Chapter 177: Demons Come Knocking.
The next morning when Agni woke up, she brushed her teeth under the supervision of Grace, the house keeping robot. After a few minutes, the the little girl came out of the room and found Hao Ren handing a few things to Han Lingshi.
She walked up curiously and asked, "Brother Ren what are you giving to Sister Ling?"
Hao Ren smiled, her voice was like a wind chime and it soothed his thoughts. He picked up a necklace from the table. It was a bead necklace that he made with great care and precision. He said, "This is a jade protective necklace. If someone dares to come close to you and harm you, it will protect you."
Agni did not seem to listen to his words, she had stars in her eyes, and said, "It is so pretty."
Han Lingshi smiled, Agni was a child after all, and did not know the significance of this necklace. There were fourteen beads of emerald green jade. If she was to go out wearing this, who knows how many people would develop ill-intentions towards her.
Hao Ren gently put the necklace around Agni's neck and said, "Agni, sweetheart, this necklace was a gift that Grandma Rati left for you. She wished for you to wear it always, and never take it of."
Han Lingshi was surprised, but when she saw the child clasping her tiny hand around the beads, she understood why Hao Ren lied. He needed to make sure that she does not take it off willingly. Then he took out the small straw doll.
Agni was taken aback and Hao Ren said, "This is a lucky charm that Grandma sent from the heavens. She said that if you keep it hidden in your clothes, it will become the guardian and if someone comes to harm you, they will suffer badly."
The little girl was hesitant but thinking that it was something that her grandma has sent, she took it. She asked in her innocent voice, "Brother Ren, why do you think someone will harm me? I have done no wrong."
Hao Ren nodded and picked her up in his arms as he said, "The world is a cruel place, my dear. There are demons, who hunt for good children like you. If a demon takes you away, remember to stay calm, and hold onto the necklace. Do not fight them, I will come and save you. Okay?"
Agni was under the sooth saying skills effect and she agreed to whatever Hao Ren told her. The young man took her to the kitchen and fed her a scrumptious meal while teaching her the things one should do when facing a demon.
Han Lingshi got ready for work and left the house. She wanted to take Agni to the Han Family mansion, but Hao Ren said that he would bring the girl to his office. The young man had his own plans.
Firstly, he did not want the enemy to know that he was onto them. Second, he would be able to protect Agni better if she was around him, and lastly, the enemy would not be able to figure out his routine.
From the details he had found about the Alpha Blade group, he had come to know that this bunch of people would not attack just anyone. They would always carry out precision hits. However, one never knows when things might change. Hao Ren did not wish to put his people at risk at all.
While he was thinking about this, he called his father and told him about the issue too. Old Master Hao assured him that they would be fine as they have regained their former cultivation base and it would not be a problem to erase someone into particles of sands.
With that thought off his mind, Hao Ren took Agni to his office. He then showed her around the place and introduced everyone to her as the young miss of the company, under the identity of his younger sister. He did tell them she was his adoptive sister. The people showered her with love, and Agni love being the center of attention.
Hao Ren got her a holographic color pad. It was an application they had designed for the people to play games and Agni was having fun with the floating horse and birds.
Hao Ren leaned back in his chair and said, "Xiao Mei did you find anything?"
Xiao Mei replied, "Not yet, boss."
The young man did not say anything and just leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.
...
Two days passed away in a blink, and their investigation yielded no results. Hao Ren came to his office and he was swiveling his chair left to right. The people did not notice this, but the tension in his mind was escalating with every hour passing.
He was passing through the lobby when he caught a sound from the gossip between two women. One of them said, "Lin, do you know last night the the Crime Hunt they revealed how the kidnapper held Timmy a hostage and then disguised himself in the former's place to wander around and catch Alison off guard."
Hao Ren stopped walking for a second. He was wearing a beige shirt and olive green pants, paired with light brown loafers and a matching watch. He appeared very casual in the office, but so was everyone else around him. His office had the top grade security, so the chances of infiltration were less, but he did not ignore the possibility.
He moved through the floors quickly, came to his office and said, "Xiao Mei, compare the movements of the people in the office, every single one of them and check if any of them had been acting weird lately."
Xiao Mei got to work and Hao Ren said, "Conduct the same search for the people in the Empress International. Connect me to Mother Yue, I need to inform her that there is a possible threat of infiltration inside the Han Mansion."
While he was doing all that Xiao Mei replied, "Boss, we have two flags."
Hao Ren immediately trained his ears on her and said, "Continue."
Xiao Mei replied, "One of the guards, Mister Sampson, his behavior pattern looks odd, and the second is an old janitor. They have both exchanged gazes multiple times."
Hao Ren said, "Bring up their information on the screens."
The information was directly placed on his screens and the Hao Ren said, "Call a meeting for the two department. Tell them I wish to hand out reward checks to celebrate the success of the Lightning Projector Rings."
The product was a hit and they had millions of pre-booking orders. Xiao Mei sent out the memo and all the people were given fifteen minutes to meet Hao Ren in the reception lobby. Xiao Mei asked, "Boss, did you find anything?"
Hao Ren replied, "In the past two days, they have stuck to there routine like a machine. It is very precise of them. Such a thing does not happen with normal people. Look at the call time stamps, they are all a few minutes, but not deviating any longer than two minutes give or take. I will know for sure when I see them face to face."
He arranged the finance department to bring out checks and then headed to the reception lobby. Today he was dressed in a white shirt, blue denims and a pair of white sneakers. The young man crackled his neck and flexed his arms inside the elevator. He was ready to fight at the moment's notice.
In the reception lobby, he found all the staff members from the security team were present, and the sanitation personnel were also there. He ran his gaze over everyone, using his Yin and Yang pupil, he could see the aura that was hidden by the two enemies. The blood aura around them looked very subtle but it was visible.
Given that a security personnel would have been exposed to war and battlefield as they were all former soldiers, it was understandable for them to have a blood aura, but the janitor, humph, Hao Ren wanted to laugh out loud.
He began to distribute the checks and also shook hands with the people. When it was his turn to shake hands with the two enemies, he secretly channeled his spiritual energy through their bodies.
Spiritual energy was a boon for those who cultivated it. However, if the people were to be exposed to an unfamiliar trace of this energy, they would wish for death. Hao Ren did not cause his spiritual energy to explode directly.
Since it has been confirmed that these two people were enemies, and in all likelihood, they might have kidnapped his employees and had disguised themselves with some advanced make-up.
He wanted to find if the real employees were safe. The meeting did not last long, and the people dispersed with big smiles on their faces. Hao Ren did not stay for too long, he came back to his office and said, "Xiao Mei, keep an eye on these people. I want you to use satellites if you have to but do not lose them."
Xiao Mei replied, "Acknowledged boss, also, someone just took off with Young Miss Agni. Lady Yue Shi managed to find out that one of her maids were an imposter, but that woman had already taken the young miss to be her hostage. I cannot track that person on the camera anymore."
Hao Ren nodded and replied, "It is not necessary. I have the means to locate them."
...
Half past ten, Agni woke up in a cold and dark place. She was scared but then she calmed down, grabbed her necklace, and the straw doll hidden inside her clothes. She looked outside and found a bunch of men and women. They seemed to be dressed in black clothes, and the girl opened her eyes wide as she exclaimed, "Demons!!"