Chapter 135: Into the Lion's Den

The bedside phone rang. Kang Ning opened his eyes, reached for the device, and hesitated briefly upon seeing a Chengdu area code before bringing it to his ear.

"Congratulations! Both mother and child are safe and healthy!"

Gao Qinghua’s voice was low, yet it could not mask the joy in his heart.

Kang Ning bolted upright, his voice trembling slightly. "Thank God! Thank you, brother!"

"Haha! You’re a father now! It’s a pity you can’t come to see them. The little guy has thick, dark hair and delicate, beautiful features. He weighs six and a half pounds and is fifty centimeters long. Tsk tsk, even the doctors and nurses at the hospital can’t stop praising him. When my eldest sister woke up and held the baby for the first time, she burst into tears of joy."

Kang Ning felt a deep ache in his heart. He understood Lu Jing’s complex emotions and felt profound pain for being unable to be there to share the burden and the joy with her. "That’s good. That’s good."

"I have to warn you about something. At 4:10 this afternoon, two police officers from the Chengdu Public Security Bureau came to the hospital. I suspect Little Du’s colleagues tipped them off. They were polite enough and didn’t question Lu Jing, seeing how weak she was, but after I revealed my identity, I learned they were trying to track you down through her. It seems the situation is turning sour. Fortunately, you changed your number in time. I waited a long time before calling you. You mustn't come to the hospital; there are too many eyes and ears there. Take care of yourself. I’m hanging up now."

Staring at the screen as it returned to standby mode, Kang Ning felt his heart sinking. He had not expected events to unfold so rapidly. It appeared that the Chengdu police—or even the Sichuan police—had established contact with the Guangxi authorities regarding his case. From here on, every step he took would be fraught with difficulty.

Kang Ning got out of bed and entered the bathroom. As he showered in cold water, he began to think calmly.

Fleeing immediately would minimize his risk, but as long as Lu Jing and the baby remained in the hospital without protection, he could not bring himself to leave. Only after they were moved to a safe location would he consider escaping Sichuan and planning his next move.

At that moment, Kang Ning longed to see Lu Jing and catch a glimpse of the child who had just entered this world.

Whether it was Su Fang from the past, or Lu Jing, the child, and Mengmeng now, Kang Ning carried a deep sense of guilt and hidden sorrow. He knew that seeing his loved ones in the near future had become a luxury, yet his overwhelming longing and remorse made it impossible to abandon the wish. Even if it meant walking into a den of tigers, he had to see them!

Driven by this intense, irrepressible desire, a calculated plan began to form in his mind.

At 9:00 PM, after some light grooming and donning a pair of non-prescription glasses, Kang Ning walked into the seven-story Xiaoyao Pavilion.

The first and second floors of the pavilion were restaurants, while the fourth through seventh floors served as hotel rooms. Guided by an attentive waiter, Kang Ning took the elevator to the sauna department on the third floor.

Perhaps because it was not yet peak hours, the area was quiet. Kang Ning changed in the locker room, rinsed off, and spent half an hour in the spacious sauna. After changing back, he whispered a few words to a nearby waiter and was promptly led to a VIP suite.

Kang Ning lay on the comfortable massage table. A moment later, the masseuse knocked and entered, closing the door behind her, and approached the table with an expressionless face.

As their eyes met, both were struck by the other’s appearance. Kang Ning smiled slightly, thanked her for the trouble, and relaxed his body to receive the exceptionally beautiful masseuse’s skilled and enthusiastic service.

During the forty-five-minute massage, Kang Ning subtly probed the internal layout of the Xiaoyao Pavilion. The young and beautiful masseuse was cheerful and talkative, answering every question and even sharing gossip about the women’s section nearby.

"I used to work in the women's section next door. Three months ago, six handsome guys from the north arrived, and I was transferred over here. It’s infuriating—those wealthy ladies are stingy with us female masseuses but incredibly generous with the men. Since those guys arrived, the five VIP rooms in the women's section are always booked. Those 'young masters' make at least eight thousand yuan a month, sometimes up to twenty thousand. It’s maddening."

As she kneaded his sturdy back, the masseuse grumbled with indignation.

Kang Ning guessed what was going on and feigned ignorance. "Your skills are excellent. Are those male masseuses really that much better?"

"Better? My foot. They’re just doing 'that' kind of business. Otherwise, how could they make so much money? I bet one day they’ll overdose on Viagra and drop dead!"

Kang Ning couldn't help but laugh. Sensing she had gone too far, the masseuse gave an embarrassed smile and shifted the conversation to other topics.

After chatting a while longer, Kang Ning learned that the women's section was only separated from his current room by one other room, and that particular large VIP suite was never open to the public; it was reserved exclusively for Ni San.

Perhaps due to Kang Ning’s handsome appearance and gentle demeanor, the masseuse agreed to his request to sneak him into Ni San’s private VIP suite just to see it.

Wearing only a towel around his waist, Kang Ning followed the excited masseuse out of the room. He saw the dark glass door at the end of the hall, shut tight, with a prominent sign reading "Authorized Personnel Only." He knew that past this door lay the VIP section.

Turning into Ni San’s private suite, Kang Ning was struck by the nearly eighty-square-meter hall, which was decorated with extreme luxury and fully equipped with amenities that left him astonished.

With the masseuse’s proud introduction, Kang Ning learned that the hall had its own changing room and an independent sauna. Down the inner corridor were two spacious massage rooms on each side, capable of accommodating four people simultaneously for various services. The facilities were exhaustive, and the soundproofing was top-tier—in the masseuse's words, even if you shook the place to its foundations, no one outside would ever know.

Back in his room, Kang Ning felt a sense of relief. If it hadn't been for the enthusiastic masseuse showing him around, his planned operation would likely have ended in failure.

After some contemplation, Kang Ning spoke warmly to the masseuse, offering subtle compliments on her appearance, figure, and technique. His charm put the girl at ease, and her affection for him grew deeper.

When she began massaging his thighs and abdomen, the curvaceous masse