NOVEL NEXT Chapter 377 - 377: We Will Find Them
Chapter 377: We Will Find Them
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Halfway up the mountain, Ji Chi and Jiang Junlin parked their car. Zhang Qiang left three people behind to protect them while he went down the cliff with the others from Black Hawk. When the accident happened, someone at the campsite recorded a video. Ji Chi asked a woman for the video, and both he and Jiang Junlin witnessed the horrific car crash scene. The cliff was so high that falling down like that would surely be fatal.
Jiang Junlin tried calling Gu Ci but got a busy signal with no answer. There was a signal in this valley, and a drone flew overhead. The fire brigade also arrived to put out the fire, and the valley was filled with people.
While waiting for news, Jiang Junlin couldn’t hold back his anger. “What’s wrong with Lu Zhiyuan? Bringing Cici up the mountain in the middle of the night with no one else? He must be really confident. If something happens to Cici, I won’t spare him!”
His dissatisfaction with Lu Zhiyuan was almost at its peak.
Ji Chi didn’t dare to argue. It was indeed a big mistake for Third Master not to bring Li Jiang or at least a few bodyguards. He tried to salvage the situation, saying, “Maybe Third Master thought it was the Lantern Festival, and everyone should have a holiday.”
“Does he think his enemies are picky with which days they choose to kill him on? The Lantern Festival is a great day for that!”
Ji Chi remained silent.
Li Jiang had arrived a step earlier and was already searching in the valley below. Ji Chi looked through binoculars at the chaotic scene of people and vehicles.
“The fire brigade, the traffic police, and ambulances are all here. There are too many people,” Ji Chi said with some unease. If someone managed to infiltrate among the fire brigade or ambulance teams, they wouldn’t be able to guard against it.
“Brother, can we ask the fire brigade and traffic police to leave, along with the medical team?”
Jiang Junlin called Gu Ziyu and informed him of the situation. Gu Ziyu was celebrating the Lantern Festival at Chen Liangdong’s house. When he heard about Lu Zhiyuan and Gu Ci’s car accident in the valley, his mind went blank for a good five seconds.
Lu Zhiyuan’s sacrifice to protect him and Gu Ci had been a story he had heard since childhood. All tragedies stemmed from that car accident, and not only would Gu Ci suffer from PTSD upon hearing about it, but Gu Ziyu would as well. “Ziyu, are you listening?”
“Yes!” Gu Ziyu’s voice trembled. “I understand.”
He hung up the phone, feeling somewhat flustered. Chen Liangdong asked, “Baby, what’s wrong?”
Gu Ziyu quickly explained the situation, and Chen Liangdong made a call to have Chen Fei prepare a car. He would personally go with Ziyu.
As for the campers halfway up the mountain, they were watching the commotion, never expecting such a massive crowd due to a car accident. One woman commented, “The car fell off the cliff and exploded. Can anyone survive that?”
“Definitely not. The car was on fire for twenty minutes before anyone arrived. They must have turned into ashes.”
“Even if they were lucky, they wouldn’t survive. Otherwise, it would go against the laws of nature.”
Seeing Jiang J uniin’s increasingly unpleasant expression, Ji Chi glanced at the onlookers and gave them a cold look. Although he appeared young, he had a strong presence. The woman who had spoken earlier caught his gaze and quickly hid behind her boyfriend, clearly frightened.
The fire had been extinguished.
Li Jiang and Zhang Qiang both sent back messages. The car was mostly burnt, and there were no remains. Jiang Junlin and Ji Chi breathed a sigh of relief. “Are you sure?”
“Sure, it’s not a cremation furnace, how could it turn to ashes?”
With no remains, a new problem arose: where were they?
Jiang Junlin said, “We’ve searched the entire valley. We must find them!”
“Understood!”
Gu Ci and Lu Zhiyuan were still in the valley. Lu Zhiyuan was in a semi-conscious state but managed to keep his wits about him. The valley was teeming with people at first, all enemies. They were searching everywhere for people, and there were even drones in the sky. Lu Zhiyuan and Gu Ci didn’t feel safe in the cave. Gu Ci, carrying Lu Zhiyuan on her back, had just left the cave when someone came to inspect it and found bloodstains.
“Boss, the bloodstains are fresh. They’ve just left!”
“Start searching, and dig three feet if necessary!”
“Yes!”
“Boss, this is getting eerie. Falling from such a height, why are they still alive? Moreover, the crash site is far from here, and the accident happened only ten minutes ago. Unless they have wings, it’s impossible for them to appear here!” They had divided into several groups to surround the valley, and some were checking the crash site to prevent Lu Zhiyuan and Gu Ci from escaping.
“Yeah, why would they be here?”
Gu Ci, carrying Lu Zhiyuan, was moving slowly, and footsteps were getting closer behind them. It was pitch black at night, and they couldn’t see the path ahead. Gu Ci slipped and fell, and Lu Zhiyuan could only manage to hold onto her. They both tumbled down and soon lost consciousness.
Morning arrived.
The fire brigade and traffic police had withdrawn, while members of Black Hawk and the underworld were scouring the entire valley, aided by drones. However, they found no traces of Lu Zhiyuan and Gu Ci. Gu Ci’s phone had a tracking device, but it was destroyed in the car, so there was no signal.
Li Jiang’s phone had run out of battery and was quickly charging. He couldn’t afford to miss any calls. He usually didn’t answer unknown numbers, but this morning, he had already answered three calls from real estate salesmen.
They searched until noon but found no traces.
Gu Ziyu’s expression was as dark as water, and Jiang Junlin and Ji Chi had already considered the worst-case scenario. “Could they have been taken away?”
The entire valley, both front and back, had been searched. Li Jiang even led a team to check the back of the valley, but there was still no sign of them. After all, he knew that Lu Zhiyuan could teleport, and going from north to south wouldn’t be difficult for him. There was still no trace.
Jiang Junlin also contemplated the possibility of them being taken away. After the accident, the enemy was in the valley, and Li Jiang was the first to arrive, but it still took thirty minutes.
In those thirty minutes, there were too many variables.
Ji Chi thought for a moment and instructed Li Jiang, “Arrange for a man and a woman to act as wounded. Tell them we’ve found Third Master and Gu Ci, both with minor injuries, and they’re heading back to the Global headquarters.”
“But we haven’t found them,” Li Jiang protested.
Ji Chi spoke solemnly, “From the time of the accident last night until noon today, it’s been fourteen hours. If Third Master and Gu Ci managed to escape but can’t contact us, or if they’ve been taken away by the enemy, we should have received a call by now. We haven’t received any calls, which means there are two possibilities: either Third Master and Gu Ci have escaped and can’t easily contact us, or they’ve been taken away by the enemy who’s setting up a trap. If it’s the second possibility, we just need to wait for the call. But if it’s the first possibility, the enemy might also be waiting to see our search efforts. If we don’t find them, and they claim to have found them, we’ll be at a disadvantage. Follow my instructions.”
“Understood!” Li Jiang went to make the arrangements.
After Chen Rushi’s accident, Lu Zhiyuan had effectively gained control of the upper echelons of Black Hawk. Although it wasn’t an autocracy, very few people dared to challenge him. If he were to encounter trouble, Black Hawk would still ultimately listen to Ji Chi. This was the latest directive for Black Hawk after the Chinese New Year, confirming Ji Chi’s status as the heir.
Jiang Junlin listened to Ji Chi’s orders and didn’t say much. He turned to look at Gu Ziyu.
Gu Ziyu was sitting on a rock, remaining quiet the whole time, not uttering a word. Jiang Junlin felt compassion for Gu Ziyu and approached him slowly. “Ziyu, we will find them..”