Chapter 1338: Disappearance, Search
On the day of the wedding, Yang Haoran sat in the main seat behind the desk in his study. For him, the groom, today should have been the happiest day of his life, yet his brows were slightly furrowed, his expression grave, without a hint of joy on his face.
In front of the desk, a group of his trusted subordinates stood respectfully. Some had their heads bowed, some frowned, and others wore expressions of unconcealed worry. Not a single face showed the slightest hint of joy.
Judging by Yang Haoran's reaction, and by the expressions of his subordinates, it was clear that their spirits were low, and they had evidently encountered something troublesome.
Given Yang Haoran's character, unless he encountered an extremely tricky matter, he would never show such a grave expression, nor would he furrow his brows. His face habitually carried a faint smile. Moreover, today was his wedding day with Xu Meijing. Logically, on such a joyous and supremely important occasion, he, as the groom, should have been the happiest. Yet, his signature smile had not only vanished, but his expression was serious and his brows slightly creased.
From this, it was evident that Yang Haoran had certainly encountered a very thorny problem, which had in turn made his mood exceedingly poor.
Indeed, that was the case. Yang Haoran's mood was truly abysmal at that moment, and it wasn't just one thing that caused his extreme distress, but two.
The first matter was that Bai Xue had been missing for several days, with no news until now.
No one knew of Bai Xue's disappearance on the first day, because she was not only one of Yang Haoran's trusted subordinates but also the president of the Flock of Demons Society. Where she went, or what she intended to do, no one apart from Yang Haoran had the right or dared to inquire, much less monitor her movements.
Although Yang Haoran had the authority and dared to do these things, he never restricted Bai Xue's freedom, nor did he send anyone to monitor her. Thus, on the first day of Bai Xue's disappearance, others didn't know, and neither did Yang Haoran.
But Bai Jiumeng did not find Bai Xue. The Flock of Demons Society had no trace of Bai Xue, and Bai Xue's residence was also empty. This intensified her existing worries. She had already been concerned that Bai Xue might do something foolish, and not finding Bai Xue naturally made this worry even stronger.
So Bai Jiumeng quickly took out a Communication Talisman capable of reaching Bai Xue, hoping to use it to inquire about Bai Xue's situation, confirm her mental state, and most importantly, ascertain whether she had done anything foolish, as that was her greatest concern.
Although the Communication Talisman was successfully activated, it sank into the sea like a stone. Bai Jiumeng received no reply from Bai Xue, and a premonition of ill omen arose in her heart.
However, Bai Jiumeng couldn't be sure if Bai Xue was simply annoyed and unwilling to reply, or if something truly unfortunate had happened. But she certainly couldn't just ignore the matter and pretend nothing had happened. If Bai Xue had indeed met with some accident, and she had done nothing about it, she would surely regret it and feel ashamed for the rest of her life.
Therefore, that very day, she went to ask others if they had seen Bai Xue or knew where she was. The answer was always no; no one had seen Bai Xue for two days, let alone knew where she had gone.
After her inquiries yielded no results, Bai Jiumeng did not give up. Instead, she left the Guardian District to search on her own, heading to places she thought Bai Xue might visit, hoping to chance upon her or find some clues.
But the result left her utterly disappointed. Her own search also yielded nothing; the places she thought Bai Xue might have gone showed no trace of her, not even the slightest hint.
Carrying her disappointment, Bai Jiumeng returned to the Guardian District. She had left the Guardian District the previous afternoon, and it was already the morning of the next day when she returned—which marked the third day of Bai Xue's disappearance.
After much deliberation, she decided to report the matter to Yang Haoran. Just because she couldn't find Bai Xue didn't mean Yang Haoran couldn't. In her eyes, Yang Haoran was omnipotent, and with his methods, he would surely be able to locate Bai Xue.
Moreover, Yang Haoran's identity was different. If Bai Xue was just deliberately hiding, perhaps Yang Haoran's attempt to contact her might get a response. Even if it didn't, with the power Yang Haoran commanded, the chances of finding Bai Xue were absolutely incomparable to what she, a high-ranking member of the Flock of Demons Society, could achieve.
And so, Bai Jiumeng reported the matter to Yang Haoran.
Perhaps it was because Yang Haoran had been too busy lately, becoming muddled, or perhaps because his impending wedding had clouded his mind with joy. When he learned of the matter, Yang Haoran didn't think much of it, nor did he act with his usual caution. Although he did feel some worry, it was merely 'some' worry.
On one hand, he was indeed muddled, and the reasons for this muddle-headedness were both his busyness and his joy.
On the other hand, he knew of Bai Xue's affection for him. Now that he was about to marry another woman, it was plausible that Bai Xue would be in a bad mood, act a little temperamental, or even disappear as a playful protest.
Furthermore, Yang Haoran understood Bai Xue's personality. While it was indeed possible for Bai Xue to throw a tantrum or disappear as a game due to his marriage to Xu Meijing, Yang Haoran simply didn't believe she would do anything foolish to harm herself because of it. In his view, once Bai Xue came to her senses, she would naturally return.
Precisely because of this, Yang Haoran did not treat the matter with absolute seriousness, nor did he consider the worst possible scenarios.
However, even though Yang Haoran was muddled and didn't treat the matter with absolute seriousness, he didn't simply let it go. He immediately summoned Shui Ling, who was in charge of intelligence, and instructed her to personally lead a team to search for Bai Xue. After all, both Shui Ling and her subordinates were experts in this field, so entrusting the search for Bai Xue to them was naturally the most appropriate course of action.
With the wedding imminent, not only was Yang Haoran extremely busy, but his trusted subordinates were also swamped. One could say that all trusted subordinates remaining in the Guardian District, except Bai Xue, were incredibly busy. Bai Xue wasn't busy because Yang Haoran hadn't felt comfortable assigning her tasks, but he had no such reservations about his other confidantes. Thus, Yang Haoran had assigned tasks to every subordinate. Pulling Shui Ling away for Bai Xue's matter meant that Shui Ling's responsibilities would need to be taken over by others, which would undoubtedly increase their workload.
Nevertheless, Yang Haoran acted without hesitation to find Bai Xue, which clearly showed that Bai Xue still held a very important place in his heart; otherwise, he wouldn't have done so.
Yang Haoran had initially believed that with Shui Ling personally in charge, there would be results that very day. However, reality was vastly different from what he had imagined. With no clues whatsoever, and Bai Xue having left the Guardian District by tearing through space, no one knew where she had gone, and thus Shui Ling found no results that day.
Today marked the third day of Shui Ling's investigation into Bai Xue's disappearance, and it was also Yang Haoran's wedding day. All preparations for the wedding had been handled by Yang Haoran, and his trusted subordinates had also completed their respective tasks. Now, everything was ready, lacking only the 'east wind' – Yang Haoran's journey to Xu Meijing's residence to welcome his bride.
This should have been a good thing, yet Bai Xue had still not returned to the Guardian District at this crucial moment, and Shui Ling's investigation had made some progress. However, this progress was not only bad news for Yang Haoran but struck his mind like a bolt from the blue, instantly jolting his previously muddled head clear, and causing him to realize the gravity of the situation!
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