Er Niang felt a pang of bitterness, as if seeing the man she revered as a god descend to the mortal realm, only this god was not descending for her.
Shen Yizong noticed Er Niang's gaze. He offered a mocking smile, feeling no need to explain.
The convoy departed in a grand procession.
On the quiet country road, dozens of people lay sprawled, haphazardly strewn about.
This village had been officially approved for reconstruction, and all its inhabitants had been relocated to a town far away.
On this late night, there was not a soul on the road, only the cool, ethereal moonlight casting its glow upon the dozens of figures on the ground.
It wasn't until the first light of dawn broke that a pickup truck appeared on the road.
The young people in the pickup truck were laughing and joking.
"This picnic is going to be so much fun. I heard there are wolves in Linjiang Mountain. I wonder if it's true," a girl in the back seat giggled.
As they were talking, the car suddenly screeched to a halt.
"What's wrong?" someone asked.
The boy driving turned his head in terror and pointed ahead.
Only then did they focus their eyes forward, only to see over a dozen cars stopped on the road ahead.
What was even more terrifying was that beside the dozen cars, dozens of people were lying sprawled on the ground!
The scene was particularly eerie on this country road.
"Holy… what the hell is going on? This, this, this…"
"Should we call the police?"
"Looking at this scene, it doesn't seem good. Did we accidentally stumble into a crime scene?"
One of the boys, having calmed down, got out of the car, looked around, and picked up his phone. "Let's call the police."
As soon as he spoke, someone not far away shakily got to their feet.
After a night's rest, Qian Zimo's body was covered in dew and dampness.
He cast a grim look in the direction the convoy had left. After a moment of recovery, he went to nudge Di Shishi beside him.
"Holy crap, it's a zombie!"
Qian Zimo turned to the people in the pickup truck. "Mind your own business and leave here."
His voice was chillingly calm, and the teenagers immediately scrambled back into their car and hastily drove away.
Qian Zimo woke Di Shishi.
Di Shishi took a moment to recover, then her eyes widened. All her memories flooded back. She turned to Qian Zimo.
"Where's He'er?!"
Qian Zimo's expression was stern. "Wake everyone else up first. He'er has already been taken by them."
"I'll go after them!" Di Shishi immediately responded, her face icy.
Qian Zimo fiercely grabbed her hand, his voice cold and stern. "Shishi, calm down. Where are you going to chase them now? They've been gone for hours!"
In this amount of time, those people, who could so easily procure a helicopter, could have taken Qin He to any corner of China, or even abroad!
Qian Zimo gritted his teeth, recalling Qin He's words to him before she left – she was waiting for him to save her.
"Don't worry, we can definitely rescue Qin He!"
As Qian Zimo spoke, a heavy feeling settled in his heart. The hidden capabilities of these people were too strong. That strategist and these individuals had been hiding in Qingcheng for so long, and they hadn't been able to track them down.
Now, with Qin He taken away, the search area had to be expanded even further!
This was a formidable challenge.
Di Shishi's eyes welled up with tears. "If it weren't for me, He'er wouldn't have been taken. These people dared to use me as bait! I must personally take the strategist's head."
"Don't think about that now. Let's wake everyone up first."
The two of them split up and began waking up all the people they had brought with them.
The drug they were shot with must have had a time limit, as they were waking up around the same time.
When Qi Zhen woke up, he found that the injury to his leg had been bandaged. He gritted his teeth. "Those people did it on purpose. Why didn't they kill us?"
Qian Zimo, standing nearby, looked over. "They dare not."
"Boss Qing Crab sacrificed himself for all of our lives." Qi Zhen dug his hands fiercely into the ground, not stopping even when his nails split.
The person who killed his brother had appeared right before him!
He appeared with ease and left with ease!
The bandage on his leg felt like a mockery of his incompetence.
Qian Zimo frowned, feeling that yesterday's situation was not quite right.
If the other party shot them with tranquilizer darts to delay them, preventing them from contacting more people, such as Gu Qichen's associates.
Then why didn't they just kill them?
Were they afraid Qin He would refuse to reveal the location of that book?
In that case, they should have threatened Qin He with them.
The other party seemed to be hesitant about something, but he couldn't figure out what it was for the moment.
His face darkened, and he pulled Qi Zhen up from the ground. "If you keep this up, your hand will be ruined. Don't you want revenge for Qi Yang?"
"Boss, what should we do now?" Qi Zhen gritted his teeth, blood trickling from the corner of his lips.
Qian Zimo's expression was grim as he looked into the distance. "We must concentrate all our manpower and strength."
At nine in the morning, Gu Qichen sat in the conference room, feeling inexplicably restless and agitated.
The executives in the conference room reported their work one by one.
After the meeting, as Gu Qichen was leaving his office, he saw Yu Jing waiting for him.
"Mr. Gu, young master Qian from the Qian Corporation is here."
"Qian Corporation?" Gu Qichen's pupils tightened. He had already guessed Qian Zimo's identity and knew of his relationship with Qin He.
Had He'er gotten into trouble?!
He strode out of the conference room and returned to his office.
In the office, Qian Zimo was sitting on the sofa, waiting, his expression gloomy.
Upon seeing the dirt and wet hair on Qian Zimo, Gu Qichen's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately reached for his phone.
Qian Zimo pursed his lips. "Don't bother. Qin He was taken by people from the Lev organization."
Gu Qichen's hand slowly lowered, his voice as if laced with ice. "When, and where."
An overwhelming pressure emanated from Gu Qichen. Qian Zimo clenched his fists. "In the early morning."
Gu Qichen's entire body turned cold. The sun outside was bright, shining through the floor-to-ceiling windows onto him, yet he felt as if he were trapped in an ice cellar!
"Then what were you guys doing before?!"
It was now ten in the morning!
Qian Zimo pursed his lips. "If you don't mind, let's go to the Qin Corporation together. I'll explain on the way."
His plan was to gather all the people from Qingyan Mansion, the Qin family, and the Gu family to search for Qin He.
Half an hour later, Gu Qichen's car screeched to a halt beneath the Qin Corporation building.
Qian Zimo stepped down from the passenger seat. Killing intent flickered in Gu Qichen's eyes as he glanced at him, then turned and entered the Qin Corporation first.
Qin Yun, who was handling official business, frowned as he saw the two of them enter together.
"What's wrong?"
Qian Zimo recounted the events of last night, bit by bit. Qin Yun's originally calm face gradually showed reddened eyes.