Not far from the horse track.
The little girl pulled her brother’s hand. “Brother, there’s a forest cabin over there.”
The little boy looked in the direction his sister pointed. On the open grassland stood a solitary green house.
“Brother, is that a house where elves live?”
“Brother, I want to go take a look.”
“Let’s go take a look.”
The two children headed toward the cabin, their steps quickening from a slow walk to a jog and then a run.
Faintly, a white mist rose out of thin air, but the two children charged straight into its depths as if they couldn’t see it at all.
A breeze blew past, and the white mist dissipated. All that remained on the spot was a lush, verdant little house.
“Have you seen two children?” The young mother stopped a passerby, her expression anxious. “One this tall, a seven-year-old boy, and one this tall, a three-year-old girl.”
“No.” The passerby shook their head.
The light of hope in the young mother’s eyes dimmed.
The man in a suit beside her draped an arm around her shoulders. “Don’t worry too much. I’ve already asked the security guards to look. We’ll find the kids.”
“It’s all my fault. If I’d stayed with them, they wouldn’t have gotten lost.” The young mother covered her face and wept silently.
The man in the suit lowered his gaze, his emotions unreadable.
The two continued searching and asking around.
Yuhe Garden had solid security measures. How could two children just vanish like that?
“What about the surveillance? Let’s check the surveillance!” The young mother clutched at the last straw, grabbing her husband’s sleeve. “The cameras must have caught where the kids went.”
Unfortunately, after scouring all the footage, the children had vanished into thin air without a trace.
“How could there be nothing?” The young mother’s eyes went dull. “I need to go find my children.”
“I’ve already called the police. Let’s wait for them, okay?” The man in the suit soothed his wife.
“No, I need to find my children.” The young mother stumbled out of the surveillance room. The man in the suit apologized and hurried after her.
Lin Juan and Lu Yanzhou ran into the anxious couple just as they emerged.
The young mother asked them the same question she’d repeated countless times, without much hope. “Have you seen two children…”
“No,” Lin Juan said, pointing behind him. “We were inside the whole time and just came out.”
“No…” Another negative answer left the young mother growing numb.
“Sorry, President Lu,” the man in the suit said apologetically to Lu Yanzhou. “We’ve disturbed you two. My kids went missing, and my wife is a bit worried.”
“No problem.”
The man in the suit supported the young mother as they left. From their luggage, it looked like they were heading off to keep searching.
Lin Juan watched their retreating figures in silence.
“What’s wrong, Xiao Juan?”
“I think that man is off,” Lin Juan said with a wry tug at his lips. “When kids go missing, any parents who care about them wouldn’t stay so calm. But that man—his worry is only on the surface. He seems concerned about the missing children, but there’s not a hint of real anxiety.”
“You’re right. That man’s name is Zhang Hua. He’s on his second marriage with Miss You, and her two kids are from her previous husband.”
“No wonder he’s not anxious. They’re not his biological children.” Lin Juan saw the light.
He thought that was the last he’d see of the couple. But three days later, in the afternoon, Miss You showed up at the company.
“Mr. Lin,” Miss You said as she sat on the sofa, her face pale but her demeanor no longer as listless as before. “I’d like to ask for your help.”
She held a business card in her hand—one that looked familiar. It was the one Lin Juan had given out.
She gripped it tightly, her fingertips white. “My children must still be somewhere. Mr. Lin, please help me find them.”
“I can handle certain things, but finding people might be beyond me. You should hire professionals.” Lin Juan recalled that his services didn’t include search and rescue.
“I’ve been looking for three days with nothing to show for it. I know you have some unusual abilities, Mr. Lin. I suspect my children encountered a weird event.”
“Why do you think that, Miss You?” Had the Anomalous Affairs Bureau already made the existence of weird phenomena public? He hadn’t heard about it.
“I found one of my daughter’s shoes,” Miss You said, her voice choking. “Next to the shoe was a broken twig. I had someone compare it to all the plants nearby, and nothing matched.”
“My best friend, who’s been helping me search, reminded me that my kids might have run into a weird event. She gave me this business card and said to try contacting you.”
“I understand. Take me to where you found your child’s shoe.”
As they left the company, they ran straight into Miss You’s current husband, Zhang Hua.
“Chuyao, what are you doing here?” Zhang Hua stepped forward and forcibly pulled Miss You toward him. “Sorry, Mr. Lin. Ever since the kids went missing, my wife’s mental state hasn’t been great. We’ve really disturbed you.”
“Miss You has her own will and doesn’t need you apologizing for her,” Lin Juan said with a frown. “A mother’s worry for her children is only natural. You shouldn’t reprimand her for it or label her as mentally unstable.”
Zhang Hua stiffened, caught off guard by Lin Juan’s bluntness.
You Chuyao took the chance to wrench free. “I’ll search for my own children. If you don’t want to look, go home.”
The warmth was gone from the way she looked at him.
“Chuyao, I…”
“Mr. Lin, let’s go.” Without waiting for him to finish, You Chuyao cut in.
“Over here!” After a few steps, a stylishly dressed young woman waved at them.
You Chuyao introduced her to Lin Juan. “This is my best friend, Zhao Ruoyan.”
In the car, You Chuyao recounted the events of the past few days.
They had reported it to the police at Yuhe Garden. The cops arrived promptly and launched a search right away, but the results were the same as before—nothing.
The police expanded the search area and told them to be ready for a ransom call. Children from wealthy families didn’t just disappear for no reason; kidnapping couldn’t be ruled out.
You Chuyao went home to wait for news.
As the family’s only daughter, her parents—Father You and Mother You—rushed over upon hearing the news. Seeing their daughter’s haggard state, they couldn’t bring themselves to scold her.
Mother You hugged her daughter. Thinking of her two adorable grandchildren, tears streamed down her face, but she held back her sobs for her daughter’s sake.
Father You embraced them both. “It’s okay. The children will be fine.”
Only he knew how hollow his words rang.
They began praying for a call from the kidnappers.
Anything would do, as long as they learned where the children were.
They waited and waited, but no call ever came.
Zhao Ruoyan arrived upon hearing the news. With her family’s political connections, she had access to inside info and knew the full story. She quietly told her friend that if regular people couldn’t find them, it might not be a human job.
“Not human? You mean ghosts are real?” You Chuyao lay at the head of her bed. Zhang Hua had gone out searching but, worried about her, asked Zhao Ruoyan to stay the night.
“Keep it down,” Zhao Ruoyan glanced around, confirming no one else was in the room, and whispered. “Not ghosts, but close enough. It’s a special situation. This is all I can tell you—it’s from my uncle. There are some things in this world that don’t follow common sense. If it’s one of those, I can recommend someone who might help.”
You Chuyao just wanted to find her children. No matter how outlandish Zhao Ruoyan’s words sounded, she was willing to try.
Conveniently, that same midnight, the You Family’s search team found a shoe in a remote, deserted spot not far from Yuhe Garden.
Seeing the dusty shoe, You Chuyao’s tears rolled down. “It’s Little Treasure’s. She loved this pair and insisted on wearing them. Where did you find it? Did you find anyone?”
Hope surged in her heart. At least now they had a lead—no more blind searching.
You Chuyao couldn’t wait another moment. Ignoring her family’s objections, she rushed to the discovery site. They searched every inch, but still no children. All they found there was a strange twig.
“The twig looks like this.” You Chuyao pulled out the twig.
Lin Juan took it. It was dark red, rough, with odd protrusions. Most importantly, he sensed pollution on it.
Faint, but unmistakable.
“You found the right person,” Lin Juan said, placing the twig back in the box. “Don’t touch this thing much. From the time it was found until now, how many people have handled it?”
“Just me. I worried it might be problematic, so I didn’t let anyone else touch it,” You Chuyao said.
She wasn’t concerned about herself, but Zhao Ruoyan was frantic. “Mr. Lin, Chuyao touched this thing. Will it have any bad effects?”
“Not in the short term. In fact, Miss You will be key to finding your children.”
The car pulled over to the roadside. You Chuyao explained, “No road ahead. We have to go on foot.”
They pushed through tangled underbrush to a clearing.
Lin Juan sensed dense pollution aura.
It was like an invisible barrier isolating the pollution inside. Only by passing through could he feel it.
“Miss Zhao, wait out here for us.” Considering the effects of pollution on ordinary people, Lin Juan said.
“Okay.” Zhao Ruoyan knew the harm weird phenomena posed to normals and complied.
Lin Juan led You Chuyao inside.
“We’ve searched this place many times and found nothing,” You Chuyao said, sticking close behind Lin Juan.
“That’s normal. The weird phenomenon here is hidden. I need to uncover it.”
It looked like barren grassland all around, but Lin Juan was patient. He circled repeatedly, holding the twig. Once inside this area, it had plumped up like it absorbed water.
The texture no longer felt like a branch but like a vine.
What You Chuyao had picked up wasn’t a twig at all—it was a vine segment.
Restored to its true form, the dark red turned vivid crimson, with what looked like blood pulsing inside. In Lin Juan’s hand, it didn’t feel like a plant anymore, but a living blood vessel.
Pulsing rhythmically.
“Little Treasure!” You Chuyao shouted into the void.
“Mr. Lin, I see it! Little Treasure is over there!”
Lin Juan looked where You Chuyao pointed.
Where there should have been nothing, a wooden cabin appeared abruptly.
Neon lights hung around the cabin, casting a warm yellow glow. Lush vines draped from the roof. Through the window, he saw a large wooden table inside. Two children sat with their backs to them, the table laden with food.
“Little Treasure!” You Chuyao called several times, but got no response.
“Mr. Lin, why aren’t Little Treasure and her brother reacting?” You Chuyao ached to rush over and scoop up her children.
