Just as Gu Fan and his companions left the ancient town, a cop who was still conducting a search operation quietly moved to a secluded place, firing up his mobile phone and quickly made a connection.
"Hello, boss, those students have left. One of them is missing, we are still searching."
A deep voice came from the other end: "Did you count the number of students accurately?"
The cop immediately answered: "There were sixteen when they arrived, and fifteen when they left."
"Sixteen, how could there be sixteen? That's not right." After a moment of astonishment, the voice gave another order: "Send us a copy of these students' information, and remember to keep it confidential."
The policeman replied: "There is no problem with the information, what should I do next? Should I keep an eye on this ancient town, or focus on those students?"
"You keep an eye on the ancient town. I'll assign others to watch the students. But remember one thing, no matter what the villagers do, you must not act recklessly, lest you alarm the snake. I've waited a full twenty years." After saying this, the person on the other end hung up.
The policeman put away his phone, lit a cigarette to calm his nerves, and the image of a supremely powerful boss came to his mind. He wondered why such a big shot would have his eyes on this small ancient village.
With years of experience in criminal investigation, the cop felt this matter was not simple. The boss had been waiting for twenty years, surely, he has a big scheme planned. It's unclear what connection those students might have with the ancient town, and why the boss was keeping an eye on them. After all, there are countless tourists who visit the ancient town every year. Could it be because one of them went missing?
He couldn't understand it. He really couldn't understand it. So the policeman decided not to think about these complexities and just wanted to finish his work quickly and go home. As for the missing college student Zhao Rui, he thought he won't be found.
**********
Eight hours later, Gu Fan, Lin Xi, Du Jun, Lu Yi and others returned to their city. Everyone got off the bus, bid farewell to each other with listless faces, still thinking about their missing classmate.
Although Gu Fan and Lin Xi lived in different places and it was not on his way, Gu Fan insisted on escorting Lin Xi home, claiming it was his duty as a boyfriend, but in actuality he was feeling a bit worried about a bad premonition.
Du Jun drove up in a luxury car, offered to kindly drop her home along with a few female classmates even though it was not on his way. Everyone could see that Du Jun's main intention was Lin Xi, offering to drop other girls home was just to mask his intentions.
"I'm sorry, it's peak hour, I'm afraid there'll be traffics." Lin Xi rejected Du Jun's kindness and then took Gu Fan's arm to catch the subway.
Upon seeing this, Du Jun's face turned slightly ugly. This scene was not how he had imagined it. His sense of superiority was frustrated, and he felt a bit of resentment towards Gu Fan.
At this time, Lu Yi came over, jokingly said: "Well, Brother Du Jun, now that Lin Xi has left, there's a seat free in your car. Stop just caring about female classmates, think of your male classmates too."
"I'm sorry, your house is too far away, I don't have enough gas, you'd better go chase your bus. If you miss the next one, you may have to wait for a long time." Saying this, Du Jun sneered, showing a disdainful look, then stepped on the gas and left.
Lu Yi shrugged indifferently: "It's good to be rich, living in a mansion, and driving a luxury car, who wouldn't like it?" After saying this, Lu Yi turned around and saw a man in a suit and sunglasses sitting near a flower bed not far away. He was also looking this way, but quickly pretended to be reading his newspaper when Lu Yi looked back.
Lu Yi didn't take it to heart. He was in a hurry to catch his bus. But when he ran to the bus stop, he saw that man in the suit quickening his pace towards him as well.
Still not giving it a second thought, Lu Yi heaved a sigh of relief when his bus finally arrived. As he boarded the bus, the suited man followed him in.
Not paying attention to this man, Lu Yi started playing with his phone. He was texting Gu Fan, teasing him about how well he was performing his duty as protector of the flower, suggesting Gu Fan take it a step further, like going into Lin Xi's house for a drink, greeting her uncle and aunt.
Gu Fan sent back an helpless emoticon, and mentioned that two men accidentally bumped into Lin Xi on the subway, almost causing a fight, suspecting they did it on purpose.
After hearing this, Lu Yi initially thought it was just a minor daily commotion, but what Gu Fan said next made Lu Yi a bit uneasy. After Gu Fan and Lin Xi got off the subway, Lin Xi's shoelace came loose. As Gu Fan squatted down to tie it for her, when he stood up he saw those two men not far away, smoking and chatting.
At first, Lu Yi told Gu Fan not to be overly sensitive, but as Gu Fan didn't reply for a long time, Lu Yi began to get worried that something might happen to Gu Fan or that he was too absorbed in Lin Xi to remember his good friend.
After quite some time, Gu Fan sent a message. He and Lin Xi had walked some distance and then entered a mall to grab a bite to eat when they spotted those two men from before, leading Gu Fan to suspect that they were being followed.
The thought sent a chill up Lu Yi's spine. He immediately asked what the two men looked like, what they were wearing - important details if they really were bad guys and they had to call the police.
Gu Fan responded: Two men, dressed in suits and wearing sunglasses. They radiated a mysterious vibe, which made them seem like bad guys. Nevertheless, Gu Fan and Lin Xi had managed to shake them off.
Suits and sunglasses. Lu Yi felt a shudder of fear. As his bus pulled up to his stop, he got off. He didn't look back, but he had a vague feeling that someone was following him.
"Don't panic, don't panic. I'm an upstanding, moral university student and I've never provoked anyone. Most importantly, I'm poor, so I wouldn't be a good target for a robbery. I should be fine," Lu Yi reassured himself as he quickened his pace. "But what if they're after me, not my money? What if they intend to kidnap me? Should I resist?"
As Lu Yi quickened his own pace, he could hear the footsteps behind him also speeding up. His heart began to race, cold sweat trickling down his back. He came to a corner.
"This is it," he thought, and he sprinted around the corner. After sprinting past a couple of storefronts, he ducked into a supermarket, pretending to look at something while actually covertly observing the outside.
Lu Yi saw the man in the suit and sunglasses from before hurriedly walking by. He was looking around as he walked, seemingly in search for something.
Now it was certain. The fear in Lu Yi's heart was evident. He couldn't understand why he and Gu Fan were both being tracked out of nowhere. Judging by the mannerisms, it was likely the same group of people. But why?
Something was amiss. Lu Yi immediately shared with Gu Fan that he too, was being tailed. Gu Fan suggested that they should meet up somewhere before heading home.
**********
Meanwhile, the man who had just lost track of Lu Yi made a phone call. "I'm sorry, Sister Leng. I lost him. The student is very alert."
A stern female voice answered: "Is the student too savvy, or are you just inept? Every student is a possible key player right now."
The man was terrified. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, boss. We will soon have all the students' information, right? We will know where they live soon."
The woman retorted: "Knowing where they live doesn't guarantee that we'll be able to act in time if something happens. Don't ruin our entire operation due to your incompetence. If you screw up again, you'll be working at the branch office!"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Sister Leng," the man said hastily, "There won't be a next time." The call ended abruptly.
The woman was irritated not only because her subordinates had lost track of an important target but because they had lost track of multiple individuals. The more she thought about it, the angrier she got, but she reminded herself that her subordinates weren't special agents after all.
Suddenly, the fax machine buzzed to life, sending over page after page of information—information on Lu Yi, Du Jun, Lin Xi, Gu Fan, and even the missing Zhao Rui. None of the students who had gone on the trip were left out.
The woman picked up the documents one by one, a cryptic smile playing at the corners of her mouth on occasion. When she saw the file about Zhao Rui, she drew an X over it with her pen, clearly uninterested.
"It should have been twelve. How did it become sixteen? Strange." The woman carefully reviewed the documents, made some comparisons, and then frowned. "Weird, it's not twelve, it's not sixteen, it's thirteen, but fourteen entered the secret room. Is our information incorrect, or is it a cover-up?"
While she was deep in thought, a man burst into her office. Ignoring the woman's beautiful face and devilish figure, he spoke flatly, "The boss said you shouldn't act rashly. Let the students do what they want. We can't reveal ourselves prematurely."
"I know," she replied, "I will inform my subordinates. But help me tell the boss about my findings." With that, she waved the students' documents and then said, "If we don't figure out some things, we might end up being the ones cornered."
The man frowned, accepted the files, and listened as she relayed her findings. Once she finished, he looked puzzled and agreed that something strange was going on.
"Okay, I'll inform the boss as soon as possible. Even though there seems to be an issue, our plans must proceed as normal." With that, he turned and strode off, clearly in a hurry.