The echo of Yu Lixin's muffled protests still lingered in the wide corridor long after Qi Yunlan's guards dragged him away. His shoes had scraped helplessly against the marble, a pathetic, shrinking sound that vanished behind the closing elevator doors. Yunlan stood still for a second, jaw clenched, fingers flexing once before he masked every visible trace of fury. Then he turned sharply and walked away, coat fluttering behind him like a black blade.
Shen Minqi and Jiang Zhixian exchanged a meaningful glance, a silent conversation between two equally sharp minds. This blackout, that intruder and the tension in Yunlan's voice when he saw that man, none of it felt simple.
Zhixian rubbed his forehead once. "We split. Twenty minutes. Bring me everything."
Minqi nodded once, already turning toward the nearest stairwell. Yunlan didn't even look back; his long strides took him toward the executive elevators reserved only for elite-level clearances. They were about to go their separate ways when loud footsteps echoed outside, stopping the two walking figure in their tracks.
Zhixian who was about to reach for his tablet, a loud, breathless screech cracked through the hallway.
"CEO JIANG!! CEO JIANG, SOMETHING'S WRONG—IT'S SHUILIN—!"
Sun Wenxin, Han Shuilin's manager, practically stumbled through the office doors, half-screaming and half-choking on her own panic. Her bun was lopsided, her ID badge tangled around her neck, and her whole body was trembling so fiercely that even the security guards trailing behind her looked concerned.
Behind her was Xu Yishang—Zhixian's personal secretary, clutching a folder and tablet to his chest with the careful precision of a man who refused to let chaos touch his posture. But even he was pale, eyes sharp and unsettled.
"What did you say?!" Shen Minqi who listened nothing but the name, 'Shuilin', barged inside the Ceo's office, almost panting. Behind him was Qi Yunlan, with equally concerned expression.
Zhixian's brows snapped together at the sight of them. "Minqi, calm down first...and Wenxin? Yishang? What happened now?"
Wenxin sucked in a breath so violently she choked on it. "Shuilin—he… he—he's—he's gone!"
Yishang added firmly, "Missing, sir."
"What?!"
Zhixian froze. Minqi stopped pacing and Yunlan's face darkened. Even the hallway lights seemed to hum louder.
"How the hell can he disappear?! What are you and the security doing?!" First to bombard questions was obviously Minqi. The bodyguard in name and another person in higher authority known by very few people.
Wenxin barely caught her breath before she rushed out her words in a shaking torrent. "He was in the dressing room on 28th floor and was supposed to change for the midnight rehearsal. I was right outside. His assistant too. When the blackout hit, we thought it was just a short circuit or some technician error, so we waited—waited for lights...."
Yishang continued smoothly when Wenxin's voice cracked, "When the power returned, there was no movement inside. They called for him several times. No response."
Wenxin covered her mouth, tears brimming with dread. "Atlast, we opened the door forcefully and he....wasn't there. We've searched the whole floor, he's nowhere and he's not answering his phone either. His bag is still inside, his clothes and everything but him and his phone."
Zhixian's entire body stilled.
Minqi's expression hardened instantly. He regretted coming over there instead of guarding him.
"Fuck! Show me the floor data, right now."
Yishang immediately offered his tablet. Minqi snatched it with a quickness that showed his training, Yunlan watching closely beside him.
He turned to Zhixian, "C'mon, order the security to seal the building right now. No one leaves without authorization!"
Zhixian's voice cut through the room like a blade. "Tell them to close every emergency exit. Activate internal lockdown protocols."
Wenxin jumped at his tone, but it was Yishang who responded, "Right on it." Yishang made few calls and then returned shortly after sharing the order.
Minqi was scrolling rapidly through footage windows and security logs, his brows pulling closer and closer. "Damn it, where is the footage of the 28th floor changing room?!"
Yishang swallowed, hesitated. Zhixian noticed. His tone dropped. "Xu Yishang."
Yishang straightened immediately, "It's… missing, sir."
Zhixian's eye twitched exactly once.
"Missing? Are you out of your mind?!" His calm facade wearing off slowly.
Wenxin broke again, voice rising painfully. "He's telling the truth. The record is not just missing but more like it's wiped! Completely vanished like it never existed at the first place. Those eighteen minutes of footage—ALL GONE!"
Minqi froze for the first time.
Qi Yunlan's eyes narrowed sharply. "Eighteen?"
Yishang nodded stiffly. "Three minutes before the blackout, twelve minutes during the blackout, and three minutes after. All footage across all linked floors or outside the premises… all are erased."
Zhixian inhaled very, very slowly—his version of panic.
Minqi's voice dropped into a deep frown. "Find out who wiped it."
Yishang's throat bobbed with a swallow. "It wasn't us. The access didn't come from the IT hub. It wasn't an authorized terminal. It's like… someone outside the system triggered a command inside the system."
Zhixian's eyes sharpened dangerously. Trio said altogether, "Impossible."
"Someone made it possible," Yishang whispered. "and that's why..... it's terrifying."
Wenxin burst out again, "CEO Jiang, please do something, Shuilin is missing! This isn't a glitch—this is—this is a kidnapping!" Her voice cracked on the last word.
"You calm down first, and go back first. Find out if someone has seen Shuilin. If yes, inform us right away."
"Alright Sir, I will be back soon."
Wenxin almost disappeared in a blink meanwhile Minqi shut his eyes for a split second—so brief, so pained that only Zhixian caught the emotion behind it. Then his eyes opened again, and they were determined once again.
Qi Yunlan leaned against the opposite wall, arms crossed, expression unreadable… except for the rage simmering underneath. "Let's check entry logs first."
Yishang quickly brought up the digital log. "All entrances and exits sealed at blackout. No unauthorized exits recorded."
Zhixian's jaw tightened. "So the kidnapper didn't escape."
Minqi spoke with terrifying calm. "Meaning someone in this building helped them."
The sentence hung in the air like poison.
Zhixian murmured, "An inside accomplice."
"Or more than one," Yishang added softly.
Qi Yunlan pushed off the wall. "What about employee headcount?"
Yishang already had the answer from the earpiece in his ear. "Counted. All staff are present inside the building. Cross-checked with biometric logs. No one missing."
Minqi's palm slammed the table, he was loosing his patience today more than Yunlan. "If no one left… then where is Shuilin?!"
Yishang's phone chimmed as he recived an update. "He's nowhere in the building either! We checked all of the 89 floors—every room, every storage unit and even the rooftop."
Zhixian's voice cut through his panic. "That means the abductor…waited outside the building yet inside the premises during blackout."
They all turned to him.
Zhixian continued slowly, "In those twelve minutes of darkness, someone who knew every blind spot… every bypass route… every emergency override… took Shuilin and hid him in a location outside all monitored zones, which might be the back garden."
Minqi added, "And then their accomplice might have erased evidence in the three minutes after power returned....but wait! We can check the phootage of the security room's entrance after 3 minutes. Whoever has gone in to wipe records, must have exited."
"All the five cctvs installed in the hallway until the staircase that leads to the basement and lastly to the back garden, have been damaged which ain't recoverable." Yishang took a breath before finishing, "He/she might have changed his/her clothes, mingled with the staffs outside and safely entered the building again without being suspicious. "
Minqi sighed, "Back garden's camera broke yesterday and is yet to be replaced, that clearly means....tonight was the best timing one could have get to do the deed."
"Even if the abductor entered during the blackout—fine. No alarms, no sensors, no logs. But how did they exit once electricity returned?" Zhixian's voice cut through the heavy air.
Minqi stiffened.
Zhixian continued, voice dropping into ruthless calculation:
"When the systems rebooted, every perimeter line came alive. Infrared, thermal, motion sensors—none picked up a single breach. And escaping during the blackout? Impossible. Twelve minutes isn't enough to cross the building, the grounds, and scale a double-fence system without being caught."
His eyes sharpened.
"Meaning, the abductor did not exit alone."
The words hung between them like a blade until Yunlan's mind clicked as he looked at others.
Minqi's expression hardened.
Yunlan's jaw flexed.
Yishang went into shock.
And then, just like a lock clicking into place, their thoughts collided.
Yishang whispered the name like it was a forbidden truth:
"…Lixin?"
Silence swallowed the room.
Yunlan didn't deny it. He neither defended Lixin not did he look surprised. His expression was disturbingly blank and cold, as if he had already considered this possibility.
Yishang was first to speak.
"The fence alarm. The moment it rang, every guard turned to stop Lixin."
Zhixian nodded, "Convenient timing."
"Too perfect," Yunlan muttered, voice dangerously quiet.
Minqi walked forward, tone cutting:
"When Lixin tried to jump the fence and the alarm rang, attention diverted outward. And it gave the abductor an escape route."
Zhixian added,
"Especially if they had wiped the cameras beforehand."
Yishang swallowed.
"So… Lixin was the distraction."
Yunlan's lips curled faintly — not in pity, but in acknowledgment.
"Or the one who helped create it."
Minqi crossed his arms.
"He entered the premises without registration. At the exact time the blackout occurred. At the exact gate that was blacked out. And he just happens to panic and trigger the fence alarm right after power returns?"
His voice hardened.
"He's either the mastermind… or someone working for them."
Zhixian didn't argue.
"What do we know about him?"
Yunlan's voice was ice.
"Right now nothing but soon, you will know everything. Until then, start the search mission in secret. Don't let anyone know about what happened inside tonight."
Yishang inhaled sharply before asking.
"But sir… what if he's not an accomplice? What if he's being used? His fear today looked real. He might be a pawn forced into this, someone the mastermind knew would panic."
Minqi responded immediately.
"Fear can be staged."
Yunlan's tone deepened.
"And innocents don't trespass into a private global tower during a blackout."
Zhixian spoke last, summarizing with surgical precision:
"We have three possibilities."
He lifted three fingers.
"One — Lixin is the mastermind.
Two — Lixin is an accomplice planted inside.
Three — he's a pawn being used to cover the real culprit."
He lowered his hand.
"But no matter which he is… he is the only unknown variable tonight."
"And we can't let him go." Yunlan finsihed darkly.
Yishang's voice dragged behind,
"So his identity… is a mystery in itself."
Zhixian finished, voice like a closing cell door:
"We will verify everything, you or others don't need to worry. And about Shuilin, thevsearch operation has already started. Oh yes, Minqi, you need to get back to your place or someone might get suspicious."
Minqi nodded and left with speedy steps. The room became too quiet once again, leaving all four people with the exact same thoughts that is,
Lixin wasn't just suspicious. Somehow, he was the center of everything. Call him either,
The key.
The bait.
Or the danger itself.
And the only question left was,
Who exactly had they dragged in tonight?
.
.
.
To be continued...
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