Chapter 832: Chaos in the Capital
Lu Chengzhou found the cab Gu Mang had taken earlier.
The driver was a middle-aged man who had never been in such a serious situation before and was thus quaking with fear. A layer of sweat broke out on his back as he looked at the black clothed men surrounding his cab. He shrunk back against his seat as he stuttered, “M-May I know… w-what’s the matter…?”
I’m a law-abiding citizen who has never offended anyone…
Gone was Lu Chengzhou’s usual languorous demeanor, which was replaced with pure iciness. He had a hand in his pocket and when he spoke his voice was so frigid that it gave others the chills. “Earlier, a pretty lady wearing a cap and black sweater hailed your cab near the Yu Group’s private hospital. Where did she get off at?”
The driver usually enjoyed chatting with his pa.s.sengers and most of the time the pa.s.sengers kept up the conversation with him as well. Only Gu Mang had kept her head down silently throughout the journey, so he knew exactly who Lu Chengzhou was talking about. He hurriedly said, “I dropped her off at the North Sh.o.r.e District and she left right away. Whatever happened to her has nothing to do with me. I’m a law-abiding citizen…”
North Sh.o.r.e District was merely four streets away from the Yu Group’s private hospital. It was where Gu Mang used to stay when she went to the Yu Group’s private hospital to conduct surgeries every month.
Lu Chengzhou did not continue listening to the driver. Instead, he turned around and got into his own car. “Go to the North Sh.o.r.e District.”
“Understood.”
As the driver watched Lu Chengzhou and his entourage drive off toward the North Sh.o.r.e District, he raised his hand and wiped the sweat off his face.
On the journey there, Lu Chengzhou tried calling Gu Mang. However, he was told that the caller was not in the service area. He was just about to make another call when suddenly he received a call from Gu Si. Wrinkling his eyebrows, he answered the call and asked in a measured tone, “What’s up?”
“Erm, is my sis busy right now?” asked Gu Si.
Lu Chengzhou’s eyes darkened, but he calmly returned the question with another. “Why are you asking that? Did she ask you to look for me?”
“No. I was talking on the phone with her, but she hung up on me,” replied Gu Si carelessly. “I thought she was busy, so I wanted—”
“She contacted you?” Lu Chengzhou sat straight up in his seat when he heard what Gu Si said.
“…What’s with that question? Is it so strange that my sister contacted me?” retorted Gu Si. Tsk, he makes it sound as if she doesn’t care about me at all.
Lu Chengzhou controlled his emotions as he tried to maintain his compsure. “Did she say where she is?”
The phone went silent for a second. When Gu Si finally spoke, his voice was cold. “What do you mean by that? Did my sister go missing on Jijing Island?”
“We’re back in the capital, but something happened. I can’t find her now,” replied Lu Chengzhou succinctly.
Gu Si heaved a sigh of relief when he heard that. “She didn’t tell me where she was. Just keep looking for her while I give Brother Yufeng and the others a call to ask them to look for her at her usual haunts.”
Neither of them asked each other about the specifics. They thought that it was best to find Gu Mang first.
…
After ending the call, Gu Mang looked at Song Xian. “Master, where did you get the blood samples for your research?”
By now, Song Xian had realized that both Gu Mang and Gu Si suffered from some sort of a health problem and had to rely on medicine. But the thing was, the blood samples used in their research did not belong to either of the siblings. Didn’t Lu Chengzhou say that Gu Mang had a health problem? Why aren’t we using her blood then?
Although Song Xian still appeared a little dazed, he did not stay silent this time. “The blood samples were delivered to us by Lu Yī and the others. I don’t know who they came from.”
The first person that came to Gu Mang’s mind was Lu Chengzhou. Ye family… Ye Junci is Lu Chengzhou’s mother.
She then made another call, which connected pretty quickly. “Send me Ye Junci’s contact number.”
That was all she said before ending the call. She then put her phone away, stood up to walk over to her motorcycle, and picked up her helmet. “Master, don’t tell Lu Chengzhou that I came to see you.”
“Where are you going?” Song Xian stood up anxiously. He was very worried that she might do something reckless in her current emotional state.
“Don’t worry, I won’t cause any trouble.” After saying that, she pushed down the helmet’s face s.h.i.+eld and started the motorcycle’s engine.
Song Xian watched her drive off with a grave expression on his face. Given her temper, it was no use dissuading her.
Just then, his phone rang.
Without even looking at the caller ID, he answered the call and his expression changed to one of shock when he heard what the caller said. “What? Old Madam Lu has pa.s.sed away?!”
The call was from Song Han and she sounded really anxious. “It happened too suddenly. The Lu family thinks that Gu Mang poisoned Old Madam Lu so they’re currently looking for her.”
Song Xian’s gaze quivered as he stared in the direction Gu Mang had left in, the street lights illuminating the empty road.
…
The actions taken by the members of the Lu family threw the entire capital into chaos. Police from all stations were mobilized to search for Gu Mang on all roads.
Meanwhile, at the Jiang residence.
When Jiang Shenyuan received Yu Mufeng’s call in the middle of the night, he did not expect the other to ask him whether he had seen Gu Mang around. In his sleepy state, he asked out of puzzlement, “Isn’t she partic.i.p.ating in a compet.i.tion on Jijing Island? How could I have possibly met her?”
Yu Mufeng was surprised to hear Jiang Shenyuan’s groggy voice. “You’re still in the mood to sleep? Something big has happened!”
Jiang Shenyuan did not take the matter too seriously as he was still blinking the tiredness away from his eyes. In a lackadaisical manner, he asked, “What happened?”
“Old Madam Lu has pa.s.sed away.”
“What?” Jiang Shenyuan shot up from bed.
“The Lu family is now looking for Gu Mang. They think that she poisoned Old Madam Lu.” Yu Mufeng was almost going crazy. “I have to go.”
The call then ended.
Jiang Shenyuan pulled the blanket off of himself, got out of bed, and walked over to his wardrobe.
…
At the Qin residence.
Qin Fang and He Yidu were not in a position to meddle in the Lu family’s affairs, so they had parted ways with the rest of the gang at the airport earlier. However, they had not been at home long before they received news of Old Madam Lu’s pa.s.sing. They were also told that Gu Mang poisoned Old Madam Lu and was now nowhere to be found.
Shocked and clueless as to what to do, Qin Fang contacted He Yidu. “Did you hear the news?”
On the other end, He Yidu was preparing to leave home. “The whole capital has probably learned of it by now. Things are chaotic outside. Everyone’s looking for Gu Mang.”
“What about Brother Cheng’s side?” Qin Fang’s heart was beating very fast.
“He’s looking for her too. You know how capable Gu Mang is. It’s unlikely that she’d fall into the hands of those schmucks, but Brother Cheng is surely worried about her.”
After what they had been through on Jijing Island, they understood the situation at hand. The usage of Jijing Island’s latest poison was obviously the Gu family’s or the Elders’ a.s.sociation’s doing. It did not matter whether Gu Mang was the one who poisoned Old Madam Lu or not, for Jijing Island had decided to take action against the Lu family because of her rebelliousness.
This was what made things complicated.
Qin Fang opened his room’s door. “Let’s meet up with Brother Cheng first. We should also send more people out to interfere and monitor the search. We can’t let anything happen to Gu Mang.”
When he reached the second floor, he noticed that his parents and grandparents had all come out of their rooms too. All of them looked equally shocked.