Chapter 279: Qianqian is Missing
Led by the matriarch, Cheng Yuan entered the Prince’s Mansion’s treasury.
Cheng Yuan headed straight for the medicinal herb section, and it proved to be a massive haul!
The King of Jiangnan truly lived up to his reputation as the top dog of the Four Provinces of Jiangnan. The collection of medicinal herbs in his treasury was several times greater than that of the He Mansion.
Cheng Yuan roughly estimated he could refine dozens of batches of Essence Enhancing Pills and hundreds of batches of Qi Enhancement Pills.
"Madam, I will take all of these medicinal herbs."
"Yes, we’ll pack them for you right away, Mr. Cheng."
Cheng Yuan nodded slightly, then activated his Double Pupil and scanned his surroundings.
The martial arts techniques of the Prince’s Mansion were ordinary, and Cheng Yuan wasn’t impressed in the slightest. There were a few high-quality weapons, but they were complete trash compared to his Broken Blade. He had little interest in them.
’It seems the medicinal herbs are the biggest prize in this treasury after all.’
Suddenly, Cheng Yuan stopped in his tracks, his eyes fixed on a junk pile!
The junk pile contained many broken antiques and some rusted weapons.
Cheng Yuan crouched in front of the junk pile and poked through it with his Broken Blade. He pulled out a metal fragment. Through his Double Pupil, he could see the fragment emitting astonishingly powerful energy fluctuations.
Cheng Yuan lifted his Broken Blade and gently struck the metal fragment.
There was a loud CLANG, but the metal fragment was completely unscathed!
Cheng Yuan’s eyes lit up. ’My Broken Blade can slice through iron like mud, yet it can’t even cut this metal fragment. This thing is clearly no ordinary item!’
"Congratulations on finding such a treasure, Mr. Cheng. We of the Prince’s Mansion were truly blind to have tossed it into a junk pile and let it gather dust."
Cheng Yuan smiled faintly. "Madam, for the sake of this treasure, the score between myself and the Prince’s Mansion is now settled. I hope you will keep your family in line. Don’t cross me. Otherwise, I won’t hesitate to annihilate your entire Prince’s Mansion!"
The matriarch gave a bitter smile. "Please rest assured, Mr. Cheng. As a house of widows and orphans, we don’t even know if we can hold on to the Prince’s Mansion. How would we have any energy left to cause you trouble?"
Cheng Yuan nodded slightly, put away the metal fragment, and left the Prince’s Mansion with the medicinal herbs.
On the high-speed train back to Luocheng, Cheng Yuan called Zhu Xue and ordered, "I want you to find out immediately why the King of Jiangnan besieged and tried to kill a woman all those years ago."
"Yes, Young Marshal!"
After hanging up, Cheng Yuan took out the Wordless Celestial Book and began to study it. He cross-referenced it with the Celestial Witch Inheritance, attempting to find a method to break through to the Grandmaster realm.
Soon, Cheng Yuan discovered that to break through to the Grandmaster realm, one needed to merge one’s Spiritual Power, True Essence, and flesh and blood into a single entity.
Cheng Yuan had already merged his Spiritual Power and True Essence; the next step was fusing them with his flesh and blood!
To Cheng Yuan’s pleasant surprise, the fusion process went very smoothly.
In just two short hours, the fusion of his left arm was complete.
BEEP... BEEP...
Cheng Yuan’s phone suddenly rang. He took it out and saw it was a call from his sister’s homeroom teacher. Cheng Yuan answered the call and asked in a pleasant voice, "Teacher Zhang, what’s the matter? Is it about the time for the national Math Olympiad qualifiers?"
Zhang Jing’s voice held a hint of displeasure. "Mr. Cheng, this isn’t about the qualifiers. Cheng Qianqian is absent from class without explanation. Have you been able to contact her?"
Cheng Yuan’s heart sank. "Qianqian is a good, obedient kid. She would never skip school."
"I thought it was strange, too."
"Check your school’s surveillance footage immediately!"
"Okay!"
The more Cheng Yuan thought about it, the more uneasy he felt. He quickly dialed Wu Mengyao’s number. "Director Wu, I need a favor. Pull up all of today’s surveillance footage from around No. 1 Middle School immediately! You have to find any sign of my sister!"
"Of course, Brother Yuan."
Soon, Cheng Yuan got a call back from Zhang Jing. "Mr. Cheng, I just checked the school’s surveillance footage myself. I found two suspicious people carrying a large suitcase who climbed over the wall and onto school grounds."
"Track those two people immediately!"
Ten minutes later, he got another update.
"Mr. Cheng, we found them. At 1:43 PM, they climbed back out over the west wall. The large suitcase looked very heavy."
Cheng Yuan checked the time. It was 2:05 PM. ’That was just over twenty minutes ago,’ he thought. ’This means Qianqian should still be in Luocheng. They haven’t had time to move her!’
Cheng Yuan immediately called Wu Mengyao. "Director Wu, at 1:43 PM, two suspicious individuals climbed out over the west wall with a suitcase! Focus the search on them now!"
"We’ve already found footage of those two and are tracking them as a top priority. Is there anything else you need us to do?"
Cheng Yuan paused for a moment before saying grimly, "Lock down the Luocheng airport, train station, and all bus stations. Set up checkpoints at every major intersection. You must find those two!"
Wu Mengyao laughed bitterly. "I’m afraid something like that requires a direct order from the City Lord."
Cheng Yuan nodded in understanding. "Fine. I’ll call Uncle Shen."
Cheng Yuan hung up with Wu Mengyao and immediately dialed Shen Jiangnan’s number. The call connected quickly, and Shen Jiangnan’s slightly exasperated voice came through.
"Xiaoyuan, I’m in a meeting. For minor issues, you can just have Wu Fei handle them. There’s no need to call me directly."
"Uncle Shen, this is something only you can handle. Here’s what happened..."
Shen Jiangnan’s tone became grave. "Kidnapping a young girl in broad daylight! The absolute nerve! Just you wait. I’ll coordinate every department and put all our resources into this pursuit! As long as they’re still in Luocheng, they won’t escape my clutches!"
At Shen Jiangnan’s command, the entire city of Luocheng sprang to life like a machine wound tight. Every department mobilized instantly, and all the city’s detectives and patrol officers were dispatched!
Checkpoints were established at every intersection, ensuring that not even a fly could get out of Luocheng.
「Lanke Clubhouse」
Bai Jiangbo lay quietly on a waterbed while Lan Ke personally gave him a massage.
Suddenly, Bai Jiangbo’s phone rang. Lan Ke answered it and held it to his ear.
A grim voice came from the other end of the line. "Boss, I think we’ve stirred the hornet’s nest. They’ve set up checkpoints on every road in and out of Luocheng. We can’t get out! Should we kill the hostage?"
Bai Jiangbo’s voice instantly jumped an octave. "Kill the hostage? Do you have a death wish? If a single hair on Cheng Qianqian’s head is harmed, your entire family will be buried with her!"
"But with this much heat on us, we’ll be caught sooner or later! When that happens, we’ll lose the hostage anyway!"
"Just wait. I’ll talk to my contact and have him open up a path for you."
"Okay, Boss. We can’t hold out much longer. There have already been several waves of cops searching the area around us!"
"Got it."
Bai Jiangbo waved a hand at Lan Ke, then sat up straight and respectfully dialed a number.
The call connected quickly, and a relatively young voice answered. "Boss Bai, is it done? The leader’s grandson is running out of time."
"Secretary Jiang, we have the person. But it seems Cheng Qianqian’s family has some serious pull. The entire city of Luocheng is on high alert. They’ve cast a dragnet so tight not even a fly could get out. Is there any chance the leader could open up a path for my men?"