Chapter 53: The Disappearing Rainy Day

Missing?

How could someone with multiple fractures all over their body, lying in a hospital bed, simply go missing?

Hearing this, Fang Cheng couldn't help but frown and ask back.

"Miss Cui, his fiancée, called just now asking if Mr. Majima was at the club."

"The boss also specifically inquired about this, telling us we must find a way to locate Mr. Majima as soon as possible."

Manager Li spoke rapidly, explaining the situation.

Then, with a hint of expectation in his eyes, he looked at Fang Cheng.

"I heard that you've been visiting Mr. Majima at the hospital frequently these past few days. You should know some of his private circumstances, right?"

Shen Haoming chimed in immediately

"Ah Cheng, if you know anything, speak up quickly."

Fang Cheng's brow furrowed deeply, and he abruptly turned to walk outside.

He left only one sentence behind

"I'll go to the hospital to check the situation."

Hearing this, the tension in Manager Li's face eased slightly, and he hurriedly saw him off

"Alright, go and come back quickly. I'll wait for your news!"

Then, he addressed Shen Haoming

"Old Shen, go ask the other colleagues again. Don't let any potential leads slip through."

Shen Haoming nodded immediately and walked toward the other coaches and professional players.

He wondered what exactly was driving these two to act so proactively.

With a suspicious glance, Fang Cheng didn't have time to dwell on it. He moved quickly, grabbed an umbrella by the door, and stepped out.

He soon reached the roadside, hailed a taxi, and headed toward Taijiang Hospital located in the Wenchuan District.

………………………………

On a gray, rainy day.

A yellow taxi, its lights on, pulled up outside the hospital gates.

After opening his umbrella, Fang Cheng stepped out of the car and quickly entered the inpatient building.

He first went to check on the situation in Goro Majima's VIP ward.

At this moment, there were no bodyguards in sight outside the door.

Pushing the door open, the room inside was empty; there wasn't a soul to be seen.

The bed had been tidied up neatly, and the bedding was folded precisely.

It looked as if no patient had ever stayed there.

Frowning slightly, Fang Cheng closed the door and stepped out, glancing toward the nurse's station.

He saw a slightly plump duty nurse there, head down, busy writing nursing records.

He stepped forward and spoke

"Excuse me, Miss Nurse, regarding Goro Majima last night..."

"Oh, I've already said it's unclear! How many times are you going to ask me in one morning? I'm nearly working myself to death here!"

Hearing someone inquiring, the nurse looked up with a face full of impatience, interrupting him.

But when she saw the man asking, her heart skipped a beat, her face flushed slightly, and she stammered

"Uh... sir, are you asking about Mr. Goro Majima?"

Fang Cheng offered a slight smile and nodded to her.

As if encouraged, the plump nurse immediately volunteered

"I wasn't present at the time, and the director has issued a gag order. However, I heard from colleagues that near midnight yesterday, the hospital suddenly had a power outage for a while for no apparent reason."

"Afterward, when the duty nurse went to check the rooms, they found the two bodyguards lying on the floor, unconscious, while Mr. Majima, who should have been sleeping in the ward, had vanished."

"Was Majima's fiancée, Cui Xiuying, not present then?" Fang Cheng followed up.

"She seemed to have something to attend to last night and didn't stay to provide care. She left the hospital around five in the afternoon."

"Do you know who the others were that came to ask about this?"

Despite Fang Cheng's probing questions, the plump nurse seemed very patient, explaining in a gentle tone

"I'm not quite sure. I only know that some were plainclothes police, and others were people whose identities couldn't be discerned."

"If you're interested, sir, after my shift, I could try to draw their likenesses just for you..."

Fang Cheng declined with a smile, and under the nurse's lingering gaze, he took his leave.

Walking out of the gates, he looked back.

Taijiang Hospital appeared exceptionally grim in the rain, as if shrouded in a thick layer of gloom.

Fang Cheng couldn't help but recall the strange sensation of being vaguely watched when he first came here.

"Goro Majima's disappearance is likely no simple criminal case!"

………………………………

On the wet streets.

A figure holding a black umbrella stood alone in the rain.

In front of him was a private residence with a small garden.

Evergreen trees blocked the view of outsiders peering into the courtyard.

This was Goro Majima's home.

Fang Cheng looked up from under his umbrella at the two-and-a-half-story building.

After leaving the hospital, he had thought about it and decided to come here.

Although logic told him he wasn't a policeman and that any investigation would be futile—that he should return to the club and wait honestly for Zheng Haokang to arrive—an inner desire pushed him to uncover more of the truth.

Goro Majima himself harbored many secrets.

Behind his sudden disappearance, there must surely exist secrets that ordinary people could not touch.

Perhaps it was related to that pharmaceutical company...

Perhaps it involved something hidden even deeper...

Fang Cheng's eyes flickered as he looked at the faintly glowing blue panel.

"9 points of Free Attributes."

He steadied his mind and folded his umbrella.

He had rung the doorbell earlier and waited for a long time, but no one had come to open the door.

He circled the perimeter wall, and then, with a short run, he scaled the wall and flipped himself inside.

The door to the house was ajar. He pushed it gently and stepped into the foyer.

The interior was dark and silent.

In the originally spacious hall, the master was absent, and the servants were nowhere to be seen.

Fang Cheng observed the surroundings, then turned toward the stairs leading to the second floor.

He stepped lightly onto the solid wood stairs.

A teeth-gritting "creak" immediately rang out.

Reaching the second floor.

The layout here was more compact, with many rooms lining the corridor—some closed, some half-open.

No one was visible here either, as if there were no trace of life being lived here.

The sound of rain outside the windows contrasted sharply with the silence in the hallway, broken only by the faint sound of his footsteps.

Suddenly, Fang Cheng stopped in his tracks, a strange tightness spreading across his spine.

There seemed to be someone else in this house!

He used his peripheral vision to quickly scan the surroundings.

Yet, he saw no unusual movement.

But Fang Cheng trusted his intuition.

His extremely high Spirit attribute of 20 had greatly enhanced his perception; he could not be wrong!

Suddenly, a faint sound of something cutting through the air came from behind his head.

*Bang!*

A baton struck heavily against the plaster wall behind him.

Fang Cheng had already dropped into a half-crouch the moment the sound rang out, rolling to dodge the attack.

Then, his muscles tensed slightly as he looked up, his eyes fixed on the figure that had suddenly appeared before him.

A person wearing a black, tight-fitting combat suit and a black mask stood in the narrow corridor, backlit.

The opponent seemed not to have expected Fang Cheng to react so quickly, momentarily freezing.

The baton in their hand hung downward.

But in the next second, with a "swish," their figure suddenly lunged, sprinting toward Fang Cheng like a flash of lightning.

(End of Chapter)