Chapter 34

Chapter 34

Three a.m.

A dark purple streak swept through the streets of Jingzhou's urban district, its low roar hanging in the night air. The vehicle came to an abrupt stop in front of a compound, and the driver's door swung open.

The guard on duty hadn't even processed it before a figure vaulted over the 1.4-meter-high black railing.

"BEEP-BEEP-BEEP—"

The alarm blared repeatedly.

In less than two minutes, Bian Jiacheng returned and jerked open the window of the guard booth. "Come out and open the main gate for me."

"Oh, it's you."

The guard, who had just picked up a steel bar and a riot shield, set them back down.

"Is my sister inside?" Bian Jiacheng had no patience for pleasantries. He snatched the access card and swiped it through the priority gate. The guard replied, "Yes, yes, she came in the evening…"

As soon as the gate opened, Bian Jiacheng sprinted inside.

As luck would have it, the whole publishing house was empty. He bypassed the elevator and bounded up the stairs to the third floor, heading straight for Bian Han's private office. He shoved the door open. "Sis! Ningning—he—"

The room was dim.

A faint light fell upon a slender figure sitting before the sofa. Surrounding her and covering the table were empty bottles. Bian Jiacheng immediately cut himself off. He carefully navigated past piles of white, signed documents, wary of stepping on her things. He crouched down and put his arm around Bian Han, whose flushed cheeks were buried in the crook of her arm. In an instant, he understood, his heart sinking. "What did you do?"

Bian Han fell back against him.

"Here we go again…" Bian Jiacheng tucked her hair behind her ear, then bent down to lift her and place her on the sofa. He poured her a glass of water, calling her 'ancestor'. "Didn't you quit drinking after Ningning came?"

Her excuse was that she couldn't abandon the child in the middle of the night to indulge herself.

Hearing the keyword.

Bian Han, leaning against the sofa, slowly opened her eyes. She covered her face with her palm and asked him, "What are you doing here?"

"Ningning is missing." Bian Jiacheng shook her hand, trying to sober her up. "I wanted to help you install surveillance cameras before he moved in, but you refused. Now we don't even know where to look for him!"

"...No need to look."

Bian Han pushed him away and sat back down. "He went home."

Bian Jiacheng watched as she reached for a wine glass. He snatched it away and slammed it back onto the table with a thud. "You let him go back *where*? No wonder I had a nightmare in the middle of the night. I went looking for you guys, and at three in the morning, the front door wasn't even closed properly. Did you mess with those weird things again? Ningning isn't home, and the shoes he wears to go out are gone too—"

Each sentence hit like a thunderclap.

Bian Han was suddenly more than half sober.

"Hurry up."

Bian Jiacheng prepared to pull her to her feet.

Bian Han shot up and rushed straight for the door, leaving him to gather the scattered papers flying everywhere. He glanced at them—all handwritten signatures. Having been away from formal work for so long, he could sympathize. "Damn, you stepped on so many of these. Don't you have to get people to sign them again—"

Bian Han was on the verge of tears from anxiety. "Get over here and help me find the child!"

Bian Jiacheng stacked the papers and noticed another pile right beside him, unsigned. It seemed the work wasn't finished yet. Relieved, he tossed them aside and strode after her.

The residential complex's monitoring room had its work cut out for it.

The security guard's duties shifted from dozing off to genuinely working the night shift.

On the surveillance footage, at 1:50 AM, the door by the roadside opened, revealing a slender wrist.

A person slowly emerged.

Waist-length hair, a large gray-black shawl almost completely concealing the figure. In the night-vision footage, his face was deathly pale. Jiang Jining walked very, very slowly, with a careful, somewhat unsteady gait. He waited outside the complex for over ten minutes before finally hailing a taxi.

"Zoom in on the license plate—"

Thinking that Jiang Jining's protective gear had only been removed a day or two ago and his foot injury wasn't fully healed, Bian Han was frantic with worry. "Zoom in…"

The area's surveillance cameras were limited, unable to capture the specific license plate number. The guard reminded them to check the closer cameras on nearby roads. Bian Jiacheng took out his phone to make arrangements. Seeing this, Bian Han said without hesitation, "You stay here."

Bian Jiacheng quickly grabbed her arm.

"In your condition, you shouldn't be driving. I'll have someone come keep an eye on the surveillance. Let's go."

Both had a clear destination in mind—

Straight to Jingming Lake.

Jiang Jining had attempted to enter the water there more than once before. Several locations around the lake were possible. The area surrounding Jingming Lake had complex landscaping and numerous small paths. After searching the perimeter for forty minutes, they still hadn't found him.

"Careful!" Bian Jiacheng steadied Bian Han, who had almost tripped over a rock. Frowning, he took out his phone and dialed a number, holding her back. "Rest for a bit first."

The guilt and worry in Bian Han's heart overwhelmed the physical headache from her hangover. Seeing who Bian Jiacheng was about to call, she didn't even try to stop him. She pulled her hand free and continued forward to search.

*

Fu Yuze received the call at 4:30 AM, an hour before he usually woke up. But it didn't matter; his rhythms were already shot these past days.

He had been in deep sleep for less than half an hour.

Even after being woken up, he wasn't irritated at all.

In fact, seeing Bian Jiacheng's name flashing on the screen, Fu Yuze's first thought was that he could get an update on Jiang Jining's recent situation and condition.

He answered almost instantly.

"Old Fu—"

"Has Ningning gone to find you?"

Bian Jiacheng's news always arrived like a bolt from the blue.

"No." As Fu Yuze said this, he turned on the light, got out of bed, and walked into the walk-in closet. "What's happened?"

The call lasted thirty-three minutes.

Bian Jiacheng received a return call at 4:50.

Fu Yuze told him he had already arrived and asked about the general areas they had already searched. "I'm on it."

"Then how do you plan to—"

"Beep…"

Bian Jiacheng stared at the disconnected call. "…"

What a pair they are.

Fu Yuze ran through the locations Bian Jiacheng had already ruled out, meaning to go in the opposite direction. But on impulse, he turned and slipped into that familiar path.

Jingming Lake at dawn was different from dusk.

Though both were cloaked in gloom, one was serene and tranquil, while the other felt desolate and empty, putting you in a completely different frame of mind.

At this hour, the birdsong hadn't even started yet. The faint morning light seeped through the dense trees, leaving only dappled spots of light. Stretching out before him were only trees, grass, and the mist-covered surface of Jingming Lake, the opposite shore a blur.

Each fallen leaf crunched under Fu Yuze's feet.

He searched meticulously, checking every clump of grass even slightly wider than Jiang Jining's silhouette.

By the lakeside, it was silent and deserted.

Fu Yuze understood why Bian Han and Bian Jiacheng hadn't lingered here—it was a place that could be taken in at a single glance.

Only an ornamental rock stood about half a person's height.

A sweep of the area turned up nothing, so Fu Yuze set off quickly. Perhaps guided by some instinct or a shared understanding, five minutes later, he returned to the ornamental rock, searching step by step for a better line of sight.

Until he discovered the seemingly overhanging outer edge of the stone by the lake.

In the dim light of dawn.

A corner of gray-black fabric peeked out from the grass.

Jingzhou had seen several days of rain, which had only stopped in the early hours of the morning. The soft, damp soil beneath the shallow grass held moisture, quick to dirty shoes and trouser cuffs. About three steps away... he spotted two slender, pale, and clean hands.

Fu Yuze took a few steps closer.

The frail form was leaning against the stone, long hair spread out on the ground, its ends stained with mud he hadn't noticed. He had blended himself into the unaccustomed darkness, eyes tightly shut, thick lashes leaving shadows beneath them.

Jiang Jining's position was even lower.

He had curled himself into a ball in the mud. His hands emerged from the shawl to wrap around himself, hiding his body so no one could find him.

"Crunch—"

Two overlapping fallen leaves were crushed underfoot.

Jiang Jining couldn't remember when he had fallen asleep. He had only wanted to be alone, to find a quiet, secluded spot to sit before daybreak.

Was it morning already?

Jiang Jining slowly pushed himself up with his hands, leaning against the stone as he drew up his numb, icy legs, then hugged them and rested his chin on his knees.

His eyes were filled with nothing but emptiness and confusion.

The next moment, his arm was encircled by a gentle, warm grasp.

The warmth of sandalwood beads, carrying body heat, rolled over his wrist bone. Jiang Jining instinctively looked up, only to find his other hand also being held. His fingers began to warm, and a voice asked in his ear: "Are you cold?"

Jiang Jining remained silent.

Fu Yuze quietly gathered the mud-stained ends of his hair into his palm.

Jiang Jining wasn't cold anymore. Not in the slightest.

The hard, cold stone he had been leaning against was replaced by a warm chest, and his hand was enveloped by a larger one.

How had Fu Yuze found him?

When Jiang Jining spoke, his voice was hoarse: "...Is A-Han very worried?"

"Not too much." Fu Yuze had already informed both of them that he was safe, not daring to waste this hard-won moment together. Still, he asked: "Do you want to go home now?"

The atmosphere suddenly grew quiet.

Jiang Jining slowly withdrew his hand from Fu Yuze's grasp, placing it on his knee. He watched as the morning light gradually dispersed the mist, allowing him to see the scenery on the opposite shore more clearly.

"...I can't go home."

Fu Yuze had never seen Jiang Jining like this before.

A profound sorrow and a sense of fragility enveloped his entire being, like a fledgling bird whose nest had been blown away by the wind, left with no branch to cling to. More than loud weeping, it was a desolate emptiness—elusive, intangible, as if everything had settled like dust.

"You can." Fu Yuze gently wiped away the slight dampness at the corner of his eye, softly patting his fragile back, over and over, repeating as gently as possible: "I'll take you home."

Tears streamed down Jiang Jining's face once more.

Looking back, he met Fu Yuze's clear, handsome features in the brightening daylight and could no longer resist the need within him. He turned and threw himself into Fu Yuze's embrace.

A brief moment of withered wood meeting spring.

Fu Yuze had no choice but to hold on with all his strength.

He slowly drew Jiang Jining into his arms, intertwining their warmth and longing.

As their movements shifted, he inadvertently lifted Jiang Jining's slightly loose shawl. In that single glance, the exquisite golden-brown fabric embroidered with red patterns was revealed, layer upon layer, like clouds and wisteria flowers...

One glance, then another.

In Fu Yuze's mind, no garment had ever suited Jiang Jining so perfectly, as if every stitch had been crafted just for him, becoming an inseparable part of him. It gave the feeling that only now, in this moment, was he truly drawing close to him.

Jiang Jining noticed it too.

He lowered his eyes and obediently let Fu Yuze's hands pull away and remove the shawl, revealing the full splendor of the garment beneath. When he looked up, he saw the unspoken words in Fu Yuze's eyes, filled with undeniable awe.

Now...

Not only Bian Han and Bian Jiacheng knew his secret.