Chapter Three: One Mistake, One Ability Lost

The boy's name was Chen Ye. He was sixteen. The girl onscreen resembled him. Surgical lamps burned above her while a masked man displayed a private account number. "Seven hundred and twenty thousand yuan. Ten minutes. Call the police and you collect a corpse." The ransom almost exactly matched the third aid fund. [08:52] Su leaned close. "The monitor waveform repeats. The video was prerecorded." "But the blood on him is real." Lin checked Chen's pulse. Fast. His palms carried the calluses of a mechanic, his cuff a streak of engine grease. His photo gallery showed years of pictures with his sister, ending the week before. Chen sobbed until he could barely breathe. "They forced me to find you. If I didn't, she'd die."