Chapter 17
"Wu Fan, Wu Fan!" Liu Tiansheng called as he entered the house.
Inside, everything was silent, with no lights and no sign of life, leaving a sense of desolation.
If Wu Fan had been home, he would surely have made a fire to cook. There would have been some warmth in the air.
Worried, he quickly went outside and asked, "Sister-in-law, where is your son, Wu Fan?"
"It's your son named Wu Fan! My son is Zhu Bajie, and he went to find the Flower Fairy!" replied Meng Jiangmei with a naive smile.
Such madness!
Liu Tiansheng slapped his forehead, then rushed to a nearby house and asked anxiously, "Have you seen Wu Fan? He returned yesterday with his mother, but today, it seems like he's disappeared. He didn't even come back to prepare dinner. Did he go to work and hasn't returned yet?"
"Oh, Wu Fan? I saw him. He was carrying a hoe and said he was going to dig the earth to plant vegetables. This child is really diligent, digging so late into the night!" replied the neighbor, full of praise.
"You must be joking! It's night, with no moon. How could he dig the earth without hurting his toes? And then, with his mother alone at home, he wouldn't have left the meal so late." Liu Tiansheng couldn't help but smile despite the situation.
"Yes, that's true... Let's go take a look in their vegetable garden," suggested the neighbor, concerned.
The two men rushed to Wu Fan's garden.
When they arrived, they indeed noticed that the earth had been turned over, the hoe was on the ground, and the handle had traces of blood. There were also obvious signs of a struggle nearby.
"My God, could he have been attacked by a wild animal?" suggested Liu Tiansheng as he examined the scene.
"Villager, look, the grass over here is flattened, as if someone had passed through. Wu Fan might have chased something!" The neighbor, an amateur hunter, examined the traces and confirmed his suspicion.
"Yes, these grasses are completely flattened. He must have fought here. Either he was taken by the beast or he chased it. Let's go see!" Liu Tiansheng agreed.
They walked about five hundred meters with their flashlights.
There, the grass disappeared, giving way to a dense forest where it was difficult to follow the traces.
"Let's go back to the village. Maybe Wu Fan has already returned home," suggested the neighbor after some thought.
"Alright. I'll try calling him." Liu Tiansheng took out his phone.
But when he looked at the screen, he hit his forehead again. "What a fool! Our village only has signal near the village committee. Phones don't work anywhere else. Let's go!"
Back at Wu Fan's house, they found that he still hadn't returned. Liu Tiansheng realized that the situation was serious.
He arranged a meal for Meng Jiangmei and had her watched over, while gathering the villagers to search for Wu Fan in the mountains.
They searched all night, but found no trace of Wu Fan.
It was as if he had evaporated.
The next day, Liu Tiansheng mobilized the villagers again and contacted the police. The police station sent investigators who spent the day searching without finding a single clue.
In this rural area, without surveillance cameras, it was extremely difficult to find someone.
When his younger sister, who was in high school, heard the news, she rushed home to take care of their mother.
Telling Meng Jiangmei what had happened to her brother, she seemed to understand at times, and
mother and daughter broke down in tears, inconsolable.