Person Not Found

Chen Miemie’s face was covered in black lines. “Oil Pot, old bro, if the ingredients have gone bad, why are you still frying them? Aren’t you just ripping people off? If someone eats here once, who’d ever come back?”

Oil Pot wore a solemn expression.

“You’re wronging me, little brother Miemie. Since I personally sent them into the oil, how could the ingredients possibly be spoiled?

“The smell indicating spoilage doesn’t mean there’s something wrong when the food comes out of the fryer. It means the food has been altered or eroded by some negative force in the surrounding environment. It’s a warning that there may be invisible threats nearby.

“Although I’m only a support-type [mystery], every mysterious team likes to bring me along. That’s because my fried foods can act as scouts, testing whether an unknown environment is safe.”

Chen Miemie found the explanation quite reasonable and quickly apologized for his disrespect.

Sure enough, there were no useless abilities. With the right development, even the strangest [mysteries] could shine with their own unique brilliance.

The registration was complete, the meal had been eaten, and the two had chatted for quite a while. After a few drinks, they had already begun addressing each other as brothers.

Chen Miemie’s main purpose in coming here was to learn more about Kong Rong, the leader of the [Book Chasers].

On the one hand, [Mermaid] had told him that Kong Rong was among the buyers of the seaweed, making him one of the suspects in the “Pufferfish and Seaweed Poisoning Case.”

On the other hand, Kong Rong had been a customer at this establishment when he was young, so there was no harm in learning a little more about him.

When Chen Miemie steered the conversation toward Kong Rong, [Oil Pot] seemed to have some grudge against the leader. Almost everything he said was negative.

“Mr. Kong? Hmph. He wears the title of leader, but I’m the one who does all the work.

“Little brother Miemie, do you know what he’s like? He acts one way in public and another behind people’s backs.

“In front of the other Book Chasers, he spouts empty platitudes, casually making up things like promising to increase everyone’s compensation after each book chase.

“Hmph, he knows perfectly well what our finances are like. We only have so much funding, and reimbursements are already difficult. What am I supposed to do? I can only refuse to raise everyone’s pay. In the end, he gets to play the good guy, while I become the villain.”

“But if he keeps making promises without ever fulfilling them, everyone should be able to see through him eventually, right? I heard he isn’t interested in fame, status, or power. What’s the point of doing this?”

“How would I know? We’re just colleagues working together. We don’t have any personal relationship, and I can’t be bothered to figure out what he’s thinking.”

After the meal, Chen Miemie left the [Book Chasers]’ headquarters.

As he walked down the street, he began communicating with his think tank.

“Pure Water, did you sense anything? Was there anything unusual about Oil Pot?”

“According to my perception, everything was normal. What, did you sense something wrong with him?”

“It’s just that I couldn’t sense anything. His affinity is very high, and he didn’t seem to be putting on an act. But in the human world, meeting someone for the first time and immediately dragging them off for drinks and dinner, then complaining about your superior to them—that’s clearly revealing too much too soon. It doesn’t make sense.”

“Could he be trying to replace Kong Rong as leader and win over new recruits?”

“I don’t know. Forget it. We’ll leave him alone for now. He wasn’t the person we came to investigate anyway.”

Following his plan, Chen Miemie arrived at [Health Hall].

[Health Hall] was the largest clinic in Sealed Book City. Located in the center of the city, it was responsible for providing medical care to the entire city. It was far larger than the Eastern District Clinic in Six-Elephant City, occupying five enormous buildings.

After asking for directions, Chen Miemie went straight to the deputy director’s office.

Knock, knock, knock~

The office door was open, but he still knocked twice.

“Cough, cough… You’re Chen Miemie, right? Come in.”

The woman sitting behind the desk looked to be in her early thirties. Her face was pale, with an unhealthy flush, and her eyes were webbed with blood vessels. Her lips were purplish, as though she wasn’t getting enough oxygen. She covered her chest while coughing.

“Are you Miss Wheeze?” Chen Miemie asked, somewhat uncertainly. This sickly appearance was completely at odds with the high-tier witch he had imagined.

“Cough, cough… Yes, I’m [Cough]. I serve as the deputy director of [Health Hall]. You can just call me Sister Wheeze.”

“Sister Wheeze, are you feeling unwell?”

“Cough, cough… No, I’m perfectly healthy. This is just my normal state. I’m always coughing. [Silence] said you needed to see me.”

“Oh, right. I’d like to ask you to retrieve the medical records of a psychiatric patient from many years ago.”

“Of course. Cough.”

“It was probably several decades ago, but no more than fifty years. I’m not sure of the exact year. The patient’s name was Xia Chong. He was hospitalized in Room 707 of the psychiatric ward.”

“That was quite a long time ago. Normally, the clinic only keeps records for thirty years at most. How about this? I’ll take you to the psychiatric ward and have you ask around there. Cough.”

[Cough] led Chen Miemie to the psychiatric department.

The department head took the deputy director’s arrival very seriously.

“Director, what brings you here today? Are you inspecting our work?” Director Wang asked with a broad smile.

[Cough] skipped the pleasantries and pointed at Chen Miemie. “Director Wang, I need to investigate a patient from a long time ago. Cooperate with him and fulfill all his requests.”

A flicker of doubt crossed Director Wang’s face, but his smile remained unchanged. He turned to Chen Miemie and extended his hand.

“Of course, of course. I’m in charge here, and I’ll provide my full cooperation.”

Chen Miemie shook his hand. “Then I’ll be troubling you today.”

After giving her instructions, [Cough] did not leave. Instead, she sat down in Director Wang’s office, clearly intending to supervise the investigation in person.

Director Wang immediately understood the situation, and his smile grew even wider.

He led Chen Miemie to the records room. “May I ask how I should address you, sir?”

“Chen Miemie.”

“Mr. Chen, what is your relationship with the director?”

“I call her Sister Wheeze.”

“So you’re siblings. Don’t worry. I’ve worked here for nearly forty years. I’ll definitely help you investigate this thoroughly.”

“Many years ago, there was a man named Xia Chong who stayed in Room 707 because he suffered from multiple dreams and couldn’t distinguish dreams from reality. Do you remember him?”

Director Wang thought carefully. “I don’t remember anyone like that. How about this? I’ll check the hospitalization records for every patient in Room 707 over the past thirty years.”

The records were all on paper, so checking them was no easy task. At Director Wang’s command, the entire department’s medical staff sprang into action.

“Mr. Chen, does this investigation need to remain confidential? If it isn’t classified, I can ask some of the longer-serving staff members.”

“Please ask them. It’s not a state secret.”

With [Cough]’s coughing echoing constantly through Director Wang’s office, he worked frantically to assist Chen Miemie.

Several hours passed.

Director Wang returned to the office drenched in sweat.

“Director, Mr. Chen, I’m very sorry. I asked everyone in the department, but no one remembers a patient named Xia Chong. We’ve gone through the records three times already. The only files kept here are from the past thirty years, and we really couldn’t find anything. You see…”

[Cough] looked at Chen Miemie.

Chen Miemie rose from his chair. “All right. Thank you for your help, Director Wang.”

Director Wang escorted the two of them all the way to the stairwell. “I’ll keep searching. If I find anything, I’ll report it to you, Director.”

Having failed to find any medical records, Chen Miemie soon left [Health Hall].

After seeing [Cough] and Chen Miemie off, Director Wang returned to his office.

The head nurse of the department walked in. “Has he left?”

“He has.”

“Although we couldn’t find anyone named Xia Chong, given the other information—the dream within a dream that goes more than a dozen layers deep—we shouldn’t…”

Director Wang shot the head nurse a harsh look.

“Watch what you say. We answer only what we’re asked.

They’re looking for someone named Xia Chong. We only have records from the past thirty years, and we genuinely couldn’t find anything. We never lied.

Do you know what their purpose is?

When it comes to matters involving those big shots, ordinary people like us should keep our mouths shut if we want to live a little longer.”