Missing

"From Brother Bing?"

Zhang Yuanqing read the letter and frowned.

What do you mean by life-changing and can't handle?

Seriously, he didn't even make himself clear… He looked at the black card again and observed it repeatedly. He confirmed that this was just an ordinary card. If he had to say that it was unusual, it felt good and the material seemed to be very rare.

Could it be a VIP Card from some top club? Indeed, only a strange man like him could handle a seductive lady.

Lei Yibing was his best friend since he was young. His nickname was Bing and he was two years older than him. Before his grandparents bought a new house, the two families lived in the same alley.

Lei Yibing was someone with high strength and speed but low intelligence. He had been very protective of Zhang Yuanqing since they were young. He rushed to the front when fighting and stayed behind to protect those who were beaten. If anyone mocked Zhang Yuanqing for being a fatherless child, Lei Yibing would stand up for him.

That was why Zhang Yuanqing kept calling him Brother Bing.

Lei Yibing's results in high school were not ideal, so he went to Jiangnan Province to study. After that, they had less contact with each other.

As Zhang Yuanqing put the black card into his jacket pocket, he picked up his phone and sent a message to Brother Bing to tease him: "Which club's VIP card is it? At least give me the address or contact information."

The message was sent and there was no reply for half an hour.

Zhang Yuanqing simply dialed Brother Bing's number.

Two rings later, the call was answered. A man's deep voice came over the speaker: "Hello! I'm Lei Yibing's father."

"Uncle Lei?" Zhang Yuanqing was stunned, then he said happily,

"Brother Bing's back in Songhai this week? Put him on. I need to talk to him."

There was silence on the other end of the line, followed by a pained voice.

"Yuanqing, I'm in Jiangnan Province. Bing is missing…"

Brother Bing was missing?! Zhang Yuanqing was stunned on the spot. After a few seconds, he asked blankly and anxiously,

"What's going on?"

How could Brother Bing be missing? He had clearly sent something by parcel.

"He went missing the day before yesterday. Your Aunt Zhou and I received a notice from the school yesterday and rushed over immediately." Uncle Lei was depressed.

"Have you called the Security Bureau? What did they say?" Zhang Yuanqing asked grimly.

Uncle Lei was silent for a long time. Then he said hesitantly: "It's quite difficult to say. Bing's disappearance was a little strange…"

Strange? What did he mean… Zhang Yuanqing was stunned.

Uncle Lei said: "Bing went missing in the dormitory the night before yesterday. The police checked the surveillance cameras in the dormitory corridor and found that he did not leave the dormitory the entire night. But the next morning, he disappeared."

"The student in the same dorm said they saw him before they went to bed. When they woke up, there was no one around. They thought he'd just gone out."

Zhang Yuanqing blurted out, "How is this possible…"

Would people disappear into thin air? Even a three-year-old would not believe such an excuse.

Zhang Yuanqing suppressed his anxiety and lowered his voice, "Uncle Lei, did Brother Bing offend someone at school?"

The first thing that came to his mind was that Brother Bing had offended someone in school. The other party had a certain amount of power in the local area, so the surveillance cameras could not see anything wrong. This often meant that the school was covering up for someone.

In the era of widespread information, anyone who had been online would more or less have heard of something similar.

"The school leaders said they'd try to cooperate with the police. The police told us to go back and wait for news. They'll investigate… Your aunt and I didn't sleep all night."

Uncle Lei sounded frustrated and worried.

It was indeed such an answer. Damn it… Zhang Yuanqing took a deep breath and comforted him.

"Don't worry. My grandfather and cousin both work for the Security Bureau. You know that. Later, I'll ask them how to deal with this kind of thing and what to pay attention to. If you have anything you don't understand and want to consult, feel free to call me."

"In addition, you must ask his schoolmates. If Brother Bing has offended anyone, there will definitely be students who know about it."

Uncle Lei relaxed a little and said: "Got it, Yuanqing. Don't worry. I'll let you know as soon as I know anything."

After hanging up, Zhang Yuanqing was a little uneasy. He paced back and forth in the room, worried about Brother Bing's safety.

He couldn't have disappeared for no reason. If the surveillance cameras couldn't capture him, they must have been tampered with. He just didn't know who Brother Bing had offended.

But who could a third-year student offend?

Wait a minute, the person who disappeared two days ago…

The day before?!

Zhang Yuanqing was shocked. It would take 2 to 3 days for the package to travel from Jiangnan Province to Songhai. According to the time, Brother Bing disappeared the night he sent the package…

Was that a coincidence? Or was there some connection?

He instinctively reached for the black card in his pocket, but when he reached into his pocket, he froze.

The black card was gone.

'It fell to the floor?' Zhang Yuanqing looked down quickly, his eyes scanning the floor of the room.

Nothing!

He got down on the floor and looked under the bed. It was covered with a layer of dust and some coins, pens, buttons, and other miscellaneous items, but there was no black card.

The card was gone. However, he clearly remembered that he had put the item in his pocket.

How did it disappear into thin air?

Recalling Brother Bing's mysterious disappearance, the strange letter, and the vanished black card, Zhang Yuanqing felt inexplicably frightened and confused.

"Could the black card have something to do with Brother Bing's disappearance? Or is it something important?"

Taking a deep breath, Zhang Yuanqing decided to use his "illness" to stimulate his memories.

He poured cold water into the glass first, took the pill bottle from the bedside table, unscrewed it, then took off his shoes and lay down on the bed.

When he was done, he closed his eyes and remained still, visualizing his father's face in his mind.

The condition for actively triggering the old ailment was to calm down and visualize an image. Preferably one that he had seen before but could not quite remember.

This would stimulate brain activity, warm it up slowly, and finally overheat the brain.

After so many years, her father's face had long become blurry. He was the perfect target.

Time passed, and his father's face gradually went from blurry to clear, until it was perfectly clear. Zhang Yuanqing's heart beat violently, like an overloaded engine.

At that moment, time seemed to turn back. The scene from an hour ago flashed by like a movie.

He saw himself unwrap the package and read the letter. He put the black card in his jacket pocket. Next, he sent a message to Brother Bing.

Here, he sat motionless at the table for the next half hour, scrolling through entertainment videos for more than ten minutes, exchanging a few dirty pictures with the guys in the gaming group.

A few good-quality pictures were saved.

Then he read a novel for a few minutes. Because he kept thinking about the card, he called Brother Bing.

After he made the call, the crucial moment arrived. He paced the room in a panic. This was the easiest time for the card to drop.

In the memory recollection, he saw himself frowning as he paced the room. Then he reached for the black card and realized it was gone.

Zhang Yuanqing's eyes shot open, his face filled with horror.

'Nothing else?!'

The black card was gone like that, vanishing into thin air.

What the hell did Brother Bing send me… In an instant, his scalp went numb.

There was no time to think. A chaotic noise rang in his ears, like the voices of countless people overlapping. The broken images in his mind surged like an erupting volcano.

Warm liquid flowed down Zhang Yuanqing's nose, and his head felt as if a steel nail had been driven into it.

His face twisted as he crawled to the head of the bed. Trembling, he poured out five small blue pills and stuffed them into his mouth. Then, he picked up the glass of water and raised his head to swallow the pills and water into his stomach.

A moment later, Zhang Yuanqing sat on the bed with a pale face, panting.

At this point, he was pretty sure there was a connection between Brother Bing's disappearance and the black card.

"Brother Bing disappeared after sending me such a strange black card. It's obviously not an ordinary thing…"

He couldn't help but make the connection that Brother Bing might have been under some kind of threat, so he was forced to give the card away.

"But why did he send it to me instead of the Security Bureau?"

I, a college boy who is completely harmless, am more reliable than the police?

Zhang Yuanqing suddenly thought of the detail that "the surveillance cameras and dormitory personnel did not notice anything unusual".

To be able to do this, one had to have a certain amount of power.

Brother Bing did not hand over the black card to the local Security Bureau because… they could not be trusted either?

Or rather, the person or force that had caused his disappearance had had influence over the local Security Bureau.

He sent me the black card because he knew my grandfather is a retired officer and my cousin is working there too. We have pretty deep connections in Songhai City. No one in Jiangnan Province can threaten me?

I have to tell my cousin about this.

Ding dong~

Then he heard the doorbell. It came from the entryway.

His grandmother's footsteps sounded immediately. She crossed the living room to the entryway and turned the knob.

"Who are you looking for?"

"Hello, we're investigators from the Security Bureau of Kangyang District. Is Zhang Yuanqing home?"

The man outside the door answered.

....