CHAPTER 128: CHAPTER 128; WHAT KIND OF ARMED MEN?

The driver took the last turn sharply, the black sedan gliding to a halt beneath the bright canopy of the hospital’s emergency entrance.

Automatic glass doors slid open, spilling harsh white light onto the rain-slick pavement.

Orderlies were already waiting with gurneys, the hum of engines and the wail of a fading siren still hanging in the air. A paramedic jogged over to the car, bowing slightly. "Old Master Shen, Madam Shen, they have just brought your son and Miss Bai Zhi in through the ambulance bay. The doctors are preparing for immediate surgery as their condition is dire.."

Without a word, Old Master Shen stepped out, helping his wife from the car. The night air was sharp, smelling faintly of rain and exhaust, but inside the hospital the scent changed abruptly to antiseptic and cold metal.

They walked with brisk, measured steps, the click of Madam Shen’s shoes echoing in the polished foyer as they hurried over. Behind them, the glass doors shut with a hiss, cutting off the world outside from the emergency world in the hospital.

The hospital corridors smelled faintly of antiseptic and metal, the pale fluorescent lights humming overhead.

Old Madam Shen’s shoes clicked sharply against the linoleum as she and Old Master Shen strode toward the emergency wing, their expressions drawn and unreadable.

Nurses moved briskly past them, pushing trolleys and murmuring updates into radios, the air thick with urgency.

A doctor in pale blue scrubs stepped forward, his surgical mask hanging loose around his neck. "Mr. and Madam Shen?"

"Yes," Old Master Shen’s voice was steady, but his hand at his side was clenched into a fist.

"They have both suffered severe fractures to the legs and multiple internal injuries," the doctor said quickly, eyes flicking between them. "They have lost a lot of blood. We have stabilized them enough to operate, but time is critical. We need consent forms signed immediately."

Madam Shen’s hand tightened around the pen when the papers were offered to her. She signed swiftly, but her eyes did not leave the doctor’s. "And their chances?"

The doctor hesitated just a fraction. "We will do everything we can."

"Please do everything possible! Everything possible!" Madam Shen wasn’t ready to lose her only son.

The doctor nodded his head as he gathered the signed forms and gave a brisk nod. "Thank you. We will take them in right away. Please wait here, once we begin, it may be hours before there’s any update."

He turned sharply, signaling to the surgical teams. Orderlies wheeled Shen Xiao past on a stretcher, his face pale beneath the bruises, oxygen mask fogging with each shallow breath.

Old Madam Shen’s composure cracked, just for a heartbeat, her eyes glistened with tears as she reached out to brush his fingers, whispering his name.

The orderlies adjusted their pace, pushing the stretchers toward the double doors marked Operating Theatres. The metallic crash bar swung open, the sterile brightness beyond swallowing both Shen Xiao and Bai Zhi.

The doctor followed after, barking clipped instructions to the nurses as he disappeared into the corridor.

Suddenly, the hallway seemed emptier, quieter, as though all the air had been pulled along with the stretchers.

Left behind, Madam Shen and Old Madam Shen stood frozen, staring at the doors that had shut them out, with only the echo of hurried footsteps lingering in the silence.

Moments later, another team rushed Bai Zhi through. Her face was so swollen it was barely recognizable, but her eyes, half-lidded and glazed, darted toward the Shen couple. There was no plea for help, only a sharp, silent accusation.

The automatic doors to the operating theaters swung shut, leaving the Shens in the quiet, cold hallway.

Madam Shen slowly sank onto one of the rigid waiting room chairs, her shawl pooling around her like heavy water. Old Master Shen stood beside her, arms crossed, gaze fixed on the glowing red "IN OPERATION" sign.

Old Master Shen’s gaze shifted from the glowing sign to the two maids who had trailed in behind them. Both stood near the far wall, heads bowed, their aprons still flecked with traces of blood.

"Tell me," his voice was low but sharp, cutting through the sterile quiet, "what happened? Why are they so seriously injured? How did this happen?"

The maids exchanged a brief, nervous glance before one stepped forward, her hands twisting in the fabric of her skirt. "Master... Madam... Some armed men broke into the house; there were so many of them and they subdued our guards... They are the ones who injured them like that!"

"Why didn’t you call for help or the police officers when you saw that?" Madam Shen was shocked that something like that happened in their own home. Why would his son be this seriously injured?

"We couldn’t do it because our phones didn’t have any network signal at that time, the armed men said, if we did contact anyone, we would be the ones in trouble, and we couldn’t do anything." They shivered recalling the incident. They feared for their deaths, thus, they chose to steer away from this matter.

They couldn’t go up against those armed men no matter what. They were just weak women who knew nothing apart from how to do just house chores.

"Damn it! Is Yueyao badly injured? Is she dead already? Where is she? Why am I not seeing her?" Nothing would make her happier than hearing she was dead. She hated her to the core and never liked her as her daughter-in-law. She always felt like she was a scheming woman.

The maids hesitated, their eyes flickering nervously between the couple. Finally, the bolder of the two spoke, "No, Madam... Yueyao was... taken."

"Taken?" Old Master Shen’s voice dropped a shade colder. "By whom?"

"Those armed men took her away, and they even made Master Shen sign the divorce papers.... They also had a little girl who called Yueyao, mother, and they looked like a mother and daughter, like they were a family of three."