In the evening, the rain started falling again, and there were faint thunderclouds rolling in the sky.
Officer Zhang glanced at the dance studio window unwillingly, but still started the car and drove the priest to the village in the city.
This city is quite old, and there are many small villages embedded in the steel forest. The smelly water from the sewers surges up in the streets, and there is a splash of water when the wheels roar past.
Lan Ruo's place was actually not far from Qiuzi's residence. Although the two did not share a house, they rented a house in the same area.
"They came north together a few years ago, but they separated because they disliked that the shared house was too crowded." Officer Zhang said while driving: "Last night, although no one saw Lan Ruo going to the dance studio, there was no trace of her going to the dance studio. But there is no one.”
"It's a pity that there are too few cameras in this city, otherwise we would still be able to check carefully." The priest nodded and said.
"In this day and age, we can only rely on human surveillance."
The two of them were talking casually, and the plaque of a small urban village appeared in front of them. Because the roads inside were too crowded, cars did not drive in.
Officer Zhang parked his car on the side of the road and turned around to see the priest taking out a black umbrella at some point.
He was dressed in a noble black robe trimmed with gold, with a golden cross pattern embroidered on his chest. His face had a compassionate and gentle look, with a divine aura.
The man stood alone, silently in the rain with a black umbrella, and there was no charm to it.
I just felt like I was here for a funeral.
Most people in this city believe in religion. Although there are many outsiders living in the villages in the city, there are some elderly people who couldn't help but look over when they saw the priest appear.
Officer Zhang twitched the corner of his mouth and said, "Don't walk with me, just go on your way."
After saying that, she ran directly to the street in the light rain. Following the information sent by her colleagues, she stepped on the puddles on the roadside and arrived in front of a building.
The smell of decay came from the dark corridor, the dim light was very dim, and the walls were stained with various stains.
Officer Zhang looked back and saw that the priest did not follow him, but was being held by a few elderly people on the street, so she took the lead and walked upstairs.
The corridor carried the usual closed and damp smell of urban villages, which seemed a bit unpleasant and depressing.
There are only two households on the first floor of this building, with left and right facing each other. There are many people coming back to rent the house at this time, and some voices can be heard sparsely in the corridor, as chaotic as gibbering.
Officer Zhang went to the third floor and knocked on the door.
The sound of bang bang bang sounded on the rusty green iron door, which was extremely harsh.
As a result, she failed to knock on the door of 301. Instead, she knocked on the door of the opposite house because the sound insulation was so poor.
Officer Zhang, who was about to pick the lock, saw this, smiled at the young man who poked his head out of the door, and asked casually: "Sorry to disturb you, do you know where this family has gone?"
The young man had unkempt hair and dark blue eyes. He said with a pair of dead fish eyes: "Stop knocking. There is a little girl who lives opposite me, but she hasn't come back these days. I don't know if she is with her. My boyfriend ran away..."
He muttered the last part under his breath.
Lan Ruo looks very gorgeous, belongs to the thick-faced family, and has a good figure. Such a girl basically has no worries about a boyfriend.
But it's definitely not his fault.
Officer Zhang's eyes flickered for a moment, but his expression remained as usual, and he asked curiously: "She has a boyfriend?"
"Maybe." The young man asked doubtfully, "I don't know. Are you looking for her?"
"I'm her friend. She hasn't contacted me in the past few days. I came here out of curiosity to see if something happened." Officer Zhang said, looking very worried.
Hearing this, the young man became less alert and said, "I often saw her going out a few days ago. She must be a dancer, always jumping around the house, but these days there is no sound. I don’t know what to do.”
"Thank you. Then I'll ask other friends. If you have any news, remember to tell me." Hearing this, Officer Zhang nodded with gratitude.
"Well, I don't know much. Anyway, I haven't seen her for a few days." The young man was a little impatient.
Upon seeing this, Officer Zhang thanked him again and left. He stepped down the stairs and quickly came to the street.
She looked around and saw that the priest was already sitting in front of the fruit stall, eating grapes and chatting with some neighbors. He seemed quite comfortable.
As Officer Zhang approached quickly, the man apologized to several enthusiastic neighbors, then stood up and looked at her.
"Lan Ruo is not in the room." Officer Zhang said in a low voice, with a very ugly look on his face.
According to the information sent by subordinates, the three people in the dance studio separated after noon. Xue Na went to the city hospital, while Lan Ruo returned to her rental house and has not come out yet.
Only the main streets in the city have surveillance cameras. Lan Ruo's figure in the video disappeared after she entered the village in the city. After that, she was followed by people.
But the young man just now said that not only was the girl not in the house, but she also didn't come back for several days.
When the priest heard this, he said something unrelated: "No one has been lost in this area."
"Of course I know." Officer Zhang raised his eyebrows.
"But a black dog died in the narrow alley a few days ago, and it stinks." The priest continued, "Although it has been dealt with, the old people think it is unlucky and want me to go over and pray."
Officer Zhang fell silent upon hearing this.
In this era when information was not very developed, disappearances were reported manually. If no one reported the case, there was no way to know that something had happened.
Even worse, what if no one was "missing" at all.
Officer Zhang felt shuddered when he thought of the beautiful girl who had appeared under the camera every day and reported to the dance studio on time.
Then she remembered that there were usually only four people in the dance studio, but two of them seemed not quite right, and she couldn't help but shudder for the other two.
The patter of raindrops slapped on my arms, which indeed made it colder.
Officer Zhang got back into the car. After calming down a little, he frowned and said, "In this case, the change probably started with Lan Ruo first, and then she went to kill Qiuzi."
"But she didn't completely disappear from everyone's eyes like those previous missing persons. She went to the dance studio to train as usual." The priest said slowly.
People who disappeared before were really missing.
No traces can be found. Only after a strange murder occurs can we see the shadow of those people. The scenes where they appear are nothing more than lifeless ghosts.
That’s why they say that those who kill are the dead.
The missing persons involved in the "Black Dog" incident are basically defined as dead by the police.
As for the reason for this conclusion, it must be traced back to what happened decades ago. At that time, this city had not yet been settled by religion, and all kinds of mysterious things happened one after another.
At this time, Officer Zhang suddenly thought of something more important, and said with wide eyes: "Wait a minute, Lan Ruo came back to kill Qiuzi after she disappeared, then after that, Qiuzi will also..."
And then it decreases step by step, gradually contaminating the entire dance team?
