Smartphones and satellite navigation. These were the main culprits behind the lack of a sense of direction among the young people today.

"What are you looking at? It's all because you didn't pick up. I spent the whole way here calling you, that's why my phone ran out of battery." Yu Lanchuan forcefully threw the blame to her. "If I have GPS, would I need you?"

However, Gan Qing was not so easily fooled. She hadn't rejected his calls; she had switched off her phone. Repeatedly calling a switched-off phone for an entire journey didn't necessarily mean that the person was so anxious their heart was on fire, it just meant that they were a fool with itchy hands.

Gan Qing said, "Using the flashlight on the phone eats a lot of battery. It's all right, Little Master Yu, being afraid of walking in the dark at night is nothing to be ashamed of."

"Who's afraid of walking at night?" Yu Lanchuan retorted.

Gan Qing looked at his grave and serious face, and smiled magnanimously. "Me."

Yu Lanchuan suddenly realised that this person's methods were very deep. She excelled in "hiding oneself in the open" and "advancing by retreating." She revealed not a hint of herself and also always made herself seem very extraordinary and beyond the unrefined mortal realm. It was infuriating.

Before he could think of a counterattack, suddenly, the strange laughter that had scared his soul out of his body appeared again!

The sound was extremely piercing. It sounded like a strange old person but also didn't seem human. The sound carried far and wide.

The two of them shivered in unison. Gan Qing had just been all "calm and magnanimous"; now, there was a glint between her fingers and a blade appeared there. But she didn't hold her phone tight and it fell to the ground with the screen facing downwards. The flashlight on the back shone towards the sky, lighting up the gaps between the tree branches into bared fangs and claws.

And sitting among the branches was… a very round owl.

The owl made some tentative noises. When the flashlight shone on it, it stretched its neck and cried out, "Hoo—"

Then, it flapped its wings in anger and flew away.

"Being afraid of walking in the dark at night is nothing to be ashamed of." Yu Lanchuan picked up Gan Qing's phone and blew off the dirt on the reinforced glass screen, then passed it to her with unruffled composure. "Come, put your blade away, be nicer to the country's Grade 2 endangered species. Next time, remember that honest people have nothing to hide."

Gan Qing, "..."

A chaotic and tumultuous weekend was still a weekend, time still passed twice as quickly as it did on work days. In the blink of an eye, Old Mr. Zhou had disappeared for four days and there was still no sight or sound of him. On the other hand, the Travellers' Sect's unlicensed cab gang that had attacked the police were dug out like radishes pulled out of the mud, unearthing many who had criminal records or were using fake identities.

"We got some info by interrogating them." Yu Yan had come to No. 110 Courtyard and was talking to the residents. "It's like this, cough, following the suspect, Jiang Bin's—the qigong master that we caught—confession, we found the missing Old Madam Lin."

The dispirited Zhou Beibei immediately sat up straight. "I know this old madam, my dad is close to her! When she had just gone missing, you even came to our house to ask questions! What, is it the same gang of people who tricked these old people into leaving? What is their intention? Has she gone home now? What did she say, did she see my dad?"

Han Dongsheng tugged her hand, shaking it lightly. "Let him finish speaking."

"Please calm down." Yu Yan softened his tone. "We found Old Madam Lin, but she had already…"

Zhou Beibei was momentarily stunned. A few seconds later, her expression changed abruptly and she began to tremble all over.

"Don't panic," Yu Yan said hastily. "Jiang Bin said that Old Madam Lin had gone to look for him to ask for a refund. She fought with their people and when angered, her heart illness suddenly flared up and she died. It's not related to Old Mr. Zhou's disappearance. We've also asked a lot of the students in the qigong class, they said that Old Mr. Zhou hadn't been attending their activities much lately. He didn't pick up their calls either and his attitude towards those so-called "fellow disciples" had also become more indifferent. We think that he must have figured it out and realised that he was being swindled."

Han Dongsheng quickly asked, "Then, where could he have gone?"

"An old man from the qigong class said that some time ago, Old Mr. Zhou had argued with him. Old Mr. Zhou said that the eggs the master was selling were all bought from the supermarket and eating them had no effect, and also that there are no books anywhere that said that qigong can be passed on through food. The two of them couldn't deal with each other and parted on bad terms. Before Old Mr. Zhou left, he said that the money they used to buy the eggs was enough to travel the world." Yu Yan carefully consoled Zhou Beibei. "Let us think optimistically. He shouldn't have been saying those words for no reason. Maybe the old man was really planning to go on a trip and after a disagreement with the family, he left the house on impulse to clear his mind?"

"Right! I remember now, Dad bought a few maps recently to relieve boredom!" Han Dongsheng quickly stood up. He rummaged through the reading materials at Old Mr. Zhou's bedside table and said excitedly, "Those maps aren't here. The old man took them with him. Comrade Officer's deduction might be right!"

Zhou Beibei felt a tiny bit of hope amidst her helplessness and looked at him earnestly.

"Old people have to be coaxed too, they're old children." Yu Yan smiled at her. "When he runs out of money, who knows, he might come back. Lodgings and public transports all require I.D. cards. It'll be easy to find him. We will contact the relevant departments and get them to continue investigating. Please don't worry."

Yu Yan was a sweet talker. With just a few words, he comforted the lost and distracted Zhou Beibei. He signalled Yu Lanchuan and Han Dongsheng with his eyes, then went upstairs.

"What is it?" Yu Lanchuan asked.

"Things don't look as good as what I said," Yu Yan said softly. He glanced at Han Dongsheng. "I didn't dare say this in front of your wife just now. That Travellers' Sect's Jiang Bin is very experienced in swindling and has completely grasped the hearts of those old people. He insists that someone must be stealing his business. Otherwise, his 'disciples' would never 'betray' him… Hey, Teacher Meng-Meng, how are you?"

Gan Qing heard them come up and opened the door. The moment Yu Yan saw her, he recalled what happened the other day when they were besieged by the Travellers' Sect people. Compared to the "grey market product" alliance leader, Gan Qing was the perfect example of an out-of-the-world expert. Yu Yan now felt that even her shadow hid a mysterious story, and wanted to bow to this big boss and serve her tea.

Gan Qing smiled at him. "Continue talking, you don't have to mind me. What about Travellers' Sect?"

"These hoodlums really know how to bend the rules. Jiang Bin never sold any 'three no's^[1]' drugs. Usually, what they mainly do is organise the 'Qigong Master's Lectures,' livestream qigong demos and stuff like that so that their 'disciples' can send them gifts. A lot of old people give thousands or tens of thousands on impulse. The stuff they sell are also daily necessities that they bought from the market and then bring back and change the packaging. They're indeed deceiving people but eating those things brings no harm anyway. One side is willing to hit and one side is willing to be hit. Even if someone reports them and they're arrested, we can't do anything to them," Yu Yan said. "That dude also thinks pretty highly of himself. He thinks that he has given this bunch of old people with empty lives a safe harbour for their mental state, and that he's contributing to society! You tell me, isn't it infuriating?"

Yu Lanchuan's brows furrowed—there were indeed times when science could not defeat superstitions. The only thing that could defeat superstitions were superstitions that were even more fanciful and outrageous.

"This Old Madam Lin was originally an enthusiastic student in the qigong class. She bought whatever she was told to and during every qigong livestream demo, she was the one who sent the most gifts. But not long ago, she, Old Mr. Zhou and a few other people suddenly wanted to withdraw together. These people are all on the missing person list this time round," Yu Yan said. "Old Mr. Zhou and the others aren't very good at using their phones, they usually just buy eggs during the qigong classes. But Old Madam Lin was not the same. She frequently sent gifts during livestreams and had spent tens of thousands altogether. Before the end of the year, she went to look for Jiang Bin, wanting to get the money refunded. Jiang Bin said that the money couldn't be refunded. Furthermore, at that time, he felt that there was something wrong with Old Madam Lin's mental state. She was extremely stirred up and her speech was a little incoherent, like she was on some kind of drugs, so he only brushed her off. In the end, the old lady got overly worked up and died just like that. Jiang Bin and the others were afraid of bearing the responsibility for that, so they secretly took care of the old lady's body and covered the incident up…"

Gan Qing scoffed. "How innocent of him."

"Of course, the body is still being autopsied so we are waiting for the results too," Yu Yan said. "But there's one thing I agree with Jiang Bin. The probability of these old people figuring things out on their own is not high. If it was not Jiang Bin who was so extremely bold and wanted to do away with all the students who withdrew from his classes, then we can only consider the possibility of there being another organisation involved. Hence, we asked Old Madam Lin's son to search his house thoroughly and gather all the printed material that the old lady didn't throw away, even including the flyers advertising the opening of a supermarket. In total, there are more than 300 of them. Han-ge, we need to cross-check."

"I'll go look for them now." Han Dongsheng turned to go. "I'll search both houses."

Yu Lanchuan finally looked at Gan Qing. He cut in with a question. "What about Travellers' Sect?"

"That Liang-ge's full name is Niu Liang." Yu Yan sighed. "His number plate is fake, his driving license is also fake. He's very slippery. He goes to the police station like it's his own house, he looks perfectly at home to me. He also doesn't admit anything about Travellers' Sect. He just said that he has many brothers and wide connections, and that people frequently ask him for help. Lots of people look for him and he's sometimes fuzzy on things, and doesn't know that the other person has committed crimes. About the current matter, he says that he didn't even know that the police were investigating a case. He saw us charging in and thought that there were people wanting to cause a ruckus at his buddy's guest house. That's why he acted on impulse and gathered a bunch of people there. He didn't intend to attack the police."

Yu Lanchuan said, "What about the Five Bats Token? How did they explain that? To be able to gather so many people at once to join a fight with him, I don't believe that it's purely due to jianghu loyalty, there must be monetary profit involved."

Gan Qing crossed her arms over her chest and said with a half-smile, "Looks like it's something that will keep them detained for just a few days. When they're released, I just need to pay them another visit."

Yu Lanchuan said, "Gan Qing!"

"Teacher Meng-Meng," Yu Yan also said very seriously, "I want to talk to you about this too. If, in the end, it is proven that they are indeed a criminal organisation, you need to be careful. You are only one person while there is no place where they cannot get into. What if, by chance, they find out that you're staying here and take revenge on you? Let this matter be handled when the city cracks down on them. You... You guys shouldn't get involved in this anymore."

Gan Qing let out an unconcerned chuckle.

"I know you have nothing to worry about and can leave anytime." Yu Yan understood the meaning hidden in her laugh. "But Yu Lanchuan can't leave. He has a thirty-year house loan and he can't resign from his job. Han-ge from downstairs has to take care of the elderly and the young, he can't leave either. There's also Old Master Yang, Grandma Zhang and the other old men and old ladies who have stayed here for their entire lives. They can't disappear at will like you, can they?"

Yu Lanchuan initially wanted to explain that "The heart of the martial arts alliance is still at No. 110 Courtyard, those hoodlums wouldn't dare challenge the whole martial arts world." Unexpectedly, he realised that Gan Qing actually took Yu Yan's words to heart and didn't utter a peep anymore.

His heart stirred. Say a thousand words or a thousand lines and she would ignore them all, treating them as nothing more than the wind blowing past her ears. Nothing was close to being as useful as the single line "You will cause trouble for other people."

Even if Yu Yan, as an outsider, did not understand that she was totally not even one of them "righteous sects."

She's too solitary, Yu Lanchuan thought. In his heart, he suddenly had a rough idea how to handle her.

The next day, Gan Qing picked up a pair of gremlin kids on her doorstep.

Gan Qing asked, "Forgot your keys again?"

With a mournful face and exaggerated acting, Liu Zhongqi bowed deeply to her. "Teacher Meng-Meng."

Gan Qing extended a finger with a swoosh and stopped his head. "What are you doing?"

Liu Zhongqi muttered discontentedly for a long while, until his face was red from keeping it all in. He felt that this matter was really too embarrassing but his brother had promised that if he got this done, then regardless of whether or not he could achieve 120 marks in his English test in the end-of-term exams, he would teach him one set of fighting moves.

For the sake of his dreams of wuxia and heroes, the teenager gritted his teeth and ripped off his shame, stepping on it with his feet. "Please teach me English!"

Gan Qing was very startled to hear that. "I teach you… Did I forget to introduce myself? My highest academic qualification is dropping out of senior high."

"My brother said that as long as you have at least graduated primary school, it's enough to teach me." Liu Zhongqi said those words like he was enduring a great humiliation for the sake of his mission. "If I still can't pass my English exam in the end-of-term exams, he's going to send me to the U.S. to be 'deaf and mute' over there. Teacher Meng-Meng, my allowance is going to run out soon. I can't afford home tutors and there also isn't enough time now. You said that you only know how to take exams, right? Help me pass, I don't want to be deaf and mute."

Next to him, Little Friend Han Zhou looked at him sympathetically. "Gege, I will graduate from primary school in three years. How about you wait for me?"

Liu Zhongqi was an honest-to-god academic tyrant. At school, he was an important person the teachers paid extra attention to. For the sake of his dreams of wuxia and heroes, not only was he forced to pretend to be an academic failure, even a little brat who scored four marks in his maths test was joining the fun!

There was a grinding sound, he had nearly gritted his teeth until his back molars broke. His face was becoming increasingly fierce, like he was going berserk from being tormented by English.

Gan Qing turned towards Han Zhou. "And what about you?"

"My parents are busy looking for my grandpa. My dad said that if I have nowhere else to go, I can come ask Jiejie if I can do my homework at your house. I will go back home myself when it's time to sleep, I won't disturb Jiejie." As Little Friend Han Zhou spoke, he took down the money pouch hanging from his neck. "This is the money for food and expenses."

Gan Qing didn't take it. Her expression turned complicated. "Your dad asked you to come here?"

Didn't Han Dongsheng already know who she was? How could he feel safe sending his child into her hands? Wasn't he afraid that she, disciple of a monster, would cook and devour his kid?"

Little Friend Han Zhou didn't understand at all these skirmishes between adults. Brimming with anticipation, he nodded his head. "Jiejie, what are we eating today?"

"..." For a few seconds, Gan Qing had nothing to say. "Come in."

At Han Dongsheng's home, the police were examining all the printed materials belonging to Old Mr. Zhou one by one. The old man was very orderly. He couldn't even bear to throw away discount coupons and had stacked them together neatly, even if they had expired. Health supplements and medical equipment were categorised by type. And, what surprised them was that among the things he gathered, there weren't many that were targeted at the elderly. Most of them were health supplements for women as well as some products for reducing cholesterol and losing weight. He had even made detailed notes for many of them.

Altogether, there were over a hundred pieces of material. He had gone to listen to the lectures for each of them and studied them carefully. Based on the dates, the old man's daily schedule could be said to be very busy and tightly-packed.

But no one in his family knew.

The over a hundred fliers and pamphlets was like a majestic solitary island, towering far away where the city lights could not shine, encircling a world that no one was interested in.

Zhou Beibei sat by the side, her tears falling silently.

Right at that moment, a police officer suddenly stood up. "Yu-ge, look, is it this one? These few houses all had it!"

Zhou Beibei hurriedly wiped her tears and looked over. She saw what looked like a flier for a gym that was advertising things like yoga classes. There were many yoga classes around—take a walk on the main road and one could get a stack of fliers. No one would pay any attention to them.

On the flier was written: Paradise^[2].

T/N:

[1] "Three no's" drugs 三无药 refer to drugs that have no licensed manufacturer, no precise manufacturing date, and no mass quality checking.

[2] Paradise 极乐世界 jílè shìjiè refers to the Western Paradise in Buddhism.