Chapter 246: Insomnia

“Miss, is there anything you need me to do?” Kong Xiang probed cautiously.

If Kong Nian was willing, the family still had ways to make her forget those memories that did not belong to her.

“Uncle Kong, they are just some memories; they won't affect me at all.” Kong Nian was extremely confident in this regard.

“Miss, are you sure?” Kong Xiang thought of her attitude when facing Gu Yang; she didn't seem as indifferent as she claimed.

Kong Nian raised an eyebrow and looked at him, and the air in the room seemed to freeze for a moment.

“Uncle Kong, are you questioning me?”

Kong Xiang’s heart trembled, and he immediately changed his tone. “I wouldn't dare.”

Kong Nian ended the topic impatiently. “Have Gan Hua, Kong Yueqing, and the others come to see me tomorrow.”

Since she had promised to help the Zhou family enter the ancestral lands to obtain the treasure, she would definitely do it.

***

The publishing house dormitory.

Gu Yang lay on his bed, unable to sleep.

The images of Kong Nian exorcising the evil entity kept surfacing in his mind.

He even remembered every tiny expression on her face clearly.

To think that such things actually existed in this world, and that there were people who specialized in dealing with them.

Tonight's events felt as if they had opened the door to a new world for him.

He couldn't help but think back to that night in the county town—were those people also controlled by evil entities just like the man today?!

At that time, he and Su Yao had been helpless; it was the protective talisman Su Yan had given him that worked at the critical moment.

A protective talisman?

Gu Yang sat up quickly and took two talismans from under his pillow.

One was the one Su Yan had given him previously, and the other was from a few days ago.

He couldn't understand the patterns drawn on the two talismans at all; he could only distinguish the differences between them.

Su Yan had urged him more than once to always keep them on him, so these two talismans were definitely not ordinary items.

But where on earth did she get such life-saving treasures?

Gu Yang stared intently at the talismans in his hand, his thoughts becoming increasingly chaotic.

***

Early morning.

When Gu Yang arrived at the publishing house, he saw many people gathered around Auntie Wang, chattering about something.

He didn't think much of it; such scenes happened occasionally.

For instance, two months ago, Auntie Wang had somehow obtained a rumor about the Director's daughter having a boyfriend, and within half an hour, the entire office knew about it.

Just as he was walking past, a mysterious remark from Auntie Wang made him stop in his tracks.

“With such a bizarre thing happening, I'm afraid things won't be peaceful for a while.”

Hearing the word "bizarre," Gu Yang immediately thought of last night.

“Auntie Wang, what bizarre thing happened?”

Auntie Wang was speaking with great enthusiasm, and seeing that it was Gu Yang, she became even more spirited.

After all, before today, Gu Yang had never shown any interest in such matters.

“Editor Gu, you've come at the right time. Seven or eight people went missing in the city last night, and there's a city-wide search going on right now.” Auntie Wang didn't play coy and told him immediately.

Gu Yang frowned. “Is that certain?”

“Of course. My little aunt's second cousin's younger cousin's neighbor is a policeman. I heard the authorities are worried about causing panic, so they aren't making a big fuss about the search.” Auntie Wang was the type who could least tolerate anyone questioning the source of her information.

“How can you prove they are missing? It hasn't been that long since last night, after all.” Lu Feng was also standing in the crowd; seeing that Gu Yang had started asking, he took it seriously as well.

“If you don't believe me, just wait. You can't hide the truth forever; news will break before long. I'm telling you this to remind you all to be careful when going out these few days. If you're unlucky, something might happen.” Auntie Wang reminded them earnestly.

Everyone nodded repeatedly.

Regardless of whether the news was true or false, being careful never hurt.

***

Gu Yang and Lu Feng returned to the office together.

“Gu Yang, what do you think about what Auntie Wang said?” Lu Feng felt it was quite suspicious.

Under the feet of the Emperor, the city's security had always been impeccable. What kind of villain could be so brazen as to abduct seven or eight people in a single night?

Perhaps there was an element of exaggeration from Auntie Wang.

Gu Yang's expression was somewhat heavy. “It might be true.”

Lu Feng's expression froze instantly. A few seconds later, his voice suddenly rose. “You know something, don't you?”

Gu Yang brewed himself a cup of tea. He hadn't rested well last night, so his current state wasn't great either.

“I encountered a very serious incident when I returned from the banquet last night.”

“The banquet? What happened?” Mentioning last night's banquet, Lu Feng felt a surge of pent-up frustration.

They had originally planned for the three of them to go together, but just as they were leaving, he suddenly had an upset stomach. In the end, he couldn't take it and had to go to the hospital for anti-diarrheal medicine.

The doctor's diagnosis was acute gastroenteritis, the problem being that he hadn't eaten anything improper all day yesterday.

“I don't know how to tell you. Basically, I almost became a missing person myself.”

Gu Yang couldn't tell Lu Feng directly that evil spirits and demons truly existed in this world. After all, their education and current positions absolutely did not allow for the promotion of such things, so he could only explain vaguely.

Lu Feng's breath hitched as he looked at him nervously.

“You encountered criminals last night too?”

*If it were truly just criminals, that wouldn't be so bad,* Gu Yang murmured to himself.

His silence was equivalent to an affirmative answer, and Lu Feng felt terrible.

“Are you injured? Were the criminals one person or a group? Did you see clearly what they looked like? Did you call the police afterward?”

A string of questions burst out of him.

Gu Yang knew he was asking out of concern, but he couldn't say that the criminals weren't even human.

“It wasn't what you think, and I didn't call the police. The situation was complicated, and I couldn't be sure if last night's incident was related to those missing people.”

This was the first time Lu Feng had seen him so hesitant; it seemed the severity of the matter might have exceeded his imagination.

“Then what do you plan to do?”

“Wait a bit longer. After all, we can't be sure if Auntie Wang's information is accurate yet.”

Although Gu Yang said this, he already had an idea in his heart.

If those missing people were in the same situation as the man from last night, then even calling the police might be useless.

Rather than calling the police, it would be better to find Kong Nian.

That girl would surely have a way.

However, he had only asked for her name last night; he had no idea where they lived.

Lu Feng could only calm down. “By the way, did the banquet at the Zhou family go smoothly last night? That Liu Yiyi didn't cause any trouble, did she?”

Liu Yiyi's intentions toward Gu Yang were already obvious; she certainly wouldn't have missed such a good opportunity last night.

But to Lu Feng's surprise, Gu Yang shook his head, his cold expression softening slightly.

“Yan Yan went to the banquet last night too. I was with Yan Yan the whole time.”

(End of Chapter)