Volume One, Chapter Ninety-Three: Xing Le Has Gone Missing

Three of them settled into the Xu household.

Chi Xingwan slept lightly, and with the strangeness of this place, she remained ever on guard. So when there was a disturbance outside, she woke at once.

“What happened?” Chi Xingwan stepped out of her room.

Xu Mingyue had clearly been roused only moments before; her eyes were still puffy, and she looked thoroughly unrefreshed.

Hasty footsteps thudded on the stairs. Xu Mingyue’s mother came running up in a panic. “Mingyue, something’s wrong. Your Aunt Xing says Lele is missing.”

“What? Sister Lele is gone?” Xu Mingyue jolted fully awake.

Her mother was just as worried. “Yes, that’s what your Aunt Xing said. She asked for you, probably hoping we could help search. Hurry and get ready. Your father and I will go look around nearby first.”

With that, she hurried back downstairs. Xu Mingyue immediately turned to Chi Xingwan.

She knew Aunt Xing had not come looking for her help; she had come looking for Chi Xingwan.

“I’ll go take a look.” As she headed back into her room, Chi Xingwan said to Xu Mingyue, “Wash up first.”

“Oh, right. Wash up first, change out of your pajamas...” Xu Mingyue also went back into her room.

When Chi Xingwan came out again, not only Xu Mingyue, but Jin Feng and Chu Fangfei were already waiting for her.

And Aunt Xing was pacing anxiously in the Xu family’s first-floor hall, her gaze fixed on the staircase. At last, she saw the person she had been waiting for.

“Chi... classmate Chi, Lele is missing. I don’t know where she’s gone.” Aunt Xing looked worried, tears gathering in her eyes.

Chi Xingwan said, “Ma’am, please don’t panic. Tell me exactly what happened.”

Her cool, even tone calmed Aunt Xing slightly. She gathered her thoughts and began to describe what had happened that morning.

“Lele can’t take care of herself, so although she and we don’t sleep in the same room, your uncle and I get up several times during the night to check on her. This morning, when we went to her room, she wasn’t there.”

Xu Mingyue was terribly anxious as she listened. She quickly asked, “Auntie, doesn’t Sister Lele not know how to open doors? Could she have hidden in a wardrobe or something?”

Aunt Xing shook her head. “No. We searched the whole house, turned over every cabinet and chest, and Lele really is gone.”

Everyone looked at Chi Xingwan. Chi Xingwan smiled and said, “Don’t worry. I’ll take you to find her.”

She left the Xu house and went next door to the Xing residence, where she happened to meet Uncle Xing returning from outside at the gate.

Though it was winter, he was drenched in sweat.

“How is it? Have you found Lele?” Uncle Xing asked between breaths.

Aunt Xing shook her head. “No. Classmate Chi says she knows where Lele is.”

Then Uncle Xing no longer rushed out to search. Like everyone else, he followed behind Chi Xingwan.

In the Xing family’s hall, Xing Liang sat on the sofa, watching coldly. He had not slept all night and had been forced to accept his father’s arrangement.

Though he no longer had to support the family in old age, he believed he had lost half of his property. So the look he gave Chi Xingwan now was frightening indeed, like a wolf eyeing a little rabbit, ready the next moment to pounce and snap its neck.

Chi Xingwan did not even spare him a glance. She led the group upstairs at once and into Xing Le’s room.

Xu Mingyue asked curiously, “Xingwan, if Lele isn’t here, are you looking for something in Sister Lele’s room?”

During the past six months, she had learned a little about the mystic arts and knew that when searching for someone, it was best to have something belonging to the missing person, such as frequently worn clothing or jewelry, or something they cherished.

“No.” Chi Xingwan shook her head. “I don’t need her things, because I already know where she is.”

Aunt Xing asked anxiously, “Where is she? Where is Lele?”

Chi Xingwan pointed to Xing Le’s bed. “She’s right there.”

Everyone looked toward the bed. It was empty.

Even Chu Fangfei was puzzled. She looked carefully but saw nothing, and could not help asking, “Sister, I don’t see Xing Le. There’s not even a soul there.”

A soul!

At those two words, Aunt Xing and Uncle Xing nearly fainted on the spot.

What they feared most was something happening to Xing Le. If something really had happened to her, what were they supposed to do?

Jin Feng lightly tapped Chu Fangfei on the head. “If you can’t speak properly, then don’t talk nonsense and frighten people.”

Chu Fangfei immediately clapped a hand over her mouth and mumbled, “My mistake, my mistake. No soul means Xing Le is definitely still alive.”

Yet Aunt Xing and Uncle Xing did not relax. They looked at Chi Xingwan.

If they still did not understand by now that the two of them took Chi Xingwan’s lead, then they would truly be foolish.

“What Fangfei said is true. Xing Le is indeed still alive,” Chi Xingwan said.

That single sentence made Aunt Xing and Uncle Xing sigh with relief. Aunt Xing hurriedly asked, “Then where is she now? She can’t take care of herself and can’t be away from people for too long.”

“I already said it. She’s on the bed.” Chi Xingwan ignored their puzzled looks and instead asked Jin Feng, “Can you see through it?”

Jin Feng studied the bed carefully. Before long, a look of sudden understanding appeared on his face. “So that’s how it is. It’s that simple?”

Chi Xingwan smiled. “That simple. It’s your turn to break the formation.”

“Understood.” Jin Feng nodded gravely.

He took a chopstick from the pouch at his waist, the magic implement he used most often.

Seeing that everyone except Chu Fangfei was staring at the chopstick in his hand, Jin Feng felt a little embarrassed.

He explained, “I originally wanted to make it in the shape of a dagger, but you know how it is. Carrying a dagger around is inconvenient, and planes and high-speed trains are all a hassle, so I simply made it in the shape of a chopstick.”

Chu Fangfei was anxious and cut him off. “Enough, Senior Brother, stop wasting time explaining. Hurry and break the formation.”

“Got it.”

Jin Feng raised the chopstick in his hand and closed his eyes, murmuring incantations under his breath. Xu Mingyue listened carefully, but no matter how hard she tried, she could not make out what he was saying.

To Xu Mingyue and Uncle and Aunt Xing, Jin Feng looked like a madman, waving a chopstick and muttering to himself.

But before Chi Xingwan and Chu Fangfei, it was clear that as Jin Feng chanted, more and more spiritual energy gathered at the tip of the chopstick, radiating shimmering golden light.

The power grew ever more immense, until even Xu Mingyue and the others began to notice something unusual.

With closer attention, they could see the air within the room subtly warping.

Jin Feng was still condensing spiritual power. In a sudden instant, he opened his eyes wide and hurled the chopstick in his hand.

The tremor in the air intensified, forming a shockwave in the small room.

And from the bed at the very center of the room came the sound of glass shattering.

Xu Mingyue looked up again and found Xing Le sitting blankly on the bed.