Chapter 32

Chapter 32

This residential complex had street-level surveillance. However, the complex had been built too long ago, and the cameras used were early-model purchases. Setting aside the poor resolution, several cameras near Su Yu’s house were outright broken.

Nan Mu took the young boy along and, pretending to be a resident, checked the surveillance footage at the main gate. The gate camera was still functional, but the resolution was too blurry. The girl was wearing a baseball cap, making it impossible to see her face clearly.

Since the girl had left the complex, the only option left was to check the municipal traffic surveillance. If this were 2032, it would have been a matter of a single phone call. Unfortunately…

It was currently 2022.

Before leaving, Nan Mu returned to the front of Su Yu’s house. He walked a full circle around the building and discovered that the second-floor bathroom window was unlocked, left slightly ajar.

He felt a surge of joy as his gaze swept back and forth between the first and second floors, searching for potential footholds.

That’s right-he wanted to scale the wall and break in to search for clues regarding Su Yu.

Of course, it was too bright right now; he would have to wait until nightfall.

Nan Mu glanced at his phone. It was almost six o’clock, and the sky would be dark soon.

He headed toward a supermarket, thinking about what supplies he needed to prepare.

While shopping, he felt as though he was forgetting something important, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t recall what it was.

It wasn’t until he finished his shopping and stood at the counter to pay that he opened his phone and saw a text from Wen Miao. The realization hit him like a lightning bolt.

Crap! Wen Miao had said she was coming to the hospital tonight. If she caught him…

Nan Mu’s skin crawled. He dashed to the street, hailed a taxi, and sped back to the hospital.

===

When Nan Mu arrived back at the hospital, he ran into Wen Miao at the entrance.

Wen Miao was carrying several items and had been stopped by Nurse Xiao Ai. The two were currently chatting.

Nan Mu didn’t dare make a sound. He pulled his hat low and blended into the crowd, rushing back to his ward ahead of Wen Miao.

He changed back into his hospital gown and had just laid down when Wen Miao pushed the door open and entered. If he had been even a minute later, he would have been caught red-handed.

Wen Miao was wearing a pink dress with a white knit cardigan over it, looking soft and sweet.

As soon as she entered, she shook the thermal lunch box in her hand. “I brought you something delicious.”

Nan Mu sat up briskly from the bed and said with a feigned air of boredom, “Finally, someone’s here to talk to me. I’ve been lying here so long I feel like I’m falling apart.”

Wen Miao let out a soft laugh and pulled a box of game pieces from her bag. “Eat first. After you’re done, I can stay and play a few rounds of Gomoku with you.”

Nan Mu’s eyes lit up as he rubbed his hands together. “I’m an expert at that.”

Wen Miao raised an eyebrow slightly but didn’t argue. She set the food from her thermal container onto the small over-bed table. Since patients needed to eat low-salt, low-fat, and non-greasy food, she had gone to a restaurant outside the school specifically to have these dishes custom-made.

“How is it?”

“Delicious!”

Nan Mu had been running around all day and was starving.

Once they finished eating, Wen Miao packed away the lunch boxes and set out the Gomoku board. As she leaned over, her hair slid down from her shoulders. Nan Mu could even smell the light, sweet scent of mixed flowers emanating from her hair-it was like a gentle breeze blowing through a forest after the rain, tender and ethereal.

She checked her phone. “It’s seven-thirty. I can stay and play with you for three hours.”

“You’re still heading back tonight?” Nan Mu’s movements paused. “Then you should probably leave now. Eleven o’clock is too late.”
“Wen Xin and the others are coming to pick me up, so don’t worry.”

Nan Mu thought about it for a moment and didn’t insist.

===

At eleven o’clock, Wen Miao received a call from Wen Xin.

“You should head out. It’s just as well; I’m tired and not feeling great today, so I need to get to sleep soon anyway.” Nan Mu was already thinking about going back out to work that night. “Don’t worry about me, just head back.”

“Okay, I’ll head back to campus then.” After finishing the call, Wen Miao packed her things but left the Go board and pieces behind. “If you get bored, find someone to play a game with you.”

“Will do. Be careful on the road, and send me a message when you get to school.”

“Okay.”

After watching Wen Miao leave, Nan Mu got up and changed back into the clothes he had worn earlier that afternoon.

He went out, hailed a taxi, and returned to the residential complex he had visited earlier. The security guard at the gate was the same one he had seen that afternoon. Since they had become somewhat acquainted earlier, the guard didn’t think twice and even took the initiative to open the pedestrian gate for him.

Nan Mu handed the man a cigarette and stood at the entrance chatting for a few minutes. While they talked, he noticed a car parked around the corner outside the complex; inside the vehicle, a red light was blinking steadily.

Nan Mu glanced at it several times but couldn’t make anything out. Once he finished the cigarette with the guard, he made an excuse about heading back.

While walking, he received a message from Wen Miao.

Wen Miao: [Are you asleep yet? I’m back at school!]

Nan Mu smiled and replied: [Not yet, but I’m about to. You should get some rest early, too.]

Wen Miao: [Almost there, I’m already at the bottom of the dorm building. I’ll let you go then; I still have to wash up when I get upstairs.]

Nan Mu: [Okay, I’m heading to bed. Goodnight.]

Wen Miao: [Goodnight.]

Nan Mu tucked his phone back into his pocket and prepared for the business at hand.

The lighting in this complex was dim, and the property management didn’t even turn on the lights in most areas. As the wind blew, the shadows of the trees swayed, giving the place a somewhat eerie atmosphere. Because it was a villa district, the population density was low; he could vaguely see lights on in a few houses, but no one was walking around inside the complex anymore.

On his way here, he had bought a flashlight and some magnesium powder. He clipped the flashlight to the back of his waist, rubbed the powder on his hands, and took a running start at the wall. The wrought-iron gate of the house wasn’t very high, but he mainly had to watch out for the anti-climb spikes on top. He climbed over carefully and successfully entered the perimeter.

There was a water pipe running down from below the bathroom that looked sturdy enough. Nan Mu climbed up the pipe until he could reach the windowsill, then relied entirely on his upper body strength to pull himself up and slip into the villa.

Not daring to turn on the lights, the first thing Nan Mu did after entering the room was draw all the curtains before switching on his flashlight.

A thin layer of dust covered everything; it had indeed been a long time since anyone had been inside. It seemed the young boy’s claim that Su Yu hadn’t returned home since May was accurate.

Nan Mu went down to the first floor. The layout was straightforward: the main entrance led into the living room, with a staircase on the left and a small bathroom tucked beside it. To the right was the dining area, leading further back into the kitchen. Nan Mu walked into the kitchen and saw a few bowls and chopsticks still sitting in the sink, covered in blue-white mold. He lifted the lid of a pot on the gas stove and found a metal steamer rack inside, which was also covered in white fuzz.

His heart sank as an ominous premonition surged within him.