Chapter 20: The Disappearance Case

At one o'clock in the afternoon, with a gentle breeze blowing, Wen Wen, dressed in a black trench coat, stepped out of a taxi and arrived at the gate of a villa, which was the residence of the woman from the earlier phone call.

Although it was not a supernatural case, Wen Wen still decided to take on the case… because the family was wealthy.

The head of the household, Mr. Wilson, was a mining magnate from the Aifei Region, with mines in the family, they naturally were not short of money.

A year ago, while they were traveling in other cities within the Capital District, they became involved in a troublesome case, and Wen Wen helped them resolve the issue, so they were acquainted.

Now they had settled in Furong River City, preparing to enjoy their peaceful life here.

Speaking of settling down, over a hundred years ago, the Federation had abandoned the concept of a nation and was divided into ten different districts.

These included the Capital District where Wen Wen lived, predominantly inhabited by people of East Asian descent, the sparsely populated and rugged Polar Bear District, the economically developed U.S.-Canada District, the Oceania District rich in exotic animals, the tech-savvy Yingua District...

and so on, totaling ten districts, where Federation citizens could reside anywhere, which is why even though East Asians were the majority in the Capital District, there were also many of other ethnicities.

A job that puts food on the table can't be thrown away, especially a job from the Wilsons, owners of such a large household; it was not to be given up, so Wen Wen pressed the doorbell of the villa.

After a while, a middle-aged maid opened the door and welcomed Wen Wen in, who then successfully met Mrs. Wilson, Melissa.

Melissa was a woman with dark skin and curly hair, not considered beautiful by Capital District standards, but in the Aifei Region where the majority of people looked like her, Mr. Wilson probably found her very beautiful.

"Madam Wilson, you said your husband has disappeared, have you called the police?" Wen Wen pulled out a small notebook, jotting down notes while asking.

"I've called the police two days ago, they keep saying they're searching hard, but there has been no result yet, and some things can't be explained clearly over the phone, I don't want the police to know, you're the only one who can help me," Melissa said, wiping a tear.

Wen Wen curled his lips, saying I was the only one who could help, so why wait two days to come to me? After two days, many clues could become hard to find.

"Alright, I will do my best to find him. Before Mr. Wilson disappeared, was there anything out of the ordinary?"

Displeased as he was, Wen Wen still took the commission; now, he was much stronger in every aspect. Even if several days had passed, he was confident in completing this task.

Madam Wilson hesitated, then told Wen Wen, "There was nothing unusual before he left, but when he left, he left behind a recording."

Wen Wen stroked his chin, a recording had been left, so he left on his own?

"Let me listen to that recording."

Madam Wilson asked the maid to step away, then took out a recorder and pressed play.

"Melissa, I have to go away for a while, don't worry."

Wen Wen sharply noticed that in the recording there were intense striking sounds, so had Wilson been coerced into saying these words?

"Damn it, don't mess with me! Listen, don't tell anyone about me leaving, I've encountered some problems, but it will be alright soon."

Faintly, some sounds of metal scraping came through.

Wen Wen raised an eyebrow, it seemed it was not coercion, as a person being coerced wouldn't speak so boldly.

"Oh my God, how do I get this thing off me..." The last sentence was very faint, as if Wilson's voice was fading away.

After listening to the recording, Wen Wen became interested, this might not be a simple case of a missing person.

"Where did this recording come from?"

"I got it from my husband's study; his room is a complete mess. Could he have been kidnapped?" Melissa asked nervously.

Wen Wen shook his head and said, "It's too early to say. Take me to your husband's study to have a look; perhaps I can find some clues."

As soon as they arrived in the study, it was indeed just as Mrs. Wilson had described, completely ravaged, even worse than if burglars had come through, with some areas looking as if they had been hacked with an axe.

"Have the police been here?" Wen Wen asked, putting on a pair of gloves and beginning to search the room.

"Yes, they have," Melissa said cautiously, casting a glance at Wen Wen. "I hope that doesn't interfere."

"Many valuable clues may have already been destroyed, but never mind. Please step outside; I need to do some investigation here."

Ordinarily, Wen Wen should have taken this opportunity to ask Mrs. Wilson for a raise. However, his mind was not on that now; he had found something interesting.

The trail of destruction in the room was very strange, not as if someone was deliberately looking for something, nor did it appear that a fight had taken place. It was sheer destruction for its own sake.

This purposeless destruction was like that perpetrated by a pet tearing up a home out of loneliness, without any pattern or reason—only on a different scale.

Wen Wen touched a mark that resembled an axe chop, and his pupils suddenly narrowed.

It was a bookshelf that had been chopped open, which wasn't strange—bookshelves themselves don't hold up well to heavy chopping.

But the steel nails that held the bookshelf together, like the wood, had been neatly severed!

No ordinary person wielding an axe could do this!

Not even with a power saw!

Combining these marks with the recording, where Wilson said something had attached itself to him, Wen Wen was almost certain that this was another supernatural incident!

Finding clues to a supernatural event excited Wen Wen.

Through channels at the Hunter Association, he could find many leads on supernatural cases, but most were under the surveillance of the Hunter Association. Wen Wen could handle those with no problem, but if the body disappeared afterward, there might be trouble. Just the possibility was enough for Wen Wen to not take the risk.

So, this was a supernatural case where he was the only one involved; he could lock up that thing that had attached to Mr. Wilson inside the Sanctuary and gain another ability!

"Once confirmed as a supernatural case, things are much easier to explain. Something has attached to Wilson, but this thing and Mr. Wilson are separate entities; they cannot control each other...

Mr. Wilson, worried about being seen in this state, decided to go into hiding...

So, what has attached itself to him?"

Wen Wen searched the room once more and found an open, empty wooden box. Inside the box were metal scratches similar to the destroyed parts of the study.

He found Mrs. Wilson and asked, "Can you tell me what was in this box?"

After examining it, Melissa said uncertainly, "This seems to be a collectible he brought back from the Aifei Region. It's a pair of metal wings that were dug up from a mine. He thought they were well-crafted, so he took them home to add to his collection."

Wen Wen's eyes lit up—that was it!