American Zombie Detective

Chapter 168 The Missing Girl (Seeking reviews and recommendations)

Although he had finalized the deal with Selena, Qin Jin still didn't have time to rest. He still planned to visit Bran Castle the next day, but what he didn't expect was—

The next morning, before the mist had even dissipated, there was a series of urgent and anxious knocks on the door.

Upon opening the door, the first thing you see is Sophie, her face filled with anxiety and worry. Although she is dressed neatly, she is without makeup. The three boys following behind her are only wearing shorts or pajamas, looking sleepy. Only Clara is dressed smartly and has exquisite makeup.

Sophie's first words to Qin Jin were: "Mr. Qin, something terrible has happened! Leah is missing."

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Qin Jin's gaze swept over the crowd outside the door, taking in their expressions, before his somewhat scattered gaze focused on Su Fei: "Tell me slowly, what happened?"

"Lia disappeared after the party yesterday. I assumed she went to her dance partner's place, so I didn't think much of it—"

Sophie spoke quickly: "But, I received this message as soon as I woke up this morning—"

She held up her phone; on the screen was a brief message from Leah:

[Sophie, I have to go urgently, don't look for me. Sorry.]

Sophie continued anxiously, "I went to the front desk and asked. Those two handsome guys left this morning. Leah, Leah wasn't with them at all—Mr. Qin! Did you see anything yesterday? Or do you know where she went?"

Qin Jin recalled the events of yesterday and clearly stated, "When I came back yesterday, you were still dancing at the party—I didn't go out again after that, so, I'm sorry, I can't help you."

Sophie's face turned even paler: "Oh no, what should we do? Should we call the police?" She turned her gaze to the boy behind her.

The three boys nodded subconsciously, about to agree, but Clara's voice beat them to it, almost instantly saying, "The police force here is weak, only the old sheriff and two assistants. They probably won't be very effective in handling this kind of case. Besides, what if Leah just went out with some other people? It would be better if it caused a misunderstanding."

Then, with effortless smoothness, she suggested, "Why don't we look around the neighborhood ourselves first? Ask the front desk for the popular spots in town, and check out other hotels? If we split up, we might just stumble upon it!"

Her words sounded like she was looking for a solution cautiously. Sophie was in a state of confusion. Although she was worried, she felt that it was better to try to find a solution herself first, so she could only nod blankly.

Seeing that they already had their own plans, Qin Jin replied calmly, "Go ahead and give it a try. I already have plans for today, so I won't keep you company. Good luck."

After saying that, he closed the door, shutting out the young people's discussion and plans.

After he and Alessa finished getting ready, Yuanxiao finished drinking her milk, munching on dried meat and bread, and went outside. The young man in the corridor had already left.

During the day, there were quite a few tourists scattered around the castle, all talking about various vampire legends and stories. Qin Jin had no interest in this. After making inquiries, he quickly found an old caretaker in the castle.

After sincere communication and the smoothing effect of banknotes, the old administrator became exceptionally enthusiastic, and he quickly found the specific locations of these castles from his memory.

"This isn't just a legend. When I was young, I visited two of them," the old caretaker squinted, pulling a mountain map from under the table and picking up a red marker. "Look, these ruins are one of them," he circled, "Go west, there's a carriage road in the woods that leads there—and here—"

He drew a circle at another location: "North, deeper into the woods, the road there is pretty good, you can drive there—I don't know about the others, only these two I remember."

Qin Jin carefully examined the two points marked on the map. They, along with the now-famous Bran Castle, subtly formed a strategic layout, suggesting they were medieval strongholds. He nodded and exchanged the map for a banknote: "Thank you, sir."

After leaving Bran Castle, Qin Jin and Alessa went straight to the only decent car repair shop in town.

Qin Jin was generous and didn't haggle or talk much. He quickly negotiated a deal in cash for a black SUV that looked a bit old but was in pretty good condition.

The experienced mechanic confidently assured everyone that the machine was perfectly fine, powerful enough, and definitely capable of handling mountain roads.

Qin Jin personally test-drove the car and felt that it was indeed as the old mechanic had said, with a deep and powerful engine. He then drove out of the town according to the first point marked on the map.

The road quickly changed from asphalt to gravel, and eventually became a dirt path winding through the dense forest.

The road was uneven and full of ruts, some of which looked like they were left by tractors or horse-drawn carriages. The off-road vehicle bumped along slowly, and it took more than two hours before it finally approached the blurry marker on the map.

As the old caretaker said, the castle no longer exists, only a large area of ​​ruins remains, mostly buried by weeds and shrubs, and the power of time and nature is repairing the traces of human existence.

Qin Jin and Alessa circled the ruins. Based on their intuition, it was very different from the description of Bran Castle in the manuscript. There was no sign of any river that had ever existed, so it was definitely not the place where the priest had lived.

However, they did discover the patrol team's hut. After Qin Jin went over to inquire, they were told with great certainty:

There have never been any monasteries around here, not even one I've ever heard of!

By the time they drove back to the hostel with great difficulty, it was already dusk, and they would have to wait until tomorrow to find a second spot.

Just as Qin Jin stepped into the hotel lobby, Luigi, George, and Luc emerged from the elevator and immediately surrounded him: "Mr. Qin! You're finally back!" Luigi's voice was somewhat disordered: "Something happened, Sophie and Clara are missing too."

George's face turned pale: "We've been looking all morning, and this afternoon, we couldn't get through to Sophie either, and the same goes for Clara—"

"I see!" Qin Jin nodded slightly and gave his judgment seriously: "You can call the police, and if you're scared, you can leave immediately."

"Leave? How do we leave?"

Luigi was almost in tears: "We were just about to leave this morning when the receptionist came and took our passports, saying she needed to file a report at the police station. We just asked, and they said we can get them back tomorrow—now we can't leave even if we want to!"

Just then, the bespectacled receptionist came out from behind the counter, a formulaic smile on her face: "Ladies and gentlemen! I heard what you just said. I think you don't need to worry at all. This kind of thing happens far too often in our town—"

He gave a smile that only men could understand, and winked knowingly: "Many fun places in town are cell phone blocked. You know, Ye Zi here is quite famous—haha, they must have had a blast—"

"Really?" The three boys were skeptical, but the bespectacled man immediately nodded seriously and firmly: "Believe me, it must be!"

After saying that, before the boy could say anything more, he turned to Qin Jin: "Sir, your passport also needs to be registered. Please hand it to me now, and we'll pick it up together tomorrow."

Looking at the fake smile on the man's face, Qin Jin said bluntly, "No need, I'll check out."

The smile on the bespectacled man's face vanished instantly, and his tone hardened: "Sir, this is against the rules! You have already checked in. If you don't show your original passport for filing, the police will investigate and I'll be in a lot of trouble! You must cooperate!" His voice unconsciously rose a few decibels.

Just then, the glass door of the hostel was pushed open again, and two men walked in.

The leader was nearly 1.9 meters tall, as muscular as Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, and even his well-fitting suit couldn't hide his bulging muscles and fierce aura.

His slightly shorter companion was also sturdy and capable, with sharp eyes, clearly no innocent person.

"Cook, what's going on?" the tall, burly man asked in a low voice, his fierce gaze fixed on Qin Jin.

Cook immediately pointed at Qin Jin and said to the burly man, "This guest refuses to hand over his passport for registration as required, and now he wants to check out and leave immediately!"

Qin Jin was too lazy to argue with them any longer, and said to Alessa, "Let's go upstairs and get our luggage." After saying that, he turned around and prepared to walk towards the stairs.

Seeing this, the tall, burly man immediately stepped forward, his huge hand suddenly reaching out to grab Qin Jin's shoulder: "Hey! Stop right there!"

Just as his fingers were about to touch Qin Jin's shoulder!