Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Li Si quickly handed a document to Mu Yuchen who frowned as his expression darkened. He quietly glanced through the document, and his frown worsened as he read further into it. Then, he looked up at Li Si.
"Are you sure that Ah Mo met Gu Qiwu in City B?
Li Si nodded. "Yes, Master! That has been confirmed. Ah Mo and Gu Qiwu met up at a secret location, but Ah Mo never mentioned it to us. I wonder what he had in mind. Master...since Ah Mo didn't even tell you about it, do you think..." he spoke hesitantly.
However, Mu Yuchen interrupted his sentence halfway, "Don't speculate. I know Ah Mo very well. He wouldn't do something meaningless. Moreover, we can't just deny Gu Qiwu's relationship with Lingshi, so their meeting is not unusual. Since we now know that, find out Gu Qiwu's schedule. Look into his meeting with Qi Lei, and who else saw the two of them that day."
After he gave his orders, Li Si voiced out his doubts, "Yes, Master! Master, do you think they were kidnapped?"
Mu Yuchen put the document down. "Kidnapped? It's not likely. We should've received demands for ransom already if it's a kidnapping. Besides, they should know who Ah Mo and Qi Lei are. Unless the kidnappers have a death wish and want to take the risk, money aside, what's the reason for taking them away?" he analyzed with a cold grin on his face.
Li Si nodded. "Make sense. If it's not for money, I bet they have some other intentions behind it such as information or something else?"
"It's too early to make a conclusion right now. We'll wait and see what's going to happen next."
"Master, could they be in danger? This should have happened last night, and it's the stormy season in City B in the past few days, so it will be difficult to search..."
"We can't stop right here. Work on it," Mu Yuchen said.
"Yes, Master!"
After Li Si left the room, Mu Yuchen thought to himself for a while. In the end, he decided to make a phone call.
Back at the quiet Mu residence, Mu Tangchuan and Zhuang Shurong had just lain down on the bed when Mu Yuchen called. Mu Tangchuan was surprised to see who was calling, but he did not hesitate to answer.
"Hello? Ah Chen?" Mu Tangchuan's voice was kind and gentle. "It should be pretty late over there already, but you're still awake?"
Zhuang Shurong inched closer and listened when she heard her son's voice.
"We just got into bed. Your mother was wondering when you're coming home. I know about what happened to Zimo. What's the situation now? Is everything alright there? Uncle Zhou was complaining to me this morning. You need to tell Zimo to settle down soon. He's not that young anymore." Mu Tangchuan was reminded of Su Zhengxun's darkened expression this morning.
Mu Yuchen smiled. "Don't worry, Father, things are alright over here. Just believe in us. However, I do have something that I might need your help with."
"Help?" Mu Tangchuan was on alert. Mu Yuchen hardly asked for help from him unless it was something extremely tricky, so it must be some big trouble. He quickly replied, "Fret not. What's the matter? I'll try my best."
"Did Ah Mo contact the two of you recently?" Mu Yuchen asked.
Mu Tangchuan and Zhuang Shurong traded glances at each other. They could instantly tell something was not right.
"No, did something happen?" Mu Tangchuan sat on the bed with Zhuang Shurong following suit as she had a frown on her face.
Mu Yuchen briefly explained the situation to Mu Tangchuan, and their expressions darkened after hearing the grim news!
"Ridiculous! Who'd dare harm one of our family?" Unlike his usual humble self, Mu Tangchuan's expression turned serious as he slammed the bedside table angrily, taking Zhuang Shurong by shock.
"Stay calm. Our priority is to think of a way to find them first." Zhuang Shurong sighed. "I'm really worried about this happening right now. What should we tell Lingshi if something bad happens to him? Who would dare go against the Mu family?"
Mu Yuchen's expression darkened as he got out of bed. "Whoever it may be, I won't let this person get away easily."
"Hey, get a coat. It's cold outside!" Zhuang Shurong was worried to see her husband acting in rage, so she quickly put a coat over herself and grabbed one for Mu Tangchuan as she followed him out.
Mu Tangchuan went to the study room and made several phone calls. Meanwhile, Zhuang Shurong headed over and put the coat over his shoulders. She then stood aside and waited for him.
Mu Tangchuan's tone on the phone was serious, Zhuang Shurong hardly saw her husband getting angry, so it had shocked her when Mu Yuchen had been arrested too.
"Alright, calm down now. Getting angry won't solve the issue, have some water. You're always like this when the children are involved." Zhuang Shurong handed him a glass of water.
"How can you still stay calm? Do you know how chaotic the situation is right now?"
Naturally, Zhuang Shurong understood how he was feeling. The whole family had felt uneasy ever since Wang Hui left!
Mu Tangchuan grabbed the glass and sat down on the chair.
"Alright now, doing that doesn't help. Just try to find out what happened first. I feel terrible listening to Chen's tone just now. I don't care. You need to help them out no matter what. Spend whatever resources needed to find them." Zhuang Shurong seemed worried as she looked at Mu Tangchuan's serious expression.
Mu Tangchuan patted the back of her hand and took a sip of water. "I've made the necessary arrangements. It'll take some time, so don't worry for now."
"Maybe Qi Lei and Ah Mo are together. Thinking about it, the two of them have suffered a hard life. Ah Mo has finally gotten together with Lingshi and is about to become a father soon. As for Qi Lei, I heard he's preparing to start his new company soon. I hope they can return safely," Zhuang Shurong spoke in a worrisome tone.
"By the way, how's it going with the investigation that Ah Chen asked you about a while ago?" Zhuang Shurong did not forget it because she knew it was something that constantly bothered Mu Yuchen.
Perhaps because a lot had happened in the past year and she was getting older, she was not as passionate at work as she used to be. she had shifted a lot of her attention to her family.
Zhuang Shurong was a headstrong woman herself, especially since she got into the field of politics. After more than 30 years in the industry, she could proudly claim that she was a successful lawmaker, but she could never claim to be a good mother, daughter-in-law, or even a good wife.
Fortunately, the Mu family and Mu Tangchuan supported her journey all these years.
Zhuang Shurong felt accomplished at this stage of her life. Unfortunately, her mother-in-law...
With all these incidents happening one after another...
Mu Tangchuan just remembered it after Zhuang Shurong reminded him. He put the glass of water down and went to the tall bookshelf. He took a thick folder from the bookshelf before returning to the chair. Then, he opened the folder as he spoke with a cold tone, "Thankfully, Ah Chen insisted, so the police resumed their investigations. They found out that two days before Lingtian's incident, there was something wrong with his car and he sent it for repair. We wanted to check with the workshop he sent to and ask some questions, but the workshop has already closed down, and the owner is nowhere to be found. The police are still searching. Take a look."
Mu Tangchuan handed the documents to Zhuang Shurong who frowned as she read through them.
He sighed. "Everything is back to square one. Even though we have some clues now, it's still very difficult to search, especially when the incident's passed for so long. They wouldn't leave the clues around for so long for us to find."
"We should let Ah Chen know. At least, he has an idea of what's going on, but now we should focus on Ah Mo's matter."
Mu Tangchuan took back the documents and shoved them back into the large folder. "Mmm, okay, Ah Mo's matter is much more pressing, and we can only wait. This is too sudden. Things don't look so good over at City B, and the weather situation is a concern as well. It might also be due to some environmental factors there."
"Our people have almost flipped City B upside down. Ah Chen also asked Su Chen to look through the security camera footage to find some clues."
"Let's just wait for now. I don't feel very good about this too."
Midnight passed. The rain poured down heavily at 3 a.m. in City B, so the whole city looked like it was about to be flooded.
There were hardly any cars were on the street at the moment. The visibility on the road was extremely low.
Ah Bao had rushed over from City B yesterday after receiving the orders. Although the heavy rain continued to fall, he had no choice but to start searching for Ah Mo.
According to the hotel security camera footage, Ah Mo and Qi Lei stayed at the same hotel, and they left the hotel one after another, seeming to head to the airport, but both of them never made it to the airport or get on the flight.
They searched along the road, but their search proved fruitless, and they could not find anything suspicious either.
While Ah Bao was in the car, he frowned when he noticed a car slowly closing in.
The car stopped and the door opened despite the heavy rain, a man in a black suit came out holding an umbrella. He quickly walked towards Ah Bao who unlocked the door to let the man enter.
The man in the black suit quickly reported, "Bro Bao, we can't find anything at all. It seems like we're not the only people searching, Missus and Chief Su have sent people here to search as well. They searched along the highway and tried to find if there's anything suspicious too." He dried himself with a towel as he gave his report.
Ah Bao's expression was strained. "I'll ask Master later. Get me a map of this road!"
The other man in a black suit in the front passenger seat switched on the light in the car and swiftly grabbed a map for Ah Bao.
Ah Bao opened the map and studied it closely. "I'll put a mark on the split road along this way. This path leads to the airport, and the cars only started going from the south side since the new airport was built. The traffic is horrible there, so they must've taken this path. Here, here, and here are the blind spots of the security cameras."
"tomorrow afternoon" Ah Bao held the pen and swiftly marked out a few spots on the map as he spoke with a lowered voice.
The black-clothed man followed the pen with his eyes and imprinted every location into his mind as he nodded from time to time.
"Especially these blind spots, check them thoroughly. Once you notice anything, report it to me right away. More than a day has passed now, and with the continuous rain, many small traces can easily be neglected. Tell everyone to be sharper," Ah Bao said as he suddenly turned to look out at the downpour. The rain poured along the car window. It was a heavy shower.
Ah Bao frowned, then said, "Forget it. The rain's too heavy right now. Tell the brothers to rest in the car first and search again when the sun's up."
"Yes, Bro Bao!" that person responded, then swiftly took out his phone to call a number. After some quick orders, the other end understood, so he hung up.
"Bro Bao, on Master's end..."
"Master's rushing over right away,. He'll reach City B on the direct flight tomorrow afternoon. Before that, I'm hoping to find some valuable clues."
When he thought about how Master was coming over the next day, Ah Bao began to worry. The rain was so heavy. Even if there were any traces left behind, it would mostly have been washed away by the rain, and they would not find anything useful.
"Bro Ba, we can get the CCTV recordings. Perhaps they didn't come from this road, or maybe, they never even left City B."
"Do you think Master wouldn't have thought of that? Master Su's already thinking of ways to get the CCTV footage. Right now, it's best to just rest first. You'll be busy again once the skies brighten up. Stay in contact with the people that Missus and Chairman Mu have delegated over and work together. That way, you can be more efficient."
"Yes, Bro Bao! Don't worry. I've already sent the word. They'll keep searching once it stops raining. With this weather now, I'm sure that even if they were kidnapped, the kidnappers wouldn't be so dumb to move them away. As long as we watch every exit, perhaps..."
"Perhaps, your a*s. Looking over here, there are mountains there. It's an area with villages scattered all over. If they want to hide a person or two, wouldn't that be easy? Be more alert!" Ah Bao shot that man an angry glance as he kept the map with a frown.
That man dared not say anymore and just kept quiet...
The next day, Xi Xiaye still woke up quite early. The whole night, she actually did not get any shut-eye because she had been worried about Qi Lei and Ah Mo. Up till midnight, she still could not sleep, so she started to work.
After an all-nighter, she gained some eyebags and looked quite wan and sallow, so she put on some makeup and managed to conceal it.
Inside the CEO office of Fuhua Real Estate building, Xi Xiaye handed a document that she had browsed through to Xiao Mei before she ordered, "Deliver this document to VP Liang, and then called Assistant Lan over."
"Got it, CEO Xi!"
Xiao Mei quickly left the room. After a while, there was a knock on the door.
Xi Xiaye had just set aside the documents, so she responded, "Come in!"
Lan Zilang's figure soon appeared before her.
"What is it? Uncle Lan? Is there any news?" Xi Xiaye asked anxiously.
Lan Zilang's expression was solemn as he responded in a lowered voice, "The weather's not too good over there. We've sent people out but haven't found anything useful yet. They've been looking for an entire night."
"It's been two days. How can there be no news at all? Can we still get through the phone lines?" Xi Xiaye's face could not help but flash a hint of frustration as her brows furrowed into a knot.
"The calls can't get through. Now, the less information we have on them, it might actually be better for them. Hopefully, nothing's happened to them," Lan Zilang said.
"What about the Qi family? How did they react? Hasn't Qi Qiming noticed yet?" Xi Xiaye looked up at Lan Zilang.
"Qi Qiming's not been in City Z these few days, it seems. He didn't go home for dinner on the day Gu Lingsha was released either. Because of this, Gu Lingsha's not too happy about it. Right, Gu Lingsha knows that her daughter, Qi Weier, has been hospitalized. She fought with Qi Feng again, so he's been staying in Qi Kai till very late at night these past two days," Lan Zilang quickly reported the general situation of the Qi family to her.
With a sigh, Xi Xiaye slowly propped herself up with the desk, and then massaged between her brows with the other hand. "Uncle Lan, who do you think is most likely behind this?"
Upon hearing that, Lan Zilang gave it some serious thought, and then responded, "That's hard to say because right now there's no news of them being kidnapped. There are many types of motives. The Qi family does have some background in the underground. Even if they're clean now, they used to have many enemies. Besides, Qi Qiming's recent ways have put Qi Lei in the media limelight. If Qi Lei were to be kidnapped, that would've been normal. As for Ah Mo, I can't think of anything immediately.
"This situation is a little tricky, but, Xiaye, you have to take good care of yourself too. You didn't sleep at all last night, did you? You don't look too well."
Xi Xiaye sighed softly and helplessly. "How can I sleep well knowing that this has happened? Okay, Uncle Lan, you go settle your things first. Just let me know if there's any news from over there."
"Okay, right, I heard that you're going back to the Shen residence tonight, aren't you?" Lan Zilang was about to leave when he remembered this.
Xi Xiaye paused, then answered, "Yeah, Grandpa's gotten a slight cold recently and he's not in a great mood, so I wanted to go home to visit."
"That'll be good. Let's go together then. I haven't seen the Elder CEO for almost half a month now, and I do miss him."
"Alright, when it's time, I'll get Xiao Mei to inform you."
Then, Lan Zilang slowly retreated while Xi Xiaye felt limp and leaned back on her chair in a daze.
In the afternoon, City B remained bleak with rain. When the sky had brightened up, Ah Bao and the rest continued their search once again, but they got nothing after an entire morning.
Su Chen's side quickly got the CCTV recordings, but they did not find anything relevant either though they did see the scene of Qi Lei and Ah Mo getting into the car one after another to leave for the airport.
It was past 4 p.m. at the local time when Mu Yuchen's flight landed in City B. He did not rest and went straight to the hotel where Qi Lei and Ah Mo had stayed at.
Ah Bao waited there for him. Since he did not find any relevant information, the entire row of them was all nervous, worried about how to tell the Master this.
Because he used to come here for work all the time, the suite that Ah Mo stayed at was booked all year.At this moment, inside the room that Ah Mo had reserved, Mu Yuchen stood by the window and silently looked out of it. Behind him stood Li Si, Ah Bao, and the rest.The row of them dared not say anything. Their hearts were filled with reverence and worry because compared to a Master who spoke, they were even more afraid of a Master who did not.
Some time passed before Mu Yuchen calmly said, "Explain the situation."
Ah Bao and Li Si exchanged a look before the former took a step to the front and said softly, "Yes, Master! we've already searched through all the locations, but we didn't find anything relevant. The CCTV recordings that we got didn't help either because there are too many blind spots on that road. In fact, there were many side roads too. We've searched along all those side roads, but we didn't find anyone. Plus with this weather, I think that even if there were any traces, they were probably washed away by the rain. We couldn't do our job well. master, please punish us!"
Ah Bao felt like his heart was exceptionally heavy. He had been buddies for more than 10 years with Ah Mo and had always sacrificed himself for the Mu family, what more the kinship between them. After they searched for so long but did not get a hint of news, Ah Bao blamed himself deeply.
Mu Yuchen's eyes darkened a little, but he did not scold him. He just closed his eyes to take a deep breath, and when he opened his eyes again, he had returned to calm.
"Master, right now, our people are still continuing to search. Perhaps we can find something useful," Li Si could not help but add.
"Couldn't find them? You know that i don't want this answer. Where are they? How did they just vanish with the car?"
Mu Yuchen's tone was rather sharp, so Ah Bao was fearful upon hearing it. He quickly said, "Yes, Master! I didn't do this well. Please punish me! we only know that Bro Mo and Master Qi's schedule for those few days. we noticed that Bro Mo met Gu Qiwu. In fact, it was more than once. when Bro Mo left city B, the last call he made was to Gu Qiwu too. Perhaps, Mr. Gu might know something. We're worried about the situation, so we didn't dare alert Gu Qiwu. We wanted to wait for you to come over and make the decision, Master."
"Gu Qiwu? what are you trying to say?"
As Mu Yuchen listened to this, his eyes instantly turned cold. That unfathomable gaze of his made Ah Bao feel apprehensive, so he quickly explained, "Master, Master, I'm not saying that Bro Mo would do anything. I'm just.. I trust that Bro Mo wouldn't betray you, Master..." he explained nervously, while Mu Yuchen's expression had turned icy now.
"Where's Gu Qiwu now?" Mu Yuchen calmed himself down and asked again.
"Gu Qiwu's returned to city Z."
"Master, given this weather and the CCTVs that weren't placed everywhere, I think that there's a high probability that they haven't left city B. As long as we look in detail, I'm sure we can find some clues—"
before Li Si could finish, the phone in Mu Yuchen's pocket buzzed. Mu Yuchen quickly took his phone out to look. It was Su Chen, so he quickly answered, and Su Chen's low voice came through.
"Ah Chen, you've reached city B, haven't you?"
"Just reached the hotel. How are things on your end?" Mu Yuchen asked with a lowered voice.
"Hmm, let's not talk about that. I found something. Come over right away. I'll send the location to you. Come immediately!" Su Chen said then hung up.
After a while, Mu Yuchen's phone buzzed, so he opened the text and noticed that there was an additional GPS location.
Mu Yuchen took a look, then abruptly turned around and walked out of the room in huge strides with Ah Bao and Li Si following him.
Actually, Xi Xiaye knew that they would not be able to hide the news about Ah Mo from Mu Lingshi for long. They were husband and wife, after all. If Ah Mo was not around, he would have called Mu Lingshi every day, yet now with no news two days in a row, Mu Lingshi naturally noticed that something was out of place.
When she found Xi Xiaye, Xi Xiaye said that she was going back to the Shen residence, but it looked like she had to forgo that and return to the Old Mu residence instead.
When the car drove into the Old Mu residence, the sky had turned dark and the lights in the house were lit.
However, compared to the usual hustle and bustle, the moment Xi Xiaye walked into the living room, she could feel that the atmosphere was exceptionally odd and stifling. Before she could react, Mu Lingshi's voice of disbelief was heard.
"Mother, What did you say? Ah Mo's missing? Ah Mo's missing? isn't he in city B? He even called me two days ago! How could he be missing?!"
Mu Lingshi was subconsciously afraid now, and the panic in her eyes could not be concealed as she looked at Zhuang Shurong in shock. Beside her, Mu Yinan frowned slightly too. Her eyes were fixed on Zhuang Shurong.
Zhuang Shurong sighed, her voice mixed with concern as she admitted, "We initially didn't want to tell you all about this because we were worried you would be too concerned, and it would be bad for your health. Now that two days have passed, I'm thinking that something's not right. Last night, your brother called your father who has sent people to search in city B, and your sis-in-law's people have gone over too, but it looks like there isn't much news yet. Qi Lei from the Qi family and Qi Lei's assistant have gone missing too."
"How could this happen? How could it? Two days ago, He told me that he'd rush back home soon, so how did this happen? They just vanished? Mother, did something happen to Ah Mo?"
Mu Lingshi's little face turned pale now, and a strong sense of uneasiness gathered at her chest as she propped herself up to stand and looked dazed at Zhuang Shurong.
"Lingshi, don't be so worked up first! for now, no news is good news. Your brother and your Father are working hard right now, so it'll be fine. You should take care of yourself!" Zhuang Shurong quickly got up to hold Mu Lingshi.
"Can't the people around him be contacted too?" Mu Yinan was calmer since he had seen quite a fair bit in life and had just gone through the incident with Wang Hui. In fact, if it was something others did not know, he would understand it.
Ah Mo used to work with him, so he knew about his capabilities and his martial arts skills. Those highly skilled soldiers were no match for him, and he was confident in Ah Mo.
"We've contacted everyone that we could, but there's still no news," Zhuang Shurong sighed softly and responded.
"Grandfather, Mother, Ah Shi..."
Upon hearing this, Xi Xiaye walked in.
"You're back!" Mu Yinan smiled lovingly and greeted her.
Nodding, Xi Xiaye turned around to change her shoes on the porch before walking in."Have some tea. "When Zhuang Shurong saw Xi Xiaye's silhouette, her face that was tense with concern eased a little.
"Thank you, Mother." Xi Xiaye sat down on the sofa aside, took the tea, and had a simple sip.
Mu Lingshi's anxious voice was then heard. "Sister-in-law, how's it? Haven't you and brother sent people to search for them? How are things now? Did you find them?"
Her anxious voice was mixed with endless worry. Mu Lingshi knew Ah Mo well too. He would never just disappear without a word. Even if he was doing some kind of mission, he would inform her beforehand so that the family would not worry, and of course, he had told her that he was going to be home soon.
"Ah Shi, calm down. There isn't any news now, but with Ah Mo's abilities, he'll be fine," Xi Xiaye consoled as she reached out to hold her slightly cold fingertips. "The most important thing you have to do right now is take care of yourself and your baby."
As Mu Lingshi took a deep breath, her hands clenched into fists and she said in a daze, "I know. I'm just afraid...worried...he's never been like this..."
"Just trust him, okay? Don't be too worried. We'll let you know first if there's anything. Your brother should be back in a few days' time. It'll be fine. sit down. I'll go take a look in the kitchen."
xi xiaye was about to get up when zhuang shurong pulled her back and said calmly, "it's okay, xiaye. sit with her for a while. i'll go manage things and make you some dishes to take them home. you don't look too well, so rest more. these things can't be rushed."
"mother..."
"it's alright. sit. i know that you probably have to go home later, but it'll be quick," zhuang shurong said, and then walked to the kitchen.
"Sit down. You're rarely home. Don't busy yourself. Are things at work all good?" Mu Yinan spoke up in time as he looked at Xi Xiaye with eyes that contained faint concern.
Xi Xiaye gratefully met with his gaze. "Apart from the usual hecticness, all's well. Thank you, Grandfather."
He nodded. "You have to watch your own health too. Maintain some balance between work and rest. We've heard about Zimo's situation in New York. Ah Chen, Zimo, and Su Chen are three buddies who have grown up together, so they have a very strong bond. I hope you can be understanding of him."
Upon hearing that, Xi Xiaye smiled. "Grandfather, don't worry. I understand. Things over there are almost settled. Don't worry. Ah Chen should be returning soon. So, Ah Shi, you don't have to be worried. It'll be fine."
Mu Lingshi's eyes were a little dark, but she could only nod. "I guess that's all it can be for now. Just believe him, trust him..."
Dinner was soon ready. The dishes had just been served when Mu Tangchuan returned. The whole family had a simple dinner, then Xi Xiaye talked to Mu Lingshi for a while before she was about to go home.
Zhuang Shurong prepared some dishes for her to take home. However, Mu Tangchuan was the one who walked her out.
"Father, you can go back in now." Xi Xiaye was actually shocked by Mu Tangchuan's actions. It seemed like he had something to say to her, but...
She did not guess wrongly. Just as she said that, Mu Tangchuan interrupted, "Hold on, Xiaye, there's something I want to ask you." Mu Tangchuan's loving voice was heard.
Xi Xiaye quickly stopped her steps and turned to look at him. "Father, what is it?"
Mu Tangchuan nodded before he thought about it more, then said, "Did Ah Chen ask you to find someone to investigate the accident from six years ago?"
Lingtian's incident?
Xi Xiaye paused. Without hiding, she nodded to say, "Yes, He's always been suspicious about the accident years ago, so he planned to investigate in secret once again. Father, with the way Ah Chen is, do you still not understand? He's trying to find a reason for him to truly let go. However, his doubts aren't unfounded. No matter what, I'm willing to believe him, and go with him."
After she said this, Mu Tangchuan's gentle and elegant face very quickly flashed with a smile. He beamed happily. "Very good, Xiaye. If you can think that way, I'm very glad. Since he's mentioned this to you on his own accord, I trust that you roughly know what happened years ago."
"Hmm, I'm generally clear about what happened. You actually want to bring Doris up, don't you?" Xi Xiaye was not slow either, so she could catch the hint between his words.
Indeed, once she said that, Mu Tangchuan did not deny it. "Hmm, I should ask Ah Chen these things, but you know, he doesn't want to mention this to us. Even if it's to help, your Mother-in-law and I, we both..."
"Don't worry, Father, it's not that he doesn't want to talk about it to the two of you. He just thinks that some things will trouble you and mother. I didn't plan to bring it up to you, but since you've brought it up today, I'll let you know that the entire situation was actually probably one whereby everyone tried to get what they wanted. Perhaps, from that time onwards, Doris already knew about Gu Qiwu and aunt's relationship...sometimes, a person's greed can be terrifying, Not just Doris, but perhaps Lingtian..."
At this juncture, Xi Xiaye did not continue, Yet Mu Tangchuan's profound eyes unconsciously darkened. Clearly, he understood what she meant.
"Father, actually, I have a feeling that the thing with Qi Lei and Ah Mo this time is the finishing point of this whole thing. Their disappearance is no coincidence. Perhaps, it has been planned for a long time now."
"Are you suspecting that it might have something to do with Doris? Do you have a Basis?" Mu Tangchuan asked.
Xi Xiaye shook her head gently. "If we're going to talk about evidence, then I don't have any. It's just an instinct. Since it's happened, there should be a reason. Qi Lei left Qi Kai a while ago and said that he wants to start his own thing while Qi Qiming unexpectedly defended him in public. On the surface, it was for Qi Kai and the Qi family, but we can't neglect that the person whose benefits are directly harmed is Qi Feng, so he's got a huge motive. We can't neglect that aspect. Father, I suggest that we thoroughly do a check on Qi Feng. Perhaps, we might find something unexpected."
"Don't you worry about that. I didn't forget all the things that should be done," Mu Tangchuan replied with a smile.
Now, Xi Xiaye felt assured.
Something flashed in Xi Xiaye's mind, so she asked again, "Right, Father, there's something I've been wanting to ask you about."
"What is it?" Mu Tangchuan casually put his arms behind him as he said calmly.
Xi Xiaye paused while she roughly sorted out her thoughts before asking, "Wang Qin's matter has passed for a long time now. I want to know if the police had no updates at all. It was clear that someone tried to frame us for that incident. Was there still no outcome to the investigation?"
"The suspect has been locked in, but they ran off abroad. You know as well that it's quite hard to catch a criminal abroad. Besides, he's consciously evading our capture. I'm sure someone's helping him out abroad too. However, I did hear that he's recently appeared at Los Angeles."
When Mu Tangchuan revealed that, a ray of hope flashed in Xi Xiaye's heart. She thought about it for a moment. "Mmm, then we'll have to keep troubling you on this matter, Father."
"Don't worry, this matter isn't quite straightforward. I know about it very well since Ah Chen's mentioned about this to me too. I know that you're all anxious for an explanation for your friend, Qi Lei. I promise that I won't let this drag on for too long."
"If you've said so, Father, then I won't worry about it." Xi Xiaye smiled. "Alright, thank you, Father. If there's nothing else, I'll go home first. I will leave Ah Shi's matter into yours and Mother's hands."
"Alright, go home then. Be careful on the road."
In the windy and rainy City B, inside an abandoned factory kilometers away from the highway.
When Mu Yuchen went over, the sky had darkened. After Su Chen made a police report, right now, there were many policemen around the factory and a police cordon had been put up too.
Su Chen was talking about something with a policeman.
Suddenly, there was the sound of a car honking. Secretary He, who stood beside them, immediately turned to look. When he saw the car, he said to Su Chen, "Chief Su, it's Master Mu!"
Su Chen looked up and followed the sound. Indeed, a car had slowly stopped at the car on the vacant space in front. The car door opened quickly, and Mu Yuchen got down to walk straight to Su Chen. In the blink of an eye, he reached Su Chen.
"You're here!" Su Chen greeted Mu Yuchen, and then looked to the policeman beside him as he continued, "Come, let me introduce you. This is Officer Xu who's in charge of the case this time. Officer Xu, this is Master Mu!"
"Hello, I'm Mu Yuchen," Mu Yuchen greeted humbly.
"Ah, it's Master Mu. What an honor!" Officer Xu smiled humbly too.
Mu Yuchen nodded slightly and turned to look at Su Chen. "Any new findings?"
"We found Ah Mo and Qi Lei's car inside. There're some traces of blood on it too. Early examination shows that it's not from Ah Mo, Qi Lei, or Yang Sheng because coincidentally, the three of them have the same blood type as you, which is O. Meanwhile, the samples show that it's type A, so it should be someone else's blood."
Su Chen's lowered voice was quickly heard. "Next up, it's best if I let Officer Xu explain it to you."
When Officer Xu heard that, he nodded and continued, "Based on the situation, there were signs of struggle in the car. The two bottles of mineral water in Qi Lei's car contain roofie. Early speculations show that it might be Qi Lei and Yang Sheng's, but we'll only know for sure after examining it. So far, it looks like the three of them were captured by seven to eight rogues who used a long and sharp metal rod as a weapon. We could tell from the scratches on the car that there must have been quite a fight here! There's a mess of footprints at the scene, so it will be a little hard to pick them up.
"Also, this factory area is a repair shop that's been abandoned for quite a while now. Rarely anyone passes by. There are quite a few roads that lead outside too. They're all flat cemented paths. After such a long and heavy downpour, many traces have been washed away by the rain, so we can't find anything relevant for now. Also, this part leads to the deep mountains. I just checked and noticed that there were a few signs that look like the trail marks a car, so we won't rule out that they've escaped into the mountains. One more thing. Come here to look—
"It's obvious that this place was a car repair shop. There are burnt traces here but look at the new paint over there. It should be quite fresh, so my guess is that the murderer might have painted the car again, and then ran off to evade the CCTVs. And in order not to be noticed, they burnt it all here, We can guess from the plastic tanks of gasoline on the ground."
Officer Xu explained the general situation to Mu Yuchen. As Mu Yuchen listened, his expression turned solemn too.
"That means that Qi Lei, Yang Sheng, and Ah Mo might be together right now. They were probably kidnapped by a bunch of rogues, and someone among these rogues was hurt," Su Chen said.
Officer Xu nodded. "You can say that!"
"Can we find out the direction in which they escaped?" Mu Yuchen fell silent for a moment, then asked in a lowered voice.
Officer Xu paused, thought about it for a moment, then responded, "I can't answer that for now, Master Mu! But I think that as long as we bring these things back to test and survey the scene again, we should be able to get an answer. Actually, through my conversation with Chief Su earlier, I can boldly speculate that they might have left City B by now. Two days is enough to do many things. These two roads pass through 30 kilometers of highway towards a place beyond the provinces where traffic is busy. The checkpoint inspections might not be so strict either, so it wouldn't have been too hard for them to escape."
"Can we pick up any DNA from the location? Perhaps, we can compare it to our database and find out the rogue's identity."
"Don't worry, Mr. Mu. We found a few cigarette butts at the scene. We'll bring them back for tests, and hopefully we'll find something useful."
Mu Yuchen sighed as he stood there for quite a while, then walked towards his car. The traces at the scene were clearly very chaotic. Mu Yuchen's thoughts were leaning more towards the possibility that Ah Mo must have exchanged blows with those people!
Ah Mo was really alert, so perhaps he found out something. After all, even the usual seven to eight people were no match for him!