The Missing Girl

"All right, Fan Mo — we'll get you your City Hunter credentials shortly," Captain Xu Dahuang said.

"Credentials?" Mo Fan raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"Of course." Feishi smiled warmly as he explained. "Those credentials come with quite a few privileges. You're essentially an enforcement officer for Bo City now."

"So what you're saying," Mo Fan said, arching an eyebrow, "is that I'm now a proud member of the city management corps?"

"Ha! Yeah, I guess we are city management," Li Wenjie burst out laughing. When the laughter died down, he continued, "The difference is, our squad doesn't chase down unlicensed vendors and market hustlers — we deal with the things that break the rules in the dark and come out at night to cause trouble!"

Bo City's city management corps?

A grin spread across Mo Fan's face. The job suited him just fine. There was something deeply satisfying about the image: a Bo City Spider-Man, a Bo City Flash, a Bo City Iron Man, swooping in to save this city from all manner of chaos — all while cultivating a suitably mysterious aura and maybe meeting a few girls on the side.

Mo Fan had settled into the atmosphere quickly. Feishi — the eldest and most experienced member of the group — was already briefing the new recruit on the squad's situation and their main responsibilities.

"What? What do you mean? Why didn't you report this to us sooner?! What in the hell are the police good for if they can't handle something like this?!" In the middle of the easygoing conversation, Captain Xu Dahuang suddenly erupted at whoever was on the other end of his call.

Li Wenjie, Xiao Ke, Feishi — the three who had been joking around with Mo Fan a moment before — all went still, their eyes locking onto their captain.

Feishi frowned, then leaned in and lowered his voice to Mo Fan, who was still looking puzzled. "Was going to buy you a round to celebrate, but looks like you've barely joined and we're already on a job. Unless I'm wrong, it's that business at Mingwen Girls' School — the cafeteria tremors."

"The cafeteria... tremors?" Mo Fan's eyes went wide.

*I've heard of cars rocking, back seats rocking, haystacks rocking — but a cafeteria? Damn, you city people really know how to improvise.*

"Brother, your mind is firmly in the gutter — it is absolutely not what you're thinking," Feishi said, keeping his voice low. "It's just that every night, well after midnight, the cafeteria at that school starts shaking for no apparent reason. At first everyone assumed it was some nearby construction crew working overnight, but they sent someone to keep watch and found there was no construction at all. After that, all kinds of rumors started circulating around campus about the cafeteria being haunted."

"Did you say Mingwen Girls' School?" Mo Fan suddenly sat up straighter, something clicking into place.

"That's the one. All girls — the teachers too are all..." Feishi clicked his tongue with visible appreciation, then cleared his throat and attempted a look of professional detachment.

Mo Fan found he couldn't muster any enthusiasm for that train of thought. Ye Xinxia attended that school. Thinking back, it must have been a little over two months ago when he'd last spoken to her — and hadn't she mentioned something in that phone call about how their cafeteria had been giving everyone the creeps?

"All right — while the students are still on break, we move on this immediately and get it sorted," Captain Xu Dahuang said.

He set down his phone. His expression stayed grim.

Li Wenjie, Xiao Ke, Guo Caitang, and Feishi all had their eyes on their captain.

"There's a problem," Xu Dahuang said, his voice low and measured. "A second girl has gone missing."

Everyone's brow furrowed.

Months ago, a girl had gone missing from Mingwen Girls' School. Because the school couldn't confirm whether she had actually disappeared from within the campus itself, the case had remained entirely in police hands — and after all these months, there wasn't a single lead.

There had been a brief mention in the morning papers, but people had moved on quickly. In a city of millions, one missing person wasn't something that made most people stop for long.

Xu Dahuang and his squad had visited the school back then. The administration, unwilling to blow the matter out of proportion and reluctant to bring in the City Demon-Hunting Squad, had let the whole thing quietly die. Now, half a year later, a second girl had vanished — and this time it was unmistakably, unambiguously within the school grounds.

The school had finally woken up to the fact that something was seriously wrong, and came scrambling to the City Demon-Hunting Squad in a panic.

"Captain — if it's a missing person, shouldn't the police still be the ones handling this?" Xiao Ke spoke up.

"A Light Mage found tracks that don't belong to any human." Xu Dahuang's face was stone.

The others fell silent. Li Wenjie was the exception — there was a sharp gleam in his eyes, the look of someone who'd been waiting for exactly this kind of assignment.

"They waited a full week before notifying us. Absolute idiots. If they had come to us immediately, we might have stood a chance of bringing that girl back alive. A week is too long — she's almost certainly dead."

"That's schools for you," Guo Caitang said with a cold snort. "They always try to bury anything bad until it blows up in their faces."

Mo Fan listened, and something lurched hard inside his chest.

*Missing for a week?*

He'd just realized — Ye Xinxia hadn't contacted him in almost exactly a week.

Since neither of them could afford a mobile phone, Mo Fan had always called Xinxia from a payphone — at least once a week, without fail. But he'd just come back from the Field Expedition with his head full of how to get stronger, and he'd let the call slip his mind. It hadn't even occurred to him to check that she was safe.

His aunt Mo Qing's place was near Mingwen Girls' School. Even during the summer break, Xinxia spent most of her time in the school library — and her mobility made it nearly impossible for her to go far on her own...

The more he thought about it, the worse the dread became. Mo Fan grabbed Feishi's arm and borrowed his phone on the spot.

*"The number you have dialed is not currently in service."*

His heart dropped.

"I'll catch up with you all later!" Without another word, Mo Fan spun on his heel and sprinted for the exit of the Hunters' Alliance hall.

"Hey — wait, at least take the phone so we can reach you!" Feishi shouted after him.

Even as he shouted, Feishi flung the phone at Mo Fan's retreating back.

"Brother, you can't just hurl your phone at someone — what if he doesn't catch it?"

"Relax. It's a Nokia. That thing is indestructible."

"That's not what I'm worried about — what if it kills *him* when it hits him?!"

"..."

"What's gotten into him? His face went completely white just like that."

"Who knows. Either way — let's get to work."