Chapter 45: Who’s Hiding Their Scent?

In the Car  

Ren Daguo looked utterly confused as he listened to Huang Wei’s questioning.  

“What player? A player of what game?”  

Huang Wei’s eyes gleamed with a playful glint, and a faint smirk appeared at the corner of his lips.  

“Heh, it’s nothing. We’ll talk about it when we get back.”  

Ren Daguo, still perplexed, glanced at his son.  

“How did you all end up here? Where are Old Xu and Li Feng?”  

Ren Ye’s expression was also a bit off as he vaguely replied,  

“They’re fine. The police are taking care of them. We’re just heading… back to the unit.”  

“What’s going on here? I was in the room, and then… I suddenly blacked out. Who are all these people?” Ren Daguo had clearly regained his composure and bombarded Ren Ye with questions. However, his son deflected them all with evasive answers.  

…

After a short while, the convoy arrived at 88 Lianhu Road.  

Huang Wei, clutching his wound, began issuing orders to the core members of the Qingfu District team.  

“Gu Nian, take charge of interrogating the two captured Bell Society members. I want to see their full confessions in no more than six hours—no, make that three hours at most.”  

“No problem.” Gu Nian nodded slowly.  

In the kidnapping of Ren Daguo, the Bell Society had deployed seven players. Mr. He and the dwarf escaped, while the Prisoner Maiden, a plunder-class player, and a qi master were killed on the spot. That left only two who were successfully captured.  

Still, having these two in custody was enough to pursue further leads.  

With that, Gu Nian led the criminal players away. Huang Wei climbed the steps and turned to Xu Peng.  

“How many of us were injured?”  

“Four lightly injured, one seriously injured,” Xu Peng replied with a frown. “Old Yan got a venomous insect inside him while capturing the dwarf… His condition doesn’t look good. I’ve already sent him to the Huangjiang District infirmary, where there are more Light-system players.”  

Huang Wei’s jaw tightened at the news. “Keep tabs on Old Yan’s condition. If Huangjiang can’t handle it, submit an application to transfer him to the Capital’s headquarters immediately.”  

“Understood.” Xu Peng nodded firmly.  

Being a Vigil Keeper was undoubtedly a dangerous job. Members not only had to face life-and-death trials in the Star Gates, but also had to confront criminal players with extraordinary powers in the real world. The mortality rate… was even higher than that of anti-drug police.  

But sacrifices were inevitable. The stability of any era required countless individuals to make silent compromises and sacrifices in unseen corners.  

After handling the immediate aftermath, Huang Wei went to the infirmary, where Xu Peng helped him stabilize his injuries.  

With his waist bandaged and a pill from Xu Peng grudgingly swallowed, Huang Wei waved Ren Ye over.  

“Come here. You’re up.”  

Ren Ye stepped into the room, his eyes cautious.  

“I have a feeling you’re planning to do something to my dad.”  

Huang Wei paused, then replied,  

“Don’t you think all of this is a bit too suspicious?”  

“It’s definitely suspicious.” Ren Ye thought for a moment. “So, yeah, I’m okay with you doing whatever you need.”  

“Then let’s do it.” Huang Wei stepped closer and whispered in Ren Ye’s ear,  

“Not to scare you, but we’ve got a Magic-system player in the unit. His first-stage title is The Liar… and he can also serve as a lie detector. Just half an hour ago, he finished a Star Gate task. You get what I’m saying?”  

“Do it,” Ren Ye nodded emphatically.  

“Oh, right.” Huang Wei suddenly remembered something. “We found an envelope at the scene. Xu Peng handed it to me. I skimmed through it, and it’s actually related to the tomb of an imperial princess from the previous dynasty in the Qingliang Prefecture Star Gate. I’ll give it to you later…”  

“Got it. Let’s focus on my dad first,” Ren Ye replied, his determination evident.  

The two shared a mischievous look before walking out of the infirmary.  

…

Ten Minutes Later  

Ren Ye led his father out of another infirmary.  

“Soon, someone will ask you some questions. Just answer truthfully. But remember—don’t lie. Not even a little.”  

“What’s going on?!” Ren Daguo’s expression was no longer blank. Instead, it was filled with anxiety and concern.  

“What is this place? It doesn’t look like a proper police facility at all! Who are you involved with? And that foolhardy Officer Huang—why did he ask if I’m a player? You know this… Besides those little games on Steam, I don’t play anything else!”  

Ren Ye paused for a moment before speaking up. “This is the Sixth Team of Major Cases in Qingfu District, directly overseen by the Municipal Bureau. Don’t ask too many details, just cooperate with the statement recording, and I’ll explain the rest to you later.”

As they spoke, they had already arrived at the door of a standard interrogation room. Ren Ye pushed the door open and waved his hand. “Go in.”

Ren Daguo looked inside at the iron chair and various slogans encouraging confession for leniency, clearly feeling uneasy. “Why does it feel like I’m the criminal here…?!”

“It’s the normal procedure, go ahead,” Ren Ye said, then seemed to remember something, leaning in close to his father’s ear and whispering, “Don’t mention those… things… I can’t afford to lose face.”

Ren Daguo froze for a moment, then sternly replied, “It was Old Xu who called, not me… I’ve been working all along.”

“Alright, go in!” Ren Ye pushed him inside and then quickly ran to the monitoring room, standing by Huang Wei as they watched the footage.

…

Inside the interrogation room, Ren Daguo sat on the chair, nervously glancing at the young man sitting across from him.

The man appeared to be around twenty years old, with clear, handsome features and a clean look. He was the first-stage “liar” Huang Wei had mentioned, and had just come from the Star Gate mission.

“Mr. Ren, don’t be nervous. I just want to understand the situation a little,” the young man smiled warmly at Ren Daguo, his expression very approachable. “Could you briefly recount your experiences over the past few days? Starting from… when you went to that apartment, don’t leave out any details, and take your time.”

Ren Daguo’s face turned serious as he pondered for a long time before softly replying, “I haven’t had any particularly unusual experiences. Recently, I’ve been helping an editor with some freelance work—it’s an ancient fantasy time-travel novel. After we arrived at the apartment, we didn’t leave… we worked and ate in the room.”

“According to the information we have, you were staying in room 601, but why did you suddenly appear in room 501?” The young man focused on Ren Daguo’s eyes and subtly used some special perceptive ability.

Ren Daguo answered without hesitation, “Oh, it’s like this. Old Xu had some spare money and always wanted to set up a writing studio, so he bought three apartments in that building. Originally, they were for ghostwriters, but later… the industry wasn’t doing well, so he gave up on the idea. But the apartments were still there. Not just 601, but 501 and 1101 are also his. We changed rooms because the air conditioner in 601 broke, and it was too hot, so we moved down to 501.”

“Did you leave the apartment at any point during this time?”

“No, we didn’t leave,” Ren Daguo shook his head. “We ate and everything in the room.”

“Why did you suddenly ask Li Feng to go to the apartment building?”

“I left an old manuscript at his place, but Li Feng hadn’t used it. I thought the content would help me revise this ancient fantasy manuscript, so I asked him to bring it over,” Ren Daguo answered seriously.

The young man furrowed his brow. “So, over the past few days, have you felt that any of your experiences were unusual? You can say anything…”

“No,” Ren Daguo replied. “We’ve really just been working. We don’t do anything in our spare time. Once we’re done discussing, we go to sleep. There’s nothing strange about it.” Ren Daguo suddenly asked urgently, “What exactly is going on? What is my son doing with you? Why did I faint?!”

“Your son, Ren Ye, is helping us investigate a case. You fainted because the criminals tried to take revenge on Ren Ye and secretly put a sedative in your drinking water,” the young man said, tapping his fingers on the table. “But don’t worry… they’ve already been caught, and Ren Ye is not in any danger right now.”

…

In the monitoring room.

After hearing Ren Daguo’s answers, Huang Wei and Ren Ye both fell silent.

From the account Ren Daguo provided, it did explain why he and Old Xu suddenly disappeared from the apartment. They went downstairs because the air conditioner broke, and this must have been a brief process with no outside trips, which is why the Vigil Keeper didn’t see them—that part was normal…

But what wasn’t normal was that there were players in the Vigil Keeper team who specialized in tracking. They had sensed the smell left behind by Ren Daguo and Old Xu, but this scent abruptly stopped near the trash bin in the stairwell.

Also, after Ren Da Guo and Old Xu disappeared, the Vigil Keeper team searched the entire building, deploying more than ten people to sense the presence of ordinary people, but they still couldn’t find the two of them outside Room 501.

This was highly abnormal. How could the extraordinary Vigil Keeper not sense their presence?!

This is why both Ren Ye and Huang Wei were suspicious about Ren Da Guo being a player earlier, which led them to question him.

But now, looking at it, Ren Da Guo’s explanation was that he had no idea what was happening outside and had been working quietly in the room for several days.

“What do you think?” Huang Wei turned to Ren Ye.

“Let’s wait for The Liar to come back.” Ren Ye sat in the chair, his gaze somewhat confused.

About half an hour later, The Liar arrived at the monitoring room and directly said, “My perception tells me… none of his words were lies.”

Huang Wei furrowed his brows at this, “So we were wrong? Overly suspicious?!”

The Liar’s combat ability was average, but his ability to detect lies was extraordinary. He could sense a person’s emotions, subtle movements, and the aura emitted by their body when lying, allowing him to judge whether someone was lying.

Moreover, he had been with the Vigil Keeper in Qingfu District for three years and had never made a mistake.

This meant that his judgment was reliable.

So, what was going on?

Huang Wei looked at Ren Ye, “He didn’t lie, so why didn’t our people detect him inside the building?”

“To be honest, I once suspected that my dad was a player.” Ren Ye stood up, “That night, I asked you all to go near the apartment building to confirm this. But I used the Charm ability to check… neither he nor Old Xu were players.”

At this point, the Liar suddenly interjected, “I think you’re thinking in the wrong direction. Based on what I’ve learned… there are two mysterious individuals involved in this incident, one is a Hunter from the Fraudulent Merchants Association, and the other is an unidentified soul. Both have intentionally or unintentionally assisted us, or rather, Ren Ye… So, is it possible that they arrived at the apartment building beforehand and erased the scents of Ren Daguo and Old Xu… also blocking our Vigil Keeper’s perception? After all… these two have shown powerful abilities, at least second stage, so they should be capable of this.”

Huang Wei’s eyes lit up when he heard this, “So their goal should be…”

“If we had found Ren Daguo earlier, we would have brought him back to the unit and provided the tightest security protection.” Ren Ye quickly added, “But this way, I, my sister, and my dad would all be in the Vigil Keeper unit… and Bell Society wouldn’t have any points of attack left, so they likely wouldn’t act again.”

“So, these two people hiding your dad’s presence could be trying to lure Bell Society into taking action, and then we can catch them all?” Huang Wei completed the sentence, “That makes sense, we’ve cracked the case, we’ve cracked the case…!”

Ren Ye paced around the room, “Then… who exactly are these two? Are they enemies or allies?”

“Ding Ling Ling!”

As soon as Ren Ye finished speaking, Huang Wei’s phone rang. He glanced at the number and immediately picked it up. “Hello?!”

“I’m at the high-speed train station picking up Director Yan. He’s furious that you allowed Ren Ye to go off on his own… You need to come to the Pet Paradise right now.” Someone from the Shanghai headquarters spoke quickly.

…

In the Capital, in an ancient courtyard not found on the electronic map, four people were sitting around a stone table drinking tea.

“…The news came through, Ren Ye is fine.” A beautiful woman in a green dress said as she lifted her teacup.

“Ren Ye is fine, but Shanghai might not be.” An elderly man sitting opposite her said lightly, “Yan Duoduo has always been someone who walks with a knife when taking office. As soon as he arrived, he carried out two rounds of strict internal reforms… which shows his skill. Now that Bell Society wants to target Ren Ye… and the folks from Tongren Road have stepped forward to help… Heh, I don’t think he’ll let this go easily.”