Void Jigsaw Puzzle

Guo Ling opened the curtains of the hotel room and looked out the window at the steps extending downwards that disappeared into the darkness under the dim light.

He hadn't stayed in a hotel in a long time. He had never stayed in a hotel in Wuming City, and now in Kunlun City, he had no choice but to stay in a hotel near the Black River Bridge, recommended by the Xie Cun siblings. Because Wuming City and Kunlun City didn't have the same currency, he had to borrow money from them.

I owe both favors and money.

The view from the hotel room is quite good, overlooking the Heihe River on one side and the road heading down to Bajieping on the other.

Before parting with Xie Cun and his sister, he finally persuaded them that they should let the Kunlun Front conduct a carpet search for Hou Chang's whereabouts in Kunlun City first, and if necessary, he could also participate.

However, although Xie Cun accepted this suggestion from near to far, he declined Guo Ling's participation.

"Mr. Guo, this is an internal matter within our Kunlun Front. We won't bother you with participating in the search. You're unfamiliar with Kunlun City's terrain, so your efforts will be in vain. However, we appreciate your kindness. If you'd like to stay a few more days, that's fine. However, we're actually hoping you can go back and talk to your people in charge. We, Kunlun City, and your Wuming City, are brothers from the same origin and should unite."

Even now, in the quiet night, these words still echoed in Guo Ling's mind.

Although Xie Cun did not say it explicitly, Guo Ling could still judge from his body language and eyes that this man was not simple, and he had not really let down his guard against the fact that he was also looking for Hou Chang.

Women have very good intuition, and men's are not bad either.

Although Guo Ling always said that the person he was looking for looked almost exactly like Hou Chang, so he was very curious, and he couldn't find any other clues for the time being, so he might as well find Hou Chang first.

This wasn't a particularly clever explanation, especially considering Guo Ling's repeated pursuit of this matter. It was easy to suspect his true intention wasn't the person who "looked like Hou Chang," but Hou Chang himself. Furthermore, Xie Cun was her husband, so naturally, he would be even more sensitive.

Putting aside the complex emotions he felt when facing this issue, Guo Ling actually very much agreed with Xie Cun's point of view, which was also what Zhong Chenmu had expressed before. Wuming City and Kunlun City should indeed unite as soon as possible to jointly complete the puzzle after the rebirth of Earth civilization in the universe.

He thought that as a forty-year-old man, he could already keep a clear distinction between public and private affairs without confusion, but on the first night by the Heihe River in Kunlun City, Guo Ling found it difficult.

Throughout the night, he didn't know whether he was asleep or not. He just tossed and turned in bed, having all kinds of strange dreams. Before one wave was over, another wave came online, until the morning light outside the window once again penetrated the not-so-tight curtains and entered the room.

Guo Ling got up from the bed drowsily, washed off the remaining tiredness with cold water, put on his clothes, and went downstairs to have breakfast.

This hotel is said to be the best hotel in Kunlun City, but the breakfast does not even have meat. It is euphemistically called a "continental breakfast". However, Guo Ling clearly remembered that he had only seen the word "continental" in books, and this memory has been buried deep in his mind. No trace of it can be found in either Wuming City or Kunlun City.

After breakfast, he walked into the yard. On the other side of his room was a cliff, and below the cliff was the rolling black river.

Guo Ling stared at the Black River water under his feet and thought of a big river in Wuming City. Then, he recalled the geographical features of Kunlun City that Zhong Chenmu had introduced to him.

"Actually, the topography here is quite regular... alternating peaks and troughs..."

He made a decision.

So he left a note for Xie Cun and Xie Wanwan at the hotel front desk, then left the hotel and headed back to Bajieping.

He just wanted to prevent the two from worrying about him, but he did not tell them his whereabouts.

Guo Ling decided to measure Kunlun City with his own footsteps and find Hou Chang in his own way.

Yesterday evening, when Xie Cun was making an impassioned speech at the first general meeting of the Kunlun Front, Guo Ling was intentionally observing the crowd.

The vast majority of people were immersed in a state of fervor, their eyes fixed on the podium, oblivious to everything around them. Xie Wanwan was also thrilled, but her eyes were filled with admiration; after all, the person on the podium was her own brother.

Among the crowd, Guo Ling noticed a petite man who seemed to be staring at Xie Cun with the same eyes as Xie Wanwan, and there was something more in his eyes.

In such a heated occasion, he felt a little weird.

If the man is not interested in homosexuality, then it must be a woman pretending to be one.

It was dusk and the light in the venue was not strong, so Guo Ling could not see the man's appearance clearly.

However, until the meeting was over, he noticed that the man did not walk onto the Heihe Bridge, which meant that he lived in District A of Kunlun City.

After a night of wild thoughts, Guo Ling regained consciousness in the morning. The more he thought about it, the more suspicious the man's identity seemed to him.

"Could he be Hou Chang?... Even though his family is so close, he dares not recognize them because he is afraid of being exposed and implicating them..."

Although this thought made him feel a little bitter, Guo Ling still carefully observed and searched with Bajieping as the center.

The inertia of a group is difficult to reverse in the short term. Even though Xie Cun and Xie Wanwan had been persuaded by him last night to start looking for Hou Chang from Kunlun City, this change could not happen overnight.

Guo Ling wanted to take advantage of this time difference to prove his judgment as soon as possible.

Bajieping wasn't particularly busy that morning. Guo Ling had assumed Sifangping, located in District C, was already deserted enough, but he hadn't expected it to be even more so. It was still normal business hours, but the flow of people was sparse, and half the shops surrounding Bajieping were closed.

No wonder the Kunlun Front chose to hold its meetings here.

Guo Ling circled the flat ground several times but found nothing unusual, nor did he see any women disguised as men. So, he gritted his teeth and, using a traversal method, exhausted all the roads in one direction. Then, he returned to Bajieping and repeated the same process in the other direction.

He originally thought that it would take a whole day to finish the run, but he overestimated his physical strength.

By the time he'd completed all the routes in the first direction and returned to Bajieping, even though only a little over an hour had passed, he was already panting. Going up and down was exhausting, and having to constantly keep an eye on people and possible hiding places for Hou Chang was also taxing on his brain.

Hiding is not just about finding a place to hide, it must be a place where it is convenient to find food and water.

Where would she be?