The black bulletproof sedan stopped at the roadside. Fu Hui strode out and finally came to a halt beside a green trash bin.
The bin had been knocked over onto the ground.
Wearing gloves, a bodyguard took a phone out of it. He did not dare hand it directly to Fu Hui and simply lit up the screen. There was no lock-screen password at all. It went straight to the home screen, where the game app Fu Hui had downloaded for Lan Xi was still sitting untouched.
“We followed the location here, but this phone was all we found,” the person beside him said apologetically.
Clearly, Lan Xi, who still did not understand phones very well, had learned enough from his previous experience. This time, he had cleverly chosen to abandon the phone altogether.
Fu Hui rubbed his brow. “The surveillance footage?”
“We traced him to this area in the end…” Someone came over holding a tablet and showed Fu Hui the footage. “He walked all the way here. He probably saw his own face on one of the mall’s display screens, got frightened, and turned into this alley… From the surveillance cameras belonging to the shops here, we saw that the last place he hid was right here.”
They pointed at the scattered pile of cardboard boxes.
Hid…
When that word was applied to Lan Xi, it made him sound like a small animal fleeing in blind panic.
Fu Hui’s chest tightened involuntarily.
“And then…” The person beside him swallowed with difficulty. “Then all trace of him disappeared.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean… after he hid here, he never appeared on any of the camera footage again.”
The surroundings fell completely silent.
So silent that they could all hear one another’s nervous heartbeats.
Even though Mr. Fu still looked as calm as ever…
The suffocating dead silence did not last long. Fu Hui had no intention of wasting time venting his emotions.
He reached out and took the tablet. “Sync the footage from the nearby cameras and send it all to me.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Fu Hui watched and compared the recordings over and over.
It was exactly as they had said. After Lan Xi hid there, he never appeared again.
“There are dropped frames here,” Fu Hui suddenly said.
“Yes.” The person beside him leaned closer, looked, and nodded. “By comparing the frames before and after, we found that the boxes were still stacked one moment, and scattered the next. It looks like key frames are missing in between… but there’s no missing time in the recording itself.”
That made no sense…
Fu Hui slowed the video to 0.5 speed.
Finally, he found that in one frame that flashed past almost impossibly fast, something black had darted out from the boxes. But the image lasted only 0.01 seconds.
The technician responsible for reviewing the footage could not help saying, “Mr. Fu, this doesn’t really mean anything… Unless this person is an alien, there’s no way he could escape at an inhuman speed.”
“…Inhuman?” Fu Hui murmured.
“Next…” The person beside him bent slightly at the waist, still waiting for Fu Hui’s instructions.
“We’ve already missed the best window. There’s no need to make such a huge spectacle anymore. Keep it low-key.”
Otherwise, they might frighten Lan Xi and drive him into hiding even deeper.
After Fu Hui finished speaking, his gaze suddenly stopped.
Then he pushed past the people in front of him, stepped into the pile of cardboard boxes, and started searching…
“Sir, there’s nobody hiding here. We already scanned everything carefully with thermal imaging…”
The accumulated cardboard smelled unpleasant. Fu Hui’s expression grew increasingly grim.
Finally, he crouched down and pulled a trouser leg from one corner, then a shirt… Lan Xi had left his clothes here.
Fu Hui gathered them one by one and folded them neatly with his own hands.
The tightness in his chest worsened.
If there had not been absolutely no other traces on the ground… he might almost have suspected that Lan Xi had turned into water and flowed away.
“Sir?” The bodyguard looked at him worriedly.
“Give me the phone.” Fu Hui steadied himself. He had not forgotten to call the Wen brothers.
“Mr. Fu, you mean… Lan Xi is missing?” For a moment, Wen Yue could hardly describe what he felt. He did not know whether he should be worried or happy.
“Mm. If he comes to you…”
“Don’t worry, Mr. Fu. I know what to do.”
“…” Do you really?
Of course Fu Hui did not believe him.
But that no longer mattered. Lan Xi’s safety was more important.
Wen Ming received the news at the same time and almost immediately left with bodyguards to search.
He went to Luo Jin first.
Luo Jin was badly frightened. “What? Lan Xi is gone? He really isn’t with me!”
After leaving the Luo residence, Wen Ming stood at the roadside and only then fell into confusion.
He did not understand Lan Xi. No, he had never truly understood Lan Xi at all. He had no idea where else to look. Then again… even Fu Hui had failed to find him…
Wen Yue thought more deeply and even went to find Wen Lan.
Wen Lan was stunned when he heard. “I did want to smuggle Lan Xi out with me, but after I found out what kind of person Fu Hui was…” He truly did not dare!
With nothing to show for their search, the Wen brothers eventually met up at Wen Zixiong’s place.
Even though they knew it was unlikely, they still asked, “Have you seen Lan Xi?”
“…No.” Wen Zixiong actually sounded regretful. “I wish I had.”
He was still regretting that he had not performed well enough last time. By now, faint rumors had spread through their circles that Fu Hui had some kind of connection with someone named “Lan Xi.”
If I’d known earlier, I would’ve made him my godson.
One look at Wen Zixiong’s expression told Wen Yue exactly what he was thinking. He frowned in disgust and moved aside to call Fu Hui.
He still shared the update. “I didn’t find him here.”
“Mm.”
Wen Ming clenched his fists. “Where could he have gone?”
Wen Ming’s eyelid twitched violently. He suddenly jumped up. “He wouldn’t… randomly find someone again and go home with them, would he?”
Wen Yue thought about it and decided that was unlikely. “That missing-person notice is so conspicuous that everyone can see it. Who would dare casually take him home?”
Wen Ming breathed a little easier, but the furrow between his brows did not smooth out.
Who could have imagined it? One crisis had not even settled before another arrived…
At this rate, the lines between their brows only grew deeper from worrying.
“Has Lan Xi’s condition improved at all lately?” Wen Ming asked softly. This was what worried him most…
“He’s alone outside. Something could happen to him very easily.”
“There’s one more person!” Wen Yue suddenly remembered and immediately called Fu Hui. “Have you checked Fang Nianqing?”
“My people are on their way there.”
The bodyguards split into two groups, one going to the school apartment and the other to the old house where Fang Nianqing lived.
The word “DEMOLISH” had been painted on the outer wall of the old building.
They rushed up the rundown stairwell and gave the people inside no time to prepare, kicking the door open roughly.
“Fuck, who the hell is kicking my door?” A man rushed out from inside. A middle-school boy followed behind him, holding up a screwdriver and watching the bodyguards warily.
“Did Fang Nianqing send you?” the man demanded with a vicious expression.
Fu Hui arrived a step later.
He moved through the bodyguards and slowly walked up to the man.
Both the man and the middle-school boy holding the screwdriver were pinned down by the bodyguards.
A chair was braced across the man’s body, trapping him underneath so securely that he could not even crawl up.
Fu Hui swept them a glance. “Who are they?”
A bodyguard answered, “We just questioned them. This is Fang Nianqing’s maternal uncle and his uncle’s son. They came over while Fang Nianqing was away because they wanted to seize the property.”
Fu Hui: “…”
Fu Hui sounded impatient. “So Fang Nianqing isn’t here?”
“Correct. We haven’t found any trace of Mr. Lan Xi either.”
The man still could not resist defending himself. “What do you mean, seize it? Don’t make it sound so ugly.”
Fu Hui turned to leave. “Beat him, then throw him out.”
The man’s expression changed drastically. He struggled to get up. “Is there no law anymore? I’m telling you, I’ll call the police!”
A bodyguard planted a foot on the chair and forced the man back down.
Fu Hui had already reached the doorway.
Through the door, the man’s cries of pain and pleas for mercy soon rang out from inside.
At that moment, Secretary Lin called back too. “I’m very sorry, Mr. Fu. I haven’t received any news about Mr. Lan Xi.”
“Mm. It’s fine. Keep an eye out.” Fu Hui had never expected Lan Xi to suddenly run all the way to Hai City to find Secretary Lin. But Lan Xi knew very few people. It never hurt to prepare in advance and warn a few more of them.
At the same time.
At the foot of Wuyi Mountain, a group of bodyguards dressed in black knocked on a neighbor’s door.
“Hey, hey, who are you looking for?”
The bodyguard gave a cold smile. “Xiao Dong.”
Xiao Dong came out when he heard the commotion. One look at the bodyguards’ formation frightened him half to death. He thought they had discovered how he had previously described Lan Xi as a “girl” and fooled the wealthy big shot.
He turned to run.
“Don’t worry. We only need you to keep watch… If he contacts you, you must tell us immediately.” The bodyguard pressed a hand onto his shoulder and smiled. “Starting today, I’ll be staying here with you for the time being.”
Xiao Dong could not help looking horrified. He had absolutely no idea what was going on.
The gentleman living in that little Western-style house really was someone he absolutely could not afford to offend!
Countless scattered updates flooded toward Fu Hui.
“Sir, there’s no news yet.”
“Sir, we couldn’t find him…”
“No trace…”
One after another, nearly all of them disappointing.
Fu Hui’s expression slowly turned colder.
At that moment, the door behind him opened and the bodyguards dragged Fang Nianqing’s uncle out.
Fu Hui suddenly said, “Put him back inside.”
This time Fang Nianqing’s uncle actually struggled. He had clearly been terrified by the beating and was crying so hard that tears and snot streamed down his face. “Let me go! Let me go!”
The bodyguard sneered. “Didn’t you want to live here? Whenever Fang Nianqing goes to school, you look for a chance to come stay here.”
Fang Nianqing’s uncle refused to answer. Terrified and furious, he started cursing instead. “This is illegal!”
“I want you to stay here until Fang Nianqing comes back,” Fu Hui said coldly.
“No! I…”
The bodyguards did not care whether he wanted to or not. They simply threw him back inside. Everyone else withdrew, and before closing the door, one of them sneered at him. “Use your head. If you can lure Fang Nianqing back, maybe you’ll get to leave sooner.”
The man and his son’s crying and cursing were shut behind the door again.
Fu Hui was not certain whether Lan Xi would go looking for Fang Nianqing, or whether catching Fang Nianqing would be useful.
But where Lan Xi was concerned, Fu Hui followed one rule: better to chase the wrong lead than let the right one slip away.
Forget Fang Nianqing. He had even called Grimshaw.
Even Oliver, the Finnish man who had once given Lan Xi his business card, had people watching him now.
Only after arranging all of this did the breath lodged in Fu Hui’s throat loosen slightly.
What else could he do now?
Wait for news that might come from who knew where?
Fu Hui unconsciously tightened his hand and came away with a fistful of plaster dust from the wall… If Lan Xi would rather run off with Fang Nianqing and live in a place like this, then Fu Hui really would be angry. Very, very, very angry.
＊
Inside a private-kitchen restaurant.
Song Qingming and his wife had sat stiffly for a very long time, as though someone had cast a spell to freeze them in place.
A server cautiously came over and asked, “Mr. Song, should we still serve the dishes?”
Song Qingming let out a long sigh. “No need.”
He stood and moved his legs a couple of times.
His wife frowned worriedly. “You’re going straight back to the research institute?”
Song Qingming nodded, but first went outside and called Fu Hui to ask about the situation.
“Still haven’t found him,” Fu Hui replied concisely.
Even now, Song Qingming still had to clear the Song family’s name. “This really has nothing to do with the family. I genuinely just wanted us all to have a meal together and get acquainted…”
“Mm. I know.”
“If there’s anything we can help with, just say so…”
Fu Hui knew the Song family would never do something so undignified.
He was also certain Lan Xi had run away on his own… Anyone who wanted to abduct Lan Xi would have to put in quite a bit of work.
But Song Qingming’s words suddenly reminded him of Song Fan.
Fu Hui rarely went to so many places in a single day.
He personally went to Song Fan’s home.
“Why are you here?” Song Fan’s parents welcomed him inside eagerly.
Fu Hui entered, sat down, and the first thing he asked after lifting his head was, “What exactly did you say to him?”
Qingshi Hotel.
The person in charge looked at Fang Nianqing. “You’re sure you want to bring a family member?”
Fang Nianqing said, “Mm.”
The person in charge did not ask further. “All right. Here’s the room key. Meet on time at eight tomorrow morning.”
Fang Nianqing nodded and reached back to take the hand of the person behind him.
But the person behind him avoided his hand and walked ahead instead.
Helpless, Fang Nianqing could only follow and quickly say, “Wait for me to swipe the card.”
The person walking ahead wore a purple-red strappy polka-dot dress with a distinctly Y2K style. “She” had on a huge pair of cheap sunglasses that covered almost half her face. The frames were old-fashioned, and the lenses even had obvious scratches.
But none of that diminished “her” presence.
Proud, mysterious, aloof, and cold.
A top-tier beauty.
Everyone who passed “her” wanted to look a little longer, but did not quite dare stare directly, so they only stole hurried glances.
Fang Nianqing accompanied “her” into the elevator, then swiped the card and opened the door to Room 703.
Once the door closed and the two of them stood inside the room, Fang Nianqing finally called with some uncertainty, “Lan Xi?”
Lan Xi said, “Mm.”
After Lan Xi turned around and flew away, he remembered what Fang Nianqing had once said: “You can shout all you want here and nobody will notice.”
Fang Nianqing’s home was in a remote area, and there were very few surveillance cameras nearby.
So Lan Xi flew straight in that direction.
He kept flying until his strength ran out and he dropped to the ground with a pat.
This world was truly unfriendly to demons. Not only was it difficult to control his body here, but using demonic power consumed an enormous amount of energy.
He was very glad he had turned back.
Otherwise, if he had fallen inside that controlled area, who knew what might have happened.
Lan Xi climbed up from the ground and did not rush to return to his normal size.
With great effort, he pushed along his four gold bangles and made his way around puddles. Oh, he could abandon his clothes where they were… but he had actually brought these along.
The four gold bangles nearly crushed palm-sized Lan Xi under their weight.
But he stubbornly hooked one onto each wing and hung the other two from his horns. Like a chicken scurrying along on foot, he went pat-pat-pat along stretch after stretch of road until he finally found a small convenience store by the roadside.
The shop owner was dozing off.
Lan Xi climbed onto the counter, hugged a phone bigger than himself, and used the owner’s face to unlock it.
Then he climbed on top of the screen and pressed the numbers one by one with his feet.
He called Fang Nianqing.
“Hello. It’s Lan Xi.”
He remembered how Wen Yue kept talking about compensation.
Lan Xi smoothly applied the same logic to Fang Nianqing.
He gave Fang Nianqing no chance to speak and said in one breath, “You mistook me for Wen Lan, and you wanted to lock me up. You owe me.”
Fang Nianqing had no argument against that.
“Come pick me up in a little while.”
Lan Xi stole an old dress and an old pair of sunglasses from Fang Nianqing’s home, disguised himself, and waited downstairs for Fang Nianqing.
That way, no passerby could recognize him.
Staying in his true demon form was exhausting too.
Anyway, he no longer had to care about any seraph. Exhausted, Lan Xi kicked Fang Nianqing in the butt, making him jump.
Lan Xi said, “Tired. Carry me.”
Fang Nianqing looked as though he wanted to say something, but in the end he bent down anyway.
“We need to go somewhere Fu Hui can’t find,” Lan Xi said.
Fang Nianqing had no choice but to ask, “Who is Fu Hui?”
“A very powerful person. He can control all those cameras, and my face even shows up on televisions…” Lan Xi’s ability to describe things was limited.
But Fang Nianqing was horrified by what he heard.
He had no time to ask for details and immediately thought of somewhere he could temporarily hide Lan Xi.
Qingshi Hotel, which worked with the government, was currently preparing to receive a group of foreign experts visiting for an exchange.
Fang Nianqing’s school had recommended him as an accompanying interpreter for the project so he could earn some money.
And so Fang Nianqing brought Lan Xi there.
He thought that with foreign guests providing cover, and with the hotel being an old-established property working on an official project, it ought to be very safe.
Lan Xi temporarily settled in there.
During the day, Fang Nianqing went out and brought food back for him, but Lan Xi still only ate a couple of perfunctory bites.
Fang Nianqing did not know Lan Xi’s appetite had been poor lately. He was only embarrassed that perhaps he was still too poor… Lan Xi did not seem to like any of the food he brought him.
Lan Xi kept frowning.
This old-established five-star hotel had low ceilings. The room was spacious, but the facilities were old… All in all, it could not compare to Fu Hui’s home at all.
Never mind having a huge courtyard where he could wander around whenever he felt restless.
Lan Xi had nothing to do. “Turn on the television for me.”
So Fang Nianqing turned on the television.
Lan Xi wanted to watch a drama.
So Fang Nianqing found one for him.
On television, the heroine was being forced to separate from the male lead for the sake of her family and was about to marry the second male lead instead.
The male lead watched the heroine climb into her bridal sedan chair and silently shed tears from the side.
The longer Lan Xi watched, the more irritated he became.
“Is it mocking me?”
Fang Nianqing: ?
Lan Xi flew into a rage and hurled the remote, smashing a hole straight through the television.
Fang Nianqing stared, dumbfounded. “…”
He could only take out his not-particularly-wealthy bank card and go downstairs to pay for the damage.
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