Chapter 269 – The Search

Fan Xui who storm out of Qian’s lab, went back in to fetch his documents.

“I knew you will come back. Come on sit down and tell me that.. hey!”

He did not heed to his words and casually walked out. Right then he met Hary who was carrying someone on his back came down the stairs.

“Oh Hary, I was planning on scheduling a meeting with you. The grain stocks have been reducing drastically; I wanted to discuss the renewed plan on rationing,”

“Give me a second. I’ll drop him off and meet up with you,” he juggled the person on his back

Fan Xui curiously looked at the person who was hiding his face. His back was rising up and down very fast. It looked like he was panting.

“Is he okay?”

“Yes just tired. Wait a bit,” he typed the passcode and opened Prisitsky’s lab.

“Fan you left this document behind,” Qian rushed out of his lab right then. “Hey, is that sack of potatoes mighty Prisitsky. What happened to him? Got chased by dogs?”

Prisitsky glanced back with his eyes narrowed. “I don’t wish to destroy my brain cells talking to a two-cell creature.”

“ya! Stop right there. You annoying swine. How dare you call me a two-cell creature? I have so many cells. Get your facts right.” Qian roared waving Fan Xui’s file.

Fan swiftly plucked the file off his hands and nearly arranged it neatly in the pile in his hands. “Meet me after lunch Hary.”

“um…I thought we were having our discussion over lunch,” Hary gently dropped off Prisitsky and started to arrange his crumbled up lab coat.

Prisitsky pushed his hands away. But Hary instantly kept arranging his messy hair and clothes.

Fan Xui slightly was perplexed. Hary’s actions looked like he was babying him. ‘it’s none of my concern anyway.”

He cleared his throat loudly. “Well I will be having lunch with my Yue. He must have been so lonely at home. I wish to give him company,” he proudly said with his chest puffed up.

Hary looked confused. “Yue’s here. Why are you going home?”

“Huh? Here? when?”

“He came to meet me fifteen minutes ago,” Prisitsky whispered, pushing Hary’s prodding hands away. “I think he might be here. Who knows, you just check around before you leave for home?”

“Yeah sure. Thanks,” he patted Qian’s back and left the third underground level.

There are only a few places his lover liked resting or visiting in the barrack. One was the labs. The second was his uncle’s place.

So he directly left for that study.

Uncle Wen’s study door was left open. he poked his head in. He was having tea with two other generals and they were talking seriously.

“Fan? Why are you poking your head in. come in, come in and have some tea,”

“No sir, I’m searching for Yue.”

“He came here just a few minutes ago. He left for the third ground level basement,”

Fan Xui slightly pouted. ‘if not the study then…. Yue could be only at that place.’

He excitedly ran to the first floor where the soldiers’ temporary housing was situated. He had a separate room here. Yue occasionally would rest here while he worked.

Fan threw open the door half expecting his lover to be sprawled all over the small bed.

But to his dismay the bed was untouched.

“Where is he? He could not have left home without meeting me right…. no… he won’t do that…its weird.”

He dashed out of the room and went searching throughout the barracks.

Even after searching for fifteen minutes he could not find him anywhere.

“He must have left.. sigh… I wanted a hug,”

Saddened by this, he silently left for the gates. If his lover had left, the gate patrol here would have definitely seen him.

He stopped beside one of the soldiers.

He gave him a weird look. “yes how can I help you?”

“I’m searching for my friend. He is about five foot seven with shoulder-length black hair. He looks slightly girly… have you seen him leave the barrack?”

“I… don’t think I have..”

“Hey he is talking about the girl with that crazy woman.” another soldier intervened.

“He’s a guy,”

He ran to them. “so that was a guy, wow he looked pretty. Anyway, he left with that crazy girl,” he shrugged.

“Crazy girl?”

From all the girls, he and Yue were familiar with no one acts crazy. Not even Lui could be called crazy.

‘Who did Yue leave with… … something is definitely wrong/’

“How did that girl look like?”

“Waist length slightly curly black hair with bangs. She was wearing a short skirt. I don’t remember her face much but she was acting like a crazy birch. First, she kept shouting for that fiend of yours to come with her. When he didn’t, she tore her shirt and accused us of assault, it’s annoying really. We were only doing our jobs.”

Fan Xui’s heart started to beat loudly. he could sense a major problem. An unknown girl convinced Yue to help escort her home.

Then…

“Shit I was careless. Which way did they go?”

“This way,” he gestured t the left. It led directly to the back of the barrack.

Yue was definitely not familiar with that route. None of his friends and Yue’s family were.

“You! Go inform general Hary to come assist me.”

“In.. in what, sir? We can’t summon a general for something so trivial.

“Just fucking call him!” Fan Xui bolted towards the direction. He could definitely see traces of footsteps. But after a while, the dirt road changed into a plastic tar-coated road. He could not even find traces.

He blindly ran around.

This place was the backside of the barracks with a few homes nearby. Most of the soldier family members stayed around here.

It was a residential area.

‘If Yue was kidnapped them someone must have seen something… I’ll go ask door to door.’

He rushed to the nearby home and knocked. There was no response as he had expected.

“Excuse me. I would like to know if you saw a young man and young woman walking down that road. Please if you give information you will be rewarded with meal tokens.”

The residents did not respond.

He did not have time to waste here.

He ran to the nearby residential homes.

House after house yet… no one bothered to give him a proper reply.

Fan Xui was left hopeless.