After Lili and Taozi walked off into the distance, Han Xue, who was beside me, let out a breath and sat back down on the ground.
“Hey, Chen Yang… that Aunt Qing looks pretty refined and well-dressed, but honestly, she doesn’t seem very hygienic.”
“Hm?” I pulled my gaze back and looked at Han Xue. “Why do you say that?”
“Didn’t you notice? I was squatting right next to her—I saw it clearly. There was dirt all under her fingernails.”
She sighed before continuing, “Her hands looked like someone who’s done a lot of farm work. Really doesn’t match her demeanor.”
I frowned and looked toward the direction where the three of them had disappeared.
“There shouldn’t… be any problem, right?”
“Huh?” Han Xue looked up at me. “What problem? You mean Aunt Qing?”
“Yeah… I just feel a bit uneasy.”
Han Xue waved her hand dismissively. “Uneasy about what? Since when did you start jumping at shadows like this? Two people escorting an old lady home—what could possibly happen? Instead of worrying about that, why don’t you think about why that brat Xu Shu isn’t back yet?”
“It’s far. Even if she ran the whole way, it’d take at least ten or twenty minutes. It hasn’t been that long—just be patient.”
But just as I turned around, speaking of the devil—there she was.
In the distance, Zhou Wen and Xu Shu came running toward us under an umbrella, carrying two more in their arms.
When they got closer, Han Xue stood up and patted off her clothes. “Zhou Wen, why did you come too?”
Zhou Wen glanced at the pavilion, now with only the two of us, then looked around. “Where’s Taozi?”
Xu Shu also looked confused. “Weren’t they just here? Where did Lili and the others go in such a short time?”
Xu Shu had brought jackets for both Han Xue and me.
After wrapping up, I replied, “Aunt Qing insisted on going home, but her legs weren’t in good shape, so the two of them went to escort her back first.”
Zhou Wen frowned. “Aunt Qing? Who’s that?”
Xu Shu quickly explained, “Didn’t I just tell you? We met an older woman here and chatted for a bit—we called her Aunt Qing.”
“Mm…” Zhou Wen nodded, scanning the area again. “About how long before they’re back?”
It was obvious he was uneasy.
He had a strong sense of caution—whenever he was home, Taozi rarely went out alone unless he was with a group, otherwise Zhou Wen would always go along.
After thinking for a moment, Han Xue replied, “Not long. Maybe a few more minutes. It’s not like they’d go into someone’s house for tea when they know we’re waiting here, right?”
…
Ten minutes passed.
Xu Shu turned to Han Xue. “Do you think… they actually went in for tea?”
“Uh…” Han Xue looked a little embarrassed, then waved her hand.
“It’s probably just far. Aunt Qing can’t walk fast, so maybe they got delayed on the way. Let’s wait a bit longer.”
…
Another ten minutes passed.
The rain outside started pouring heavily again, just as intense as before.
Zhou Wen’s brows were tightly knit.
After pacing back and forth a couple of times, he suddenly opened his umbrella and turned back to ask, “Where does she live? I’ll go check.”
It had indeed been quite a while.
Seeing Zhou Wen heading out, I stepped under Xu Shu’s umbrella, while Han Xue opened one for herself.
“Let’s all go look together. That way we won’t have to come back and regroup—we can just head home directly after.”
Zhou Wen didn’t reply—he rushed straight into the rain.
Han Xue followed closely behind.
Xu Shu and I shared one umbrella, which made it awkward to walk along the narrow path over the pond.
By the time we finally got off it and onto solid ground, the other two had already gone ahead for quite a while.
Han Xue remembered the location Aunt Qing had mentioned earlier, so Zhou Wen had her lead the way.
Watching the two figures ahead, Xu Shu and I hurried to catch up.
The rain grew heavier and heavier.
Before long, our pants and shoes were completely soaked from the splashing water.
Xu Shu asked if I was cold—I shook my head and tried to keep up with her pace.
I hadn’t paid attention to the location Aunt Qing mentioned earlier, and Xu Shu hadn’t either.
Now Han Xue was the only one who knew.
So when she led us to a pitch-dark villa, both Xu Shu and I—and even Zhou Wen—went pale instantly.
Judging by the complete darkness stretching far around that house, it was obvious no one had been living there.
This whole area seemed abandoned.
It was like Wenwen’s neighborhood—aside from their house at the far corner, most of the houses further in had never been occupied at all.
Han Xue was just as confused when she saw it.
She repeatedly assured us that she hadn’t taken the wrong path—that this was exactly where Aunt Qing had said she lived.
A chill spread through my entire body, and I couldn’t help but shiver.
I turned my head and looked at the dark, pitch-black houses around us.
They loomed in the darkness like giant monsters crouching on the ground, as if ready to swallow us whole at any moment.
We stood there in silence for a couple of minutes.
The only sound was the rain hitting the ground.
After a long while, Zhou Wen finally turned back to look at us, his brows already tightly furrowed. “That woman… had you seen her before today?”
The three of us froze for a moment, then shook our heads. “No… we haven’t.”
Han Xue pouted and muttered softly, “People are always moving in and out of this villa area—one family moves in today, another leaves tomorrow. How would we know who lives where? It’s not like we’ve seen everyone.”
“…” After hearing that, Zhou Wen didn’t say anything more, but his frown deepened.
“I have a bad feeling about this.”
Clearing her throat, Xu Shu said, “How about we go back to the pavilion first? Maybe we just came to the wrong place, and they’re already waiting for us there.”
Zhou Wen didn’t respond.
He looked around once more, then turned and started walking back the way we came.
Han Xue followed behind us, grumbling under her breath, “I’m telling you, I didn’t remember wrong—it was definitely here. Trying to help and getting blamed for it. Should’ve known better than to lead the way.”
As we turned and left, none of us noticed that somewhere in the darkness, a pair of gloomy eyes was quietly watching us, hidden by the cover of night.
On the way back, the rain eased slightly.
We quickened our pace and returned to the small park.
It was still completely empty—not a single person in sight.
At that point, all of us realized something was wrong.
At least forty minutes had passed, yet there was still no sign of them.
Even we had walked all the way in and come back—logically, they should have returned by now.
When Zhou Wen saw the empty park, he didn’t stop—he sped up and kept moving forward.
Xu Shu whispered to me, “Let’s go back home with Zhou Wen first. Maybe they’ve already returned.”
“Mm…” I nodded, then glanced at Han Xue under the umbrella beside me.
Her face had turned noticeably pale—she had clearly realized something was off and was starting to feel scared.
Clinging to that last bit of hope, we hurried back home.
Uncle Gazi and the others were standing at the door, craning their necks waiting for us.
The moment they saw us from afar, they started waving.
Zhou Wen ran up ahead and, before even putting away his umbrella, asked, “Have Taozi and Lili come back?”
Uncle Gazi froze for a moment, took the umbrella from Zhou Wen, and placed it by the doorway before asking, “Haven’t seen them. Didn’t you two go out to deliver umbrellas? Weren’t you supposed to come back together?”
The three of us also entered the house.
Shen Feng and Yangyang handed us cups of hot water.
After taking a couple of sips, we finally felt a bit warmer, and then used towels to wipe off the rainwater from our bodies.
Seeing our expressions, Uncle Gazi seemed to realize something was wrong and asked worriedly, “What’s going on? Why didn’t those two kids come back?”
Han Xue and Xu Shu stayed silent.
Zhou Wen stood by the door, staring outside, deep in thought.
I sighed and answered, “…They’re missing.”
“What?!” Uncle Gazi’s voice shot up.
“What do you mean ‘missing’? How could they go missing? Did you guys argue again? Did you upset them so they’re throwing a tantrum and refusing to come back?”
I quickly waved my hands. “No, no, we didn’t argue. They went to escort an old woman home, and it’s been almost an hour now. We even went looking for them, but couldn’t find them anywhere.”
Shen Feng, Yangyang, and Jun Di all frowned and came over.
“Could you have just missed each other? Maybe they’re waiting somewhere for you?”
“That shouldn’t be it. When we went back, we checked the park where we split up—there was no one there.”
Uncle Gazi’s expression changed.
He slapped his thigh. “This is bad, this is bad… something must’ve happened… something must’ve happened!”
Then he looked at us, clearly frustrated. “How could you all not be more careful?”
Han Xue pursed her lips. “We didn’t think an old lady could be dangerous. Even if something happened, Taozi and Lili together couldn’t handle one old woman?”
Uncle Gazi sighed. “In times like these, people’s hearts are uneasy. Along the way, how many shady characters have we run into? All kinds of people exist. What if that old woman really had bad intentions? And if she had accomplices, with Taozi and Lili’s skinny arms and legs, how could they fight back?”
Just as Uncle Gazi finished speaking, the familiar sound of a car engine came from outside.
Hearing it stop right at the front of the house, I felt an immediate sense of relief.
Thank goodness—Suo Tian was back.
Before long, Suo Tian walked in.
Seeing Zhou Wen standing at the door, then noticing Han Xue and Xu Shu soaked through, he asked, “What happened?”
At this point, it felt like he was already used to coming home and cleaning up our messes.
Uncle Gazi turned to him and sighed. “Taozi and Lili… those two kids are missing.”
Suo Tian walked over and sat down beside me.
He reached out and touched my soaked pants, frowning slightly before asking, “When did it happen?”
— The end of the Chapter–
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