I was a rookie reporter in the 00s

In a city park, a night runner left her last footprints on the track. Her name was Amy, a young woman who loved sports. Amy's habit was to run at night, but she never returned home.

Li Wei stood on the park's running track, his eyes sweeping through the surrounding trees and bushes, searching for Amy's trace. He found a trampled patch of grass, which ended in a dense forest. Amy's phone and fitness tracker were left under a tree.

“She was a regular runner,” a park regular recalled. “She always ran here but never strayed from her route.”

Soon, disappearances occurred one after another in the city.

The city's rhythm slowly awoke in the morning mist. Zhang Wanqing stood at her office window, gazing at the gradually increasing flow of people on the street. Her brow furrowed, her coffee long gone cold, her attention riveted by an email she had just received. It described a series of disappearances, each a silent scream in the city, waiting to be heard.

The first case occurred two weeks ago. A street musician was playing guitar in a corner of a subway station. One night, his melody suddenly stopped, and Jack disappeared, along with his guitar. Video footage shows that after Jack finished playing, he was approached by a mysterious figure in a black trench coat, and then the two of them disappeared into a blind spot on the surveillance camera.

Then there was the second case: a night clerk at the downtown library was supposed to patrol the empty shelves after closing time. However, one night, before he finished his rounds, he disappeared from the open pages of a book. Surveillance footage showed him walking into the aisle between the shelves, but he never emerged.

In the third case, a night runner disappeared on the park's track, and her phone and fitness tracker were found in the bushes, covered in fresh mud.

These cases seem unrelated, but Zhang Wanqing's intuition tells her that there is a pattern behind them. She quickly contacts Fu Siyuan and Li Wei, and the three of them decide to join forces to uncover the truth behind this series of disappearances.

"There must be a common culprit behind these disappearances," Zhang Wanqing said with a hint of excitement in her voice. "We need to find the connection between them."

Fu Siyuan nodded and showed everyone the surveillance video and on-site evidence: "Each missing person had contact with a mysterious figure in a black windbreaker before disappearing."

Li Wei offered another idea: "The missing persons all exhibited unusual behavior before their disappearance. They seemed to be waiting for a signal."

"Shadow Priest!" the three of them said in unison.

"We must find the new location of the Shadow Priest as soon as possible, otherwise these people will become victims." Fu Siyuan said.

Zhang Wanqing stood in the subway station's surveillance room, her eyes glued to the video feed on the screen. In the footage, the guitar melody of street musician Jack echoed through the station as he moved through the crowd until a mysterious figure in a black trench coat emerged. The figure approached Jack, seemingly engaging in conversation, before the two vanished into the surveillance camera's blind spot.

Zhang Wanqing took a deep breath, knowing this wasn't just a simple missing person case. She began questioning subway station staff and regulars, trying to piece together the last moments before Jack disappeared.

"Jack was a talented young man who always played here but never got into trouble," recalled a regular.

Zhang Wanqing recorded every detail in her notebook, her eyes sharp, each observation filled with concentration. She noticed Jack's guitar case still in the corner, empty. She carefully examined it, hoping to find some clue.

She found a tiny symbol on the bottom of the guitar case that was associated with the Shadow Priests. Her heart beat faster, knowing that the disappearances were linked to the Shadow Priests.

She continued searching the subway station for clues, her gaze sweeping around every corner until she spotted a faint bloodstain behind a pillar. Next to the bloodstain, there were some strange scratches, as if someone had struggled there. Zhang Wanqing's brow furrowed, knowing these scratches could be Jack's final message.

She quickly took photos and sent these clues to Fu Siyuan, hoping that he could find more information through technical analysis. She knew that these clues might be the key to uncovering the Shadow Priest's new hiding place.

Fu Siyuan sat at his computer at the downtown library, trying to track down the last location of Tom, the night shift custodian. Surveillance footage showed Tom walking into the aisle between the bookshelves after the library closed. Then, the lights in the aisle went out, and Tom disappeared into the darkness.

Fu Siyuan's brow furrowed, knowing there was a deeper secret behind this disappearance. He began to check the library's security system and discovered that it had been temporarily disabled during the time Tom had been missing.

"Tom was a dedicated administrator and was always the last to leave," recalled a colleague at the library.

Fu Siyuan's eyes gleamed with determination. He knew these disappearances had to be solved immediately. He began to search every corner of the library, hoping to find some clues. He found a small surveillance camera behind a hidden bookshelf. The camera's memory card had been removed.

He quickly inserted the memory card into his computer and began recovering the data. After several hours of effort, he finally recovered the surveillance video. The video showed Tom being followed in the hallway by a mysterious figure in a black windbreaker and then forcibly taken away.

Fu Siyuan's heartbeat quickened. He knew this mysterious figure was likely a member of the Shadow Priests. He began analyzing the background noise in the surveillance footage, hoping to find some clues. He discovered some strange frequencies in the background noise, which were similar to the ritual music of the Shadow Priests.

He quickly compared these frequencies with a city map and found that they matched the location of an abandoned factory in the western part of the city. He knew that this might be a clue to the Shadow Priest's new hiding place.

Li Wei stood on the park's running track, his eyes sweeping through the surrounding trees and bushes, searching for traces of the night runner, Amy. He found a path of trampled grass, ending in a dense forest. Amy's phone and fitness tracker were left under a tree.

“Amy was a regular runner, she always ran here but never strayed from her route,” a regular visitor to the park recalled.

Li Wei felt a surge of unease. He knew these disappearances had to be solved immediately. He began checking Amy's phone and discovered that the last call was from an unknown number. He quickly entered the number into his database and began tracing its origin.

He discovered that the number was associated with an abandoned factory in the west of the city. He quickly sent this information to Zhang Wanqing and Fu Siyuan, hoping that they could analyze the clue together.

The clues the three gathered all pointed to an abandoned factory in the city's west district. Without further ado, they rushed there.

In the shadows of the city, the leader of the shadow priests stood before a new altar, a mad glint in his eyes. His voice was deep and powerful: "The ritual is about to begin. We will open the portal to another world and awaken the sleeping gods."

The priests chanted their incantations faster, and the runes on the altar began to glow. The entire basement was filled with a strange energy. The portal slowly opened, and a powerful force surged out from it.