Chapter 28

Zheng Shangyun suddenly had this thought pop into his mind, only for him to immediately deny it.

How could that be?

Though he desperately hoped for a peaceful night, incidents had occurred every week for the past two years straight.

There was no way this time would be an exception.

Perhaps the death location this time was just a bit more hidden. After all, the mountain was vast, and even if only Ability Users went up, it was possible they wouldn’t find it right away.

Zheng Shangyun shook his head and looked back at Lu Jingshan.

“No reaction from Taiping Luxury Garden either?”

Lu Jingshan nodded. “I’ll keep watching.”

The Management Office had divided up tasks, so results should come in quickly in theory.

Unfortunately, it had started raining sporadically since morning, severely hindering the Second Esper Squad’s mountain search.

After receiving the notification, Zheng Shangyun had no choice but to wait patiently.

It wasn’t until dusk that He Chengfeng finally led his team down the mountain. The first words out of his mouth were:

—”No bodies found.”

As if anticipating his superior’s question, the Second Esper Squad captain, drenched from head to toe, spoke up directly.

“We confirmed it. It’s not that the victim’s remains were completely gone this time.”

“Last night, no one died on the mountain at all.”

The previous victims’ bodies had long since been collected and buried. This time, He Chengfeng and his team had searched inch by inch.

Neither their abilities nor the instruments detected any human tissue.

Last night had been calm on the mountain, nothing like the chaotic scenes from past Night Crying Woman incidents.

Truth be told, even He Chengfeng couldn’t figure it out.

Zheng Shangyun frowned. “If no bodies were found…”

“I’ll have someone check if anyone received any strange, unfamiliar calls last night.”

In Night Crying Woman incidents, victims typically made eerie phone calls to family and friends before dying.

With no confirmed bodies, they could only try checking phone records for clues.

Outside, the rain pattered down. It started as a drizzle but turned into a downpour by evening, turning Mengjia City into a watery realm under the curtain of rain.

Puddles formed outside Yunhe Convenience Store, draining into the sewers. Passing taxis splashed miserably through them, drenching the curbside.

Yet the old neighborhood nearby stayed spotlessly clean, as if utterly unaffected by the storm.

After bringing Gouzi back, Bo Ting solemnly recounted last night’s events.

By then, everyone in the group chat was awake.

They all zeroed in on Bo Ting’s messages first.

“What? Someone really broke in?”

“That’s intense!”

“I slept like a rock last night. Should’ve set an alarm.”

Upstart Bro looked shocked, still a bit regretful.

Bo Ting: …

What was this guy shocked about?

Wasn’t this totally predictable?

Bo Ting twitched his mouth slightly, skipped Upstart Bro’s wild comment, and looked at the more normal neighbors.

Fortunately, everyone else was sane aside from him.

Elder Wen, advanced in age and frightened, had only just recovered after taking some medicine.

“Xiao Bo, did you get it on video?”

“Share the video.”

Elder Wen sighed in his voice message:

“She even chased into the neighborhood garden.”

“If not for Xiao Bo and Doudou, something definitely would’ve happened here last night!”

Bo Ting coughed lightly and waved it off modestly:

“It’s not that exaggerated.”

“I just went down to check.”

Bo Ting felt a bit guilty himself. He’d only been brave for a moment. Luckily, it might’ve been the intruder’s first time in their neighborhood, so the perverted killer still had some reservations. Upon hearing the barking followed by someone approaching, it fled directly. Otherwise, the consequences didn’t bear thinking about.

All in all, Doudou had earned major credit this time.

Bo Ting praised Doudou in the group, petted the bewildered Gouzi, then opened a can of food for him.

Zhang Ge, who had been slow to come online, finally pulled up the video.

But as soon as he opened it, he couldn’t help frowning.

“This killer’s got some serious skills.”

“The video’s corrupted. Nothing recorded.”

The video he shared was pitch black. Scrubbing through the timeline yielded nothing.

Seeing this jogged Bo Ting’s memory.

“This guy also deployed a Pet Interferer in our neighborhood.”

“Doudou nearly got lured away last night.”

“What?”

At that, Sister Han exploded in fury.

“That damn trash dared to use this on our Doudou?”

Sister Han, with her permed hair, was so angry her curls stood on end, writhing like little snakes across her face.

They’d raised their Doudou like a little tyrant, never letting it suffer in the neighborhood. This was its first real grievance!

As if sensing its owner’s rage, Doudou finished the canned food, looked up boredly, and barked “Woof” once. Sister Han’s anger finally subsided.

Bo Ting frowned and quickly soothed her. “Sister Han, don’t worry. She left in a hurry last night and probably didn’t re-enter the neighborhood.”

“I think we should search for the Pet Interferer ourselves.”

That way, the culprit couldn’t remotely influence Doudou next time.

“You’re right, Xiao Bo. We have to find that thing.”

Sister Han nodded, taking the lead with a decisive bang.

Elder Wen immediately started organizing people in the group.

Neighbors who had slept through the night undetected now rallied with enthusiasm, signing up eagerly like it was a competition.

Boss Zhu: “I slept all day anyway, nothing better to do.”

“I’ll check the open ground downstairs.”

Upstart Bro chimed in: “Me too, I’ll take a look.”

“Thanks, everyone.”

Seeing how useless they were at night but so proactive during the day, Bo Ting smiled faintly, subconsciously relaxing.

He’d been worried the serial killer might return for revenge.

After all, failing the first murder might breed resentment. But seeing the neighborhood’s unity, Bo Ting felt reassured.

No matter how dangerous the killer, he believed their neighborhood could handle it!

In less than half an hour, residents turned the garden upside down, even checking every corner and wall.

Yet they found no Interferer.

Puzzlingly, they did find clumps of long black hair?

In the sweltering heat, Upstart Bro set down his shovel, wiped sweat from his face, and yanked the hair from the muddy ground. He felt nauseated.

“What the hell is this?”

“It’s even got blood on it?”

Hearing someone else found something, Wu Ge and his wife breathed a sigh of relief.

“We’ve got some too!”

Bo Ting, masked up, walked over. Sure enough, the sewer was stuffed with hair—way more than in the garden.

“This much hair could open a wig shop.”

He couldn’t help quipping.

Who grew this much hair normally?

“I suspect someone dumped fake hair here on purpose. That freak from yesterday?”

Fitness Zhang Bro furrowed his brow.

As for why? No need to guess—it was to mislead them.

Make them think of ghosts and hauntings, crumbling their mental defenses.

“But this stuff is creepy as hell.” Zhang Bro shook his head, averting his eyes.

“Should we burn it?”

“It’s polluting the neighborhood anyway.”

For once, Xiao Zhang’s suggestion got unanimous approval.

Elder Wen was about to head upstairs for a lighter.

Bo Ting didn’t object, but staring at the bloodied hair sparked an idea.

“Wait, why not keep a few strands? We can report it for testing.”

“If it’s from the killer and matches records in the system, we might nab the serial murderer directly.”

This would be a big service to society, right?

And cough, if it confirmed the pervert’s identity and led to capture, their neighborhood could stop living in fear.

The unexpected suggestion hit, and Aunt Qian slapped her thigh, instantly excited.

“Young folks have the quick brains. Almost forgot about that.”

“Hey, didn’t that legal program say before?”

“You can test DNA from fingerprints, hair, and such!”

Aunt Qian dropped rare pro terminology, buzzing with energy.

Not just her—even Fitness Zhang Bro, who’d been creeped out, caught on.

“Xiao Bo’s right.”

“I nearly forgot too.”

Zhang Bro felt awkward saying it. He read the most mystery manga in the neighborhood, yet blanked earlier. Must be transmigration side effects—his muscle brain wasn’t as sharp.

“We gotta collect some of this.”

“It’s our only evidence now!”

“I’ll do it!”

Zhang Bro, who just moments ago found it disgusting, raised his hand eagerly and donned gloves without hesitation.

Mimicking manga forensics, he quickly bagged the hair.

Bo Ting watched. He wasn’t sure if it was professional, but he approved of Zhang Bro’s initiative. Then… a new problem arose.

“How do we report it?”

In his old world, easy—dial the cops.

But here… this world’s systems differed. No one knew who to contact.

The garden buzz halted. Boss Zhu pondered, then remembered.

“Didn’t Xiao Bo email that Citizens Exchange Platform before?”

“Reporting there should work, right?”

“They replied last time.”

Bo Ting: …

“Will that fly?”

Boss Zhu hesitated. “Dead horse as live medicine.”

“Worth a shot anyway.”

Bearing the neighborhood’s hopes—and despite the prior “gibberish” embarrassment—Bo Ting took a deep breath, pulled out his phone.

…

The Resurgence Management Office spent a full day and night but found no victim this time.

No incoming calls, no body traces.

As if the person never existed.

He Chengfeng, tasked with staking out Jinding Peak, flipped through files, his throat parched. He paused to grab water but glanced at the computer screen and spotted a little red dot.

Hm?

An email just came in?

So late—who sends emails now?

He Chengfeng checked the time: 11 p.m. Even workaholics called it quits by then.

Still, he called over the on-duty colleague.

“Got an email.”

“Dunno from where.”

The technician Xiao Wang, back from reporting, clicked curiously. It was from the Citizens Exchange Platform. He froze, then reacted fast.

His mind flashed to that weird entity contacting them last time.

Was this another?

11 p.m. was deep sleep hours.

Resurgence Management Office higher-up Zheng Shangyun had just lain down when a subordinate woke him.

Exhausted after a sleepless day, Zheng Shangyun inhaled deeply, a vein twitching at his temple. About to demand what happened, he heard the suppressed excitement from the phone.

“Captain Zheng, we got something!”

“What?”

“A missing victim?”

Zheng Shangyun asked instinctively.

Xiao Wang snapped back, realizing the misunderstanding, but replied swiftly: “Not a missing victim.”

“It’s that weird entity from Taiping Luxury Garden.”

“It emailed us again!”

However, Zheng Shangyun on the other end of the phone reacted quickly.

“Don’t open the email yet.”

“Wait for me to get there!”

“Yes, Captain.” Xiao Wang responded instinctively.

In less than five minutes, all the higher-ups staying in the Resurgence Management Office apartments had arrived, including the Third Esper Squad that was closely following the Taiping Luxury Garden incident.

Yin Liao pressed his brow and came along with his captain, arriving even earlier than his superior.

“Vice Captain Yin, Captain Lu.”

Xiao Wang greeted them and stepped aside.

After obtaining his superior’s approval, Yin Liao stepped forward and opened the email.

Before clicking on this illusory email, everyone in the room had been imagining what it might contain: was it a retaliation for their recent “probes,” or something else?

But no one had expected the email to be surprisingly simple.

Compared to the dense text of the previous one, this time there was only a single line.

—”Can you send over the address?”

Bo Ting worried that without evidence, bluntly claiming they had found a serial killer would make the local managers skeptical, so he had phrased it tactfully first, planning to provide the address once he had theirs.

Anyway, they could send it anonymously later. Even if it turned out to be a misunderstanding, it shouldn’t be easy to trace back to them, right?

Bo Ting thought uncertainly, patiently waiting for a reply.

Several minutes passed…

The Resurgence Management Office fell silent, eerily so.

After a long while, a member of the Third Esper Squad finally spoke up.

“It wants our address—what for?”

Wang Dong hesitated for a long time before asking cautiously.

This question weighed on everyone’s mind.

What did this weird one on the other side mean?

Sending such a baffling message in the middle of the night left everyone utterly confused.

“So, do we send it or not?”

He Chengfeng, the first to discover the email, frowned.

They had been at a standstill for quite a while now. Waiting longer might provoke the other side—who knew what temper that weird one had.

What might it do if it lost patience?

Everyone’s faces grew slightly grim. As hesitation lingered, Lu Jingshan cleared his throat lightly.

“Personally, I lean toward sending an address.”

He Chengfeng: …

He couldn’t help turning to glance beside him.

This whole situation was the result of this guy’s daily probing and stirring. If Lu Jingshan didn’t favor sending the address, He Chengfeng would have found it strange.

However, the Jinding Peak incident wasn’t resolved yet, so He Chengfeng refrained from commenting.

All eyes turned to the person with the highest authority here.

Zheng Shangyun sighed, glanced at the email again, and finally made the decision.

“Send it.”

He wanted to see what this weird one was up to. No matter the intent, the Resurgence Management Office’s specially designed secure building wasn’t for show.

In the tense hall, a few people exchanged glances.

On the other side, Bo Ting’s eyes lit up with surprise upon receiving the response.

“Family, we have a reply.”

And it came with the address, shortly after his inquiry.

The local managers were quite efficient.

The neighborhood chat group instantly buzzed with activity.

“So fast?”

“I haven’t finished writing my letter yet.”

Boss Zhu rubbed his eyes. “Xiao Bo, hold on a sec. Wait for me to finish writing, then we’ll send the bloody hair along with it.”

“Brother Zhu, no rush.”

“It’s so late anyway—tomorrow’s fine too.” They probably couldn’t call a mail carrier at this hour; no need to hurry.

Fair enough.

Hearing Bo Ting, the bookstore owner who wrote with his eyes finally relaxed.

“Then I’ll carefully word it.”

“Leave it at Xiao Bo’s door later.”

“Got it, Brother Zhu.”

Bo Ting replied, and the group buzzed with renewed excitement.

“I really hope they can identify it—that way we can catch the killer.”

Sister Han: “Just thinking about such a pervert still roaming free makes my hair hurt from anger.”

Bo Ting felt a chill too, especially since he had seemingly brushed past that killer last night. The thought sent shivers down his spine—who knew if the air conditioner was broken!

The neighborhood group filled with indignant denunciations.

Meanwhile,

After sending the address, the Resurgence Management Office immediately activated maximum defenses.

Yet an hour passed…

Two hours passed.

Even until the next morning, nothing happened. It was so normal that it almost seemed like a prank.

Zheng Shangyun: …

Wait, why no news after so long?

Hadn’t the other side replied quickly before?

A mouthful of blood stuck in his throat; Zheng Shangyun nearly cursed.

As subordinates came and went, greeting him on their way to work, he nodded expressionlessly, but his gaze lingered on the computer, his brows slowly furrowing.

—”Could they have been played after all?”

They had guarded tensely all night without sleep, only for… nothing to happen?