Ding Lan finished speaking and was about to stand up.
Xia Mian, however, suddenly spoke, "Please wait!"
Ding Lan paused, looking at Xia Mian with a bit of confusion, "Miss Xia, do you have something else to ask?"
Xia Mian slightly curled her lips, "Aunt Ding, do you happen to have a twin sister?"
Since this Ding Lan before her seemed so candid and open with Lu Zechuan, why not directly ask for the answers she wanted to know?
Ding Lan smiled, her expression calm, "No."
"Then, Aunt Ding, have you ever been to Northern Sichuan?" Xia Mian asked slowly and steadily.
Ding Lan showed a hint of perplexity, "Never."
Xia Mian smiled, "Then there’s nothing more."
Ding Lan laughed lightly, not bothering to ask Xia Mian why she was asking these questions, and turned to leave.
As Ding Lan’s figure faded away, Lu Zechuan’s dark eyes deepened slightly, "Aren’t you afraid she’s lying?"
Xia Mian took a sip of tea, "She wasn’t quite lying."
Xia Mian’s expression grew more solemn, "She really doesn’t have a twin sister."
However, she has been to Northern Sichuan.
Having done many tasks in the Three Thousand Worlds, Xia Mian’s identity was varied, and in one world, she was a psychology expert skilled in micro-expression analysis.
Ding Lan’s words, half-truth, half-lie.
Seeing Xia Mian’s serious expression, Lu Zechuan said no more.
"Let’s eat, even if the sky falls down, we still have to eat." Lu Zechuan spoke gently, helping Xia Mian with her food.
Xia Mian hummed in response, quietly starting to eat.
While eating, she turned to admire the scenery outside the restaurant.
Out of the corner of her eye, she inadvertently glimpsed a familiar small figure.
"Hey, what’s Zhouzhou up to?" Xia Mian’s eyes showed suspicion.
Following Xia Mian’s gaze, Lu Zechuan saw only Fu Zhou’s back, pulling a child about his size, and quickly disappearing around the corner of the street.
Xia Mian put down her held chopsticks, "The one Zhouzhou is pulling is Meng Meng, isn’t it?"
Lu Zechuan nodded, unable to continue eating.
Last time, Fu Zhou and Meng Meng were nearly taken away for sacrifice; now these two kids were sneakily behaving, making Xia Mian suspect they were controlled again.
"Let’s go, we can’t lose them!" Xia Mian said, standing up.
Lu Zechuan responded with a nod, turned to the service counter to pay, and then the two rushed out the door.
By the time they reached the street corner where Fu Zhou disappeared, the two children were already nowhere to be seen.
Xia Mian was about to figure out which direction to pursue when the driver of the Fu Family came running up breathlessly.
"Young master! Young master, where are you!" The driver’s voice broke a little as he grew anxious.
In the Fu Family, Fu Zhou is the only young heir of his generation, and if something happens to him, the master and young master would surely ask for his life!
"Young master!" The driver was sweating all over, but with the bustling surroundings, Fu Zhou was nowhere to be seen.
The driver grew increasingly fearful, quickly taking out his phone to call Fu Jingtian.
After the call, the driver’s heart was still pounding, hoping nothing bad happened to the young master!
While the driver was anxiously impatient, Xia Mian quietly squatted down and slightly closed her eyes.
By listening for echo localization, as long as they haven’t run far, she could quickly pinpoint their location.
Amidst the hustle and bustle, cars and crowds, Xia Mian calmed her mind, blocking out all distractions from locating Fu Zhou.
Thirty seconds later, Xia Mian’s gaze fell on a small alleyway.
"This way!" Xia Mian pointed her finger, turning and chasing toward the alley.
Lu Zechuan hesitated not, following closely behind.
Originally waiting anxiously for Fu Jingtian to arrive, the driver of the Fu Family saw the movement and instantly recognized Xia Mian.
After all, Xia Mian shared quite a connection with the Fu Family, the driver had been fortunate to meet Xia Mian once.
Seeing Xia Mian and Lu Zechuan chase toward the alley, the driver didn’t pause and immediately followed suit.
The young master and the Lu Family’s picked-up young miss went missing together; since Miss Xia was here, nine times out of ten, she was looking for the children.
Xia Mian and Lu Zechuan moved fast, reaching the alley’s end in less than ten minutes.
But at the end of the alley, there was only a dead end.
Xia Mian frowned slightly, the traces of the two kids also vanished here.
Xia Mian paced back and forth before the short wall, her expression grim, "How could they disappear..."
While Xia Mian was pacing, the driver of the Fu Family caught up, "Miss Xia!"
Xia Mian nodded slightly at him, "What’s going on?"
"Today, I picked up the young master from school. The young master said he wanted to help your family’s young miss find her parents, so he let me drive them around... When we reached nearby, the young master suddenly wanted ice cream, asking me to stop the car to buy..." The driver raised his hand to wipe the sweat off his forehead, "When I came back, the young master and your family’s young miss were already gone..."
Xia Mian squinted slightly, this morning when sending Meng Meng to kindergarten, she had thought Meng Meng was over the idea of finding her parents, but it seemed not.
Not only wasn’t she over it, but she dragged Fu Zhou along to help her search...
"Don’t worry, they’re young and can’t have gone far." Xia Mian calmly said, her gaze slowly sweeping over the short wall, reaching out her hand and closing her eyes to gently touch it.
As Xia Mian extended her hand, a radiance seemed to spread layer by layer over the short wall.
The Cat Claw Jade in Xia Mian’s pocket instantly emitted a dazzling light at that moment.
Xia Mian paused in surprise.
Could this be where the Mystic Sect that Gu Xiang and others spoke of always resided?
While Xia Mian was stunned, Fu Jingtian and Yang Yuming hurried over, their faces pale and expressions tense.
This was the second time Fu Zhou had gone missing; as parents, they were guilt-ridden!
"Miss Xia..." As Yang Yuming saw Xia Mian, her expression became indescribable.
The driver had already explained to them what happened; Zhouzhou’s disappearance was because of Xia Mian and the Lu Family finding that young girl who insisted on finding her parents, and Fu Zhou accompanied the girl, resulting in him going missing!
Xia Mian glanced at Yang Yuming, politely nodding at her, "Don’t worry, they won’t be harmed."
From the time the children left her sight until now, it hadn’t been more than ten minutes; no matter how much they could run, or how fantastical the world was, they couldn’t be too far.
"I now suspect they’ve entered another world." Xia Mian pressed her lips tightly, speaking seriously, "I need to go to another world and see."
Fu Jingtian and Yang Yuming looked at each other, astonishment deeply reflected in their eyes, "Another world?"