The Vanishing of Helen

Anna didn't let Li Mo get away with it. She gave him a thorough beating.

As she beat him, Li Mo bitterly tried to save face. "Anna, don't you always talk about when we were kids? It's not like I never touched your breasts back then..."

Naturally, that earned Li Mo an even worse beating.

Afterward, Anna was furious. She marched straight ahead and refused to carry Li Mo on her back, no matter what he said.

Li Mo scratched his head and trotted along behind her.

Suddenly, he felt he was pretty bad himself.

But why was it that seeing Anna get angry over something like this actually made him a little happy?

It was as if he had realized, Oh, so you don't see me entirely as a child after all. You can get shy and embarrassed too.

At the thought, Li Mo couldn't help chuckling.

Anna stopped in her tracks and turned around with a smile. "Li Mo, you're really asking for death now, aren't you?"

Li Mo said innocently, "Huh? What did I do?"

Anna said, "I'm asking you, what are you laughing at? Hmm?"

Li Mo said, "I was thinking of something happy..."

Anna smiled and took a step toward him. "What? Did it feel that good? Are you savoring the memory? Want another feel?"

Li Mo said, "Yeah. Can I?"

The corner of Anna's mouth twitched. Then she smiled and said, "Just wait until we get home. Once we're home, I'll let you touch as much as you want."

There was an obvious threat in her words, but Li Mo wasn't afraid in the slightest.

Instead, in the dim moonlight, he noticed that Anna's face seemed a little red.

He stepped closer with interest and asked, "Anna, are you blushing?"

Anna turned her head away, expressionless. "It's the light from the red moon. Can't you even tell that much?"

Li Mo said, "Oh, right. It is."

Neither spoke again on the way home.

When they got home,

Li Mo glanced into the living room and saw no sign of his father.

Normally, his father would be on the sofa, drinking tea and reading the newspaper while waiting for him to get home from school.

He had even planned to explain why he was late today and tell his father not to worry in the future...

His father was nowhere to be seen, but Mr. Green was sitting on the sofa.

The old butler stood beside him, speaking quietly about something, a worried look on his face.

When he saw Li Mo return, the old butler hurried over. "Young master, you're home."

Li Mo nodded and asked, "Where's Father?"

"The master hasn't come back yet. He may still be dealing with matters at the spinning mill."

Still dealing with matters at the spinning mill? At this hour?

Li Mo frowned.

Thinking of the strange incidents that had occurred in town one after another recently, he couldn't help worrying a little about his father.

"Send someone to the textile mill to look for him," Li Mo instructed. "It's so late. We'd better make sure he's safe."

"Yes, young master. I'll arrange it right away." The old butler nodded.

Li Mo took off his coat and handed it to Anna, then walked to the middle of the living room and greeted his guest politely. "Good evening, Mr. Green."

Seeing that Mr. Green had nearly finished his black tea, Anna stepped forward to clear it away. "I'll get you some more black tea."

"No, I don't want any black tea!"

Mr. Green stood up, losing his composure a little, unlike his usual self.

He walked up to Li Mo. "Li Mo, I'm asking you, where is Helen?"

Li Mo was taken aback. "Helen?"

"Don't play dumb with me! I've asked all over town, and Helen hasn't gone anywhere. Where else could she have gone if not to see you?"

Li Mo immediately understood what Mr. Green meant. "Do you mean Helen is missing?"

Mr. Green simply stared at Li Mo.

He struggled to maintain his gentlemanly composure, but his voice was icy. "Li Mo, I know you're clever, but I have to make this clear: if you dare hurt my daughter, I'll fight you to the death!"

Li Mo said, "Mr. Green, I'm worried about Helen too, but she really didn't come to see me today, and she hasn't been with me. I can swear it on my family's reputation."

The two looked at each other for a moment, and the anger in Mr. Green's eyes gradually gave way to a trace of panic.

He could tell Li Mo was telling the truth.

That raised the question: if Helen hadn't come to see Li Mo, where had she gone?

Before leaving home, he had angrily told her never to come back. Surely those words wouldn't prove prophetic and come true?

Without a word, Green hurried out the door.

After he left, Anna and Li Mo sat on the sofa, both looking worried.

Although Helen usually didn't talk much in class and seemed socially anxious and introverted, she was close to Li Mo and Anna.

When no one else was around, she would occasionally show them a cute smile in private.

Would they never see that smile again?

As soon as the thought crossed Li Mo's mind, he spat three times!

He shouldn't assume the worst just yet.

Maybe Helen was just in a bad mood and had gone somewhere to clear her head? Or perhaps she'd had too much to drink at a tavern? ...Impossible! How could someone with Helen's personality go drinking at a tavern?!

"They've already reported it to the police," Anna said softly, noticing Li Mo's anxiety and trying to comfort him. "The patrol officers must already be looking for her. Let's wait for news."

Li Mo sighed. "That's all we can do."

Even if he wanted to help, he didn't know where to start.

In his previous life, he had spent so long in a stable, happy society where the government stepped in to help resolve any problems, and all he had to do was throw himself into research.

Solving cases and finding people really weren't in his comfort zone.

Is there any surveillance footage? I could really use access to the Sky Eye system right now...

Li Mo didn't sleep well that night.

Whenever he closed his eyes, his mind filled with all sorts of speculation about Helen's disappearance.

The next morning, he and Anna met up with Wayne at the door.

"Morning, Li Mo."

Wayne yawned. He didn't look very energetic either.

The previous night, he had gone home and told his father he had become the professor's assistant. His father had been overjoyed and kept him up late eating extra food and drinking.

From the look of him, he clearly didn't know about Helen yet.

So Li Mo told Wayne what had happened.

Wayne was shocked. His sleepiness vanished instantly. "What? Helen's missing?!"

Li Mo nodded. "Yes. The butler told me this morning that it seems they still haven't found her."

Wayne fell silent.

After a while, he suddenly raised his head and said, "Li Mo, could it have been Matthew?"

"Matthew?"

"Yeah," Wayne reasoned. "Hasn't Matthew always liked Helen? He's been embarrassed in class again and again lately. Is it possible he got carried away by his emotions and did something crazy?"

Li Mo frowned in thought.

Matthew was arrogant, narrow-minded, conceited, petty, vindictive, jealous of talented people, ill-intentioned, and all ambition with little ability.

But surely he wouldn't do something as outrageous as kidnapping?

Still, if they had to proceed on the assumption that Helen had been kidnapped,

then, as things stood, Matthew really did have the strongest motive.

Anna said, "Since we don't have to attend the basic classes anymore, why don't we skip school today and investigate?"

Professor Bryce had already excused them from the basic courses. They were practically free agents now, with plenty of time at their disposal.

Li Mo shook his head. "Matthew is definitely in class at school right now. There's no point following him now. I keep feeling... if this has something to do with Matthew, then we need to start our investigation with the murder at the spinning mill..."

"The murder?"

At those words, excitement flashed in Wayne's eyes.

He unscrewed the cane in his hand, revealing a sharp sword concealed inside!

"If we run into danger, the swordsmanship I've trained so hard at since childhood can finally come in handy!"

Li Mo turned to Anna. "Anna, go back and get the revolver from home."

Wayne said, "???"

Li Mo patted Wayne on the shoulder and said, "My lord, times changed a long time ago."