from escaping the car and instead throwing her against the airbag, knocking her out cold.

Seeing the Maserati rendered useless, several men in black immediately jumped off the unlicensed Hummer, their heads covered with balaclavas. They rushed towards the Maserati and quickly sliced open the airbags with their daggers. One of the men in black delivered a chop to the back of the dazed Ye Huan's neck, causing her to loll her head to the side and completely lose consciousness.

Poor Ye Ming was ignored, as the men in black swiftly took Ye Huan with them back to the Hummer and then disappeared into the night.

This scene might have been captured by surveillance cameras, but the kidnappers left no clues behind.

...

Qin Fang and Qiao Zhenfei had stirred up a commotion for a while before returning back to their private room. With Qin Fang emerging victorious, he naturally wanted to celebrate in grand fashion, and soon the party was in full swing. Those who were drinking carried on drinking, those who were playing games carried on with their fun, and the atmosphere was bustling. Not long after, Chu Yunxuan returned as well.

"All settled?"

Seeing Chu Yunxuan return without Ye Huan trailing behind, although he already had an idea of what had transpired, Qin Fang still casually asked.

Chu Yunxuan sat down next to Qin Fang, her smile appearing quite natural, "Who do you think I am? I personally took care of it. How could I not get it done!"

Qin Fang nodded; as long as it was dealt with, he just hoped Ye Huan wouldn't be too stubborn.

"Do you really not care for that beauty who was already within your grasp?"

Chu Yunxuan asked with a chuckle, noting that other men would have been scratching their heads in excitement by now, and those more impatient ones would probably already be in a hotel room taking care of business with the stunning Ye Huan.

But Qin Fang seemed disinterested, almost as if avoiding a plague, not even wanting such a beauty, yet stubbornly chose to win the gambling match.

"What's there to care about? She's not my type..."

Qin Fang replied with a smile, seemingly nonchalant.

But who could know his troubles?

He actually had planned to lose the gambling match from the start, particularly in the last decisive deal where he was surely going to lose. But just at that moment, the system sent him a damned task.

"Sect task!"

"Win this gambling match and you shall officially become an acolyte of Thousand Gates! Task failure, Scouting and Cheating Skills reset to zero and barred from comprehension!"

It was such an infuriatingly difficult sect task that forced Qin Fang to use all his wits to barely win the game.

This task was triggered unexpectedly, as the straightforward gamble between Qin Fang and Ye Huan was unlikely to set it off.

However, Ye Huan, behind in the game, desperately decided to settle the outcome with a single deal against Qin Fang. What irked Qin Fang further was that Ye Huan brought in Elder Lin to switch from supervising to acting as the croupier, which altered the rules of the game to a contest of cheating skills, thereby triggering the task.

Since Qin Fang's level of cheating was actually the result of combining Scouting and Cheating Skills, the final trigger caused both skills to reset to zero.

If Qin Fang had simply compared cheating skills, failing the task would have just zeroed out his Cheating Skill, preventing further comprehension or learning, which also eliminated the possibility of Qin Fang becoming an acolyte of Thousand Gates.

But Qin Fang was less fortunate as he was using two skills in conjunction, and thus, both suffered the consequences.

He wasn't too bothered about resetting the Cheating Skill to zero, but the Scouting Skill… that was something he absolutely couldn't allow to be reset.

The Scouting Skill was far too useful and, having painstakingly reached an advanced level, Qin Fang could not afford to lose it, as it would be akin to being crippled.

Qin Fang could tolerate any skill being erased, even the Advanced Cooking Skill, but not the Scouting Skill.

It was for this reason that Qin Fang had to win this match at all costs, despite his lack of interest in Ye Huan.

And this was something only he knew about; he couldn't possibly tell anyone else.

The punishment for failing the task was severe, but the reward was frustratingly lackluster for Qin Fang – apart from the new title of "Thousand Gates Acolyte" added to his name, the bonus in proficiency for his Cheating Skill was a meager two thousand points. The disparity before and after was just too great.

Nevertheless, Qin Fang mulled over the fact that this task couldn't be so simple; he had undertaken several tasks by now, and the greater the difficulty, the greater the reward.

There might be something about this task that Qin Fang hadn't yet grasped, especially since it was termed a "Sect Task," it surely wouldn't be that straightforward.

While Qin Fang was pondering, suddenly another voice prompt popped into his mind.

"You have received a protective mission! Please retrieve it promptly!"

Another mission!

"Damn, do they really have to play me like this?"

Qin Fang really wanted to curse out this damned System. He had finally completed that godforsaken mission, and now another one popped up!

Curse as he might, he still had to check the mission, especially when the System prompt insisted on a quick retrieval, indicating that this mission was likely time-sensitive. Going beyond this time limit would automatically result in failure, and worse, it might mean the loss of a Skill's Proficiency.

"Protection Mission: …"

Qin Fang naturally chose to accept the mission, but as soon as he saw the mission content, his face instantly turned pale. The mission was simple: protect a person.

Who?

It was Ye Huan, who had been kidnapped by the men in black!

Because Qin Fang had completed a sect mission, upsetting certain people, they had kidnapped Ye Huan, who was likely in mortal danger.

Qin Fang's task was to successfully rescue Ye Huan, with the completion percentage based on the injuries sustained by Ye Huan. If it fell below 60%, it would be considered a mission failure for Qin Fang and the corresponding Skill's Proficiency would be deducted in proportion to the completion percentage.

The mission's punishment was not particularly severe, but it was definitely not light.

But that wasn't what really mattered to Qin Fang. What concerned him was the mission prompt warning that Ye Huan could be in mortal danger.

Could Qin Fang refuse the mission?

Of course not. Setting aside the fact that the trouble arose because of him, simply not trying to save someone's life wasn't something Qin Fang could ever do.

"What's wrong?"

Seeing Qin Fang's face suddenly change, Chu Yunxuan immediately couldn't help but ask. She knew him well; unless something very serious had happened, he would not have reacted this way.

"Something's happened... There's no time to explain!"

At that moment, Qin Fang had no time to elaborate. He immediately stood up and rushed outside.

"What's the matter?"

"What happened?"

"What's Young Master Qin up to?"

Meanwhile, everyone else looked confused, unsure of what had occurred, as they had been enjoying themselves just a moment ago.

"It seems something's happened; I'm going to check it out..."

In that moment, Chu Yunxuan too was stricken with worry. She didn't linger to say more and quickly followed after Qin Fang.

"Let's go, let's all take a look..."

Qiao Zhenfei, Li Yang, and Ai Nan exchanged looks, sensing that something was amiss. With no desire left to play, they immediately called out and all followed suit.

About two hundred meters away from Jin Cheng Salon, a Maserati leaned against a flower bed at the roadside, its rear severely deformed. All the airbags inside had deployed, and the one at the driver's side had been cut open by someone. Ye Ming, the passenger, had already been rescued.

Even though it was nighttime, the vicinity of Jin Cheng Salon was an upscale area that usually had less pedestrian traffic. However, a small gathering had already formed at the intersection.

By the time Qin Fang and the others arrived, a crowd had already gathered, many looking on with surprise and curiosity at the scene.

"Hey, where's the beautiful Ye?"

Li Yang and the others, who had followed Qin Fang, recognized the car as belonging to Ye Huan. Seeing the unconscious and rescued Ye Ming, they concluded that the car must have been driven by the siblings.

But now, Ye Ming was present, yet Ye Huan was nowhere to be seen.

The safety airbag at the driver's seat was clearly cut open with a sharp object. If Ye Huan had done it, she wouldn't have left her brother behind; she was the kind of woman who would risk everything to save her sibling.

There was only one possibility!

Kidnapping!

"Was the beautiful Ye kidnapped?"

Everyone realized this possibility, even though they were unclear how Qin Fang knew Ye Huan was in trouble, but now the priority was to find out who abducted Ye Huan and where she was taken.

Of course, some looked at Qin Fang oddly, considering Ye Huan had effectively lost herself to Qin Fang, making her his woman.

If Ye Huan had been kidnapped, or worse, violated, wouldn't that mean someone was putting Qin Fang in a cuckold's position?

With this thought, they began to understand Qin Fang's urgency. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, you're welcome to vote for it on Qidian. Your support is my greatest motivation.)

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