“You don’t have to blame yourself. Even if you do, I wouldn’t care less,” Qin Ya replied in her usual indifferent tone.
Su Zhan stared at her for a long time before he spoke. “I don’t really care. I’m just doing what I think is right.”
Qin Ya looked at him and quickly turned away.
Even though light could not reach the pit they were in, it was still evening outside and the sun was just beginning to set.
After hours of searching, Shen Peichuan and Zong Jinghao still could not find either Qin Ya or Su Zhan.
“There’s no way the two of us can search the entire mountain. They should be able to hear us by now. Did they get into trouble or something?” Shen Peichuan asked worriedly.
They had no idea if there were any beasts that roamed the forest. Since they were only minutes behind Su Zhan, the latter should be able to hear them.
Yet, all they got was the quietness from the forest and nothing else. It worried Shen Peichuan even further.
Zong Jinghao could recognize his friend’s worried face. “I heard there are no wild beasts in this forest, so they’ll be found. Get someone out here to help us search.”
It would be dangerous for them to continue the search alone in the dark. They tried calling Su Zhan when they were in the forest, but since there was no signal, the call did not go through.
Now that they were out of the forest, they tried calling him twice again, only to get the same result. Shen Peichuan let out a deep sigh and ordered his fellow policemen to help search for Su Zhan and Qin Ya, preferably before it got completely dark.
After issuing his order, he turned to Zong Jinghao and suggested, “Why don’t you head back first? I’ll coordinate the search here.”
Zong Jinghao checked the time and shook his head. “I’ll wait for a little longer.”
With both Qin Ya and Su Zhan missing, Zong Jinghao had no idea how to explain it to Lin Xinyan once he got back.
It took the search team, which consisted of a dozen people in military uniforms, a whole hour to arrive. After checking their gears, they switched on their powerful flashlights and headed into the forest with Shen Peichuan guiding them.
As soon as they stepped into the forest, the birds that were resting on the trees swiftly flapped their wings and flew away.
The search team was divided into six groups with two men in each group. Shen Peichuan joined the leader of the search team and they began their search. As they got deeper into the mountain, the leader suddenly said, “It’ll be challenging to locate them in this darkness. There are also traps all around this place. If my guess is right, the people you’re looking for must’ve fallen into one of those traps.”
“Wait, there are traps in this forest?” Shen Peichuan asked as he moved a twig that was in his face away.
“Yes. Some residents here set them up to capture wild animals.”
Shen Peichuan frowned. He paid attention to where he was stepping next, worrying that he might step into a bear trap or something of a similar nature.
“Don’t tell me you’re afraid of these things?” the leader joked. “Did you lose your courage after getting promoted?”
“There’s no fault in being vigilant.” Shen Peichuan laughed. “Haven’t you heard of the saying? ‘With great power comes great responsibility.’“
“From what I can tell, Captain Song intends to make you his successor after his retirement. There’s speculation that you’ll marry his daughter as well. Please tell me that’s true.”
“Cut the crap!” Shen Peichuan scolded. “Don’t ever bring this up again.”
All Shen Peichuan had for Captain Song was respect, nothing else. He never thought of anything other than fulfilling the duties that came with his responsibilities. He didn’t mind such a scandal since he was a man, but he didn’t want it to affect the captain’s daughter.
The leader could see the change in Shen Peichuan’s expression and quickly apologized, “I’m sorry. I’ll just keep my mouth shut.”
The latter ignored the man and continued their search. As time went on, he became even more worried. Three hours had passed since the sunset, but they could find not even a single clue.
The search team retreated to where they started and met up with Zong Jinghao to report the situation.
“It’s almost impossible to launch a well-coordinated search during night time. There’s not enough light in there and we have to watch our own steps along the way,” Shen Peichuan said. “I think you should head back first. I’ll contact you when I find something. Oh, my men already took Number Four back with them. You should be able to see him in the news tomorrow. Go home. Get some rest and be ready. Gu Bei will have no choice but to contact you tomorrow. Just leave the search to me and I’ll leave dealing Gu Bei to you.”
The reason they called in the reporters was to spread the news to the public. The more people knew about what went down at Nanshan Temple, the more commotion it would cause. When that happened, the police had no choice but to deal with it publicly. It would give them a reason to open an investigation on Gu Bei.
Zong Jinghao pondered and finally nodded. “Alright. Be careful.”
Shen Peichuan nodded and saw him off.
When Zong Jinghao got back to his mansion, it was already half passed ten. The first thing he saw when he opened the door was his wife waiting for him.
Lin Xinyan had been waiting for his return the whole night. When she noticed his car in the driveway, she quickly got up to meet him at the door. “Are you alone?”
Zong Jinghao was about to hug her when he remembered he had been hiking on the mountain. He quickly pulled his arms back since he didn’t want to dirty his wife. “Let’s talk inside.”
Lin Xinyan was disappointed. She thought since Qin Ya did not have a place to stay in B City, she would come over to stay for the night. She deduced that Qin Ya did not follow Zong Jinghao back because they couldn’t find her friend.
“Qin Ya got away from Gu Bei’s men, but she’s on the run and we don’t know where she went.” Zong Jinghao only told Lin Xinyan half of the story, as he did not want to worry her. “As long as she isn’t in Gu Bei’s hands, she won’t be in danger. All we have to do is locate her.”
“Really?” Lin Xinyan stared at her husband to see if he was lying or not.
Zong Jinghao met her gaze and nodded. “Why would I lie about it? The reason I came back so late is that I was looking for her. I think she’s hiding because she’s still afraid that Gu Bei might find her. I think she’s actually safer this way.”
Lin Xinyan nodded, but deep down she was still worried. “Part of the reason Qin Ya got caught by Gu Bei was because of me. I’m his real target. I think he kidnapped her because I wasn’t here that night.”
Lin Xinyan had been thinking about it at home. It was too much of a coincidence for Qin Ya to get kidnapped after the photos were sent to her.
If anything bad were to happen to Qin Ya because of her, Lin Xinyan would blame herself until the day she died.
Zong Jinghao understood what was going on in his wife’s head, but he could not make any promises. If something bad really happened, it would only torment her even more. He quickly changed the topic. “Is there anything to eat? I’m famished.”
“Wait, have you eaten anything today?”
Zong Jinghao shook his head.
“I’ll make something right away. What do you want to eat?”
“Noodles,” Zong Jinghao replied. “With tomato egg sauce.”
It was the first dish Lin Xinyan had ever made for him, and he suddenly yearned for it.
“Alright. Wait for a moment.”
“Thanks.”
“Is…”
