Chapter 230 – The Missing Mermaid Girl

Longyao City, Mirror Lake District, Xu Qianqian’s Villa.

As dawn barely broke, Su Ming and Xu Qianqian, who had stayed awake all night, hurried back here without rest.

Stepping out of the car and standing at the villa’s entrance, Su Ming wore a grim expression, his face unusually cold.

Beside him, Xu Qianqian’s eyes were also shadowed with gloom.

It couldn’t be helped.

At this moment, the state of this spacious villa was far from good.

The villa’s main gate was shattered, and the surroundings bore signs of ravage—various traces of battle were evident. Bloodstains marked the ground and walls, and even the ceiling had several damaged spots, revealing to Su Ming and Xu Qianqian what had transpired here.

Especially the corpses lying in pools of blood, which seemed to vividly display the recent brutality, appearing intensely glaring in Xu Qianqian’s eyes.

Among the corpses were some from Xu Qianqian’s private army who had been stationed at the villa, as well as maid servants who worked here.

Without exception, all of them had perished.

“…Not even sparing the maid servants?” Xu Qianqian gazed at the scene, her voice as icy as Su Ming’s expression.

Clearly, both Su Ming and Xu Qianqian were provoked to anger.

Su Ming didn’t even wait for Xu Qianqian, directly striding into the villa and heading toward the backyard.

There was a swimming pool there.

In the pool, an innocent mermaid maiden should have been swimming, playing, and splashing about, creating a scene straight out of a fairy tale.

But now, only traces of battle, bloodstains, remnants of icy water, and several unfamiliar corpses remained.

As for the mermaid maiden who should have been here, she had vanished without a trace.

Su Ming observed all this without speaking.

Yet, Xu Qianqian, who had followed him, sensed a chilling cold emanating from Su Ming that frightened her.

“Who did this?” Su Ming’s voice was unexpectedly calm.

But the calmer he seemed, the more it revealed how terrible his mood was.

Xu Qianqian didn’t answer the question, instead turning aside.

There, a few battered private soldiers, seemingly survivors who had barely made it, struggled to catch up.

The leader was none other than Lie.

This spirited young man, who had previously been full of aggressive energy and impulsively irritable when facing Su Ming, now appeared somewhat dejected.

“…It was the Mo Family,” Lie replied in a feeble voice.

“The Mo Family?” Su Ming and Xu Qianqian muttered simultaneously.

They were naturally not unfamiliar with that name.

“So, they were targeting Little Hai’er from the start?” Su Ming said calmly. “I wondered why the Mo Family wasn’t involved in tonight’s commotion. Turns out they took the opportunity to strike here.”

Though Su Ming spoke with apparent calm, he felt a simmering anger inside.

Because he had indeed overlooked the Mo Family, forgetting their existence.

But it wasn’t entirely Su Ming’s fault.Too much had happened tonight. Whether it was the Seal beneath Longyao City, the schemes of Sin, or the Demon Emperor Sword—each was a major event concerning all of humanity or even the entire world. At the very least, they were matters of life and death for all of Longyao City.

Compared to these monumental events, the Mo Family’s trivial affairs were like sesame seeds and mung beans. Not only Su Ming, but even the high-level forces in Longyao City that had been closely monitoring the Mo Family had chosen to temporarily forget about them.

As a result, it seemed the Mo Family had taken advantage of this.

They had no interest in participating in Longyao City’s affairs. Instead, they seized the opportunity to slip away and pursue their original goal.

And the Mo Family’s target was none other than Little Hai’er—or more precisely, the Bloodline within Little Hai’er that was highly likely to evolve into a Nightmare Species.

They only wanted to rebuild their Family’s Bloodline and reclaim their past glory. They cared nothing for the fate of Longyao City or the major events concerning all of humanity.

Thus, they successfully exploited everyone’s oversight and found their way here.

Little Hai’er had clearly been captured by the Mo Family.

“Where?”

Su Ming wasted no words, directly questioning Lie with a sharp tone.

If this had been before, Lie would have defiantly snapped back at such a tone and attitude.

Unfortunately, at this moment, Lie seemed to have suffered a great blow, appearing utterly dejected and indifferent to Su Ming’s tone.

Still, Lie understood Su Ming’s meaning.

He wasn’t asking where Little Hai’er was, but where the Mo Family was now.

But how could Lie possibly know?

“After they broke into the backyard, they captured something and immediately left the Villa. I have no idea where they went.”

Lie answered the question listlessly.

This loyal private soldier didn’t know what was here, nor was he aware of Little Hai’er’s existence.

Although Xu Qianqian trusted her private soldiers enough, the matter was of great importance. Little Hai’er’s existence itself was an unstable factor, and it also involved Su Ming’s presence. Thus, Young Miss Xu hadn’t informed her subordinates about what was here, only instructing them to guard the Villa.

Who would have thought that, in the end, the Villa still hadn’t been successfully defended?

Su Ming said nothing more. He simply turned and left.

“Where are you going?”

Xu Qianqian instinctively asked.

“Making a call.”

Su Ming replied succinctly without looking back.

Only Xu Qianqian and her few surviving private soldiers remained, the atmosphere between them extremely heavy.

Xu Qianqian watched Su Ming leave, then spoke calmly after a moment.

“Speak,” Xu Qianqian said directly. “What exactly happened?”

Xu Qianqian had already sensed something was amiss.

First, how did the Mo Family know Little Hai’er was in this Villa?

They had clearly come here from the start, already aware of Little Hai’er’s presence. Otherwise, their timing wouldn’t have been so precise—striking just when Su Ming, Xu Qianqian, and the major forces were all preoccupied, and when everyone had no choice but to overlook their existence, accurately attacking this Villa and capturing Little Hai’er.

If there wasn’t something fishy about this, Xu Qianqian wouldn’t believe it.

Moreover, Lie’s attitude was also very suspicious.

Su Ming might not know Lie well, but didn’t Xu Qianqian?She knew this subordinate of hers all too well. Though impulsive by nature and somewhat hot-tempered—charitably described as straightforward, less charitably as thoughtless—this very nature forged his stubborn, unyielding, and tenacious side. This loyal subordinate never knew how to be flexible, which meant he rarely felt frustration or despondency.

Even after suffering a major defeat in the Huaming Campaign, where Gao Xu single-handedly routed their entire private army, Lie hadn’t been disheartened. Instead, it ignited his fighting spirit, and he had been training diligently ever since.

This time, however, Lie couldn’t hide his listlessness and deeply shaken demeanor.

At first, Xu Qianqian thought it was because most of the private army had been sacrificed in the Mo Family’s brutal assault, causing Lie to lose many companions.

But upon second thought, she dismissed this idea.

If it were merely sacrifices, Lie would never have become like this.

The private army under Xu Qianqian’s command was trained specifically as a suicide squad for her alone. Every member was mentally prepared to die at any moment, to sacrifice their lives for Xu Qianqian.

For this reason, everyone in the private army was also prepared for their comrades to perish at any time, dedicating themselves fully.

Under such circumstances, Xu Qianqian didn’t believe Lie would become like this just because his companions had sacrificed themselves.

Sure enough, Lie’s lips parted, and with a face full of bitterness, he uttered news that left Xu Qianqian utterly incredulous.

“Someone among us has betrayed us.”

Lie’s despondent words plunged Xu Qianqian into complete silence.

……

Meanwhile, Su Ming, who had left the backyard, hadn’t gone far. Still in the villa, he directly took out his phone and dialed Yun Langyue.

“What’s wrong?”

Yun Langyue answered Su Ming’s call immediately, her voice tinged with a trace of fatigue.

Undoubtedly, she too had not slept that night.

For Su Ming’s sake, for Ming Wang’s matters, and for the Demon Emperor Sword, Yun Langyue had been running around all night, seemingly without a moment’s rest.

“Sorry.”

A wave of guilt washed over Su Ming.

If possible, he wished he didn’t have to trouble Yun Langyue so much.

She had already helped him with more than enough.

Now, having to bother her with yet another matter, Su Ming truly felt uneasy.

But if he didn’t seek Yun Langyue’s help, he couldn’t think of anyone else to turn to.

“Go on, what is it?”

Yun Langyue seemed to detect the unusual tone in Su Ming’s voice and immediately became serious.

Su Ming resolved in his heart to find an opportunity to properly thank Yun Langyue later, then got straight to the point without wasting time.

“Do you have a way to track the Mo Family’s current whereabouts?”

That one sentence made Yun Langyue frown instantly.

“The Mo Family?” she asked suspiciously. “What do you want with them?”

“What do I want with them?” Su Ming let out a cold laugh. “I want to retrieve what’s mine.”

“What’s yours?” Yun Langyue was even more puzzled.

However, she didn’t press for details.

From Su Ming’s tone, she could tell he was in a hurry.

In that case…

“I’ll have my people report in and contact the chamber of commerce as well.” We should be able to get information quickly.”After making such a promise, Yun Langyue hung up the phone and immediately began making arrangements.

Su Ming felt considerably more at ease.

He believed that with the connections and information channels of Cloudflow Commerce, they would surely be able to successfully locate information about the Mo Family.

Merchants’ information networks were inherently the most extensive, and since the Mo Family was moving as an entire clan, no matter how covertly they acted, they couldn’t possibly leave no traces behind.

As long as there were traces, with Cloudflow Commerce’s capabilities, finding the Mo Family’s whereabouts should happen quickly.

“Mo Leng…”

Recalling this Mo Family Head whom Xu Qianqian had mentioned once before, Su Ming’s eyes began to turn icy cold.

(End of Chapter)