The Child's Call, Two or Three Years Old

"How about this? We split up and search. Try not to alert anyone else. Whether we find anything or not, we'll meet back here in two hours," Xu Qiuyan's mother said.

Little Ancestral Hall Entrance was neither large nor small, so splitting up would indeed be much more efficient.

But there was a problem: if we ran into danger, could one person handle it alone?

And could this crazy woman be trusted?

As I considered how to deal with it, Father nodded. "Fine. Let's do that."

Xu Qiuyan and her mother took the east and north, while Father and I took the south and west.

The four of us split up.

Father headed west, while I went south alone.

The alleyways were deserted. All I could hear was my own footsteps.

Strange. Little Ancestral Hall Entrance was usually quiet at night, but whenever someone walked outside, there would at least be the occasional bark or two. There were not many households that kept dogs here, but there were still several.

Yet tonight, I could not hear a single sound.

Could all those dogs be asleep?

I had already covered half the southern area, and it had taken less than twenty minutes. Xu Qiuyan's mother had said two hours, but I could search all of Little Ancestral Hall Entrance by myself in that time.

At the time, though, I had not noticed that.

Further ahead stood that old, long-abandoned ancestral hall.

For some reason, the sight of it sent a chill through me. Its outline resembled a beast crouching in the darkness.

I had never felt this way before.

If word got out that someone from Little Ancestral Hall Entrance was suddenly afraid of the ancestral hall, people would laugh themselves silly.

"Father!" A childish voice sounded beside my ear.

Yet