The apartment was not spacious, but it was cozy and welcoming.
Tang Hao sat on the couch, while Zhao Qingxue was sitting with her back facing him.
Tang Hao had massaged her once before, but he still felt awkward.
He took several deep breaths and managed to calm his emotions.
Then, he lifted both of his palms and pressed them on Zhao Qingxue’s shoulders.
He channeled qi into his palms and applied slight pressure. Zhao Qingxue’s nimble body trembled.
Zhao Qingxue bit her lips and her face was red. The pair of hands behind her was like magic. It brought untold comfort to her body.
She felt as though she was floating in the sky.
Her body was suffused with warmth and her lethargy was swept away.
Tang Hao stopped about five minutes later.
“I’m done!” He removed his hands.
Zhao Qingxue was a little disappointed that it was over so quickly. She stood up and stretched her limbs.
“This is amazing. I feel great now,” she said happily.
“You should relax more, Officer Zhao. Remember to rest.”
“I know!” Zhao Qingxue gave him a side-eye. “I don’t think I’ll get to rest much these days though. The squad is on a big case.”
“What’s the case?” Tang Hao was curious.
“Well…” Zhao Qingxue hesitated. “I can’t tell you the specifics, but I can briefly describe it to you. It’s a major case because it’s related to [evil forces] from foreign countries.
“Have you heard of Miki Group from Dongying?” (TN: ‘Dongying’, literally ‘Eastern Ocean’, is the poetic name for Japan.)
Tang Hao nodded. He remembered seeing the name on the Internet before. They were a major yakuza group in Dongying.
“The squad had been investigating a series of abductions. However, the investigations led us to Miki Group.”
Her brows straightened in anger. “Miki Group is too evil!
“We’re suspecting that Miki Group is involved in these missing persons, and we believe that they have kidnapped these people to harvest their organs.”
Tang Hao was shocked when he heard that.
He had heard about news and rumors of people being abducted and their organs harvested, but they sounded more like sensational clickbait than actual news.
Furthermore, these were done by foreigners to harm Huaxia people.
“How’s the investigation going?”
“It’s going quite well. Don’t worry, we’ll definitely crack the case,” Zhao Qingxue said.
They chatted for a while more before Tang Hao went downstairs.
After returning home, he started absorbing spirit stones.
Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
In those three days, Tang Hao cultivated at home every night. In the daytime, he went to classes as well as Imperial Kitchen to work on the new restaurant’s menu.
The new dishes not only had to taste perfect, but they also needed to have different positive effects on the body. The dishes could preserve one’s beauty, increase one’s vitality, and strengthen one’s health.
Adding Master Chef Ding’s fame and incredible skills to that, Tang Hao believed that Magical Kitchen would be instantly famous.
While they worked on the new menu, the location for the first restaurant had been selected and it was currently being renovated. They should be open in less than half a month.
One night, Tang Hao was in his apartment absorbing the spirit stones.
Suddenly, his phone started ringing.
Tang Hao opened his eyes. He noticed that an unknown number was calling him.
He placed the spirit stone aside and picked up the phone.
He heard a low, deep male voice from the other end of the phone. That voice sounded frantic.
“Hey! Tang Hao!”
Tang Hao furrowed his brows when he heard the voice. He remembered the voice. It belonged to Zhao Wuyang, Zhao Qingxue’s elder brother.
‘I thought this guy didn’t like me, and he even wanted to arrest me. Why would he be calling me over the phone?’
“What’s wrong, Officer Zhao? Is there anything?” Tang Hao asked calmly.
“It’s Qingxue… something happened to her!” Zhao Wuyang shouted frantically over the phone.
Tang Hao’s expression changed drastically. He stood up and asked sternly, “What happened?”
“Sigh! She infiltrated the enemy base as an undercover because the mission required it. However, she suddenly lost contact and I can’t reach her no matter how many times I dialed her number.
“This mission is very dangerous. Something must have happened to Qingxue. The enemy base is out at sea, and we need the cooperation of the maritime police. However, they aren’t too keen on cooperating. I’m afraid that something really bad will happen to her once the maritime police finally decide to mobilize their forces.
“Aren’t you connected to the military, Tang Hao? Can you think of a way to help her?”
Zhao Wuyang sounded as though he was begging.
Tang Hao’s expression became grim after he heard that.
The undercover mission her brother was talking about must be related to the abduction case. He also heard before that Miki Group was merciless in their methods. It was hard to imagine what would happen to Zhao Qingxue once she fell into their hands.
“Where’s the location of the incident?” Tang Hao asked.
“It’s on a cruise ship. We haven’t found out its exact location yet.”
“Where are you now?”
“At the port. Qingxue’s colleagues are all here too.”
“Just wait for me. I’ll come over now!”
After ending the call, Tang Hao dashed down the stairs and into his car, then sped toward the port. The car sped on the road like lightning.
He arrived at the port in a little more than three minutes.
Zhao Wuyang brought some people to him once he got out of his car.
“This is Captain Zhang!” Zhao Wuyang pointed at a middle-aged man standing next to him.
The man was crestfallen. “It’s all my fault for sending Lil Zhao in. She was only supposed to scout the cruise ship, there shouldn’t be a problem…
“There must be an informer in the maritime police, and they must be very highly ranked as well. We can’t rely on them for now. I’ve heard from Captain Zhao that you have connections in the army. Can you think of something?”
Tang Hao looked toward the open sea and became more anxious.
“How long ago did the incident happen?”
“Well… about half an hour ago,” Captain Zhang hesitated.
Tang Hao’s expression changed drastically.
Zhao Qingxue’s odds of survival were looking slim after so much time had passed.
“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” Tang Hao glared at Zhao Wuyang.
Zhao Wuyang opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but eventually lowered his head guiltily.
“Do you know the exact location of the cruise ship?” Tang Hao asked sternly.
The police officers looked at each other.
“We don’t know its current position, but ten minutes ago it was here,” one of the police officers said as he brought up a tablet computer.
“Here’s the last known position of Zhao Qingxue’s tracker.”
He pointed at a red dot somewhere in the middle of the sea.
Tang Hao snatched the tablet, looked at it, then dashed back into his A8.
