Chapter 129: Closing In

After clearing out the dungeon members and sending those two inexplicable women, Li Xuexin and Lei Yuelin, back to their respective homes, Zhou Tian found himself once again with nothing to do.

The affairs of the capital were handled by professionals; Zhou Tian typically only needed to issue a few orders from time to time. Most of the time, he could simply recline in his chair and daydream. Days, weeks, months passed slowly. Aside from occasionally leveling up by fighting monsters, Zhou Tian mostly led a leisurely life.

Zhou Tian was easily content. Although his current life lacked some excitement, it gained a sense of tranquility. He did not mind this kind of existence. If nothing unexpected happened, he probably wouldn’t object to living this way indefinitely.

But after a year had passed and Zhou Tian had raised his level to 70, one day his first woman, the Dragon Knight Afra, suddenly disappeared.

“Have you found her?” Zhou Tian anxiously asked the guard who had just rushed in.

“Not yet,” came the reply.

“Then why are you back? Go find her immediately!” Zhou Tian snapped angrily.

The guard looked helpless. The reason he came to report was because Zhou Tian had ordered hourly updates. Now Zhou Tian scolded him for returning without success. Poor fellow, his position was truly pitiable.

But since Zhou Tian was the city lord, the guard dared not argue. He silently nodded and quickly withdrew.

Zhou Tian was furious. Afra was his first woman—not necessarily the one he loved most in life, but she held a significant place in his heart.

Now that Afra had suddenly vanished, Zhou Tian found it unlikely she left on her own accord. There was no reason for her to leave the capital without informing anyone. He suspected she had been lured away or even abducted.

Afra had been through such an ordeal before; it was that incident that had brought them together in the first place.

Though that experience had gained Zhou Tian Afra’s companionship, it did not mean he wished her to suffer something similar again. Upon hearing of her disappearance, Zhou Tian immediately dispatched all his men to scour inside and outside the capital.

He refrained from using his system abilities at first, since Afra’s disappearance was recent and he couldn’t be certain she was truly in danger. If she had merely gone out for a walk, causing a big commotion would be an overreaction.

Only when every search party returned empty-handed did Zhou Tian accept that Afra was truly missing. Then, he hastily activated his system powers.

Using a tracking talisman, he pinpointed her last known location and prepared to investigate why Afra had left the capital.

Just as Zhou Tian was about to set off, a group of people blocked the doorway.

Seeing them, Zhou Tian said nothing in refusal but ordered, “If you want to come, then follow me.” Without delay, he headed toward the direction indicated by the talisman.

The only ones who could approach Zhou Tian this way were Vivian, Anna, and the rest of his squad. They had all come to him at this critical moment.

Had it been anyone else, Zhou Tian would have dismissed them outright. After all, he still didn’t know why Afra was missing. If she left on her own, it was one thing; if she was taken by a force like the dungeon’s, Zhou Tian’s men would be no match and only risked becoming casualties.

But Vivian and the others were different. Though Zhou Tian was now Afra’s partner, Vivian and her companions had grown up with Afra—they were closer than sisters. It was easy to imagine how anxious they were after Afra’s disappearance.

Zhou Tian could stop others from searching for Afra, but not Vivian’s group. Rather than let them recklessly wander into danger, Zhou Tian decided to bring them along. At least he had the means to find Afra. Whether danger awaited was no longer his foremost concern.

“Keep up!” Zhou Tian urged Vivian and the others, running far ahead as he raced toward the talisman’s mark.

Afra had not left through the direction of the Beast Forest. The talisman pointed to the heartland of the Flame Yellow Empire. No wonder Zhou Tian’s initial search had yielded nothing. His attention had focused on the Beast Forest route, assuming that Afra or her captors would take that path, never imagining they might head the other way.

Regardless, with the talisman’s aid, Afra could not elude Zhou Tian’s pursuit. After hurrying along, Zhou Tian and Vivian began to find traces that seemed to belong to Afra.

Yet no matter how fast they moved, when they reached the talisman’s location, Afra had already long since left.

Still, Zhou Tian was not discouraged. Examining the clues, a frown crept onto his face.

“Did you find something?” Vivian, curious, asked as Zhou Tian suddenly stopped. He had never revealed his abilities to them, but they trusted he would lead them to Afra. Seeing him pause as if discovering something, Vivian couldn’t help but inquire.

Zhou Tian cast her a glance, his expression darkening as he declared, “Afra left on her own.”

“That’s impossible!” Vivian instinctively retorted. Realizing quickly, she apologized with a smile before reasoning, “If Afra had something to do and wanted to leave the capital, she would have told us. There’s no way she’d leave secretly.”

“How should I know?” Frustrated, Zhou Tian snapped, then added, “Let’s not worry about why for now. We must find Afra first. Whatever the reason, we can’t just ignore this.”

“True enough. Whatever Afra intends, we find her first,” Vivian agreed.

“When we catch her, I’ll teach her a lesson for running away!”

“If anyone gets to scold her, it’s me...”

They bickered along the way. The gloom that had settled over them from Zhou Tian’s discovery gradually lifted. Guided by a second tracking talisman, they resumed the chase.

Time and again, after using more than a dozen talismans, they finally caught up to Afra.

“Stop!” Zhou Tian shouted from a distance as he spotted her back.

Afra paused briefly at his voice, then without a word, bolted in the opposite direction.

Fury welled within Zhou Tian. He had called her, yet she reacted like this. He wouldn’t concern himself with her reasons for fleeing; his first thought was to catch her and give her a proper “lesson.”

With a fierce snort, Zhou Tian sped after her.

His speed was extraordinary—without relying on fighting energy or magic, few beings could outrun him in this world. Although Afra had her fighting energy to accelerate, she was not a swift warrior. Even Anna was faster. Compared to Zhou Tian, Afra lagged far behind.

Despite Afra’s desperate flight, Zhou Tian rapidly closed the gap. After about five or six minutes, he finally caught her.

“Why did you run?” Zhou Tian asked, pinning Afra to the ground.

She turned her head away, refusing to answer, choosing silence.

Frowning, Zhou Tian said nothing further. He hoisted Afra over his shoulder and headed toward Vivian and the others who were approaching.

Afra finally reacted. “Put me down! Let me go!” she thrashed and struggled.

Annoyed by her resistance, Zhou Tian slapped her hard and growled, “Behave! I haven’t even scolded you for running away, and you’re already throwing a tantrum. Keep this up and I’ll pull down your pants and spank you in front of Vivian and the others.”

“You bastard!” Afra cursed loudly, knowing Zhou Tian was capable of such actions. She stopped struggling but continued to hurl insults.

Zhou Tian ignored her outbursts—low-level insults like that hardly affected him—and carried her toward Vivian’s group.

“Why did you run, Afra?” Vivian asked after catching her breath, mirroring Zhou Tian’s question.

Afra’s attitude toward Vivian was no better; she remained tight-lipped, refusing to explain despite their repeated questioning.

Finally, pressed to the edge, Afra responded expressionlessly, “I just didn’t want to be with you anymore, so I left.”

No one believed her, but seeing her uncooperative demeanor, Zhou Tian and the others were helpless.

Had it been someone else, Zhou Tian might have used some item from the system store to force the truth out. But Afra was one of their own. Such items usually had side effects, and Zhou Tian was unwilling to use them on her. So when Afra refused to speak honestly, even he had no solution.

Still, Zhou Tian had ways to coax the truth.

Afra wanted to leave. While Zhou Tian didn’t know why, he guessed there must be a reason compelling her to leave the capital or them. If that was the case, then he wouldn’t allow her to leave so easily. When his plan was thwarted, Zhou Tian doubted she could keep silent forever.

“If you won’t talk, fine. I’ll take you back and question you slowly. Not a single day of silence, and you won’t be going anywhere. Let’s see how long you can hold out,” he muttered beside her before carrying Afra and turning back with Vivian and the others.

Seeing Zhou Tian’s resolve, Afra struggled briefly but soon, realizing escape was impossible, reluctantly began to reveal the reasons behind her departure.