Dongfang Zhengyi and his friends were sitting in a restaurant in a mall not far from their house. They all couldn't understand the behavior that their dage had just shown. Shanquan, the eldest among them, suddenly did something strange and childish. He just left them. Their leader suddenly ran after a girl Zhengyi had never seen before. What was worse than that was that Shanquan said nothing at all before leaving.

Yiren's confession that he had seen the girl before made everyone there listen carefully. Such a thing was not something they could simply pass up. They were not people who liked to gossip, but there were things they really needed to talk about more deeply.

Yiren told the things he witnessed at dusk four days ago and in the morning three days ago. Zhengyi, who had previously heard Yiren's story, just smiled. Caihong and Qiuzhen listened to what Yiren had to say with very serious faces.

"Who do you think that girl is?" Zhengyi looked straight at Qiuzhen after Yiren finished telling the things he had witnessed a few days earlier.

"Why did Yige ask me?" Qiuzhen looked back at Zhengyi with a surprised look.

"You've known Dage since you were very young. You are close to Dage's cousin's family. So, I think you know more about Dage than we do," Zhengyi said.

"I was a child when I first met Biaoshu, so, of course, I paid little attention to his private life. I had absolutely no idea who Biaoshu's girlfriends were." Qiuzhen sighed as he said those words. Perhaps he regretted why he had paid no attention to the private lives of his surrounding people.

"I don't think we can blame Qiuzhen." Yiren opened his mouth again. "Decades ago, Qiuzhen would not have been familiar with this kind of thing. Children and adults have different priorities."

"Even if Uncle Zhonghang had known Uncle Duanmu's female friends decades ago, I don't think it would be of much help. The woman we saw earlier was very young. There is no way she is an old friend of Uncle Duanmu." Instantly, Caihong continued Yiren's words.

"Regarding that," Yiren apparently hadn't finished commenting yet. "There's no way she's an old friend of Dage's. But she could be related to an old friend of Dage's. She could be the daughter or niece of an old friend of Dage's."

Zhengyi, Qiuzhen, and Caihong nodded quickly. Yiren's words made sense.

"Wouldn't it be better if one of us, right now, get out of here to chase Dage?" Zhengyi looked at his friends one by one.

"What for?" Yiren raised his eyebrows. "After this, Dage will definitely be back here again. He knows well that he must be home before twelve o'clock."

"Soon, the food we ordered will be ready. So, we better just wait here." Qiuzhen added to Yiren's words.

Zhengyi said nothing else. He knew that what his friends were saying made sense. But there was an uneasy feeling in Zhengyi's mind. He was worried that something terrible would happen. Something Zhengyi couldn't explain.

After a while, the waiter came to bring the package of food to their table. The smell of food tickled Zhengyi's nose. He looked around. Everyone sitting there had facial expressions like they wanted to pounce on the plastic food bag. While rubbing his nose, Zhengyi opened his mouth again. "Now what? The food's ready, but Dage hasn't shown up yet."

"We don't know where Dage is after that woman. If we decide to leave here to look for him, we may not necessarily be able to find him. After all, if Dage came back here later but didn't find us, wouldn't that make things even more complicated?" Yiren let out those words with a fast tempo.

Qiuzhen looked at his watch. "Let's just wait a little longer. If Biaoshu doesn't show up in five minutes, then our team will be divided into two. Some are looking for Biaoshu. The other is waiting here. Also, we need to limit the time. If ten minutes later we still can't find Biaoshu, then we go straight to the car. Biaoshu will definitely head straight for the car when the time is up."

"If we still don't meet Dage in the parking lot, what then?" Zhengyi still couldn't shake off the anxiety in his heart.

"We'll think about that later. When we're in the parking lot." Qiuzhen answered quickly.

Five minutes later, Shanquan was still not back.

"Yige and I will go find Dage. Qiuzhen and Caihong wait here." Yiren stood up in a flash.

Zhengyi also stood up. He followed Yiren, who moved to the entrance of the restaurant right away. Just as they passed through the door, they saw people running. Yiren turned to Zhengyi.

Something dangerous must have happened!

Qiuzhen and Caihong seemed to be aware of that, too. The two of them stood up and ran towards Zhengyi and Yiren. It wasn't lunchtime yet, so there weren't many visitors at the restaurant. Some visitors were still enjoying their food, but some got up and ran outside to see what had really happened.

A restaurant employee came out of a door that might lead to the room where the workers in the restaurant rested. From the clothes he was wearing, he seemed to be the manager of the restaurant. He walked straight to the door. Just at that moment, a security guard passed by. He was talking to other people through the walkie-talkie he was carrying. The restaurant employee stopped the security guard.

This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.

"What's the matter, Sir?" Ask the person who seemed to be the restaurant manager.

"The events of three days ago are happening again!" The security guard widened his eyes. His voice sounded so loud.

"When, Sir? Just now?" The manager looked confused.

"About five minutes ago!" The security guard's face was tense. As soon as he finished answering, he ran away from the restaurant.

Zhengyi and his friends looked at each other.

What was happening again? Was he referring to the light burst event that caused temporary blindness?

The visitors to the restaurant, both standing and sitting, looked stunned at what the security guard said. Yiren gestured for his friends to return to the table where they had been sitting.

"This is so strange? How can such a coincidence happen?" Zhengyi muttered.

"Five minutes ago? We felt nothing here," said Yiren.

"The incident was in the main hall on the ground floor. This restaurant is located in a secluded and somewhat hidden place at the edge of the building. So it's natural that we didn't hear anything," said Caihong.

"It must be very chaotic down below. I think in such a mess, there's no way we'd be able to find Biaoshu," Qiuzhen said. "Even we can get hurt if we dare to go down there now."

"Uncle Duanmu ran out after the woman. They haven't come back yet. It's possible that they were on the ground floor. If they were still on the ground floor when the light burst occurred, there is a possibility that they are injured right now," Caihong said.

Yiren nodded. "It's not just people on the ground floor who can see that super bright light. The so-called main room is a large hall located right after the main entrance of this mall. The big hall on the ground floor has no roof."

"Regarding that," Qiuzhen instantly cut off Yiren's words.

"Okay, that's not what I meant." Yiren continued his words straightway. "The ceiling of the main hall is the roof of this mall building. So we can say that the hall rises up twelve stories high. The roof in that part is made of a transparent material like glass. So, the light that emanates from inside the hall can be seen clearly from the twelve levels on the left and right of the great hall. Even, I think, from the roof, people can still see the light in the great hall."

"So you mean we can't rule out the possibility that Dage was injured even if he didn't come down to the ground floor," Zhengyi said.

Yiren nodded.

"Then, in your opinion, what should we do now?" Caihong asked for their consideration.

"Some of us need to go home as soon as possible, while others stay here to monitor the situation," Qiuzhen said.

"I have decided to be here," Yiren said firmly. "Yige, you come back to our house soon. Qiuzhen, I want you to return to the house where the police are monitoring this case. We need someone on duty at the 'police station'!"

Ah! I rarely see Yiren taking the initiative like this. I think this is a positive thing.

Zhengyi nodded. Yiren definitely wanted Zhengyi to contact Jongli to ask about the progress of Jongli's investigation. So far, Jongli had provided no information regarding the progress of the investigation that he and his group were carrying out. Zhengyi hoped it was because Jongli's superiors forbade him to divulge their steps to outsiders, not because they didn't have any news to share.

"Then what about me?" Caihong looked at them with a hopeful face.

"We don't dare to trouble you any further," said Yiren.

"Don't say that, Uncle. After all, I'm already involved."

"Wouldn't it be okay if you had to abandon your painting exhibition or your other business?" Zhengyi asked.

"It's okay, Uncle. All my assistants are reliable," Caihong answered quickly.

"Speaking of business, how many days do you really get off? Yiren asked Qiuzhen.

"So far, I've been busy working. During my days off, I also work. So all my holidays, if accumulated, would be a lot. The company has allowed me to take a long leave," said Qiuzhen.

"In that case, good." Zhengyi nodded with relief.

"Caihong, I want you to go to your apartment right now. If Miss Lüqiu finds out about this incident, which will almost certainly be broadcast on television and radio soon, she could be just as desperate as come here to look for Dage. Either way, she must not leave your apartment. If she goes here and gets hurt, I don't know how else to explain it to Dage," said Yiren.

"I understand, Uncle!" said Caihong.

A beeper sounded. Caihong took the pager from his pocket. He was wide-eyed when he read the message that was plastered on the pager screen.

"What is it?" Zhengyi was really worried this time.

Any more bad news?

"This is from Ms. Diwu," Caihong's face looked panicked.

"Huh! How could the television or radio have reported this incident so quickly?" Yiren jumped in surprise. He rubbed his cheeks with his palms.

Zhengyi was stunned. The development of this incident is truly alarming.

Could it be that Miss Diwu is currently panicking to prevent Miss Lüqiu, who insists on going after us here?

"Miss Lüqiu is not in the apartment!" Caihong's voice was like someone who was choking.