Original and most updated translations are from volare. Please don"t read elsewhere and stop supporting theft.
TL: Zhao
Editing: Krisaia
"What is it?" Tian Yan asked. The limitations of perception in the area affected her the most out of everyone.
"There were two people inside that container." Li Huaibei said as he looked at the cart which carried a large wooden crate make it into the distance in the distance.
"What do you mean?"
"Two girls. Looks like they"ve been drugged." Li Huaibei remarked with a cold tone. He had noticed that something was wrong, but only when the cart pa.s.sed right by him did he finally perceive what was inside.
"Kidnapping?" Tian Yan said with a disgusted voice.
"We should focus on ourselves first." Li Huaibei as he continued to push Tian Yan forward rather than intervene. He had witnessed far worse as a guardian and could not risk getting sidetracked.
"The world has changed…" Tian Yan sighed and leaned back against her wheelchair. The duo continued walking forward silently, without exchanging a single word.
"What? Did you have a change of mind?" Tian Yan asked when her wheelchair came to a sudden halt. She would have gone to save the girls if it weren"t for her senses being suppressed, so she had hoped for Li Huaibei to intervene.
"Three on the left side, that shop."
"What?" Tian Yan was somewhat disappointed by Li Huaibei"s answer, but she nonetheless looked in the direction.
"What"s in there? I can"t sense anything…" Tian Yan said after attempting to perceive what was in the shop.
"I think I found the source of this pressure…" Li Huaibei said with a low voice. It was as if he had finally woken up from his drunkenness for the first time after the entire year.
"What are you feeling?" Tian Yan stood up.
"Fear…"
* * *
Li Yiming stared at his palm as he made his way through the crowd, deep in his own thoughts. "What was he trying to say? And since when did my palm lines change?"
"Mr. Li!" Just as Li Yiming was thinking, an anxious voice was heard.
"You?" Li Yiming looked up and recognized Lin Lu"s a.s.sistant.
"Something terrible"s happened!" The agent exclaimed.
"What happened?"
"The secretary and Ms. Wu are missing..." He whispered into Li Yiming"s ear.
"What?"
"They entered the shop but never came back out. We went inside to try to find them but they were nowhere to be found," The agent was clearly nervous.
"Missing?" Li Yiming"s chest tightened. For a specially-trained officer to go missing in broad daylight made it clear that danger was lurking.
"We already searched the entire shop. We tried questioning the owner of the shop, but he didn"t seem to know anything. None of the shops in this market are equipped with surveillance cameras either."
"Where"s the shop?" For a National Security agent to seek for Li Yiming"s help must have meant that the situation was truly dire.
"On the other street."
"Show me."
Li Yiming followed the young agent to the shop. Right outside stood a wooden panel which indicated that business was over for the day. It was a shop with a modest front and two floors, which specialized in amber and red agate.
"We"re already questioning the people inside," The agent who stood at the doors told Li Yiming.
"Bring me to the owner," Li Yiming said.
Li Yiming extended his senses out of habit as soon as he entered the shop, only to find out that they were still being suppressed. "Really? Even here?"
"That"s him." One of the agents pointed at a short, lean man crouched in the corner.
Li Yiming rushed forward and placed his hand on the man"s head. It was enough for him to tell that the man was not a guardian upon physical contact.
"Continue your questioning, see if there"s anything you can find. I"ll be right back." Li Yiming looked around and could not find anything abnormal. He thought about seeking help from the fortune seeker as he seemed to be the one in control of the exhibition and he wanted to know if the disappearance of his friends had anything to do with other guardians.
Unfortunately for Li Yiming, the entire stand was now gone once he made his way back. As thoughts raced through his mind about the possible causes behind Lin Lu and Wu Jia"s disappearance, he suddenly raised his head and looked at a skysc.r.a.per in the distance — Li Yiming knew that he was being watched. The group of people who kept an eye on him was far enough to avoid arousing his attention when he was in his relaxed state, but could not stay hidden once he was on high alert.
"s.h.i.+t!" Li Yiming dashed toward the skysc.r.a.per.
"Mr. Li!" A car suddenly stopped abruptly right in front of him.
"What is it?" Li Yiming asked as he looked at the agent who descended from the car.
"We found a clue! The commander ordered me to take you there." The agent suddenly said.
"Really?" Li Yiming turned toward the skysc.r.a.per upon noticing that his watchers were leaving.
"Go." Li Yiming decided to dive into the car.
"What perception, we were so far away, and yet he was able to spot us…" One of the men who were watching over Li Yiming said between quick breaths as he nervously escaped from the hideout.
"It"s as we"d expect from the mortal enemy of Ms. Ying. Quick! We need to get out of here! Apparently, there"s a car heading our way." The leader of the team exclaimed.
"What should we do now?"
"We need to leave. Our foremost priority is to stay safe and undiscovered. Tell the other team that we"ve been exposed."
"Yes, sir." The man who was last in the file took out his transmitter.
"What? A kidnapping?" The man exclaimed as soon as he picked up his transmitter.
The entire team"s escape came to a halt as they all looked at each other and exchanged incredulous glances.
"Boss, apparently the target has been kidnapped," The man reported.
"What happened?"
"We lost her. There are people from National Security involved, so…"
"We need to leave. Tell them to leave as quickly as possible," The captain decided for the best course of action.
* * *
Inside the jadeware shop, Fu Bo stared at the giant gem dumbly, completely unaware of what had just happened. He had already gone through the entire shop and found forty-nine counterfeits and three vastly underpriced gems before stopping in front of the giant ore which first attracted his attention.
As he scrutinized the smooth curves of the stone and its light blue color, his heart was suddenly seized by a sudden anxiousness.
"Are you interested in that one?" Fu Bo"s lingering had finally caught the attention of one of the employees. As the customers gradually left the shop, his attention came to Fu Bo, as he was worried that his boss would scold him for slacking off.
"What is the stone made of?" Fu Bo said as he caressed its smooth surface.
"Oh? This one?" The salesperson did not know the answer to the question, as the giant stone had been brought in by the owner, who seemed to have bought it from an obscure place. During the half a year since then, none of the customers even bothered paying the slightest bit of attention to it. Even when he looked at the stone for an extended period of time, he would feel a strange irritation. Had he been the owner of the shop, he would have disposed of it a long time ago.
"Truthfully, we don"t know what"s inside." The salesperson decided to give a vague answer to stimulate Fu Bo"s curiosity. When worded in such a way, the stone could be worth anything. As such, its purchase would become a gamble.
"Really?" Fu Bo asked. "So you want me to take a chance?"
"Well…" The salesperson smiled in embarra.s.sment at his intentions" being seen through.
"Alright, I"m going to be honest with you, I like this stone. What"s your price?" Fu Bo shrugged his shoulders — he had a feeling that the stone contained extraordinary power.
"The price…" The salesperson hesitated. Although his boss instructed him to go for a minimum of three thousand, he felt like he could get a much better deal.
"Well, I would say that it"s an amazing coincidence for you to encounter this stone. So what about ten thousand?" The salesperson resolved to try for an extraordinary price.
"Do you do delivery?" Fu Bo asked.
"What?" The salesperson was not expecting such a quick deal.
"I"ll give you fifteen thousand if you can find two people to deliver it to me." Fu Bo said as he gave his bank card to the salesperson.
"You"re… giving me five thousand extra?" The salesperson could not believe his luck in finding someone as rich and as stupid as Fu Bo.
"That"s right, I"m short on time." Fu Bo dismissed the question. Due to his ability, he knew that the salesperson would quickly forget about him as soon as he left the shop and that the money he gave would disappear as well.