Chapter 55: Homecoming

Shashi City, Digital Association.

As the sound of knocking echoed at Zhao Zhe’s door, the alarms monitoring abnormal digital energy flows across Shashi simultaneously blared to life.

“Report! Report! Unknown digital energy fluctuation detected!”

The urgent alarms jarred everyone who heard them.

“Pinpoint the location!” Master Feng’s voice grew tense. He had been waiting for this—at last, that accursed entity had made its move again. This time, he was determined to catch it.

“It’s in Hexi, at the Tianwan residential area!” one of the monitoring operators shouted.

With the exact location in hand, Feng Xiaosong glanced behind him. “Let’s go, Ritual Beast!”

A figure dressed in a ritualist’s robe, a black-and-white Taiji diagram embroidered on his chest, and a tall black hat thirty centimeters high atop his head, appeared at Master Feng’s back.

Whoosh!

In the next instant, man and beast soared through the air, heading toward the Tianwan residential area in Hexi.

“Hurry, cut off surveillance on Master Feng—don’t let ordinary citizens notice anything unusual tonight.”

“Yes, sir.”

Tonight was destined to be anything but ordinary.

Shortly after Master Feng departed, several more digital beasts set out for the Tianwan residential area.

Led by the Ritual Beast, Master Feng reached the sky above the Tianwan residential area within minutes.

“That force has vanished,” the Ritual Beast remarked with a tinge of regret.

“Damn it, too late—again.” Landing back on the ground, Master Feng’s expression was so dark it seemed rain might drip from his face.

“Investigate—find out who has disappeared this time.”

Half an hour later, a file on Zhao Zhe was placed before the master.

“Zhao Zhe, male, thirty-three, digital competition commentator.”

Rubbing his brow as he studied the document, Master Feng reflected that Zhao Zhe was the eighth human to vanish since the New Year. And so far, they had not the faintest idea who was behind these disappearances, let alone their motive.

“Suppress any news of Zhao Zhe’s disappearance. We can’t alarm the public.”

After issuing the order, Feng Xiaosong stared at the files before him, lost in thought.

The eight vanished, including Zhao Zhe, had no connection in their lives or professions—among them a penniless gambler, a corporate elite, a death row inmate, and ordinary people.

“No, there must be a link I haven’t seen. Whoever is behind this can’t be choosing victims at random.” Shaking his head to dispel his frustration, Master Feng pored over the files, searching for a common thread among the vanished.

Unless he could discern the pattern, he would never catch the perpetrator—and so long as that was true, people would keep disappearing from the human world.

He wondered: was this happening only in their own nation, or was it a phenomenon occurring worldwide? If the latter… things might be far worse than imagined.

“Looking at their life stories, they’re all different, yet they share one trait!”

The matter soon caught the attention of Gong Qi, President of the Shashi Digital Association. Studying the files, he declared decisively, “There’s a pattern.”

“What pattern?” Master Feng leafed through the files. After reading the biographies of all eight, his lips parted in surprise.

“You mean they’re all people who’ve led unhappy lives?”

“That’s not quite accurate. They aren’t all people with unhappy lives, but rather people who have experienced a period of misfortune before disappearing. For example, the first to vanish—a white-collar worker—had just been dumped by his girlfriend, whose new boyfriend happened to be a Digital User.”

“And take Zhao Zhe, the most recent. He’s only a commentator on the surface, but shortly before his disappearance, he too became entangled with a Digital User!”

As Gong Qi spoke, he sketched connections, and soon it was clear: every missing person had some tie to digital beasts, and they were all ordinary people.

“Master Feng, I must trouble you to keep investigating this. I need to return to my post,” Gong Qi said apologetically to the elder.

“It’s my duty. Your responsibilities are far heavier. Has there been any unusual activity at your station recently?”

……

“Let’s go home.”

At dawn, Zhao Jie, his wife and child, and an Agumon with a cellphone hanging from its neck set off on their way home.

“Home, home!” Agumon clapped its hands joyfully. Soon, it would see its silly little brother again—happiness!

Bitmon: ????

By nine o’clock, the family had returned to their neighborhood, greeted warmly by their neighbors along the way. That evening, aunts and uncles gathered at their home for a family feast.

They congratulated Zhao Jie on winning the championship. By the time the guests dispersed, it was already nine o’clock.

“So, Zhao Jie, why hasn’t the food I ordered been delivered yet?” Agumon held out its beloved device to Zhao Jie, confusion in its voice.

“You’re still eating?” Zhao Jie shot Agumon a helpless look—its appetite was growing by the day.

“You fool, you have to update your location. This order’s being delivered to Shashi!”

Agumon: (ಥ_ಥ).

Such is the weight of sorrow.

Meanwhile, a delivery driver in Shashi knocked at the door of Zhao Jie and Agumon’s former residence.

“Hello, your food delivery!”

He glanced at his phone. As long as I keep working hard, one day I’ll be able to make a life here with my girlfriend.

“I didn’t order food. Did you?” the man who answered the door called back to a woman inside.

“Neither did I,” came a familiar female voice in the deliveryman’s ear.

Wait a minute…

Why did that voice sound so familiar? It sounded just like his girlfriend!

He glanced inside on instinct. In that moment, he saw flowing long hair and a boundless green field.

“This isn’t our food delivery—go on, brother, I’ve got business to attend to!” The man patted his shoulder with a knowing smile shared among men.

Bang!

The door slammed shut, his hopes closing with it.

His heart was broken—and so, it seemed, was his dignity.

Agumon dialed the deliveryman’s number.

“Hello, delivery guy? I ordered the wrong food—just keep it for yourself. No need to thank me!”

The call finally snapped the deliveryman from his grief.

“Thank your mother!” came the furious roar on the line, making Agumon drop the phone in fright.

“What happened?” Zhao Jie asked Agumon.

“He said, ‘thank your mother.’”

Zhao Jie: ……

—Excerpt from “A Selection of My Bizarre Delivery Stories”