The Ever-Changing Stealth Space

Li Banfeng sat in his office, reviewing information about Gourd Village. Shen Jingye was feeling unwell and had asked for a day off.

According to the information, Gourd Village is a nightmare for the Dark Star Bureau. From the branch office to the headquarters, it is a topic that no member of the Dark Star Bureau wants to talk about.

Based on the analysis of the case files and Li Banfeng's understanding, Gourd Village is a Stealth Space with special attributes. Whether it is Dark Dimension Space is still uncertain. After all, Dark Dimension Space is only one type of Stealth Space, and Li Banfeng is not very familiar with other types of Stealth Space.

The most distinctive feature of this Stealth Space is that it has a changeable entrance. Li Banfeng had also experienced this in Pro State, where the entrance to Fool's City could be changed.

If we can master this technology, we can not only build a secret laboratory for my Wife, but we can even build a hidden city that no one knows about.

This is the crucial foundation!

This technique must be learned, and this Gourd Village must be found.

Why would such a strange, Stealth Space appear in Outer State instead of Pro State?

Because Gourd Village Outer State, Little Shen was extremely anxious about this matter and gave full support to all of Li Banfeng's investigation work.

According to the records, the entrance to Gourd Village would appear every year from December to January of the following year, which is the eve of the Lunar New Year, which is what Shen Jingye referred to as opening for business.

The entrance is specifically represented by two to ten stunningly beautiful women standing at the entrance of the Stealth Space, attracting passersby to Stealth Space.

A woman with an exceptionally beautiful figure.

Li Banfeng patted the Wine Gourd: "Sister, you really don't know what's going on here?"

The Wine Gourd sighed, "Brother, stop taking pictures. You've made it all red. I really didn't know. Maybe I knew before, but I can't remember now. If I remember, I'll definitely tell you. If you still want to take pictures, switch sides. Don't keep shooting at this half."

Since breaking off the contract with Yao Lao, Wine Gourd has been extremely loyal to Li Banfeng. If she knew the inside story, she would definitely tell Li Banfeng.

Besides, this is Outer State territory, and since Wine Gourd is from Pro State, he really shouldn't have asked her.

Li Banfeng continued reviewing the case files.

Last year, Gourd Village appeared in the north, resulting in the disappearance of 31 people, Chuunibyou 25 men and 6 women.

Female?

Was she tricked by a handsome guy?

There is no record of the handsome man in the file.

Two years ago, Gourd Village appeared in the neighboring Min-Yue Province, resulting in the disappearance of 55 people, 17 of whom were women.

This ratio is even more exaggerated.

Why can a woman with such a beautiful figure still attract so many women?

Li Banfeng continued flipping through the files, one question constantly troubling him, "Why is this place called Gourd Village? Just because the girls standing at the village entrance have gourd-like figures? Even so, why not call it Gourd Shop, Gourd Building, or Gourd Garden?"

Tangyuan took out a document and said, "Because there were survivors."

Are there any survivors in Gourd Village?

"Yes, the name 'Gourd Village' comes from the survivors' accounts."

"Why didn't you give me such important information sooner!" Li Banfeng took the file box.

Tangyuan stuck out her tongue. "Actually, this information isn't that valuable."

Li Banfeng opened a file. The survivor's name was Wu Nianping, a native of Le City, Fujian Province. He went missing on December 16th two years ago and returned home on January 21st.

Wu Nianping is a food delivery driver. According to his own account and eyewitness accounts, he picked up a food delivery from a restaurant. While getting on his electric scooter, he noticed two women at the restaurant entrance inviting him to come in.

He thought there was a problem with the takeout, so he followed the woman into the restaurant. Only then did he realize that the restaurant was actually a village, and the woman told him that it was called Gourd Village.

Tangyuan explained, "Seventh Master, this is his only remaining memory of Gourd Village. An examination has determined that Wu Nianping suffered severe mental illness due to extreme shock; he's gone mad, and his memory is severely impaired—."

Li Banfeng interrupted Tangyuan: "Having a mental illness doesn't mean a person is insane. You must be careful what you say!"

Tangyuan nodded and continued, "The other survivors are probably in the same situation; they can only say the name 'Gourd Village,' and they haven't been able to provide any other effective descriptions."

Li Banfeng carefully reviewed the survivors' information, and Tangyuan helped Li Banfeng analyze some key data.

The Chuunibyou's investigation did not focus on these materials; his focus was on the parties involved in the case.

The man who went missing from the pharmacy was named Zhang Peiwen, 26 years old, and unemployed. The Chuunibyou noticed something amiss with his address. "Zhang Peiwen's address is just one street away from the pharmacy. After buying the medicine, he could walk home in 15 minutes. He didn't need to take a taxi."

The candied fruit vendor disagreed. "Some people just don't like walking, and a fifteen-minute walk isn't exactly short."

?

Chuunibyou produced the pharmacy owner's statement. "According to her description, Zhang Peiwen once waited for a long time in front of the pharmacy for one yuan. He is an introverted and frugal person, and he would not choose to take a taxi for a fifteen-minute journey."

The Light Bulb frowned. "That's too arbitrary. Just because someone is frugal doesn't mean they don't know how to enjoy life."

Chuunibyou didn't say anything more. In terms of family background, he was far worse off than the Light Bulb. Chuunibyou and the Light Bulb had a clear difference in their understanding of taking a taxi.

Li Banfeng hadn't considered this issue either; during his student days, he had virtually no experience taking a taxi alone.

After reviewing the case files all morning, Li Banfeng decided to visit the parties involved in the case in the afternoon.

He brought Tangyuan, Light Bulb, Star, and Chuunibyou someone with delusions of grandeur) to Zhang Peiwen's residence.

Zhang Peiwen lives in a residential complex on DiSheng Road. The complex was built at the end of the last century and consists of walk-up buildings. Zhang Peiwen lives on the seventh floor.

Zhang Peiwen's father Zhang Qinghai, was originally a worker, but due to an accident, he lost the ability to move his right leg and became disabled, staying at home for many years.

The mother, Ai Xiafen, was a middle school teacher. She retired five years ago due to health reasons. Their retirement pensions are the source of income for the family.

The mother, Ai Xiafen, opened the door, Li Banfeng presented forged documents.

This is a legally forged document, because the public knows nothing about the Dark Star Bureau, and Dark Star Bureau agents cannot reveal their true identities.

Ai Xiafen invited everyone into her home. "Police officers, please sit down, my son—"

Zhang Peiwen's father Zhang Qinghai, leaning on his cane, approached Li Banfeng: "Any news about my son?"

Li Banfeng said, "Not yet. We came here mainly to conduct some investigations with you."

As he spoke, Li Banfeng looked at the layout of the house.

It has two bedrooms and a living room; the living room is quite large, but the bedrooms are a bit small.

Because the house faces north, the light inside is somewhat dim.

Li Banfeng asked, "Which one is Zhang Peiwen's room?"

Zhang Qinghai pointed to the room on the right side of the corridor, Li Banfeng glanced at it.

The house is decorated in a very simple style, mainly with wooden furniture, except for Zhang Peiwen's door, which is quite distinctive.

Because this door is made of glass.

Chuunibyou said to the two elderly people, "I want to go to the room of the person involved to collect some evidence."

Ai Xiafen stood up and said, "I'll go with you. We'll fully cooperate with your work."

Li Banfeng looked at Zhang Qinghai, "Then I'll have some conversation with you first."

Ai Xiafen sat back down on the sofa. "Officer, you should tell me. My husband, Lao Zhang, is confused and can't explain anything clearly."

Chuunibyou went to collect evidence, Li Banfeng asked them what had happened.

Ai Xiafen's eyes welled up with tears. "That day, at three o'clock in the afternoon, he went to the pharmacy to buy me medicine."

Actually, we shouldn't have gone that day; we should have gone the day before. But the pharmacy wasn't open the day before. If it had been open...

That way, this wouldn't have happened!

At this point, Ai Xiafen burst into tears.

"Auntie, please don't get agitated. We are doing our best to investigate." Tangyuan comforted Ai Xiafen calmed down a bit.

Li Banfeng asked, "You just said you originally planned to buy the medicine the day before, but because the pharmacy was closed, you postponed it by a day. But I see there are many pharmacies near your neighborhood, why did you insist on buying it from that particular one?"

Ai Xiafen sighed, "It's my fault for having such a weak body. There are a few medicines that only that pharmacy sells."

Li Banfeng said to Tangyuan, "Write down the medicine that Ms. Ai needs to take later, and we can help you buy some."

"No, no," Ai Xiafen shook her head repeatedly, "How could I trouble you?"

Tangyuan smiled and said, "Don't worry, this is what we should do."

After being questioned for a long time, Ai Xiafen still refused to reveal the name of the drug, and continued to recount what happened that afternoon:

My son goes out to buy medicine at 3 o'clock and always comes back at 3:30. I stay home and prepare dinner, making his favorite stir-fried carrots...

"I'm looking for my son!" Zhang Qinghai, leaning on his cane, suddenly stood up. "I'm going to find him right now!"

Tangyuan tried to dissuade them, but Ai Xiafen shouted, "Old Zhang, stop making trouble! They're helping us find our son!"

Zhang Qinghai kept his head down and didn't speak. Ai Xiafen said, "I waited until 3:40 that day, but the child still hadn't come back. I was so worried that I rushed to the pharmacy to look for him."

Li Banfeng asked, "Doesn't he have a cell phone?"

Ai Xiafen sighed and said, "Don't laugh at me, but my son has gone crazy from studying. He can't do anything but read books. He doesn't know how to use a cell phone or computer."

I found the pharmacy, and the owner said she saw him buy the medicine and leave. I had always trusted her and didn't think much of it.

When the police came to investigate later, I found out that this woman had lied to me. She saw my son standing at her door, but she didn't tell me! She's not a decent person; she's the one who harmed my son!

At this point, Ai Xiafen cried even harder.

He listened to the Light Bulb intermittently, not feeling that he could gain much useful information from Ai Xiafen.

The Star was very good at handling things and quickly handed Ai Xiafen a banknote.

Li Banfeng asked very seriously, "Ms. Ai, why do you think the pharmacy owner would harm your son?"

Tangyuan glanced at Li Banfeng; those words just now didn't sound like something Seventh Master would ask.

Ai Xiafen was clearly traumatized by her son's situation, and she spoke recklessly. How could anyone take such a thing seriously?

It's probably because the customs of Pro State are different from here that Seventh Master is not used to it.

Ai Xiafen replied, "I often buy medicine there. That woman must have thought we were rich, so she tried to kidnap my son and extort money from us!"

Tangyuan raised her eyebrows at Li Banfeng, indicating that he should not take it seriously. She had experienced a similar situation. Ai Xiafen suffered psychological trauma because her son went missing, and she became suspicious of everyone and everything around her.

Li Banfeng continued chatting with Ai Xiafen, finished collecting evidence Chuunibyou the bedroom, and then opened the refrigerator.

Ai Xiafen didn't quite understand. "Do we need to collect evidence from the refrigerator?"

The Chuunibyou shook his head and said, "I'm thirsty. Let's see if there's anything to drink in the fridge."

Tangyuan frowned, feeling embarrassed for the Chuunibyou.

The Star suppressed a laugh; he simply couldn't understand what this Chuunibyou was thinking. At a time like this, going to the refrigerator to look for something was tantamount to slapping the Dark Star Bureau in the face, wasn't it?

However, the elderly couple didn't know they were from the Dark Star Bureau.

The Light Bulb felt the situation was unusual, Chuunibyou thinking was indeed a bit strange, but he wasn't the kind of person who liked to take advantage of others, nor would he do something so meaningless.

Li Banfeng knew that Chuunibyou had ulterior motives, but he still had to put on a show and reprimand him. "What kind of work attitude is this? Don't you have any sense of discipline?"

Ai Xiafen quickly stood up and said, "It was my mistake. There are no drinks at home. Let me pour you a cup of tea."

Li Banfeng stood up and said, "We've learned enough about everything we need to know. We should be going now. Ms. Ai, please take care of yourself."

Zhang Qinghai stood up again. "I need to find my son! I need to find my son!"

Ai Xiafen scolded her husband a couple of times, then saw Li Banfeng and the other two to the door.

The moment he reached the door, Li Banfeng heard the projector's sound, "Seventh Director, I need to suffocate. The light and colors in this place are making it hard for me to breathe."

After leaving the residential compound, Li Banfeng went to the pharmacy and asked the owner what medicines Zhang Peiwen usually bought.

The Star standing nearby asked, "Director Li, are we really going to buy medicine for her?"

Li Banfeng glared at the Star: "Isn't this what you should be doing? Where's your service mentality?"

The Star dared not speak, but after the proprietress checked the ledger, he wrote down the names of the medicines.

Li Banfeng didn't know much about medicines either, so he asked Tangyuan to send the names of the medicines directly to the medical department.

Light Bulb one. "Chief, you're not buying her medicine, you're investigating her?"

Tangyuan didn't quite understand either. "Why are they investigating her?"

Chuunibyou said, "I think Director Li's approach is sound."

The Star frowned. "Stop always praising Director Li's thinking, stop always flattering him, why don't you share your own thoughts?"

Chuunibyou hesitated to speak, but after everyone returned to the car, Sui Qijun, the head of the medical department, gave a reply.

"Director Li, the names of these drugs you provided are rather vague in terms of their functions and indications. It is difficult to deduce what disease the patient has based on these drugs."

"What kind of response is this?" Li Banfeng was very dissatisfied. "The prescription is right in front of you, and you still can't explain your symptoms clearly?"

Sui Qijun was somewhat embarrassed. "Director Li, I don't want to be too assertive in my answer, but based on what I know so far, the names of the drugs you provided cannot be strictly speaking be considered medicines."

"What else could it be but medicine? I saw all of these in the pharmacy."

"These products should be considered to have some therapeutic effects, but their ingredients are relatively complex, their efficacy is difficult to determine, and they are quite expensive health supplements."

Li Banfeng hung up the phone and remained silent for a long time.

The Star standing nearby said, "It's none of our business what people eat, but since it's a health supplement and not a necessary medicine, we don't have to buy medicine for them."

The Light Bulb pondered for a moment, "Section Chief Sui said these health products are quite expensive. Considering their family's circumstances..."

They don't seem like wealthy people either.

Tangyuan said, "That's because you don't understand the situation. Many elderly people are superstitious about health products. Even if they don't have money at home, they will still find a way to buy some."

Chuunibyou shook his head. "Things aren't that simple."

Li Banfeng looked at the Chuunibyou: "What evidence did you find just now?"

The Star said, "I doubt we'll find any valuable evidence in his house."

Ignoring the Star, Chung -Chuunibyou er handed the evidence to Li Banfeng. Li Banfeng examined the evidence, which further confirmed his suspicions.

Back at the station, in the conference room, Chuunibyou pulled out a plastic bag. "I had previously suspected that Zhang Peiwen wouldn't be willing to take a taxi. This is what I found in the lining of his mattress."

The Light Bulb took the plastic bag and saw that it contained coins of different denominations. The largest denomination was ten yuan, which was only one bill. The rest included one-yuan bills, five-yuan bills, and quite a few rare coins.

"This should be the change he had left over from buying medicine." The Star roughly counted it, and the change added up to more than one hundred yuan.

"It might be something he left over from grocery shopping," Chuunibyou, holding up a schedule. "This schedule was stuck on his desk, and it took me a lot of effort to pry it off."

The Light Bulb glanced at the schedule and couldn't help but frown.

On Monday, I get up at 7:00 AM, go to the toilet from 7:15 AM to 7:30 AM, have breakfast from 7:30 AM to 8:00 AM, take my dad for a walk in the neighborhood from 8:00 AM to 10:00 AM, and go to the market to buy groceries from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM.

From 11 a. m. to 12 p. m., I cook with my mom. At 12 p. m., we eat lunch. From 12:30 p. m. to 2 p. m., I take a nap. From 2 p. m. to 3 p. m., I watch TV. From 3 p. m. to 3:30 p. m., I buy medicine for my mom. From 3:30 p. m. to 4 p. m., I watch TV at home.

I went to the market to buy groceries from 4 to 5 pm, helped my mother cook dinner from 5 to 6 pm, cleaned the house from 6:30 to 7:30 pm, did laundry from 7:30 to 8:30 pm, and went to bed at 8:30 pm.

Tangyuan glanced at the change in the plastic bag and said to Li Banfeng, "Director, I still have my opinion on the taxi incident. I don't think the taxi driver lied. Zhang Peiwen is just a frugal person, but that doesn't mean he can't afford to spend money."

Chuunibyou shook his head and said, "If he had the money to spend, he would never spend it on taxis. You can see from his schedule that every Wednesday afternoon, his mother has to sort through the shopping receipts with him, and Ai Xiafen also has to keep track of the change."

Tangyuan had already looked at the schedule. "This schedule doesn't prove anything. Maybe it's just because his family has a strong sense of time. Everyone has a different way of living and different pursuits. We can't judge others by our own standards."

Chuunibyou pulled out a flyer. "This flyer was found in Zhang Peiwen's pillow. It's a sales flyer for smartphones. The cheapest model on it is only 628 yuan." He circled the number 628 several times. If he had the purchasing power, he would definitely be after this phone, not a taxi!

The Star said, "He didn't say that he definitely wanted to take a taxi. The driver said that Zhang Peiwen kept looking at him at the time, and he thought that Zhang Peiwen wanted to take a taxi, so there was a misunderstanding."

"There's no such misunderstanding!" Chuunibyou shook his head repeatedly. "When I don't have money to take a taxi, I never dare to stare at the taxi. I think you all have had similar experiences."

The Light Bulb laughed and said, "That's not necessarily true; I dare to watch."

Li Banfeng asked the Light Bulb, "When was the last time you took a taxi? You had a car right after graduation."

"Perhaps—" Some signs were already visible, but Tangyuan was still trying to defend Ai Xiafen. "As a mother, there may be problems with how she treats her child, but that doesn't negate her love for him. I saw the ingredients in the kitchen; she prepared her child's favorite stir-fried carrots. She's still waiting for her child to come home."

"Stir-fried carrots," the Chuunibyou, looking at Li Banfeng. "Director Li, do you remember Zhang Qinghai's reaction when carrots were mentioned?"

Li Banfeng had a very deep impression of this scene. "He was looking for his son, and his reaction was very intense; he wanted to rush out of the house."

"He did want to rush out of the house, but not necessarily to find his son. He probably didn't want to eat carrots anymore; he wanted to escape this home," the Chuunibyou, pulling out a stack of receipts. "These are their grocery receipts for this month. They buy carrots every day."

I opened his refrigerator, and there were several plates of stir-fried carrots and a lot of carrots inside. Who could stand carrots like that? How could Zhang Peiwen possibly want to eat carrots?

This was Zhang Peiwen's life: eating the same food every day, doing the same things, his every move under Ai Xiafen's surveillance and control; even his bedroom door was transparent.

Tangyuan remained silent for a long time. She simply couldn't understand why such a family relationship had occurred. "If Zhang Peiwen were willing to find a job and support himself with his own income, he wouldn't have to be subject to so much control."

Chuunibyou picked up the schedule. "Team Leader You, you heard Ai Xiafen's description too. He went out to buy medicine at 3 o'clock, and if he didn't come back by 3:40, Ai Xiafen would go to the pharmacy to look for him. Ai Xiafen gave Zhang Peiwen no more than ten minutes of leeway. He can't even go directly to buy groceries after coming back from the pharmacy; he has to stay at home for half an hour before going to buy groceries."

Under this level of control, do you think Zhang Peiwen can find a job? Will Ai Xiafen allow him to look for work?

Tangyuan fell silent.

After organizing the evidence, Chuunibyou said, "Team Leader You, different upbringings lead to different perceptions of things. This has happened to people I know before, so I'm not surprised by this investigation result."

However, we agreed on one point: I also felt there was no need to investigate the taxi driver further.

The Light Bulb was taken aback. "What kind of talk is this? We've been talking for so long just to confirm the taxi driver's suspicious points, haven't we? Now that we've found the suspicious points, you're saying we won't investigate?"

Chuunibyou shook his head. "Why investigate him? To rescue Zhang Peiwen? For Zhang Peiwen, going anywhere is better than staying at home. Rather than dragging him back into the fire, we might as well do something else useful."

Tangyuan disagreed. "We can't use individual cases to represent the whole. Once Gourd Village opens, many people will disappear. Their situations are different from Zhang Peiwen's."

This time, Chuunibyou remained silent, and everyone looked at Li Banfeng, as the final decision rested with him.

Li Banfeng is pondering an important question, "What is Gourd Village really like? Does anyone want to go and see for themselves?"

P. S.: Happy National Day.