After midnight

White clouds floated by, the grass was green, and Liujiu was sitting cross-legged beside the river bank, holding a dogtail grass in his mouth. After a while, he spit out the dogtail grass, stretched his waist and shook his legs, and seemed to be in a good mood.

"Hey, San Er. Come over and sit down. It's so comfortable. Why are you standing there all the time?"

San'er was standing not far away, looking at the calm lake. Even though he heard Liujiu's call, he remained unmoved.

Seeing that San'er had been standing there in the same state for twenty minutes, Liujiu helplessly got up and patted his butt.

"San Er, what are you looking at?"

"I'm looking at this lake, and it's exactly like how I remember it. Especially standing in this spot."

Liujiu looked over again after hearing this. This lake was no different from what he had seen before. Even the willow trees on the shore were planted exactly the same. The only difference was that the lake was a little bigger. But Liujiu curled his lips and dared not speak.

"It really looks alike." San Er said again.

"We can't conclude anything based on this alone. We have already stayed in Nanzhuang for another two days." Although Liujiu wanted to continue leisurely like this, he had to tear apart the illusion in front of him so as to urge Saner to set off quickly.

"Yes, although I stayed for two more days, I gained nothing."

"Then shall we continue heading south?" Liujiu asked cautiously.

"No, don't you think their attitude is strange? This village is different from the other villages we have visited along the way. Not only do they know nothing about anything, but they also try to hide something, no matter which household. They are so timid about what they are trying to avoid, it just makes it more obvious."

"You have a point." Liu Jiu thought about it and had to admit it. But he would not admit that he had noticed these things, and it was precisely because of these that Liu Jiu wanted to leave as soon as possible.

"Then what do you want to do?" Unable to figure out Saner's intention, Liujiu asked anxiously.

"I don't know either." San Er said and then stared at the ripples on the lake.

Liujiu let out a long sigh in his heart. At this moment, footsteps were heard in the half-human-high grass on the river bank.

"Who is it?" San Er asked in surprise.

The man who came was a middle-aged man with gray hair, vigorous spirit and steady steps. The last point can be seen from his current walking posture. He was not panicked or hurried when questioned. "My last name is Wang, you can call me Uncle Wang. I heard you are looking for a child who was lost fifteen years ago, right?"

The old man's words were like a thunderclap that exploded out of nowhere. In their panic, San Er and Liu Jiu reacted almost identically. They stepped forward and pointed at the person who came.

"how do you know?"

"you know?"

The two people performed the same actions but with different strengths, and the meanings of similar words were also different.

"Where did you hear that?"

"You know something."

The two said in unison again.

Uncle Wang first looked at Liujiu and then Saner. "If you are interested, you will know. But you don't look like locals, why are you trying to find out?"

"What about you? Why did you come here specially?" San Er threatened him. Although he disdained to attack the old man, it was a different matter if he was threatened.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Liujiu shook his head after hearing this. "Uncle Wang, don't bother with him. Come, sit over here, let's sit down and talk." Liujiu said as he went forward to pull him, but found that he couldn't pull him easily.

Uncle Wang narrowed his eyes and looked at the rippling lake water and said, "Fifteen years ago, many children were lost in the village. So the villagers are very secretive about this matter. You won't be able to find out anything even if you ask them again."

"Why, don't you look for the child if he's lost?"

"Look for it, why not? But can you find it just by looking for it? So I ask you, why are you here?"

"Uncle, don't look at me. My parents didn't abandon me." Uncle Wang's gaze made Liu Jiu feel oppressed for some reason, so he hinted. He was telling the truth because his parents died a long time ago.

"Just passing by." San Er said.

"Okay." The old man didn't point it out, but just said, "It's not convenient to talk here. If you want to follow me, just follow me."

The old man put his hands behind his back and walked slowly back to where he was walking. Saner and Liujiu stood there for a while, looked at each other, and then followed him. The slanting wind blew over, making the slender willow leaves on the lakeside rustle.

"Come in." Uncle Wang pushed the door open. Saner and Liujiu followed him into a courtyard.

"Old lady, we have guests at home." Uncle Wang shouted to the inner room. It turned out that Uncle Wang had brought them back to his own home. After Uncle Wang finished shouting, a middle-aged woman came out and passed by them and hurried into the kitchen.

"Come on, sit inside."

"Who are you? What do you want to do?" As soon as he entered the room, Liujiu asked bluntly.

"I was just a small security chief in Nanzhuang fifteen years ago."

What? Both of them looked at each other's surprised expression. This Mr. Wang was not an ordinary old man. Although Saner and Liujiu had noticed it on the way back, they were still shocked.

"Fifteen years ago, four or five children were lost in Nanzhuang within a month. As the director of the Security Bureau at the time, I had no choice but to take responsibility, but I won't talk about the result."

"Why not mention it?" Liujiu couldn't control his impatience.

"If you are here to look for your relatives, I have to tell you not to waste your energy in Nanzhuang. The families who lost their children that year have all moved away. There is only one family left, alas..." Uncle Wang sighed, and before he could finish his words, Aunt Wang brought him tea.

"Young man, have a drink of water first. If you are not in a hurry, you can stay here first. If you have any questions, it will not be too late to ask them after I meet someone tomorrow."

"Thank you, Uncle Wang." Liujiu happily took the tea and swallowed it. He was very thirsty after walking all the way. Although the tea was a little hot, Liujiu hurriedly drank two sips after two sips.

"You just let us stay here, aren't you afraid that I will kill you?" Saner glared at Liujiu, this heartless man, he was not afraid that someone would poison him to death.

"We just want an answer, why bother? Old lady, cook two more dishes for lunch today."

"I know, I know, how could I not know?" Aunt Wang muttered, but turned and walked out.

"Okay, that's enough for today. I'm tired and want to rest."

After Grandpa Wang entered the inner room, San Er picked up the water cup. There was still hot smoke coming out of the cup, but the cup wall was warm. The two old people seemed to have a good relationship, but didn't they have children? San Er put down the water cup and found that the room was indeed too clean, as if only two people lived there.

After lunch, San'er and Liujiu were led to a side room to rest. The side room was extremely simple, with only a bed that could barely fit two people, and the rest was miscellaneous items piled on a red painted table more than one meter high. But San'er and Liujiu didn't mind and went straight into the room to lie down.

The next morning, the sound of knocking on the door woke up San Er and Liu Jiu. The door of the side room opened to the yard, so as soon as they came out, they were completely awakened by the fragrant smell of food in the yard. In the warm yellow light, Auntie Wang brought out a bowl of soup and vegetables. Liu Jiu swallowed his saliva and saw Auntie Wang pour the soft and glutinous soup and vegetables into the thermos cup.

"Follow me." Uncle Wang said to the two of them.

San Er and Liu Jiu followed Uncle Wang and walked behind Aunt Wang. They went out and turned left and right on the still dark street before stopping. In front of an old gray house, Aunt Wang took out a key and opened the lock, which was hanging outside the door.

In an instant, Saner and Liujiu realized that there was someone imprisoned in this dilapidated house.

"Let's go." Uncle Wang spoke again.

The door opened, and Aunt Wang stood under the eaves and held the key high up, hanging it on the iron nail in the wall before walking in. The yard was empty, with nothing in it. With a creak, Aunt Wang pushed open the wooden door, but did not turn on the light. She took two steps forward and completely disappeared into the dark room.

"You guys go in and take a look. Remember to keep your voice down and don't turn on the lights."

"Or I won't go in." Liujiu felt his scalp shudder at the sight of this weird scene.

"It's up to you." San'er said and walked in, and Liujiu had no choice but to follow.

The natural light outside the house gradually brightened up, seeping in through the glass window that was not completely blocked by the curtains, allowing Saner and Liujiu to barely see the messy clothes and bedding scattered in the corner of the house. They were scattered on the ground and rolled up together. A woman with disheveled hair was sitting in the bedding, drinking the white rice porridge fed by Aunt Wang mouthful by mouthful, looking well-behaved but listless.

Liu Jiu only took one look and then left. He was afraid that if he looked at it again, he would remember more details. Remember the mottled walls, the thin body and empty eyes of the woman. There was no need for him to remember this.

After a while, Saner also came out.

"I'm afraid your Aunt Wang will have to stay for a while longer. Let's go back first."

"That woman... I mean, who is she?" When asking this question, Liu Jiu already had a vague guess about the woman's identity, because this skinny woman looked much older than Aunt Wang.

"Go back first."

Liujiu was silent. He didn't understand what the old man was up to. Saner was silent too. He had been much quieter since he met Uncle Wang. They went back together in silence and had a quiet breakfast together. When there were only two mouthfuls of rice left in the bowl, Aunt Wang came back. She was holding the thermos cup she had just taken out in the morning in one hand and holding a lot of dirty clothes in the other.

"Put your things there. I'll wash them later. Wash your hands first and then eat."

"Got it, you guys go out and come back early."

"Let's go and talk about something."

The words of the old man and the old lady revealed decades of convention. Liujiu was so angry when he saw that there were only two mouthfuls of rice left. He was about to stand up and walk away, but Saner was one step faster than him. The three of them walked around and came to the lake where they met yesterday. At this time, the sun was about to rise above the lake, and the rosy clouds were shining brightly.

Uncle Wang sat down unceremoniously, resting his arms on his legs. He stared at the glittering lake and said, "This story starts from fifteen years ago. But if I want to be specific, there is nothing much to say. After all, time is unforgiving, and I have long forgotten too many things about the past."

"The crazy woman you met today is called Chun Huaer. She was originally a mother. Like all the mothers who lost their children in the past fifteen years, she was anxious to find her child at first. Later, when she couldn't find her child, she came to the government and the security bureau every day to make a scene. We had to intervene, but later, she became desperate as she saw her child was nowhere to be found day by day."

"She went to other villages to look for the child. She searched all over this area, but she just couldn't find the child. We couldn't find the child either. In the end, other families had given up, but she was the only one who kept looking for the child, day after day, over and over again, even though she was desperate."

"After a long time, even if you are very compassionate at first, you will become numb. Ask the villagers, which one doesn't want to live a normal life? Even those who have lost their children have to live a normal life, and they have to bear the pain and suffering in their hearts. Even Chunhua'er's husband is the same, he also wants to live like a normal person."

Uncle Wang continued, "The couple tortured each other and had many conflicts because of this matter. As time went by, Chunhua'er's husband suddenly disappeared one day, without a trace. Since then, you have seen that Chunhua'er has gone crazy, and has been crazy for a full ten years."

"Then?"

"It's a bit difficult to deal with a woman who just went crazy, but now." Uncle Wang shook his head. "Chunhua screamed like a ghost at first, grabbing anyone and smashing anything she saw. No one dared to get close to her. So later everyone locked her up and only gave her one meal a day because they were afraid she would have enough strength. Oh, by the way, she once swallowed a key, which she took away herself, and she almost lost her life because of it."

"She is now..."

"She is very well behaved. I go to feed her every morning and give her a bath every three days, but I have never heard a sound from her mouth. She is so well behaved that I am afraid the whole Nanzhuang has forgotten her."

After Uncle Wang finished speaking, the three of them fell into a long silence. For a while, the only sound was the slight sound of wind blowing across the lake.

"There are holes in your story." San Er pointed out sharply after a white cloud floated by. He had never spoken since he came here, but now, if he didn't speak, it would be fine. Once he spoke, he would make a big splash.

"Or rather, you haven't finished telling this story yet," he said.

"Young man, knowing too much is not a good thing."

"But it is precisely because I want to know so much that I am standing here. I am here for this."

"…Why do you think there are holes in my story?"

"You said you were the director of the Security Bureau fifteen years ago, so can I understand that you are no longer the director after what happened? Why? And you said that the other families who lost their children moved away, which is incredible. If I were a parent, I would wait there even if there was no hope. What's more, those people are really parents, and except for Chunhua'er's family, they all moved away."

Liujiu was stunned. He had never seen Saner speak so eloquently. The Saner he knew was deep-minded and didn't talk much, and he would never express his opinions easily.

"You have thought carefully and said well. In fact, the child was not lost at all, but kidnapped, and the kidnapping was closely related to the senior government officials. In addition, the family did not move away voluntarily, but was tempted by money and coerced by force. As for Wang Dashan, Chunhua'er's husband, he did have the idea of ​​running away from home, but he only walked to the village entrance and came back. That year, he walked to the edge of this lake and fell into the water."

"Is it just a slip?" Liujiu didn't believe it.

"It's that simple. We didn't find any evidence of murder by someone else. As for Chunhuaer, I still don't know if she knows the truth about her husband running away from home. When Dashan's body was found, no one dared to tell her. She was on the verge of a mental breakdown by then."

After finishing his words, Uncle Wang took out the cigarette that he had been hiding in his pocket. He didn't smoke, but he would take a long, thin cigarette and twist it from the front to the back repeatedly. After twisting it, Uncle Wang put it away again. "Okay, let's talk about now. What is your relationship with those people who are causing trouble in the city?"

"People? What people?" At the critical moment, Liujiu's brain lost its mind again.

Uncle Wang stood up with his hands on his knees. "Although Nanzhuang is located in a remote area and has little information, it is not isolated from the outside world after all. Are you the ones who can use water abilities besides the 'Son of God' as rumored?"