"Old Fan?"

Kaitian City, at the school gate of District 7.

Wang Xiaopang shouted uncertainly.

"Little Fatty?"

Ye Bufan turned around in surprise and saw Wang Xiaopang, who had become much thinner and had a more murderous look in his eyes.

Wang Xiaopang stepped forward and looked at him with a complicated expression.

He wasn't sure just now because Ye Bufan's demeanor was a bit somber, completely unlike his usual energetic self.

That's when he spoke up, still puzzled.

Ye Bufan broke his silence and patted Wang Xiaopang's belly in surprise, saying, "The military academy is that effective?"

Wang Xiaopang rolled his eyes and said with a proud expression, "Don't envy my eight-pack abs. I told you, fat guys are all potential stocks."

"Fatty, you're awesome." Ye Bufan gave a thumbs up: "You really managed to lose weight for me."

Wang Xiaopang waved: "Let's go, the usual place."

The familiar roadside barbecue stall, the owner served various skewers with a smile: "It's been so long since I've seen you two, Little Fatty almost didn't recognize you."

"Hehe, am I handsome now?" Wang Xiaopang chuckled, touching his chin.

"The young man is indeed handsome." The boss gave a thumbs up and then went back to work.

Picking up a skewer of meat, Wang Xiaopang ate one after another, revealing a satisfied expression.

"It tastes just like before."

Ye Bufan nodded: "The taste hasn't changed at all."

After showing off a few meat skewers, Wang Xiaopang asked, "Old Fan, what happened on your end?"

Ye Bufan was silent for a moment, then sighed: "Qin Sheng was taken away by the Creation Sect, and so was Yu Rui."

He gave a bitter look: "I'm too weak..."

A strange light flashed in Wang Xiaopang's eyes, then he listened quietly to the ins and outs of the matter.

After a moment, Ye Bufan let out a long sigh: "Now Qin Sheng and Yu Rui's fate is unknown, and I'm completely helpless!"

Noticing that he was clenching his fists tightly, Wang Xiaopang handed him a skewer of meat and said, "I didn't expect so many things to happen."

Seeing him let go and take it, Wang Xiaopang sighed and said, "Old Fan, do you know what the first lesson at military academy teaches?"

"What?"

"parting."

"What do you mean?" Ye Bufan asked, puzzled.

Wang Xiaopang spoke calmly.

"Old Fan, the abduction of Qin Sheng and Yu Rui may be a big blow to you, but this is something that happens everywhere on the battlefield."

“In the morning you might be playing around with your teammates, but in the afternoon all you see is their corpse. More often than not, we see severed limbs.”

Wang Xiaopang laughed self-deprecatingly: "Speaking of which, I even put Lao Xu's hand in the wrong place. I found a woman's hand to fix it for him, so it can be considered as fulfilling his dream of never holding a girl's hand."

He paused for a moment, then continued, "I don't know how to advise you, but at least they're still alive now."

"To live is to have hope."

Ye Bufan's gaze turned complicated as he looked at Wang Xiaopang, who had spoken so easily, and for a moment he felt a lump in his throat.

“The Creation Cult…” Wang Xiaopang’s eyes showed a strange look: “Old Fan, you don’t need to worry too much. Qin Sheng and Yu Rui should be doing well there.”

Ye Bufan frowned slightly: "Why do you say that?"

Wang Xiaopang chuckled and said, "Researchers are treated like treasures no matter where they are, so you don't need to worry too much."

"I hope so."

The two continued chatting until Ye Bufan's phone rang.

"By the way, Fatty." After glancing at his phone, Ye Bufan asked, "Are you free now?"

"Yes, what's wrong?"

"The higher-ups have restarted the investigation into the Creation Church and asked me to go and take a look, is that alright?"

"Okay." Wang Xiaopang was also somewhat interested.

Soon they met an acquaintance, Luo Hongxia's daughter, Luo Yin, who was also the person in charge of investigating the Creation Church and restoring the appearance of its followers.

"Xiao Fan".

Luo Yin waved and led them into a room, explaining as he did so.

“Initially, we speculated that the Creation Cult was targeting you because you might have accidentally discovered something, but later we directly discovered their headquarters, so we stopped paying attention.”

He handed a stack of photos to Ye Bufan: "We're reinvestigating now, so I asked you to come and look at these photos of the believers after their recovery, to see if there are any clues."

Ye Bufan nodded: "Okay."

As Ye Bufan flipped through the photos in his hand, Wang Xiaopang beside him was also looking at them, but Ye Bufan didn't recognize any of them.

Even though he tried his best to recall, he was certain he didn't see any familiar faces.

As only one photo remained in the stack of photos in his hand, Ye Bufan frowned slightly, as if he had seen it somewhere before.

At this moment, Wang Xiaopang spoke first.

"Hey? Isn't that that guy who collects protection money?"

Luo Yin was taken aback and looked at Wang Xiaopang in surprise. Shouldn't Ye Bufan have recognized him?

Ye Bufan paused, recalling the day he first began cultivating, when he used his martial arts skills to help Wang Xiaopang deal with that hoodlum for the first time.

"This person has been in contact with us before."

Ye Bufan briefly explained the situation, and Luo Yin immediately spoke into the headset, and the entire Seventh District began to operate.

Soon, a share appeared on the screen.

"What a handsome guy! I want his contact information (￣?￣)"

The accompanying photo features Qin Sheng as the main subject, while in the corner of the photo, Ye Bufan and another person are seen following a figure from behind.

Luo Yin frowned: "The surveillance footage from those days was destroyed; all we've found so far is this photo."

Enlarging the corner, Luo Yin said, "This must be you."

Ye Bufan nodded: "Yes, that day Xu Nanshi was collecting protection money. I had just entered the cultivation world, so I found a place to teach him a lesson."

Luo Yin squinted: "But the next day, this Xu Nanshi became a believer, do you remember?"

Wang Xiaopang and Ye Bufan both shook their heads: "No, we didn't see anyone else after we came out of the alley."

"The exact location..."

After asking for more details about the day, the two then left.

"But it turns out Qin Sheng didn't get on the bus back that day," Wang Xiaopang said in surprise.

Ye Bufan's eyes were filled with melancholy: "I remember back then Qin Sheng couldn't cultivate yet, while we had already started. Perhaps he also wanted to clear his mind."

Wang Xiaopang sighed and patted Ye Bufan on the shoulder: "Don't think too much about it. Get some rest for a few days. You'll have to work harder when you get back."

"That's right."

The two didn't care why Qin Sheng didn't take a car back that day, after all, it was just a very small matter.

Luo Yin, after learning about Qin Sheng's situation, frowned, seemingly deep in thought.

Qin Sheng's situation is currently confidential, and Luo Yin is unaware of it. He wanted to contact Qin Sheng to assist in the investigation, but Qin Sheng refused.

My gaze swept across the figures in the photo, and among them were several cars.

However, their dashcam had been replaced, and the previous recordings were no longer retained.

I sighed and decided to look for people from that day again. Maybe someone had clues like photos, but hadn't posted them.