After transmigrating, he supported his family by working at a garbage dump.

Xu Wenjie hurriedly left his house, feeling vaguely uneasy.

As the sun dimmed and dusk approached, the narrow path leading from Yagutan to the village became even more tranquil.

The lingering chill of spring breeze brushed past his ears, tugging at his uneasy heart and making him even more flustered.

Xu Wenjie tightened his collar and hurried toward Old Man Deng's house, praying that the children were still playing there.

However, this long day always seemed to be filled with misfortunes for him.

The courtyard of Uncle Deng's house was quiet.

Xu Wenjie peered over the courtyard wall but saw no children and heard no sounds of them playing or laughing.

Only Old Man Deng was sitting quietly by the fire, intently splitting bamboo strips, occasionally looking up towards the courtyard gate.

Clearly, the two children are not here.

Xu Wenjie's heart tightened.

Suppressing his anxiety and clinging to a sliver of hope, he greeted them directly over the courtyard wall and began to ask questions.

"Uncle Deng, are Zhuzhu and An'an with you?"

Upon hearing the familiar voice, Old Man Deng immediately looked up, squinted at the figure outside the courtyard, and after confirming that the person was indeed Xu Wenjie, he greeted him very warmly.

"It's Mr. Xu! Please come in and have a seat!"

Xu Wenjie's mind was on his two children, so he shook his head and refused, saying, "Uncle, you're too kind. It's getting late, so I won't bother you any longer. I'm here to pick up the two children and take them home."

Then, he asked about the children's whereabouts, "Are Zhuzhu and the others inside?"

The lights were on inside, but there was no one moving around.

Old Deng hadn't noticed anything unusual yet and was still smiling as he said, "The children did come this afternoon, but they left after playing for a while. They even brought a young girl with them. Tuanyuan said he would take them for a walk around the village before going back. I was just thinking that Tuanyuan should be back by now, judging from the weather."

Xu Wenjie shook his head. "They didn't go home."

Old Deng paused, sensing something was wrong through Xu Wenjie's barely concealed anxiety. "What's wrong? Haven't they gone home yet? Where's Tuanyuan? Isn't Tuanyuan at your house?"

As he spoke, he hurriedly dropped the bamboo stick in his hand, his aged face covered with worry: "Has something happened to the children?"

The matter is still unresolved, and Xu Wenjie dares not say anything. Although Xu Zhuzhu can hide at the garbage station at any time if danger arises, there is always a chance of something going wrong, especially since Zhang Xiaolin is still missing.

But he still prayed that the children were just playing somewhere in the village and had forgotten to go home, and that they were all safe and sound.

Not wanting to worry Old Man Deng, Xu Wenjie explained, "It's nothing. He Niang noticed it was getting dark and asked me to pick up the children. I guess they were playing and forgot to go home, which happens often."

Deng Tuanyuan was the only thing that Old Man Deng cared about in this world. Hearing this, his hands began to tremble.

Xu Wenjie could only comfort him, "Uncle, don't worry. I'll go to the village again and see if you remember where they said they were going to play."

The village is only so big, and besides, to get to Old Man Deng's house, you have to pass by the big locust tree in the village, so no matter who it is, they can see it clearly.

The village children used to play in just one or two places, and it's obvious that the place near the big locust tree is no longer there.

Old Deng forced himself to calm down, thought carefully for a moment, and then stammered, "I... I only vaguely remember that some of the children said they were going to check the other side of the bridge. Could it be that they went down to the stream to catch fish? Or were they kidnapped by that girl?"

As he spoke, he became even more nervous and hurriedly got up, wanting to go out with Xu Wenjie to search.

After thanking him quickly, Xu Wenjie turned around and ran towards the other side of the village, ignoring Old Man Deng behind him.

The unease in his heart grew stronger and stronger, and he walked faster and faster. Old Man Deng was panting heavily behind him and couldn't keep up.

Speaking of which, the stream wasn't far from the village, and the children often went there to play. However, since the discovery of the body, Zhang He felt it was unlucky and no longer allowed the two children to go near the stream.

But the two children were young and didn't mind these things. Besides, the children were going to a different place, and they usually played with Deng Tuanyuan, often going with him to pick reeds and make small things to play with.

Deng Tuanyuan and Xu An have become sensible. They always pick herbs far away from the stream and never go swimming to play. Xu Wenjie is not worried about them.

But for some reason, he felt something was off today. It wasn't that he was afraid the child would fall into the water while playing, but rather that he was afraid of a man-made disaster...

By the time Xu Wenjie arrived at the stream, it was already dark.

The dark stream flowed silently, seemingly shallow yet capable of easily swallowing life. All around was quiet, save for the rustling of the wind through the reeds.

Xu Wenjie looked around but still couldn't find the children. His heart sank to the bottom.

He gasped for breath, the dry air rushing into his throat, making it tight and almost impossible for him to make a sound.

"An'an! Zhuzhu!"

The reply was silence, the sound of the wind...

Xu Wenjie's palms were sweaty.

……

Meanwhile, Mei Xiangyun, holding Xu Zhuzhu's hand in one hand and Xu An's hand in the other, followed behind Deng Tuanyuan, who was carrying a bundle of reeds, and carefully walked along the field path on the opposite bank of the village in the dim light.

“If I had known you were going to go this far, I shouldn’t have let you go. Why rush things? Look, it’s already dark, and you still haven’t returned. I don’t know how worried your mother is.”

Mei Xiangyun couldn't help but complain, "Why not pick reeds anytime, why today?"

Xu Zhuzhu touched her nose, feeling a little embarrassed, and gave an awkward smile.

It was her fault. If she hadn't brought up the topic and asked Deng Tuanyuan to help her make something up, Deng Tuanyuan wouldn't have insisted on coming to pick reeds.

They originally only planned to stroll around and then go home, and later they only wanted to pick some reeds before heading back. However, the reeds near the village entrance, especially the taller ones, had been mostly cut down by someone. So they had to walk downstream for a while, and by the time they did, it was already dark.

As she walked, Xu Zhuzhu felt a chill behind her, as if something was watching her closely, making her feel uncomfortable all over.

She kept looking back, feeling as if someone was following them.

A sense of foreboding welled up inside her. She nudged Xu An's hand and whispered, "Brother, do you feel... like someone is following us?"

Xu An paused for a moment, then looked back. There was no one behind him. He patted her head and replied gently, "No, Zhuzhu must have mistaken you. Your brother is here."

Mei Xiangyun noticed the two children's movements and thought that Xu Zhuzhu was scared because she was young, so she smiled and comforted her, "Yes, Zhuzhu, don't worry, it's probably just the sound of the wind blowing through the branches, you must have misheard."

Thinking that Xu Zhuzhu was tired, she squatted down again, wanting to carry Xu Zhuzhu on her back. "Come on, let Sister Mei carry you. Let's walk faster. When we get to the village, there will be more people, so we won't be afraid."

Xu Zhuzhu pursed her lips. She wasn't afraid of ghosts or gods, and although she was still a little uneasy, she didn't say anything more. But thinking that Mei Xiangyun's illness hadn't fully recovered, she refused: "I want to walk by myself."

His tone was both youthful and firm.

Mei Xiangyun shook her head and smiled, inwardly marveling at the child's extraordinary mind.

Just then, Xu Zhuzhu took her hand tightly and continued walking forward with them.

However, not long after, Xu Zhuzhu heard that faint footstep sound again.

This time, she was sure she hadn't misheard.

She stopped abruptly and looked back, vaguely seeing a dark figure moving in the reeds not far away.

Her heart leaped into her throat. She quickly tugged at Mei Xiangyun's hand and whispered, "Sister Mei, there really is someone there! Look over there!"

Mei Xiangyun looked in the direction she pointed and indeed saw the dark figure. She immediately became alert and protected Xu Zhuzhu, An'an, and Deng Tuanyuan behind her.

He shouted loudly, "Who is it? Who's there? Come out!"

The dark figure stood there quietly, seemingly contemplating its next move. Mei Xiangyun frowned, sensing something was amiss, and whispered something to Deng Tuanyuan.

"Run!"

The group started running wildly, and the figure in the reeds, as expected, stopped hiding and immediately chased after them.

As the footsteps behind her grew closer, Xu Zhuzhu's heart clenched, and she couldn't help but want to turn around and look.

Run! Don't look back!