Chapter 2: Missing

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"Sent by Brother Bing?" Zhang Yuanqing frowned after reading the contents of the letter. What does it mean to change one's life? What does it mean to be unable to control? Really, he never makes things clear... He looked at the black card again, observing it repeatedly, confirming that it was just an ordinary card, but if one had to say what made it unique, it was the good feel and seemingly rare material.

Could it be the supreme card of some top club? Only an extraordinary man like me can handle a lady with 36D. Lei Yibing, also known as Brother Bing, had been his childhood friend and two years older than him. Their families used to live in the same alley before their grandparents bought new houses.

Lei Yibing had strength and speed rating of A, intelligence rating of C. He always protected Zhang Yuanqing, rushing to the front in fights and staying behind to fend off attacks. If anyone mocked Zhang Yuanqing for being fatherless, Lei Yibing would stand up for him. That's why Zhang Yuanqing always called him Brother Bing.

In high school, Lei Yibing's grades were not good, so he went to a university in a neighboring province, Jiangnan Province. Since then, their contact had decreased.

"He's plagiarizing, isn't he? Plagiarizing!" Zhang Yuanqing muttered. He put the black card into the pocket of his military uniform and grabbed his phone to send a message to Brother Bing teasingly: "Which top club's supreme card is this? At least give me the address or contact information."

After half an hour, still no reply. Zhang Yuanqing decided to call Brother Bing.

"Hello? I'm Lei Yibing's father," a low voice came through the speaker.

"Uncle Lei?" Zhang Yuanqing was surprised and then delighted. "Is Brother Bing back in Songhai this week? Please let him answer the phone; I have something to talk to him about."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, followed by a somber voice, "Yuanzi, I'm in Jiangnan Province. Bing has gone missing..."

Brother Bing is missing?! Zhang Yuanqing was stunned, and after a few seconds, he asked anxiously, "What happened?"

How could Brother Bing disappear? He clearly sent me something.

"He went missing the day before yesterday. Yesterday, your Aunt Zhou and I received a notification from the school and rushed over immediately," Lei Yibing's father sounded downcast.

"Did you report it to the police? What did the police say at the Public Security Bureau?" Zhang Yuanqing asked with a deep voice.

Lei Yibing's father remained silent for a long time and then hesitated, "It's a tricky situation. Bing's disappearance is a bit strange..."

Strange? What does that mean... Zhang Yuanqing was puzzled.

Lei Yibing's father continued, "He disappeared from his dormitory the night before yesterday. The police checked the surveillance footage in the dormitory building and found that Bing didn't leave the dormitory all night. But the next morning, he was gone."

"His roommates said they saw him before going to sleep, but when they woke up, he was gone, and they thought he had gone out," Zhang Yuanqing blurted out, "This is impossible..."

Could someone vanish into thin air? Even a three-year-old wouldn't believe such a statement.

Suppressing his anxiety, Zhang Yuanqing said in a low voice, "Uncle Lei, did Brother Bing offend someone at school?"

His first thought was that Brother Bing might have offended someone with local influence at the university, so the surveillance footage was tampered with, which often meant that the school was covering up.

In this era of explosive information, anyone who has been on the internet has heard of similar incidents.

"The school's leadership said they will cooperate with the police, and the police said we should wait for their investigation... Your Aunt Zhou and I haven't slept all night," Lei Yibing's father sounded dejected and worried.

As expected, Zhang Yuanqing thought. He comforted, "Don't worry, Uncle Lei. My grandfather and cousin both work at the Public Security Bureau, as you know. I'll ask them how to handle this and what to pay attention to. If you have any questions or need advice, feel free to call me."

"Also, make sure to ask the students at the school. If Brother Bing offended someone, there must be students who know about it."

Lei Yibing's father felt slightly relieved and said, "Got it, Yuanzi. Don't worry too much. If there's any news, I'll let you know first."

After hanging up the phone, Zhang Yuanqing felt restless and paced back and forth in his room, worrying about Brother Bing's safety. People don't just disappear for no reason, and if the surveillance couldn't catch anything, it must have been tampered with. But who could Brother Bing, a college junior, have offended?

Wait a minute... he suddenly exclaimed. It takes 2-3 days for a package to be delivered from Jiangnan Province to Songhai. According to the timeline, Brother Bing disappeared on the night he sent me the package...

Is it just a coincidence, or is there some connection between them?

Thinking of this, he instinctively reached into his pocket for the black card, but when he put his hand inside, he suddenly froze.

The black card was gone.

Could it have fallen on the ground? Zhang Yuanqing quickly lowered his head, scanning the floor of his room.

Nothing!

He then looked under the bed, covered with dust and random objects like coins, pens, and buttons, but no black card.

The card was gone, and he was sure he had put it in his pocket.

How could it disappear into thin air?

Connecting Brother Bing's mysterious disappearance, the strange contents of the letter, and the inexplicable vanishing of the black card, Zhang Yuanqing felt an inexplicable fear and confusion in his heart.

Connecting Brother Bing's mysterious disappearance, the strange contents of the letter, and the inexplicable vanishing of the black card, Zhang Yuanqing felt an inexplicable fear and confusion in his heart.

"Could the black card be related to Brother Bing's disappearance? Or is it an important clue?" Taking a deep breath, Zhang Yuanqing decided to activate his "old condition" to restart his memory.

He poured cold water into a glass and took out a pill bottle from the bedside table, unscrewing it. Then, he took off his shoes and lay down on the bed. After doing all this, he closed his eyes and visualized his father's face in his mind.

The "old condition" was triggered by imagining a scene, preferably one that he had seen before but couldn't remember clearly. This would activate his brain and gradually heat it up, leading to a surge of mental power.

Years had passed, and his father's face had become blurred, making it the perfect target for this technique. As time ticked by, his father's face gradually went from fuzzy to clear, finally appearing vividly in his mind. It was as if time was flowing backward, and the scene from an hour ago played out like a series of frames in a movie.

He saw himself opening the package, reading the letter, and putting the black card into the pocket of his military uniform. Then came the moment when he sent a message to Brother Bing. At this point, the following half-hour was like a freeze-frame, with him sitting at the desk motionless, watching short videos for over ten minutes, and sharing some explicit images with the members of a gaming group.

Planting a seed...

He saved some high-quality images...

Catch...

Afterward, he read a few minutes of a novel, but since he was preoccupied with the card, he called Brother Bing. After the call, the crucial moment arrived. He became anxious and walked around the room, the time when the card could have fallen.

In the memory, he saw himself frowning as he paced in the room and then reaching out to touch the black card, only to find it missing.

Zhang Yuanqing opened his eyes abruptly, his face full of fear.

Gone?! The black card just disappeared, vanished into thin air.

What the hell did Brother Bing send me... In an instant, he felt a bit scared.

With no time to think further, chaotic noises rang in his ears, as if countless voices were overlapping, and fragmented images flashed in his mind like an erupting volcano, overwhelming him.

A warm liquid flowed from Zhang Yuanqing's nose, and his head felt as if it had been hit by a steel nail. With a trembling hand, he crawled to the bedside and nervously took out five blue pills from a bottle and stuffed them into his mouth. Then, he picked up the water glass and tilted his head, swallowing the pills along with the water.

After a moment, Zhang Yuanqing sat at the bedside, pale-faced, gasping for breath. At this point, he could be fairly certain that Brother Bing's disappearance was related to the black card.

"Brother Bing disappeared after sending me the black card, and the card is undoubtedly not an ordinary thing..." This couldn't help but make him think that Brother Bing might have faced some kind of threat and was forced to transfer the item.

"But why didn't he give it to the local Public Security Bureau? Instead, he sent it to me." Is it because he knew that my grandfather is a retired police chief and my cousin is a captain of the Public Security Brigade, both having considerable connections in Songhai City, and that people from Jiangnan Province wouldn't be able to influence me?

I need to tell my cousin about this.

"Ding Dong~" At this moment, he heard the doorbell ring, the sound coming from the entrance area. His grandmother's footsteps followed, crossing the living room and reaching the entrance. She turned the doorknob and opened the door.

"Who are you looking for?" she asked.

"Hello, we are investigators from the Kangyang District Public Security Bureau. Is Zhang Yuanqing at home?" the person outside responded.

...