Luo Yingbai couldn’t see clearly at first glance, thinking it looked like several people walking dogs. He first played the voice message sent by Wei Shou.
Wei Shou said that he and Yang Zheng were afraid that bringing too many people would alert their targets. After finding this mountain, they entered to investigate. From a distance, they saw many children playing outside. They originally wanted to gather information from the children, but after crossing the mountain, the children had already left, leaving behind many drawings on the ground.
At this point, Wei Shou paused, his voice seemingly unstable: “Senior Brother Xia, most of these drawings are just children’s random scribbles without value, but one of them I found… unusual. I’ll send it to you for review.”
Luo Yingbai enlarged the image and looked carefully, suddenly feeling a chill down his spine.
The drawing was crude and technically worthless, but with their background knowledge, Luo Yingbai immediately understood – those being walked on the ground were not dogs, but naked living humans!
Due to the crude drawing, he couldn’t distinguish gender or age, but the standing figure had a few lines representing wings, while those on the ground had a rope around their necks, with tears on their faces, clearly in great pain.
Although just a child’s play, the evil and bizarre meaning was palpable. Luo Yingbai said, “Is this the Winged People leading captured humans? While this race enjoys capturing humans for sexual pleasure or even consumption, I’ve never heard of them being this perverted.”
Xia Xianning said, “This photo isn’t actually what concerns me most. Look at this one.”
He moved close to Luo Yingbai, swiped on the phone screen, opened and enlarged a photo, pointing: “Look at the bottom left.”
The photo seemed to capture the surrounding environment. Luo Yingbai, who had been in a hurry to understand the situation, hadn’t studied it carefully. Only when Xia Xianning indicated did he turn his gaze to the small grove in that location.
Looking closely, Luo Yingbai discovered that between the dense branches, several white feathers were faintly visible – while Wei Shou and Yang Zheng thought they were hidden, the Winged People were actually concealed in this grove, quietly watching them!
Luo Yingbai felt goosebumps rising on his arms.
Looking down, he saw Xia Xianning telling Wei Shou to be cautious and not continue pursuing, but to return and report the clues. However, Wei Shou had not responded.
Xia Xianning said, “I haven’t received his reply, but I can’t rule out poor mountain signal. So I’ve asked Song Ze to continuously contact them and notify nearby branches to search… but both of them have disappeared.”
Luo Yingbai couldn’t help but worry about his junior brother’s safety: “What should we do now?”
Luo Yingbai was stunned for a moment, gently tapping on the jade plate: “Are you saying there’s a connection between these two things? Fine, I’ll go take a look. You all watch the house.”
Wang Huaizhi understood that the entire incident was entirely his own fault, and at the same time, he harbored a strong fear of Master Luo who had exposed him.
But now, Wang Huaizhi thought and thought, not knowing who he could turn to for help.
The only thing he remembered was the knowing smile on Luo Yingbai’s lips when they last parted, and the words “Perhaps we’ll meet again soon.”
He tumbled over the back wall of the school, took off his school uniform top and stuffed it entirely into his backpack to avoid being discovered as having skipped school, then found the small apartment where Luo Yingbai had previously stayed, based on his memory.
He had sent comments and private messages to Luo Yingbai on Weibo before coming, saying he was in trouble and wanted help. Luo Yingbai hadn’t replied, and now Wang Huaizhi was worried that no one would be home, but before he could knock, the apartment door opened by itself.
He was startled, jumping back two steps and looking ahead warily.
Master Luo’s familiar, slightly amused clear voice came out: “Come in, please close the door. Thank you.”
After entering, Wang Huaizhi found Luo Yingbai sitting on the sofa in the outer room. Sunlight from the floor-to-ceiling window cast a warm glow on his handsome features, a slight smile on his face, looking very relaxed and comfortable.
His panicked heart suddenly calmed, only then noticing two cups of tea on the coffee table in front of Luo Yingbai, the tea still steaming, as if he had long known Wang Huaizhi would arrive at this time and place.
Chapter 41: Snatching Beauty
Wang Huaizhi followed his instruction and closed the door, walking over but not daring to sit down.
Luo Yingbai made a “please” gesture, saying: “Young Wang, we meet again.”
“Y-yes,” Wang Huaizhi said nervously. “Last time… I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” Luo Yingbai said easily. “How is your younger brother?”
This question made Wang Huaizhi’s tightly drawn face suddenly show a helpless panic. He couldn’t hold back anymore, and when he spoke next, his voice was already choked with tears: “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to harm him, I didn’t want to frame you, I’m sorry, I didn’t do it on purpose… but he’s come looking for me again, and I really don’t know what to do…”
Wang Huaizhi nodded slightly, and Luo Yingbai continued: “You’re afraid of them. For you, whether before or now, making a small video with your brother as if playing a game, or having parents hire someone to attend a parent-teacher conference, the former is obviously easier. If you take your brother out and explain it properly to your family, they won’t worry… unless—”
Luo Yingbai stared at him, and Wang Huaizhi’s face turned deathly pale: “Unless you know that handing Wang Huaming over to that noodle shop owner would lead to something more terrifying than your family finding out the truth. Speak up, who is that person? What does he want with your brother?”
Luo Yingbai walked to the street near the second middle school and saw the noodle shop Wang Huaizhi had mentioned from a distance.
Typically, businesspeople want their signage to be as eye-catching as possible to attract more people into their shops.
But this noodle shop, even in the early summer, still had thick curtains blocking the entrance, with a dirty red cloth stretched over the doorway, bearing the barely legible words “Lao Zhang Noodle Soup” that would discourage anyone from entering.
Wang Huaizhi said the noodle shop used to be quite successful, but its location was somewhat remote. After opening a new shop closer to the school entrance, the old “Lao Zhang Noodle Soup” gradually declined.
After Luo Yingbai’s questioning, Wang Huaizhi finally confessed the thing that scared him.
After his previous attempt to frame Luo Yingbai was exposed, Wang Huaizhi returned to school after being severely punished. Not daring to trick his parents again, he intended to tell the shop owner he would no longer contact him. But when he arrived at the shop, he accidentally saw two people carrying a bag out from behind the mysterious cotton curtain, with something moving inside the bag.
Wang Huaizhi didn’t think much of it at the time, just feeling inexplicably reluctant to enter. Only days later did he hear that a teacher’s child had gone missing nearby, never to be found again, with the date coinciding exactly with his visit to the noodle shop.
So, could it be that the shop owner, who originally wanted to make money, suddenly stopped seriously running his noodle shop because he found a better way to earn money? Perhaps through human trafficking?
Luo Yingbai carried the demon-seeking ruler but didn’t sense any demonic energy here, which at least proved the shop owner was an ordinary person. However, when interests were at stake, perhaps there wasn’t such a clear boundary between humans and monsters.
