Dong dong—
The door to the Supernatural Affairs Office was knocked.
"Come in."
Tang Tianze responded, looking over with dark circles under his eyes.
A tall, straight-backed man, whose every movement exuded the demeanor of a soldier, walked in.
He was also holding a brown document bag.
Tang Tianze: "Another person missing?"
The man nodded, enunciating clearly:
"Three people. One is a street punk, one is a school teacher.
And the last one... is an elementary school student.
The times and places of their disappearances have all been roughly compiled in the file."
Tang Tianze took the file and flipped through it, frowning:
"Even a child was dragged into this? Truly lacking in martial virtue."
The man clenched his hand by his side. "We'll have to trouble you with this matter."
Every profession has its specialty.
After this incident occurred, they had thoroughly investigated the surrounding area.
But they found no trace whatsoever.
Those people seemed to have vanished into thin air.
Tang Tianze nodded. "...We'll do our best."
Not long after the man left.
Jiang Ziwei and Ye Youshi, who had gone out to check the situation, returned.
Tang Tianze stood up. "How was it?"
Jiang Ziwei shook his head. "No trace was left at the scene."
Tang Tianze looked at Ye Youshi, who also shook his head.
They had spent the entire night revisiting the places where those people disappeared.
At this moment,
The office door was pushed open again.
Jiang Xian rushed in.
"There's a clue!"
As he spoke, the three people inside looked at him in unison.
Tang Tianze: "What clue!?"
Jiang Xian: "I don't know, but the divination indicated that a new clue would appear at the office today."
Ye Youshi thought for a moment and asked, "Were there any other hints?"
Jiang Xian shook his head. "No, it was very vague."
Tang Tianze, having not slept all night,
Heard this and felt a headache coming on. "I've been in the office the whole time, where could a new clue come from..."
He slumped back into his seat, his gaze falling on the table in front of him.
A flash of inspiration struck him.
Bang!
Tang Tianze suddenly stood up. "I know!"
He picked up the brown document bag and looked at the three of them. "It's this! It was delivered today!"
...
Half an hour later,
Jiang Ziwei and Ye Youshi appeared at Xia Qingqing's home.
Upon entering, the two immediately noticed something unusual by the window.
It was impossible to miss; it was too conspicuous.
Who has a ghost hanging upside down by their window?
After sending the Xia family away, they pulled the boy up.
They conducted a simple interrogation.
What's your name, how old are you,
Where are you from, and why are you hanging here.
"My name is Qin Wenyu, I'm 17 years old..."
The boy answered obediently,
"Actually, I didn't intend to jump. It was after my parents argued that my dad went to the rooftop to drink.
I was worried, so I went up to accompany him.
But he got drunk and was shouting at the rooftop railing.
I went to pull him, and accidentally fell."
Every time he thought of this, the boy felt a surge of frustration.
They all said that once you get into university, you'll be free.
You'll be able to let loose.
He had been enduring hardships, and with just one year left until the college entrance examination.
But before his difficult days could end, he met an accidental death.
It was so frustrating!
Why did his parents have to argue!
And if they argued, what kind of bizarre operation was it to go to the rooftop to drink and go crazy!
The boy couldn't understand.
It was more incomprehensible than the black hole from last night.
"Black hole?"
Ye Youshi caught the key information. "What did you see last night?"
At this moment, the boy's mind felt as if it had been illuminated.
He had been wondering why two people who could see him suddenly appeared.
"You're here for that missing little girl, aren't you?"
He pointed to the ceiling. "Last night, a black hole appeared on the ceiling and sucked in both the person and the ghost.
But honestly, that little girl was too brave; she wasn't scared at all when she saw me.
She even has a little ghost at home. I suspect she's not an ordinary person."
The boy's imagination ran wild. "Maybe she's some chosen one, going to another world to save it."
Jiang Ziwei and Ye Youshi exchanged glances,
They stood up and went to check the center of the ceiling.
One had a red glow flash in his right eye, and the other released a paper effigy the size of a match, even testing some talismans.
But they found nothing.
Afterward,
The two took the boy away from the Xia family's home.
And returned to the office.
Hearing the door open, Tang Tianze and Jiang Xian immediately looked over.
...
Jiang Ziwei and Ye Youshi sat down after entering and took a sip of tea.
To moisten their throats, they relayed the information they had just obtained.
"Black hole?"
Tang Tianze knitted his brows and looked at the boy tied to the side.
"But we didn't find any traces or auras," Jiang Ziwei said, putting down his teacup.
He rested his elbows on his knees, clasping his hands together.
He looked at the others with a serious expression.
"If this is the case, the other party is either a powerful great ghost or some existence that exceeds our common sense."
Whether it was the known records from his Daoist lineage or the common knowledge of the underworld accumulated from watching live streams over the years,
It all indicated that there were many higher-dimensional, unknown existences in this world.
For example, 'gods,' or 'spirits.'
"This is no longer something we can handle," Jiang Ziwei stated.
As he finished speaking,
No one in the office spoke, and the atmosphere became somewhat heavy.
The boy, tied to the sofa, looked around.
—Wow, these people, I think I've seen them somewhere.
But who were they?
After a while,
Ye Youshi tapped the coffee table, bringing everyone's thoughts back.
"Don't panic. Do you remember what the streamer said?"
During their last meeting,
The streamer had said not to get too involved.
This matter was clearly beyond their ability to intervene.
"Let's open the live stream and see if we can contact the streamer."
Up to this point,
The number of discovered 'missing people' had already approached three digits.
If one added those who had disappeared silently and had not yet been discovered,
The total number had likely long surpassed three digits.
Aside from disappearing without a sound,
The ages, occupations, and locations of these people were all different.
There was no discernible pattern.
It was as if...
They were being randomly selected.
...
Jiang Xian glanced at Ye Youshi. "Let's do that."
Contacting the streamer through the live stream also meant publicly disclosing this incident to the world.
It would, to some extent, cause public panic.
However,
The live stream had been around for so many years.
What haven't the viewers seen?
They had probably developed strong hearts?
Jiang Ziwei also nodded. "That's the only way. If possible, try to send a private message."
Seeing that everyone agreed, Tang Tianze stood up and picked up his phone.
"Alright, I'll contact them."
Although they had made a decision on their end,
Whether to implement it or not still required reporting to the higher authorities.
...