"Go ahead."
The officer moved the mouse, keeping the page on the screen.
The computer was now displaying the page with Zhu Yan's identification number.
His aunt hurriedly read out the numbers over the phone, her voice trembling.
The officer leaned closer to the screen, checking them one by one.
They were identical.
Every single digit was identical!
"Are you sure?" the officer asked, glancing back at his superior.
The senior officer realized something and motioned for him to put the call on speaker.
"I'm sure, I'm sure," his aunt said quickly, carefully reading the number out again.
The senior officer leaned in and checked it once more, pointing at the screen.
This time, his brow furrowed deeply.
"Ma'am, do you have his contact information? A phone number or WeChat ID, either will do."
His aunt recited another string of numbers.
"That's all," the senior officer said after checking it. "Thank you for your cooperation."
After the call ended, he entered the number into the system and searched for it himself.
As expected, the search returned nothing!
The senior officer's expression grew even more serious.
The identification number returned no matching name. That meant the person's identity information had vanished completely.
The phone number search also returned nothing!
"Report this immediately," he ordered decisively. "Report it to our superiors. This is very serious."
The officer immediately rose from his seat.
"I'm on it! Mentor, can I ask why?"
The senior officer wiped away his cold sweat.
"I've read the case files from that city. This might sound unbelievable, but the person we're after is very likely to have a superpower that can hide his own information."
"There's another, more serious possibility, which is..."
"He may be in collusion with forces beyond our imagination, working hand in glove with them."
"He might even be one of them!"
He hurried out, and the officer had to follow.
"Mentor, I'll go find Guan En and confirm this right now!"
Zhu Yan slept for more than ten hours, restoring his energy.
By the time he opened his eyes in the soft bedding, feeling refreshed, it was already seven in the evening.
Seven was when the old town came alive.
Zhu Yan opened the window and looked out.
Milk tea shops, barbecue stalls, and all sorts of little eateries glowed with lively lights. The clatter of spatulas mingled with the aroma of food, rushing straight into his ears and nose.
...He was hungry. At last, Zhu Yan felt an appetite he hadn't had in a long time.
Wearing his original face, he went downstairs, picked a little restaurant that smelled pretty good, and ordered a bowl of beef fried rice and a serving of hot soup.
For now, the police station didn't seem to have taken any further action, and [Concealed but Unreleased] would hide all information about his appearance.
Under the circumstances, going about with his own face was actually the safest option.
A large plate of fragrant fried rice was brought out.
As Zhu Yan dug in, he stared at his palm for three seconds and opened the [Player Center].
The four familiar colored blocks popped up.
Personal information and settings, player forum, thriller map, and online store.
The announcement after the beginner instance was still fresh in his ears. The female voice had said thriller currency and human currency could be exchanged for each other, though the current exchange rate wasn't high.
However, Zhu Yan had to follow the map's directions to the nearest [Hall of Mourning].
This time, Zhu Yan chose to stare at the thriller map for three seconds and open it.
"Mushroom soup." The proprietress pushed a steaming bowl of thick soup over to him. "Enjoy."
Zhu Yan mumbled his thanks.
He was concentrating intently—
The thriller map interface was so staggering that it left him speechless.
In fact, the [Thriller Map] wasn't a single, flat map, but two parallel layers, one above the other, each spread out and suspended in midair like a 3D model.
The two layers were about thirty centimeters apart, and the tall buildings, low houses, streets, and streetlights were all clearly visible.
The upper map showed the real-world architectural style Zhu Yan knew, and [Merry Happy Land] had thoughtfully marked his current location with a black Caged Bird.
Above this layer of the map floated the red words "Uncorrupted world - Anwu City."
Zhu Yan looked closely and noticed thin red threads tied to certain locations.
These red threads connected them to certain buildings on the map below.
Most of the buildings on the lower map were bizarre.
Zhu Yan saw densely packed dwellings like a honeycomb, clusters of low buildings resembling melted candles, and houses and buildings sprouting all manner of strange horns or tentacles, as if they were alive.
Some of the buildings tied to the red threads had already been uprooted, and the threads were slowly pulling them upward.
What was this?
The red threads meant they were being forcibly connected by some kind of power. Did that mean the worlds on both sides would eventually merge?
Would the merged world become as bizarre and uncanny as the scenes in [Merry Happy Land]?
At that utterly inappropriate moment, Zhu Yan thought of the legend of the matchmaking god, then was startled by the hellish thought.
The aroma of frying beef did a good job of easing the sense of horror the sight had given him.
Zhu Yan blinked, glanced around the warm, brightly lit little restaurant, and returned his gaze to the two layers of the map.
On the layer belonging to [Merry Happy Land], a huge building shaped like a head caught Zhu Yan's attention.
The top of the head was unnaturally pointed, and its black hair floated eerily around it.
Its eyeballs, lips, and teeth had liquefied like metal thrown into a furnace. At first glance, it looked like a man crying with his mouth wide open.
The red words [Hall of Mourning] floated conspicuously in the very center of the head.
It had now left the map layer belonging to [Merry Happy Land], and its uppermost tip met the bottom of a building in the [Uncorrupted World].
Zhu Yan grabbed the mushroom soup, took a sip, and tried staring at the point where the two buildings met.
Sure enough, the map zoomed in on the junction. To Zhu Yan's surprise, it showed even the furnishings inside with perfect clarity.
So, if he encountered a maze-type instance, could he cheat?
Zhu Yan silently read the red words that suddenly appeared.
"Upon verification, no instance has currently descended in this area. The area's original furnishings can be displayed for you."
...All right, no cheating.
The red words writhed and turned into a new line of directions.
"WE Café, basement level one, Myriad Forms Plaza, May Street."
"Today's passphrase: Silence is the way home."
There was a passphrase too?
Zhu Yan's curiosity was piqued.
Who was he supposed to say it to?
Were there thriller creatures in this seemingly ordinary café?
"Note: The shopping mall is open until 10:30 p.m. The [Hall of Mourning] does not provide accommodation. If you wish to visit, please mind the time."
Zhu Yan wolfed down the last mouthful of beef fried rice.
He opened his phone. The time was 7:50.
A taxi to Myriad Forms Plaza would take about thirty minutes.
If all went smoothly, he could enter the [Hall of Mourning] at 8:30.
Two hours should be enough.
Without hesitation, Zhu Yan immediately called a taxi.
Meanwhile.
The police station was brightly lit.
Guan En sat among the experts on the special task force, a thin layer of cold sweat covering his back.
This was unbelievable.
The screen ahead showed all the surveillance footage of Zhu Yan found on G3075 Train and elsewhere, including the earlier footage of him picking up an envelope at the parcel station.
Bizarrely, the clear figure Guan En remembered was gone from every recording.
In its place was a very blurry dark silhouette. Forget his face—even his height, build, clothing, and hairstyle were impossible to make out!
What was more, the silhouette was so faint that it almost blended into the background.
The police officer conducting the meeting wore a grave expression as he read out the general conclusions everyone present had deduced over the course of the day.