Of course, Qin Luming ignored him. Private detectives sounded impressive, but this country was different from abroad. No law recognized the legal status of private detectives here. Since the 1990s, all organizations and individuals had been prohibited from setting up so-called private detective agencies... Even legitimate investigation firms could only exercise the lawful right to information available to ordinary citizens; they had no criminal investigative authority.
In other words, no matter how successful their actual business was or how capable they might be, in the eyes of a law-abiding citizen like Qin Luming, private detectives were just errand runners. If he did not want to deal with them, then he did not have to.
Introducing himself as a private detective right away was clearly an attempt to bluff Qin Luming by exploiting the possibility of an information imbalance between them. Qin Luming naturally left at once.
As for what this man's actual purpose was, Qin Luming did not care. After a moment's thought, the keyword was "detective." The only recent matter that could possibly have drawn someone into investigating him was Gu Qing'an's disappearance.
Qin Luming was interested in Gu Qing'an's disappearance, but he had no interest in anyone investigating him because of it. The truth was that it had nothing to do with him, and some of the things he knew could not be disclosed.
He could hardly tell this private detective that Gu Qing'an had traveled to another world, and that someone from that other world might be the true culprit who had taken Gu Qing'an away, could he?
Qin Luming rode to school. He noticed that a black Mercedes van had been following him. When he reached the scooter parking station near campus and returned the vehicle, the middle-aged man from earlier got out of the van again.
He still carried himself with that same dashing, composed air, giving people the impression that he was highly capable. Clients generally liked finding people with that sort of bearing to handle matters for them.
Qin Luming had already seen his electronic business card. Ke Mu... There was no intimidating title like "private detective" written on it.
"Mr. Qin, may I take a few minutes of your time?" Ke Mu walked over and spoke without dwelling on Qin Luming's earlier attitude of turning around and leaving.
"Go ahead." Qin Luming raised his hand and checked the time.
Ke Mu's gaze followed Qin Luming's to his watch. Ke Mu smiled. "Mr. Qin, you have excellent taste. This model is very difficult to buy."
"Thank you."
"I was hired by Mr. Gu Cheng to help locate Mr. Gu Qing'an," Ke Mu said bluntly. "The reason I called myself a private detective earlier was to get your attention."
"I understand."
"I heard from Miss Gu that Mr. Gu Qing'an's lost phone was something you happened to find at the Zinc Factory. Thank you very much." Ke Mu knew Qin Luming would not be easy to handle, so he chose his words carefully.
Qin Luming's tone and calm demeanor did not resemble those of an ordinary college student. He had not revealed much personal information online either. From the photos and posts on his social media, Ke Mu could hardly extract any useful details that might help him understand the other man.
This line of work had once occupied something of a gray area in the country, but ever since private detectives had been sentenced for illegally obtaining personal information ten years ago, it had become a black area. Ke Mu knew perfectly well that since the "private detective" label had failed to intimidate Qin Luming, he could only proceed properly for now. Once he had some leads, he could discuss other matters later.
"It was nothing. Helping others is a pleasure." Qin Luming listened to his empty pleasantries. These people spoke with considerable skill. Once they realized bluffing was ineffective, they shifted into casual questioning, actually repeating information to observe Qin Luming's microexpressions and movements.
It was not as though Qin Luming had studied such tricks. He had merely read some psychology books while writing novels, so that he could better make his characters more vivid and well-rounded through descriptions of their subtle actions, speech habits, and inner thoughts—more capable of making readers feel as though they truly existed.
Naturally, he had also consciously or unconsciously applied what he learned to daily life.
"After unlocking the phone, we discovered that before his disappearance, Mr. Gu Qing'an had asked in a novel readers' group about the personal information of an online novelist named Ma Shilong. Miss Gu also said that when you heard Mr. Gu Qing'an's name, your first reaction was to think of a novel Ma Shilong wrote called My Wife Is the Empress of Zhou, whose male protagonist is also named Gu Qing'an." Ke Mu stared at Qin Luming, placing emphasis on both Ma Shilong's and Gu Qing'an's names.
When ordinary people heard names stressed in that way, they often displayed some unconscious reaction.
Qin Luming was somewhat surprised. Gu Qing'an had not only traveled through worlds—he had actually known that the world he traveled to was from Ma Shilong's novel. Gu Qing'an had probably intended to find Ma Shilong as well, but based on Qin Luming's observations when he visited Ma Shilong that day, Ma Shilong should not yet have met Gu Qing'an at the time.
"I heard that Mr. Gu Qing'an was unconscious for many years. Could he have commissioned Ma Shilong to write this novel before falling unconscious, asking to be made the male lead?" Qin Luming thought of that possibility and did not mind discussing it with Ke Mu.
Ke Mu's brows tightened. He truly had not considered that possibility... At present, this case had no leads at all. The question Qin Luming raised seemed unrelated to the disappearance, but Ke Mu could only make a note of it and see whether any useful information could be unearthed.
Besides commercial commissions, locating people was among the most common jobs undertaken by investigation firms.
But Gu Qing'an's disappearance was simply too bizarre. A vegetative patient who had been unconscious for more than ten years waking up was the first bizarre thing. Being able to move freely and regain normal consciousness immediately after waking was the second. Running to an abandoned Zinc Factory and disappearing after regaining consciousness was the third.
Connected to Gu Qing'an was an online writer who lived in seclusion and had no contact whatsoever with the Gu family. Then there was a wealthy sophomore who had found the phone and seemed somewhat suspicious, yet could not possibly have known Gu Qing'an before... When Gu Qing'an fell unconscious, Qin Luming had still been just a little kid. After that, even members of the Gu family needed Gu Cheng's permission to visit Gu Qing'an. There had been no opportunity whatsoever for Gu Qing'an and Qin Luming to cross paths... That was two more things that were difficult to understand.
"That is possible." Ke Mu nodded. "May I ask, Mr. Qin, are you familiar with Ma Shilong?"
"I've read his books, but I don't know him personally." Qin Luming shook his head.
"Then I apologize for disturbing you. I hope you'll keep my business card, Mr. Qin. If you discover anything, you can contact me." Ke Mu knew he would not get any more useful information from Qin Luming for the time being.
"All right." Qin Luming took out his phone, accepted the electronic business card Ke Mu sent him, and then walked into the school.
Ke Mu remained where he was and looked eastward. The morning sun, which had briefly revealed a glimmer of light, was once again completely obscured by dark clouds.
"Boss, did you find anything?" The van's driver got out and came to Ke Mu's side.
"This Qin Luming also asked for Ma Shilong's address in that readers' group, and then Ma Shilong disappeared too." Ke Mu had not mentioned this to Qin Luming earlier. Qin Luming might have secrets he did not wish to share, but it was only natural to conceal things in order to avoid becoming more deeply involved... Ke Mu did not immediately assume that Qin Luming was some mastermind behind it all.
"I think this kid is probably involved." The driver spoke based on instinct. In their line of work, intuition was an important sense of direction. Many investigations and breakthroughs in baffling cases depended on instinct.
"I think instead... Gu Qing'an disappeared, and Ma Shilong disappeared. If someone disappears next, could it be Qin Luming?" Ke Mu gently shook his head. Years of experience told him that Gu Qing'an's disappearance was strange, and it was best not to get involved too deeply. The possibility that Qin Luming was the mastermind was extremely small; the possibility that he would become the next person to disappear was far greater.
The driver shuddered all over. No wonder he was the boss. If only he had that kind of ability to change directions in time. At that moment, he dearly wished to say something like, "My admiration for the boss is like the endless surging Yangtze, and like the overflowing Yellow River, utterly unstoppable." But the joke was far too old, so he could only look reverently at Ke Mu as he stood there in deep thought, quietly keeping him company, his gaze deep and gentle.
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