The police carried the man away, and Xia put the book on the table.

Lu Ban felt that the cover looked familiar. It was a man in a suit working at his desk, but around him, all kinds of ugly and abstract monsters surrounded him. The whole picture exuded a strong sense of disharmony and looked extremely crazy.

The title of the book can be seen through the translation of A Quiet Place, it is called "Shadow of Terror". Looking back at the picture on the cover, you will find that these monsters all came out of the man's shadow.

Lu Ban subconsciously looked at his own shadow, which was empty and dark.

“This is Gudu’s book.”

Drizzt picked up the book.

"It's sold in all the bookstores in the waste city, and there are even handwritten copies in many places. Whether it's people from the upper class or shop assistants, as long as they can read, they all like the author's stories. Even if they can't read, it doesn't matter. Storytellers outside teahouses are also telling his stories."

He pointed to the storyteller standing at the door of the teahouse opposite, which had not yet been affected. He was wearing a long gown and a mandarin jacket, holding a folding fan and wearing sunglasses.

Gathered in front of him were some porters, workers and children, who were listening to the storyteller with great interest.

"Ancient capital?"

It was obviously the first time Xia heard this name.

"This is a writer, I've heard of him before."

Lu Ban had heard of Gu Du's name during his previous mission in the abandoned city. He knew that he was a writer who liked to write horror novels and romantic stories, and seemed to often hang out with married women.

Could it be that he is the writer we are looking for this time?

"Yes, actually... Gudu is missing."

Drizzt's expression looked somewhat bitter.

"In fact, my former colleague received a commission to find Gu Du's whereabouts, but at that time I thought it was just a husband who found out he was cuckolded and wanted to seek revenge on Gu Du. But today, I received a commission from a publishing house to find Gu Du. He disappeared two weeks ago and there has been no news since then."

After leaving the teahouse, Drizzt led the way and the three of them walked to a corner of the street.

Lu Ban listened to what Trist said while observing his surroundings.

Here, just as he saw it then, you can see signs of all kinds of shops. Most of the people walking on the road are dressed in old, tattered clothes and look dusty, while those riding in rickshaws are dressed in suits and ties, and wear cheongsams and long skirts. It seems like two completely different societies.

The central road was flat, but the alleys were filled with a foul stench. In some areas, the cries of vendors drowned out everything else and were as noisy as a vegetable market. In some areas, there were only high-end shops such as antiques, jade, and bookstores, and the atmosphere was quiet and depressing.

The three of them soon arrived at a two-story building. On the first floor was a small teahouse, where most of the people sitting inside were ordinary civilians. Going up the stairs to the second floor, Lu Ban saw a sign that read "Trest Detective Agency".

When Lu Ban pushed open the door, the first thing he heard was a lazy cat's meow.

The fat orange cat didn't feel alert when seeing strangers. It just glanced at Lu Ban and Xiaya and fell asleep again without even moving its tail.

"This is the landlord's cat. I don't know why it likes to sleep here."

Drizzt took off his coat and hat and placed his pipe on the stand on the table.

His desk was messy, filled with documents and files of various formats, as well as scattered photos. There was a bookshelf against the wall next to the desk, which was also filled with files.

There is an old sofa in the living room on the second floor. The orange cat sleeps in the middle of the sofa. On the coffee table there are some leftover food, half-empty bottles of wine, and many more small gadgets whose purpose is unknown.

There was no bed on this floor, only an unfolded quilt next to the sofa. It looked like Trist was sleeping on the sofa.

"Okay, now we can organize the information of the mission."

Trist picked up a bottle of wine on the coffee table and looked at the two of them inquiringly. Lu Ban and Xia both shook their heads, so he poured the wine into the turbid glass and drank it all in one gulp.

"Gudu is a writer. He became famous about seventeen years ago. He is good at writing horror stories, the kind that scare people. His horror stories are very popular among the upper class, so the books published by the publishing house sold well very quickly. He wrote several more books and made a lot of money."

Trist put down the cup, walked to his desk, casually pulled out two files and handed them to Lu Ban and Xia.

"Some noble ladies, as you know, are either widows whose husbands died early and inherited a large inheritance, or whose husbands have been hanging around in the entertainment industry for years and have kept several mistresses outside. Of course, there are also some who simply don't like their husbands and get married purely for family reasons."

"These noble ladies were obsessed with Gu Du's novels, so they naturally became interested in this writer. Sometimes they would hold poetry salons and invite writers to participate. Gu Du was one of them. After the salons ended, the others left, and Gu Du would sometimes stay overnight at their homes."

He smiled and poured another half glass of wine. This time he did not drink it directly. Instead, he sat on the sofa and stroked the orange cat that was sleeping soundly beside him.

"Over time, Gu Du's reputation became strange. Sometimes, some of his female readers were willing to exchange their bodies for a night with him. But this guy is really amazing. He has a lot of love words and is very energetic. Sometimes he can go to three houses in one night."

"Three families?"

Xia tilted her head in confusion.

"Ahem, anyway, because his works are quite popular, the rich people in the waste city can't harm him openly. But some masters with peculiar habits specially invite Gu Du to their homes to create with their wives. However, his behavior always causes some dissatisfaction. The publishing house thinks that it is possible that a master of a certain family attacked Gu Du because he was framed, and killed him or hid him."

Seeing that Xia didn't seem to understand, Drizzt changed the subject.

"I think our mission this time is to find the ancient capital."

"Since it's a mission, then Gudu is not dead. He may just be kidnapped. Hmm, wait a minute, what's going on with that guy just now? Is there anything special about that novel?"

Lu Ban naturally had not read Gu Du's book, so he asked the question.

"The book itself is an ordinary book, nothing special about it, but this novel..."

Trist pulled out a book from his bookshelf. It was Shadow of Terror, and it looked even newer, like a new book that had just been bought and had not been read yet.

"I wasn't interested in these novels before and had never read them, but I still asked the publisher for a set for the purpose of investigation. I read another one last night. I can only say that there is a certain reason why Gu Du became famous. Since the man said that this book was the reason why he attacked us, maybe we can take a look at what is written in it."

Drizzt opened the novel.