### Chapter 4: Dreamland (7)
Lin Nan thought he wouldn’t see Shiyuan for at least two or three months after they parted ways.
But low and behold, just two weeks later, Shiyuan called.
He never expected Shiyuan to call him directly; with the level of their familiarity, wouldn’t a text have sufficed?
As soon as Lin Nan answered, he heard Shiyuan’s voice, slightly angry, blaring through the receiver.
“Hey! I’m saying, are you doing this on purpose?”
“What do you mean?”
Hearing Shiyuan start off with a tone of accusation made Lin Nan furrow his brows.
“Is this your strategy? For the love of all that’s good, can you not be such a nuisance?”
Shiyuan was relentless, practically marching in with a righteous fury.
Lin Nan felt a surge of annoyance. If it weren’t for the fact that Shiyuan sounded just like him, he’d swear he was talking to a completely different person.
Earlier, he’d felt a bit sorry for Shiyuan.
After their breakup, Shiyuan jumped right into action, contacting several reporters he knew to publish articles related to “The Way of Inquiry” game company. He pointed out that virtual reality games were the future of the industry and that the government shouldn’t throw the baby out with the bathwater, but should reaffirm its guidelines and develop even better virtual reality games.
The real motive behind his articles was to stir the pot from a distance.
After all, since the incident with “The Way of Inquiry,” the government had put a stop to all virtual game development and operation.
Fifteen years later, virtual reality gaming had become a forbidden zone—nobody dared touch it, nobody dared mention it.
If Lin Nan hadn’t secretly slipped those reporters some fat envelopes, they wouldn’t have even thought to venture near that risky territory.
But on the upside, the articles generated quite a buzz.
The revival of virtual reality games became a hot topic online.
“The Way of Inquiry” was getting flamed by countless netizens, and just when it seemed they were done for, several major influencers dropped the bomb that the case had still not been solved after all these years.
Boom! The internet erupted.
Fifteen whole years had passed; players who were 20 then were now almost 40.
Sure, they had a blast back in the day, but who would’ve thought the game company would pull strings behind the curtain and leave players neck-deep in a fantasy far beyond reality?
What they thought was a closed chapter suddenly turned into a cliffhanger with actual convicts still on the loose.
Naturally, this led to online skepticism regarding the investigation team.
Luckily, the team swiftly announced the actual state of affairs, informing the public that they were still looking for suspects and publishing wanted notices; whether the fugitives were dead or alive, tipsters would receive generous rewards.
This sparked intense interest in the fugitive among netizens.
After all, the guy in the photo looked so chubby and harmless, who’d suspect him of being a fugitive missing for almost fifteen years?
Once the wanted notice dropped, some intrigued netizens, including bounty hunters, began their hunt for him.
This was Lin Nan’s initial plan—fire up a grassroots movement and scatter the net wider; it’s bound to yield clues related to the fugitive, which is definitely more effective than that clueless kid searching solo!
But now, with Shiyuan calling and launching straight into grievances, how could Lin Nan not feel disgusted and furious?
“What’s wrong with my plan?” Lin Nan retorted.
“I found some clues before and wanted to quietly follow the trail. But now, thanks to you, it’s like you’ve scared off the entire herd! Even a fugitive has ways to keep up with the news!”
Lin Nan hadn’t foreseen things escalating to this level. After a moment of silence, he finally began to understand Shiyuan’s feelings.
The target was right there, but his sudden shout had made them flee. How could that not drive Shiyuan up the wall?
“Sorry…”
“What good does that do now? Hmph!”
With a loud click, Shiyuan hung up, leaving Lin Nan with the annoying “beep beep beep” of a disconnected line.
Lin Nan thought for a second and decided to return the call.
“Beep… The number you’ve dialed is not reachable… Beep…”
“Beep… The number you’ve dialed is not reachable… Beep…”
Strange, he just received a call. How was it now unreachable?
Lin Nan couldn’t help but worry; what if something happened to that kid?
But he had no clue where Shiyuan was. What an anxious situation!
He paced back and forth in his study all afternoon, redialing Shiyuan endlessly without writing a single word.
During dinner, Wang Xue noticed something seemed off with his expression but didn’t pry.
She knew that even if she asked, Lin Nan wouldn’t spill the beans.
Some things were just men’s secrets, and asking too much would only make it worse.
As usual, Wang Xue treated him with care, and their daughter, like a clingy little demon, made Lin Nan temporarily forget his worries, losing himself in family joy.
At midnight, the phone still hadn’t gone through.
Lin Nan lit a cigarette. He never smoked, but sometimes when he hit a creative wall, he’d sniff the pungent aroma.
Should he call the police?
But he hardly knew Shiyuan—just a couple of meetings—and only had a handful of basic information. It would be inappropriate to report it.
Maybe he should wait it out a bit?
At 1 AM, Lin Nan had given up on calling. He leaned back in his office chair, eyes half-closed, drifting between dreams and reality.
“Dingling!”
Lin Nan jolted upright from his chair.
A phone rang! Whose was it?
Shiyuan?
Holy cow, the kid finally called!
He hurriedly tapped the answer button and pressed the phone to his ear. “Hey, are you okay?”
“I… I’m fine. Sorry to worry you, Teacher Lin.”
Lin Nan froze. Could it be Shiyuan had split personalities? One moment humble and cautious, the next full of rage—really puzzling.
“What on earth happened?” Lin Nan asked.
“It’s nothing… just ran into a bit of trouble this afternoon.”
Shiyuan’s voice sounded a bit weak.
Lin Nan frowned, “Let’s do a video call.”
“No, no, I’m really fine. You don’t need to worry, Teacher Lin.”
The more Shiyuan insisted, the more persistent Lin Nan became.
Ultimately, Shiyuan had no choice but to accept the video call request.
The moment they connected, Lin Nan caught his breath. The originally handsome young boy was covered in bl**d. No matter how much he wiped, the bl**d kept flowing as if it were a fountain. His towel quickly turned dark red.
And that was just his face; there were numerous injuries on his body, and his clothes were soaked through.
“Quick! Go to the hospital!” Lin Nan urged.
“Can’t go. If I do, I’ll fall into their hands.”
“Who are ‘they’?”
“I don’t know. Maybe they don’t want me to continue investigating Duan Mu.”
Shiyuan abruptly cut off the video, but the audio remained.
“Teacher Lin, please don’t worry about me for now; it’s safer if they don’t trace you through me. I’ll hang up and contact you when I can.”
Looking at the black screen of his phone, Lin Nan felt an inexplicable sense of loss.
