Chapter 44

"Are you sure you're not mistaken?" the person on the other end of the phone asked, puzzled.

Hearing this, even the most foolish person would realize something was wrong.

Wu An's expression changed drastically.

He immediately made several phone calls.

Less than ten minutes later, Dr. Xu and several uniformed law enforcement officers arrived at the scene.

After hearing Wu An's description, Dr. Xu quickly denied it: "I did not order an MRI scan!"

Wu An's eyes widened. "Dr. Bai said that because of Xiao Bai's special abilities, we need to examine its inner core."

Dr. Xu looked bewildered. "What special ability?"

Wu An finally realized what was wrong.

Even if a cautious researcher like Xu Zhou were to perform a special examination on Xiao Bai, why would he tell others the reason for the examination?

He belatedly realized he had been deceived, and recalling how he and Bai Muyun had teamed up to deceive Jiang Chengyi, he felt a pang of regret.

The person in charge of the equipment was also summoned to the hospital by phone, and under the watchful eyes of everyone, he nervously opened the door to the MRI room.

The group entered the room, where the bright lights revealed a spacious interior with no place to hide.

Inside the MRI machine, there was a group of dark-colored objects that exuded a familiar aura.

Yu Miaomiao walked over and found that they were strands of hair stuck together. She picked up a strand, rubbed it gently, and red fragments fell off, revealing the original grayish-white color.

It's dried blood.

It turned out that these were a mixture of hair and blood that had dried out because they had been left out for too long.

Yes.

The scent attached to the hair is faint and weak, while the scent carried by the blood is much stronger.

Hair and blood—what a flawless way to disguise one's aura.

But the cub is timid and vain. Last time he got a shot, he was so scared that he hid under the table and screamed.

She was listless for most of the day because of a small patch of hair that had been shaved off her stomach.

Yu Miaomiao stared silently at the pile of fur. Such a large amount would be almost enough to shave half of the snow leopard cub's fur.

And then there's the blood needed to soak all that hair; I wonder how long it will take to draw it all.

Xiaobai...it must be in a lot of pain.

The officers from the Enforcement Division collected the hair, then dispersed and thoroughly searched the room again. They then shook their heads at a man who appeared to be a leader.

This means that no exit or hidden door was found besides the main gate.

"You mean, Bai Muyun took the cub into the MRI room saying he was going for a checkup, and then disappeared two hours later?"

Liu Wenzheng, the head of the Enforcement Division, frowned and looked serious. "Did you personally see the gates tightly closed and no one entering or leaving for the past two hours?"

"This... shouldn't be the case."

Wu An subconsciously wiped away his sweat, his voice very low.

He went out for a meal midway through, so he didn't actually keep an eye on things the whole time.

“I’m sure no one has gone in or out.”

At this moment, Jiang Chengyi suddenly spoke.

"Who are you? Why are you here?"

Liu Wenzheng noticed this unfamiliar, ordinary human and asked without any politeness.

Wu An explained to Liu Wenzheng in a low voice.

The latter, however, did not shake off the distrustful expression on his face.

He had a dignified and imposing square face, dark-skinned and deeply lined. His hawk-like eyes gleamed with a fierce light, and when he squinted, they sent chills down one's spine.

Are you sure you're not lying?

Faced with Liu Wenzheng's pressing attitude, Jiang Cheng did not back down an inch.

His tone was calm and confident: "For the past two hours, I have been watching the door the whole time, and I am certain that the main door has not been opened once, and no one or anything has entered or exited."

Liu Wenzheng snorted coldly, turned away from him, and ordered the crowd, "Go to the monitoring room."

Jiang Cheng watched the departing figures of the group. Liu Wenzheng, who was in the middle, was over two meters tall, with broad shoulders and a muscular build.

His actions exude a sense of oppressive power, like that of a ferocious beast.

Everything that happened today was completely unexpected for him.

An animal cub was stolen with great difficulty, and the group of strange-looking people in charge of investigating the matter happened to be uniformly dressed and obeyed orders without question.

He suddenly asked, "Can I know who they are?"

Yu Miaomiao was about to catch up with Liu Wenzheng when she suddenly stopped—she knew he was asking her a question.

She should have told Jiang Chengyi directly, as she had done before, that she had no comment on the matter.

Or she might have made up a lie; in any case, she's used this trick to fool many ordinary people.

However, Yu Miaomiao hesitated for a long time and ultimately did not choose any of them.

She decided to pretend she hadn't heard it and ignore the sentence.

Jiang Chengyi is a smart man; he couldn't possibly be unaware of her meaning.

She walked briskly forward, as if she were in a hurry to catch up with those who had come before her.

After passing Jiang Cheng for a moment, Yu Miaomiao couldn't help but look back.

He stood still, feeling Yu Miaomiao's gaze. He looked up, his dark pupils filled with tiny points of light, his expression calm, without any sense of loss or resentment.

On the contrary... there is a strange sense of inclusiveness.

It was as if, to him, whatever decision Yu Miaomiao made was perfectly reasonable and acceptable.

Yu Miaomiao's heart stirred slightly.

She pursed her lips and finally uttered a sentence.

I'll tell you when we get back.

He left without looking back.

Jiang Cheng stared intently at Yu Miaomiao's departing figure, a slight smile playing on his lips.

Finally, he strode forward and caught up with Yu Miaomiao.

Inside the monitoring room.

The surveillance footage from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM in front of the MRI gate was carefully reviewed, confirming that no one entered or left, thus verifying Jiang Chengyi's testimony.

At the same time, Liu Wenzheng also had his men investigate the surveillance footage at every entrance and exit of the hospital. Half an hour later, one of his men made a major discovery.

"Boss, look at this guy, something's off!"

This is the parking lot surveillance footage, showing the time as 19:38, which is about an hour and a half after the MRI gate closed.

The subordinate pointed to a blurry figure on the screen. He was wearing a long black down jacket, with a hat on his head and a few strands of snow-white hair peeking out from the edge. He was carrying a bulging bag on his back.

Liu Wenzheng's eyes narrowed, and he immediately ordered all the surveillance cameras in the parking lot to be pulled up and carefully observed.

After an hour of frame-by-frame observation, someone finally managed to capture half a profile of the figure from a surveillance camera in the corner of the parking lot.

This half of the profile was extracted, processed, and compared with Bai Muyun's ID photo; the outline matched perfectly.

It can be basically confirmed that this person is Bai Muyun.

Bai Muyun got into a black sedan, which quickly drove out of the parking lot and headed east.

Liu Wenzheng gave the order: "Contact the relevant departments, retrieve all the surveillance footage along this road, and find out where Bai Muyun went."

The subordinates each performed their duties and devoted themselves to their work.

At this moment, Xu Zhou rushed to the scene. He seemed to have just come out of the laboratory, wearing a white coat, with messy hair and dark circles under his eyes.

He lowered his voice and argued with Liu Wenzheng about something. The others couldn't hear what he was saying, but the words floated lightly into Yu Miaomiao's ears.

"Didn't I tell you to protect Xiaobai? Do you know how important his abilities are?!"

“I’ve been sending people to protect the snow leopard cub and its caretaker 24 hours a day, this was an accident.”

Yu Miaomiao was secretly alarmed. She had thought that Wu An would only accompany her when she went to the hospital for check-ups. She never expected that someone would be staking out her 24 hours a day, and she hadn't noticed anything unusual at all.

"This is by no means an accident; it was a premeditated kidnapping."

Even though Xu Zhou kept his voice low, there was an undeniable worry in it.

"Have you found out where Xiaobai's parents are?"

"Through big data comparison, it has been determined that its lineage comes from Province X."

"Alright, then you should know that no matter how outstanding a cub's talent and ability are, it is absolutely impossible for it to travel 4,000 kilometers from Province X to City A!"

"Xiao Bai has likely been abducted once before, brought from Province X to City A, but escaped on his own after arriving here due to the eruption of his innate abilities."

"With such a top-tier and rare ability, how could those who trafficked it possibly let it go? They must be tracking its whereabouts."

"It's very likely that Xiaobai has been kidnapped again this time!"

After listening to Xu Zhou's words, Liu Wenzheng sighed heavily, wanting to say something but remaining silent.

One of his subordinates came over and reported the progress to Liu Wenzheng.

"Captain Liu, we checked all the surveillance cameras along Wanhua Road and found that Bai Muyun's car turned into a small alley without surveillance cameras. However, after checking along the exit, we did not find any other car with the same license plate."

"With such skillful techniques, this is definitely not the first time they've done something like this!"

Xu Zhou's voice grew increasingly serious.

"Captain Liu, I suggest that we immediately set up defenses on all roads leading out of City A and check every vehicle leaving the city."

"Even if we can't find them, we can keep them trapped in the city!"

Going to such lengths for a missing monster cub seems a bit excessive.

But after much deliberation, Liu Wenzheng went to a corner and made a phone call.

His voice was respectful: "Hey, sir, there's been a problem, it's that snow leopard cub..."

"...I would like to apply for permission to block roads outside City A."

"It's not going to be a big fuss!" Liu Wenzheng's voice suddenly became urgent, then abruptly lowered.

"Do you remember the case of the trafficking of monster babies that was uncovered not long ago, which lasted for ten years?"

"Over the past decade, more than 243 cubs have gone missing without a trace across the country, with more than 30 of them in Province A alone."

"This is definitely a huge criminal gang."

"The modus operandi of this snow leopard cub disappearance is extremely similar to that of other cub abduction cases, so it is very likely yet another one!"

"If we can catch this person, we can follow the trail—"

"I know you're in a difficult position, but this concerns the lives of many monster cubs. You should know how low our birth rate is."

...

Yu Miaomiao strained her ears to listen to Liu Wenzheng's words, but because of the distance, she couldn't hear the voice on the other end of the phone.

However, the information revealed in Liu Wenzheng's words was enough to make her anxious.

"Okay...okay, I understand."

After finishing the call, Xu Zhou looked over with hope.

"How about it?"

Liu Wenzheng shook his head. "I did not agree."

He said it was not the right time to go public, as doing so would cause panic in human society and increase the risk of exposure.

"However, he promised to give me the authority to transfer all members of the Enforcement Division."

Liu Wenzheng had his men identify all the vehicles that emerged from the alley during that period and trace their routes one by one.

"This is the only clumsy way we can do it."

He sighed, then remembered something, "Did you implant a positioning device in the cub?"

"I haven't had time yet," Xu Zhou shook his head.

He added, "Even if it's implanted, it's useless. The spiritual energy fluctuations of this kind of magical artifact are very obvious, and it will be dug out and thrown away immediately."

The situation reached a stalemate for the time being.

Liu Wenzheng walked up to Yu Miaomiao and Jiang Chengyi.

"There's not much progress at the moment. Thank you for your cooperation and help. It's getting late, so I'll have Wu An take you back."

Although he was speaking to both of them, he only looked at Yu Miaomiao and didn't spare a single glance for Jiang Chengyi.

There was indeed no need for Yu Miaomiao and Jiang Chengyi here anymore. They said goodbye and left with Wu An.

Since realizing that it was his mistake that led to Xiaobai's disappearance, Wu An has not said a word.

Yu Miaomiao and Jiang Chengyi were also too worried to talk.

The entire journey was spent in silence.

The elevator stopped at Jiang Chengyi's floor with a "ding".

"To my house?"

Jiang Chengyi suddenly spoke.

Yu Miaomiao remained silent for a moment, then walked out of the elevator with Jiang Chengyi.

The two people walked into Jiang Chengyi's house one after the other.

The living room lights were turned on, filling the entire space with a bright and soft glow.

The environment was so familiar to me that I couldn't be more familiar with it.

The only difference is that Xiaobai is missing.

It no longer has that round, chubby figure that rolls around like a dumpling; nor does it have that constant howling sound.

It's too quiet.

She sat down, and Jiang Cheng walked over and sat down opposite her.

"Now, can you tell me?"