The plan was set, Marcus and Gloria would depart the next day mid day. The reason for it being mid day was that it would be the time when the sun would be at its highest, where there would be the least amount of Yin and paranormal energy in the air, if there was really something weird going on. There was also a bit of a logistics issue, where Gloria’s having to collect certain things and get properly prepared.
Marcus considered not going home and just stayed in the district for the night. He decided against it for this would be the first night his father would start working, and he would like to be there for him.
The deceased old man’s family locked themselves in during this night. Because, apparently some of the local residents were very unhappy with what had happened, and decided to throw paint and rotten eggs on their door.
“What happened, son? You seem a little tense.” By the dinner table, Elvin asked Marcus with a cup of tea in his hand, while Marcus sipped his beer: “I thought - I thought you’d be happy that I don’t need to work night shifts right away? Do you have some other concerns about this job? I can - ”
“No! No - I’m really glad that you don’t have to work night shift right away.” Marcus immediately interrupted his father, then sighed and shook his head: “Hopefully they won’t assign any night shifts at all. It’s just something I need to do, and uh - I’m worried.”
“What are you worried about?” Elvin scratched his jaw.
“Well - ” Marcus hesitated, then put his beer down: “About not being able to help. It’s just case after case of these things, and then they’re still gonna - we are nowhere near stopping those people.”
“I assume you’re referring to the missing kids? ” Elvin sighed, picked a piece of stir fried beef and put it in Marcus’ bowl: “It is becoming a bigger deal - and, I can’t believe the city is not doing much about it? Are they hiring for help? Are they deploying their own investigators into it? Are they putting some safety measures in placed, or - ”
“I don’t know, dad. I really don’t.” Marcus shook his head.
“Well, I’ll tell you what I heard today at work.” Elvin stood up and picked up the teapot from the boiler: “Did they tell you how many cases there are? Children missing, I mean”
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“Official numbers?” Marcus thought for a moment: “I think - in the entire city, at least twenty confirmed cases. If you count the unconfirmed ones, that’s at least fifty.”
“Yeah, I’ve heard.” Elvin nodded. He poured himself a cup of tea and sat back down: “But - you may not have heard this - there’s also these cases where the entire family of people went missing. At least from the - I mean gossip I heard, there’s at least two families that went away completely. And they said that these are both families of multiple children.”
“Oh? Are they kidnapped or something?” Alerts started blaring in Marcus’ mind.
“I can’t say. But from what I’ve heard, it’s very likely they moved, instead of - you know - ” Elvin weighted his words, but ended up choosing the most simple and non-negative ones.
“Did your new coworkers mention what their places look like? Are they completely empty? Did they leave anything behind? Any signs of struggle, foul play or anything?” Marcus frowned and started writing down notes on his phone.
“No - not really.” Elvin leaned in a little with an enthusiastic smile: “I can ask around, if you’d like. Do you want me to - ?”
Marcus thought for a moment, then nodded at his father: “Yeah. But please do so discreetly. And don’t overreach with your questions - the last thing I want is for you to get into trouble because you’re prodding too much.”
“Of course, of course.” Elvin chuckled and shook his head: “I’ve never been in a job for long, but I still remember how to talk with people. No worries.”
“I’m always worried. So be extra careful.” Marcus chuckled, got up and was ready to put his empty beer bottle into the trash bin.
“Oh, son?” Just this moment, Elvin threw out another carefully worded question: “Have you - have you seen your mother recently?”
Marcus’ entire body tensed at the question, then he shook his head: “No - no, dad. I wish. I’ll definitely let you know if I have.”
“I see.” Elvin’s facial expression dimmed, he poured himself another cup of tea: “Go to sleep and have a good night then - you’ll need plenty of rest for - for whatever you’re about to do.”
Marcus nodded at his father, then headed into the bathroom to take a shower before he would head to bed.
The next day was bright and the sky was clear. Gloria waited for Marcus in the alley beside Zishan Cafe, wearing a vest and a jacket, sturdy combat boots, long slim jeans and with a backpack on her back. She chose her attire expecting fights to break out, as Marcus did.
“You’re early.” Marcus joked, as he tugged the straps of his own backpack.
“It’s my turf. I need to be early.” Gloria shrugged: “You haven’t brought anyone with you?”
“This is off the books, for various reasons.” Marcus sighed: “But I have some arrangements set up for different situations. ”
“So have I.” Gloria nodded and whipped out a folded parchment - it was a hand drawn map.
“What - what’s this?”
“The map to the area. ” Gloria pointed at an area marked with a red circle: “The best map of the area showing what we need to be careful about. This is the area of the old ruins. Now, if you look at any other map, physical or digital, it’s gonna show an area of mountains and deep forest.”
Marcus checked his phone. Indeed, on his digital map, the area circled was a mountainous area with steep altitude and full of trees and hilly terrain - a place no normal person would want to go.
“And here is the Lanmian Forest.” Gloria pointed at an area south of the circle: “If they’re really having a second ‘festival’ as you said they said, then it’s probably around this area. It’s a big thing, we would not miss it.”