There is a surveillance camera not far from the gates of Musheng. It was installed only two months ago, reportedly in response to urban security development. This is also the reason why Mu was the first person the police found after those four children went missing. According to the monitoring content of the surveillance camera, the last place where those four children appeared before they went missing is Musheng.
I watched the video content from the surveillance camera repeatedly — no big deal, obtaining such information from the relevant departments is easy for an old demon like me.
I definitely gained something. From these videos belonging to different time periods, I discovered a common issue — the video only showed the children entering Musheng, but once they walked through the entrance, the video seemed to be affected by some kind of interference, and for the next nearly two hours, there was only chaotic noise.
If Mu were to claim that the children left Musheng during these two hours when the surveillance camera short-circuited, the police could only choose to temporarily believe her, as there is currently no evidence to prove that she is lying.
Innocent until proven guilty, that's the law of humans. But I am a demon. More importantly, I'm an old demon who has traversed the world for millennia; I trust my instincts and judgment of people more.
I don't hate Mu, but I'm sure she has a problem. There's something wrong with her, and the four missing kids must be connected to her.
Fatty and Skinny quite like the new task I gave them — transforming into handsome teenagers and going to the school of those four kids to make discreet inquiries. Their joy of chumming up to countless cute lolis instantly made up for their frustration of the slow business in the shop.
Fortunately, these two chaps are not too clueless; they brought back some useful information for me.
The four kids are all first-year highschool students at the nearby Twelfth Public High School, with no records of misconduct, and average grades. They rank somewhere in the middle of the pack in their respective classes, and none of them are outstanding in anything. However, they are regulars at Musheng.
Speaking precisely, many kids in that school are frequent visitors to Musheng. They said Musheng is a magical place, not only because of the incredibly delicious cotton candy but also because the lady boss there does divination for free, using a tool called tarot cards. Moreover, the results she provides are always surprisingly accurate. So, they all like going to Mu because they have too many things they wish to know about the future and confusions they cannot solve.
Fatty and Skinny enthusiastically shared the gossip they heard with me, spewing saliva as they spoke.
"Tarot... divination..." I muttered, taking a sip of Fleeting Life, finding solace in its bitter taste. Lately, not only are there fewer young customers coming to my shop, but even the supernatural beings bothering me have decreased. With little chance to invite others to drink Fleeting Life, I simply decided to steep it for myself.
"Boss, I fear that proprietress is not-easy-to-handle trash!" Skinny rubbed his chin, and Fatty joined in as well, saying, "Right! She is obviously the prime suspect, yet she acts all relaxed like it's none of her business. You can't see a single flaw! Yesterday, I saw the parents of a pair of missing children run to Musheng, grabbing her and refusing to let go. Finally, they cried and kowtowed, begging her to reveal the whereabouts of their children. But that woman was like an iceberg, just looking at them with a smile and claiming she has no idea where the children are! That woman is definitely not a good person!"
"She's not a good person and yet you keep patronizing her?" I glanced at Fatty, who still had cotton candy sticking to the corner of his lips, and snorted coldly. "Alright, you guys continue working in the shop. You cannot go out for personal gain again. I'll take care of the rest."
Skinny rolled his eyes and asked curiously, "Boss, you're not possessed by a hero, planning to go rescue those kids, right? Their parents aren't wealthy and can't reward you with piles of gold like those demons! You never do a loss-making business!"
I took a deep breath and raised my hand to point to the kitchen with a murderous look in my eyes, using my last bit of patience to spit, "You go cook… Beat it!"
Having been with me for so long, these two chaps have a great rapport with me, and they darted to the kitchen like rabbits.
I gulped down the tea in my cup and looked out the window at the setting sun, watching the pedestrians become sparse as the air grew colder. I think it's time to meet that woman again.
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