"Hello, ma'am," a bespectacled man of about thirty said, stepping forward first. "Please don't panic. Tell us exactly what happened."
He bent slightly as he spoke, bringing himself level with the old woman's eyes. That small, unspoken gesture won him considerable goodwill.
The old woman looked at him, her cloudy eyes showing that she was recalling the past.
"My little granddaughter is such a lively child. Everyone loves her, and she gets the very best grades in her class. Her teachers all say she'll go far someday..."
The bespectacled man nodded, gently steering the conversation back on track.
"Could you give us some more details? For example, how old is Fanfan? What does she look like? Where and when exactly did she disappear...?"
The old woman stared blankly for a while, seemingly struggling to understand what he had said.
"Fanfan... Fanfan is in fourth grade. She..." The old woman blinked, looking momentarily confused. "She gets the very best grades in her class. Her teachers all say she'll go far someday..."
They had finally gotten a little information, only for the old woman to circle back to what she had already said.
The man adjusted his glasses and turned to the others. "As you can see, she isn't entirely lucid. I can't get anything else out of her right now, so I'm heading upstairs."
By upstairs, he naturally meant inside the old residential building-the only one untouched by the white fog.
Quite a few veteran players also tried talking to her. Throughout it all, the old woman appeared to listen and answer earnestly, but whatever she said always circled back to those same few lines.
Eventually, they too gave up in frustration and followed the bespectacled man, who had the air of a leader, into the building.
Lu Mi had stood