Welcome to the Ability Shop!

Chapter 321 Disappearance
"I thought... she filmed this in our world," Chen Xuan said in surprise.

“Me too.” Lin Qing fell into deep thought. “It seems this area was abandoned after the explosion, but why would Honglian leave a photo here? Could it be… that she also participated in this Demon Conference in the original history?”

And were those photos taken on purpose... to commemorate the past?

The problem is that the historical period Lin Qing lived in should have been a timeline without Chen Xuan's interference. Therefore, there would have been no Elori's warning or the rebirth of New Paris. The entire world was destroyed by a falling crystal meteorite, forcing the surviving humans to retreat underground, and whether Jiangcheng even existed was uncertain.

How did Honglian appear in a timeline that had not yet been created?

Chen Xuan felt like his brain had shut down.

"I'm afraid no one can answer this question." Lin Qing shook her head after a long silence. "Unless we can go back to that point in time, we won't know the whole story."

Currently, there seems to be only one possibility to achieve this.

That was when Honglian connected with the Ability Shop, or rather... the shop chose her as a customer.

However, just thinking about this situation gave Chen Xuan a headache.

Two timelines, two different eras of red lotus appearing in the shop at the same time?

That's terrifying.

In the following days, both of them focused their attention on the whereabouts of the search agency. They used television and the internet to obtain firsthand intelligence about Jiangcheng, leaving no stone unturned in reviewing any on-site video footage. But Xiao Kanong and his team seemed to have vanished into thin air, leaving no trace whatsoever.

Of course… Chen Xuan couldn't rule out the possibility that they had already slipped away. After all, the explosion site was incredibly chaotic, with fires raging everywhere, the sky obscured by thick smoke, and ground transportation completely paralyzed. Only airships could access the epicenter of the explosion. Under these circumstances, it would have been quite easy for them to escape the city unnoticed.

In the evening, the two went back to the main store for a meal, and then went to the branch store to continue waiting.

A day seems to last so long.

"Actually, we can just go to sleep normally and summon them again tomorrow," Chen Xuan said casually. "They can withstand nuclear bombardment, so being half a day late won't be a big problem."

However, seeing Lin Qing's wide-eyed expression, he decided to wait until midnight. "Okay, never mind."

He suspected that if he hadn't changed his tune by even a second, the other person would have started scratching him.

The closer it got to midnight, the more anxious Lin Qing seemed to become.

She paced back and forth in the room, looking as if she wanted to say something but hesitated, and repeatedly asked Chen Xuan to check whether Honglian was still on the guest list.

"Don't worry, she will definitely come back," Chen Xuan reassured her. "You've seen my abilities before; they still work even across different worlds."

"I'm just afraid of what might happen..." Lin Qing seemed to be answering him, but also seemed to be talking to herself.

Chen Xuan was slightly surprised. Was Honglian really that important? That she could make him look so uneasy…

Even when she had just returned to the past and was in an unfamiliar environment, she had never felt so uneasy.

At that time, Lin Qing would even cross her legs, eat snacks, and denounce the various evil deeds of the Weixian Agency.

But no matter how anxious she was, it was only for half a night.

Besides, they had been waiting for a long time, and now there were only fifteen minutes left until midnight.

"Why don't you go take a shower first?" Chen Xuan shrugged. "By the time you're done showering, Honglian might already be waiting for you on the sofa."

There was no answer.

"Actually, I can stay here by myself. You can go to the main store and wait there, then you can see Honglian as soon as possible."

Still no sound.

"Lin Qing?" Chen Xuan was about to turn around when someone suddenly hugged him from behind.

Those warm and soft arms undoubtedly belonged to Lin Qing—compared to her initially cold and hard body, she has changed a lot now.

"I'm fine." Her voice was surprisingly calm.

Her tone was completely different from her previous hesitant and uncertain one.

For a fleeting moment, Chen Xuan even thought the other person was Lin Qing from another time—Lin Qing who had only arrived after meeting Hong Lian after midnight. Although he didn't know why she had returned to normal, she was now the future warrior he knew best.

"Are you trying to warm me up?" Chen Xuan chuckled.

In March, cities in high-latitude regions are quite chilly, but he has long been unfazed by the natural changes in the Earth's environment.

“If you need it,” Lin Qing replied softly, “but the truth is you’ve been keeping me warm all along. Don’t worry, I just want you to remember this feeling.”

Remember this feeling?

Chen Xuan didn't quite understand, but since the other party didn't move, he could only remain in that position.

The 24-hour news was still playing on TV, but the sound seemed to come from a very far place... The room was both noisy and quiet, and time seemed to be speeding up or standing still.

Until the seconds point to twelve.

Lin Qing then released her hands. "It's time."

"Hmm." Chen Xuan turned around and patted the other person's head. She was probably really too nervous to calm down like this. The other person didn't avoid it, but urged him with her eyes to "hurry up."

"I know, I know."

He took out the barcode scanner, selected Honglian's name, and initiated the recall.

The disappearance of the option indicates that the command has been executed.

"See, that's settled then." Chen Xuan smiled and shook his head, wondering what she had been so worried about. "Let's go back; Honglian should be at the shop by now—"

The moment he looked up, he was suddenly stunned.

The room was empty; Lin Qing, who had been standing right in front of him just moments before, had vanished without a trace!
"No, did you activate the optical camouflage?" he asked, using his mental techniques to scan his surroundings, but still found nothing. A strange sense of emptiness welled up inside him, gripping his heart. This change made him think of something, yet he subconsciously resisted the arrival of that thought.

Chen Xuan rushed into the elevator and pressed the button for the main store.

The moment he returned to the shop, he saw Liuli taking care of a woman lying on the ground.

"You're here. This person suddenly appeared and then collapsed," Liuli called out to him. "You'd better call a doctor; her condition isn't good."

Could it be Lin Qing?
Did I just choose the wrong person?

Chen Xuan rushed to Liu Li's side to check the situation. Before she could be fully seen, just when her distinctive red hair was revealed, he already knew that his luck had not come true and that the person who had teleported him was indeed Hong Lian.

However, something was clearly wrong with her appearance.

His neck was bruised and purple, with several needle marks visible, and he was soaked in sweat, as if he had been pulled out of a river. His lips were pale and dull, and were trembling slightly.

"she……"

“She was tortured,” Liuli said, holding her wrist. “And she was injected with a psychotropic drug that probably amplifies her pain… If we don’t administer the antidote soon, she won’t last much longer.”

She seemed to know everything about these things.

Chen Xuan followed Liu Li's gaze to her wrist and was immediately filled with rage! Hong Lian's hand was covered in blood, and her fingers were bare, with not a single fingernail to be found.

It's only been half a day!
Chen Xuanming realized that this series of events was all part of a carefully planned operation. They not only wanted to steal the artifact from the demon, but also intended to use the limitations of the other world to purge the organization of its traitors! The fact that they were willing to take such drastic measures meant that Xiao Kanong was not just a skeptic, but had already confirmed that Honglian was problematic!
At this moment, Chen Xuan had no time to think about where the news had leaked from; his top priority was to stabilize Honglian's condition.

Should I call Beitianyuan?
He picked up his phone, then put it down again—no! If the authorities really managed to extract any information from Honglian, then the Northern Heavenly Courtyard would likely also be placed under their surveillance. If they had indeed sent people to keep watch nearby, taking Honglian there would be tantamount to handing himself over to them.

Fortunately, he had other ways to save people.

Chen Xuan went up to the second floor and knocked on the door of room 205.

A moment later, Xu Xuanling peeked out from under the door. "Master, do you know how late it is? It's very impolite to visit a young lady from a prominent family at this hour. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't even have opened the door—"

"Stop arguing, get dressed and come down to save people!" Chen Xuan interrupted directly.

(End of this chapter)