Chapter 1036: Perplexed and Smitten (96)
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
She picked up her mobile phone to take a look at the time and found that it was three past midnight.
Sleepy-eyed, she got out of bed and opened the door of the bedroom to see that the yellow lights were switched on in the corridor. She made her way down the stairs.
There was not a single soul in the living room. An Xiaoning poured herself a gla.s.s of water and took a few sips before walking toward the door. She asked Xiao Lu, who was on duty, “Where did your Young Sir go?”
“Young Sir said that he was going out to attend to something which he did not specify. Chief has followed him too. They’ve been gone for almost an hour.”
An Xiaoning turned around and headed upstairs. She sent Jin Qingyan a text message to ask him about what was going on, to which he never replied.
Fan s.h.i.+xin did not answer her calls either.
An Xiaoning was somehow perturbed and ill at ease. Could the nightmare I had be an omen?
She grabbed a short-sleeved s.h.i.+rt and a pair of shorts from the dressing room, which she put on immediately before pulling her hair back into a bun, exposing her s.h.i.+ny and full forehead. She was no longer sleepy.
After freshening up, she began applying some makeup. He still had not replied to her yet.
An Xiaoning then began packing her bag.
Although the bag looked rather small, it could contain a significant amount of things.
She placed some necessary items into the bag and carried it downstairs.
“Give me the address of your Young Sir’s current location.”
“Young Madam, are you going to go look for them?”
“Of course.”
“Alright, I’ll go find out Young Sir and Chief’s current GPS location.” Xiao Lu led her to the surveillance control room while she followed closely behind.
Once Xiao Lu and the other guards on duty pinpointed his exact location, they zoomed in and pointed at a red pin. “Young Madam, Young Sir is currently in XX nightclub.”
“Got it.” She grabbed her car keys and drove out of the estate within two minutes.
At this time, pedestrians were scarce and there were only very few cars on the roads.
She arrived smoothly at XX nightclub and remained inside the car while staring at the tightly-shut main door before s.h.i.+fting her gaze to the lights on the second floor.
She alighted from the car slowly and stepped forward to knock on the door.
After she’d been knocking for a long while, a woman finally answered the door. The woman was the owner of the nightclub and was rather surprised to see An Xiaoning. “Hey, isn’t this Ms. An?”
“Is Qingyan here?”
“He’s upstairs.”
She expressed a.s.sent and followed the lady boss inside.
An Xiaoning had never been to this nightclub before. It was rather quiet since it was already past the operating hours.
They boarded the elevator and arrived on the third floor.
After they exited the elevator, An Xiaoning followed her to the door of a large private room. The lady boss said, smiling, “Mr. Jin is having a discussion inside. You may enter, Ms. An. I won’t disturb you any further.”
“Alright.” An Xiaoning watched the lady boss leave before opening the door gently.
Jin Qingyan was not inside the s.p.a.cious and empty room.
As she turned around, she let out a shriek of terror, startled by the man who popped up all of a sudden.
“Did you get a shock?” said the man who had long hair that was braided at the top of his head. He was staring at her coldly, as if she was his prey.
How could An Xiaoning not have recognized him?
He was the man she had seen in the portrait in her dreams. He was none other than the Emperor, Xihou Jiaping.
Wrong, he probably had a different name in this lifetime.
However, she would never forget his facial features.
He indeed looked much more das.h.i.+ng in person compared to the simulated sketch. Also, he appeared a lot more ruthless and menacing than his previous incarnation.
Did my nightmare come true?
An Xiaoning’s heart wrenched and scrunched up in terror. Jin Qingyan’s GPS location led to this place, but where is he?
Could it be…
In no time, her heart began palpitating and ricocheting vigorously against her chest.
Her family and lover were both her Achilles’ heel and her armor.
She mustn’t panic at such a critical juncture.
An Xiaoning pinched her hand with her fingers and asked calmly, “h.e.l.lo, may I ask if there’s anyone else here?”
“Anyone else? Who are you looking for?” he asked, staring at her and realizing that she seemed to really not know who he was.
“I’m looking for my ex-husband, Jin Qingyan. Have you seen him around?” she answered.
“Why are you looking for your ex-husband in the middle of the night?”
“My son is running a fever and I’m trying to look for him to visit our son.”
“I didn’t see him around, though. Try looking somewhere else instead, this is my room.” He then walked past her and entered.
Filled with perplexion and uncertainty, An Xiaoning watched as the door was closed. She had a feeling that he was not a local and had most likely shown up in A City for the same reason as Pei Yi.
He was probably planning to kill her and Jin Qingyan. That just meant that An Xiaoning, Jin Qingyan, and Mysterious Xiao were not the only people who had retained their memories of their previous lifetime. It was the same for Xihou Jiaping as well.
Why didn’t he take action after seeing me…
Besides, if he knew Pei Yi, wouldn’t Pei Yi have told him that I know about his existence since I’ve already informed Pei Yi of my knowledge?
Well, but then again, Pei Yi has already warned me himself. There was no need for him to inform Xihou Jiaping redundantly.
An Xiaoning whipped out her mobile phone to send Xiao Lu a text message, ordering him to find out the exact and most precise location of Jin Qingyan.
The three minutes of waiting felt like years.
She frantically opened the text message the moment she heard the text tone.
After looking at the specific location on the map, An Xiaoning headed to the corridor and boarded the elevator.
There were seven floors in the nightclub. She ascended all the way to the top floor, only to find that the metal gate of the floor had already been locked.
If I’m not wrong, this should be the specific location.
A lock was no issue for her at all.
She channeled some of her inner energy toward her palms and removed the lock from the door, causing the metal gate to be opened with a loud, ringing noise. She entered and made her way up the stairs, guiding herself with a small torchlight.
Amidst the pitch darkness of the night was a glistening yellow light.
There was not a single soul on the rooftop at all.
An Xiaoning shone the spot in front of her with the torchlight and s.h.i.+fted her gaze onto the edge. She strode toward it quickly.
Jin Qingyan’s GPS tracking device was placed on the surface.
An Xiaoning was filled with panic the moment she picked it up. At this very moment, she heard the metal gate being closed.
She scurried toward it to discover that it had already been locked from outside.
An Xiaoning whipped out her mobile phone to call Fang Erlan, who was jolted awake by the sudden ringing of her mobile phone.
“Sis Xiaoning?”
“Is Xiao at your place now?”
“Yes.”
“Get him on the line, tell him that I’m looking for him.”
“Okay.” Fang Erlan switched on the lights and handed her mobile phone to Xiao Chenyang.
He asked, “What is it?”
“Qingyan is missing. I’m now at XX nightclub. His GPS tracking device was removed and placed on the top floor. I’ll send the rest of the details to Erlan.”
“Okay.”
She ended the call and hurriedly typed out a text message that included the events that took place, including her encounter with Xihou Jiaping. She then sent it to Fang Erlan.