The next morning, Wan Yunting was up at precisely six thirty, heading out to the courtyard to practice his boxing. His second sister-in-law got up to prepare breakfast, everything proceeding as usual.
After breakfast, Wan Yunting went to work at the Traditional Chinese Medicine department of the Southern Hospital. During his lunch break, he went directly to the adjacent inpatient building, hoping to see Tian Guofu and perhaps glean some information.
As it happened, he ran into Zhou Dong and Niu Qiuling, who were also arriving at the hospital. “Captain Zhou, why are you here?”
“Yun Ting…”
Zhou Dong and the others nodded in greeting. “We received a report that the entire family of Mr. Tian of the Tian Group has gone missing,” Zhou Dong said. “So we’ve come to the hospital to inquire about the situation and see if we can find any clues.”
“Tian Guofu’s family is missing?”
Wan Yunting was astonished. Zhou Dong nodded. “It was the senior management of their company who reported it today, saying they couldn’t contact the family. After our investigation, it’s confirmed that they have indeed been missing since the night before last!”
“So, they’ve been missing for two days?”
Wan Yunting raised an eyebrow, as he hadn’t known that Tian Guofu and his family had been discharged the night before last.
Niu Qiuling interjected, “Wasn’t Tian Guofu cured of his illness by you? Tell us, what exactly is going on?”
Wan Yunting gave her a speechless roll of his eyes. “Didn’t I tell you before? Tian Guofu was cursed and possessed!”
Zhou Dong raised an eyebrow. Naturally, they didn't believe in such superstitious nonsense. “You mean, someone is trying to harm Tian Guofu?”
Wan Yunting nodded. “Now that their whole family is missing, it might be related to the person who cursed him. I even suspect that the person who cursed Tian Guofu is from the Tianyan Master God Cult!”
At this, Zhou Dong and Niu Qiuling exchanged glances and asked in unison, “Are you sure?”
Wan Yunting shook his head slightly. “I can’t be a hundred percent sure, but my intuition tells me it’s possible!”
“What makes you say that?” Niu Qiuling demanded, glaring at him.
Wan Yunting raised an eyebrow. “The evil energy that killed Zhao Fuyang and Fei Xiang is of the same origin as the evil energy that cursed Tian Guofu!”
“Tsk, based on just that, this is superstition,” Niu Qiuling scoffed, glancing at him. Wan Yunting, however, was too lazy to argue with her, knowing that as police officers, they wouldn’t believe such things.
So Wan Yunting and Zhou Dong went in and spoke with Director He Tianxiang to understand the situation. However, they didn’t gain much, as Tian Guofu had been discharged from the hospital the night before last.
“Do you have any leads on the cases of Zhao Fuyang and Fei Xiang?” Wan Yunting then asked. wap.kanshuwu.net
Zhou Dong and Niu Qiuling exchanged a look and shook their heads at him. “Not yet. We’ve been investigating the entire city of Huadu these past two days, looking into individuals associated with evil organizations, but we haven’t found any clues about the Tianyan Master God Cult.”
Wan Yunting raised an eyebrow and suggested, “I think you should merge the investigations of these two cases!”
Zhou Dong looked at him. “Do you really think these two cases were committed by people from the Tianyan Master God Cult?”
Wan Yunting nodded. “I’m certain. Of course, this is just my personal suggestion; the results will depend on your investigation.”
“Alright, I’ll try and see if there are any similarities between these two cases.”
Zhou Dong nodded. Although they didn't quite believe Wan Yunting’s absurd claims about the origin of evil energy, Zhou Dong and the others trusted Wan Yunting’s abilities. Therefore, they planned to link the cases of Zhao Fuyang and Fei Xiang with the disappearance of Tian Guofu’s family and investigate them together.
“By the way, Yun Ting, regarding the Zhao Fuyang and Fei Xiang cases, I might need to speak with some of your classmates to get some information,” Zhou Dong reminded him.
Wan Yunting nodded and smiled. “That’s your routine procedure, no need to ask me. However, Yan Xi is on a business trip to the United States and won’t be back for a week.”
“Going to the US on a business trip at this time?” Niu Qiuling interjected, immediately eliciting another exasperated eye-roll from Wan Yunting. “What are you trying to say?”
Niu Qiuling crossed her arms and nodded. “I just find it suspicious that she’s running off to the US at this particular moment.”
“Believe it or not, I’ll hit you.” Wan Yunting was a little annoyed by the girl’s habitually nonsensical mouth, though he knew Niu Qiuling was deliberately provoking him.
“Go ahead, hit me if you dare. I’ll report you for assaulting an officer.” Niu Qiuling was equally feisty, glaring at Wan Yunting with her almond eyes and provocatively huffing at him.
“Heh, alright you two, if you want to bicker, go do it at home…” Zhou Dong quickly intervened, stopping them. Wan Yunting didn’t bother arguing with Niu Qiuling further and asked, “Captain Zhou, are you going to find my classmates next?”
“Yes, I’ll go talk to them and get more information,” Captain Zhou replied.
“Then I’ll take you.” Wan Yunting said, “I don’t have anything else to do right now.”
However, Zhou Dong waved his hand and smiled. “No need, Yun Ting. We’ll just go talk to them, and then we still have to investigate the disappearance of Tian Guofu’s family. If I get any leads, I’ll let you know.”
Seeing this, Wan Yunting nodded. Just then, Coach Feng Biao messaged him, asking him to come to the gymnasium for training, as they had a match against the professional basketball team from Wan City at 7 PM that evening.
Wan Yunting said no more and returned to the Traditional Chinese Medicine department. Meanwhile, Zhou Dong and Niu Qiuling drove away from the hospital and headed towards the western district.
“Captain Zhou, are we going to find that Guan Hongyu first?” Niu Qiuling asked, driving the car.
“Yes.” Zhou Dong nodded, his eyes narrowing. “Yesterday, we saw surveillance footage on a road near the abandoned construction site showing Guan Hongyu riding a motorcycle!”
Niu Qiuling paused and turned to look at Zhou Dong, who was in the passenger seat. “So, the cases of Zhao Fuyang and Fei Xiang are related to that Guan Hongyu?”
“Don’t jump to conclusions. We only spotted him on the surveillance footage of the road in the vicinity,” Zhou Dong glanced at Niu Qiuling, knowing that she was newly transferred to his criminal investigation team and still had much to learn about case investigation and detection. “So, we’re just going to talk to him for information now!”
However, Zhou Dong’s gut instinct already led him to identify Guan Hongyu as the sole suspect in the cases of Zhao Fuyang and Fei Xiang, because his appearance that night was simply too coincidental!
At this time, in a fifth-floor apartment in the residential complex where Guan Hongyu’s parents used to live, the small living room had been tidied up, and the furniture remained as it was, since Guan Hongyu was now living there.
However, in his parents’ bedroom, under the dim light, the temperature in the entire room was very low, giving off a chilling and eerie atmosphere. On the table where Guan Hongyu’s parents’ portraits were usually displayed, a black carved idol now stood.
This idol was over thirty centimeters tall, a depiction with three eyes, carved lifelike, with a fierce and terrifying visage. Especially the vertical eye between the brows; staring at it for a few seconds could induce a feeling of dizziness, making it extremely eerie.
A black talisman banner hung on the wall behind the altar. In the dim light, the place where the bed used to be had been moved out by Guan Hongyu. Now, four black ropes were fastened to the four corners of a black wooden coffin, suspending the entire coffin in the air!
The sinister aura that permeated the air emanated from this black coffin, giving one a chilling, spine-tingling sensation. Imagine, in one’s own home, a black coffin hung in the air, covered with various runes drawn in golden pigment, and the entire room’s decor and atmosphere created a terrifying sense that sent shivers down one’s spine and made one’s scalp tingle.
Guan Hongyu, clad in a black robe, had been performing a ritual before the idol for an entire morning. He then stood up, approached the altar with the three-eyed idol, and picked up a cup of bright red liquid.
He then turned and walked towards the black wooden coffin suspended in mid-air. Without a lid, a woman could be seen lying inside!