TEFSCBSS Chapter 99

Chapter 99: Continuing the Investigation (Part 1)

Broad Daylight, Under Clear Skies — Someone “Died” Right in Front of Them!

Ignoring the faint trembling of Xiaoyu’s eyelashes, all the candidates dropped their pens and threw their papers aside. One by one, they crowded around Xiaoyu, nervously checking on her.

“Is this… the legendary silencing by murder?”

Candidate #8’s eyes were wide with disbelief.

They had heard the test was meant to recreate a major case from ten years ago. But now, seeing this unfold, did it mean the original investigation was just as dangerous—someone watching from the shadows, ready to silence witnesses?

Candidate #5 looked solemn. Producing a cloth from who knows where, he carefully removed the small, shiny black needle from Xiaoyu’s neck.

“It’s coated with poison—instant death on contact.”

Everyone fell silent. The mastermind behind this was no ordinary person.

#5 frowned. “Everyone… are we forbidden from speaking about the curse?”

Yuemother sighed and shook her head. Wanmother suddenly burst into laughter. “Curse? What curse? Sir, are you joking?”

“I bet Xiaoyu just heard some spooky stories and scared herself half to death! It’s broad daylight, the skies are clear, the empire is at peace—what curse? What ghosts? Hahaha!”

The more she spoke, the harder she laughed, as if something about it was utterly hilarious. She clutched her stomach and collapsed onto the desk, pounding it while cackling uncontrollably.

“Hahaha! A curse?! Ha!”

Yuemother looked exasperated. She turned to the candidates and gave a graceful bow. “You’ve all seen it—there’s no such thing as a curse. Just a young girl misled by rumors and gossip.”

“Chunya is dead, and Wanmother is… emotional. I’ll take her to rest a while. If you still have questions, the other girls are here—feel free to ask them.”

With that, Yuemother helped the tear-streaked, laughing Wanmother to her feet, pushed past Candidate #1, and quickly left.

Candidate #1 stood frozen, rubbing his shoulder where he was bumped, seemingly lost in thought.

#8 leaned in with a smirk. “Whoa, frozen in place? You okay, man? Saw a pretty lady and forgot how to move?”

Candidate #1 turned and immediately kicked him, sending him sprawling.

Sure, he’d spaced out—but his muscle memory was intact. Anyone who got within a meter of him would set off every hair on his body like needles. He could skewer them just by reflex.

Candidate #5 watched the two with an unreadable expression. He had a feeling… There was a story between them.

Watching the two women disappear from view, he turned and resumed questioning the rest of the girls at Yuexian House about the case, especially the missing girls.

“Missing? Heh. Yeah, sort of. What we know is—”

“Ahem.” A girl in blue elbowed her, cutting her off mid-sentence. The first girl gave a forced smile and quickly corrected herself.

“Well, not exactly missing. We all know the truth.’ They just had a patron buy out their contract, that’s all.”

“Girls outside get engaged and then disappear. Ours gets redeemed—it’s the same thing.”

“Once the money’s exchanged hands, what happens next doesn’t concern us.”

Her smile faded.

“After all, once they leave Yuexian House, whether they were lied to, sold again, or really got married like they wanted… they never came back to see us again. So what does it matter to us?”

“We’re just playthings for others’ amusement. Where we go, how we end up—who cares?”

The candidates were left speechless by her cold, bitter words.

While many spectators had rushed over to Yuexian House for the drama, others gathered around the long case table to listen to Group Two’s rather pitiful candidates reading boring files.

“Old Wang from East Village lost his dog. Thinks Old Li next door stole and sold it—just because Wang chatted a bit with Li’s daughter the other day…”

Uh-huh…

“A bakery reported mice in the shop. A concerned citizen demanded compensation. But upon investigation, there were no mice—just a few kids sneaking in at night, scarfing down pastries and spraying red bean paste everywhere…”

Okay, next.

“Two months ago, the daughter of the escort agency owner in South City was approached by a matchmaker. The proposal was rejected, but the matchmaker left a bride-price anyway and ran off. Three days later, the girl, Liu Xiaolan, disappeared!”

Here we go! That’s the one!

The candidates perked up immediately. Finally—something connected to the missing girls!

They crowded around and eagerly read the case file.

So, Liu the Butcher and Liu Xiaolan were siblings, both children of the escort agency’s leader.

Two months ago, while Liu the Butcher was away on escort duty, a matchmaker came to propose marriage—not for the older brother, but for the young Liu Xiaolan, who hadn’t even come of age yet.

Naturally, the parents refused. She was their most beloved child, and they had always planned to marry her off to a humble apprentice from the agency—to keep her close and safe.

But the matchmaker ignored them, dropped off the bride-price anyway, and tried to leave without revealing who the groom was.

The parents grew suspicious—was this a forced deal? They tried to stop the matchmaker from getting answers.

But the woman was shameless—ripping her clothes and hair, making herself look disheveled, and running down the street screaming about being assaulted.

The entire escort agency—full of grown men—stood frozen. Not one dared to stop her.

They even threw the money out the door and cursed after her, but…

Three days later, just like she said, the girl was “taken away”—disappearing into thin air from her own home.

Though not thin air. The authorities later found traces of knockout powder and broken windows—clear signs of an abduction by a skilled intruder.

The entire Liu family was furious and panicked. They reported the crime and searched the whole city, but to no avail.

Eventually, they started connecting the dots between this case and other recent missing girls, sensing something fishy.

When Liu the Butcher returned from his mission and heard what happened, his eyes went bloodshot. That was his baby sister, now missing and possibly dead.

He and the entire escort agency stopped taking jobs. They stayed in the city and harassed every matchmaker in town. If they saw one, they’d block her path and question her on the spot.

Oddly enough, no one disappeared during that entire month.

Until yesterday, during the Lantern Festival, when that scholarly neighbor suddenly decided to propose to Chun Ya.

Liu the Butcher cursed him out in public, and then, to protect others and uncover the mastermind, he staked out the wonton stall, hoping to catch someone in the act.

Which leads us to everything that happened next.

Candidate #2 rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

So the rumors were true… Proposals do lead to disappearances?