"Found them?"
"Found them!"
The two police officers hurried over to him. They craned their necks and looked around in the direction he was pointing, utterly confused.
"Where?"
"Over there! They're asleep in the tree!"
At the first fork in the trunk, where it branched upward, the thickest limbs stretched in different directions. About five feet off the ground, four or five branches formed a natural platform. Three kids around ten years old—a boy in a sailor shirt, a boy in a white tank top, and a little girl in a pale yellow dress—were sprawled across it, fast asleep.
"Where? Which branch? The leaves are too thick. I can't see them!"
Shen Le pointed several times, but the officers still couldn't see a thing. He gave up, strode forward, rubbed his hands together, and tried to climb the tree. But he hadn't climbed in ages. He rushed at it twice and failed both times. With no other choice, he snatched the Life Detector's probe from the officer and poked it upward.
There was a soft pop, as if a bubble had burst. Then both officers cried out at once:
"I see them! I see them!"
"They're right up in the tree!"
"That's strange. How did we not see them before?"
"They're so obvious on that branch!"
At least they'd found the kids. The auxiliary officer hurried to the tree and crouched down, clasping his hands together. Shi Guangbing backed up, ran forward, stepped onto his partner's hands, and sprang up into the tree.
"Careful! Pass them down carefully!"
One handed them down while the other caught them, carrying the two boys and the girl off the branch and lowering them safely to the ground. The three kids didn't wake until their feet touched the ground. Rubbing their eyes, they were immediately questioned by the officers:
"How did you end up here?"
"We climbed over the wall! There's a low section at the back. It's easy to get over!"
Shen Le followed them to take a look. Sure enough, in a corner by the servants' quarters behind Wangxian Tower, there was a low wall with a broad, flat top. A ladder had even been left by its base. Climbing up it, he saw a trash can on the other side. Step on the lid, and you could climb right onto the wall.
Shen Le: "..."
He strode over and hauled the ladder away with all his might. As he dragged it, he ground his teeth.
Tomorrow, he'd find someone to put up a wire fence! Every inch of wall around the whole estate—wire all the way around!
The two officers leaned over to look as well. They couldn't think of anything to say, so they continued asking the three kids why they'd gone out to play. The kids all started talking at once, squawking like a flock of ducks:
"School is so tiring!"
"After school, we have to learn piano and painting every day. We never get any free time. We finally got a chance to sneak out!"
"You think piano lessons are bad? I have to learn the erhu. My dad yells at me, my mom yells at me, even the neighbors yell at me!"
Shen Le's heart gave a jolt. He looked at the boy who learned the erhu. No matter how he studied the kid's face, he couldn't see much resemblance to the boy in his memory. He could only assume the kid took after his mother. As he tried to recall, he heard the officers ask:
"How did you find out about this place?"
The two boys glanced at each other but didn't answer. The little girl in the pale yellow dress lifted her head, her voice clear and bright.
"A big sister brought us here to play!"
"What did she look like?"
"She was really pretty! She wore a bright red dress with beautiful flowers on it!"
"And that big sister had one here..." The little girl tilted her head and pointed to the corner of her right eye.
"She had a really pretty red mole!"
A red mole?
A cinnabar mole at the corner of her right eye?!
Shen Le dug his nails into the web of his thumb, just managing to keep his expression unchanged. The young officer, Shi Guangbing, had already shot him a quick glance.
"Have you seen someone like that?"
"Nope!"
Shen Le shook his head with complete confidence. As if! He'd seen a puppet like that, sure—but a living person? Never!
Shi Guangbing was a neighborhood officer, not a detective. Although he was observant enough to sense that something was off about the owner of 18 Nanhua Street, he wasn't about to start interrogating Shen Le and grilling him for answers. He hadn't slept all night! Finding the kids was already the best possible outcome. He didn't have the energy to go searching for some "big sister" too!
Besides, his gut told him the homeowner in front of him really had nothing to do with this...
He reported the situation to his colleagues over the radio, then led the kids outside. Shen Le followed close behind, seeing them out and helping keep an eye on the children. And, as a bonus, he'd get something to eat on the way. After walking two streets, they were almost at the Police Station when a huge crowd of parents came rushing over.
"Hanhan! Hanhan, how did you end up here?"
"Yuanyuan, are you all right? Does anything hurt? Why didn't you come home in the middle of the night? Why didn't you tell your mom and dad?"
"Smack!"
"Hey, don't hit the kid!"
Some questioned the children, some fussed over them, and some went straight to hitting them. Men and women alike, it was a complete mess. In the distance, a middle-aged man came sprinting over, drenched in sweat.
"Hanhan!—Hanhan!"
"Skreeee!"
A car screeched to a halt. The driver leaned out and shouted:
"Are you trying to get yourself killed?!"
The middle-aged man didn't even look at him. Or rather, his entire world consisted of his son, standing amid the crowd with a police officer holding his hand.
He was carrying a schoolbag in his right hand and a bag of soy milk, flatbread, and tea eggs in his left. He raced toward them, but just as he was about to arrive, his foot caught on the ground and he pitched forward, slamming face-first into the pavement.
With a thud, Shen Le's shoulders tensed. Just hearing it made him wince for the man.
But the man seemed not to feel a thing. His eyes were fixed on the child as he checked him from head to toe. Seeing that the boy was whole, with no cuts or bruises, he let out a relieved smile.
Even as he fell, the man had thrust both hands upward to keep the food and schoolbag safe. He paused, braced himself on his elbows, then scrambled back to his feet.
"Hanhan, are you okay?—Hurry and eat. Once you've eaten, go to school!"
Not a drop of soy milk had spilled. The flatbread hadn't fallen, and not even one extra crack had appeared on the tea eggshells. The schoolbag in his other hand had only gotten a little dusty. Its clasp hadn't come undone, and not a single textbook, pencil, or workbook had spilled out.
Hanhan stood there stunned for a long moment. Then an officer nudged him forward, and he finally went to take the breakfast from his father. He gobbled it down hungrily. His father carried the schoolbag in one hand and rested the other on his son's shoulder as they headed toward the school.
As they walked, the man held his head high and sang off-key:
"In this life, our duty must be done. How could we let an inch of land belong to others..."
Shen Le quietly took two steps back. He recognized the middle-aged man's voice. It was the same man who'd yelled at his son and thrown away the boy's puppet. But... but...
Meanwhile, at the home of another missing child—the boy who was learning the erhu—two people were busy searching. A baby-faced young man held a long pole with a sensor on the end, sweeping it everywhere, from the ceiling to the floor, under the bed and behind the cabinets.
The other, a young man dressed in Tang-style clothing, kept questioning the boy's mother.
"Has anything unusual happened in your home recently? Any unexplained noises, objects mysteriously moved, strange handprints or footprints appearing out of nowhere, red tap water, anything like that?"
"No, nothing like that... Does it count if my child doesn't listen and just plays all day instead of doing his homework?"
"Uh... that's not the kind of unusual thing we mean. Also, do you have any old items at home, or have you damaged or thrown away any recently?"
"Well, actually, we did just throw out a puppet. It was passed down from the child's great-grandfather. Lately, he's been playing with it all the time!"