It was as if he’d been born to do this.
A light bulb went off in Guo Changcheng’s head. He waved his hands abruptly and spoke over the noisy crowd. “I can’t hear what you’re all saying. Let’s take it slow, okay? When I ask a question, can you please answer by raising your hand? First question: Does your missing friend or relative work at Spring Harbor Resort? If yes, please raise your hand.”
Everyone’s hand shot up at once. Beside him, the officer’s eyes widened. All the racket earlier must have left her ears ringing, making her unable to focus on anything beyond the fact that adults couldn’t be reported missing until they’d been gone for forty-eight hours. She hadn’t made the connection that this could be a single, very serious case.
Guo Changcheng composed himself. He was getting a clearer idea of how to proceed. Next, he asked, “Anyone who’s certain that their friend or relative went missing at the resort, please keep your hand up. If you’re not sure, please put your hand down, okay?”
A few hands wavered and were lowered, only to be hesitantly raised again.
A middle-aged man spoke up. “Boss, can I say something?”
“I’m not the boss…” Guo Changcheng sighed. “Never mind that. Please go ahead, sir.”
“My little sister waitresses at a restaurant at the resort’s reception halls. She’s only nineteen. She never came home after work last night, and we couldn’t reach her. She’s very responsible—she’s never stayed out all night without a reason before. The entire family is worried sick. We all went out and searched for her in the middle of the night, and we went back and forth along her route to work a bunch of times. And then my dad and cousin disappeared too! When we couldn’t reach them by phone either, I came to make a report.” The man’s eyes were bloodshot, but he tried his best to keep his voice steady, wanting to remain as calm as possible. “Boss, a young girl is one thing, but two grown men? What could possibly happen to them? My dad’s seventy years old. Even if this were a human trafficking case, who’d traffic someone’s old man?”
The entire crowd agreed that it was the same story for them. Everybody who had a missing loved one was as anxious as a cat on a hot tin roof, and they all tried to push closer to Guo Changcheng to say a bit more about their own situation. They were all desperate for an explanation from him. He looked far too young to be entrusted with this situation, but in their eyes, Guo Changcheng had essentially become their savior—and they all wanted a piece of this savior to dispel their worries.
What with all the jostling and shoving, a woman holding a child was pushed to the ground. The three-year-old in her arms started wailing loudly. Someone nearby yelled, “Don’t push! We’re all worried here!” while someone else screamed, “Watch out for the child! Don’t step on the child!”
Guo Changcheng felt dizzy. If only Zhu Hong-jie were here… he thought. If only Director Zhao were here.
What should he do?
They had so much faith in him. They were counting on him to take care of things here. He’d had this job for six months, and this was his first time in charge of a situation all by himself. How could he fail to live up to their expectations and screw this up?
If it were Director Zhao, what would he do? If it were Chu-ge, what would he do?
He couldn’t let these people go to the resort. It was too dangerous. Guo Changcheng suddenly took two steps forward and stood on the curb. “Everyone! Everyone!”
The crowd quieted.
He held his work ID up high. “I’m here from the Special Investigations Department in Dragon City. We specialize in very important, serious cases. Our boss has already rushed to the scene with our very best elite personnel, and he sent me here to explain the situation to you all.
“We haven’t found any signs of your loved ones yet, but we also haven’t had terrible news. We are already doing absolutely everything we can to search for them. Right now, the best thing you can all do to help is to cooperate with the comrades here at the police station while they record all the details. Just absolutely do not go anywhere near the resort. If you do, you’ll make things harder for the rescuers, who’ll have more trouble finding the victims.”
He had never spoken so much in a single breath before. In that instant, Guo Changcheng felt like he wasn’t fighting alone.
His heart felt warm and toasty, as if a flame were burning within him. Cupping his hands together, he bowed to everybody around him. “Thank you, everyone. You have my word that we will do our very best. Now, can I ask you all to line up and head inside to make your reports?”
At first, the crowd just stood there and stared at each other. But then, incredibly, they started lining up noisily. Slowly, order prevailed. Following directions from the young female officer, they successfully formed a line and filed inside.
Guo Changcheng, however, stood frozen in place for a long while, unable to believe that he had actually done it.
The other members of the SID weren’t having it so easy. Shen Wei, entangled in the black mist, was suffering from a renewed case of bullheadedness and flatly refusing to let go of Zhao Yunlan no matter what. He had the Soul-Executing Blade between his teeth, and the blade’s icy glint made his lips look scarily pale. He angled his head around to turn the blade on the mist.