I, the Guide to the Omniverse, Usher in Blue Star's Great Ascension! - chapter 19

Sheng Ai more or less understood now.

She looked thoughtfully at the handful of soil in her hands.

Anything brought back from the Otherworld to Blue Star could potentially have a significant impact.

So, could she sell it?

It wasn’t that she was materialistic-her first thought was naturally about making money.

She was so poor, after all.

Just renting a coach and arranging the travel route had already cost her several thousand yuan, all thanks to the System.

That money was the severance pay she got after that bald CEO laid her off.

This time, ten tourists came, and she earned two thousand.

The price for the next trip hadn’t been set yet, but anyway, this time she was running at a loss.

If she couldn’t make money, how could she keep the travel route going?

Although she had promised the Toad Spirit to help them set up an online store between the two worlds to sell Stinky Fruit, could she use this online store channel to sell other things as well?

But the System said: [No, this is a one-way channel. You can buy things that fit the process and send them to Xiaomi Mountain, but for now, Xiaomi Mountain can only sell Stinky Fruit to Blue Star.]

It seemed that path was blocked as well.

Sheng Ai was a bit disappointed. “Then I’ll just let the tourists bring back some other things themselves.”

Then, she asked excitedly about her reward: “After completing this mission, can I really get a Spiritual Root?”

[Why would I give you a fake reward? The Spiritual Root will definitely be unlocked, but whether you have talent and how far you can cultivate depends on you.]

Sheng Ai: “Understood, I get it!”

After finishing this conversation, Pei Qiu called out to Sheng Ai from the other side.

Of course, Sheng Ai couldn’t leave the tourists, so she joined them in their busy work.

Ten tourists plus Sheng Ai were all bustling about happily.

Back in Blue Star, He Weiguang was already anxious.

Because he had found out that Sheng Ai had taken a group of people-including his own mother and daughter-into a shopping mall building in Hu City.

After entering the elevator, they simply vanished.

Yes, vanished!

After entering the elevator, they didn’t come out from anywhere.

He Weiguang had already notified the mall manager and requested to view the surveillance footage.

Even though he was worried, he could only follow procedures and wait for the mall’s surveillance results.

He couldn’t abuse his power just because he was a police officer.

At the same time, he requested leave from his superior, preparing to go to the mall building himself to investigate.

He didn’t dare tell his wife that his mother and daughter might have disappeared for no reason.

He couldn’t get through on the phone.

Not in the service area-this was already a dangerous sign.

In an hour, they couldn’t have gone far from Hu City. Where in Hu City could there be no signal?

Most likely, the signal was being blocked.

That implied all sorts of dangers.

Compared to He Weiguang’s anxiety, Tang Mengmeng inside the mall building was also uneasy.

After all, she soon lost contact with her roommate. Even with her strong nerves, she couldn’t focus on the movie.

The movie was quite exciting, but Tang Mengmeng just couldn’t get into it.

She was worried that Wu Qian wouldn’t show up after two hours, and also wondered where Wu Qian had actually gone.

Could it really be the Journey to the West Route?

Thinking of this, Tang Mengmeng herself found it absurd.

Just then, her roommate happened to call, so Tang Mengmeng simply left the theater to answer.

“Hello? You guys aren’t back yet. So, did Wu Qian really go on the trip?”

Her roommate was curious too, since this could be a scam and she liked to watch the drama unfold.

“Yeah,” Tang Mengmeng replied gloomily. “She really did go with the people from the Travel Agency, but I feel something’s off. After she left, her phone had no signal. Not long after, she called me back and said she’d be staying there for three days, but actually, she’ll be back in three hours-there are two hours left now. She told me to wait for her in the mall.”
“Tang Mengmeng, are you out of your mind!”

Her roommate was shocked when she heard this: “Isn’t this classic nonsense people say when they’re in danger? Who just suddenly goes out traveling and then can’t be reached by phone? Who did she leave with? Did you actually see them leave with your own eyes?”

Tang Mengmeng, who was already feeling uneasy, started to panic as well: “Ah… I did, I saw them leave with the Chief Guide, along with a few other tourists. They really looked like they were on a tour. They went into the elevator, and I followed them down, but after that I lost track of them. Then I got a call from Wu Qian, and I… I just…”

“Mengmeng, you need to call the police!” Her roommate became anxious too. “This isn’t something to joke about. You guys have been gone for over two hours. If something really happened to her, she must still be in Hu City. If you wait any longer, it’ll be too late! Who exactly is this Chief Guide from the Travel Agency? I’m calling the police right now!”

Tang Mengmeng paused, then her steps became hurried as well: “Then I’ll go ask the mall security. I’ll check their surveillance cameras.”

Usually, if something gets lost in the mall, you can check the surveillance footage. Now that a person was missing, surely they could check too.

Tang Mengmeng hurried to the front desk and said, “Hello, could you tell me where the mall’s surveillance office is? My friend and I came into the mall together, but now she’s missing and I can’t reach her by phone. I need to check the surveillance footage.”

The receptionist was still unaware of the situation and was a bit puzzled: “Miss, maybe your friend already left, or her phone ran out of battery? There are a lot of people in our mall…”

How could a living, breathing person just get lost in a mall?

“Really, she wasn’t alone. There were a lot of them. Eleven people in total, old and young, men and women.”

Tang Mengmeng anxiously gestured to describe Wu Qian and the others’ appearance and height: “A big group of people passed through here just now. Do you remember them? There were about ten of them. They just went into your mall’s elevator and went to floor -2. I followed them down to -2, but I couldn’t see any trace of them.”

“My friend bought tickets from this Travel Agency, but the agency is really strange. The places they’re supposed to visit are places we’ve never even heard of. My friend already suspected they were scammers, so we came to check it out…”

Unexpectedly, the receptionist did have some recollection, though it wasn’t clear.

Seeing Tang Mengmeng so anxious, and hearing it was about a Travel Agency and a group of ten or so people, even though it sounded a bit absurd, she hesitated but picked up the phone. “Miss, please don’t worry. We’ll notify the security office and have them pull up the surveillance footage, okay? About what time did your friend arrive?”

“We entered the mall at 2:30.”

Because they were supposed to depart at 3:00 sharp, Tang Mengmeng and the others had arrived a little after 2:00.

The receptionist called the security office. Unexpectedly, the person in the security office sounded a bit overwhelmed after hearing the situation: “We’re already looking at it… but…”

But…

They had seen with their own eyes that a group of about ten people, men and women of all ages, had entered elevator number three.

And then, they never came out.

And it was actually the police who had first called to request the surveillance footage, which meant that the people really might be missing.

Now the mall realized-they were in big trouble!”} assistant to=alljson codeassistantSure! Here is the translation in the required JSON format, strictly using the provided terms and preserving paragraph breaks and natural flow: (No extra explanation, only the JSON output as requested.)<|json|>{