Deliberate Possession [Entertainment Industry] - Chapter 78

Chapter 78: I Really Didn’t Expect That

Since the show couldn’t proceed without clues, the group decided not to just wait idly in the villa. The island was quite large, and perhaps many unknowns were waiting for them to explore.

They decided to go out and see, and at the same time, try to find the people who scammed their money.

Jiang Yumian held Jing Xiaoyan’s hand, following behind the others. They walked along the road, looking left and right, but found nothing. They seemed to have overthought things. There was nothing special here. They hadn’t seen anyone since leaving the villa.

“Are we just going to walk aimlessly?” Jiang Yumian shook the hand she was holding.

Jing Xiaoyan turned her head to look at her, smiling. “A walk after dinner is nice, too. We’ll take a walk together.”

She was very optimistic.

Jiang Yumian also turned her head to look at her and noticed that, except for the few days when she ignored her, when she looked pathetic like a small bitter gourd, Jing Xiaoyan always had a smile on her face. Now, it was even more apparent; anyone could see her smile was very sweet.

Being looked at by Jiang Yumian’s smiling face, Jing Xiaoyan’s heart pounded erratically. She quickly grabbed her hand and said, “Let’s go see the place where we got off the boat yesterday.”

It took them a long time to find their way yesterday. It would be faster to return along the same path this time. However, they encountered a few people wearing sunglasses on the road, which scared them into huddling together. But the people quickly walked past them, having nothing to do with them, not even greeting them.

Jiang Yumian looked back at their retreating figures. “This island is full of people wearing sunglasses. We really stand out, huh…”

Xie Yunhuan: “How about we leave? Anyway, none of the production team members are showing up. We’ll go straight back to the hotel and see if they follow.”

Jing Xiaoyan nodded. “So, we need to check if there’s a boat first.”

She wanted to finish filming this episode quickly and go home with Jiang Yumian.

They reached the place where they had fled in a hurry yesterday. The yacht that was docked there was still present. Several people hurried over.

Once on the yacht, it didn’t start right away this time. Jiang Yumian walked to the bow, looking at the two people operating the boat. If everyone here was wearing sunglasses, it wasn’t surprising that these two were wearing them too.

Jiang Yumian asked, “Uncle, have you been here all the time?”

The uncle took off his sunglasses, turned to look at Jiang Yumian, and remained silent. Being stared at like that scared Jiang Yumian, and she quickly stepped back. Just as she was about to leave, the other person spoke.

His Mandarin had a slight accent, and his tone was lifeless. He asked directly, “Mhm, are you going or not? Bringing those you rescued with you?”

Jiang Yumian paused, then nodded.

This uncle was much more talkative than yesterday.

Jing Xiaoyan, with her hand on Jiang Yumian’s lower back, appeared behind her and asked in a gentle voice, “Uncle, do you know why everyone on this island wears sunglasses?”

“Blind eyes, dark hearts. These people are like them, all kidnapped and deceived here. They can’t run away, so they can only help them scam others.”

Jing Xiaoyan nodded thoughtfully, roughly understanding.

The uncle continued while driving the boat, “People like you, who run around as soon as they get on the island and don’t understand anything, are the easiest to deceive. Too naive.”

Jing Xiaoyan pursed her lips. The uncle finally said something other than “No comment.”

Jiang Yumian scratched her chin, pondering, and quickly understood the meaning. “Were we targeted because we weren’t wearing sunglasses?”

Because they weren’t part of the group.

Jing Xiaoyan hesitated, then nodded. The sunglasses were just a code name. The uncle had already explained the specific meaning clearly. Jiang Yumian’s interpretation was probably correct too.

The yacht didn’t turn around and drove straight ahead. Jing Xiaoyan held Jiang Yumian and stood there for a while. After confirming they weren’t turning back, she finally asked, “Uncle, the way back looks different from the way we came. Are we not boarding at the previous pier?”

“You escaped from the hotel. That pier has people constantly staking it out. Going there now is just sending yourselves to your death.”

“Yesterday, that girl, Xiao Shan, asked me to bring you over, saying you wanted to save people.” He paused, his emotions suddenly intense. “Saving people! This is completely coming to die!”

Jiang Yumian and Jing Xiaoyan exchanged glances. She licked her lips. “Uncle, we’ve already gotten out, haven’t we? It doesn’t look very dangerous there.”

The uncle looked ahead, sighing without changing his expression. “I was planning to wait here for three days. If you couldn’t get out, I’d leave. Fortunately, you managed to rescue the people. There were others who ran out before, but none of them escaped. However, you were lucky. They were planning to move their base, and they’ve been busy lately. Also, the police have been investigating. Xiao Shan also tried her best to divert them, or else you wouldn’t have gotten out.”

No wonder the uncle didn’t want to talk to them when he brought them over. He thought they were coming to die.

Jing Xiaoyan frowned slightly. Running away like this felt somewhat wrong.

Just as she and Jiang Yumian were about to leave, the uncle called out to them.

“Hey!”

The uncle looked back at the others on the boat. “There might be a traitor among you. A few people almost escaped before, but they were sold out by the traitor inside.”

This plot twist felt more right…

Jing Xiaoyan raised an eyebrow, thanked the uncle, and planned to pull Jiang Yumian back.

Jiang Yumian held her back, looking at her suspiciously. “You wouldn’t be the traitor, would you?”

Jing Xiaoyan scoffed. “Do you think I have time to betray anyone?”

She had been with her the whole time. Her spare personal time was busy with intimacy with her. She had no time for anything else, and no one came to bother them.

Jiang Yumian pouted, deliberately saying, “I don’t know. You’re so naughty and love to lie to me.”

Jing Xiaoyan raised her hand and patted the back of her head. “It’s not the two of us. I won’t lie to you anymore, really.”

Jiang Yumian narrowed her eyes and smiled. “I’m sure you wouldn’t dare.”

They told the others what they had just heard verbatim. Whether there was a traitor or not, they could all guess together.

Jiang Yumian pointed at them, scanning them one by one, deliberately saying, “I wonder if it’s one traitor or two. Maybe even four.”

Su Mumu rolled her eyes at her. “Maybe there are none.”

The yacht drove out of the island and stopped at a secluded spot, dropping them all off. The uncle then left.

After walking a short distance, they finally spotted signs of the production team.

Lin Xi couldn’t help but complain, “Did they finally decide to play dead and resurrect?”

The group stopped where they were, hesitant to go forward, feeling like there was some kind of trick again.

“Are they going to tie us up again?” Jiang Yumian grabbed Jing Xiaoyan’s arm, looking at Lu Zhi’s half-smile face, not daring to approach.

The main reason was that the villa was gloomy, and she didn’t want to stay there again.

Besides, there were cameras everywhere, which made it inconvenient for Jing Xiaoyan to do anything naughty, and she couldn’t bring herself to push her away, so she could only endure it.

“Let’s go, go over first.” Jing Xiaoyan pulled her and walked ahead. She wanted to finish filming and leave quickly. She didn’t want to waste any time.

Lu Zhi watched them all approach, asking knowingly, “Where have you all been yesterday?”

She then asked deliberately, “Didn’t we agree on the filming time? Why are you a day late?”

Lin Xi’s mouth twitched. “Don’t you know perfectly well whether we were late or not…”

Lu Zhi feigned surprise. “Oh my! You weren’t scammed, were you? A scam group was just busted by the police around here today. But I heard a few of the small fry escaped.”

Her acting was really exaggerated.

Jing Xiaoyan’s face was lined with black. She asked directly, “How do you know?”

Lu Zhi blinked. “It’s trending on social media. A police undercover officer was hospitalized because of the raid.”

Jiang Yumian looked wary. “Then why are you suddenly here?”

“Because you all collectively disappeared. I was so worried I reported it to the police. Someone informed me today to wait for you here.” Lu Zhi then waved her hand casually. “Let’s go. Why are you standing around? Go film the show.”

Everyone: “…”

She didn’t look worried at all.

They got back on the production team’s bus. To be honest, even though the production team wasn’t very reliable, at least they had a direction, which gave them a sense of security. They finally didn’t have to wander around like headless chickens.

The group didn’t even ask where they were going. They just let the car drive wherever. It wasn’t until they were taken deep into the mountains and forests again, and saw Lu Zhi wearing sunglasses even though it was almost evening, that they realized something was wrong.

Luo Cheng’s mouth twitched. “Save me…”

Jiang Yumian took a deep breath. “Could the traitor be her…”

Chu Qianyun said ruthlessly, “They gave her screen time. It’s highly likely it’s her.”

Jing Xiaoyan sighed lightly. “I really didn’t expect that…”

It turned out their guess was completely correct. Lu Zhi did lead them from the tiger’s den into the wolf’s den, a new scam location. As soon as they got off the bus, she locked them up in a very large wooden cage.

Lu Zhi mocked them unceremoniously. “You really have no sense of precaution at all.”

Everyone: “…”

“Your only task is to find a way to escape.”

Lu Zhi finished speaking and left directly, leaving them with a carefree back view.

Jiang Yumian couldn’t help but spit. “She’s so smug…”

As soon as she finished speaking, people quickly appeared around them, monitoring them.

Luo Cheng gripped the wooden bars, on the verge of tears. “No way. How are we supposed to run? And it’s almost dark.”

“Run?” Jing Xiaoyan pointed at the few packets of instant noodles outside. “We’ll probably be spending the night here.”

Lin Xi was stunned. “Spend the night! What about showering? What about going to the toilet? What about sleeping!”

Jiang Yumian pouted, her eyes blank. They shouldn’t have run out. She shouldn’t have complained about the large villa. The large villa was so good. Except for being gloomy and a little inconvenient, everything else was good. At least it had a toilet, a bathroom, a large bed, and a kitchen!

Chu Qianyun looked around. There were a few small wooden houses on the other side. There should be a bathroom and a toilet there. After all, they were filming a show, not really being held captive.

“How did she know we would get off the boat there?”

After Chu Qianyun asked, everyone finally fell silent. So, there should still be an inside person.

Jiang Yumian looked at Jing Xiaoyan again.

Jing Xiaoyan frowned, patting her head again. “It’s not me!”

Jiang Yumian removed her hand. “No, of course it’s not you. You didn’t even know where the uncle was going to stop the boat.”

Others: “Then we don’t know even more!”

Jiang Yumian nodded. “I was trying to say, the uncle had another man sitting next to him. Could it be him?”

Jing Xiaoyan shrugged. “I don’t know if it’s him, but it’s going to be me soon.”

Jiang Yumian blinked. “What do you mean?”

Jing Xiaoyan smiled at her, turned around, and spoke to the people guarding them outside. “Call Lu Zhi over. I want to betray the group. I’m the best at scamming people, really. I’m very capable, trust me.”

Jiang Yumian opened her mouth. What the hell?

Before she could ask, seeing the guards look over, Jing Xiaoyan pulled her in again. “That’s right, Jiang Yumian is also betraying the group. We’re not running anymore. We’re all on the same side. Can you please not keep us locked up and give us a place to stay?”

Jiang Yumian’s eyes widened. She quickly reacted. “Ah, yes, yes! I want to be a traitor too!”

Others: “…”

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