Vanishing into Thin Air

"Your friend's been kidnapped?"

Hanging up the phone, Zhou Yaning turned to ask him.

The voice on the other end of the line wasn't quiet, and it was very urgent. Zhou Yaning heard a rough outline, especially the word "kidnapped," which she heard loud and clear.

"A... friend's daughter was kidnapped, an hour ago, also in the west of the city," Lu Chengchuan didn't deny it.

People had been disappearing frequently lately, and he didn't need to hide it. Besides, he needed the Investigation Bureau's help; otherwise, he wouldn't know where to start looking on his own.

"West of the city, an hour ago. These guys are really blatant."

Zhou Yaning's face was cold. Kidnapping people wantonly in the city was disregarding the authorities. If they let them get away, they could all quit their jobs.

Kidnapping someone at this point in time really showed they didn't take them seriously.

"An hour ago, they can't have left the city," Zhou Yaning said with certainty.

All the exits from the city were heavily guarded. If they wanted to take someone out, unless they could tunnel underground, even leaving by air was impossible. During this special period, even the planes at the airport couldn't take off normally.

"Where would they hide someone?"

"Hard to say. A tavern? A residential building? Or a basement, or hidden in some factory... They were able to find that real estate developer, so maybe there are other inside agents in Anyang City."

There were inside agents in Anyang City, not necessarily people within their organization, but powerful people on the outside.

Those people couldn't wield as much power as the authorities, but they were hiding in the shadows, and it would take time to root them out.

Zhou Yaning was thinking about where the kidnappers would hide the person. Unable to leave the city, where would they choose to conceal the kidnapped person...

"Where in the west of the city has the most foot traffic?" Zhou Yaning turned back to ask Xiao Ling.

"There's a residential area, several housing estates connected together, and also an area of self-built houses. There are a lot of houses there, so it should be easy to hide someone... maybe the person is in there."

Qian Xiaoling held a tablet computer and tapped on it quickly, quickly finding the information.

"Captain, the number of rental transactions here increased sharply a week ago. Could the kidnappers be behind it?"

"Let the police handle this. I'm afraid it's a smokescreen they're putting up. Also... some landlords may be closely connected to the kidnappers. You guys investigate this, and be sure to investigate carefully."

"Captain, who's going to investigate the Godblood Stone?"

In Chen Dun's memory, he desperately craved something called a Godblood Stone. They didn't understand what that thing was, but it was definitely an important item.

"I've already reported it to the director. The director will send someone to investigate."

There were still several teams in the Investigation Bureau. Their team was mainly responsible for the kidnapping case, and other matters could be left to others.

Near the suburbs in the west of the city, the car stopped in a slightly remote location. Three people were left in the car to use computers to investigate the surrounding housing information, while Lu Chengchuan and the others went out to search.

In the West City residential area, there was a lot of foot traffic, and there were many vendors on both sides of the street. Lu Chengchuan and the others dispersed, pretending to be residents, and slowly came to the residential area with a lot of foot traffic.

"Notify me immediately if there's a situation, and don't act on your own."

Before dispersing, Zhou Yaning gave a special reminder. Lu Chengchuan opened his phone. Gu Mingwei had sent him a location, the location where his daughter was kidnapped, which was one kilometer away from him.

Lu Chengchuan arrived at the scene. Compared to his previous location, this place was relatively remote, and there wasn't much foot traffic.

"This is really messed up. Nothing like this has ever happened before."

"Who knows what's going on these days? There are more and more strange things. I saw that little girl disappear with my own eyes just now. Could it be that ghosts are catching people?"

"Shhh! Don't speak so loudly, or you'll attract the ghosts."

Several vendors were gathered together, talking quietly about just now. As his realm improved, Lu Chengchuan's eyesight and hearing far surpassed ordinary people, and Lu Chengchuan clearly heard what they were saying.

Hearing them say that a little girl had disappeared, Lu Chengchuan thought of Gu Wangshu and strode forward.

"Handsome, take a look and see what you want to eat."

Seeing him come up, the stall owner greeted him enthusiastically.

"Auntie, you said you saw a little girl disappear just now. My sister was kidnapped here. Can you tell me about it?" Lu Chengchuan didn't want to eat. He wanted to know how Gu Wangshu had disappeared.

"Your sister?" The stall owner looked at him suspiciously.

"Yes, my sister. She's very well-behaved. Today, she was wearing a white shirt, blue jeans, and carrying a small black bag. Just over an hour ago, my sister was kidnapped while walking on the road..."

"Really your sister? I saw it just now. I don't know who caught her. Invisibility, do you know invisibility? Your sister suddenly shouted, and when I looked up, it was right there..."

Seeing that Lu Chengchuan spoke convincingly and matched the person she saw, the stall owner no longer doubted him.

She raised her hand and pointed to a spot a dozen meters ahead: "She shouted at the time, and I just looked up, and she suddenly disappeared. It was gone very quickly... It's a ghost, a ghost is catching people."

The owner didn't understand much. She knew there were Espers, but she still believed that ghosts were catching people.

"Young man, don't be too sad. Go to the police station to report the case and let the police find her." After speaking, the stall owner comforted him.

In this world, too many people were missing, and no one wanted this kind of thing to happen to them.

"Before my sister disappeared, did anyone approach her?"

"I don't remember. There used to be a lot of people on this road. I really don't know who was close to your sister." The owner thought for a while, then turned to ask the others, "Old Yang, did you see anything?"

"I was making pancakes at the time, and didn't pay much attention..."

"I didn't see it either. I saw the person disappear at the time, but I didn't see anyone next to her."

Several people chattered, and they didn't know what was going on. After such an incident, the foot traffic decreased by more than half. If it wasn't for making money, none of them would dare to stay here.

The person who had suddenly disappeared was quickly silenced. Lu Chengchuan walked to the spot the boss had indicated.

He crouched down to search, but the ground only held dust, sand, and wind-blown leaves. There weren't many traces.

Lu Chengchuan stood up and left. He didn't know where to look for the person, so he could only continue forward. After walking for another ten minutes or so, he reached a small commercial street, with each store open and waiting for customers.

There were quite a few people here, and everything seemed fine. Lu Chengchuan continued forward, reaching the entrance of an alley when he suddenly heard a faint sound coming from inside.

"Help... help... is anyone there..."

The voice was very weak. If Lu Chengchuan hadn't been walking so slowly, he wouldn't have heard it.

Someone was calling for help. At this critical moment, Lu Chengchuan didn't think too much and immediately entered the alley.

In the pitch-black alley, Lu Chengchuan slowly walked in, not making a single sound. Soon, he saw a woman lying on the ground; she was the one calling for help.