Ding-dong—
An Alipay notification suddenly popped up on Li Muhang's phone.
"30,000 RMB received via Alipay."
Li Muhang's mind went blank.
What on earth was this?! Why did 30,000 suddenly land in his account?!
"Rent? That's right, you're still a student. This is living allowance I'm sponsoring you with personally. Once you officially join the Special Management Bureau, your starting salary will be around this much anyway. The money should have gone through—take a look?"
"It... it went through! Wait, a monthly salary of 30,000?!"
"Hmm? This is just the base salary. Other extra benefits and mission attendance bonuses aren't included yet. Since you're a newbie, you won't take home too much right away—probably around 30,000 a month."
Boom—
Li Muhang felt as though Baal's lightning had struck him right in the chest. Thirty thousand a month?! What kind of goddamn high-paying job was this?!
"Of course, if you're unwilling to accept my sponsorship, I can also—"
"No, no, no, Director Lin, I accept, I accept! Even if I haven't joined yet, I can still help you guys out. What did you just say? A job? Alright, alright, for this period, I'm your man."
Just like that, Li Muhang effectively became a trainee for the Special Management Bureau.
An hour later, he and Xia Yue arrived at the Special Management Bureau, because today, the Seventh Squad would be taking on their first mission.
Inside the Seventh Squad's meeting room, Huo Tian, Su Xue, Lin Ziyu, and Yin Qi had already arrived.
Seeing Li Muhang, Huo Tian started to step forward, but then suddenly caught sight of Xia Yue walking closely right behind him. Scared out of his wits, he hurriedly took two steps back and shrank away.
"The captain is still as terrified of Miss Xia as ever."
Su Xue teased.
"Taozi, shut up."
Huo Tian muttered, keeping his head down.
Li Muhang was a bit curious. Could this muscle-bound tough guy who seemed afraid of nothing actually have someone he was scared of? He turned to look at Xia Yue.
"What's going on?"
"I beat him up once back when he first joined the Special Management Bureau."
Xia Yue said it casually, expressionless, as if she were talking about something as effortless as eating a piece of bread this morning.
Li Muhang more or less understood. For the sake of his captain's dignity, he didn't pursue the matter further.
Chapter 21: The Missing Girls
"Alright, now that all the members of the Seventh Squad are present, um... Miss, Miss Xia, will you also be participating in our operation?"
Lin Ziyu was always the one responsible for giving mission briefings. He didn't have any personal grievances with Xia Yue; he was simply naturally introverted, and coupled with the fact that Xia Yue was a Calamity-grade anomaly, it was only natural that he felt somewhat nervous.
Xia Yue shook her head.
She seemed this cold to everyone except Li Muhang.
"I'm his guarantor. I brought him here, and now that the Seventh Squad has taken over, I'll be leaving."
Watching Xia Yue walk toward the door, every member of the Seventh Squad except Li Muhang let out a sigh of relief.
This was a Calamity-grade anomaly.
Xia Yue the Blood Clan—that name carried the terrifying weight of the God of Death within the Special Management Bureau. To be monitored and kept under the thumb of someone like that... one could only imagine how miserable Li Muhang's days would be.
As she reached the door, Xia Yue suddenly turned her head back, making everyone tense up.
Yet she only looked at Li Muhang, saying in a gentle voice,
"I'll bring back some barbecue tonight. The owner said whatever's left over can be mine."
There was a hint of anticipation on her face as she spoke, as if she were waiting for Li Muhang's praise.
Li Muhang didn't let her down. He walked up with a smile and gently ruffled her hair.
"No need, I got paid too. I'll take you out to eat tonight, and we'll go buy you some clothes this weekend."
"Mhm..."
Xia Yue lowered her head, a faint blush creeping across her cheeks.
Li Muhang still found it hard to picture Xia Yue working part-time at a barbecue stand. Word had it that Lin Ze was the one who hooked her up with the job in the first place, meaning the owner of that barbecue joint probably wasn't just any ordinary character either.
After Xia Yue closed the door, the jaws of the other Seventh Squad members remained hanging open.
Even the usually expressionless Yin Qi had her mouth wide open at this point, wondering if her eyes were playing tricks on her.
"What the fuck?! That Xia Yue?! You guys?! Li Muhang?! What the goddamn hell?! What is going on?!"
Huo Tian's speech was tangled up. He had originally thought Xia Yue was merely Li Muhang's guarantor.
Yet seeing this, the relationship between these two was clearly anything but ordinary!
"Muhang~ What kind of relationship do you and Miss Xia have?"
Su Xue also leaned in closely, brimming with gossip.
"It's just... unbelievable... I never would've thought that Xia Yue, that Calamity-grade... would actually be so gentle with people."
Li Muhang didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Xia Yue clearly didn't care about her own reputation in the slightest.
She'd been rumored to be a delinquent girl or even a slut back at university, and here in the Special Management Bureau, her reputation evidently wasn't any better.
After a bout of gossip, everyone finally got down to business.
Lin Ziyu projected the mission intelligence onto the screen and began his explanation.
"This mission is a request entrusted to us by the Tianhai City Public Security Bureau. Since Brother Muhang is participating in our missions for the first time, I'll give a brief overview. The commissions accepted by the Special Management Bureau are basically all related to anomalies—meaning incidents involving anomalies that human agencies cannot handle are handed over to our bureau."
Li Muhang listened very attentively, even taking notes—a gesture that caused Lin Ziyu to nod repeatedly in approval.
He had to admit, this was the first time he'd ever felt this level of respect during a mission briefing.
Although Huo Tian and the others would listen intently as well, they never gave Lin Ziyu any positive feedback like this.
"The case originally started as a very ordinary girl abduction. Last winter, a female employee at a company in Tianhai City suddenly went missing on her way home from work, suspected of being abducted."
A photo of a delicate-looking woman appeared on the projection.
"Lü Yue, 24 years old. She suddenly vanished in broad daylight while waiting for a bus after getting off work last September. Note: she vanished completely out of nowhere in full view of the public, and remains unaccounted for to this day. She has two elderly parents living in the countryside and a boyfriend, who has already been cleared of suspicion."
A piece of surveillance footage played on the screen.
In the video, Lü Yue, dressed in professional attire and carrying a handbag, was looking at her phone while waiting for the bus.
Yet the moment the clock struck 8:24, Lü Yue vanished without a trace in the very next frame, scaring an elderly man standing right next to her half to death.
However, because it was already late and very few people were waiting for buses at that hour, only this elderly man had noticed it.
Next, a second woman's photo appeared.
"Zhou Yunyun, 25 years old, a bank employee. In the second month following Lü Yue's disappearance case, Zhou Yunyun went to the restroom while traveling with friends, and then mysteriously vanished from the restroom."
"Then came Kong Yuhua, 23 years old; Zhao Li, 25 years old; and Yang Ying, 22 years old. Up to now, the total number of missing women has reached 15. The most recent one was two months ago, a 22-year-old junior student at Tianhai University named Qin Yahan. Their common trait is that they all vanished suddenly without any warning whatsoever."
Li Muhang's brows furrowed deeper and deeper. Why did these incidents sound so familiar to him...
The serial girl disappearance case...
Wait!
He suddenly turned his head to look at Huo Tian, only to find that the previous banter had vanished entirely from the other man's gaze.
At this moment, Huo Tian's eyes were bloodshot, staring fixedly at the projection while his hands clenched into fists so tight they creaked.
"That's right."
Lin Ziyu looked at Li Muhang.
"These incidents are carbon copies of the serial girl disappearance cases from five years ago..."
At this point, he suddenly looked at Huo Tian and said,
"I suggest the Seventh Squad drop this mission and hand it over to another squad."
"No."
Huo Tian stood up, saying coldly.
"If we hand it to another squad, this matter will just be swept under the rug again."
His eyes were filled with fury, clearly expressing deep dissatisfaction with the Special Management Bureau squad that had handled the case back then.
Lin Ziyu sighed helplessly.
With no other choice, he continued with the mission briefing.
The Tianhai City police were at their wit's end; these disappearance cases had left behind not a single shred of evidence, giving them nowhere to start.
So last month, after conducting an evaluation, the Special Management Bureau took over the case, carried out preliminary investigations, and ultimately narrowed their focus onto a type of anomaly known as Jiuguo.
"Jiuguo, also known as Mahua, is a native mountain sprite and monster of Huaxia's lands. The earliest records of it date back to *In Search of the Supernatural*, written by the Eastern Jin dynasty historian Gan Bao. These monsters look like monkeys and specialize in abducting women, forcing them to bear their children under the threat of never letting them return home."
"Currently, Jiuguo only exist in Huaxia—or rather, it is only the Huaxia Special Management Bureau that has records of them and keeps them under surveillance."
"There are three in total."
Three photos appeared on the projection.
The men in these three photos looked no different from ordinary men in their forties, somewhat balding, and looking like three greasy middle-aged men.
"The first Jiuguo, operating under the alias Zhu Qiang, was first logged into our files fifty years ago. He is currently a coal miner and basically has no opportunity to interact with women."
"The second Jiuguo, operating under the alias Zhang Yue, was first logged into files thirty years ago. Currently a sailor, he spends year-round drifting out at sea, so he can basically be ruled out as well."
Then, a third person appeared on the projection.
"Zhou Zhiguo, first logged into the archives seven years ago. He is currently a taxi driver right here in Tianhai City, and at the same time..."
Lin Ziyu looked at Huo Tian and noticed that the way the latter was looking at Zhou Zhiguo's photo was so terrifyingly murderous it looked as though he wanted to devour him alive.
"At the same time, he is also one of the suspects in the serial girl disappearance cases from five years ago, and the anomaly most likely to have committed these crimes."
Looking at that somewhat sleazy photograph of Zhou Zhiguo,
Li Muhang felt a knot in his stomach.
Were those women still alive? Where were they?
What else had he done to those women?
At the mere thought of this, a chill ran down the back of Li Muhang's neck, and Zhou Zhiguo's eyes in the photo seemed to turn exceptionally cold and sinister.
"This time... I won't let him get away."
Huo Tian picked up his tablet and locked eyes with Zhou Zhiguo on the screen.
Crack.
The tablet was crushed directly in his grip.
"Captain!! That's public property!! You're going to have your pay docked for this again!!!"
A wail from Lin Ziyu echoed through the meeting room.
Chapter 22: He Really Has Changed
Tianhai City at dusk.
At the entrance of the First Hospital, Gu Ruoxi was being kicked out once again.
She had clearly heard that Zhao Qiankun had woken up and originally thought he would contact her at the very first moment, yet waiting and waiting, Gu Ruoxi hadn't received a single message from him.
Having no other choice, she called to inquire. The newly awakened Zhao Qiankun sounded extremely weak, which made Gu Ruoxi's heart ache with sympathy.
So she dressed up meticulously, planning to visit Zhao Qiankun at the hospital.
Since Zhao Qiankun was awake now, those bodyguards surely wouldn't dare treat her that way again.
Yet the words Zhao Qiankun spoke the moment he saw her plunged Gu Ruoxi straight into an abyss of ice.
"Fuck your mother, you stinking whore! Don't let me ever see you again, or I'll fucking skin you alive!"
The moment Zhao Qiankun—who had been lying paralyzed in bed—saw Gu Ruoxi, he immediately pointed right at the bridge of her nose and began cursing furiously.
"A-kun, what on earth did I do..."
"Get the hell out of here! I don't want to see you ever again! Get lost!"
Using his only remaining usable hand, Zhao Qiankun grabbed whatever was within reach and hurled it at Gu Ruoxi.
Fleeing from the hospital, Gu Ruoxi walked aimlessly down the streets of the winter night.
The snow had stopped by today, and the nighttime streets were once again filled with pedestrians, yet Gu Ruoxi felt as though she were walking down an endless, pitch-black alleyway.
She didn't understand why things had turned out this way.
Gu Ruoxi only felt bone-deep exhaustion; she just wanted to sleep. So she returned to the standalone villa Zhao Qiankun had bought for her, but at the front door, no matter if she used her fingerprint or facial recognition, she couldn't unlock the gate.
It even triggered the alarm.
Houses belonging to wealthy people like this all had dedicated private security firms on call.
Within two minutes, several security personnel arrived at the front entrance of the villa.
Seeing the bewildered Gu Ruoxi, they asked what she was doing there.
"I'm the owner of this place!"
Gu Ruoxi pulled out her ID card, insisting that the house belonged to her.
The security personnel checked the ID, but told Gu Ruoxi,
"I'm sorry, Miss Gu, your name wasn't put on the deed for this house when it was purchased, and just moments ago, the information you had registered in our security system was completely wiped by Mr. Zhao, the true owner of the property."
"What?! But, but Zhao Qiankun bought this house for me! And a lot of the furniture inside was bought with my own savings! My luggage is still inside!"
"We know nothing about any of that, but please leave the premises right now."
Gu Ruoxi tried to argue further, but she was grabbed by brute force and dragged straight into a vehicle. The security staff drove off and dumped Gu Ruoxi on a street several blocks away.
Gu Ruoxi felt an overwhelming sense of grievance; not only did she no longer have a home to return to, but she had even lost her luggage.
Yet come to think of it, was that place ever truly her home?
Covered in dust, she picked herself up from the ground, thinking she'd just go check into a hotel to tide herself over for the night.
If it were the old days, Gu Ruoxi was the kind of girl who would meticulously budget and plan a month in advance even for a trip with her parents, haggling with guesthouse owners over ten yuan for half a day.
Yet right now.
She walked straight into Tianhai City's most luxurious five-star hotel without even glancing at the rates.
To her, everything here was nothing less than what she deserved, though she completely overlooked her current predicament.
After booking a top-floor luxury suite, Gu Ruoxi collapsed onto the soft, plush bed, right on the verge of falling asleep, when the door was suddenly pushed open.
Sleep-eyed and dazed, Gu Ruoxi was hauled out of bed and dragged down to the lobby front desk.
"I'm sorry, Miss, the funds on the card you just swiped have been frozen."
"Wh—what??"
She stared in disbelief at the front desk, then pulled another card from her bag.
"This one's frozen too, Miss."
"Wait... wait for a second."
Gu Ruoxi began pulling the cards out of her wallet one by one.
Unsurprisingly, every single card was frozen and unusable.
Finally, Gu Ruoxi understood the reason.
Because those cards had all been given to her by Zhao Qiankun; that money was never hers to begin with.
Thrown out by the hotel's security, she slumped down dejectedly onto the ground.
Where was she supposed to go tonight?
She still had a little over a thousand yuan in her WeChat wallet, which would only afford her a run-of-the-mill hotel.
Yet how could the current Gu Ruoxi possibly bear to stay in a place like that?
She decided to go get something to eat first.
Hesitating for a long while outside the entrance of a high-end restaurant, she ultimately lacked the nerve to step inside.
After all, this remaining money was her last resort, and a single casual meal at this restaurant would bankrupt her right on the spot.
Eventually, as she wandered aimlessly, she was drawn in by the aroma of barbecue.
How long had it been since she last ate food like this?
Staring at the bustling, wildly popular barbecue joint, Gu Ruoxi gritted her teeth and finally walked over.
She sat down at an outdoor table and was browsing the menu when she suddenly heard a familiar voice.
"Don't bother picking me up, I can get home."
"I'm just worried you'll go moping off to sit in the park again."
"Shut up."
Following the sound of the voices, Gu Ruoxi turned her head and caught sight of a familiar back.
A back she used to cherish above all else.
Li Muhang.
"Ah."
Gu Ruoxi instinctively wanted to call out Li Muhang's name, but then noticed he was chatting with a petite and slender young woman.
The girl was dressed in an oversized hoodie and jeans.
Her long black hair was tied into a high ponytail, and though her face was partially hidden beneath a mask and cap, one could tell from her delicate brows and eyes that she was an absolute beauty.
Who was that?
Gu Ruoxi asked herself inwardly.
Li Muhang's girlfriend?
No way—that wet blanket of a guy, who on earth would bother with him besides her?
Gu Ruoxi suddenly recalled how Li Muhang had brought Xia Yue—the notorious campus slut—home last time. Could this girl be Xia Yue?
She looked closer, scrutinizing the young woman's face, and was shocked to realize it really was Xia Yue.
That Xia Yue was actually working part-time at a barbecue joint?
Wasn't she the one who had just handed over the menu? Did she deliberately pretend not to recognize her? And was she chatting with Li Muhang right in front of her on purpose? What was this called—showing dominance?
Gu Ruoxi found it laughable. How could she possibly still care about a man she had dumped?
Yet in truth, a wave of discomfort had already begun to churn deep within Gu Ruoxi's heart.
Seeing Li Muhang and Xia Yue interacting so happily—with Li Muhang even reaching out to adjust Xia Yue's slightly crooked cap—
Gu Ruoxi's anger flared up instantly. How could he be so affectionate with another girl!
She cleared her throat, stood up, twirled a strand of hair behind her ear with her finger, and called out toward Li Muhang's back with a feigned expression of surprise.
"What a coincidence."
Yet to her astonishment, Li Muhang acted as if he hadn't heard a thing, not even bothering to turn around.
He didn't hear?
That was impossible—even Xia Yue had seen her.
"Look."
Xia Yue glanced at Gu Ruoxi and gave Li Muhang a subtle cue with her eyes.
Li Muhang paused, then turned his head back, running right into Gu Ruoxi, who was standing awkwardly in place with her hand still raised mid-air as if preparing to wave.
"Oh, was that you calling me just now? My bad. Why didn't you just shout my name directly?"
Li Muhang said to Gu Ruoxi with a faint, polite smile on his face.
What??
Gu Ruoxi felt an intense wave of displeasure.
Does he mean if I hadn't called his name, he wouldn't even recognize my voice anymore?
He's doing this on purpose. He's definitely doing it on purpose to make me mad.
Harboring this thought, Gu Ruoxi forced a relaxed expression and said to Li Muhang,
"It's nothing. Want to come over and sit with us?"
"No thanks. I'm here to pick her up from work, we'll be leaving in a bit. Enjoy your meal."
With nothing more than a casual, smiling greeting to Gu Ruoxi, Li Muhang turned right back around and resumed his conversation with Xia Yue.
Gu Ruoxi froze in place.