Eric Wang is missing.
Tyler Tan's text message was simple—just four words.
Evan Lin called back, and the call was quickly answered.
"What do you mean he's missing?"
Evan stood by the window, looking out at the manor already shrouded in night.
On the nearby street, orange-hued streetlights dotted the road.
"You finally called me back! I tried calling you several times and you didn't pick up!"
On the other end, Tyler sounded a bit anxious: "This morning, Eric got a phone call, and I noticed his expression changed. I guessed something might have happened to him."
"I asked him about it, but he wouldn't say—just told me he needed to go out. He left, and still hasn't come back."
"Then I just tried calling his phone. The first time, a stranger answered and said Eric was dead! Then he hung up."
"When I tried calling again, the phone wouldn't connect!"
Tyler spoke quickly, obviously getting impatient and anxious.
He even asked friends to look for Eric everywhere, but no matter who he asked, nobody knew anything.
It was as if Eric had completely vanished from the world.
"Eric can't really be dead, can he?"
Tyler was clearly worried.
"It's unlikely. I'll have someone look into it. Don't worry too much."
Evan hung up on Tyler.
He first tried calling Tanya Zhan. When the call went through, the receiver said, "Sorry, the number you dialed is powered off."
"Powered off?"
Evan frowned slightly.
Normally, no matter what time it was, Tanya Zhan's phone was always reachable.
Now it's powered off, which feels a bit strange.
At the moment, Evan wasn't too worried about Eric's safety.
After all, Eric was now a Pointing-to-Mystery Realm expert. Even if he'd just broken through, he should at least be able to escape from most threats.
Plus, Eric was the head of the Wang family—most people wouldn't risk falling out with the Wangs completely.
Standing by the window, Evan thought for a while. He originally wanted to call Autumn Zheng, but when he checked the time, it was already the early hours of the morning.
At this hour, Autumn was probably already asleep.
Not wanting to disturb Autumn's rest, Evan decided to call Victor Li instead.
Last time Victor Li visited Rivercrest State University, he left Evan his number. As the Li family's representative across Rivercrest Province, Victor's status was extraordinary.
His influence was terrifying.
Ordinary people had to make appointments or pick the right time if they wanted to meet Victor Li. Someone like Evan, calling him in the middle of the night without worrying about disturbing his rest, was rare.
The phone rang three times before it was answered.
"Hello, who is this?"
Victor Li's voice was steady, but you could hear the fatigue in his tone.
Victor lived up to his name. Ever since taking charge of Rivercrest Province, he'd been traveling nonstop—visiting businesses, solving problems, actually getting things done.
As the person most likely to succeed as head of the Li family, Victor's status was extraordinary.
At night, almost nobody dared to call him.
"Evan Lin."
Evan stated his name.
Victor's tone paused, then instantly softened. "Oh, it's you. Why are you calling me at this hour?"
"You know, you can call me anytime, even just to chat or shoot the breeze."
Victor joked as he spoke.
If anyone else heard this, they'd probably be stunned.
Victor was known for being upright and kind, but in business and conversation, he was always serious—never one for jokes.
This time, Evan only had to say his name for Victor to treat him with such respect. It showed just how highly Victor regarded Evan.
"I need a favor from you."
Evan spoke up, not bothering with pleasantries.
"Alright, go ahead." Victor agreed straightforwardly.
You don't visit the temple for nothing.
He understood.
From the first time he met Evan Lin—the youth who waved his hand and summoned a rainstorm—and the second time, when Evan stomped down Nine Dragons and stopped the flood, Victor realized Evan was a true hidden master.
People like that value their time and always act decisively.
"My college roommate Eric Wang is missing. Help me check if anything happened to him."
Evan kept it brief.
"Alright, I'll have Secretary Duan look into it now. He'll contact you shortly."
Victor nodded in agreement.
He didn't even ask what Eric looked like. In fact, Victor had already familiarized himself with Evan's roommates' files during his downtime.
He wasn't investigating anything—he was just curious.
After hanging up, Evan stood by the window and waited.
After about fifteen minutes, Evan's phone rang.
This time, it was Secretary Duan calling.
"Found a bit of info—your roommate left campus at nine in the morning, and headed toward the Zhan family estate, as expected."
Secretary Duan was concise, not wasting any words.
"Zhan family?" Evan raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, Zhan family," Secretary Duan continued. "It's already past midnight, so technically, the news was released the night before last: Tanya Zhan will be marrying the Ma Clan's young master today, officially tying the knot."
"The Zhan family will also ally with the Ancient-Martial Ma Clan, officially becoming its vassal family."
Secretary Duan stopped there, waiting quietly.
When it came to Ancient Martial Clans, Secretary Duan actually found it hard to handle.
These Ancient Martial Clans were always domineering, never bound by any rules.
If it were any other issue, Secretary Duan could have handled it easily.
But with this, he really couldn't do much.
"Alright, got it."
Evan said nothing more and hung up.
"Zhan family betrayed me?"
Evan pondered: "Last time I dealt with a Ma Clan gatekeeper, now the Ma Clan is trying to show off?"
Evan shook his head. If the Zhan family really had betrayed him, he wouldn't mind cleaning house. But judging by their past attitude, it didn't quite add up.
After all, the Zhan family knew how powerful Evan was, and if they wanted to betray him, they had plenty of chances—they wouldn't need to be so blatant.
Just as he was thinking this, his phone rang again.
The caller this time caught Evan off guard.