Chapter 126126 South Foothills

N was silent for a moment, then said, "I haven't seen that person."

He knew who she was referring to, but he still repeated, "The last time I saw the photo at Nan Shaochen's old house, it was the first time I saw that face. Before that, I had never seen a man who looked so much like me."

Tu Lanxun was slightly shaken, but she didn't show it directly. She knew who to ask.

On the other side, Li Ao was still trying to contact Wenchong. After failing to get through to him several times, he could only report to the director in charge, Meng Baojian. Director Meng conveyed his attitude to the Tourism Management Bureau: it would be best for a team to set out specifically to find Wenchong and others to warn them.

No one is not afraid of Qianniu who kills people as easily as cutting vegetables, not to mention that he has helpers like the black fog ghost by his side.

As usual, Tu Lanxun set off for Badapan Mountain with Li Ao. While the police officers were getting ready, Tu Lanxun took the time to call Nan Shaochen.

The corner was very quiet. After the "beep" sound, Nan Shaochen's pleasant voice came from the other end of the phone.

"Hello, can I talk to you?" Tu Lanxun asked.

Nan Shaochen seemed to be catching up on some sleep, his voice hoarse: "Sure, Miss Tu, what do you want to talk about?"

Tu Lanxun was silent for a moment. Song Siyu had already told Nan Shaochen a lot about the existence of ghosts in the world, so she got straight to the point and asked, "Can you tell me about your stepfather when you were a child?"

"Stepfather?" Nan Shaochen didn't expect to be asked this question, but he didn't feel offended. "Which one are you talking about?"

Tu Lanxun said, "Well, when I went to your old house before, I saw a photo of them at the park entrance. There was a quite handsome man there, his shirt tucked into his trousers, his hair was neat, his jaw was square but not prominent, his nose was high, and his eyebrows were thick..."

Nan Shaochen remembered it as soon as he heard it, "Oh, it's him. I call him Dad Nan."

Tu Lanxun continued to guide: "Is his last name also Nan?"

Nan Shaochen: "Yes, I have his last name. During those years, it was Dad Nan who took care of us—my mom used the word 'take care of', she's really weird about that. He took me out to play when my mom was busy with work."

Tu Lanxun thought of Nan Shaochen's mother, a gentle and kind woman who had no opinion of her own and was too filial. She always regarded herself and her only son as not independent people. In her eyes, they were both "objects who needed a man to take care of them" and "no matter how much they gave for their ungrateful grandparents, it would not be too much."

"How many years?" Tu Lanxun tried to soften his voice. "Could you please tell me in detail?"

Nan Shaochen was very straightforward: "From the time I was about four or five years old to eleven or twelve, about six or seven years, my mother lived with Father Nan. To be honest, if he hadn't asked me to call him Father Nan, I would have thought he was my real father. After all, I've had his surname, Nan, since I can remember."

Tu Lanxun: "Where did he go after that? After you were eleven or twelve years old."

"I don't know." Nan Shaochen said: "My mother was very concerned at the time, but it shouldn't be a problem. Father Nan's whereabouts are unpredictable. Unlike other fathers who work from nine to five and then go home at a fixed time, Father Nan occasionally appears, stays for a while, and then disappears. It's very random."

"Appear occasionally?" Tu Lanxun was a little surprised.

This pattern of occurrence does not seem like that of a legitimate family.

Tu Lanxun wisely didn't ask whether Nan Shaochen's mother and father had obtained their marriage certificate, but Nan Shaochen volunteered, "I know it sounds a bit strange, but we should be his only family. He might not show up this month. I heard he's in a distant city, but if he shows up next month, he'll stay for a whole month."

Then it’s not the man who cheated, but it’s because Nan’s father works irregular hours.

The nature of this job - is it similar to that of Qianniu or Adan?

The influence of the Kingdom of Heaven Group spans the east and west of the country, from Lucheng to Western Province. The managers and small leaders under Kris have to run around to perform various legal or illegal tasks, or take care of the operation of an underground network.

Considering that the Black Mist Ghost is now under the control of Adan, maybe that Nan Dad was also a member of the Kingdom of Heaven Group when he was alive?

Surname and appearance are relatively strong evidence.

But why should we abandon Nanxishan when it is still in its infancy?

Calculating the time, it was nearly ten years since Dad Nan entered the lives of Nan Shaochen and his mother and stayed there. At the same time, his possible blood descendants were struggling between the orphanage and the school.

Tu Lanxun asked one last question: "What is the full name of that Nan Dad?"

Nan Shaochen said, "Oh, his name is Nan Lu. I looked for him after I became famous, but I couldn't find him at all. His file showed he disappeared seven years ago, and there was no work information at all. It was as if he had never entered my life."

Nan Shaochen's voice was bitter, and Tu Lanxun felt a sinking feeling in his heart. Nan Lu's disappearance was practically equivalent to his death—after all, his ghosts were there. If N and Nan Lu were truly father and son, they hadn't even met once in each other's lives.

"Okay, Miss Tu, you can ask me next time if you have any questions. I have some work here." After saying this, Nan Shaochen hung up the phone.

Tu Lanxun held the phone and glanced at N. N heard the entire call and was standing straight at this moment, but his expression was cold and contemptuous.

"I don't want to say they might have their own reasons." Tu Lanxun heard his voice was slightly hoarse, but firm. "Whatever the reason, you have been seriously hurt. This is their responsibility. If you can find him this time, would you like to talk to him?"

"No," N said coldly. "Talking to him was Nan Xishan's wish, but it ended in the heavy rain and the car accident. Now there is no living Nan Xishan. I am N."

Tu Lanxun sighed, walked over and gently held N's hand, "You have the right not to talk to him and never talk to him again. But you are Nan Xishan."

N's hand faltered between Tu Lanxun's fingers, but she finally let her hold it. To prevent others from noticing, Tu Lanxun took N's hand and tucked it into his sweatshirt pocket.

It was cold, with visible bones, yet as fragile as the back of a skinny cat.

She pressed the back of N's fingers one by one like piano keys, which earned her a warning pat.

Li Ao had finished packing, and Tu Lanxun got into the car again. It was foreseeable that her legs would be swollen by the time they reached Badapan Mountain.

It's a little swollen now!

The second journey was even more silent than the first. Everyone was catching up on sleep. Li Ao tried to contact Wenchong intermittently, but failed every time.

"Director Meng, is Captain Three home?" Li Ao changed his phone and called. "I think we should detain Dong Yijian now. What Ah Dan vomited out is enough to pry open his mouth."

Li Ao was indeed decisive and efficient. He held a telephone conference with the third captain of the South Branch and the members of the special task force appointed by the Municipal Bureau for more than ten minutes, and directly finalized the interrogation plan for Dong Yijian.

"Is there any news about Dong Tianlong?" Tu Lanxun asked in a low voice after Li Ao put down his phone.

Li Ao nodded. "It's strange, isn't it? Wen Chong and the others originally went to Badapan Mountain and Bapian Town to look for Dong Tianlong, but they didn't expect Qianniu to be their target. The best outcome this time is to catch two birds with one stone."

What's the worst-case scenario? Not only do you not catch any fish, but you also lose money?

Tu Lanxun didn't think Qianniu could pose a threat to Wen Chong's life. Not to mention that Lu Lianbing and Zhao Kuanqiao both looked like martial artists, and the Tourism Bureau was well-equipped to prevent ghosts. Take Wen Chong himself, for example. His physique was as sleek as a leopard in human form. Even the police station's renowned martial arts masters wouldn't dare withstand more than ten moves against him.

Wen Chong's brute force is not overly terrifying. What is terrifying is her understanding and prediction of fighting, as well as her exquisite punching, kicking and distance control.

"It's just that Badapan Mountain is the home turf of Morning Glory and He Jiang." Li Ao sighed softly, "He is more familiar with the terrain than Wenchong, and ghost control equipment may not be able to perform 100% effectively in terrain with high altitude differences."

Even if we take a step back, the relevant equipment of Tianguo Group may not be much behind that of the Capital Tourism Administration, and may not necessarily be crushed.

What Wenchong faces may not be a life-and-death battle, but it is likely to be a fierce battle.

Tu Lanxun leaned against the wall of the car and took a nap for a while. When the sky turned slightly blue in the early morning, the distant silhouette of Badapan Mountain finally occupied a large area in his vision.

"We'll go to Bapan Town first." Li Ao glanced at everyone and picked up the walkie-talkie. "We'll split into two groups. One group will go into the mountains with the help of the Bapan Town police and the local guides to search for Director Wen. The other group will stay in Bapan Town and conduct an outward investigation from the point of view, searching for any trace of Qianniu or Dong Tianlong of the Tianguo Group."

Xiao Zhang chewed on a dry biscuit and asked, "Will there be reinforcements later?"

"Yes," Li Ao said, "but you have to work first. Give me a cookie."

Tu Lanxun had originally planned to go into the mountains with Li Ao, but Li Ao chose to bring another male intern from the Tourism Administration. He said to Tu Lanxun in a deep voice, "The situation in the mountains is unpredictable. You and Director Wen can't go into danger at the same time. It's better to stay outside."

Tu Lanxun had no choice but to accept it, so he watched Li Ao and the police from Bapan Town drive towards Badapan Mountain Road, leaving only Lao Wei and others by his side.

Lao Wei said, "Let's get started too."

Bapian Town is a medium-sized town with a long history. In addition to the residents who have lived here for generations, there are also indigenous mountain people who migrated down from the mountains. Large-scale tourists are rarely seen, so the commercial development is average, but the atmosphere of fireworks is not desolate at all.

Among the small team that sent Li Ao and others into the mountains, there was a native mountain dweller in his fifties. He was only eight or nine years old when he moved from the mountains to the town, but he still had the habit of playing in the mountains. He was also one of the few people in the town who dared to hike into Erpan Mountain or even Yipan Mountain.

Tu Lanxun and others wandered through Bapan Town like swimming fish, and checked the check-in information and lobby videos of several hotels and B&Bs in Bapan Town, but they had not seen any trace of Dong Tianlong or Qianniu in these three days.

"Don't forget the black fog ghost, it can interfere with the camera." Old Wei thought.

Tu Lanxun said: "There is no sign that these surveillance videos have been tampered with."

"Could it be that they didn't stay in the hotel and moved into the residential area?" asked Lao Wei.

Tu Lanxun was enlightened and thought, "That makes sense." Lao Wei then called a few police officers to visit the communities in Bapan Town to see if there were any registered foreign populations or any houses rented or sold.

"Oops. Please wait a moment." Tu Lanxun stopped Lao Wei, "Expand the time frame to within a month."

Old Wei nodded and left. The police hurriedly left the scene. For the time being, only Tu Lanxun and a young police officer were left on the street.

"Counselor Tu, what are we doing?" asked the young police officer.

Tu Lanxun glanced at the farmers' market next to him and said, "Let's go over there and take a look."

She didn't notice at all that at this moment, a pair of cold eyes were quietly looking at her from halfway across the street.