After finishing his conversation with Su Yunong, Luo Bin left the café and went upstairs to the theater in the center of Qunyu Garden.
There was more than one stage. The whole building had been divided into several sections, and as soon as Luo Bin went upstairs, he spotted Hu Junzhi standing two meters behind Chen Jing.
"Brother Luo, Second Young Master, he..."
Hu Junzhi turned and nodded toward Chen Jing with his chin. The latter was sitting in the viewing area, laughing merrily as two women in Ping City Women's Normal School uniforms giggled at his jokes.
Luo Bin smiled and shook his head.
That brat was keeping his beloved company. He'd called Luo Bin over to be a third wheel...
Luo Bin greeted Hu Junzhi, then waved to Zhang Huai, who was eyeing the women's bare legs in the distance, and headed toward a theater next door.
But before he'd gone far, a damp, chilly sensation washed over him. It wasn't strong, more like a frog slowly boiling in warm water—something ordinary people wouldn't notice...
Luo Bin's skin prickled at once. The passive ability of his Water Ghoul talent emerged without his conscious awareness, allowing him to keenly sense the change in the air above Qunyu Garden...
"Why did Qunyu Garden suddenly get so damp and cold?"
He scanned the people nearby, their numbers waxing and waning. All of them looked perfectly normal, as if they hadn't been affected at all.
His body could sensitively detect changes in humidity, but Luo Bin didn't feel uncomfortable. Instead, he rather enjoyed the sensation, like a fish long separated from its pond...
Now that it had been returned to the water, every cell in its body was cheering.
Luo Bin suppressed the stirrings in his body and walked on.
"Why is the dampness fading?"
He took a few steps backward, and the sensation became clear and strong again.
Luo Bin instinctively looked at Chen Jing, chatting and laughing with the two women. A trace of unease welled up in his heart. He glanced at Zhang Huai and Hu Junzhi, who were stationed on either side, and felt somewhat reassured.
He then made his way next door and listened distractedly to the petite young opera singer onstage, her figure willowy and her features delicate...
After a while,
the damp sensation suddenly vanished without a trace. Luo Bin was startled. He got up and ran next door, only to find Zhang Huai and Hu Junzhi watching the women onstage with rapt attention...
"Where's A-Jing?!"
Hu Junzhi turned at the sound of Luo Bin's voice and grinned slyly. "Second Young Master went to the restaurant next door to take care of something."
Luo Bin stepped closer, his voice turning cold. "What did he go to take care of?"
"Heh heh heh, the kind of thing a man and a woman take care of..."
The moment he heard the answer, Luo Bin didn't stop to think. He burst into a run down the stairs, calling back over his shoulder, "Why are you two still standing there? Go look for him! Those two women are suspicious..."
Hu Junzhi knew what Luo Bin was capable of. During the ten-odd days Luo Bin had spent in seclusion, he'd often called Hu Junzhi and Zhang Huai to Qufang Garden to spar. If he hadn't held back every time...
Neither he nor Zhang Huai might have been able to get out of bed and walk around.
Seeing how serious Luo Bin was, their expressions changed at once. They knew something was wrong and hurried after him.
Following the damp sensation, Luo Bin chased outside.
If his guess was right, this subtle change in how his body felt had been caused by another water-aligned Demon Specter. Since it shared the Water Mountain Ghoul's affinity for water essence, he could sense it...
Outside Qunyu Garden was a street of food stalls, selling wife cakes, roasted sweet potatoes, red bean pancakes, and more. Shouts and hawkers' calls rose and fell.
They somewhat interfered with Luo Bin's ability to sense things...
The street was packed shoulder to shoulder, but Chen Jing was nowhere to be seen.
He focused all his attention on sensing the dampness and hurried into a shop hidden behind a rough-cloth curtain. From within, moist, misty air billowed past the curtain.
Luo Bin sensed a faint yet intense dampness. After bracing himself, he charged straight inside.
"Ah—!"
"Pervert! There's a man in the ladies' bathhouse!"
"Someone, help!!"
"..."
Luo Bin was at a loss for words. The yin energy had vanished without a trace over the women's bare, pale bodies.
As the bathers shouted and cursed, he decided he wasn't going to take a beating just to prove his courage. He beat a hasty retreat and ducked into an alley.
A pretty woman who had just finished bathing watched Luo Bin's fleeing figure with a teasing smile and murmured, "The Chen Family's chosen 'protector' isn't much of a brave man, is he? Plenty of men would give anything for this body of mine. Even the Jiang Family's eldest young master couldn't have me, yet you couldn't even spare me a second glance...
"Fine. I'll deal with Chen Manqing first. Once the Chen Family is thrown into chaos, I'll come back and take you, little brother...
"And that wretched Su Yunong—who knows what she's plotting this time?"
Outside the bathhouse,
Luo Bin saw Zhang Huai running over from another street, breathing hard.
"Brother Luo, we couldn't find Second Young Master..."
Luo Bin's heart sank. The damp sensation had grown extremely faint. He carefully distinguished the moisture in the air from that underlying, sinister dampness, then stated gravely, "A-Jing has already been taken far away... I don't know if it was the Sun Family, the Jiang Family, or someone else.
"Notify the family head. We're preparing a search."
Zhang Huai understood how serious the situation was. He took out his car keys, started the car Chen Jing had arrived in, and drove straight to the Chen Residence.
As a Martial Master at the Golden Skin Pass, Hu Junzhi had stamina far beyond that of an ordinary person, even if he was only at the initial stage. He had already searched several nearby streets, but there was no sign of Chen Jing.
"What do we do, Brother Luo..." Hu Junzhi was starting to panic.
Luo Bin's eyes flickered. "They went to all this trouble to set up a honey trap and abduct A-Jing. It must be because of his status as a young master of the Chen Family. A-Jing hasn't studied martial arts, and he's still young. He doesn't know much about the Chen Family's core secrets.
"That means they intend to use Chen Jing to gain some other advantage. He should be in no danger for now...
"Keep searching!"
After reassuring Hu Junzhi, Luo Bin headed north. Rickshaws rattled back and forth along the roadside. He hailed one and pulled a few silver coins from his suit, tossing them over.
"Take me east..."
"Sure thing, sir. Sit tight..."
The puller was a young man. Though thin and gaunt, he had clear eyes and a vigorous air. Seeing Luo Bin's attire, he didn't dare slack off and quickly headed east with him.
Seated in the rickshaw, Luo Bin weighed the situation.
Chen Jing absolutely couldn't come to harm. He was a bridge between Luo Bin and the Chen Family...
His character, conduct, and personality were all impeccable. When Luo Bin had been cautious and reserved, this scion of a great family had treated him with respect and offered his help.
Luo Bin couldn't forget that kindness.
Most importantly, he still needed the Chen Family's connections to obtain the Yellow Court Inner Landscape, one of the Eight Great Miraculous Arts from the previous dynasty... Chen Jing, groomed by Chen Tianren from childhood to be his successor, held a position in the Chen Family akin to that of a "crown prince."
"If the crown prince is in danger, the nation's foundations are shaken."
The urgency in Luo Bin's heart grew. "Driver, please hurry..."
Sure enough, as they neared the eastern part of the city, the damp sensation became clear again.
The scenery on either side of the rickshaw slid slowly past. Here and there, he could make out members of the Black Sheath Gang in black uniforms—the newcomers Luo Wendi had recruited and whipped into shape—
patrolling their respective territories.
Luo Bin immediately called for the rickshaw to stop, smoothed the wrinkles from his suit, and strode toward the Black Sheath Gang outpost.
A lean man stepped forward to block him and barked, "This is a Black Sheath Gang branch. Unaffiliated persons, keep back."
Thud!
Luo Bin raised his right foot. His polished leather shoe slammed into the lean man's stomach, sending him flying backward. His body traced a graceful arc as it sailed just above the ground...
A trickle of blood spilled from the man's mouth... He stared at Luo Bin with fear and venom in his eyes.
The men behind him surged forward, but a deep voice rang out, stopping them in their tracks.
"Mr. Luo?!"
Ruan Pei, dressed in a long gown and mandarin jacket, stepped forward.
"Master Ruan, Second Young Master has been abducted. Get the brothers to help search!"
Ruan Pei's brow twitched. "What?"
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