Bai Ci watched Su Xiao clutch the folder tightly. She didn't say anything, but simply withdrew her gaze and redirected it toward the folder, quietly scanning its contents from a slight distance.
Su Xiao's subconscious action of guarding the information might not have been intentional, but rather an instinctive reaction stemming from an extreme lack of security. While it wasn't overly offensive, it precisely triggered Bai Ci's guard.
In an instance where life and death were uncertain, someone who instinctively monopolized even a piece of shared information might not necessarily be a bad person, but they were definitely not someone worth getting close to.
Bai Ci was not soft-hearted by nature. Her previous concern for Su Xiao was merely a brief moment of empathy for a fellow newbie, influenced by the harmonious atmosphere Wang Qiang had created.
Now that this empathy had faded, she felt only a sense of detachment toward Su Xiao.
Oh well, she was still only a semi-newbie herself. It was already good enough if she could protect herself.
Besides, there was only so much information anyway. Whether she read it sooner or later, read it together or alone, made little difference. There was no need to argue over such a trivial matter and ruin the newly established team atmosphere.
The commission file was not particularly complex. The first page contained the client's basic information, with a one-inch photo attached. The woman in the photo had gentle features, but they carried an unmistakable, deep exhaustion.
Below the photo was the client's name—Du Min, thirty-eight years old, residing in Room 408 of Chaosheng Apartments.
Aside from Du Min's dictated account, the main body of the file also contained scattered information from the Starlight Detective Agency's preliminary investigation. Bai Ci read through it word by word, gradually piecing together the details of the case.
The client, Du Min, was a mother who had commissioned the Starlight Detective Agency to find her missing daughter, Lele, who was six years old.
One afternoon half a month ago, after finishing lunch, Lele said she wanted to go down to the small park to play on the slide. Du Min, who was busy with housework at the time, saw her daughter's excitement and let her go after reminding her to be careful.
But after she left, her daughter never returned.
“Brother Wang, what kind of organization is this 'Bureau of Investigation' mentioned in the files? And 'investigators'—it sounds like the tabletop RPGs I've played,” Zhao Lei, who had finished reading long ago and couldn't sit still, nudged Wang Qiang's arm. “According to RPG rules, shouldn't we be the investigators?”
“It functions similarly to a real-life police station. Just treat it as the instance's term for the police,” Lin Wenyu's voice suddenly cut in, her tone remaining flat and emotionless.
Yet, taking the initiative to explain such a basic concept was not something a truly cold person would do.
Bai Ci's attention was not distracted by their conversation as she continued to organize the clues.
Du Min had searched the entire park and its surroundings but found no trace of Lele. In her desperation, she reported it to the Bureau of Investigation. The investigators conducted a comprehensive search of the residential area and checked the surveillance footage from the entrance and near the park, but they found no useful clues.
The surveillance footage showed that Lele had indeed left the apartment building that afternoon and walked toward the small park, but the area near the park was a blind spot, so her subsequent movements were not captured.
The investigators also questioned the residents of the neighborhood and nearby shops, even expanding the scope of their search, but there was still no news of Lele.
The neighborhood residents whispered among themselves, saying that Lele must have been abducted by human traffickers. After all, Chaosheng Apartments was an old neighborhood with lax security, allowing outsiders to come and go as they pleased.
Du Min's husband also urged her to accept reality, saying that there was a high probability they would never find her, and told her to stop making a fuss and move on with her life.
But Du Min absolutely refused to believe it. She insisted she could feel that her daughter was still inside Chaosheng Apartments. She believed Lele hadn't been abducted but had been killed by someone in the building, and her body was hidden in some corner of the apartments. This maternal instinct was so strong that it kept her awake at night.
Yet, she could produce no evidence, only this ethereal intuition.
The Bureau of Investigation believed she was suffering from hallucinations due to the extreme grief of losing her daughter, so they paid no attention to her suspicions.
With no one believing her or willing to help, Du Min had reached a dead end. Gritting her teeth, she spent all her savings to commission the detective agency.
Knowing that a direct investigation would put the other residents on guard, she specifically requested that the detective agency's agents pose as tenants, move into Chaosheng Apartments, and secretly investigate her daughter's whereabouts.
Attached to the end of the file was the address of Chaosheng Apartments and a simple map of the residential area, marking the location of Du Min's home and the small park downstairs. There was no other useful information.
“Isn't this a bit too unreliable?” Zhao Lei complained to Wang Qiang, looking somewhat puzzled. “Determining that her daughter was killed by someone in the apartments based solely on the client's feelings? What if she really has mental issues?”
“Commissions in an instance don't appear for no reason,” Wang Qiang's tone turned serious. “Du Min's feeling is highly unlikely to be a hallucination. It's likely a key clue provided by the instance. Since she firmly believes her daughter is in the apartments, the focus of our investigation should be inside Chaosheng Apartments, rather than looking into human traffickers.”
Lin Wenyu nodded in agreement and added, “The commission requires us to pose as tenants, which means we need to hide our identities to investigate without alerting our targets. The residents in the apartments likely all have issues, or at least, everyone is hiding a secret. We must handle this carefully.”
Only then did Su Xiao finish reading the file carefully. She looked up, her face pale, and her voice trembled slightly. “Then... how should we investigate after we move in? What if... what if the person who harmed Lele finds out we're detectives? Will they try to hurt us?”
“That's why we need to be extremely careful,” Wang Qiang glanced at her, softening his tone to offer some patient comfort. “Don't worry, we're operating as a team, so we can look out for each other.”
“Once we arrive at the apartments, we'll first find the manager to rent rooms and settle down. After that, we'll split up to slowly observe the residents and gather clues. You two newbies stay close to me and Xiao Lin. Don't act alone, and speak up immediately if anything happens. Same goes for Xiao Bai; if you want to act on your own, let me or Xiao Lin know first.”
Su Xiao gave a quiet “okay” and quickly lowered her head again, her fingers tightly clutching the canvas bag in her arms, her shoulders still tense.
“Also, Du Min's husband's attitude is very suspicious,” Bai Ci spoke up, sharing her own assessment. Since Wang Qiang and Lin Wenyu were being straightforward and helpful, she had no intention of keeping her thoughts to herself.
“His own daughter went missing, yet instead of actively searching for her, he urged his wife to accept reality. That in itself is highly unusual. Of course, we can't rule out the possibility that he is just a pragmatic person, or that he never cared much about his daughter to begin with.”
“That's another angle. We can look into it later,” Wang Qiang agreed.
Just then, the bus suddenly slowed down. The roar of the engine gradually quieted until the vehicle came to a steady halt. The few people in the cabin stopped their quiet conversations and instinctively straightened up, looking out the windows.
“Are we here?” Zhao Lei asked softly, his eyes filled with a mix of nervousness and anticipation.
Wang Qiang was the first to stand up and grab his belongings. “We should be near Chaosheng Apartments. Let's head down and take a look.”
The group got off the bus one after another. As soon as they stepped out of the door, a damp, cold wind carrying the salty, fishy smell of seawater rushed at them, making them shudder involuntarily.
Bai Ci instinctively wrapped her clothes tighter around herself and looked around.
This was an old bus stop. The shelter's roof was severely damaged, exposing the rusted, blackened rebar inside. Standing next to the platform was a weathered road sign, the paint on the words “Chaosheng Apartments Station” having peeled off in large patches, making it barely legible.
Rate on N.U.
