Chapter 138: Missing Persons Case in the Secret Room!

The victim was also in a terrible state—unlucky as it was, in the end they even had to take the blame.

Fortunately, the compensation they were due would not be lacking.

Of course, the main purpose of getting close to science is still to resolve the matter and ensure safety; if it truly cannot be made to fit, then it simply won't be. Even in the internet age, spreading a story is not that easy.

"Let's go, let's do the interview together, sis."

After getting out of the car, Qin Menglan said to Tang Luo.

"I'll go check the dental clinic first to get firsthand information," Tang Luo said.

"Who told you that? I'm talking to the dog." Qin Menglan reached out to the heavenly hound, saying, "Come, sis gives you a hug."

"Meow." The heavenly hound jumped into Qin Menglan's arms, then climbed onto her shoulder.

"You're so unprofessional?" Tang Luo said, "You can conduct an interview with just a cat perched on your shoulder."

"You don't understand—this is called closing the distance between people." Qin Menglan said.

"Whatever. Atuo, lead the way." Tang Luo said to the driver Atuo.

For this "Getting Close to Science" trip, including Tang Luo, there were fourteen people in total, four of whom were God-Demon Walkers: Tang Luo, Qin Menglan, driver Atuo, and a stranger cameraman.

The other ten belonged to the "Special Department," responsible for providing various assistance.

On the surface, those ten were the "task force" dispatched from above, while the traveling reporters were merely incidental.

"Master, maybe I should just stay in the car," Atuo said to Tang Luo with a bitter smile.

He really didn't want to experience another "hostage already been killed by me" incident from Tang Luo again.

The last time was still fresh in his memory; from then until now, he had also gone through a mission— and a failed one at that—his strength hadn't seen much improvement, so he was just normally familiar with his skills.

This is the normal pace and level for a God-Demon Walker.

Tang Luo's mission frequency is actually quite high.

Atuo felt his strength hadn't improved at all, and if he ever encountered danger, it would be disastrous.

"Don't you think following me is the safest?" Tang Luo said, "Even if you die, I can bring you back."

"I'm just afraid Master Tang Luo will dislike me for holding him back, directly kill the hostage, and then only later bring them back!" Atuo thought helplessly as he followed Tang Luo out of the car.

Qin Menglan's side took the cameraman to interview relevant personnel.

Although most people had already been interviewed and formed written dialogue records, it was still necessary to make contact again.

Atuo brought Tang Luo to "Zhang Dental Clinic," the gate tightly shut, with two uniformed men guarding outside. Seeing Tang Luo and Atuo's identification badges, they immediately stepped aside and opened the door.

One of them also reminded: "Please be careful."

Supernatural ability users are not immortal either.

As an old member, he knows that the number of supernatural beings who have died or gone missing exceeds twenty, and the unknown ones are likely even more.

This world is actually very dangerous.

It is this group of adorable, great people who have kept the danger outside.

Tang Luo and Atuo entering the clinic had no idea they had suddenly become "great" people.

If Atuo knew, he would probably bitterly smile: what great people? They're just a bunch of miserable wretches trying to survive.

The clinic is a three-story small building.

The first floor is the external "office area," with two treatment chairs, one and a half meters high, surrounded by common office partitions, with a gap in the middle, leaving an entrance/exit away from the walls.

This forms a treatment area facing the door.

On the other side, against the wall, there is a row of long benches where patients can sit and rest while waiting.

Above hang business licenses and permits, looking somewhat aged.

Further inside is a small room for taking films and the stairs to the second floor; the innermost part is the kitchen.

On the second floor, one room is an office, while the rest of the space and the third floor constitute the "living area" of Zhang Dental Clinic's owner, Zhang Caiyi and his family of three.

Zhang Caiyi is what everyone usually calls "Doctor Zhang" or "Dentist Zhang," aged 54 this year, wife Mao Haixiang, and they have a son named Zhang Ze.

Zhang Ze graduated in medicine this year, following in his father's footsteps, helping him run the clinic; Mao Haixiang is responsible for odd jobs, serving as a nurse.

Their life is prosperous, they've bought two apartments in the city.

They were just considering relocating the clinic when they suddenly disappeared.

The three did not disappear together, but one after another, including that village official college student, each vanishing on separate nights.

On that night around eight o'clock, the college student village official loitered near the clinic, wanting to hear the "it hurts so much" sounds the old men and old women were saying.

Around eight-thirty, he also went to the barbershop opposite the clinic, sat for a while, and chatted with barber Master Wang for a few minutes.

Then he went back out.

At nine, Master Wang saw off the last customer, closed the shop, and went to sleep; that night he heard no "it hurts so much" sounds.

However, Master Wang and his wife have always had excellent sleep quality, and they had never heard similar sounds before.

Around eleven the next day, Master Wang was cutting a customer's hair when township staff came to the door, asking if he had seen the college student village official.

Master Wang truthfully replied, then asked further, only to learn that the village official he had seen the night before did not show up for work today, his phone went unanswered, and no one had seen him.

He might well have been the last person to see him.

That night, even Master Wang and his wife, who usually sleep well, faintly heard the "it hurts so much" sound, not knowing if it was just a nightmare.

The college student had not yet been found, and before the villagers could start gossiping,

daytime visitors to the dental clinic discovered that "Little Doctor Zhang" was missing.

When asked, Old Zhang acted strangely, saying he had no son; everyone thought it was a father-son quarrel, and they mildly persuaded him a few times.

That night, Master Wang and his wife were certain it wasn't a dream—it really sounded like "it hurts so much" was coming from inside the clinic.

During the day, Little Doctor Zhang was still absent, and Mao Haixiang, who usually helped out, was also missing.

Zhang Caiyi was overwhelmed, his face grim; patients dared not touch the doctor's brow, nor did they dare ask more.

That night, it was utterly silent—whether Master Wang or the struggling elderly seeking government help, none heard the "it hurts so much" sound.

What replaced it was the clinic, tightly shut the next morning when they woke up.

This is clearly not a normal phenomenon.

Because treating teeth is a troublesome matter, often requiring several trips, many patients had already made appointments with Doctor Zhang to come see their teeth today.

There's no reason to suddenly close the door—could they have overslept?

Knocking on the door was useless, shouting loudly was useless, making phone calls—no one answered.

Everyone sensed something was wrong—could it be gas poisoning? Or perhaps there was an argument at home that escalated into something serious!

Someone called in the local township staff.

After discussing for a while, they chose to forcibly break in.

There was no gas poisoning, and not a trace of any person.

Next came the standard police report, and finally, after being reported to the Near-Science team, they took over handling the entire incident.

To this day, the four missing persons have never reappeared.

"A locked-room disappearance—interesting." Tang Luo sat in a chair, reviewing the documents.

The clinic had its doors and windows tightly shut, completely locked from the inside—this qualifies as a true locked room.

It's impossible to enter from the outside; likewise, if someone had exited from inside, at least one door or window would definitely not have been locked from the inside.

Yet, including the door that was smashed open, all were locked from the inside.

Beside him, A Tuo couldn't help but ask: "Master, why are you looking into this here?"

"Looking here gives me a feeling." Tang Luo said, "A Tuo, you know, the truth behind locked-room murder cases is usually what?"

"I know." A Tuo became interested—he had seen hundreds of episodes of Conan—"Either the killer never actually left the locked room, remaining inside, choosing to blend in when everyone entered together, creating the illusion of a locked room."

"Or, the killer never entered the locked room at all, but committed the crime from outside using special means."

"Not bad—what do you think it is?" Tang Luo adopted a "let me test you" expression.

"Well..." A Tuo pondered for a moment, "If it were us, I'd think the second scenario is more likely. Your joining the Near-Science team, triggered by that Ouija board incident—wasn't that basically a similar locked-room murder case?"

"But this is a disappearance." Tang Luo said.

A Tuo replied: "Making several people completely vanish isn't actually difficult for us, as long as we happen to be 'professionally matched.'" Meaning, having just the right skills makes it simple.

"Do you think it could be gods or demons walking among us?" Tang Luo lowered his voice to ask.

A Tuo shook his head: "How would I know? Didn't you just catch the killer last time, Master? How did you do it? Just do it again."

"That time." Tang Luo recalled, "That guy was seething with anger, realized I was his kind, came up to warn me and show off. I couldn't hold back, so I just—well, that time I deliberately guided him across."

"Huh?" A Tuo widened his eyes—was there really such a foolish idiot? Actually, that person wasn't stupid; it's just that A Tuo has a god's-eye view, seeing clearly as an observer.

Being inside the situation, the mystery isn't easy to solve.

Wait—if that person walked right in themselves, does this mean Master Xuanzang isn't actually the wise sage everyone imagines, capable of unraveling threads and uncovering the truth?

"Then, Master, what do you think this case will turn out to be?" A Tuo asked.

"I don't know either." Tang Luo laughed as he said.

"Does Master have any leads at all?" A Tuo asked cautiously.

"None." Tang Luo said firmly.

"... Does Master have any discoveries?"

"I came with you—what discoveries have you made?"

"None." A Tuo shook his head.

"If you haven't found anything, how could I? I'm not good at this." Tang Luo said.

A Tuo opened his mouth to ask: "What is Master good at—" feeling he vaguely knew the answer.

"Naturally, enlightening and saving people, guiding spirits and monsters." Tang Luo stood up and patted A Tuo on the shoulder, "So don't worry—even if you died, I'd bring you back. We've already been through this once—A Tuo, you should be a mature adult by now."

"No, Master, why do you always think I'm going to die?" A Tuo thought this wasn't right.

"No, I just think you're too inexperienced—when danger comes, you're very likely to be the first to collapse." Tang Luo spoke frankly.

"..." A Tuo really wanted to say: he's not inexperienced—he's at the basic, average level in the God-Demon Walk.

The truly inexperienced have already died in the mission worlds.

"Master, don't just assume this about me—when you assume it like this, I get anxious."