bookrandom Chapter 321 Missing
Chapter 321 Missing
Yan Xun sat in his office, facing the brown-haired boss, who had a long scar on the side of his cheek and looked to be around 40 years old.
He sat in Yan Xun's office. "Liam disappeared three days ago."
Seeing the puzzled look on Yan Xun's face, he added, "Your neighbor."
Yan Xun seemed to be hearing his brown-haired neighbor's name for the first time. He looked at Liam's boss with a sudden realization and asked, "So you want me to find him?"
“He must have encountered some difficulties.” The man, with curly black hair, looked at Yan Xun. “So he left here temporarily.”
"I hope you can find the reason."
"And bring Liam back."
A small task bar finally appeared before Yan Xun's eyes—
[Task 1: Find Liam, who has gone missing, and investigate the cause.]
"When did he disappear?" Yan Xun asked.
"Three nights ago."
“He usually handles the business at the docks,” the boss told Yan Xun. “But that night, his partner noticed that Liam’s attitude was strange.”
"He was being secretive and muttering something unintelligible."
"And the other party repeatedly tried to find maps and routes to the south."
When Yan Xun heard the keyword "going south", he couldn't help but look up.
"What do you seem to know?" the leader asked, noticing their expression.
“This is the second person I know is going to the South,” Yan Xun said.
Who was the first one?
“The newsboy downstairs,” Yan Xun said, leaning back in his sputtering office chair and looking at the man smoking across from him. “Did I say smoking was prohibited here?”
The eldest brother pulled out a pocket watch-shaped ashtray from his pocket, extinguished his cigarette, and said, "Sorry."
"You mean that newsboy is also going south?" he asked.
“Yes,” Yan Xun said. He hadn’t seen the newsboy since about a week ago.
The eldest brother pondered, "You should know about those recent rumors."
"The Church of Angels?"
“The wealthy man didn’t die after he grew wings,” he said. “He said he received divine guidance to build a similar church here.”
"That sounds like good news." Yan Xun also learned from the newspaper that the wealthy man had recovered.
“Yes…” the eldest brother propped his head up, “but recently some newsboys have gone missing on the streets.”
"Some people have also disappeared, including some from our guild."
"You suspect that Liam's disappearance is related to the church?" Yan Xun asked. "But if I remember correctly, this church was founded less than a week ago? Considering the time it took for that rich man to grow wings..."
“They call it an awakening,” the eldest brother said.
Yan Xun looked at the eldest brother, "What about those who died?"
"They were eliminated by the gods." The leader tapped his cigarette case. "Don't look at me like that, that's what all the winged people say."
“I went to his freshman party,” the leader said, naming the wealthy man. “He said he had never felt sober and strong.”
“He saw God’s instructions, so he formed a church.”
"Anyone who is given a new life may go to this church."
"What about those that didn't grow wings?" Yan Xun asked.
“As long as you are willing to believe in their god, you can too.” The eldest brother sat opposite Yan Xun. “You should know that besides the people who have grown wings, there has been another strange thing happening in the city recently.”
"You mean those pregnant women?"
The eldest nodded. "I suspect Liam's disappearance is related to this."
"I heard there's a church in the south that's proclaiming the end of the world is coming this year..."
Yan Xun recalled what his landlady had said: "They say that when the first angel appears, the end of the world will come."
"Hasn't the first angel already appeared?" Yan Xun was referring to the man he and Liam had met that day.
"Yes."
"This is not a good sign."
Perhaps feeling he had said enough, the eldest brother stood up and said, "I hope you can help me find Liam."
He took out a few banknotes and placed them on Yan Xun's desk. "If you find Liam, I'll give you three times the money."
Yan Xun reached out and took the banknotes. "Is Liam that important?"
“He’s very important.” The eldest brother turned to Yan Xun and said, “He’s very important.”
"I have to find him."
He left the office, leaning on his cane, his footsteps heavy as he went downstairs, followed by several more footsteps.
Yan Xun walked to the window, pulled down the blinds, and looked down at everything below.
Several men wearing hats stood on the opposite street corner, pretending to be just passing by with newspapers in their hands, but their eyes were fixed on Liam's house.
After Liam went missing, the group lingered downstairs.
The landlady also told Yan Xun that many strangers had come to her pharmacy in the past few days.
“Maybe they’re looking for Liam,” she said to Yan Xun, with pregnant Milo lying on her lap.
Yan Xun sat behind his desk reading the newspaper. He hadn't heard about Liam's disappearance yet. His landlord had a good relationship with Liam's mother, so perhaps he got the information from her.
"Liam is missing?" Yan Xun asked.
“Two days ago,” the landlord said.
“But he would often disappear for a period of time to do things for that boss.” She knew a lot about this place. “His mother didn’t pay attention at first, until those men wearing hats appeared downstairs.”
Yan Xun recalled the men's appearance, "Were they here to spy on the Liam family?"
"Maybe," the landlady said. "At least they haven't shown up before."
"I think something must have happened to Liam."
Yan Xun understood the landlord's other meaning—the organization suspected that Liam had stolen something and run away, which was why they had gathered near Liam's house.
“These past few days, I’ve also felt like someone is following me,” Yan Xun said, putting down his newspaper.
“You talk to Liam a lot,” the landlady knew all about it.
"They suspect I'm an accomplice?"
“We’ve all been suspected,” the landlord said.
Yan Xun sighed, "My relationship with Liam is so-so."
“But they don’t see it that way,” the landlady said, standing up with Milo in her arms. “I bet they’ll come looking for you tomorrow.”
Just as the landlord said, Liam's boss came to the door the next day, but he made up a good excuse, saying that he hoped Yan Xun could help him investigate the reason for Liam's disappearance.
Yan Xun looked at the street through the gap in the blinds. Several black cars were parked there. After a while, the eldest brother, who was leaning on a cane, and his wary henchmen came to the street.
They seemed to have discovered the spying from upstairs.
The boss spotted Yan Xun behind the blinds with pinpoint accuracy—he had a cigarette dangling from his mouth, and it seemed he had just left Yan Xun's office and had eagerly lit it. He waved at Yan Xun, said a few words to his henchmen, and then got into the black car.
A few of his followers remained nearby; Yan Xun knew this was blatant surveillance.
He was warning Yan Xun that he knew Yan Xun's every move and that Yan Xun shouldn't try to deceive him with any tricks.
Yan Xun didn't care about this, after all, this was his first mission nearly a month after entering the instance.
He left his office and found his henchmen, all of whom were wearing similar hats. Yan Xun randomly picked one and asked, "I want to find the person who partnered with Liam that day."
The henchmen exchanged glances, and one of them, a man with a missing ear, nodded to Yan Xun, "Come with me."
He led Yan Xun through several blocks to the back gate of a factory, where a brown-skinned man sat atop piles of crates.
He had very black hair, dark brown skin, and a pair of striking blue eyes.
Upon seeing his henchmen, he immediately jumped off the crate. "Have you found Liam?"
He then looked at Yan Xun behind his follower and asked, "Who are you?"
He had a heavy accent, and Yan Xun could barely make out what he was saying.
“The detective we hired,” the henchman said, nodding to the brown-skinned man. “He’s all yours.”
“I am Koy,” the brown-skinned man said.
“Ryan,” Yan Xun said.
He nodded. "Did the boss send you?"
“I’ve heard Liam mention you. You’re the detective who lives across the street from him.” He gestured for Yan Xun to follow him. “He said you told him you were an exorcist?”
"Really?" Koy turned to look at Yan Xun. "You can exorcise demons?"
“My grandmother,” Yan Xun said, “was very skilled at exorcising demons.” He was referring to Granny Shi from the previous instance.
"Really?" Koy asked curiously. "What kind of things happened to her?"
“I heard a story,” he told Yan Xun. “Every day at 5 a.m., a whaling ship that looks like it was built in the 18th century will appear at the dock.”
"Some people heard the crew cheering, but when they looked through their binoculars, there was nothing on the ship."
"When the sun rises, the ghost ship will disappear again."
Koy didn't seem to believe Yan Xun's story, and his tone was somewhat provocative, "Have you heard stories like this before?"
"Why does that sound so familiar?" Yan Xun wondered, looking at Koi. "I dreamt about my past life."
"I used to be a crew member on a whaling ship."
He told Koy in detail everything that happened on the whaling ship: the crew members who had already died, the ice wall that hid monsters, and the nightmares that he could not wake up from.
"Perhaps those crew members were my former comrades."
He said to Koy.
Yan Xun's description was too realistic; he described every detail on the ship—someone who had never been on a whaling ship shouldn't know so much—Koy felt a little regretful, thinking he shouldn't have doubted Yan Xun.
“There are shamans in my hometown,” he told Yan Xun. “They can also see their past lives.”
Seeing that Ke Yi's attitude had changed, Yan Xun took the opportunity to ask about what had happened that night.
“We’re doing the same thing as always,” Coy said, pointing into the distance. “We have a piece of land near that dock.”
“Receive some payment there.”
Yan Xun understood; they were asking the dock merchants for protection money. "And then what?"
“Then I noticed that Liam ate very little.” He pointed to a pub, “We usually ate there in the evenings.”
"Liam has a big appetite and can usually eat a lot."
"But he couldn't eat anything that day."
"He asked me if I had seen the recent news about people who suddenly grew wings."
Yan Xun followed Koy through the market. "And then?"
“I said of course I saw it.”
“In the place I was in, in that factory, there were five people who grew wings. Four of them died within three days, and the remaining one is still alive.”
“I’ve seen those wings, they’re real,” he told Yan Xun.
“I told him all this, and Liam asked me what we, who don’t have wings, should do if the end of the world comes?”
He said the end of the world would definitely be a great flood.
"That is why those who received the revelation grew wings to escape the flood."
Yan Xun stopped in his tracks upon hearing this. "Liam can think about these things?"
“Haha, I think so too.” Koy laughed. “All he thinks about is money, alcohol, oh, and cigarettes.”
"I suspect there's something wrong with his head."
"When did he become like this?" Yan Xun asked.
“About two days earlier,” Koy recalled.
“It was the night of the torrential rain five days ago,” he said. “I saw him go out wearing a raincoat; it seemed like the boss had given him some other work.”
"Other jobs?" Yan Xun asked.
“He was also in charge of cleaning,” Coy said. “There’s a farm in the suburbs, and he must have been driving things there that day.”
Yan Xun pondered the "cleanup" Koy had mentioned. If he remembered correctly, the organization Liam belonged to that day seemed to have a disagreement with another organization regarding territorial divisions...
Have you been to that farm?
“Of course,” Koy said.
“We went to the farm immediately,” he told Yan Xun. “At first, we thought it was retaliation from our opponents.”
"But the farm owner said he had never seen Liam."
“He drove away after bringing the feed to the farm that day, and the following afternoon, I and others saw Liam.”
"And then you went to the dock together?"
"Correct."
"What strange things did he say?"
Koy nodded.
As he spoke, Yan Xun could already smell the distinctive scent of the dock. He looked up at the dock, where there were many vendors selling goods. When they saw Koy, they all showed ingratiating smiles.
“We usually work here,” Koy said, pointing to the dock.
“We would occasionally go out for a drink after work, but Liam declined my invitation that day.”
He pointed to the tavern not far away, "I just assume Liam is in a bad mood because of those rumors."
"He has indeed been having some troubles lately."
"The end of the world?" Yan Xun asked.
“No.” Koy looked at Yan Xun, then glanced around. “Liam only told me about this.”
Yan Xun leaned closer. "What?"
“His brother,” Coy said. “You know, he has a brother who works at a slaughterhouse.”
Yan Xun knew the other party's older brother; he had met him a few times. The older brother's hands were somewhat ulcerated from long hours of labor, and when he saw Yan Xun, he would always nod hastily as a greeting.
"Is it related to him?" Yan Xun asked.
“Of course,” Koy said, a hint of smugness in his eyes. “His brother is pregnant.”
He stared at Yan Xun, seemingly wanting to see his reaction, but to his disappointment, Yan Xun showed no reaction at all, remaining unusually calm.
“Aren’t you surprised?” Koy asked. “His brother!”
"I'm pregnant!"
"They had a child."
“This is the third one I’ve learned about recently,” Yan Xun said.
"There are others?" Koy asked in surprise.
“Yes, one of them is a male dog,” Yan Xun said.
He looked at Koy. "So you think Liam's low mood is related to this?"