novelGlobal #294 - Chapter 293 Seventeen Unrelated People
#294 - Chapter 293 Seventeen Unrelated People
Clang, clang, clang——
The train to City 200 slowly pulled away.
“A double sleeper cabin? When did you become so generous?”
Xiang Nanzhi plopped down onto the soft mattress.
Li Chenqiu, who was busy packing, said without looking up, “I’m always generous to my friends.”
“You really have a good sense of yourself!” Xiang Nanzhi’s lips twitched as he rubbed his stomach. “By the way, what about the cold roasted chicken you mentioned?”
Li Chenqiu took out the roasted chicken wrapped in yellow kraft paper from his bag and placed it on the table.
Xiang Nanzhi’s eyes lit up, and he scooted closer, reaching out to peel off the oily kraft paper layer by layer.
After peeling off the last layer of kraft paper, the half-roasted chicken was exposed before his eyes without any covering.
“Why is it only half a chicken?”
“The cold roasted chicken is too popular. There was only half left when I got there.”
“Are you taking me for a fool? This half chicken was clearly gnawed off by someone’s mouth. Is this your leftovers?!”
“Nonsense, I tore it with my hands, I didn’t gnaw it with my mouth.”
Xiang Nanzhi raised his arm high and slapped the back of Li Chenqiu’s neck with a “smack”: “I must have been kicked in the head by a donkey to believe your nonsense!”
“I was wrong, I was wrong, I won’t lie to you again next time.”
Li Chenqiu rubbed his neck, picked up the office laptop issued by the Discipline and Law Department, placed it on the table, opened the laptop, and clicked on the document Duan Xian sent him.
“Oh, the sun is rising in the west, you didn’t even retort?” Xiang Nanzhi curiously sat next to Li Chenqiu, craning his neck: “Missing persons information for City 200?”
Xiang Nanzhi asked curiously, “What are you looking at this for?”
“I’ve been appointed as a Discipline Envo…”
In the time that followed, Li Chenqiu explained everything he had experienced today, including the tit-for-tat exchanges at the dinner table, the functions of Night Quiet...
Xiang Nanzhi said in surprise, “I didn’t expect the Star Plucking Academy to value you so much, making you a Discipline Envoy right away.”
Li Chenqiu read the document while asking, “Is a Discipline Envoy very powerful?”
“This is a position with real power, of course it’s powerful. Moreover, I heard from Yama that the Discipline and Law Department has a lot of shady income, and there are consortiums behind every Discipline Head.”
“There are consortiums behind them?” Li Chenqiu turned his head curiously.
“What are you looking at me for? Every year, the Star Plucking Academy has scions of consortiums entering. Isn’t it normal for the Discipline and Law Department, as the academy’s law enforcement agency, to be interfered with by consortiums?”
“That’s true.”
Li Chenqiu nodded in agreement, propped his head up, and continued to carefully read the document.
…
Under the dark blue night sky, a helicopter flew quickly, heading in the same direction as Li Chenqiu’s destination, City 200.
Inside the cabin, Huang Jianhua held a tablet in one hand, swiping back and forth with his finger.
Besides him, there was also a thin, tall middle-aged man in the cabin.
This man’s name was Liu An, a Level One Discipline Officer in the First District of the Discipline and Law Department.
“Brother Huang, that Li Chenqiu took a freshman student and traveled to City 200 on an underground train. The train arrives at 7:20 a.m. tomorrow.”
Liu An held his phone in front of Huang Jianhua, the screen showing a video loop of Li Chenqiu and Xiang Nanzhi entering the station.
“Took a freshman student?” Huang Jianhua glanced at it, a hint of mockery flashing in his eyes. “This Li Chenqiu really got his head stuck in the door, bringing a student along.”
Huang Jianhua shook his head with a smile and asked, “How is it going with your brother?”
Liu An put away his phone: “He agreed to inform us of any discoveries.”
Huang Jianhua nodded in satisfaction and turned to look out the window.
“The Discipline Head will definitely be mine!”
…
City 200, 10:51 PM
Jianfan Hotel, a clean and tidy double room.
Li Chenqiu sat at the table, holding a gel pen, writing and drawing on a piece of paper.
Xiang Nanzhi sat next to him, propping his head with one hand, looking somewhat tiredly at the document Duan Xian had sent.
“Ha~~~”
Xiang Nanzhi yawned, raising his arms high above his head.
Li Chenqiu asked, “Any discoveries?”
“All the missing people are girls, and they are all students.”
“Can you say something I don’t know?”
“There’s a girl named Xiang Xue, who shares my surname. Does that count?”
Li Chenqiu’s face darkened, and he put down the gel pen, leaning back in his chair: “Seventeen people missing, including twelve elementary school students, three middle school students, and two high school students.”
“What does that mean?”
Li Chenqiu touched his chin and was silent for a few seconds before saying, “One person every four or five days, which is consistent with the feeding frequency of a Resurgent. The selected targets are all underage females and skew towards the younger side. Is there some special preference?”
“Aren’t you just stating the obvious? If he didn’t have a special preference, why would this guy always specifically target cute little girls? He definitely likes them!”
Li Chenqiu nodded and handed the paper full of small writing to Xiang Nanzhi: “Take a look.”
“Oh, you’re quite professional. You’ve even made a relationship network.” Xiang Nanzhi said with surprise and a smile.
Li Chenqiu rubbed his sore temples: “Besides being students under the age of eighteen, these seventeen people have nothing else in common. There is no connection between them, and their disappearance times and locations are also different.”
“It’s indeed a bit tricky, but…”
Xiang Nanzhi paused.
“But what?”
Li Chenqiu looked up.
Xiang Nanzhi patted Li Chenqiu on the shoulder: “But there’s no time limit, so take your time, no rush.”
Li Chenqiu smiled speechlessly and took out a black mask from his pocket and put it on his face: “Let’s go for a walk.”
“Where to walk?”
“School.”
…
Huqing Elementary School.
Ding-ling-ling——
The pleasant and crisp ringing of the bell echoed throughout the campus, and the tightly closed school gate slowly opened, with students walking out one after another.
In a nearby coffee shop, Li Chenqiu and Xiang Nanzhi sat by the window, quietly watching the school gate.
“It’s the middle of the day, and you don’t take me to eat, but take me to drink coffee. Is there something wrong with your head!” Xiang Nanzhi wrinkled his face.
“City 200 has fifteen elementary schools. The twelve missing elementary school students all come from different elementary schools. I guess that Resurgent should be picking targets at the school gate, and after locking onto a target, he looks for a suitable time to strike.”
Xiang Nanzhi raised an eyebrow: “So you plan to try your luck here, to see if you can find someone who is acting a bit strangely?”
Li Chenqiu shook his head: “The surveillance cameras didn’t even capture the other party’s shadow. Do you think I can find the other party with my own eyes? Moreover, this elementary school has already had a missing person case.”