Return of the Celestial King

After a quick glance, Qin Tuo knew that Xue Qingqing had been dosed with an extremely potent sedative; she likely wouldn’t be waking up on her own anytime soon.

But despite that, Qin Tuo had a solution.

He discreetly sent a stream of Spiritual Power into Xue Qingqing’s body.

A moment later, Xue Qingqing let out an unconscious groan and slowly opened her eyes.

Seeing Xue Qingqing awake, Huang Junkai’s face lit up. He hurried to the bedside and said,

"Miss Xue, you’re finally awake?"

Xue Qingqing opened her eyes, her mind a total blur.

She looked closely and was shocked to see two unfamiliar young men before her.

This scared her pale. She scrambled backward, clutching her chest, and stammered,

"What do you want? I’m warning you, don’t try anything funny!"

Apparently, Xue Qingqing thought Qin Tuo and Huang Junkai were part of the group of kidnappers from before.

Seeing her reaction, Huang Junkai quickly shook his head and explained with a placating smile,

"Miss Xue, you’ve misunderstood. We saved you. If it weren’t for us, those people would have already taken you away!"

But Xue Qingqing just shook her head wildly, her face a mask of disbelief.

She snorted.

"Don’t even think you can trick me! I can see you’re up to no good. I’m warning you, let me go immediately! Otherwise, I’ll have my father send his people, and you’ll have hell to pay!"

Qin Tuo watched from the side with a cool gaze, speechless.

’This woman is way too full of herself,’ he thought.

Huang Junkai was still trying to reason with her.

"Miss Xue, you’ve really misunderstood. We aren’t bad people!"

However, Xue Qingqing had already made up her mind and refused to believe a word Huang Junkai said.

Suddenly, Qin Tuo strode over, opened the door, and said coldly,

"You can leave now."

Xue Qingqing froze, stunned. She hadn’t expected Qin Tuo to actually let her leave.

Cautiously, Xue Qingqing climbed out of bed and made her way to the door.

Her expression was a mixture of doubt and disbelief as she slowly stepped out.

The moment she was out the door, as if afraid Qin Tuo would change his mind, she broke into a full sprint and quickly disappeared into the distance.

At this, Qin Tuo could only shake his head helplessly.

Huang Junkai laughed in exasperation. He couldn’t help but say,

"Mr. Qin, she’s a classic case of repaying kindness with malice. She doesn’t know a good person when she sees one!"

Qin Tuo had no desire to comment on the woman and simply said,

"Get some rest. We’ll go up the mountain again tomorrow to take another look."

Huang Junkai nodded, then left and returned to his room.

Meanwhile, at the intersection where the car crash had occurred, a large crowd of bodyguards had completely surrounded the scene.

Many onlookers wanted a closer look, but the stone-faced bodyguards blocked their path.

Once people realized that the eldest daughter of the Xue Family was involved, they were too frightened to ask any more questions.

From the Xue Family’s show of force, everyone knew that the Xue Family Patriarch, Xue Chengdong, must be furious.

Anyone who dared to cross him at a time like this would surely face retaliation.

In the center of the ring of bodyguards stood a middle-aged man with slicked-back hair, dressed in a suit. It was none other than Xue Qingqing’s father, the Xue Family Patriarch, Xue Chengdong.

Xue Chengdong smoked in sullen silence, his expression grim.

Once the bodyguards had secured the scene, they immediately began collecting and analyzing evidence.

Soon, the bodyguards reached a conclusion.

A sharp-looking man approached Xue Chengdong, bowed slightly, and said,

"Patriarch, we have our preliminary findings."

Xue Chengdong immediately threw his cigarette to the ground and said coldly,

"Well? Spit it out."

The man nodded.

"Patriarch, based on the evidence at the scene, we’ve concluded that two different groups were involved."

Xue Chengdong’s brow furrowed. He couldn’t help but ask,

"Oh? And who might they be?"

He was growing impatient. Xue Qingqing was the apple of his eye, and now she was missing.

Xue Chengdong wanted nothing more than to tear the entire Hongshan District apart to find her.

But he knew that with so many powerful figures gathered in the area right now, not even the Xue Family could act so brazenly.

The man continued,

"One group seems to have been planning to abduct the young miss. The other is the one that actually took her. Moreover, within this second group, there is an individual whose power is immense—beyond our imagination."

Xue Chengdong was intrigued. "Oh? Why do you say that?"

The man’s eyes narrowed slightly. He said with certainty,

"Because all of these assassins were killed by a single person. And they were all killed at the exact same instant, with a single strike."

Hearing this, Xue Chengdong was inwardly shaken.

But his shock quickly turned to explosive rage.

With a wave of his hand, he roared,

"I don’t care how you do it! I want you to tear this place apart if you have to, but you will find the young miss! If you don’t, I’ll have all of your heads!"

The man nodded. Not daring to delay, he quickly led the bodyguards away to begin the search.

The Xue Family’s housekeeper, Old Wu, slowly approached and said in a comforting tone,

"Patriarch, you mustn’t worry too much. Perhaps the young miss was rescued by a good Samaritan?"

However, Xue Chengdong just snorted coldly at his words.

"Don’t try to comfort me. With the situation in Shi City so chaotic right now, how can you be so optimistic?"

Housekeeper Wu shook his head, unsure of what else to say.

Xue Chengdong’s expression grew heavy with worry.

"What’s more, I suspect this might be a setup orchestrated by the Zheng and Wu Families. Their goal would be to use my daughter to threaten me and force the Xue Family to withdraw from the contest!"

Housekeeper Wu looked completely astonished.

After a moment’s thought, he said slowly,

"Patriarch, surely that’s not possible? Publicly, our three families are still partners. How could they dare to do such a thing?"

But Xue Chengdong just shook his head and sneered.

"Heh. Impossible? A new mine has been discovered. It was only a matter of time before our three families came to blows. Do you really think they give a damn about our so-called partnership?"

This counter-question left Housekeeper Wu speechless.

And though Xue Chengdong appeared relatively calm on the surface, he was inwardly on the verge of breaking down.

Just then, a subordinate hurried over.

Upon seeing Xue Chengdong, he gasped for breath and said,

"Patriarch! The young miss... she’s home!"

At these words, the gloom on Xue Chengdong’s face was instantly replaced by ecstatic joy.

"Oh? Is that right? Wonderful! Let’s go home, quickly!"

He immediately gathered his men and rushed home.

When he arrived back at the Xue Family villa, he saw his treasured daughter, Xue Qingqing, sitting safely on the sofa, looking completely dazed.