Xu Jiu heard it too.
Not only did he hear it, but of everyone there, he was the only one who had sat up, giving him an unobstructed view of the scene below.
A group of black-clad men slipped into the alley as though they knew it by heart. Without even going to the front entrance to check the words "Zhang Residence" on the plaque, they found a corner planted with a towering kapok tree and nimbly vaulted inside.
"We're here to catch these men." Zhang Xiao, who had quietly sat up, withdrew his gaze and looked at Xu Jiu with calm, candid eyes. "We suspect they're the culprits behind the recent disappearances of children in Xiyuan City."
Xu Jiu: "..."
Although there was no conclusive evidence yet, putting this together with all the strange things that had unsettled him earlier, he already believed most of it.
But he still had one pressing question. "How did you know these men would come to the Zhang Residence to commit a crime?"
Zhang Xiao answered steadily, "The four of us happened to overhear servants from the Zhang Residence chatting. According to them, whenever they've gone out with their young master lately, they've felt someone following them."
It could hardly be called happenstance.
The four of them had sneaked into the city and spent days gathering information everywhere. Only after several full days of investigation and elimination had they identified those men's next target, but he had no intention of telling an outsider about all the hardships involved.
Xu Jiu caught the implication hidden in those words and fell silent for a moment. "Has a child from your family gone missing too?"
"No."
In an instant, every trace of expression vanished from Zhang Xiao's face. He merely replied solemnly, "We live on the