```
Thinking about these possibilities, Officer Zhang had already conjured up a plot twist where everyone was a ghost.
The priest remained a picture of calm composure as he said indifferently, "What's the hurry? We still don't even know if the girl is truly 'missing'."
Officer Zhang pulled back her thoughts and focused, "You're right. I'll have them put this area under surveillance."
Speaking of which, Qiuzi lived here too.
She turned to look at the dilapidated low-rise building submerged among the cluster of buildings, which seemed as gloomy as if merging with the overcast sky. Along with this urban village hidden by the curtain of rain, it exuded an air of decayed antiquity.
...
Officer Zhang escorted the priest back to the church and then returned to the police station, calling up the surveillance footage from the streets.
Lately, the entire police station seemed busy, but actually, they were conducting investigations secretly because they didn't know if an incident from decades ago was about to repeat itself.
That large-scale cult gathering incident, which finally disappeared from the city with the military's suppression, but who knows if it would make a comeback.
In the quiet office, only Officer Zhang was present. Her boss had gone out on a case, and the others had also been assigned tasks to various degrees.
Beside her, the surveillance video played, and she occasionally flipped through files to review past cases. In the silence of the room, suddenly the sound "tick-tock, tick-tock" began to ring out.
Officer Zhang abruptly looked up, her face expressionless, listening intently to the startlingly clear sound.
It drew closer and closer.
In the deathly silent police station, this sound was like the footsteps of a clock or something dripping into a pool of water.
Suddenly, a figure appeared at the door.
After recognizing the figure, the hand that had been at her waist moved away, and her face lit up with a smile as she said, "Chief, you're back."
"Mm, the rain is getting heavier."
The completely drenched man walked in, leaving a trail of water on the floor as he passed. He said this casually and took a towel from the rack to dry off.
"This weather really isn't conducive to investigating; some of the clues have been washed away by the rain," said Officer Zhang as she looked at him.
"What are you looking at?" The Chief, while drying his hair, turned his head to look over.
Officer Zhang paused the surveillance footage and said with a frown, "Today, while I was in the old city district, I discovered there might be an unreported missing case, so I wanted to check the situation."
As she spoke, Officer Zhang turned once more to look at her boss, noticing that water still dripped from his body and his pale face didn't look too well.
"Are you sure you haven't been mesmerized by her?"
"..."
Caught off guard by the teasing, Officer Zhang stopped what she was doing and said helplessly, "I still know my limits. Following the lead of the dance troupe to the puppet master behind the scenes is only a matter of time, but we can't wait that long. My place... it's not safe anymore."
In this period, although the police's actions were not obvious, it would not be long before they could no longer be concealed.
After all, with so many missing persons, society was aware. If the police took no action, it would be even stranger, so how could the other party not be prepared.
They had abducted so many young girls, if they wanted to do some bizarre thing it would have already been done, maybe the outcome would be in three days.
Hearing this, the priest's calm face broke into a mysterious smile, "Do you know what day it is in three days?"
"Spit it out if you have something to say."
"Alright, it's the solar eclipse."
Officer Zhang was momentarily startled, then blurted out, "The celestial dog devouring the sun?!"
The priest smiled, "You talk in such a second-rate way."
Officer Zhang rolled her eyes, not amused.
Although in academic astronomy it's simply an astronomical phenomenon where the sunlight is completely blocked by the moon, among the folk, it's often regarded with the metaphysical belief of the "celestial dog devouring the sun."
At this, Officer Zhang realized another point and said, "There's a problem, you can't see the sun when it's raining, so how could there be an eclipse on that day?"
"Maybe it will clear up that day," the priest replied.
"It's been rainy and overcast, with no sun in sight for days, why bother clearing up just to go dark again?"
"Who knows," the priest said.
As for those dark forces and their strange rituals, who indeed knows.
Officer Zhang's face went through several changes before she finally opened the video files on the computer, saying, "Take a look at this material first, I still need to find Qiuzi."
This time the priest did not stop her. After the woman had set down her things and left in a hurry, he stepped forward and closed the door of the prayer room.
He then turned back to look at the pile of files and booklets on the desk, along with the surveillance footage, and let out a weary sigh.
Her place wasn't safe, but where here was safe then.
This was indeed a contest between faiths.