Chapter 56 Missing

Chapter 56: Chapter 55: Missing

Han Ning felt the surging power within his body when his ears suddenly twitched. Rapid footsteps approached through the wind and rain.

He quickly undid his transformation. The Dark Gold fur retracted into his skin, and his bulging muscles returned to normal.

Almost the instant he reverted to his human form, a pink figure ran out frantically from the curtain of rain around the corner.

"Yu Na?" Han Ning recognized the newcomer.

At this moment, Yu Na looked anxious, completely lacking the cold and distant demeanor she had shown a few days ago. Her large eyes constantly scanned her surroundings as if searching for something. When she saw Han Ning, her eyes lit up, and she hurried over.

"Han Ning!" Yu Na’s voice trembled slightly. "Something happened!"

Han Ning feigned calmness, quickly adjusting his exposed body, which had been laid bare after his clothes were shredded by the Transformation Technique. He barely managed to cover his sensitive areas with the tattered remnants of his clothes.

"What happened? Don’t panic, take your time!"

"Ah!" Seeing Han Ning’s suggestive posture, Yu Na first let out a scream, a blush quickly spreading across her fair face. However, she had no time to care about why he was streaking in the storm. She hurriedly said, "It’s been a whole day! Sister Qianqian still hasn’t come back. According to the plan, they should have returned by yesterday evening at the latest!"

As expected, the only one who could make Yu Na this anxious was Lin Qianqian.

"A day?" Han Ning frowned slightly. He was astonished, thinking, "Could it be that while I was gaining the Beast Spirit’s acknowledgment, a whole day passed in the outside world?"

"A whole day and night!" Yu Na added.

"Let’s go back first." Han Ning immediately brought Yu Na and snow cake back to Biyun Resort.

The moment he stepped into the main building of the resort, Han Ning sensed that the atmosphere inside was off. The lobby, originally used for resting and socializing, was packed with people—mostly Awakened and their families. The disappearance of Chairman Wu and several vice presidents had clearly caused panic among the others.

Han Ning’s gaze swept across the room and spotted Xu Ming sitting in an inconspicuous spot. He quietly walked over.

"We must organize a rescue team to go in and search! Chairman Wu, Vice President Zhao, and the others must have run into some trouble. Every passing second adds to the danger!" A burly man wearing a camouflage vest slammed his hand hard on the table, shouting at the several Awakened around him. The temperature was dropping, gradually approaching ten degrees Celsius. The fact that this guy was only wearing a camouflage vest was enough to show his robust physique.

"Are you out of your mind?" A thin man with glasses next to him immediately retorted. "The chairman, the vice presidents, plus Chen Feng’s elites—that’s fourteen people in total. If even they have been trapped inside for a day and a night without any news, what can the rest of us do? Going to our deaths shouldn’t be done like this."

"Then what do we do? Just sit here and wait? Wait for them to come back?" The man in the camouflage vest glared with wide eyes.

"What else can we do? We can only wait." The bespectacled man sighed.

"To tell you the truth... could it be that they found a boat and just sailed away, leaving us behind?" a weak female voice chimed in from the corner.

The moment those words were spoken, everyone shut their mouths. Many people’s expressions became quite colorful.

"Impossible. Chairman Wu isn’t that kind of person. He promised to stand together with us," the man in the camouflage vest said, shaking his head. However, his expression was no longer as resolute as before.

"Enough! Stop arguing!" A gray-haired old man tried to maintain order. "What’s the use of arguing now? The most urgent task is to figure out the situation..."

"Figure it out? How? Are you going to go in and see for yourself?" the bespectacled man sneered.

The lobby devolved into a chaotic mess. No one could convince anyone else, and no one could come up with a feasible plan.

Han Ning sat down beside Xu Ming and thought, "What a motley crew." Those who pinned their hopes of survival on others probably wouldn’t live long.

"Boss, this group has been arguing for over an hour. Could it be... did something really happen to Chairman Wu and his people?" Xu Ming whispered.

Before Han Ning could answer, Yu Na suddenly grabbed his arm, pleading in a very soft voice, "Han Ning, I know you’re very strong, even more powerful than the vice presidents. I’m begging you, can you find a way to save Sister Qianqian? She... she is very important to me..."

Han Ning locked his brows tightly and remained silent. He acknowledged Lin Qianqian’s strength; her Energy Recovery Ability was of immense value to the team. According to what Lin Qianqian had said, although Chairman Wu and the other vice presidents might be slightly inferior in combat power compared to his own Level 4 phase, they still possessed formidable strength. Coupled with capable fighters like Chen Feng and Lu Yunping, that was fourteen people in total. Yet, not a single one had returned.

This naturally put him on high alert. The straight-line distance from the Bailu Port berthing area to Biyun Resort was only a little over a kilometer. Even if the Fog Area’s environment was complex and full of obstacles, with a whole day and night, even ants could have crawled back by now. Unless... they had encountered a terrifying crisis far beyond their estimations, or had been trapped in some dead end, unable to even break out to deliver a message.

Faced with unknown dangers, rushing in blindly was absolutely not a wise move.

Just as Han Ning was weighing the pros and cons, and the arguments in the lobby were growing increasingly heated...

"BANG! SPLASH!"

From the direction of the resort’s main doors came the muffled thud of a heavy object smashing into the water, followed by the splash of something being dragged across the surface.

The lobby fell silent for a moment. Immediately after, everyone’s gazes unanimously turned toward the entrance.

"BANG!"

The resort’s heavy main doors were smashed open. Outside, Lu Yunping was bathed in blood, his right arm desperately dragging a floating wooden door panel. Chen Feng lay on the panel with his eyes tightly shut and a pale face. His left arm had been severed at the shoulder, and dark red bloody water continuously seeped from the stump wrapped in gauze.

Behind them trailed several other similarly scarred and battered Awakened, every one of them looking as though they had just been fished out of a pool of blood. There were seven people in total.

"Old Lu?"

"It’s Chen Feng, Ming, and the others!"

"They’re back! Quick, help them!"

After a brief, dead silence, the lobby erupted. The crowd surged forward with exclamations, working together in a flurry of limbs to drag the door panel into a dry area of the lobby, forming a circle around the group. Some Awakened who possessed Healing abilities grabbed first-aid supplies and began treating them.

Han Ning stood behind the crowd, quietly watching the people lying on the floor. The instant Lu Yunping stepped into the lobby, the Molten Gold Tiger Head Mark between Han Ning’s brows grew slightly hot without warning.

With a slight shift of his will, a layer of flowing golden halos coated the surface of his eyes. In an instant, the world before him changed. Various tiny motes of dust floated in the murky air, while the crowd Scattered life auras of varying strengths.

His gaze locked onto Lu Yunping and the others.

"This is..."

A continuously writhing mass of light, shifting between eerie shades of blue, purple, and red, hovered right over Lu Yunping’s brain like a living creature. The same phenomenon appeared on the other people as well. This was true whether it was the severely injured and unconscious Chen Feng or the other few conscious Awakened.

"COUGH, COUGH... Water..." Lu Yunping lay flat on the floor, allowing the others to provide him with Healing.

Someone immediately handed him a water canteen. He greedily gulped down a few mouthfuls. Water mixed with bloody froth ran down the corners of his mouth as he panted and said, "We... found a boat... in the berthing area...

"But... the monsters guarding the boat... were too terrifying..."

Everyone subconsciously stopped what they were doing and listened attentively.

"Chairman Wu... Vice President Lin... Vice President Zhao and the others... volunteered to cover our retreat... They’re still locked in a bitter struggle with those monsters..." He closed his eyes in pain, his body trembling slightly. "We... we only barely managed to escape with our lives..."

"The chairman and the others... are they still alive?" The burly man in the camouflage vest grabbed Lu Yunping’s shoulder, his voice hoarse.

"I don’t... I don’t know..." Lu Yunping shook his head with difficulty, his voice intermittent. "I think... they should still be alive. They... are strong."

"Then what are we waiting for?!" The burly man abruptly stood up, a mix of determination on his face. "The chairman and the others might still be alive! We must go save them!"

"Right! Go save them!"

"Grab your weapons!"

"We can’t wait any longer!"

Hearing that Chairman Wu and the other vice presidents were likely not dead acted like a shot of adrenaline, instantly dispelling the panic at the scene. At the very least, Chairman Wu and his group hadn’t found a boat and left, abandoning them.

Those who had just been arguing about whether to mount a rescue now had no objections. Soon, a rescue team consisting of over twenty Awakened quickly assembled, everyone wearing a solemn expression.

Han Ning watched all of this coldly, like an outsider. He squeezed through the crowd, walked over to Lu Yunping, and squatted down for a closer look.