An hour later, Ning Tao and Qing Zhui arrived at the two-dimensional bookstore, where Jiang Tingting had been last. It is located in a relatively remote location and mainly deals in books and comics related to the second dimension, as well as animation peripheral products. The decoration is nice, but the business is deserted.
"You go in first, and I'll come in later." Ning Tao leaned into Qing Zhui's ear and said, "When I come in, you pretend you don't know me."
Qing Zhui asked curiously: "Why?"
Ning Tao said: "Jiang Fuquan said that the surveillance here happened to be broken on the day his daughter disappeared. I vaguely feel that this is a bit too coincidental. We go in and pretend not to know each other to reduce the attention of the people inside to us, and we each look for clues. Come out and talk later.”
Qing Zhui nodded, "Okay, shall I go in first or you?"
Ning Tao said: "You go in first, and I will come in later."
Qing chased into the two-dimensional bookstore.
Ning Tao was not in a hurry to go in. He stood outside the door and observed the surrounding environment. It took several minutes before going in. When he entered, Qingzhui was chatting with a young clerk.
"Miss, you are so beautiful and elegant. If you come to cosplay, you will definitely become famous. Do you want to try it?" The young clerk was very enthusiastic, and his eyes were a little bright when he looked at Qing Zhui.
"Chuck to death...what do you mean?" Qing Zhui obviously didn't know what "cosplay" meant.
The young clerk explained patiently: "To put it simply, it is role-playing. I imitate the characters in the anime. Just stand still and I will see who you are most suitable to play..."
Ning Tao didn't continue to listen. He walked in beside Qing Zhui and the attentive young clerk. The young clerk didn't notice him because his sight was blocked by Qing Zhui.
There are dozens of bookshelves in the bookstore, all of which are books, comics, discs and figures related to the second dimension, as well as cosplay costumes and props. However, there are only two small customers reading comic books at a reading table in such a large space.
Ning Tao glanced at the corner. There were surveillance cameras installed in two corners, and the cameras were open. He pretended to be looking for discs, walked along the shelves, and then came to the end of the bookstore. There was a staircase covered with red carpet, leading to the second floor.
Ning Tao awakened the smelling state of his nose, and thousands of smells poured into his nasal cavity. He silently recalled the smell of Jiang Tingting that he had written down, and analyzed and compared them one by one, looking for the smell that Jiang Tingting might have left here.
A minute later, he found a "familiar" smell. It was Jiang Tingting's scent left in this bookstore.
This bookstore is a relatively closed space. As long as a person comes here, the smell released by the body will remain for a long time. Ordinary people can't smell this kind of smell at all, but for Ning Tao, it's as easy as picking something out. His nose is more sensitive than a dog's nose in the smelling state, and a dog can smell the scent of a person hundreds of meters away from it in an open environment. One can imagine how strong the smell left by Jiang Tingting, who had been here three days ago, was to him in this relatively closed space.
Jiang Tingting's scent spreads throughout the space of the bookstore, strong in some places and thin in others. According to this situation, a "sidewalk" made of smell appeared in Ning Tao's brain, pointing in one direction.
Ning Tao followed the direction indicated by the locked scent and soon arrived at the end of the bookstore. In front of him was a staircase covered with red carpet, and beside it was a sign saying "Tourists Stopped". Jiang Tingting's scent extended up the stairs. He hesitated and stepped over the sign and stepped onto the stairs.
At the front desk of the bookstore, the young clerk was still trying hard to persuade Qing Zhui to join some cosplay club, and he didn't even notice Ning Tao walking up the stairs from the surveillance monitor.
Qing Zhui saw it. She knew what Ning Tao was doing. She also cooperated with Ning Tao's actions to divert the young clerk's attention. Is it profitable? I am very poor recently and want to buy a good bag. If I can make money, I would like to try it. "
An imperceptible smile appeared on the young clerk's lips, "Of course you can make money. I will introduce you to our Mr. Zhang. With your figure and face, I guarantee that our Mr. Zhang will sign a contract with you as soon as he sees you. Then I’ll take you to a cartoon show, and it’s just a piece of cake to pay tens of thousands for a show.”
"Really? That's great. What's your boss's name?" Qing asked.
The young clerk said, "My boss's name is Zhang Weibiao. I'll give you his business card." The young clerk took out his wallet, took out a business card and handed it to Qing Zhui, and said, "My name is Zhang Weibiao." Lei, you can come to me anytime if you want, by the way, what’s your name?”
"My name is... Li Xiaohong." Qing followed and said a name.
Just when she was talking nonsense about the name of this shitty street, Ning Tao was already on the second floor.
The second floor is a space dedicated to cosplay, with many weird costumes and props, as well as mirrors and dressing rooms.
Jiang Tingting's scent extended all the way to a prop coffin and ended inside the coffin.
The coffin was a replica of a vampire's coffin. It was made of solid wood and sprayed with black paint. It leaned against the wall and was narrow at the top. The words "True Blood" were also engraved on the coffin.
Ning Tao approached the vampire's coffin and sniffed the smell in the coffin. Not only did he smell Jiang Tingting's remaining scent in the coffin, he also smelled a little bit of anesthetic. The smell was very familiar to a doctor like him and easy to identify.
However, this vampire coffin had obviously been cleaned. Both Jiang Tingting's smell and the smell of anesthetics were extremely weak. Even under the smelling state, he needed to sniff hard several times to detect it.
At this point in the "investigation", Ning Tao already had a general truth in his mind - Jiang Tingting's disappearance was related to this store that operates two-dimensional culture.
Ning Tao walked towards a leather sofa placed in the corner. He sniffed the sofa and memorized some smells. Then he returned the same way.
Qing Zhui was still talking nonsense with the young clerk.
The clerk who claimed to be Zhang Lei said: "Miss Li, you really don't have to worry about anything. Our boss is a big shot in this circle. He also knows many big directors. As long as you are willing to come, you may not have the chance to become a big star." . I won’t lie to you, with your looks and figure, it only takes you two or three years to become a big name.”
"Really?" Qing Zhui looked innocent.
Ning Tao walked past Qing Zhui and left the store. This time Zhang Lei saw him, but he didn't care. His attention was all on Qing Zhui.
"This is still fake. Let's do it. You can leave me a phone number so I can contact you." Zhang Lei said.
Qing Zhui glanced at Ning Tao who had already walked out of the store.
Ning Tao didn't look at her, but nodded. Qing Zhui said: "Okay, my phone number is..."
After leaving his phone number, Qing Zhui also found an excuse to leave the Second Dimension Bookstore because he had something to do. However, she did not talk to Ning Tao immediately. Instead, she walked for a long time before getting to Ning Tao's side and walking side by side with him.
"Brother Ning, what did you find?" she asked.
Ning Tao said: "It's a big fish. Jiang Tingting's disappearance is related to the bookstore we just visited. The other party handled it very cleanly. Even the police trace experts couldn't find the traces, but the smell can't deceive people."
Qing Zhui stuck out his long tongue, then retracted it, "That guy named Zhang Lei gave Mr. Zhang's business card and asked me to pick out his ribs, but I smelled the rot in his soul from his body. Taste, he is a very bad person.”
"Show me that business card." Ning Tao said.
Qing Zhui handed the business card to Ning Tao.
Ning Tao took a look at the business card, and a sneer appeared on the corner of his mouth, "Zhang Weibiao? You can deceive the police, but you can't deceive me. I want to settle the debt you owe."
"Should we go find him now?" Qing asked.
Ning Tao said: "No, if you leave your phone number, he will definitely call you. You are so beautiful, he will not be unmoved."
"Kekeke..."
"why are you laughing?"
Qing Zhui looked very happy, "This is the first time you complimented me on my beauty, I can't help but be happy."
Jingle bell, jingle bell…
Ning Tao's cell phone suddenly rang with an incoming call.
The caller was Bai Jing, "Where are you? That guy Xin Zhiyu sent someone to hurry up. Come over quickly and let's go to Xin's house for a banquet together."
Ning Tao said: "We are on the street. You tell us the address and we will go directly and meet there."
"Okay, just call a car and say Ronghua Mansion. The driver will know where you are going. We'll meet at the door." Bai Jing hung up the phone.
Qing Zhui raised the corner of his mouth, "She didn't even say a word to me, it's true."
Ning Tao said: "She must be in a hurry, but this is the first time I have seen a demon like her who values money more than training." As he spoke, he waved to stop a taxi.
"Brother Ning, actually... I..." Qing Zhui seemed to want to say something, but he hesitated.
Ning Tao opened the car door, "Get in the car."
He knew that what she wanted to say was mostly related to Bai Sheng and Bai Jing, but for some reason he didn't know, she still couldn't speak. But he can understand her. Everyone has their own secrets and some situations that they can't help but. If she wants to say it, she can say it. If she doesn't want to, he can't. He won't force her. Although he was curious about Bai Sheng's mission, it didn't matter if he didn't know.
After Qing caught up with the car, Ning Tao also got into the car, and then said to the driver: "Master, go to Ronghua Mansion."
The driver looked back at Ning Tao and said, "Are you sure the place you want to go is Ronghua Mansion?"
Ning Tao said: "Let me make it very clear. Is there any problem?"
The driver said: "Everyone who goes there drives a million-dollar luxury car or even a helicopter. No one goes there by taxi, so I am a little strange and want to ask and confirm."
Ning Tao said: "Then let's drive."
The driver muttered something unknown, started the car and drove in one direction.