That night, Ke Meng returned home.
He parked in a roadside parking space. As soon as he got out, he noticed a crowd gathered outside the convenience store, apparently discussing something.
Ke Meng put on his sunglasses for a look first, but saw no stains.
At this late hour, the golden light on the ground had already faded. The dark areas brightened while the brightly lit parts of the convenience store dimmed, making for a strange view.
He took off his glasses and approached the crowd, where he spotted Chen Momo. She wore a short yellow T-shirt and blue jeans. Too short to see over everyone, she stood on tiptoe on her little legs to peer inside.
He called out to Chen Momo. The ponytailed girl turned around and squeezed out of the crowd.
"What happened? Why is everyone gathered over there?"
"The tree out front disappeared. Everyone's worried that a Special Item might have appeared nearby," Chen Momo said anxiously.
Without the official public education campaign, no one would have thought of that.
Sometimes, failing to spot the warning signs before a situation erupted could lead to more deaths.
Other times, though, ignorance was bliss.
In short, educating the public about special phenomena had its pros and cons. Keeping everyone in the dark was not necessarily right. After lengthy discussions, the higher-ups had ultimately decided to make the basics public so people would stay alert to such incidents, while releasing related information selectively.
"We're reporting it to the police and sending them photos." Chen Momo pulled out her phone. She was using an app's police reporting service, which allowed users to upload pictures and videos.
The Investigation Bureau's response was also very prompt. Ke Meng saw a message on Chen Momo's phone: "This may be related to a Special