Only then did I realize there was a problem I'd overlooked.
Wu Ling had said the police from the station found Yu Chuanfeng. The police from the station had found Yu Chuanfeng; he hadn't come back on his own.
What was going on? Had I followed the wrong... ghost?
No, that couldn't be right. I hadn't followed the wrong ghost. They had it wrong!
"He thought they'd made a mistake, but the police called several times. He just went to check, and it really was Fengfeng! It really was..." Yu Chuanfeng's father's voice had gone shrill.
Yu Chuanfeng's mother turned around. "Then..."
"That's a ghost... That's a ghost... Hurry, hurry, let's go!" Yu Chuanfeng's father tugged at his mother again. His hand stopped just before pressing the elevator button. "No, the stairs. We'll take the stairs..."
He dragged her into the stairwell, muttering as they went, "We'll find Fengfeng first. Then we'll go to a temple. We'll ask a monk to chant sutras... We should sell the house. Sell the house..."
His voice seemed to grow louder and louder, beyond his control.
I was standing by the elevator, yet I could hear the loud echoes coming from the stairwell.
I shuddered and snapped out of it, then spun around and raced toward Yu Chuanfeng's home.
Yu Chuanfeng backed away from the door one step at a time.
The look on his face made me uneasy. I reached out and shouted, "Yu Chuanfeng!"
Neither my outstretched hand nor my shout caught his attention.
His face wore the fragile expression of a child, like a lost boy who had no idea how to find his parents.
"Yu Chuanfeng, can you hear me? I'm Lin Qi, Zheng Wei's colleague. Can you hear me? Yu Chuanfeng, Yu Chuanfeng! Don't get worked up right now.