The news stunned everyone present, leaving a sudden, ringing silence in the hall as the weight of the revelation settled over the guards and subordinates.
"Turn that underground casino inside out. If we have to, rip it apart until we find any trace of the Miss," Su Xiangnan said coldly, his voice vibrating with a suppressed, lethal edge. He bared his teeth at Qian Duoduo, a dangerous smile on his face that showed no hint of warmth. "I never expected Mr. Qian's tastes to be so broad."
For some reason, he thought of Jing Shu again, the image of the quiet girl flickering in his mind. "Anything from Banana Community? Any sign of Jing Shu?"
The old butler shook his head, his posture rigid. "She should have gone with Miss."
Su Xiangnan fell silent, his gaze fixed on the distance as if searching for a trail. Maybe this incident couldn't be separated from Jing Shu. Maybe she was a victim too. After all, the chat logs showed the girl called out to someone, and the man Fei Zhuzai, who contacted her, was the prime suspect.
Qian Duoduo put on an embarrassed but polite smile, the expression tight and forced against his skin. "That place I built years ago has fallen to ruin."
The atmosphere in the hall grew heavier, the very air seeming to thicken with the mounting pressure between the two men. Qian Duoduo listened to reports from his men and felt his eyelids twitch, a small, rhythmic spasm he couldn't suppress. Things didn't look good.
He leaned toward Wufu and whispered, his voice barely a breath in the cold room, "Take Qian Shengqian, Qian Qianjin, and Madam to the fortress. Make sure they're safe. Activate the fortress air defense mode. These people really want to blow up my Xishan. See when government support will arrive and arrange it. Don't let these lunatics actually detonate the gas cylinders."
"All right, I'll go now."
"Master, Master, we found something belonging to Miss!" The cry echoed through the corridor.
Su Xiangnan sprang to his feet, his chair scraping harshly against the floor.
The messenger panted, his chest heaving as he gripped the doorframe for support. "We found items that belonged to Miss. They were in a secret room under that ruined manor's underground casino. The secret room was locked from the outside. After we pried it open, we found signs that she'd been in there."
"And the Miss herself? The others?"
"The tiles on the floor of the secret room were pried up, revealing the hollow space beneath. They connect to an underground passage. It looks like the Miss left with someone through that passage. From the scene, she was indeed once confined there. There's no signal inside. Our people are already searching the underground passage, but the passageway seems extensive."
A chair slammed onto the floor with a bang, the wood splintering slightly. Both sides quietly drew weapons, the metallic clicks of safety catches echoing in the sudden silence, while Su Xiangnan's men lifted a gas cylinder above their heads, their muscles straining under the weight.
Qian Duoduo shouted in anger, his face turning a deep, mottled red, "Put the weapons down. Do you all want to die?"
"Mr. Qian, explain this. You claim you had nothing to do with my daughter being detained, yet here she was confined. Where is she?"
Qian Duoduo frowned, deep lines furrowing his brow. "Brother Su, the manor casino was built more than a decade ago. The underground passage was also constructed back then, but it was a whim. Nobody's gone in there for years. I had it sealed. Liu Fu, bring out the map of the underground passage so Brother Su's men can see it, so they won't get lost. Maybe his daughter's still inside."
He tapped the table, the rhythmic thud of his fingers sharp against the wood. "Also, I'm curious how the young miss ended up locked in that underground casino. That place's been abandoned for years. Brother Su, something is fishy. Qi Fu, pull all inbound and outbound records and surveillance from Xishan for the past half month. Fei Zhuzai, did Su Mali ever go to that underground casino in the manor?"
"I don't know, boss. We completed the deal at your meeting place and left. This is today's route. I didn't have time to go to a distant ruined manor and detain Su Mali," Fei Zhuzai said, on the verge of collapse, sweat beading on his upper lip. A perfectly good deal would turned into a disaster.
Liu Fu unrolled the blueprints, the heavy paper crinkling as it was spread across the table. "This is the underground passage Mr. Qian built years ago. It was never finished. Currently it only circles the casino for less than two kilometers and contains one control room and six underground warehouses. The passage's been sealed for a long time. Miss Su could easily get lost in there."
If Jing Shu had been there, she would have understood. At first there were many branch paths, then the passage narrowed into a single straight tunnel with very poor workmanship, clearly not Qian Duoduo's doing.
Su Xiangnan kept his face dark, his features set in a grim mask of worry. He knew his daughter had ridiculous luck, but every time someone took her he still felt sick with worry. In previous kidnappings the bandits wanted money, and he would leverage. This time, he couldn't explain it.
He didn't know whether Qian Duoduo intended to force concessions from his gas company, or whether someone was truly framing him. He didn't know who wanted harm to come to his daughter. That uncertainty was the deadliest part.
"Send all our people in. Search every corner without exception."
…
"Boss, Su Xiangnan's men have entered the underground passage. Request to close the main channel and open a secondary route."
"Request received."
"Boss, the plan's complete. Qian Duoduo's fortress air defense channel's activated."
Lin Yi's glasses flashed in the light, the reflection obscuring his eyes as he watched the monitors. "Good. The shell is finally open. Fill it with explosives. Check the other charges again. Make sure the whole of Xishan is blown apart."
"Understood, my boss."
…
Time crawled on and both sides grew increasingly agitated, the ticking of the clock in the corner sounding like a countdown. Qian Duoduo's team began checking all entry records and surveillance. Gou Shu's figure appeared on multiple cameras, his movements deliberate.
He pointed at Gou Shu. "Brother Su, maybe you have a mole?"
Su Xiangnan's expression shifted, his eyes narrowing as he watched the footage. "Then who is the woman often seen with him? Is she one of your people?"
Qian Duoduo's face stiffened. So someone had been slipped in. Or were Su Xiangnan's people involved? What were they trying to do? He eyed him suspiciously. Was this whole play staged by Su Xiangnan himself? Simple matters had been made complex by people who overthought them.
Both big players ran through dozens of scenarios in their heads, weighing every possibility and betrayal.
"Sir, we searched everywhere. Still nothing. After Miss went down from the secret room into the passage, she vanished completely."
"Impossible!" Qian Duoduo frowned first, his jaw tightening. "The passage is dead end. If she entered the passage, how could she disappear?"
"Then we have to ask you, Mr. Qian. Where did you hide her? Do you think I don't dare to blow up your Xishan?" Su Xiangnan had lost patience.
No sooner had he finished speaking than the outside erupted, boom, boom, boom. The mountain shook and the ground trembled, the violent vibration rattling the windows in their frames. Compared with the earlier blast, that was just a drizzle. The explosions roared so loud they made ears ring, and the entire villa shook violently, dust cascading from the ceiling.
Qian Duoduo peered out the window, listening to the blasts that tore through the mountain air. How many places outside had been blown apart? His heart bled at the thought of the destruction.
Dust filled the air, thundered and crashed. For a while he ground his teeth and said through clenched jaws, his voice low and vibrating with fury, "Su Xiangnan, I have tolerated you long enough, stop this now. Do you understand the consequences of what you are doing?"