Li Wei soon met the survivors. There were five of them, all men, and each had suffered injuries of varying severity. They looked terrified when he appeared, unsure what to say.
Li Wei was used to that, though. He glanced over the group and pointed at the man standing in front.
"You. Come here."
At Li Wei's command, the five exchanged glances before that man stepped up to him.
"Name, age, sex, occupation."
"Victor. Forty-two. Male. Patrol officer."
The man was clearly accustomed to routine police questioning. Well, that stood to reason.
"The others weren't originally with you, were they?"
Li Wei glanced at the four men behind Victor. Victor's clothes were still recognizable as a police uniform, but the others looked more like hikers or explorers.
"Ah..."
Officer Victor sighed helplessly at Li Wei's question.
"They came looking for their missing companions."
"...I thought this place was supposed to be completely sealed off?"
"That's why I'm here."
Officer Victor then explained their situation to Li Wei. As the Old Butler had said, after two groups of people disappeared in succession, the forest had been temporarily closed off. But the families of the missing railway workers and Search Team members naturally weren't willing to let the matter drop so easily. The local Police Station had therefore assigned officers to patrol the entrance and prevent anyone from entering the forest.
Officer Victor was a member of the Patrol Team. Not long ago, during his night patrol, he had encountered a group of people-friends and relatives of the missing railway workers and Search Team members. As far as they were concerned, if the authorities refused to send anyone to search for them, they would go themselves!
Naturally, Officer Victor had tried to stop them. But the group had come prepared. Driving two