Crimson Instinct

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Chu Jie didn't know how long it was when they finally stopped at a place. The day had already turned into the dark shade of night.

Along the way, Sufy had covered his eyes with a back cloth so that he wouldn't understand the direction or any signboards to let him know where they were going.

After what happened in the Andingzhen base, she was extra cautious this time. She couldn't go to Langfang either with what happened in the Natural Park.

So this was her next stop. She finally removed the cloth from his eyes.

Chu Jie fearfully looked left and right, but he couldn't make out anything about the place. It was too dark.

Sufy got out and dragged Chu Jie and Cocoa out of the car. All this time, Chu Jie was tightly holding on to Cocoa as if she would still shoot at him at any moment. Cocoa was still unconscious.

"Let us go!" Chu Jie screamed. "Leave me! Where are you taking me?"

But Sufy paid no heed to him. She walked farther in the distance and found the building she was looking for. As she reached near the doorstep, two burly men holding guns in their hands straightened up.

She had already informed them about her coming here with Chu Jie and a dog.

"Help me with the dog." She ordered.

"No!" Chu Jie vehemently protested. He wasn't ready to let go of Cocoa at any cost.

"Shut up, kid! Don't worry. We are going to keep you here with that bastard dog. And then you two together will see what hell is."

Chu Jie began to cry again. He was too terrified now, and he looked everywhere, but it didn't seem that it would be possible to run away from here.

One of the men lifted Cocoa, and the other grabbed Chu Jie by the arm.

They threw them in one room together.

Sufy snarled. "If you or that dog make any noise or create any scene, then you will just have it from me."

She shut the door with a loud bang.

Chu Jie began to sob hard and was shaking badly. He terribly missed his Mom and Dad.

What did I do...What did I do…I am so stupid. Why did I come to meet her? Mom and Dad...they must be so worried about me.

I want to go home... Please, somebody, take me back... Anybody…

Chu Jie curled himself, hugging his knees and buried his face down. He silently sobbed, controlling his urge to gasp and cry, for he was afraid if the men heard it outside, they would hurt him or Cocoa.

He regretted it so much for falling for her fake love. Instead of talking it out with his parents, he trusted his emotions to a complete stranger.

Big Brother was right. I should have talked at least once with Mom. I should have tried telling my feelings at least once to them.

And now everything happened because of me. These people are so scary. What are they going to do to me?

Chu Jie sniffled, and tears continuously streamed down, staining his cheeks wet.

Mom, Dad...I miss you…I miss you so much. Where are you? Please take me away from here…

Suddenly from his side, he felt something warm nudging his head.

Surprised, Chu Jie raised his head. He saw Cocoa was sitting beside him, quietly staring at him.

Chu Jie's eyes watered even more.

"You...you are awake…" His speech broke as he said that.

"Grrr…"

Cocoa leaned in and licked his tears on his cheek. He circled around him and stopped. He raised his hind legs and kept it on Chu Jie's hand that was resting on his knee. "Arf. Arf."

Chu Jie immediately hugged him hard and burst into tears. Cocoa rubbed his head against him to calm him down.

"You are awake. T-thank God. Thank you so much. You...you are really so brave. You are the best."

"Grrr…" Cocoa nudged even more.

Chu Jie knew that Cocoa might not literally understand what he said, but he still wanted to talk to him.

"What will we do now? I am really scared... really, really scared. Are-are are they going to kill us? But why? What did we do?"

Chu Jie covered his face with his hands. Every cell of his body was overwhelmed in fear and terror. He couldn't even properly breathe anymore.

Cocoa was sitting diligently at his side. He softly whimpered, seeing Chu Jie crying and sobbing and was trying his best to support him.

"Will Mom and Dad forgive me for being so stupid?"

"Arf."

Chu Jie pursed his lips. "You...you must also be missing big brother, right? Your friend?"

"Arf…" Chu Jie instantly detected the sadness in his bark. His gaze and expression looked a little lonely too.

He rubbed Cocoa's head, biting his lower lip.

"I-it's all my fault. You jumped in to save me and got separated from big brother."

He cried as he felt more guilty.

They just sat together like that, hugging each other for a while.

"What is your name? I think big brother was calling you…Co…Coffee?"

"Grrr…"

"No? Then what is it? Co…Co…It definitely started with that."

Chu Jie knitted his brows and thought more.

"Coc…Cocoa?"

"Arf!" He happily wagged his tail.

Chu Jie brightened and nodded. "Cocoa. It's a cool name. Big brother gave you such a nice name."

Cocoa reacted as if he had no comment.

A few minutes later, Cocoa suddenly raised his head and started sniffing around.

Chu Jie asked, "What happened?"

"Grrr…"

Cocoa looked alert and sharp. His nose twitched at a familiar smell which he didn't like at all. He leaped away a bit and started sniffing around the whole room.

Chu Jie didn't understand why he was doing that. But he followed Cocoa. Cocoa walked up to the opposite wall and started sniffing around it.

"What are you looking for?"

Cocoa paced back and forth around a patch of area.

But Chu Jie couldn't see anything there. "There is nothing here."

Cocoa sat and looked upwards. "Arf."

Chu Jie followed his line of sight and saw that there was a very small window above. There were metal rods that blocked it.

Cocoa was staring at it.

"Is there something?" He whispered.

"Arf."

Chu Jie thought there might be somebody who could help him.

He looked around and found empty cardboard boxes. He laid two of them one by one on top of each other and climbed on it.

Chu Jie reached the height of the window and clutched the metal rail. There was another room that he could see through it.

"What is over here-"

Then he widened his eyes as he saw the scene in front of him. He couldn't see it entirely because the window was too small to see any further.

But that sight alone was enough to terrify him to his bones.

"W-what is that…"