Free Web NovelChapter 325: Chapter 279: Disappearance_2
"Director Nalan is wise!"
Nalan Shuo waved his hand dismissively and then took on an official demeanor, "Linghu Guishan colluded with the Yu Yuan Sect Evil Cultivators in a vain attempt to harm the captain of our Patrol Defense Office investigation team. His death is well deserved. I have already suppressed this matter for you; you don’t need to worry about the autopsies or reports."
"Many thanks to the Director! However, he was after all the vice president of the chamber of commerce. If we don’t return the body to them, might there be trouble from the chamber of commerce?" The chamber was no pushover, Beibei had chatted with him before, and aside from the Patrol Defense Bureau and the Apostles Union, the chamber of commerce was the largest force. They had extensive connections in both legal and illegal circles, and it was said they were intricately linked with Evil Cultivators. Now seeing it firsthand, it indeed seemed to be true.
On hearing this, Nalan Shuo sneered coldly, "Their people were caught red-handed mingling with Evil Cultivators. That’s an ironclad fact. They should be thankful we’re not seeking trouble with them. How would they dare make a fuss? I’ve already notified them, we will cremate the body and return the remains to his family, and they have no objections."
"The Director has thought of everything."
"However, you must not take this lightly. Tell no one about this matter, including the people in your team. It’s no big deal for official personnel to have Resentful Eyes from Evil Cultivators, but you’re different," Nalan Shuo warned, "You have too many unaccountable items on you."
Yang Xiao smiled sheepishly, most of the items on his person, besides the White-robed Ghost Bodhisattva’s Great Dust Whisk, should be known to Nalan Shuo. He had taken the initiative to tell him about the Drama Robe early on, and now Nalan Shuo also knew about the Soul-Capturing Mirror. As for the Green Lantern, even if Beibei didn’t mention it, Wu Zhe and Wu Zhengwu would include it in their report and submit it for the records.
After making sure there were no issues, Nalan Shuo briefly instructed him on a few more points and left. But Yang Xiao didn’t dare to take a breather, knowing full well that Nalan Shuo was not easily fooled.
In the afternoon, Yang Xiao obtained pen and paper from Zhuge Zhijie and sketched portraits of a few team members from his last mission. He still had a lingering concern: the Yuyuan Sect Evil Cultivator who might be hiding among them. He had to find this individual.
In the evening, with no serious injuries, Yang Xiao left the hospital. His arm had only suffered a scrape, and he certainly wouldn’t be foolish enough to break his own arm.
Flipping through his contact list, he thought of Fu Qingzhu, who he needed help from for some matters, so he arranged to meet him at the old place at 10 o’clock.
In the same bar’s private room, Yang Xiao met Fu Qingzhu dressed in sportswear, who said he had recently taken a liking to night running and had run all the way here.
"Do you know Linghu Guishan from the chamber?" Yang Xiao got straight to the point. ƒгeewёbnovel.com
"I know him, but not well. What about it?" Fu Qingzhu inquired, "Has he troubled you?"
"What’s his background?"
"He’s the vice president of Rongcheng’s chamber of commerce, holding a nominal position, not involved in the actual management but actually responsible for intelligence gathering on behalf of the chamber. He has extensive connections and decent relations with both your Patrol Defense Office and our Apostles Union. However, he’s not an Angel Envoy, just a regular person. Most of the senior members in the chamber are like that," Fu Qingzhu elaborated in detail.
"No need to worry. If there’s any grievance between you two that needs my assistance, just say the word. I’ll arrange a meeting, and we can talk it out. There are no knots that can’t be unraveled," Fu Qingzhu poured a glass of wine for Yang Xiao and passed it over, "The good thing about people from the chamber is they know how to adapt, not stubborn, and welcome anyone to do business with them, as long as the price is fair."
"That won’t be necessary," Yang Xiao shook his head. "I just need you to help me check who he has been in contact with recently. I suspect he is related to the Evil Cultivators."
"Which Evil Cultivators?" Fu Qingzhu was somewhat surprised.
"The Yu Yuan Sect."
"So the big commotion you guys had yesterday was a fight with someone from the Yu Yuan Sect?" Fu Qingzhu nodded slowly, "No wonder our chairman called to inquire, and your Director Nalan didn’t reveal a single word."
"You guys don’t know about this?" Yang Xiao was also stunned. He remembered Director Nalan saying that the intelligence was provided by an informant of the Apostles Union. How could it be that even the people of the Apostles Union didn’t know about it?
After hearing what Yang Xiao said, Fu Qingzhu was also baffled, shaking his head repeatedly, "No no, there definitely isn’t such a thing. How could we of the Apostles Union have intelligence that even your Patrol Defense Bureau can’t obtain? It must be that your director intentionally deceived you to keep the source of the intelligence a secret."
The speaker meant no harm, but the listener took it to heart. In an instant, Yang Xiao recalled that before the mission, Nalan Shuo had specifically sought him and Beibei out, and even said something inexplicable, asking if he had anything else to tell him. Now it seemed that Nalan Shuo had been suspicious of him for a long time and had been on his guard.
Seeing the change in Yang Xiao’s expression, Fu Qingzhu put down his drink and kindly reminded him, "Brother, you’d better be careful. Our two chairmen are somewhat afraid of your Director Nalan. He didn’t get to his position today by simple means. I dare not say anything else, but here in Rongcheng, it’s not easy to carry out any tricks without Nalan Shuo noticing."
"I don’t have anything to hide from him," Yang Xiao replied with a smile, gesturing for Fu Qingzhu to continue drinking with him.
Fu Qingzhu knew his limits too and didn’t ask what had happened with the Yu Yuan Sect the previous night. After the two of them drank two bottles of liquor and chatted idly for a while, they parted ways.
Just as he walked out of the bar and turned on his phone, which had been off, the screen was suddenly flooded with over a dozen missed calls. Yang Xiao was a bit bewildered. They were all from his teammates—Xi Menxiu, Da Xiong, Zhuge Zhijie, Yu Shu. He hadn’t seen Beibei’s yet, temporarily.
Before he could return the calls, another call came in. As soon as he answered, Xi Menxiu’s anxious voice rang out, "Captain, Beibei is missing!"
Having just consumed alcohol, Yang Xiao’s mind was somewhat foggy. "Missing?"
"Gone! Beibei... she’s disappeared!"
"What happened?" Yang Xiao’s heart suddenly tightened. He knew that Beibei had been close to the deceased Sun Qiya, but she was an adult. She wouldn’t do anything foolish, would she?
What worried him most was the issue with Beibei’s Resentful Eye. Could it be that the Resentful Eye had gone out of control again, causing another paranormal incident and involving Beibei too?
The scene was chaotic on Xi Menxiu’s end, sounding like there were a lot of people. Yang Xiao asked for the location and then hurried over. It turned out to be another bar, but it had already been sealed off, with quite a few police officers around. There were groups of drunken men and women by the roadside and some even arguing with the police.
Yang Xiao quickly found Xi Menxiu, who quickly led him into the bar. On the way, Yang Xiao learned that not long before, Beibei had been drinking in this bar with a few friends. She had been distressed because of Sun Qiya’s death and after visiting Sun Qiya’s parents, she had invited a few friends out to drink away her sorrows. But unexpectedly, while they were drinking, Beibei disappeared, and she had yet to be found.
"What about her phone?" asked Yang Xiao.
"That’s the strange part. Her phone is out of the service area," Xi Menxiu replied, his forehead slick with sweat. By this point, the bar had been cleared, leaving only their people and a few staff members.
Soon they found several fashionably dressed girls by the couch. Xi Menxiu introduced them as the friends who had been drinking with Beibei. One of them worked for the Patrol Defense Bureau and was the one who had called the bureau to report that Beibei was missing.
"What exactly happened? Take your time," Yang Xiao consoled, seeing that the girl was also very anxious, with her carefully applied makeup all smeared from crying.
"Around... around 8 o’clock in the evening, Beibei had just left Sun Qiya’s parents’ house and invited us out to drink. We were at a booth. She was in a bad mood, so she just drank silently to herself. It didn’t take long before she had too much and then she got up and went to the bathroom," one girl explained.
"The bathroom is quite far from our spot. You have to cross the dance floor to get there. I was worried about her, so after she was halfway there, I followed her. I waited outside the bathroom for her, but she didn’t come out for a long time. So I went in to look for her, but... but I checked every stall and didn’t find her. When I called her phone, it said it was out of the service area."
