C9

"Shiyu, stop her!" Lee Zhiguo commanded with a stern voice.

Lee Shiyu rose to his feet and attempted to grab Lee Bingqian's wrist, but she heard his footsteps and swiftly dodged his attempt to apprehend her.

Lee Bingqian raised her hand and struck a heavy blow towards her father with the edge of her hand. Lee Shiyu's expression shifted; he hadn't expected his eldest daughter to launch such a lethal move against him. He quickly stepped back to evade Lee Bingqian's assault.

Seizing the moment, Lee Bingqian quickly opened the door and slipped out. Lee Shiyu was about to give chase but Lee Zhiguo stopped him, "Shiyu, let it be."

Liu Yuhang was startled, "Dad, Binglian has already disappeared. We need to stop Bingqian. Vushor is so chaotic, if she also..."

She couldn't finish her sentence, tears streaming down her face.

Lee Zhiguo sighed, "That girl hasn't officially enlisted, but she's been toughened up in the military since she was young. Her skills should keep her safe. She shouldn't be..."

"Binglian's skills are even better than Bingqian's, and she's still missing!" Liu Yuhang, crying, clutched Lee Shiyu's hand, pleading, "Please, you have to send someone to intercept Bingqian. It's too dangerous there!"

Lee Shiyu looked up at his father, waiting for his guidance.

Lee Zhiguo clarified, "Her skills may not match Binglian's, but her identity is legitimate. Even if someone becomes suspicious, all they'll find is that she's a legitimate doctor from Umiton."

Lee Zhiguo deliberately omitted mentioning her specialty.

Meanwhile, Huang Wenyu arrived home to find Wu Ruoping anxiously approaching him, "Wenyu, how is the girl? Is she nice?"

Mentioning Lee Bingqian made Huang Wenyu feel frustrated. To keep his mother from worrying, he forced a smile and said, "She's alright."

Wu Ruoping felt a tinge of disappointment at his response, "Just alright? Do you like her?"

At that moment, Huang Wenyu's phone started to vibrate. He answered the call and his face tensed as he listened, "Okay, I'm on my way now."

"Wenyu? Where are you headed?" Wu Ruoping asked, taken aback.

"I've got an urgent task, Mom. I have to go now!" Huang Wenyu rushed upstairs to quickly pack his luggage before heading straight to the airport.

On the plane, Lee Bingqian was busy scouring the internet for news about Vushor. She soon stumbled upon a recent event that had sparked widespread discussion.

Three days prior, an explosion had rocked the city center of Vushor, leaving many injured. Numerous tweets revealed that people's loved ones were near the blast site at the time and were now missing.

Lee Bingqian didn't know where in Vushor her sister had disappeared. However, given that several tweets mentioned friends and family missing in the city center, she decided to start her search there.

Upon landing, she first visited the embassy to report Lee Binglian's disappearance and requested their assistance in the search.

She then promptly hailed a taxi to the city center of Vushor. Due to the explosion, many areas were still under police cordon, prohibiting unauthorized access.

With no other option, Lee Bingqian walked from shop to shop, phone in hand, asking, "Excuse me, have you seen the person in this photo?"

She questioned people from morning till night without any luck, not a single piece of information turned up—it was like searching for a needle in a haystack.

Frustrated, Lee Bingqian grabbed a quick bite of some bread and continued her inquiries on the streets, hoping to find some helpful leads.

"Excuse me, have you seen the person in this photo?" Lee Bingqian asked a passerby, hope evident in her eyes.

The man examined the photo intently, then shook his head and said, "Sorry, I haven't seen them."

"Alright." Lee Bingqian responded with a polite bow, her spirits dampened as she moved on.

She kept going until the early hours of the morning, massaging her aching feet, ready to head back to the hotel for some rest. She planned to resume her door-to-door questioning the next day.

As she was about to turn back, a raucous commotion nearby drew Lee Bingqian's attention.

She furrowed her brow and looked toward the source of the noise, spotting a group of men joking and roughhousing at the entrance of a bar. A few provocatively dressed women stood by the door, enduring the men's lewd comments and groping before the group burst into laughter and entered the bar.

This establishment bore little resemblance to a legitimate bar. It was the sort of place where unsavory characters were likely to congregate. Could she possibly unearth any useful information by entering?

Lee Bingqian paused, lost in thought. Determined to locate her sister, she steeled herself and strode toward the bar's entrance.

The woman at the door did a double-take upon noticing Lee Bingqian. "Hey, pretty lady, are you sure you're in the right place?"

"This isn't somewhere you should be!" the other girls chimed in, exchanging knowing smiles amongst themselves.