Chapter 74 Ism Dying (1/2)

Morning arrived. Ying Qingcang and Young Master Shen had spent the entire night without sleeping a wink. Chen Ming had already left to deal with Lu Manman's funeral arrangements.

”Young Master, please eat something and get some rest.” Ah Che came in from outside with Le Le at his heels. Yesterday, Ah Che had been driving around the streets for the entire day to look for Xin Qing. He had taken Le Le with him too. At first, Le Le had was still able to detect Xin Qing's scent. But as the distance grew, even Le Le's keen sense of smell was rendered futile. Seeing that Ying Qingcang had completely ignored him, something flashed across Ah Che's eyes. A loud thunk sounded as Ah Che fell to his knees.

”I hadn't protected the young miss. This is all my fault.” Ah Che was overwhelmed with guilt. If he had followed Xin Qing wherever she went, she would not have been abducted.

Young Master Shen kneaded a spot between his brows and tried to pull Ah Che up. ”Enough. This isn't your fault.” Ah Che watched Ying Qingcang with pursed lips. Ying Qingcang waved his hand and said two words, ”Get up.” Ah Che's next words came out in the form of a loud wail. ”I will definitely bring the young miss back!” Ah Che got up and dashed outside.

”When he gets back, let him rest,” Ying Qingcang said to Ah Nan. He knew that Ah Che had been out on the streets the whole night, looking for Xin Qing. Xin Qing's abduction was not Ah Che's fault.

The day flew by. The cops had no leads at all. Young Master Shen's sources had come up empty too. Night descended upon the earth once again. Young Master Shen did not dare leave Ying Qingcang to his own devices. Young Master Shen feared what Ying Qingcang would end up doing when he finally lost it. But in the end, Ying Qingcang did the unexpected. He headed for the lounge. Before he went, he said, ”Go to sleep.”

Ah Nan glanced at Young Master Shen. ”What should we do now?” Ah Nan asked quietly.

”Sleep, of course!” Young Master Shen said, yawning. It probably was not easy for Ying Qingcang to make that suggestion. ”You should rest up too. We haven't got any shut-eye for a day and a night. Just in case...” Young Master Shen did not finish his statement. If they failed to track down Xin Qing within three days, the possibilities would be grim indeed.

Xin Qing was starting to cry. Lu Manman did not come back to release her. When darkness filled the sky, she started to fear. What if nobody came for her? How come Ying Qingcang had not found her yet? She had already cut herself loose from the rope used to bind her. Good thing September's weather was still very warm. She gathered all the torn rags in the area and then sat down with her back against the wall.

Her empty stomach reminded her of just how hungry she was. The food left for her had already turned sour and therefore, inedible. Only half of the water was left in the bottle that Lu Manman had left for her.

Xin Qing stared at the ceiling towering above her. Perhaps Lu Manman would come to release her tomorrow. Perhaps tomorrow, she would be back home. Then she would be able to see Ying Qingcang...

Dawn arrived. It was now the third day of Xin Qing's abduction.

Ying Qingcang had risen early and eaten the breakfast that Ah Nan had brought back. Calmly, he said to Young Master Shen, ”I'll search up north, you go south. Ah Nan, you stay. Let us know immediately if there is any news from the cops. Also, call Ah Che. Ask him to come back home. Make sure he sleeps.”

Ying Qingcang's voice had just dissipated when Ah Che came rushing in. ”Young Master, we have a lead. An eyewitness had seen Lu Manman abandoning her car before she, with the help of a man, lifted a gunny sack onto a second car.” Ying Qingcang's eyes gleamed. It was the first ray of hope he had seen for the past two days.

”Where did they go after that?”

”The car drove to Huancheng West road. That's all we know.” A police officer who was with them quickly took out a map. Everyone stood around the map in a circle, trying to locate the road.

A young officer pointed at the map and said, ”This road has only one exit, which leads to West City's industrial waste zone. We can focus our search in that area.”

”But there's so many...” Ah Nan showed everyone the information from the computer.” That area has over 3,000 factories. There's no way we can find out which one was used to hold her.”

Ying Qingcang stood up. ”Then we'll search every single one of them. Four directions. The cops will search on the west. Young Master Shen, you have a lot of people at your disposal, so you'll cover the north and the south. I'll take east.”

”Young Master, I'll go along with you,” Ah Che said, rubbing his eyes.

Ying Qingcang glanced at him. ”Rest.”

”Young Master, I'm not tired. I need to...”