Chapter 174: Zhu Yuan is Missing

The long corridor outside the venue was empty.

A hurried yet steady sound of footsteps chased down the corridor; an urgent desire to see Zhu Yuan made Sheng Yu's muscles tremble like molten lava, and his eyes turned red.

From this direction, one could see the end of the corridor at a glance.

She was wearing a long gown and could not walk fast, nor could she go far.

She was not in this direction.

Sheng Yu turned and headed toward the dressing room, his footsteps growing faster and more chaotic; when he saw the white mobile phone dropped on the floor of the dressing room, the man's footsteps stopped abruptly.

He picked up the phone and pressed the side button; the screen lit up, and the screensaver was a cartoon character with the caption—So nervous, about to get rich.

"Zhu Yuan!"

The dressing room and the corridor outside were deathly quiet, without even the sound of breathing.

The screen went dark, reflecting Sheng Yu's suddenly gloomy and terrifying face.

With a "Bang," the venue doors were rammed open from the outside, and the chatter inside came to an abrupt halt.

A group of Bodyguards in black rushed into the venue.

Almost at the same time, all the major emergency exits of the hotel were sealed off.

The guests at the venue were terrified, looking toward the entrance in a panic.

"What's wrong?"

"What happened?"

Father Yuan and Yuan Fengye stood up and looked around, while the people from the Yuan Family began to calm the guests.

Qi Jing saw Situ leading the group and looked grave, "What happened?"

"Miss Zhu is missing," Situ said in a deep voice.

Before the others could react, Song Ci immediately tore off her veil and rushed out of the venue, followed by Yuan Fengye, Qi Jing, and the others.

How could a perfectly fine person just go missing?

It was a kidnapping!

The Yuan Family was hosting a wedding banquet, and every guest who entered had been strictly vetted; they were only allowed to bring one Bodyguard, so there was no way suspicious people could have snuck in.

Then this kidnapping was premeditated!

They were just waiting for today!

Within seconds, another group of men in black appeared in the venue, but they were not the Sheng Family's Bodyguards.

Pei Shaoshen narrowed his eyes and looked at the cold-faced Pei Ling, "What are you trying to do?"

Pei Ling's fingers brushed over his cufflinks, "The Theater is under my management now, and since Zhu Yuan is a person from the theater, can I not be involved?"

During a major audit yesterday, the Pei Family's finances could not withstand close scrutiny, with the source being the Pei Family Bank; Pei Shaoshen wanted Pei Ling to clean up the books, and the day before the inspection, Pei Ling took the opportunity to negotiate terms, asking him for the Beijing Drama Theater.

The Bodyguards of the Sheng Family and the Pei Family surrounded the entire hotel tightly.

"I'm afraid it was done by the Dong Family; if Zhu Yuan falls into their hands, the consequences will be unimaginable," Qi Jing said worriedly.

With Dong Shu's death and the Dong Family being forced to leave Kyoto City, all these grudges combined meant that even with Sheng Yu suppressing them and keeping an eye on their movements, there was a fear of fish slipping through the net.

Everyone looked at the man not far away, holding a white mobile phone, leaning against the bar with a gloomy and violent air about him.

"Yu Ge, I will definitely find sister-in-law," Yuan Fengye also sent his men out.

Enzo walked over quickly, "The surveillance has been checked; there is no footage of Miss Zhu after she entered the dressing room."

The hotel dressing room involved privacy, so no surveillance cameras were installed.

The white phone made a creaking sound between the man's fingers; his knuckles turned white, and the veins on the back of his hand bulged, spreading out like tree roots breaking through the soil.

He stared at the screen with bloodshot eyes, "Find her."

Sheng Hongyao walked up to Sheng Yu with his men, furious, and rebuked him sternly: "Today is the Yuan Family's wedding banquet; you are acting lawlessly by causing such a scene for a woman!"

He turned to the Bodyguards and said: "Withdraw the men; what kind of behavior is this if you keep making a scene!"

The man leaning against the bar suddenly raised his eyes.

Meeting those scarlet, bloodthirsty eyes, Sheng Hongyao was stunned; almost instantly, Sheng Yu pulled out a pistol, the dark muzzle pressed against his head, "When did my affairs become your business? You had better not let me find out it was you."

"You think I did it?" Sheng Hongyao sneered, "You have made so many enemies outside; it is all your own doing. If anything happens to Zhu Yuan, it is also caused by your own hand!"

The hand Sheng Yu used to hold the pistol stiffened, and his eyes turned even redder.

Hotel surveillance and the Traffic Bureau were mobilized to pull footage from the roads around the hotel; gathering the combined strength of the Sheng Family, Pei Family, Yuan Family, and Qi Family, they conducted searches at all major train stations, Airports, and docks in Kyoto City.

By the time the search was completed, it was already dawn, yet there was still not a single clue about Zhu Yuan.

Guests left the hotel one after another.

The temperature outside was dropping lower and lower; it had been snowing all day, and there was a thick layer of snow on the roads and windowsills.

……

Zhu Yuan was woken up by the cold.

She subconsciously touched the shawl on her body; the soft and smooth texture made her suddenly sober, and she hugged herself tightly and curled up.

She curled up in a corner with her back against the cold, damp wood, looking around nervously.

There was no moonlight on the snowy night, but she could vaguely see that this was a dilapidated small wooden hut; it was surrounded by withered weeds, there was snow at her feet, and the wind and snow blew in through the broken windows.

The wind made the door panels creak, and there was the crackling sound of flames not far away.

Faint firelight was flickering.

After leaving the venue, she had returned to the dressing room to touch up her makeup, but as soon as she entered, someone covered her mouth and nose and drugged her.

Who caught her?

Was it the Dong Family?

But the last time the Dong Family caught her, they wanted her life; this time, she was kidnapped to a dilapidated wooden hut.

What on earth did they want to do?

A tall, thin man walked over and squatted in front of her, his sinister gaze fixed on her wide, panicked eyes. "Behave yourself!"

Zhu Yuan put on a panicked and fearful expression, nodding in assurance, "I'm not moving around."

The other person merely checked the hemp rope on her body to ensure there were no signs of it loosening, then left after finishing the inspection.

Not long after, Zhu Yuan silently counted the time; they came in to check on her roughly every ten minutes.

They were cautious and careful; it didn't look like they were seeking revenge or trying to take her life.

Could it be that they weren't people from the Dong Family?

Zhu Yuan's heart tightened; she tried to calm down, but she was so cold that she couldn't think at all.

But she could not sit and wait for death.

If these people had kidnapped her to threaten someone, the first person she thought of was Sheng Yu.

The cold wind howled, and a snowflake blew through the window onto Zhu Yuan's eye.

She blinked, the icy snow melting into her burning eye socket; thinking of Sheng Yu, her cold, stiff body, which had been curled up, began to tremble as her blood boiled.

It was already midnight, six hours since Zhu Yuan had gone missing.

Sheng Family Old Residence.

Sheng Hongyao lit a cigarette.

Secretary Jiang said, "Chairman Sheng, Young Master Yu has already sent people to the Dong Family; it seems he thinks the Dong Family did this."

Sheng Hongyao sneered, "The Dong Family is indeed restless."

"If he finds out it wasn't the Dong Family, the next person he'll suspect is us."

"No rush. By the time he suspects us, Zhu Yuan will have been missing for so long that he will be at his most anxious, and that is when it will be easiest to make him compromise. That Zhu Yuan—I really underestimated her before."