"Lei-shidi!" Cheng Sheng called as they entered the infirmary. "Lei-shidi... Lei-shidi...?" he muttered as his eyes slowly widened. "Where is he?!" he exclaimed and panicked when he didn't see Lei Ling in the infirmary.
"What? Ah Ling's not here?" Lei Qing said when she heard what Cheng Sheng said. They looked around to look for Lei Ling, but he really wasn't there.
Earlier, they waited for the matches to finish if ever one of them will be called to for their match. Fortunately, no one was named among their group after Lei Ling's match. Then, they immediately went to the infirmary only to see he wasn't there.
"Where…" Li Tian was shocked as they looked around an found no sight of Lei LIng. Not even his shadow can be seen.
You Rou gasped. "Was he abducted?!" she asked. Her face paled from the thought. She still remember that there are demonic cultivators that escaped before when the Righteous Alliance and Zunjingde Sect caught their group.
Cheng Sheng froze before his face darkened. "Da shixiong. You look after me." He told Fei Yin. "I'm going to open my Spiritual Sense – " he said as he raised his hand, his two fingers pointing to the space between his brows. He's going to find Lei Ling's qi to look for him.
"Calm down." Fei Yin told Cheng Sheng and grabbed his hand to stop him from being impulsive.
"It was fourth young master Jing who took him earlier to send Lei-shidi and himself to the infirmary." Sun Yi said, recalling what happened earlier. "However, fourth young master Jing is an honorable man. Also, he has no reason to abduct Lei-shidi." he explained.
"Then, who took him?" Chen Han asked, puzzled by what's happening.
"He's still injured…" Lei Qing's tears are about to fall. He's her younger brother, after all. Even though she's not affectionate to him and always bullies him but deep in her heart she really cared for Lei Ling.
"Shall we go ask help…" ... from the Alliance? Feng Mo said before he stopped. He looked at them. He remembered what Fei Huang had told them before. There is an enemy in the Righteous Alliance. They shouldn't ask help from them as long as they can.
"What should we do…?" Li Tian asked. His face is filled with worry. Lei Ling is the weakest of them all. He can't protect himself aside from using his talismans.
"Let me open my Spiritual Sense – " Cheng Sheng said again as he raised his hand held by Fei Yin and pressed the space between his brows by his two fingers.
"Wait - " Fei Yin told him and pulled his hand again to stop Cheng Sheng.
"Da shixiong. Time is of essence - " Cheng Sheng told Fei Yin and pulled his hand back. When Fei Yin didn't let go of him, he lowered his head himself and positioned his two fingers raised to the space between his brows.
"I said to stop - " Fei Yin said and caught Cheng Sheng's nape. Then, he pulled him up by his nape.
The others stopped and looked at them two. "..." what are they doing? They thought as they blankly looked at them.
"Hey." Zuo Zhe called when he passed by their group. "What're you fretting all over?" he asked as he and Yu Sheng approached them.
"Young master Zuo." Li Tian greeted.
"So?" Zuo Zhe said as he walked towards them. Yu Sheng was closely following behind him. "You're missing a person." He said when he noticed there's one less in their number.
"That's right. My younger brother is missing." Lei Qing said. "He's weak, and still injured. If something happens to him…" she said and covered her mouth to prevent herself from sobbing.
"… have you tried to ask for your sect leader's help?" Zuo Zhe asked.
Fei Yin shook his head. "Founder is still with the Alliance's elders and other sect leaders." He answered.
"You don't have anyone to help you?" Zuo Zhe asked.
"… father is with them." Chen Han lowered his head, referring to Chen Jing who's with Xie Lan and other sect leaders.
"… so no one, then." Zuo Zhe sighed. "Where have you last seen him? Who was with him when you last saw him?" he asked.
"It's fourth young master Jing." Cheng Sheng answered. "He took him with him to the infirmary earlier." He explained.
"Have you tried to ask him?" Zuo Zhe asked.
They shook their head. "Fourth young master Jing has no reason to take away Lei-shidi." Feng Mo said.
"… didn't he already take him?" Zuo Zhe muttered and scratched his head. This long hair is too troublesome. He thought and lowered his hand. "You should still go to him." He told them. "He's the one who's been with your shidi before he disappeared. You ask him how was Lei Ling before he left him." he explained.
"Oh." They said when they finally realized and finally calmed down after their mind was cleared up.
Zuo Zhe's brow twitched. These ancient people… he thought and sighed. "Then, we'll be taking our leave." He said and was about to turn to leave.
"Wait, young master Zuo." Fei Yin called. "If you're still renting in an inn, why don't you go with us?" he asked. "As thanks for helping us, we'll give you two rooms for free." He told him, referring to the Yunxiao Inn where they are staying at.
Everyone looked at Fei Yin. … we're also staying in the inn for free. They thought, then forced themselves to ignore Fei Yin's subtle shamelessness.
Zuo Zhe was about to speak when Yu Sheng covered his mouth. "Make it one." Yu Sheng told Fei Yin.
"… oh." They muttered and meaningfully looked at Zuo Zhe who's struggling out of Yu Sheng's arms. His face is flushed red.
"Okay." Fei Yin nodded, agreeing to Yu Sheng's arrangement without scruples.
"Young master Jing!" Cheng Sheng suddenly called. "Second young master Jing!" he corrected himself when he saw Jing Bai passed outside the infirmary while he was chasing Zheng Yi.
Jing Bai and Zheng Yi stopped and turned when they heard Cheng Sheng's voice. "Second young master Chen." Jing Bai said as he pulled Zheng Yi's sleeve to stop him from escaping from him. "What's the matter?" he asked Cheng Sheng.
"We want to ask if you could accompany us to fourth young master Jing?" Cheng Sheng asked.
"Huh? Ah Kang? Why?" Jing Bai was surprised. Jing Kang didn't have friends to visit his home while Cheng Sheng and his group didn't have any relation with Jing Kang.
"The thing is, our shidi was missing." Cheng Sheng answered. "It was him we saw who's with our shidi before we last seen our shidi." He explained.
"That's true." Jing Bai said when he remembered what happened earlier. "But, you might be disappointed." He told them.
"We understand. Fourth young master Jing has no reason to abduct our shidi, so our shidi wouldn't be with him." Cheng Sheng said. "We just want to ask him how was our shidi when he last saw him." He explained.
"That's not what I meant." Jing Bai said.
"Huh?" Cheng Sheng was puzzled.
"It's impossible for your shidi to be there, and for you to go there." Jing Bai told him. "The Jing Manor, or Ah Kang's home, no one can enter." He said. "It's only him and his father who can enter. Not even me, nor Ah Hei nor da ge could step a foot inside." He explained to them.
"Then, how…" they said. They didn't know Jing Kang's situation. How can they meet with him, then? They thought in a dilemma.
Jing Bai smiled. "Don't worry." He told them. "Ah Kang... even though he looked cold, but he's actually nice." He said. "In exchange of your magic pills and potion, I'll help you ask for an audience with him." He told Cheng Sheng, then turned to Zheng Yi who tried to sneak away. "You're coming with us." He told him.
"Why? I have no reason to – " Zheng Yi said as he tried to pull his sleeve from Jing Bai's hand.
"Oh, but you have." Jing Bai evilly smiled at him. "It's on the Alliance's premises their shidi disappeared. Thus, you have to see the end of this case." He told him.
Zheng Yi looked at Jing Bai. "Then, after they would meet with fourth young master Jing, you should leave. You had no business left with them – " he told him.
"Oh, but I have." Jing Bai said. "I am the first person they asked help for." He said, ignoring Zuo Zhe's and Yu Sheng's presence. "I have to see the end of this case." He told Zheng Yi.
"… you're annoying." Zheng Yi told him, but in the end he conceded.
"… shall we still go with them?" Zuo Zhe asked Yu Sheng as they left the Alliance's building.
"I don't want to, since they're bothering our time together, but this looks interesting." Yu Sheng said. Zuo Zhe was about to retort, but Yu Sheng already pulled him. "Let's go!" he told him.