A few days after the party, the school officially entered its semester breaks. Lu Jiaxue pestered Lu Fangliang almost every day to ask about her mother’s whereabouts. He could only comfort his daughter while asking around for help to find Lin Wan.

He felt troubled because of this. But another matter also confused him a lot. Zhou Zijian had disappeared too, causing his plan to chase after Lin Wan to come to an end.

Two days after the competition, they were still in contact with each other. But after that, he couldn’t be reached anymore. Lu Fangliang found it strange as their plan was progressing smoothly. He even planned to pay Zhou Zijian in advance and strengthen their cooperation even further. However, the man disappeared! What did that mean? Did he not want his money anymore?

While he was pondering on the matter, he saw the video as well. It shocked him a lot. He quickly got someone to ask around and found out that Lin Wan had divorced with her husband. Lu Fangliang was in bliss at that moment. Lin Wan’s divorce meant that his chance to get together with her had come, and that he could court her openly. However, he had to find her first. If he couldn’t even contact her, nothing was going to happen between them.

He started to shift his attention to Li Mu, Lin Wan’s ex-husband, who was beaten up. He believed that Li Mu would know her whereabouts. Since he didn’t know where Lin Wan was now, he could find Li Mu first. And maybe he’d find out Lin Wan’s location from Li Mu.

Lu Fangliang used his connections and after a lot of work, he finally got their divorce agreement. The contents of the agreement were simple. It stated that the couple decided to divorce voluntarily because of emotional discord. Lin Wan would get divorced without bringing a single penny with her, leaving the property, cars, and savings to her ex-husband.

He felt that Li Mu was unworthy of Lin Wan’s love and thought it was unfortunate for such a great woman to marry an irresponsible man. If it had been him, how could he have borne letting the woman he loved leave without a penny? At least, he’d leave some properties to her. Li Mu’s contact number was written on the agreement. But Lu Fangliang hesitated to call him.

After thinking for a long time, he still couldn’t make the call. It was not because he was afraid of Li Mu, but he didn’t know the right words to say. The both of them were basically strangers. If Lu Fangliang had called Li Mu out of the blue to ask for his ex-wife’s whereabouts, it was sure he would get a good scolding. Why? Because Lu Fangliang would appear to be insulting Li Mu. Li Mu might even think that Lu Fangliang was humiliating him for asking about Lin Wan’s whereabouts right after their divorce. Before he could make up his mind, something happened at home.

Madam Jiang called him and said in a panic, “Miss Lu is missing! She hasn’t come home until now and I can’t get through to her phone. I don’t know where she is.” That shocked Lu Fangliang. He quickly asked back what had happened.

Madam Jiang explained that she went to the market to buy some groceries in the morning while Lu Jiaxue stayed at home to practice her piano. When she returned, Lu Jiaxue was already nowhere in sight. She wasn’t too bothered by it at first, thinking that Lu Jiaxue had gone hang out with her friends. When it was almost noon, she called Lu Jiaxue to ask if she was coming home for lunch. But no matter how many times she called, Lu Jiaxue did not pick up.

Then, she started to worry and called Lu Fangliang, hoping that he could contact his daughter. He acted fast and contacted a few of Lu Jiaxue’s good friends. All of them had the same answer that they hadn’t seen Lu Jiaxue at all today.

Lu Fangliang started to get nervous. He quickly sought help from his friends and family to find Lu Jiaxue. But he only got more anxious with their responses. No one had seen his daughter. And nobody knew where she was. He immediately thought about calling the police. He did, and rushed home after clarifying the situation with the police officers.

Many people were gathered at his house. Without any exception, everyone had an anxious look on their faces. In front of him, they did not dare to say too much. So they could only comfort him and told him that maybe his little girl was just playing around somewhere out there and that she’d be back at night.

However, everyone was disappointed as Lu Jiaxue was still nowhere to be found even until the following day. Everyone understood what that meant. Something must’ve happened to the child. Since Lu Fangliang was a prominent figure in society, he had many connections with people from the police station. The police officers responded quickly to his case. And the investigation team went to the Lu House right away.

The team collected the footage of surveillance cameras of the surroundings and found something strange. Lu Jiaxue did not appear in any of the tapes at all. And no one came in or exited the house when Madam Jiang was out. She disappeared just like that.

This situation surprised the police officers. The investigation team members checked the footage carefully and there were no traces that it had been tampered with. After watching the videos again, the police finally found a blind spot. There was a huge tree planted nearby the Lu House, which blocked the surveillance camera’s view completely from seeing the situation on the opposite side of the tree.

But there was another camera which was placed on the other side which could capture the scenes on this side. So it wasn’t exactly a true blind spot unless someone could fly into the Lu House from the top of the tree. The police officers denied this possibility as this wasn’t an action movie in making. And there weren’t any martial arts masters in real life. Those people who could fly and jump over walls only existed in movies, not reality.

On the third day, there was still no news on Lu Jiaxue’s whereabouts. Slowly, they were getting responses from other sources as well. After their investigation, they found that she did not visit any bus or train stations, ports, and airports. So they were certain she was still in Shanyang City. Lu Fangliang was going mad from anxiety. He hadn’t eaten or slept for the past two days, which contributed to his current haggard look. A few of his good friends advised him to rest and to eat something. But how could he?

The police asked him about the situation again. They got him to recall if Lu Jiaxue had any unusual behavior recently, and if there was anyone she interacted closely with.

Lin Wan was the first person Lu Fangliang thought of. However, he dismissed this thought as soon as it came out. Because in his eyes, Lin Wan adored Lu Jiaxue so much that she became her godmother. She was a kind woman who wouldn’t do anything as evil as such. Plus, the footage could prove that. No one came to the house. And his daughter did not leave too. Lu Jiaxue’s disappearance obviously had nothing to do with Lin Wan.

Upon noticing his hesitation, the police officers urged him to say everything that he knew. It didn’t matter what it was. Because the police officers would then filter the valuable information out from his words. With that, it could reduce the chances of them missing out on an important piece of information.

While Lu Fangliang was hesitant, his friend approached him, whispering in his ear, “Come out and take a call. It’s from Mr. Gou.” He apologized to everyone and followed his friend out of the room. The two of them came to the backyard. His friend only passed the phone over to Lu Fangliang when they were sure that no one was around.

“Uncle, it’s Lu Fangliang here.”

“Fangliang, I’ve heard about what happened to Jiaxue. Don’t worry, nothing life-threatening will happen to her. Withdraw the case first. Then send away all those irrelevant people from your house. After that, come to my place. I have something to tell you!”

Lu Fangliang acted quickly according to Mr. Gou’s orders and got everything done in a short while.

…..

“Uncle, I’m here!”

Lu Fangliang bowed to Mr. Gou respectfully first before he looked around the vicinity.

Mt. Gou waved his hand to Lu Fangliang, “Your daughter isn’t here. Have you settled everything at home?”

“Yes, I’ve withdrawn the case according to your instruction.”

Mr. Gou nodded and ascended the stairs as he said, “Come with me.”

Lu Fangliang hurried behind him and went up to the second floor too. Mr. Gou walked in front with his walking stick slowly but steadily. He appeared to be calm and unhurried. On the contrary, Lu Fangliang looked very anxious. And there were a few occasions when he hesitated to speak. That made Mr. Gou sigh within. He led Lu Fangliang to the end of the corridor and opened a partition door which revealed a study room.

“Come in!” Mr. Gou entered the room first. Lu Fangliang followed behind him quickly. When he got in, he looked around the room again before looking at Mr. Gou with disappointment.

“I told you that your daughter isn’t here.”

“Uncle, could you tell me where she is?”

Lu Fangliang said with much urgency. Lu Jiaxue was his life. And if something were to happen to her, he wouldn’t want to live in this world alone too.

“Don’t panic. Jiaxue is safe now and she isn’t hurt too. I can promise you that.”

Mr. Gou’s words managed to calm Lu Fangliang down. He knew Mr. Gou’s identity and his ability. So he trusted that his daughter would be safe since Mr. Gou had promised him.

“Uncle, what’s going on?” Lu Fangliang puzzledly.

His question made the elderly man look at him. But Mr. Gou did not give him an answer immediately. Instead, he fiddled the corner of a bookshelf, which then made the shelf separate to half and revealed a secret room.

Mr. Gou stepped in. Then he looked back at Lu Fangliang, motioning for him to get in too, “Come with me.”

Lu Fangliang walked in quickly and looked at Mr. Gou with doubts. Mr. Gou pointed to the Treasure Collection in front of them and said to Lu Fangliang, “Did you see that glass jar? The one covered with the red silk cloth. Uncover it and take a look.”

Lu Fangliang didn’t understand what was happening, but he trusted the man. And he went forward and did as Mr. Gou said. Soon after, he let out a scream and staggered back. Mr. Gou put his walking stick against him and prevented his fall.

“Uncle!” Lu Fangliang looked at him in shock while his body trembled slightly. The sight from earlier had indeed scared him. The hideous face he saw almost scared him to death as he wasn’t prepared to see something as such.

The red cloth had fallen to the ground. Mr. Gou went over and picked it up. He then covered the jar up again. He pointed to a chair, “Sit down first. Let’s talk.”

Trembling, Lu Fangliang took his seat. His face was filled with fear and confusion.

Mr. Gou, who was sitting opposite him, glanced at him. After a few minutes of silence, he said, “You know this person!”

“Who is it?” Lu Fangliang asked subconsciously.

“It’s Kang, your good friend!” Mr. Gou said.

“What?” Lu Fangliang jumped to his feet and looked at Mr. Gou with a horrified expression.

“Sit down. We’re going to talk about it.” Mr. Gou pointed to the chair with his walking stick.