"Ugh…"For some reason, I threw up a little because my stomach probably couldn"t handle the kimchi. As much as I loved the tofu soup, the Korean pickled cabbage was too much for me. I vowed never to eat that d.a.m.ned thing again.
Wiping my mouth and doing my best to clean up the mess I made, I sighed and wiped my hands with plenty of tissue. It was unfortunate, but I couldn"t clean up the whole thing completely. I did my best, though.
After disposing of the stuff I used, I then strolled back toward the hotel. This was bad. Having thrown up half of my meal, I would probably get hungry in the middle of the night. Most likely I would have to visit a convenience store in the unG.o.dly hours and buy cup ramen or something.
I didn"t manage to get very far because I saw Bu Fan rus.h.i.+ng across the street. Puzzled, I paused for a moment and studied him, but he was too fl.u.s.tered and panicky to notice me. Speaking of which, where was Xin Chun? Bu Fan"s sister was nowhere to be seen. I could have sworn the two of them were inseparable.
That explained why Bu Fan was so frantic. Although it was nothing but speculation, I guessed that the wheelchair-bound Xin Chun got lost somewhere, and Bu Fan was currently unable to find her. Hence he was running around, trying to search for her. Even though I didn"t like Bu Fan all that much, Xin Chun was another story. She was a very nice girl, and didn"t deserve to be left alone, lost and helpless in the middle of an unfamiliar city.
"Hey!"
So I approached Bu Fan, waving my hand to catch his attention. The versatile mage stopped for a moment, his face blank until the glint of recognition ignited within his eyes. He c.o.c.ked his head and glared at me impatiently.
"Not now. I"m in a hurry."
"I can guess what happened. Did your sister get lost? I"ll help you look for her."
Ignoring his rude response, I went straight to the point. I somewhat understood his impatience. If I were in his shoes, I would probably be just as rude and touchy.
Bu Fan"s shoulders sagged immediately and he ran a hand through his hair, his frustration showing visibly.
"It"s that obvious, huh?" he sighed and swore under his breath. Not at me, so I let it slide. "Thanks, but the problem isn"t just that Xin Chun got lost. She got kidnapped. A bunch of b.a.s.t.a.r.ds came by, grabbed her and pulled her to their car. I tried to chase, but they drove off so fast I couldn"t catch up, even with physical reinforcement and speed spells."
"They grabbed your sister? Right in front of you?" my jaw dropped as I stared at Bu Fan incredulously. He shook his head sheepishly.
"I went to buy ice cream for her, and left her by the side in Southampton Park. I didn"t think someone would be audacious enough to drive right into the park and abduct somebody in broad daylight. I also don"t understand why they kidnapped Xin Chun. What do they want with her?!"
"Money?" I suggested. That was the number one reason kidnappers abducted hostages, because they wanted to ransom their parents or relatives. Weirdly enough, as far as I knew, Bu Fan was not rich. I had no idea why they would choose to kidnap his sister of all people.
Bu Fan winced, but not because he read his mind. Rather, he was thinking about something else.
"I thought it was money at first, but the kidnappers hadn"t contacted me or my dad for ransom at all. In fact, my dad still doesn"t know that Xin Chun has been kidnapped, and I don"t want to worry him, so I didn"t inform him about it…yet. I"ll find Xin Chun before he finds out. I swear it."
"Okay." Pus.h.i.+ng my gla.s.ses up my nose, I considered for a moment, and a question came to me, unbidden. "What about your mother?"
Bu Fan turned completely cold at that.
"My stepmother, as far as my family is concerned," he hissed. "…does not exist. After marrying my dad, she threw Xin Chun to us and abandoned her, running away and disappearing somewhere without a word. She"s dead to us now…that b.i.t.c.h."
I couldn"t help but bury my face in my palm. This was getting increasingly ridiculous trying to suppress a sigh, I glared at Bu Fan.
"Are you seriously going to rip off Versatile Mage? Can"t you be more original?"
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
"Never mind." Then something else occurred to me. "Wait a second, what if the reason why those dudes kidnapped your sister was precisely because of your missing stepmother? I mean, following all the usual clichés and stuff, your stepmother will turn out to be the number one terrorist on the planet, and a cardinal of the Dark Church. She will be the main antagonist of this story, harboring a deep hatred for humanity and wanting to destroy them…"
"Stop! Stop, stop, stop!" Bu Fan shouted, cutting me off. "Stop talking nonsense! I don"t know where you get all these crazy ideas from, but my stepmother is not that outrageous of a person! She may be a cold, heartless b.i.t.c.h, but even she isn"t evil enough to be a terrorist!"
"…I got them from reading Versatile Mage," I began, but Bu Fan was having none of it.
"Stop quoting and making references to webnovels! I"m being serious here! Xin Chun has been kidnapped, and I need to find her! Are you going to help me rescue her or not?"
"Yeah, but you"re the one dismissing my hypothesis…"
"Who cares about your stupid hypothesis? Stop talking nonsense, you"ve read way too many webnovels! Focus!"
"Then do you have an idea where they took your sister and why they abducted her?" I countered dryly. Bu Fan, predictably enough, trailed off. "Do you even know where to begin searching for her?"
"If I did, do you think I"ll be this worried and aimless?! d.a.m.n it, if only I knew where they took her! f.u.c.k!"
Kind of pointless venting your anger on me, especially since I was trying to help. That said, my "help" consisted of pretending that reality followed a set template from another existing story, so I could understand why he was annoyed.
However, Bu Fan had a point. Where did we even begin to start searching for his sister? We had no idea where to start, and if the kidnappers were using a car, it could have gone anywhere by now. I wouldn"t be surprised if they had driven out of the city. Also, how were we supposed to track down a vehicle?
"Do you remember what the vehicle was? Its make, model, or license plate?"
"Oh, I managed to snap a picture of it before it drove out of view." Bu Fan retrieved his smartphone and showed me a photo. It was an old Honda, and the picture even included the license plate number.
Excellent.
"…I think I might have a friend who can help you."
Recalling the person I had just met and conversed with tonight, I reached into my bag and yanked out the name card that Zhao Zi Jun gave me. Taking my smartphone as well, I dialed his number and waited for him to pick up my call.
It didn"t even take three seconds for Zi Jun to answer. His face appeared in a holographic video screen that hovered above my smartphone, and he looked at me in surprise. Despite his shock, he was wearing a half-grin.
"I knew you confirm will call me one (I knew you wuld call me eventually), but even I didn"t expect you to contact me so fast (soon). What happened?"
"Sorry, this is an emergency." I quickly briefed him on what happened to Bu Fan"s sister, and he listened quietly while nodding occasionally. Finis.h.i.+ng up, I then gestured for Bu Fan to beam him the photo of the kidnappers" car. "This is the vehicle they escaped in after abducting Bu Fan"s sister. Will you be able to find it, or the kidnappers?"
"Confirm can one (I definitely am able to do so)! Leave it to me! Wait ah, I get back to you later, can (Please wait a moment, I"ll get back to you later, okay)?"
"All right." The holographic screen flickered for a moment as Zhao Zi Jun went to work, probably downloadling the image of the car and uploading it to his computer. I could hear the furious clatter of typing off-screen as his fingers ran across the keyboard. Wow, but the guy typed really fast!
"Who"s that guy?" Bu Fan asked suspiciously. It was only natural, he had never seen or met Zi Jun before. "Where did you find him?"
"In a restaurant," I replied. Bu Fan raised an eyebrow, and I shrugged in response. "He"s an intelligence agent. Someone who specializes in finding information. He"ll find those kidnappers for you. Having a photo of the car they escaped in is a great start."
"Intelligence agent?" Bu Fan repeated skeptically, his eyes narrowing. "He"s just a high school student like us!"
"Yeah, and you"re about to go save your sister without contacting the police or informing your dad or any adults."
"I don"t trust the authorities," Bu Fan replied snidely. "I"ll save Xin Chun with my own hands. The police or adults will just f.u.c.k things up. You can"t trust anyone these days."
"And how is your solo effort working out for you?" I scoffed. Bu Fan"s face darkened, but he couldn"t offer any comeback. Instead, he glanced at the video call.
"Are you sure you can trust this fella?"
I shrugged. "Couldn"t hurt to try…unless you have a better alternative other than running around cluelessly like a headless chicken and getting nowhere close to finding your sister or her kidnappers? Or maybe they will finally call you tomorrow to demand a ransom. Perhaps you would like to wait until then?"
"Cheh!" Clicking his tongue, Bu Fan turned away and folded his arms. "What happens if he isn"t able to find Xin Chun and the b.a.s.t.a.r.ds who abducted her?"
"Then nothing changes. We"re back to square one. Since we have absolutely no other choice, what"s the harm in trying? Or are you actually hoping that Zhao Zi Jun fails so that you can tell me you told me so?"
"No." as expected, even Bu Fan valued his sister more than his pride. He took a deep breath and balled his fists.
"Anyway, Zi Jun is from the Black Demon Academy. The one where the Hei clan children attend. They don"t just admit anybody. I"m sure his skills in finding out information are at least better than anyone else our age that we know."
"I hate to admit it, but we have no choice but to bet everything on your…friend." Bu Fan chewed his lip in frustration, but at least he was no longer whining. I was about to say that Zi Jun wasn"t actually my friend, but I didn"t want to arouse any more suspicion than Bu Fan already possessed. The guy was currently on edge, and he ended up pacing around while we waited for the Hei branch family member to return to us.
Fortunately, he didn"t take too long. After less than a minute, Zi Jun reappeared in the holographic video.
"Found them…sort of. According to the city cameras, the car those pai kia (gangsters) were in is parked outside this warehouse."
Zi Jun did something with his hand and the holographic screen transformed, now displaying a warehouse instead of the guy"s bespectacled face. Just as he mentioned, there was a single car in the otherwise empty parking lot outside the warehouse. Even as Bu Fan and I scanned the surroundings to identify the street and exact location, the information agent was already on top of things.
"Wigan Warehouse, Southwest Street, Wigan Avenue. Wah say, d.a.m.n far sia (whoa, that"s d.a.m.ned far). About an hour from your current position if you jalan-jalan (walk). I"ll send you the addresss, then you can use Google Map to GPS your way there. You better chiong and get there chop chop (you better hurry up)."
"Thanks."
"Are the kidnappers inside the warehouse?" Bu Fan asked tensely, his eyes fixed on the car.
"Ya lah (of course). According to the city cameras, they already went in like fifteen minutes ago. Where else they go? Lepak in casino, is it? (Where else would they go? Slack off in a casino?)"
Bu Fan scowled, having difficulty understanding Zi Jun"s Singlish.
"Can you show us pictures inside the warehouse? Show us the kidnappers inside? I want to make sure Xin Chun is inside there with them."
"Cannot."
"Why not?"
"Use your brain lah. Those pai kia kidnappers, right (those gangsters are kidnappers, right)? If they want to hide, they go hide in a warehouse with public cameras for what (if they want to hide, why would they hide in a warehouse with public cameras)? Of course cannot see inside lah (of course I can"t see inside)! The warehouse got no camera what (the warehouse has no cameras)!"
By now I had summoned Cygnus and was impatiently gesturing for Bu Fan to get on. He glanced at Zi Jun"s holographic image, still suspicious, and I sighed in exasperation.
"Whoa, hurry up, can or not?" Yeah, I was lapsing into Singlish. Whoops. "Whether your sister is there or not, we"ll find out when we get there. Stop wasting time!"
"Right." With little other choice, Bu Fan hopped on, and I mentally instructed Cygnus to take off into the skies and head straight for Wigan Warehouse.