County Town Kidnapping Case

Hu Ya took out her phone and answered it.

Her face suddenly changed. "He left the martial arts gym, but he didn't go home... Your home is only a few steps away. How could he still not be there after half an hour?... All right, wait for me. I'm coming over right away!"

"What happened?" Lin Xiaosu had already stepped one foot through his own courtyard gate, but he stopped.

Hu Ya said, "One of the junior students at the martial arts gym left after class but never went home. He's missing."

The martial arts gym she mentioned was one she had opened with a partner.

Why had she opened it?

Hu Ya loved fighting. She didn't know how to do anything else.

"How old is he?"

"Ten!"

"A ten-year-old isn't that little. He knows how to get home. Maybe he went wandering around the streets?"

"I hope so, but the county town has been strange lately. A child went missing last week too. They searched for an entire week and still couldn't find him. The parents have been making a scene at the school every day, demanding their child back. The school is at its wits' end. No, I have to go take a look..."

"I'll go with you," Lin Xiaosu said.

"Let's go!" Hu Ya ran into her courtyard and rode out on a miniature electric scooter. Lin Xiaosu sat behind her, and the little scooter shot out of the village in a trail of dust, heading toward Phoenix City.

Phoenix City was merely a tiny eighth-tier county town. Theoretically, it was separated from Old Tashan Village by only one mountain, but that mountain was a little too high and a little too large. To the people in this little village, the county town seemed ten thousand miles away.

To get from this mountain village to the county town, they had to make a detour through Shilipu. It was quite a long way.

Fortunately, in recent years, the project to connect every village by road had begun. Even remote rural villages now had hardened, level roads, and the little electric scooter sped along merrily.

Hu Ya was anxious, and she drove at top speed.

Lin Xiaosu was not anxious. Sitting behind Hu Ya with his arms around her waist, he admired the scenery along the way.

It was the sunny third month of spring.

The roadside grass had turned green, the willow trees had grown tender, and beneath the willows, the Yichuan River shimmered with scales of light, reflecting Tashan.

Once they sped past Tashan Lake, they entered the southern district of the county town.

When Lin Xiaosu had been little, the southern district had been desolate, nothing more than suburban villages. Now it had truly become part of the county town, growing livelier and more prosperous by the day. This stretch of land was the great work of Luo Gong, the previous county chief. Secretary Luo had been known as "Madman Luo." He was arrogant and domineering, and under immense pressure, he had forcibly expanded the county town threefold. How had he done it?

His classic saying was: "Turn yellow earth into gold, trade blank paper for silver."

What did that mean?

Turning yellow earth into gold meant selling land.

Trading blank paper for silver meant issuing IOUs.

No matter what difficulties he encountered, he got the job done first and talked later.

People had had strong objections to that sort of reckless, overbearing approach. Reports against him flew everywhere. Some said he ran a one-man show, some said he slept around, and some said he took red envelopes from developers—one apartment for every bribe. Yet as the southern district expanded and the little county town changed with each passing day, many people began to see Madman Luo in the proper light. Especially after he left office, people walking down the broad South City Avenue would occasionally sigh, "Madman Luo really did do a great thing."

Yes, ordinary people could not expect every official to be a moral saint. As long as he could do things, get things done, and bring real benefits to the people, if he pocketed a little money or got mixed up in a few romantic scandals, people would talk about it, laugh about it, and feel that perhaps it was not such a big deal...

The martial arts gym Hu Ya had opened with her partner was in the southern district. There was no choice—the district had only recently been built, so rent was cheap.

If it had been in the old commercial district, the rent would have been outrageously expensive. She could not have afforded the investment at all.

When they reached the entrance of the martial arts gym, a crowd had gathered there.

The owner of the martial arts gym, Hu Ya's partner Old Zhou, was pacing around and smoking. Two police officers beside him were asking about the situation. A young woman, drenched in sweat and unable to sit still, rushed over the moment she saw Hu Ya. "Teacher Li, I only sent my child here because of you. Now my child is missing. You have to hurry and think of something..."

"Little Wang, don't panic. Aren't the police here? We're looking for him..." Old Zhou tossed away his cigarette butt and stepped forward to take over.

"What happened?" Hu Ya stared at Old Zhou...

"It's damned strange. He was still here after class. When he left, it was just like usual, but then he vanished into thin air..." Old Zhou wiped the sweat from his forehead and explained what had happened.

Two more police officers came over from the other side. "Captain Zhang, there are cameras at all four intersections. We checked them separately, and the child was indeed not seen passing through any of them."

"What about vehicles?" The middle-aged police captain's face darkened.

This was the situation they feared most when investigating a missing-person case: the child had been carried into a vehicle in a surveillance blind spot, then driven away.

Vehicles were highly mobile. With even the slightest delay, the trail would snap amid the vast sea of people.

"There are too many vehicles. We've already compiled the license plates of every vehicle that passed through this area during that time, but narrowing down their destinations will take time."

"Investigate! No matter how long it takes, investigate!"

The young mother surnamed Wang grabbed Captain Zhang's hand. "Officer, you have to help me find my son! If my son is gone, I... I really can't go on living. I..."

For a moment, everything became a chaotic mess.

Lin Xiaosu gently patted Hu Ya's shoulder. "Doesn't your martial arts gym have a camera at the entrance? Pull up the footage and let me see it."

"That... that camera can only cover about ten meters outside the entrance. It can't reach here."

"It's fine. Turn it on and let me see..."

Hu Ya turned on her phone and entered the recording system, rewinding the time to an hour earlier. Lin Xiaosu saw the boy she had mentioned. He wore a blue hoodie and was chubby and adorable.

Now that he knew what the child looked like, the rest would be easy...

Lin Xiaosu's eyes shifted slightly as he entered Temporal Reversal...

His heart gave a faint jolt. He saw...

Captain Zhang's side had already descended into chaos. The woman surnamed Wang had knelt down before Captain Zhang, sobbing so hard she could barely speak, on the verge of breaking down.

Captain Zhang was full of pent-up frustration, but he could not let it out. He could only repeat over and over, "Ms. Wang, we understand what a child means to parents right now. Don't worry. As long as there's the slightest hope, we'll give it everything we have. Go home first and wait..."

Ms. Wang burst into tears. "Jiang Yang is gone. How can I go home? If I go back, my husband will beat me to death. I... I deserve to die! Why wasn't I waiting for him at the entrance? I..."

Another female officer who had been taking notes pulled her up in an embrace. "Sister Wang, don't do this. Our people are already checking the passing vehicles. The moment there's any news, we'll..."

Suddenly, a voice rang out. "Captain Zhang, you may be looking in the wrong direction."

It was Lin Xiaosu's voice.

He was standing in the narrow gap between two buildings.

Everyone's gaze swished onto his face. Countless brows furrowed at once. Who was this guy?

Lin Xiaosu said, "This is a surveillance blind spot. The child could have been carried into a vehicle here, but it's also possible that he never got into a vehicle at all. He may have gone into this gap."

He pointed behind him at the narrow gap.

The gap was very narrow. A tree stood at the front, along with a huge billboard.

"What nonsense are you talking?" the female officer said. "This isn't even an alley. It's just a gap, not even a meter wide. The ground is covered in trash. Who would walk through there?"

"Under normal circumstances, of course no one would. But is this a normal circumstance?" Lin Xiaosu said.

Hu Ya stepped forward. "Did you find something?"

"There are fresh footprints here. Just as this officer said, who would walk through here under normal circumstances? So the very fact that there are footprints is abnormal!" Lin Xiaosu said.

The officers looked at one another. Captain Zhang strode over and stared in the direction Lin Xiaosu was pointing. There really was half a footprint there. "That's an adult's footprint, not a child's!"

"What if the child was being carried in his hand?"

Captain Zhang froze.

"Ahem... To be honest, Captain Zhang, I'm from the mountains. I have a special skill—I can smell traces in the air. I'm certain that the child was taken into this gap."

The female officer frowned. "Smell traces? What are you, a dog?"

Hu Ya looked utterly baffled. You have that skill? Why didn't I know?

Ms. Wang seized on the idea. "Officer, he's right! Bring over a police dog and let it try. Don't police dogs track people best?"

"Sister Wang, you... you've turned police dogs into something magical. They're useless in a city unless your child has some special scent on him, like drugs..."

Lin Xiaosu had already entered the gap. He moved quickly through it, and soon emerged onto another street. Hu Ya squeezed through behind him. "What kind of stunt are you pulling? Since when could you smell things?"

Lin Xiaosu had no answer.

He could clearly see where the child had gone, but making others accept it was another difficult matter.

When he solved the Widow Feng Bathing Case, he could still use footprints and signs of movement as a cover. But how could he cover it up here? That damned man had gotten straight into a vehicle, and the process had been extremely concealed. A battered van had stopped right at the opening of the gap on this side. Its door opened from the other side, the child was stuffed inside, and it drove away. Even if there was a camera across the street, it would not have captured that movement...

Talk of traces and footprints could not support a chain of pursuit in a city.

Only something as elusive as scent could serve as a cover.

So what if a person could do what a dog could do?

For the sake of keeping a family's sky from collapsing, for the sake of Hu Ya's martial arts gym staying open, I'll go all out! I'll be a police dog for once!

"Hu Ya, bring your little scooter over. We'll follow this scent!"

"Okay!" Hu Ya turned to squeeze back through the gap.

Suddenly, a voice came from the other side. "Get in. We'll go together!"

It was a police car.

The female officer stuck her head out of the window.

"Didn't... didn't you say you didn't believe me?" Lin Xiaosu said.

"I never said I believed you. But a police officer's greatest virtue is never overlooking any possibility..." the female officer said. "Get in!"

The police car sped off, while Lin Xiaosu retraced the path all the way...

"Left!"

"Right!"

"Straight ahead..."

Ahead was a construction site. It was only half-built and had been abandoned for some unknown reason. After one spring, the grass had grown tall and thick.

Lin Xiaosu raised a hand. "Stop!"

The female officer stopped the car. The three got out and stood at the entrance to the construction site.

Light flickered in Hu Ya's eyes. "There are tire tracks here, and they're fresh."

"Where?" The female officer searched the ground with her gaze.

Hu Ya lifted her hand and pointed at the ground. "This site has been shut down for over half a year. Not even a ghost's father has come knocking. Who would drive a vehicle in there? Other than thieves with ghosts in their hearts..."

Let's go!

Let's take a look...

The three crept through the overgrown construction site. Ahead stood several warehouses. The moment they reached the warehouse entrance, the female officer Zhou Mei's eyes lit up. She spotted a van at once.

The van was so battered that no one would want it even if it were abandoned by the roadside. Driving it into an abandoned construction site was suspicious enough, but it had not been parked outside the warehouse—it had been driven inside. That was even more suspicious.

Could they really crack this major case?

Sweat seeped from her palms.

They passed beside the van. There was no one inside it.

It was dark behind them, as though the noise of the county town had been completely cut off.

The three kept their footsteps extremely quiet. After turning past several pillars, they found a corridor ahead, already shrouded in darkness.

Suddenly, a figure flashed out from a compartment beside the corridor.

The moment the figure appeared, Lin Xiaosu locked onto him. He could clearly see that this was the man who had kidnapped the boy. But the man's movements were extraordinarily strange. In a single flash, he crossed five meters and arrived before them.

There was a knife in his hand!

A black knife!

"Watch out!" Lin Xiaosu shouted. His eyesight could dominate all under heaven, but his hands and feet were still those of an ordinary person. What his eyes saw slowed into motion, but the speed at which he could command his own limbs was even slower...