Shen Wenru waved his hand at them, "You guys go ahead and eat. I'll talk after you've finished."
After saying that, he found a spot and sat down.
His sister-in-law Ma Hongying saw his gloomy and frustrated expression and asked with concern, "Third brother, have you had breakfast?"
Shen Wenru shook his head, "No, I haven't eaten. You guys eat, I can't eat right now."
Having discovered this mess today, he had no appetite for food; if it wasn't resolved quickly, he probably wouldn't be able to sleep peacefully in the future.
Especially since he was also worried that this might endanger Shen Tianxing's life, his heart felt even more uneasy.
Upon seeing his state, Shen Wenru's elderly father and his older brother, Shen Wenjun, could hardly continue their leisurely meal. They ate breakfast hurriedly and then called Shen Wenru into the inner room to talk.
Shen Wenru's mother and his sister-in-law, Ma Hongying, saw them enter the room and also quickly put down their chopsticks to follow.
The children left behind looked at each other; the eldest, Shen Tianrui, said to his two younger brothers, "Stop looking. It's adult business, we shouldn't interfere. Eat quickly, we still have to go to school!"
The two younger brothers nodded and stopped concerning themselves with the adults' matters, quickly resuming their meal.
Once the adults sat down in the inner room, Shen Wenru took out the black coffin and opened the lid, revealing its contents in front of everyone.
Seeing the paper figures with Shen Wenru and Li Xiuxia's birth dates written on them, along with the black coffin and the nail driven into the lower abdomen, Shen's father, mother, Shen Wenjun, and Ma Hongying all turned pale.
They finally understood why Shen Wenru had looked so upset when he came in.
Shen Wenjun urgently asked, "Third brother, where did you get this thing from?"
Shen Wenru replied seriously, "We found it under our bed."
Shen Wenjun followed up with another question, "How come you never noticed it before? And how did you find it today?"
Thinking of his gifted daughter, Shen Wenru's eyes warmed up, "Little Xingxing suddenly woke up crying in the middle of the night. At first, we thought she might have been bitten by an insect on the bed, but she looked under the bed with terror in her eyes and kept pointing and shouting there. We searched under the bed for a long while and then we found this thing..."
Even in front of his own family, Shen Wenru dared not casually reveal Shen Tianxing's ability to command objects. He could only say it was their discovery.
Even so, the family still found Shen Tianxing's ability to detect such an evil object astonishing.
Shen's father exclaimed in shock, "Little Xingxing can even sense the presence of such an evil thing?"
Thinking of his beloved daughter, no matter how bad Shen Wenru felt, a faint smile appeared on his face, "That's why Axia and I both feel that Little Xingxing is our lucky star. Ever since she came to our family, she found this harmful ghostly object."
Shen's mother, recalling the hardships her third son and daughter-in-law had suffered over the years, said indignantly, "Who on earth is this condemned creature, trying to hurt you like this? They really should be struck dead by lightning from the Almighty!"
Old Shen and Shen Wenjun both looked at Shen Wenru. Old Shen asked in a grave voice, "Third, who have you offended?"
With a bitter expression, Shen Wenru said, "Axia and I have racked our brains, but we can't figure out who we've wronged—let alone offended someone so severely that they want us childless. However, Axia and I suspect it's someone we know. Strangers usually don't commit such heinous acts, and they couldn't have gotten into our room."
Old Shen and Shen Wenjun nodded in agreement.
Shen Wenru continued, "I've come to discuss with you and Brother what to do next and how we can find this malicious person."
After thinking for a bit, Shen Wenjun said to Shen Wenru, "Third, why don't you call Second Brother about this matter? He's been working at the Public Security Bureau and is quite professional with these things. He should come up with a solution."
Shen Wenru thought it over and found his brother's advice sensible, saying, "Alright, later I'll go to the team headquarters with you to call Second Brother and ask his opinion."
Seeing his gaunt face and bloodshot eyes, Shen Wenjun tried to persuade him, "You can't rush these things; you should eat something first so you don't ruin your health from hunger!"
Shen Wenru shook his head, "I don't feel like eating now; I'll wait till later. Missing a meal or two won't matter."
Knowing that persuasion was futile, and understanding his brother's preoccupation with the matter, Shen Wenjun simply stood up and said, "Let's just go now to the team headquarters."
The office of Shen Wenjun, the village chief, was also located at the team headquarters, which housed the only telephone in the village. If the villagers had any urgent matters while outside, they would convey messages through this phone.
If villagers wanted to use the team headquarters' phone for outgoing calls, they had to pay a fee.
Shen Wenjun and Shen Wenru reached the team headquarters, finding that the other staff members had not yet begun their workday. The brothers entered the village chief's office first.
Shen Wenjun poured a cup of hot sugared water for Shen Wenru to warm him up, deciding they would wait until eight o'clock when work began to call Shen Wenzheng.
Shen Wenru found every moment difficult; even drinking the sugared water, he couldn't taste the sweetness but only felt bitterness bubbling up inside.
Barely enduring until just past eight, Shen Wenru immediately dialed the number for Shen Wenzheng's office phone, unable to wait longer.
The person who answered the phone was a colleague of Shen Wenzheng.
When he heard that Shen Wenzheng's younger brother was calling with an urgent matter to discuss, he asked Shen Wenru to hold on for a moment. Soon, he brought Shen Wenzheng to the phone.
Shen Wenzheng picked up the phone and directly asked, "Hello, Third, are you calling so early because something happened at home?"
Shen Wenru briefly recounted the adoption of Xiaoxing and then finding the black small coffin at home to Shen Wenzheng. He finished by asking, "Second Brother, do you have any good ideas on how to find this person?"
Shen Wenzheng, angered upon hearing someone had used such a vile method against his younger brother, felt a surge of fury.
After pondering, he said frankly to Shen Wenru, "The person's goal is to keep you and your wife childless. If you openly hold a full-month banquet for the adopted child or announce that your wife is pregnant, you might just draw this person out. However, using the child or your sister-in-law as bait entails certain risks. You should consider whether to do this or not."
Upon hearing that his wife and child would be at risk, Shen Wenru immediately declined, "Then that's not an option; I don't want Axia and the child to face any danger. Second Brother, help me think of something else, is there any other way?"