In a dazed state, Zou Yue walked back to his room and just jumped into his bed. The hour flight had already left jetlagged and now... he was depressed.
He hugged the pillows tight and screamed into it.
"Now what do I do!!!" he shot up and started to read through the files once again. "Is there any other way to find her?"
Without the orphanage, it was not possible to find Tian Ai's original birth certificated or her present location.
If the building was really burned down, then all the records they had would have been lost.
And unfortunately twenty-five years ago there was no digital system that kept track of things.
"Wait, I can check the government register. Even if she was an orphan, she had to be registered right,"
He jumped and caught a cab to the nearby registry office.
After an hour of searching, they did not find anything and there was not a person names Tian Ai registered.
Everything about her birth was destroyed. It was as if she did not exist at all.
"How is that possible? Why didn't the orphanage register her.... there is something fishy,"
He swiftly called up his uncle.
"Yue, how is it? I can still book the Marriott,"
"No, uncle, we I called to ask you for a favour. I need to know of any private detective agency nearby. A good one." he whispered, running to the Main Road catch a cab.
"I know of a retired cop who lives there. What is going on?"
"The orphanage was burned down." he mumbled, gritting his teeth.
"Then come back Yue.. You don't have to put too much effort into this. It's too risky,"
"No, the fire seems so suspicious. And I just checked the registers. Tian Ai is not registered but then how could her birth certificate exist?"
He flagged down few cabs, but they all had passengers in them.
"You are saying that there could be false play?"
"Yes. Who is out to hide her existence?" Yue mumbled, biting into his nails.
"Your maternal grandparents." Uncle Wen softly whispered.
Yue froze. "y—yes.... they must have done something."
He had read the files about his mother's family. They were called the Murongs. They had so much influence in H city and S city. In fact, he had met his cousin when the end of the words started.
Murong Shao.
A powerful wind user of S settlement. He was the sole reason that the settlements survived for a long time, but after that last zombie herd he heroically passed away.
Back then, he did not know about his mother's family history.
Now Zou Yue started to get sceptical about the whole family.
They were heartless enough to throw away a new-born child and now they have erased her traces.
He silently cussed them in his mind.
"Yue? You still there?" uncle Wen softly whispered.
"I am. Will I get an answer if I interrogate them?"
"You probably won't."
"I have to try," an empty cab came his way. He swiftly flagged it, but it went past him. "God, why is getting a cab so hard?"
"You want me to arrange a private car."
The signal in front of him went red, and the cars stopped in front of him, but by this time he was busy with his research on that despicable family.
"Nope, I'll take care. Thank you so much, uncle. Love you so much," he cut the call and started to research everything he could on the Murong family.
Everything about their family was known to public because they were a very influential family.
His grandmother Murong Jia was a well-known jury who has retired.
His grandfather Murong yang was a politician who was well known for his successful campaign.
They had two children. Their first son names Murong Delun who passed away, leaving his only son Murong Shao.
And next was his mother, who ran away from her family.
There was no news of his mother anywhere, though. It was as if they had erased her.
He tightly clenched his phone. 'Fuck those Murong. How dare they put my mother and my sister through so much suffering?..'
'If it was normal, times would have found them and exacted revenge... but I am in a time crunch. I need to find a way to meet anyone from that family.
His search gave him an easy answer. The Murong family was arranging a birthday family for their shining member Murong shao in two days.
'I need invites. It must be sold somewhere...'
But what he didn't realise was that the person he was looking for was right in front of him.
Murong shao gazed out the window with a slight frown on his forehead. He swiftly took a picture of this persona and sent it to his grandfather.
"Doesn't she look like our aunt?"
His grandpa called him instantly. "Where are you?"
"Why?" Shao glanced at the young girl clenching her phone. "Are you going to make her disappear once again?"
"like I said shao I did not destroy her certificated for any other reason. It's just..... your grandma.... she wanted to see her desperately," a stern voice whispered from the other side.
Shao scoffed. 'is that why you still haven't 'found' her after so long?'
This young girl was his cousin. Because of his grandfather's prestige issue, he threw her away the day she was born.. But this girl found a good family.
She was adopted by a kind couple abroad. But things didn't go well. Her new family got into an accident and they too passed away. After that she was passed through many foster systems until she was deported back.
His grandpa gave him a ridiculous reason that his grandmother wanted to see her, but he knew...
He knew that his grandpa was trying to make this girl disappear just because of his campaign was getting close.
To him, this girl born out of wedlock was a stain on his name.
Murong shao looked at the petite little girl trying to flag down a cab.
He cut the call instantly.
"I have to at least do something.... she is my family after all," Murong shao got down and started to walk to the other side. But as he got close, the young girl caught a cab.
"Wait!" the lights turned green, and the cab zoomed past him.