Chapter 284: Mystery Over the Missing Flight

“Old Six, get in touch over there too. If anything happens, send a message immediately!”

Xu Chen nodded in agreement.

He knew Xu Hao’s situation well. Besides, a few of them heading to New Country was plenty; too many wouldn’t make a difference.

“Take good care of Grandfather. He’s getting old—I’m worried.”

“Don’t worry. As long as I’m here, everything will be fine!”

Minute by minute passed until 11:00 PM, when a news report appeared on several international pages of Long Kingdom’s portals, sparking heated discussion among netizens.

“At 6:00 PM, the flight from New Country to M Country lost contact with the airline. It has been missing for five hours now, and the airline still hasn’t re-established communication!”

The news piece was very brief!

But some netizens believed that the shorter the news, the bigger the story behind it.

“What? Missing for six hours already? It’s over! This flight is as good as lost!”

“I think so too!”

“Reports say that the terminal in M Country also tried to reach the flight, but still received no response.”

“Don’t kid yourself! Most likely it crashed into the sea!”

“Crashed into the sea? No way!”

“Why not?”

“Because if it had crashed, debris would have been visible on the water, and satellites would have picked it up! A spokesperson from New Country Airlines said that since losing contact with the flight, they’ve been in touch with a certain department in New Country and even deployed state-of-the-art satellites, yet no trace of the flight was found on the sea.”

“Maybe the plane sank to the bottom of the ocean!”

“That’s even less likely. In most crashes, the wreckage floats or even catches fire. More importantly, New Country Airlines confirmed that the plane lost contact just minutes after takeoff—it shouldn’t have even left New Country’s airspace! So it definitely couldn’t have plunged into deep waters.”

“So, are we saying the plane just vanished into thin air?”

“Vanishing completely seems unlikely, but this whole incident feels very bizarre!”

“I agree. A plane that barely took off, losing contact and then simply disappearing—even super satellites can’t locate it. It just doesn’t add up.”

“Exactly! If it had crashed, it would have been spotted long ago!”

“Is it possible that New Country is covering something up?”

“No way. There’s no way to hide an incident like this.”

“Then what on earth is going on?”

“Who knows!”

Since the flight was from New Country to M Country, most Long Kingdom netizens weren’t concerned about the couple hundred passengers onboard. As the discussions grew, the incident increasingly turned into a mystery.

By midnight, the flight was still missing. Then came 1:00 AM, 2:00 AM, 8:00 AM, and 10:00 AM—in time, and with subsequent reports, the missing flight was becoming an accepted fact! Especially by noon…

Theoretically, the plane should have reached M Country by now, but M Country reported no signals or satellite images of the incoming flight.

“So, where did the flight go?”

By 1:00 PM, the discussion had attracted so much attention that it even trended on Long Kingdom’s hot searches.

In Wudi City, Xu Hao leaned back in his chair, continuously massaging his furrowed brows.

He had just called his Third Brother. Xu Chen mentioned that the whole family had already arrived at New Country Airlines, but there was no further news.

“This is so strange! Really strange!”

Gazing at his computer screen, Xu Hao muttered to himself.

The heart-pounding feeling that had plagued him from last night to today still hadn’t subsided—and that wasn’t all!

He had also quietly visited the grand hall behind the altar and performed a divination using the method recorded in Daoist Master’s book. The reading revealed an auspicious sign.

That meant Old Four and Old Five were likely safe—but what about the people? And the plane? For a moment, Xu Hao lost all desire to rush into rebuilding Penglai Three Immortals Mountain. Until this matter was thoroughly resolved, the nagging worry would never leave him.

Unbeknownst to him, while Xu Hao and his family were growing increasingly anxious, a Daoist Master at the edge of the Tengli Desert suddenly stood up and shook the sand off his clothes.

“Trouble! This is bad—really bad. I shouldn’t have gone that way!”

Surveying his surroundings, the Daoist Master muttered nervously to himself.

He wasn’t just anyone; he was the very Daoist Master from that dilapidated temple on the southwestern frontier of Long Kingdom who had wanted to participate in the International Magic Competition in Mingsha City.

“Now, who knows how many years of virtue I’m about to lose?”

After a long moment,

the Daoist Master glanced southeast—toward the direction of Mingsha City.

“Enough! Perhaps this is destiny. Even I can’t fight fate!”

Muttering to himself once more, he seemed to have made up his mind and strode southeast.

One step! Two steps! While an ordinary person would struggle walking in the desert, especially during winter, the Daoist Master moved with an ease that made each step seem to cover several at once. It wasn’t long before he vanished at the desert’s edge.

Before long, by 2:00 PM, the Daoist Master had reached the gate of Mingsha City.

“No wonder Daoist Master Cangshan chose this place!”

Stopping in his tracks,

he surveyed the surroundings of the city gate, then cast a sideways glance at Mingsha Academy and the direction of Langya, a hint of envy crossing his eyes.

“First, let’s take care of the serious business!”

Muttering to himself, the Daoist Master headed toward the Mingsha Tourism office building.

Meanwhile,

in the office of Mingsha Tourism’s president, Zhu Qiang and Luo Peng sat with furrowed brows in a heavy silence.

“How could something like this suddenly happen?”

After a long silence,

Luo Peng looked toward Zhu Qiang.

“Who knows! It’s been almost twenty-four hours. The flight might have taken Brother Hao’s Fourth and Fifth Sisters—plus, just now, Second Sister sent a message saying Grandfather’s condition is very poor. We shouldn’t tell Brother Hao yet.”

Zhu Qiang rubbed his brows.

He had a sister too; he understood that feeling all too well.

“Sigh… Brother Hao’s request to go abroad probably won’t be approved for a few more days!”

Luo Peng continued.

At this moment, not even Xu Hao felt like dealing with the situation, let alone rebuilding Penglai Immortal Mountain or celebrating the festival.

In fact, they had all considered comforting Xu Hao earlier in the day. Everyone knew that a flight missing for over twelve hours meant something dire, but none knew how to broach the subject—until now.

“I still hope for a miracle!”

Zhu Qiang glanced at the time.

“Yes!”

“So, let’s wait for more news this afternoon. If nothing comes by then, I’ll go talk to Brother Hao. No matter what hardship comes, we must help him push through it—and Mingsha City cannot be paralyzed. Any further issues there will hit Brother Hao even harder.”

After a pause, Luo Peng took a deep breath.

Luo Peng had no idea what Xu Hao was thinking. In his eyes, once loved ones are gone, one must accept the reality and muster the strength to live on.

“That’s right! I believe Brother Hao won’t be defeated by this ordeal! I’ll contact Mr. Fang shortly so the three of us can plan to send someone with him to New Country—just in case something goes wrong.”

Zhu Qiang nodded.

“No problem! We’ll leave two people here. Together with Engineer Li and the others, that should be enough!”

Luo Peng immediately agreed.

Knock, knock, knock! Just then, the sound of knocking echoed from outside.

“Come in!”

At that, Zhu Qiang and Luo Peng exchanged a glance and perked up.

Creak!

In the next moment, the office door swung open as a Staff Member poked his head in.

“General Zhu, there’s a Daoist Master at the door claiming to be Daoist Yougong. He says he’s a friend of Daoist Master Cangshan and wants to see you. Please have a look.”