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墨書 Inktalez
"But if she was forcibly taken away, Hu Fang wouldn't just go without a fight. Was she taken while unconscious?!" I thought, my mind a tangled mess.
"Anyway, whether Hu Fang left on her own or was taken against her will, we should look for clues here first. After all, it's already close to dusk, and if we don't find her soon, she might be in danger," Li Zhisheng said as he began searching the room.
Seeing this, Death Apostle and I felt uneasy but had no other choice but to join in the search.
After a while, I accidentally discovered Hu Fang's handbag in a corner obscured by curtains. It was a bright red leather bag that looked quite expensive. "I found Hu Fang's bag!" I shouted to Li Zhisheng and Death Apostle, holding it up.
They immediately stopped what they were doing and came over. "Should we see what's inside her bag?" Li Zhisheng asked.
Although I felt it might not be right, I couldn't think too much about it at that moment. I yanked open Hu Fang's handbag and dumped its contents out. Inside were a phone, cosmetics, a wallet, and some exquisite-looking jewelry.
After going through everything, I realized none of these items provided us with any clues; instead, they only deepened our confusion. "Why would she hide her bag? Did something fall inside it, or was it intentionally concealed? Also, these items are all personal belongings of Hu Fang, which she usually carries with her. This suggests that whether she was conscious or not, she likely did not leave of her own volition."
I shared my thoughts with Li Zhisheng and Death Apostle, who agreed and suggested that Hu Fang must still be somewhere in the town.
Just then, we heard Yao Long's voice at the door. He stood by the entrance, saying, "Is it true that Hu Fang is missing?"
Everyone turned to look at him as he carefully scanned the surroundings. "Before Mr. Death and Li Zhisheng woke up, I heard some noises outside. Although they were faint, I still felt something was off because the sound came from this room."
Hearing his words reminded me of Yao Long's keen insight. I quickly explained the situation to him and asked for his help in finding clues.
As soon as I finished speaking, he pointed to a spot by the door that we hadn't noticed: "Is there something you overlooked...?"
Everyone followed the direction of his finger and saw a short red line on the door frame next to the entrance. The line was somewhat thick, resembling the shade of lipstick used by Hu Fang.
Realizing this, I quickly checked the contents of Hu Fang's bag. "Sure enough, the lipstick is missing... Right, she definitely uses lipstick, so it's strange that she would be without it now," I murmured as I walked over to examine the red mark on the door frame.
I gently touched the red mark, and my fingers were immediately stained. "It seems she hasn't been gone long; the lipstick is still quite moist." I compared the height of the red mark to the ground and concluded that it was at a level where Hu Fang could reach it with her arms hanging down normally.
"It looks like Hu Fang wasn't forcibly taken away but rather left willingly with someone. However, it seems she had some hidden reason for leaving this mark, hoping we could find her... Come look..." I called everyone over to me, pointing at the lipstick mark. "This mark is deeper on one end and lighter on the other. The deeper end is where she first made contact, while the lighter end was formed as the lipstick gradually moved away..."
With that, I gestured from inside to outside and said, "From this, we can deduce that these are traces she left while moving from inside to outside."
"Are you saying that if we follow this lipstick mark, we can find Hu Fang?" asked Death Apostle beside me.
"I believe so, but I don't know how much lipstick she has left. If it's a long way and she runs out, we'll be in trouble. So we need to move quickly; otherwise, it will be even harder to find her in the dark." I patted Yao Long on the shoulder and added, "I'll need your keen insight for this."
Seeing this, Yao Long nodded confidently. "Don't worry; I've been on missions for a long time. I have this covered..." With that, he took the lead, scanning his surroundings cautiously.
After a moment, when we reached the stairs leading down, Yao Long discovered a second lipstick mark. This one was smeared on the railing of the staircase. "Just as I expected, Hu Fang must have followed someone out, and she must have been fully conscious; otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to leave such continuous marks. Hurry up—Yao Long, let's keep moving..." I urged him.
We exited the inn and stepped onto the bustling street. Seeing all the residents coming and going made me feel uneasy. I thought to myself, "It was manageable in the inn; it wasn't particularly hard to search there. But how do we find her in this chaotic street?" Just then, Yao Long, who was leading ahead, suddenly started running. He turned back and called out to us, "Come on, keep up!"
Seeing this, we hurried after him as he stopped in front of an inconspicuous grocery store. He pointed at a sign next to it: "Here!"
I looked over and noticed a subtle red mark in an empty space on that sign. The mark also faded from deep to light, with the lighter end pointing toward the street ahead.
At that moment, the grocery store owner noticed someone standing in front of his sign and came out to greet us with a smile. "Hello there, what can I help you with?" he asked.
"We're not here to buy anything, just taking a break. Are we bothering your business?" Yao Long replied. Upon hearing that we weren't making any purchases, the store owner's expression immediately darkened, and he turned to go back inside.
After thinking for a moment, I grabbed the owner and said, "Sorry, we do want to buy something..." I then motioned for everyone to come in and pick out a few items so I could ask him some questions.
The others understood my intention and went into the store to browse. The grocery store owner instantly brightened up at the sight of potential customers. Seizing the opportunity, I asked, "Excuse me, have you seen a woman who looks like this..." I proceeded to describe Hu Fang's clothing and appearance.
After listening, he pondered for a moment and said, "I think I saw someone like that a couple of hours ago. Did your friend get lost?"
"Something like that... When you saw her, was she alone or with someone? Do you remember her demeanor?" I continued to press for details.
The owner replied, "I believe she was with someone else—a man who looked quite handsome. They seemed like a couple and even had a bit of an argument right in front of my store..."
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