Ethan was instantly agitated and began to frantically search the room. However, after scouring every corner, there was still no sign of the backpack.
“Ethan, what are you looking for?” Paige asked with confusion.
“Mom, the money is gone,” Ethan exclaimed.
“What do you mean, gone?” Paige hadn’t caught on yet. When she turned her gaze toward the backpack on the floor, she let out a scream, “The bag is missing!”
“Mom, the bag is gone, and the money too!” Ethan gave up the search, returned to the sofa with a dejected expression, and began to cry.
Paige and Alex suddenly jumped up from the sofa, their faces filled with panic. “What did you say? The money is gone? How is that possible? Did the money grow wings and fly away by itself?”
Ethan suddenly realized something and pointed at the wine bottle, saying, “Dad, Mom, we fell asleep out of the blue, and this wine seems to be the problem.”
“It’s that waitress!!” Alex immediately figured it out and rushed out of the room.
In the hotel lobby on the ground floor, Alex learned something alarming. It turned out that today was not the hotel’s tenth-anniversary celebration, and they had no special events. As for the waitress Alex had described, there was no such person working at the hotel.
Paige became frantic, demanding to review the security footage. The hotel security reluctantly pulled up the hallway footage for their floor, but there was nothing unusual. The monitors showed that no one had ever visited their room.
In the end, Alex and his family returned to their room despondently. They felt utterly defeated, as if they had lost their backbone.
The feeling of gaining and losing something so abruptly was enough to drive a person mad and bring them to the brink of despair.
“The money, our money, how could it just disappear like that?” Paige muttered to herself, her hair disheveled, looking like a madwoman.
“It must have been that woman who stole it!” Alex now harbored an intense hatred for the woman who had brought the wine.
“Dad, Mom, how about we call the police?” Ethan suggested.
“Yes! Call the police!” Paige seemed to have caught on to something.
Alex, however, shook his head firmly. “We can’t call the police! We’ve already checked the surveillance, and no one entered our room. Even if the police come, it won’t help. If Jessica finds out and it gets out, we’ll become a laughingstock. Besides, if Jessica demands we repay her right away, it’ll be trouble.”
Paige and Ethan both thought Alex’s reasoning made sense.
“Alex, what should we do now?” Paige was utterly lost at this point.
“What else can we do? Let’s go back home. After all, the fifty thousand was just a loan. Now that it’s gone, we’ll just have to not pay it back in the future.”
Paige let out a long sigh. She was beginning to grasp the meaning of drawing water with a sieve. What was really frustrating was that her son was also injured!
Early the next morning, Scar called Leo to inform him that everything had been taken care of. Leo didn’t want to take the money back and instead had Scar donate half of the fifty thousand to a an elementary school in a poor village and keep the other half to distribute among their brothers.
While driving Sophia to work, Leo told her about his plan to go to Palm City to purchase herbs, which would take about two to three days.
Sophia understood that Leo ran a clinic and needed Chinese herbs, so she had no objections. She only asked him to take care of himself and stay safe, and to keep in touch with her if anything came up.
Leo was no longer worried about the hostile takeover of Sophia’s cosmetics company. With a billion in funds and the assistance of Azure Financial, victory was assured.
Before heading to Falling Sunset Mountain near Palm City, Leo inscribed some talismans and concocted some vital energy pills just in case.
Two days later, Leo drove the same old Mercedes, accompanied by Master Jennifer, to Palm City. He claimed it was a business trip to purchase herbs to avoid raising suspicions with Sophia. It wasn’t that Leo intended to keep his plans secret from her, but he understood that women’s jealousy was innate, and he didn’t want Sophia to jump to conclusions.
Palm City was situated to the southwest of Langstel. The car sped along the highway, and after over three hours, it turned onto a provincial road. Ten minutes later, lush trees lined the sides of the road.
The road gradually narrowed, shifting from two lanes to a single lane. After driving for a while, a makeshift roadblock appeared ahead, and four young men in white clothing stood beside it.
One of the young men extended his hand in a halting motion as Leo approached. “Please cooperate for an inspection.”
Leo brought the car to a stop, and a quick glance revealed that these four young men were all martial artists with a cultivation level of lower-tier martial artists.
“What’s this?” Leo turned to Master Jennifer with a puzzled expression.
Master Jennifer explained, “We’re close to Palm City now. Martial artists typically use a special shortcut outside Palm City to access Falling Sunset Mountain. To prevent regular people from passing through and causing unnecessary misunderstandings, they’ve set up a checkpoint here.”
“Also, our car can only be parked at a restaurant at the foot of Falling Sunset Mountain outside Palm City. Driving on Falling Sunset Mountain is not allowed.”
Leo nodded in understanding, surprised by these rules and regulations.
After Leo and Master Jennifer got out of the car, the leader of the young men asked in a somewhat unfriendly tone, “Who are you, and what are you doing here?”
His attention was initially focused on Leo, sensing no trace of inner energy from him, and assumed he was just an ordinary person who had accidentally stumbled upon this place. Hence, he adopted a rather brusque attitude.
However, his gaze soon shifted to Jennifer. His expression momentarily froze, overwhelmed by her beauty and the icy aura she exuded. Furthermore, he could clearly sense the presence of inner energy within her.
Seeing the young man staring at her impolite, Master Jennifer snorted, and her powerful momentum was immediately released.
Great Martial Master!
The leader’s expression changed abruptly, cold sweat broke out on his forehead, and he quickly averted his gaze, speaking respectfully, “Madame, I apologize if I’ve been rude. Please forgive me.”
In the martial world, strength was paramount. Even if someone was younger and less experienced, if their cultivation level exceeded one’s own, respect was due.
A deep chasm separated martial artists and Great Martial Masters, for whom, killing martial artists was as easy as flipping a hand.
“Open the checkpoint and allow us to pass. We’re headed to Falling Sunset Mountain,” Master Jennifer commanded.
The young man, with lowered eyebrows, responded, “Of course, please wait.”
With that, he instructed his companions to open the checkpoint. Leo and Master Jennifer returned to the car and proceeded through the checkpoint, heading toward the outskirts of Palm City.
The surroundings of Palm City were lush and green, dominated by poplar trees, which is how the city earned its name.