Yixiong clenched his right palm. He pressed the calluses against the table in front of him.

"If my guess is correct, Dage is currently investigating all matters relating to the matter we are facing."

"That's what you had said earlier." Yiren stretched his hand forward. "So what?"

"This matter about Songfei's disappearance is in line with Xinxiu's kidnapping. Maybe it's just one of the things he's investigating. Perhaps he's also investigating other things that he thinks are related to each other. Things we're not even aware of."

"Hmm..." Yiren only made a brief comment.

"As to why he disappeared, I have the impression that Dage thought that without him we could handle our problems. And that's true! You see, so far we have been able to act without direction or even without Dage's presence."

Yiren nodded while hearing Yixiong's explanation. But his face still looked unsure.

I really don't know how to make him believe my explanation!

"Miss Lüqiu is not with Dage. Where do you think she is? Didn't they disappear together?" Yiren cupped his palms together.

How do I know where that girl is?

"I believe that Miss Lüqiu disappeared with Dage. It is possible that Miss Lüqiu is currently in a safe hiding place. It could be that Dage has actually prepared a hiding place for Miss Lüqiu." Yixiong tried to get the words out in a tone that should sound like a sentence spoken with conviction. He hoped Yiren didn't realize that the last sentence he said was unreasonable. Yixiong was just talking nonsense.

"Isn't there already Caihong's apartment? That place is where the elite live. The security is super tight."

"I know Caihong's apartment is a very safe place," Yixiong said. "But Miss Lüqiu doesn't seem comfortable living there. I believe she chose to be with Dage."

Yiren smirked. "That girl is completely in Dage's hands. I never thought that Dage would have that kind of ability."

"Dage doesn't have that kind of ability. It's just that she's at the right time and the right place. Other girls probably wouldn't do that."

"You're right," said Yiren. He smiled. "So you don't think we need to worry about them anymore?"

"Not for the moment. But we'll wait for further developments. Maybe later Dage will contact us."

"Should we tell this to the others?"

"The others, who?"

"Zhengyi, Qiuzhen, Jingkang, Caihong, and maybe also Zhongli Zhiren," answered Yiren.

Yixiong snorted. "I don't believe in Zhongli Zhiren. He is a very mysterious person. Maybe because he is part of a very secretive institution, then he has to act like that."

"What about Zhengyi?"

"Zhengyi is one of us, so Dage must believe in him. But we don't know how close Zhengyi is to Zhongli Zhiren. That man could have manipulated Zhengyi to tell him everything. So we shouldn't tell him just yet. Except later when Dage told us to tell him."

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

"Then what about Caihong? He's helped us a lot. I don't think it's appropriate for us to keep this a secret."

"I know Caihong has sacrificed time, money, and energy to help us. I don't want to be presumptuous, but you also know that Dage doesn't fully trust him. Dage is always careful when Caihong is around us."

"You mean the secret passage under our house?" Yiren asked.

"Yes, that's one of them. There are other things that show Dage's caution. Therefore, regarding Caihong, I will follow Dage's policy."

"What about Jingkang? He is a Duanmu. I think Dage trusts him."

"Dage does seem to believe in him. But don't forget, he is currently Caihong's employee. So he has an obligation to be loyal to Caihong. It is possible that he will leak everything we tell him to Caihong. I don't want to take that kind of risk. "

"What about Qiuzhen? He's one of us. He deserves to know we've seen Dage."

Yixiong laughed. "You are so naïve. What makes you think Qiuzhen doesn't know where Dage is?"

"So he already knows?" Yiren's eyes widened as he looked at Yixiong.

"I don't know for sure that Qiuzhen knew about Dage's plans or not. But if you look at Qiuzhen's movements, there seems to be something strange."

Yiren rubbed his chin. "Yeah, I do feel since he got home, he's been acting a bit weird. But I thought it was because he hasn't seen us in a long time. So he needs a little adjustment."

"I suspect Dage has told Qiuzhen a lot of things. Do you remember that night, before Qiuzhen came home? Dage had time to go to the underground station. Maybe that time they met there and Dage explained everything to Qiuzhen."

"Oh!" Yiren exclaimed. "Dage told me to go into the secret passage first. He said he was going to stop by the drugstore. So you might be right that they met at the station. No wonder Dage was there so long."

"What I said makes sense, right?" Yixiong said.

"But why did Dage choose to tell Qiuzhen this, and not us?"

"First, there are some of our new neighbors who are very suspicious. Qiuzhen doesn't know them, so he can be more objective. The second is that Dage has known Qiuzhen since Qiuzhen was a child, so it's only natural that Dage has a high trust in Qiuzhen. Then third, Qiuzhen is very good at hiding his emotions. His face can look so flat, without a conspicuous expression when he is angry or sad. If you had known about Dage's plans beforehand, then you wouldn't have been able to pretend to be worried. Zhongli Zhiren would easily have guessed that you were lying."

"Qiuzhen isn't good at lying, either."

"True, but like I said earlier, people find it hard to read his facial expressions."

"Then why didn't Dage tell you?"

"I don't know," Yixiong said. "Maybe Dage thought that if I found out, then I couldn't bear not to tell you. So he decided not to tell me. Or, there could be other things Dage is considering."

"Do you think this was Dage's plan from the start?"

"I don't know. It's possible that Dage had considered this from the start, but yesterday's events could have given him this idea."

"You mean Dage used the events at the mall as an excuse to disappear?"

"That's possible, right?" Yixiong laughed.

Yiren shook his head. Then he looked back across the street.

"Hey, someone's coming!" Yiren exclaimed in a loud voice.

Yixiong turned his head towards where their dage was standing. There was a van that stopped a few yards from where their dage was standing. He couldn't see how many people were in the car and what they looked like. Apart from the fact that the van's windows were very dark, it was also too far from their position.

The back door on the right opens. The side was facing them so that Yixiong and Yiren could clearly see the figure that came out of the car. He was a man of great stature. Yixiong estimated that the person's height was probably over 190 centimeters. Judging from the proportions of his body, that person must weigh over 120 kilograms. He carried a long wooden stick. The wooden stick seemed to be made of a very hard type of wood. The tip was not sharp, but it looked so sturdy.

"Xiongge! What do you think he will do?" Yiren got up from his chair again.

"I don't know. But let's not act rashly. Let's see what happens first." Yixiong also stood up. But he did not intend to get out of the restaurant to run towards the car. Yixiong gripped Yiren's arm. He tried to restrain his friend from doing things that were impulsive like before .

The big tall man walked to the front of the car. He moved closer to the person who was similar to their dage, who was standing at the end of the front of the car.