Mysterious Disappearance Case

Gu Yuan walked straight toward the area belonging to the Third Team.

Along the way, he ran into several team members who all greeted him familiarly.

Over the past ten days, he had practically lived at the Destiny Bureau; even the cleaning lady for the Third Team knew that Captain Shen had an incredibly "filial" cousin who came by every day to curry favor.

Gu Yuan reached the door of the captain's office with practiced ease and pushed it open.

Behind the desk, Shen Tingxue was slumped completely in her chair.

Seeing it was Gu Yuan who had entered, she let out a long sigh and slammed the document in her hand heavily onto the desk.

"Well, well, this is rare. It's my first time seeing you look so miserable."

Gu Yuan chuckled, closed the door behind him, and leaned in.

"What's wrong today? Getting pressured to get married again?"

Shen Tingxue looked up and glared at him.

"Don't even mention it. I really don't know what kind of mush the higher-ups have in their brains, asking me to investigate a missing persons case? Isn't this just pure torture for me!"

She rubbed her hair frantically, her face a mask of despair.

"I wouldn't even blink if they asked me to go outside the city to hack up fierce beasts, but if they make me read these case files, I'd rather die."

Gu Yuan walked to the side of the desk, his gaze naturally falling upon the document.

The bold characters on the cover instantly caught his eye—Haicheng No. 1 High School Missing Persons Case.

He raised an eyebrow.

"A missing persons case? The one at our school?"

He hadn't expected the case he had just been discussing with Zhang Yining to land in his cousin's hands.

"Yes, the one at your school." Shen Tingxue irritably grabbed her phone, her thumb tapping rapidly across the screen.

"I'm good at clearing out fierce beasts and catching criminal martial artists, but for cases like this that require finding clues, I get a headache just looking at the words."

Knock, knock.

Just as the two were chatting, the office door was knocked upon.

Immediately after, the door was pushed open, and a young girl with ear-length short hair and a bright yellow compass hanging from her waist poked her head in.

Gu Yuan's eyes widened; he saw a purple entry floating above her head as well—[Spirit Sensing].

The bottom still showed no acquisition conditions.

Are you kidding me? Again?

To encounter two purple entries in the Destiny Bureau in one day—it seemed the Destiny Bureau really did have a higher density of high-quality entries, but the lack of acquisition conditions was truly agonizing.

Gu Yuan felt an itch in his heart as he stared at the entry, wishing he could just pluck it off her head and press it onto his own.

"Captain, did you call for me?"

The moment Shen Tingxue saw Sun Miaomiao, her eyes lit up.

"Perfect!"

Shen Tingxue sprang up from her chair, snatched the document from the desk, strode over to Sun Miaomiao, and shoved the file directly into her arms.

"Miaomiao, you're finally here! I'm leaving this to you; you Occultists are much better at handling these delicate cases!"

Sun Miaomiao looked down at the file in her arms, then back at Shen Tingxue, her brain clearly struggling to keep up.

"Huh? Captain, this is..."

She had just opened her mouth to say something, but Shen Tingxue had already placed both hands on her shoulders and was pushing her toward the door.

"Good luck, Miaomiao! I believe in your abilities!" Shen Tingxue's tone was full of encouragement. "As long as you solve the case, all the credit is yours! Your captain definitely won't fight you for it!"

"No, Captain, I..."

Bang!

Shen Tingxue's movements were incredibly swift; the moment she pushed the girl out, she slammed the door shut.

The entire sequence was smooth and fluid, completed in one go.

Gu Yuan stood by the desk, staring at the scene in stunned silence.

That technique for passing the buck was far too practiced!

Click.

"Oh, and one more thing!"

Shen Tingxue opened the door again, poked her head out, and spoke at lightning speed.

"You can order anyone in our team around as you please, no need to report back to me! Good luck!"

With that, "bang," the door was slammed shut and locked tight once more.

Shen Tingxue even remembered to engage the deadbolt.

Out in the hallway, Sun Miaomiao looked at the heavy file in her hands and completely resigned herself to her fate.

"Sigh~ I have to stay up late to draw tracking talismans again. My dark circles were just starting to fade!"

She sighed, clutched her folder, and walked toward her workstation, beginning to study the contents of the documents in earnest.

Inside the office.

Gu Yuan watched his cousin slump back into her chair, unable to suppress the curiosity in his heart.

"Cousin, is this missing person case really that serious? Generally speaking, shouldn't cases like this be investigated by the Public Security Bureau's enforcement team? How did it end up on your plate?"

Shen Tingxue got angry the moment she heard this and slapped the table hard.

"It wasn't a big deal to begin with! The higher-ups didn't take it seriously at first, and the Public Security Bureau has been investigating for two days without a single lead."

She picked up the water glass on her desk and took a large gulp.

"If it weren't for the fact that the missing girl's family has connections with the upper echelons of the Destiny Bureau and pulled some strings, this case would never have fallen to us."

"The leadership suddenly dumped this case on me. I guess it's because our Third Squad is the only team in the entire Sea City Destiny Bureau that has a warlock assigned to it."

Warlocks were indeed skilled at tracking and finding objects; the reasoning made sense.

"Anyway, I'm not good at solving cases," Shen Tingxue leaned back in her chair, looking perfectly justified.

"Leave professional matters to the professionals. I'll just play assistant to Miaomiao; I'll only step in if we actually need to throw hands."

Gu Yuan was stunned when he heard this.

It was his first time hearing of a captain playing assistant to a team member. The workplace culture of the Destiny Bureau's Third Squad was truly an eye-opener.

Shen Tingxue shot him a sidelong glance.

"Alright, enough about the case. What are you doing here today, kid?"

"Now, why would you say that?"

Gu Yuan immediately put on a flattering smile, stood up, and walked behind her.

"I'm obviously here to help you relax! You've been working so hard lately, and as your cousin, it hurts my heart to see it."

Shen Tingxue looked up at Gu Yuan again.

"Just say you're giving a massage. 'Relaxing the body'—you make it sound so sleazy."

As she spoke, she stood up, stretched her arms wide, walked over to the sofa against the wall, and lay face down.

"Mm, come on then, give me a good rub."

Seeing this, Gu Yuan immediately stepped forward.

He skillfully helped Shen Tingxue take off her coat.

Gu Yuan took the essential oil he carried with him out of his pocket, poured it into his palms to warm it up, then pressed his hands onto her shoulders and began to knead with force.

His technique was truly beyond reproach.

His thumbs precisely found the acupoints, pressing and massaging.

Shen Tingxue let out a long, comfortable sigh.

"Mm... Xiaoyuan, why are you even going to school with skills like these?"

She closed her eyes, her voice slightly muffled.

"You should just open a massage parlor. With your craft, you're better than the professional therapists at the Destiny Bureau. I'd patronize your business every single day."

Gu Yuan's movements paused when he heard this.

What a supportive cousin.

"Just shut up." Gu Yuan increased the pressure of his hands.

Shen Tingxue felt a bit of pain from the pressure, but she was too lazy to bicker. Feeling the warmth spreading across her back, her body gradually relaxed completely.

Within a few minutes, she had fallen asleep.

Gu Yuan continued to massage while staring fixedly at the top of Shen Tingxue's head.

Half an hour later.

Gu Yuan stopped his movements. Where was the attribute bonus?

Why was there nothing this time?

What was going on?

He had massaged for half an hour today and hadn't seen a single thing! It seemed that after obtaining this entry, there was no corresponding attribute bonus.

He had actually been reduced to a free massage therapist! He had worked for half an hour for nothing! A total loss! A massive loss!

He looked at Shen Tingxue, who was sleeping soundly on the sofa, and the more he thought about it, the angrier he became.

"Smack!"

A crisp sound exploded in the office.