Zhenting woke in the hospital, the antiseptic scent a stark contrast to the jasmine that usually clung to his skin. His hand throbbed, a dull reminder of the night's chaos, but the physical pain was nothing compared to the hollow ache in his chest. He ripped the IV from his arm, a primal urgency coursing through him. He needed to find her.
He burst into the corridor, ignoring the protests of the nurses, his voice a low growl that brooked no argument. "Lin Xia! Where is she? Where is her mother?" The staff scattered, their faces etched with fear. He was the Ice King, and his wrath was legendary. Assistant Qin appeared, his face pale, a tablet clutched in his trembling hands. "Mr. Lu, there's been…a situation."
The hospital room was sterile, devoid of any personal effects. It was as if Lin Xia and her mother had never existed. Qin stammered, relaying the impossible: No records, no body, no trace of either woman. Han Dong’s agents, masters of erasing inconvenient truths, had been thorough. Every digital footprint, every whispered rumor, vanished into the digital ether. Zhenting felt a cold dread creep into his bones. It couldn't be true.
He roared, his voice echoing through the empty ward. "They can't just disappear! Find them! Tear this city apart if you have to!" Qin flinched, his voice barely a whisper. "Mr. Lu, the reports…the reports say they were lost in the river during the storm. The Lin women…both gone."