Chapter 2: Fog 2

  Fingerprints on the express delivery? Even if it could be intervened by technical investigation, the express delivery had already passed through many people's hands, and the fingerprints had been contaminated long ago. Nevertheless, Peng Sizhe carefully put the express delivery and its contents into a plastic bag.

  Facing one broken clue after another, Peng Sizhe was at a loss. Suddenly, Luo Jingjian's mobile phone rang with a text message. Luo Jingjian opened it and saw that it was Peng Sizheng's phone number. On the screen were only a few simple words: "Have you received the key? Use the car first, I'm going to make a fortune."

  Lu Jingjian quickly handed the phone to Peng Sizhe, and Peng Sizhe immediately dialed his brother's number back. However, the voice on the other end was still cold: "The number you are calling is currently unavailable..."

  It's obvious that someone sent this message and then immediately turned off their phone! Is this really a message from brother?

  Lu Jingjuan couldn't help but think of the terrible things, she pulled Peng Sizhe and asked with a crying tone: "Sizhe... Sizhe, tell me, what happened to your brother, what happened to him..."

  Peng Sizhe couldn't answer this question, he now needs to keep calm even more.

  Deng Luo Jingqiong cried herself out, Peng Sizhe said very seriously: "Now we have no choice but to go to the police!"

  "But you're a police officer, who else can I go to for help?" Luo Jingju was already at her wit's end.

  Peng Sizhe took Luo Jingjuan directly to the criminal investigation team and specifically instructed her to tell everything she knew in detail.

  The SWAT team came to the criminal police department to report the case, which was a first for the Criminal Investigation Brigade. The case also shocked Li Yunxiang, the head of the brigade, although it didn't meet the requirements for filing a case, it was still handled as a special case. After completing the transcript, it was already near dusk. The only hope now is that the criminal police can coordinate with the technical investigation team to locate Peng Sicheng's mobile phone position, which may lead to some clues.

  Li Yunxiang quickly contacted the technical investigation team after the case was filed, but the technical investigation team could not locate Peng Sicheng's mobile phone location - after sending the last message, someone removed the battery from the mobile phone. Now the only thing that can be known is that the last boot position of the mobile phone is not in Guining, but in Guangzhou!

  Guiying and Guangzhou are over a thousand kilometers apart, how did Peng Sixian end up in Guangzhou? Or, to put it another way, how did his cell phone end up in Guangzhou? For the past few days, were Peng Sixian and his cell phone together or not? Peng Sizhe was at a loss for an explanation.

  After a day of running around, Peng Sizhe had no choice but to send Luo Jingqiu back home. The room was devoid of any warmth, and on the wall of the bedroom hung a photo of Peng Sizhe and Luo Jingqiu. In the photo, Peng Sizhe wore his military uniform, looking handsome, while Luo Jingqiu smiled sweetly leaning against him. Normally, this photo would add a warm atmosphere to the room, but at this moment, Luo Jingqiu was overcome with emotion as she gazed at the photo of Peng Sizhe and murmured: "Where did you go? Where did you go?"

  In the photo, Peng Sixian's eyes are gazing into the distance, unable to respond to her words. Luo Jingjuan says softly: "I'm scared, come back soon..."

  Peng Sizhe walked over and gently patted her shoulder: "Jing Qian, don't worry, my brother will be fine."

  "Si Zhe, I'm scared..."

  "I know, I'll be keeping you company in the living room tonight, you rest well first," said Peng Sizhe.

  The living room sofa turned over for a night, listening to Luo Jingju's sobbing all night, but there was nothing that could be done. Until the morning, Luo Jingju cried herself to sleep. Peng Sizhe got up, left a note, and went back to the police station first.

  Back at the police station, Peng Sizhe went to the logistics department to get a leave slip, filled it out and then went to find Liu Dajin and De Shu to sign.

  Liu Dajin had been lenient with Peng Sizhe's tardiness for the past two days, but when he saw the fake note, his eyes nearly popped out: "Peng Sizhe! You want to take a month off?!"

  This is the first time since the special police team was established that someone has been asked to take a month's leave! Even for major events like weddings or funerals, it's usually only approved for half a month to 20 days!

  "I want to find my brother..."

  "Have you reported it? If this is a criminal case, it should be under the jurisdiction of the Criminal Investigation Team. Peng Sizhe, you are Special Police!" Liu Dajin said.

  "I know I'm a special police officer, but that missing person is my brother!" Peng Sizhe said.

  "This makes us study, you wait a minute." The brother interrupted the bone connected to the tendon, and the blood relatives suddenly fell out of thin air. This feeling Liu Dajin could understand, but after all, the special police team had its own management system, and this was not something that one person could decide on their own.

  The special police team finally decided to approve Peng Sizhe's one-month leave, and now Peng Sizhe's mind is all on his brother. It's hard to keep a person but not their heart, so it's better to let him go and settle things before returning to the team.

  This is his own brother, he has the obligation to investigate what happened, but now there are no clues, Peng Sizhe doesn't know where to start. The express delivery and car keys, driving license have severe fingerprint contamination, forensic cannot extract effective fingerprints, let alone compare with the fingerprint database, this is a completely useless evidence. Peng Sizhe found Li Yunxiang, Li Yunxiang spread his hands: "Peng Sizhe, although I am a criminal police officer, but I am not Superman, without any clues, where do you want me to find people for you?"

  Yes, the Skynet monitoring system and traffic monitoring system have all been called upon. Every possible method has been thought of, but Peng Sixian just silently disappeared into the vast crowd. Li Yunxiang's subtle reminders to Peng Sizhe that it is highly likely that the person is no longer alive, and the person who sent the express delivery and text messages has strong anti-detection capabilities. However, if it was a murder, what would be the motive? This goes against the principles of criminal cases - most murders are committed by acquaintances with a trail to follow, and if it's not an acquaintance, it's usually robbery. But Peng Sixian is not a good target for robbery! This can basically be ruled out. Or maybe it was a crime of passion triggered by a small dispute, but the possibility of this is not great, how do you explain the express delivery and text messages? Is it possible that the criminal went to great lengths to find Peng Sixian's social connections to create an anti-detection plot? But if Peng Sixian is still alive, why would he want to avoid his family? It's clear that being dissatisfied with the job arranged by his family wouldn't be a reason for him to hide!

  Li Yunxiang and Peng Sizhe deliberated repeatedly, deciding to start with acquaintances, investigating Peng Sichen's social relationships. However, this investigation couldn't be completed in a day or two, nor was it certain that useful clues would be found. But at this point, there was no other way.

  Peng Sixian had just been discharged from the army for a few months, and his social relationships were very simple. However, most of these social relationships were bosses who came from business backgrounds that were relatively complex. Moreover, he rarely talked to his family about what he did outside, which further increased the difficulty of investigation and evidence collection. Peng Sixian felt that he must grasp Lang Qun, this person, and he vaguely felt that his brother's disappearance had a great relationship with him.

  Lao Lao Ban returned from Changchun half a month later, but he didn't actively contact any police officer. It seemed as if Peng Si Zhe had never come at all. However, his whereabouts were still known to Peng Si Zhe. On this day, Xiao Wu drove and picked him up at Xiang Long Club, just to see Peng Si Zhe waiting in the lobby.

  "Ah yo? Officer Peng, long time no see! Long time no see." Boss Lang seemed to have no idea why Peng Si Zhe was looking for him, and enthusiastically invited him into the office.

  "What wind blew Officer Peng over here, how impressive... Haha..." As he entered the office, Boss Lang greeted him warmly and prepared to make tea.

  "I'd like to ask, has my brother come by recently?" Peng Sizhe glanced around the office, which hadn't changed a bit in layout, and casually asked.

  The boss, Mr. Lang, kept taking out tea sets and said: "I just got back from a business trip and haven't seen him for a long time. How has he been lately? I heard he joined the special police force. What a pity! I always thought he would be very successful in business."

  "Hmm? What business are you discussing?" Peng Siche thought this might be a breakthrough.

  "It's all just some small business, Lingyun has a mining project over there, you know." Boss Lang seemed not to avoid suspicion at all.

  "Sorry, I don't understand business."

  "Oh, it's not that complicated, the project was a joint venture between several bosses, you know how it is in business, when it comes to money everyone wants to hold back, I couldn't possibly keep an eye on the mine every day, thought of finding someone trustworthy to help out, didn't expect that those partner bosses all liked your brother, ah... what a pity, later he told us that his family arranged for him to join the special police force, so he couldn't collaborate with us anymore, we all felt it was such a shame..." Boss Lang seemed to be keeping secrets.

  "That car..." Peng Si Zhe asked, while observing his expression.

  "Ah, you're here for this matter? Tell your brother not to worry, the car will be used, business isn't going well but the intention is there." Boss Lang skillfully brewed tea, seemingly completely misunderstanding Peng Si Zhe's meaning.

  Peng Sizhe couldn't help but secretly admire Boss Lang's reaction. So far, he seemed to have said everything, yet nothing substantial had been achieved.

  "Am I supposed to have my secretary inform you that I've come looking for you?" Peng Si Zhe thought he should apply some pressure.

  "I told you, I just flew back last night and didn't have a chance to tell you. You see, little brother, you didn't even leave me your phone number. Am I supposed to go to the police station to find you? They had an officer looking for me, but I don't know what he wanted. He thought I was arrested or something." Old Lang rambled on, but didn't leak a single drop of information.

  Peng Sizhe didn't say a word, and the atmosphere was somewhat chilly. Boss Lang poured tea and warmly invited: "Come on, come on, have some tea."

  "Can you provide me with a list of the mining projects you mentioned?" Peng Sizhe asked again.

  "Huh? What do you want this for?" Old Lang put down his teacup, looking somewhat puzzled.

  "It doesn't matter, I can find out even if you don't tell me."

  "Little brother, there's a meaning behind your words, we are serious businessmen." Old Lang was somewhat displeased.

  Peng Sizhe smiled: "Looks like a serious businessman."

  "Ah ha, little brother, where did you go? Did I not treat you hospitably?"

  "We're strangers here, there's no issue of whether we greet each other or not."

  Lao Lao saw Peng Si Zhe being so uncooperative and didn't know what he was selling, so he said: "Young brother, just speak plainly, or else, if you're free tonight, let's have a simple dinner together?"

  "In that case, there's no need for that. I'm looking for you to discuss official business."

  "Official business? Officer Peng, I've always abided by the law and had no dealings with the police. The special task force coming to talk to me about official business makes me very uneasy." Upon hearing "official business", Boss Lang's tone changed, and his previous affectionate "little brother" turned formal, addressing him as "Officer".

  "My brother went missing on the same day you left for Changchun." Peng Sizhe threw out this sentence, observing his expression.

  "Huh? Missing?" Mr. Lang's reaction was quite normal.

  "I find it strange that the timing is so coincidental."

  "Officer Peng! You're speaking with blood on your mouth! Do I need to calculate the days when I go to discuss business? How was I supposed to know that your brother would disappear that day?" Mr. Lang protested.

  "I didn't say this matter has anything to do with you, I just want to ask, after my brother comes back, what's the recent situation between him and you? Of course, I have to investigate clearly."

  "Officer Peng, isn't this a bit too much? I hit it off with your brother and just wanted to partner up on some business ventures. To put it bluntly, I just want your brother to help me manage the mine. As for what relationships he has with others, how could I possibly know?"

  "Boss Lang is so generous, with just one sentence of rapport, he gave away a Mustang, hum..."

  "Doing business is about fate, and I think he's a good guy, so I gave him a ride in his car. Is that against any law or regulation?"

  "But this is suspicious, so we need to investigate clearly." Peng Sizhe was circled around by him for half a day, and he didn't get what he wanted. His mood became increasingly irritable, and his tone of speech also became more severe.

  "In that case, I have nothing more to say. Officer Peng, you can follow the procedure and bring the police and search warrant with you. As law-abiding citizens, we are willing to cooperate with your investigation." Old Master Lang was clearly showing them the door.

  ……

  After leaving the Xianglong Club, Peng Sizhe called Li Yunxiang and asked him to investigate whether the mining project mentioned by Boss Lang was true or not - he no longer believed in every word that Boss Lang said, or rather, did not believe in anything anyone said.

  Li Yunxiang noted this down and said over the phone, "The Xiaowu you mentioned, we've investigated him. His original name is Feng Xinwu. He used to be in a juvenile martial arts school and won a national martial arts competition championship. Last year, he was hired as a driver at Xianglong Club. Peng Siche, this lead doesn't prove anything..."

  Peng Sizhe felt a surge of frustration in his heart, all the clues had been cut off, and he was now like a drowning person, grasping at any straw in the hope that it could save his life!

  Li Yunxiang has been a detective for many years and has seen many bizarre cases, but the case of Peng Sicheng's disappearance is the first time he has encountered so many coincidences. In police jargon, "all coincidences are arranged."

  Who arranged these coincidences? What is his purpose? At least so far, Peng Sixi has no evidence to prove that Lang Qun, Xiao Wu and Gege's disappearance are related. Peng Sixi put down the phone and could only smile wryly - perhaps this was just a pure coincidence? Lang Qun and Xiao Wu were telling the truth. But the distrust in his heart kept reminding him that they were all lying, lying for Peng Sixi!

  The month is almost over, and Lang Qun's mining project has also been investigated. Lang Qun did not lie, he was indeed investing in a mining project with several bosses. The bosses have also been thoroughly investigated, but still no clues were found...

  The disappearance of his brother was a complete mystery, and after the family found out, his mother rushed to the hospital again. One thing after another forced Peng Siche's nerves to be tense, and he tried very hard to figure out the truth. Peng Siche's sixth sense told him that Peng Sixian was intentionally avoiding his family, but why did he want to avoid his family?

  Peng Sizhe applied for leave twice, and the special police team had already given him three months' leave. It was really impossible to approve his leave again. Liu Dajin found Peng Sizhe: "Either you cancel your leave and return to the team, or you take off your uniform and go find your brother!"

  Continuous blows made Peng Sizhe's heart like a homeless child, weak and helpless. Men sometimes don't seem as strong as they look, but can't show it. Peng Sizhe dragged his tired body to Luo Jingjun's home.

  "How was it?" Luo Jingjuan asked hastily as she opened the door and saw him.

  Peng Sizhe silently shook his head. Luo Jingjian said disappointedly: "I've stewed some soup, have a drink."

  Peng Sizhe silently drank a bowl of soup, without tasting what flavor it was. Luo Jingjuan was cleaning up the dishes in the kitchen. Peng Sizhe leaned against the kitchen door, listening to the crisp sound of the bowls and plates colliding with each other, looking at Luo Jingjuan's increasingly thin back: "I... have to return to the team tomorrow, the police department can't give me another extension."

  Luo Jingqiong stopped washing dishes and softly said "oh", after a while, she asked again: "Then... the case..."

  The two words "case" suddenly touched Peng Siche's sore spot. Three months of hard work had yielded nothing but a mirage. Peng Siche suppressed his emotions and tried to speak in a calm tone: "The criminal police are still investigating, I think there should be clues soon."

  "It's always like this." Luo Jingjuan slightly shook her head.

  "I think he's evading us," said Peng Sizhe: "But I couldn't find any clues."

  Lu Jingjuan heard Peng Sizhe's voice was off, turned around, he leaned against the door frame with exhaustion, muttering to himself: "I really tried my best, really..."

  At this time, Peng Sizhe was like a helpless child. Even the strongest man has his limits. The continuous pressure had made him unbearable, and he needed an outlet to vent.

  "Go take a nap, you're too tired." Luo Jingjian said softly, pulling him away from the kitchen, he just mechanically followed Luo Jingjian.

  "I know... go to sleep obediently... it's okay, sleep..."

  Lying on the soft bed, Peng Sizhe's tense nerves slowly relaxed, and a wave of drowsiness surged up to his forehead... In his dream, he saw himself as a child, chasing rabbits in the wilderness, getting lost while chasing them, and then seeing a cave with a warm fire pit, on which there was a roasted rabbit emitting an enticing aroma... Everything was so natural, so beautiful, he walked over, picked up the rabbit, as if it were his own thing, but he always felt that there was a pair of eyes in the cave watching him, and saying to him: "That's mine..." He began to feel uneasy, but the cave was empty, he was very tense, afraid that someone would rush out from the darkness and snatch away his rabbit...

  When Peng Sizhe woke up, Luo Jingjuan looked at him and smiled: "Are you awake?"

  "Uh... sorry..." Peng Sizhe only then discovered Luo Jingjuan had been by the bedside, and awkwardly lifted his head.

  "You sleep like a child," Luo Jingjuan said with a smile.

  "Did I talk in my sleep?" Peng Sizhe felt a bit embarrassed.

  "That's not it, just sometimes restless."

  Peng Sizhe awkwardly shifted to one side, glanced at his watch, and saw that it was just past 3 am. It was still early before dawn: "You sleep for a while, I'll go to the sofa."

  "You just sleep here, the sofa is not comfortable, you have a good rest and then return to the team." Luo Jingjian made the bed, Peng Siche sat stupidly on the edge of the bed, Luo Jingjian said softly: "Don't think about anything, you've been under too much pressure lately."

  A warm feeling dissolves the anxiety in one's heart. Even strong men are so vulnerable in front of tenderness...

  "Sleep tight......" Luo Jingjian said as he left and closed the door behind him...