Chapter 197
Manager Dong quickly said, "But this Ah Chu definitely doesn't know that they are all real fans. He doesn't realize that there are real and fake fans mixed in, so he's very angry and just threw a tantrum."
Qin Lide said, "That's good. Did he say anything?"
"He didn't say anything strange, he just told me to find a way to maintain the fanbase," said Manager Dong. "However, he seemed a bit anxious and even canceled his schedule for tomorrow. I feel like he might be planning something, so I wanted to let you know."
Qin Lide pondered for a moment, then his expression changed slightly: "He canceled his schedule for tomorrow during the day? Where is he now?"
Dong's agent said, "I don't know either. He left without explaining to me, but I saw that he had changed into new clothes, so he was probably going out."
This is a basic courtesy of celebrities: they never wear clothes that fans have seen on their private trips, otherwise they will be easily recognized in public. Chu Er learned this a long time ago.
Upon hearing this, Qin Lide knew something was wrong. He hung up the phone and said to everyone, "We're leaving now. There's been a change on Chu Er's side."
Everyone heard what Agent Dong had just said and readily agreed.
While inspecting the equipment, Zhang Yan said with concern, "We got two more helpers from the Special Administration Department, but they won't arrive until tomorrow."
Qiao Yijing frowned: "We can't wait for others, let's get started."
While they were discussing how to group themselves appropriately, Tang Xuan's colleague called again.
"Tang Xuan, Lin Jing, the one you asked us to keep an eye on, has disappeared!"
Tang Xuan suddenly stood up: "How could it be gone?"
Her colleague also sounded like she'd seen a ghost: "Ten minutes ago, she went into the restroom. Our people saw that she hadn't come out, so they sent someone in to check. They found no one inside. The key point is that no one went in or out of the restroom during that time, so there's no possibility of her disguising herself. Lin Jing's office is on the 8th floor, and there were no signs of damage to the restroom window. We don't know how she disappeared."
A perfectly healthy person vanished as if into thin air, which struck the people keeping watch as extremely strange.
Qin Su whispered a reminder to Tang Xuan: "Lin Jing lived with Chu Er for more than ten years, so she is probably a cultivator and has learned some esoteric techniques."
If she used an invisibility talisman or something, then of course normal people couldn't see her.
Tang Xuan said regretfully, "I forgot about that."
"It's alright," Qin Su said calmly. "They still need to go to the agreed location to meet those children and set up the altar. They can't keep walking; they'll have to drive or take a car, right?"
“You’re right!” Tang Xuan’s eyes lit up. “I’ll contact the traffic police right away. We’ll definitely be able to find out where they are.”
The clock hanging on the wall turned round and round, making a soft ticking sound.
The office door opened and closed repeatedly, with people constantly coming and going to deliver the latest updates. The search and investigation proceeded outwards from the brokerage company where Chu Er had left, layer by layer.
Finally, at 10 p.m., just as Qin Su was about to take Qin Lide back to the hotel to sleep, everyone received good news.
Tang Xuan burst through the door with a bang, shouting, "Found him! In the suburbs, Qinglong Village! That bastard, after realizing someone was following him, actually switched between driving, taking taxis, and public transportation, even changing clothes along the way. No wonder it was so hard to find him..."
Everyone perked up and, without waiting for his remaining complaints, responded in rapid succession.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go now."
"Tallies, talismans, take them all."
"Hey, where's my sword? Has anyone seen my sword?"
"Ask Zhang Yan, he used the takeout he ordered to cut up chicken legs."
"Zhang! Yan! I'll fight you to the death!"
Amidst the chaos and turmoil, everyone finally set off.
A regular car couldn't fit so many people, so Tang Xuan borrowed a large van, turned on the navigation, and sped towards Qinglong Village.
He took the opportunity on the way to give everyone a briefing on the situation there.
“Qinglong Village has a small population now. Most of the young and middle-aged people have gone out to work, leaving only a little over a hundred people in the village. They are mostly elderly people and left-behind children, so we should try not to disturb them.”
“There used to be a food processing plant in the village, but it was moved long ago, leaving only an empty factory building and warehouse. We guess that Chu Er and Lin Jing hid the child there.”
"Oh right, only Chu Er and Lin Jing are here. Bai Facai isn't in the village. He's probably just in charge of transporting the children and didn't come here. But don't worry, my colleague is already staking out his house and is ready to arrest him at any time."
Qinglong Village was quite far away. Tang Xuan drove all the way, and it still took him more than an hour to get there. By the time they had packed their things and carefully walked onto the main road in the village, it was past midnight and the middle of the night.
Although it's called a main road, it's actually only a little over two meters wide. The streetlights along the road have long been turned off to save electricity, and only the dim moonlight casts a hazy glow in the night sky.
There wasn't even a bark from the dogs in the village; it was eerily quiet.
After turning a corner, Zhang Yan asked in a low voice, "Hu Meng, don't you feel like something's not quite right?"
Hu Meng probably didn't want to talk to him and didn't say anything.
Zhang Yan complained, "I should have brought a flashlight. Oh, right, cell phones have a flashlight function, why don't we use them—"
At this point, he got a little excited and instinctively turned around to tell everyone to bring their phones to light the way.
When he turned around, he didn't see Hu Meng, who should have been following behind him, nor did he see anyone else. Instead, he was met with a face as pale as paper.
Under the dim moon and overcast sky, on a country road at night, a paper figure as tall as a person was only half a step away from him. He turned around suddenly and was almost face to face with it. All he could see were its dark eyes and red mouth.
In an instant, Zhang Yan felt his hair stand on end. Without thinking, he raised his hand and flung out the thunder talisman he had been holding in his palm.
This is a talisman drawn by Hu Meng herself. Everyone has one. It can attract lightning and ignite fire, and it is very effective against ordinary demons and ghosts.
But Zhang Yan forgot what Qin Lide had once said: Chu Er's paper figures were quite strange, and were not afraid of ordinary water and fire.
The lightning talisman he threw hit the paper figure like a fairy wand, making a "sizzle" sound before going out, only burning a fist-sized hole in the paper figure's chest.
Instead of being destroyed, the paper figure looked even more frightening.
Zhang Yan gasped and stumbled back a few steps, only to feel as if he had bumped into something behind him. A chill ran down his spine, and he stiffened his neck and slowly turned his head. He almost fainted on the spot.
It turned out that behind him, there had been a dense array of paper effigies standing all around him, each the same height and size, and all staring straight at him with tiny, ink-black eyes.
He moved to the side, and the paper figures all moved with him.
Zhang Yan's scalp tingled, and he could no longer hold back, letting out a scream: "Ah—!"
He then crashed headfirst into the pile of paper figures.
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