Chapter 45: Clues of Soldier's Disappearance

 

Chapter 45: Clues of Soldier's Disappearance

Soldier's matter... Zhang Yuanqing felt happy inside and asked, "Has there been any progress from the Hangzhou branch? Have they found anything?"

The efficiency of the Hangzhou branch colleagues was too poor; it took three days to get results. It was evident that they didn't value the case of Soldier's disappearance... he complained in his heart.

It had been almost half a month since Soldier went missing. If the Spirit Realm cultivators at the Hangzhou branch had conducted a diligent investigation, they should have provided feedback and enough information when Li Dongze commissioned them.

Clearly, they believed that Soldier had died in the Spirit Realm, and there was no point in investigating further.

"There is indeed some information..." Li Dongze chose his words carefully and said, "Lei Yibing's social circle is quite simple. He's a solitary person who keeps to himself and doesn't get close to his classmates. He's low-key in school, never causing trouble. However, after a thorough investigation by the Hangzhou branch colleagues, they found that in the past three years, two people who provoked him both died in a somewhat reasonable manner."

Zhang Yuanqing furrowed his brows upon hearing this. As soon as Li Dongze finished speaking, he immediately retorted, "No, Soldier can't be described as a loner. He may not be gregarious, but he's not at all introverted. I've known him since we were kids; I'm very familiar with him. When his temper flares up, he won't even bother saying 'what are you looking at' and will directly use his fists."

As for the suspicion that Soldier might have committed murder, he didn't refute or comment.

"Are you talking about a hot-headed guy?" Li Dongze couldn't help but mock and cleared his throat before bringing the conversation back on track. "So, the Lei Yibing you know and the impression the students have of him are different. Who do you think is the problem?"

Zhang Yuanqing fell silent for a moment. "Perhaps, the problem lies with Soldier."

Li Dongze nodded in agreement and analyzed, "You and he attended the same high school, so if there were any abnormalities, you wouldn't have failed to notice. This means that Lei Yibing's changes began when he started college."

"During the time between high school graduation and the start of college, he must have encountered something that led to a drastic change in his temperament. But there are too many factors at play, and without more clues, we can't speculate further."

Zhang Yuanqing acknowledged Li Dongze's statement, but there was something he couldn't understand. Despite their close brotherly bond, Soldier didn't even tell him about becoming a Spirit Realm cultivator. In the Spirit Realm, there was no mechanism to conceal this; if one wanted, they could even use a loudspeaker to travel around the world promoting the Spirit Realm.

Although no one would believe it...

"Is there anything else?"

"There is, but I don't know if it counts..." Li Dongze pondered for a moment before saying, "Does Lei Yibing have a habit of writing a diary?"

"Who writes diaries these days?" Zhang Yuanqing replied nonchalantly.

"Soldier's colleagues in Hangzhou found a diary in his dormitory. He didn't write in it frequently, but on the night before he sent you the character card, he wrote a diary entry."

"Where is his diary?"

"The diary is in his college dormitory. The colleagues from the Hangzhou branch checked it and didn't find any value in it. However, at my request, they took photos, and I'm sending them to you now."

"If I remember correctly, tomorrow will be the fourteenth day since you came out from the 'She Ling Tunnel.'"

"Yes."

Tomorrow is the deadline. Either you enter the Spirit Realm tonight or tomorrow.

"There will be a short buffering time when the Spirit Realm opens. Remember to call me or contact Guan Ya."

"Got it."

After the call ended, Zhang Yuanqing opened his messaging app and received a compressed file from Li Dongze. After decompressing it, he found over thirty pictures.

Sitting at his desk, Zhang Yuanqing read the diary. Indeed, Soldier didn't write in it frequently, sometimes updating weekly, sometimes monthly, and it mostly contained trivial matters.

Initially, he read carefully, but after confirming that the earlier entries had no value, he directly flipped to the last picture.

"Entering the second half of the year, internship is approaching. Time flies, unconsciously bidding farewell to my college life and stepping into society. Last night, I dreamed of my childhood with Yuanzi in the lane, remembering the past when we secretly read forbidden books, schemed against my dad, and his uncle for pocket money, and the times we played games together…"

The content was brief, just a few sentences.

Zhang Yuanqing stared at the phone screen deeply, suddenly leaned back in his chair, and closed his eyes.

Soldier indeed left me a clue!

The next day, Zhang Yuanqing woke up at 9:30 in the morning.

"It seems today is the time to enter the Spirit Realm."

After having breakfast, he put on a mask and a cap, took a taxi, and headed to Lei Yibing's home.

The alley where he spent his childhood was called Yinping Community. It was built half a century ago, and every residential building bore the marks of time. The buildings were all six-story structures without elevators, and messy cables wound around the walls in circles.

Zhang Yuanqing got out of the taxi and glanced around. After more than a decade, apart from a fresh coat of paint on the external walls and a new security booth at the entrance, everything else remained unchanged.

When he was in junior high, there were rumors that this area was going to be demolished. Everyone waited and waited, but even after nearly ten years, there was no sign of the demolition team.

Zhang Yuanqing crossed the street and bought a bag of loquats, a pineapple, and three Kate mangoes from a fruit store.

Following the narrow corridor, he stopped at the door of Unit 402 and rang the doorbell.

In a moment, footsteps sounded from inside the door. The anti-theft door opened, and a woman in her forties stood at the entrance, looking surprised.

"Yuanzi?" The woman's complexion looked poor, with heavy dark circles under her eyes, and her face appeared thinner.

"Auntie Zhou, I came to see you and Uncle Lei," Zhang Yuanqing said in a gentle tone, silently sighing in his heart.

Auntie Zhou's gaze fell on the fruits he was holding, and she smiled with contentment, softly saying, "Come in."

The house was a two-bedroom apartment, around 80 square meters. Zhang Yuanqing sat on the sofa in the living room, holding the warm water poured by Auntie Zhou, and listened to her sorrowful narration.

"Auntie Zhou, I believe the Security Bureau will find Soldier," Zhang Yuanqing comforted.

"My grandmother came to see me a few days ago. She said that Lao Chen told her there's no news, and that might not be a bad sign," Auntie Zhou sighed, continuing, "Stay for lunch."

"No need, I have classes later," Zhang Yuanqing shook his head.

When he was younger, he and Soldier were inseparable, often sleeping together at night, and it was common for them to share meals. However, today, he might enter the Spirit Realm at any moment, so he wanted to minimize his time outside.

"Auntie Zhou, I'll wait in Soldier's room for a while," Zhang Yuanqing didn't forget his purpose for coming here.

He pushed open the door to Soldier's bedroom. The not-so-large room had a double bed, wardrobe, desk, and television... His gaze quickly scanned the room and finally pulled out a large cardboard box from under the bed. 

Inside the box were various items: a "Xiao Ba Wang" handheld gaming console, a "Bao Long" toy machine, a "Pi Li Qiu" (Thunderball), a spinning top, a telescope, "Water Margin" hero cards, a wooden gyroscope, a whistle, Dragon Ball comic books, and "The Sensual History of Emperor Yang of Sui" by Qi Dongye... and many more items, totaling 124.

He pushed open the door to Soldier's bedroom, and in the not-so-large room, there was a double bed, wardrobe, desk, and television... His gaze quickly scanned the room, and finally, he pulled out a large cardboard box from under the bed.

Inside the box were various items: a "Xiao Ba Wang" handheld gaming console, a "Bao Long" toy machine, a "Pi Li Qiu" (Thunderball), a spinning top, a telescope, "Water Margin" hero cards, a wooden gyroscope, a whistle, Dragon Ball comic books, and "The Sensual History of Emperor Yang of Sui" by Qi Dongye... and many more items, totaling 124.

Each of these small toys had its own story. For example, the telescope reminded him of the red-light district that used to be nearby. When night fell, the hair salons would light up with enchanting lights, and the seductive ladies would sit on the sofas inside, their graceful curves visible through the glass doors.

Once, when Soldier was still in elementary school, he secretly found Zhang Yuanqing and told him that he saw Zhang Yuanqing's uncle sneaking into one of the hair salons. Zhang Yuanqing didn't believe it and went to confront his uncle, who became pale with shock and gave him twenty yuan as hush money.

After that incident, Zhang Yuanqing and Soldier felt that this business was quite profitable. So, the two little rascals started keeping watch by the roadside after school. This time, they didn't catch Zhang Yuanqing's uncle but instead caught Soldier's father.

Soldier's father was also taken aback and gave them some money as hush money.

Later on, both Soldier's father and Zhang Yuanqing's uncle mended their ways and were never caught again. Until one day, Zhang Yuanqing stole money from his aunt to buy a telescope and secretly observed from a distance.

And they earned more hush money again.

Thus, the box preserved not only Soldier's childhood but also Zhang Yuanqing's.

Staring blankly at the childhood toys, Zhang Yuanqing couldn't help feeling that time had passed too quickly, and things had changed while people had not.

Why bother reminiscing now? He chuckled to himself, self-derisively pushing the flood of memories back.

Next, he picked up "The Sensual History of Emperor Yang of Sui" and shook the pages.

In the rustling sound of flipping pages, a piece of paper fell out, with densely written numbers on it.

Seeing this, Zhang Yuanqing let out a slow breath, feeling relieved. The numbers on the paper were a code that only the two brothers could understand.

Influenced by their grandfather, Zhang Yuanqing was obsessed with police and detective-themed animations and novels as a child, fantasizing about being a formidable police officer.

In middle school, after they read a well-known foreign detective novel together, Zhang Yuanqing got inspired and thought, "How could the great detective Zhang Yuanqing and his assistant, Ah Bing, not have a secret code between them?"

So, he spent time devising a code format. For example, the first number corresponded to the line, the second also corresponded to the line, the third corresponded to the page, with seven characters making up a group. The second group's format was the reverse of the first group...

And the first time they played this game, they used "The Sensual History of Emperor Yang of Sui" as their blueprint.

Zhang Yuanqing recalled the code format while cross-referencing the book. Time passed slowly, and he didn't know how long it took, but he finally pieced together all the content.

The first line of numbers: 203; Two brothers in one lifetime.

The second line of numbers: Yuanzi, find it. I've left everything there. 348.